Star Odyssey

Those who could shop in Amethyst Exchange’s mall were in the uppermost echelon of society. What’s more, there seemed to be an excessive number of beautiful women scattered around, which gave the place a pleasant atmosphere as there were many beauties who were young and full of vitality.

Lu Yin also felt himself relax as he looked at the young women. These people had sought shelter in the Great Yu Empire, and he would not let their smiles disappear.

“Sister Ya, look at that country bumpkin. He’s still smiling at us,” whispered a few girls who were standing nearby Lu Yin. They occasionally tittered to themselves like bells, which attracted a bit of attention.

Lu Yin’s face blushed red. Country bumpkin? Did he really look that unsophisticated?

Lu Yin looked down at his own clothes and started to sweat a bit. His sense of style could be considered rather simple, and all of his outfits fell into the same few styles, which were all out of fashion. Actually, when he thought about it, why hadn’t Zhao Ran prepared some more suitable clothing for him?

Lu Yin thought of Zhao Ran’s vacant expression and sighed. Maybe King Zishan's palace should look for a housekeeper.

“See, he’s embarrassed now, hehe,” the girl giggled.

"This person looks somewhat familiar. I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

“Yeah, although his appearance is rather ordinary, he’s not bad looking, and his temperament seems special. Sisters, who’s going to go tease him?” a girl wearing a more revealing outfit eagerly asked.

“Girl, don’t be desperate to fall in love. You should be careful of being caught by a man.”

“You’re all nothing but hypocrites putting on an act. It’s not often where you can see this kind of country bumpkin walking around. Sister Ya, let’s hurry up and head over,” the girl urged.

The one named Sister Ya was currently looking at the directory listing the shops, and she grudgingly looked up. “Don’t tease others unnecessarily.”

She then reflexively glanced over at Lu Yin, and her entire body froze.

The other few girls could tell that something was up with Sister Ya, and they hurriedly rushed over to her. “Sister Ya, what’s the matter with you?”

She was stumped, but then she gathered herself and suppressed the shock in her eyes. “Nothing much, what were you girls talking about?”

“We said that we wanted to go tease that country bumpkin. Sister Ya, are you going with us?” The girl with the revealing clothing giggled at Sister Ya.

Sister Ya rearranged her face and then loudly said, “Don’t spout nonsense.”

The few girls were startled, as they had never seen Sister Ya this angry before. She was their immediate superior, as they all worked for a very influential media company. They were normally quite close, so why was she treating them so harshly right now?

Still, since Sister Ya was angry, the other girls didn’t dare talk back to her. They all sullenly hung their heads, not knowing what was going on.

Lu Yin was still looking around the mall curiously, as he was wondering where Zi Xianxian could be. After a moment, he gave up and decided to just head to the top, as the decision-makers were usually at the top levels of a building.

Nearby, those few girls were feeling very wronged.

Sister Ya took a deep breath. “You girls, stay here and don’t move around.” She then swallowed her saliva and walked over towards Lu Yin.

The few girls exchanged glances in surprise; had Sister Ya taken a fancy towards that country bumpkin? Was she infatuated? That was news.

“He- hello. I’m Xiao Ya from the empire’s morning newspaper. It’s an honor to meet you.” Sister Ya walked before Lu Yin, bowed very respectfully, and did her best to keep her face calm as she greeted him.

Behind the two people, the group of girls was surprised by Sister Ya’s deferential mien, and they exchanged glances. They were not stupid; Sister Ya’s previous reaction combined with her current behavior could only mean one thing: that country bumpkin was actually a very important person and not someone ordinary at all. Their morning newspaper wielded great influence, and they themselves could even meet the top members of the empire. Sister Ya was even more adept, and apparently, she could even meet the cabinet members. Despite that, she was being extremely respectful at this moment, which showed that this young man must have a terrifying identity.

They adjusted their expressions and no longer dared to speak a word.

Lu Yin turned around in surprise. “You recognize me?” He had made some slight adjustments to his appearance before visiting the mall in order to prevent others from recognizing him.

Sister Ya respectfully answered, “You are His Highness, the Royal Regent.”

Lu Yin was astonished. “How did you recognize me?”

