Meng Hao frowned, rose to his feet, and looked over at Sun Yunliang. “Fine,” he said. “By the way, what is the current exchange rate?”
“Set your mind at ease, Fellow Daoist,” he said with a smile, “the price is set at six hundred Spirit Stones for one Demon heart.” With that, he clapped his hands together, and a Sun Soul Society disciples immediately came up from the first floor. After giving Meng Hao a respectful bow, he gestured for Meng Hao to follow him downstairs.
Meng Hao smiled, albeit faintly, and his expression was calm. First they had taken away his tea and tried to shoo him away. If the price they gave him was acceptable, he could have accepted the matter, but instead, they offered him a different amount of Spirit Stones than the seven old men.
Continuing to smile, he sat back down.
The action caused Sun Yunliang to instantly frown. In his mind, Meng Hao wasn’t acting very sensibly.
The middle-aged man was starting to look a bit impatient. As far as he was concerned, Meng Hao would surely be exchanging no more than a few hundred Demon hearts at most. “Friend,” he said, “this shop is owned by the Sun Soul Society. I myself am an honor guard of that very same Sect. This… is not the place for you to cause a disturbance. To go downstairs of your own accord is much better than being assisted to do so.”
He had seen many such people, people who couldn’t possibly compare to the Seven Tycoons. Each one of the seven had vast amounts of Demon hearts, and he himself had expended quite a bit of effort in order to attract them here.
“Go ahead and try,” said Meng Hao coolly.
The words instantly caused Sun Yunliang’s expression to turn serious. The middle-aged man frowned, suddenly unsure of who exactly Meng Hao was.
The seven old men didn’t look very pleased. They could exchange their Demon hearts at any shop they wished. The main reason they had selected this location was because of the diligent attention paid them by the middle-aged man. Of course, even more important was the fact that the exchange rate here was slightly better than at the other two Sects.
After all, the Saint currently in command of the city was none other than Saint Sun Soul.
The old man who occupied the center position among the seven calmly said, “Elder Sun, Honor Guard Zhou, the seven of us have very limited time. We can’t stand around waiting for very long. Why don’t we consider doing business another time?”
The words immediately caused the man named Zhou to feel very anxious. He was just about to drive Meng Hao away forcibly when suddenly Elder Sun stepped forward.
“Fellow Daoist,” he said, looking at Meng Hao, “the Spirit Stones aren’t an issue. I make the decisions here, so how about I give you seven hundred Spirit Stones per Demon heart? What do you say?”
Hearing this, Meng Hao felt a little bit embarrassed. Smiling, he rose to his feet and was about to go downstairs when suddenly, the old man standing in the right-most position among the seven sneered.
“So, it turns out anybody can get seven hundred Spirit Stones,” he said. “Well, then, Honor Guard Zhou. How many Spirit Stones will we be getting?”
Immediately, the other six old men began to nod. The shops run by seven of them were backed by their own various Sects and Clans. Furthermore, they were intelligent people who would definitely take advantage of any opportunity they saw come their way.
“If that man can get seven hundred Spirit Stones,” said another of the old men, “then we should get at least eight hundred per Demon heart. In any case, it is unacceptable that we be given the same price as a random passerby. Honor Guard Zhou, that was your promise to us, was it not?”
“Correct,” said another man. “Honor Guard Zhou, the reason we demand more Spirit Stones is because we will be exchanging a huge amount of Demon hearts. In fact, we have more Demon hearts than you usually exchange in several months down on the first floor. If someone with a trifling few hundred Demon hearts can get the same price as us, how can we maintain any face?”
Sun Yunliang’s face flickered as he realized he was in somewhat of a predicament. As for Honor Guard Zhou, his face was also quite unsightly as he glared over at Meng Hao and Wei Li.
“Elder Sun, this really is a bit inappropriate, don’t you think?” asked another of the men.
Sun Yunliang hesitated for a moment, then sighed inwardly. However, before he could even open his mouth, Meng Hao began to speak.
“So you guys have a lot of Demon hearts?” he asked the seven men.
“More than you, I can assure you,” said the first man who had spoken, his voice cool.