Sunlight filtered through the paper windows of the guest quarters, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. Li Ye opened his eyes, staring at the intricate wooden ceiling.
He was still alive. He was still in the body of a cripple. And he was still sleeping on the floor.
'Inefficient,' Li Ye thought, sitting up.
He stretched his limbs. The joints popped and cracked like dry twigs. This body—Li Ye of the Fallen Noble House—was a disaster of biological engineering. His meridians were clogged with impurities, his muscle density was non-existent, and his Dantian (energy center) was as dry as a desert.
In the cultivation world, a body like this was destined to be fertilizer.
But Li Ye saw it differently.
'A distressed asset,' he mused, walking to the copper mirror in the corner. 'Undervalued. Poorly managed. But the foundation is there. It just needs a massive injection of capital.'
Capital, in this world, meant Qi. And to process Qi, he needed a catalyst.
He checked his pockets. Empty.
He checked the closet. Three sets of plain grey robes, likely hand-me-downs from the servants.
The Princess, Jiang Linyue, hadn't just married him for political convenience; she had financially embargoed him. She controlled the household budget. She controlled the resources. Li Ye was essentially an unpaid intern in his own marriage.
"If I want to cultivate, I need Spirit Stones to buy herbs," Li Ye muttered. "If I want Spirit Stones, I need something to sell."
He rummaged through a small wooden chest at the foot of the bed. It contained the previous owner's "treasures." A dried flower. A collection of bad poetry written for the Princess. And finally, a small, jade pendant.
It was low quality. Green jade, clouded with impurities, carved into the shape of a generic lotus. It was the only thing his mother had left him before she died of illness, unable to afford a healer.
Li Ye held it up to the light.
'Sentimental value: High. Market value: Low. Utility: Zero.'
In his past life as the Heavenly Demon, he would have burned a city to avenge his mother. In his life before that, as a CEO, he would have sold his own grandmother's house to fund a startup if the ROI (Return on Investment) was high enough.
"Sorry, Mother," Li Ye whispered, his voice devoid of emotion. "I'm liquidating this asset to fund the restructuring plan."
He tucked the pendant into his robe and walked out the door.
The Azure Cloud Capital was a sprawling metropolis of white stone and blue tiles, built beneath the massive shadow of the floating Spirit Mountains. Cultivators flew overhead on swords, leaving trails of rainbow light, while mortals hustled in the streets below, selling spirit grain and low-grade talismans.
Li Ye walked through the bustling streets, ignoring the sights. He wasn't interested in the tourist traps. He was heading for the Ghost Alley.
Every city had one. A place where the light of the Empire didn't reach. A place for stolen goods, forbidden pills, and human trafficking.
As he turned a corner into a narrow, shadowed lane, the air temperature dropped. The smell of incense and rotting meat hit his nose.
"Halt."
Two burly men stepped out from the shadows, blocking the entrance. They wore leather armor stained with grease and carried jagged sabers. They were merely Body Refining Realm thugs—ants to the old Li Ye, but dangerous threats to the current one.
The guard on the left squinted, then burst into a jagged laugh. "Well, look who it is! Isn't this the famous 'Soft Rice King'?"
The other guard sneered. "Young Master Li! Shouldn't you be at home washing the Princess's feet? Did she kick you out already?"
Li Ye stopped. He looked at them calmly.
'Body Refining 3rd Stage. Sloppy stance. High cholesterol. I could kill them both with a chopstick through the eye socket.'
His killing intent flared. It was a reflex from 500 years of being the Heavenly Demon. The air around him suddenly grew heavy, and the shadows seemed to stretch toward the guards like claws.
[System Alert!]
[Warning: Killing mortals with no provocation will result in Negative Karma.] [Negative Karma Penalty: Immediate Heart Demon backlash.]
Li Ye paused. The killing intent vanished instantly.
'Right. The rebranding.'
He exhaled slowly. Killing them was inefficient anyway. It would draw the City Guards, waste his stamina, and ruin his clothes.
"I am here to trade," Li Ye said, his voice flat. "Step aside."