She took a deep breath to suppress the nervousness running rampant in her heart and replied, “Every cultivator, especially those with great strength or influence, will often change their appearance when they step out. We’ve long since created models of such changes for many of the empire’s top members and have simulated those alternative looks. Your Highness’s adjusted appearance is still within our simulated predictions.”

Lu Yin nodded and muttered to himself. “It looks like in the future minor adjustments won’t cut it.”

She looked at Lu Yin and respectfully asked, “Is Your Highness strolling about? Xiao Ya is willing to show you around and give you a tour.”

“You know this place well?” Lu Yin asked.

Sister Ya replied, “We come here every week, so we’ve been here many times.”

Lu Yin was amused. “It looks like you’re a wealthy woman.”

Her face flushed, as Lu Yin’s teasing had reduced her nervousness a bit. The person standing before her was truly the most important person who stood at the pinnacle—not just the pinnacle of the Great Yu Empire, but even the pinnacle of the entire Great Eastern Alliance. A single sentence from him could determine the fate of countless people. Although Sister Ya was well-connected and could even visit members of the Imperial Cabinet, she had never even dreamed that she would be able to speak with Lu Yin or that such an opportunity would come to her.

“Show me around. I’m rather curious about Amethyst Exchange,” Lu Yin said, as he wanted to understand more about this company before meeting or cooperating with them.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“There’s no need for that. Just call me Brother Lu.”

She blinked. “It looks like you’re younger than me.”

Lu Yin smiled. “Then call me Seventh Bro.”

Isn’t that the same thing? Sister Ya thought to herself. She found that the Royal Regent was very different from what she expected; he was not the stern type that tended to scare children. Rather, he was actually someone who joked around.

“Seventh Bro, may I ask you some questions?” she asked carefully while leading the way.

Lu Yin casually replied, “Sure.”

Sister Ya was delighted.

“Just don’t publish anything,” Lu Yin continued.

She was left speechless at that.

…

The few girls stared on blankly as Sister Ya respectfully led the country bumpkin around the mall, carefully following behind him. Their eyes sparkled, as that person was clearly someone very important.

“Do you girls think that that person looks very familiar?” one pipped up.

“I said that he looked familiar from the beginning, but I just can’t think of where.”

The girl with revealing clothing suddenly covered her mouth. “He changed his looks.”

The other girls’ expressions abruptly changed before they all weaved through the building, repositioning themselves so that they could see Lu Yin’s face from the front. They then exchanged glances, as they had all realized his identity. It was no wonder why Sister Ya was being so respectful.

…

Even after half an hour, they had not finished going through even a tenth of Amethyst Exchange’s mall. This place was truly mammoth.

After listening to Sister Ya’s words, Lu Yin was able to gain a better understanding of Amethyst Exchange. This trading company held a certain status in the hearts of the commoners, and it could be described as a provider of great bargains.

“Amethyst Exchange does not sell items at high prices, and they seem to make their profits by purchasing in bulk. Even extravagant jewelry is much cheaper here than elsewhere. Rumors claim that their prices are low because they don’t pay taxes and that their suppliers are too widespread. However, others claim that the prices are low because they manufacture many of their items themselves. Regardless, there are all kinds of theories about their business model,” Sister Ya explained.

“Doesn’t anybody suspect that the items are fake?” Lu Yin asked.

She pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. “Even if they do sell fake products, due to Amethyst Exchange’s influence, the fakes would quickly become more valuable than the original products, as long as Amethyst Exchange is the one selling it.”

Lu Yin’s lips curled upwards. That was true—so what if the products were fake? As long as the seller had enough influence, fake products could become even more valuable than the authentic versions. Lu Yin’s own status as King Zishan had been faked, but his current status greatly surpassed Undying Yushan’s previous position when he had been alive.

“Your colleagues are rather lively,” Lu Yin commented.

She quickly apologized, “I’m sorry if they’ve disturbed you, Seventh Bro.”

Lu Yin waved a hand. “It’s fine, they’re interesting.” He then looked up at the highest level of the trade center. “Have you heard of Zi Xianxian?”

Sister Ya shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”

Lu Yin grunted. “Alright, thanks for today. You can go and do your own business now.” He then suddenly vanished, almost as if he had never been there.

She vacantly stared at the empty space and reached out a hand, but Seventh Bro was already gone.

Not too far away, the few girls who had been following them saw Lu Yin leave, and they all hurriedly rushed over to boisterously interrogate Sister Ya.

Sister Ya sternly told them, “Nobody is to say a word about today to anyone. If I find out that any of you are speaking nonsense, it won’t be as simple as just getting sacked. There will be no place in the entire Great Yu Empire for you to hide. Do you understand?”

The girls were frightened, and they quickly acknowledged Sister Ya’s words.

Sister Ya was quite experienced, and she had a broad range of knowledge, so she vaguely knew that Amethyst Exchange was not as simple as it appeared to be on the surface. The fact that the Royal Regent had appeared in this place indicated some deeper purpose, and while Sister Ya could make some conjectures, she didn’t dare to make any wild guesses. Also, just like the Royal Regent had said, they could not publish anything about this event.

The Great Yu Empire and Amethyst Exchange, or rather, the Great Eastern Alliance and Amethyst Exchange—Sister Ya was determined to remember the connection between these two, as well as the name “Zi Xianxian.”

After his conversation with Sister Ya, Lu Yin had gained a basic judgement of Amethyst Exchange, and he had also used his domain to search for Zi Xianxian. Even though he had no idea what she looked like and there was practically no information about her online, he still found her quite easily. There was only one girl who was at the top level of the building, and she was wearing a purple gown, so who else could she be?

Strangely, he was only bumping into girls today.

Zi Xianxian was very upset. She was the third heir to Amethyst Exchange, and the family expected a great deal from her. However, in reality, she did not want to participate in Amethyst Exchange’s affairs. She blamed her situation on her second brother, who was a cultivating idiot. It was all he knew and all he focused on, and it had nearly led to him having a falling out with their family. Although he had not been ultimately estranged, her second brother had given up on the possibility of inheriting Amethyst Exchange.

Zi Xianxian’s eldest brother was the first heir, and if nothing went wrong, he would be the one to inherit the company. However, Zi Xianxian did not know who, but someone had created a rift between her and her brother by telling him that she was competing against him to inherit the company, and this had led him to oppose her at every turn.

Because of this, Zi Xianxian had been forced to escape to the eastern weaves, as she had thought that she would be able to live a peaceful life there. But inexplicably, the eastern weaves had united and established some Great Eastern Alliance.

This turned out to be good, as the board of directors had suddenly started complimenting her on her vision, commenting on how the Great Eastern Alliance’s market would greatly surpass her eldest brother’s available prospects in the central weaves’ markets, how Lu Yin was someone who was unwilling to be left behind, how the Great Eastern Alliance had a great future, and other such drivel.

Anyway, ever since the Great Eastern Alliance had been established, the board had lavished her with praise.

Due to this strange turn of events, Zi Xianxian had suddenly fallen victim to her brother’s insane resentment, and he had even scolded her during several video calls.

Zi Xianxian felt very helpless, as how could she have foreseen something like the alliance being formed? Her brother’s tirades made her angry, and she had decided to actually go against him. Regardless of whether or not she would inherit the company in the future, she wanted to prove to her brother that she would not be easily bullied, as only that would stop him from causing more trouble for her in the future. Thus, she needed to create some trouble for him at this time.

This had been her motivation behind her decision to give Lu Yin 5% of the profits from Zenyu Star’s Amethyst Exchange. She had wanted to attract his attention, as she had seen that the Royal Regent was very adept at causing trouble.

However, even after such a long time, Lu Yin still had not sought her out, which seemed very strange.

However, in the near future, he would absolutely come look for her. Aegis would force Lu Yin to come, as that crazy assassination organization would definitely put him under a great deal of pressure.

Speaking of which, Aegis was clearly crazy, but that was fine. This heap of trouble was intended for her brother, afterall, and only they could satisfy her desire to create trouble for him.

“Dearest Eldest Brother, what a huge pile of a mess is waiting for you, hehe.” Zi Xianxian smiled happily. She would let him deal with Aegis’s mess, as her greatest task was to prod Aegis when she had nothing to do. Thus, Aegis would go look for her brother to vent their anger.