The guard on the left didn't move. He leaned in, his breath smelling of garlic and cheap ale. "Trade? With what money? Did you steal the Princess's panties to sell? Hahaha—"
He reached out to shove Li Ye's shoulder.
Li Ye didn't dodge. He simply shifted his weight.
As the guard's hand came forward, Li Ye stepped into the guard's space. He brought his hand up, not in a fist, but in a precise, open-palm slap that targeted the nerve cluster on the guard's wrist.
Thwack.
"Argh!" The guard yelped, clutching his hand as it went numb. It wasn't a crippling blow, just a precise disruption of the nerve signal.
"Touching me is expensive," Li Ye said, adjusting his sleeve. "You can't afford it."
He walked past them before they could process what had happened.
[System Notification] [Action: Mercy Shown (Technically).] [You refrained from slaughtering insolent ants.] [Reward: Skill Unlocked - Divine Appraisal Eye (Level 1).]
Li Ye's eyes flashed with a faint golden light. Suddenly, the world changed.
Text boxes appeared over everything.
He looked at the wall. [Structure: Rotting Wood. Value: 0.]
He looked at the guard clutching his wrist. [Human. Cultivation: Body Refining 3. Potential: Trash. Note: Has 3 silver coins in left boot.]
Li Ye smiled. 'Market research just got a lot easier.'
The Ghost Alley Auction House was a cavernous hall located in the basement of a run-down teahouse. The air was thick with cigar smoke and the scent of desperation.
Li Ye approached the counter. A hunchbacked old man with one eye sat behind a grate.
"I'm selling," Li Ye said, placing the jade pendant on the counter.
The old man squinted at it. "Common jade. Impure. Maybe 2 Spirit Stones."
Li Ye activated [Divine Appraisal Eye].
[Item: Mother's Pendant. Material: Low-grade Spirit Jade. Hidden Attribute: Contains a micro-formation of 'Peace of Mind'. Actual Value: 15 Spirit Stones.]
"It has a stabilization formation carved inside," Li Ye lied smoothly, though he knew the formation was nearly dead. "It aids in meditation for restless juniors. 10 Spirit Stones. Or I take it to the Pavilion across the street."
The old man paused. He looked at the jade again, then at Li Ye. He grunted. "5 Spirit Stones. Take it or leave it."
"Deal." Li Ye didn't haggle further. Time was money.
He took the pouch of 5 glimmering, low-grade Spirit Stones. It was a pathetic sum. A normal cultivator needed hundreds to buy a decent pill. But for Li Ye's plan, it was seed capital.
He entered the main hall.
Dozens of cultivators in cloaks sat on wooden benches. On the stage, a fat auctioneer was shouting.
"Next lot! A bottle of 'Tiger Bone Pills'! Great for stamina! Starting bid 20 stones!"
Li Ye stood in the back, scanning the room with his golden eyes.
[Item: Tiger Bone Pills. Purity: 12%. Status: Poisonous garbage.] [Item: Rusty Sword. Status: Just rust.]
Everything was trash. The market was flooded with scams.
Li Ye leaned against a pillar, bored. 'If this is the best the Ghost Alley has to offer, my recovery will take years. I need a miracle, or a massive market error.'
"And now..." The Auctioneer's voice dropped. He wiped sweat from his forehead. "We have a... special lot. A clearance sale, if you will."
Two massive guards dragged a cage onto the stage.
The crowd murmured. Some laughed.
Inside the cage was a girl. Or what was left of one.
She was curled into a ball, shivering violently. Her clothes were rags. Her exposed skin was a horrifying shade of grey, covered in frostbite and weeping blue sores. The air around the cage was so cold that frost was forming on the iron bars.
"Found in the ruins of the Northern Sect," the Auctioneer announced, sounding apologetic. "She has a rare constitution, but... well, as you can see, the Cold Poison has consumed her. The healers say she has maybe three days to live. We are selling her as a... potential test subject for poison masters. Or perhaps for parts."
"Disgusting!" someone shouted. "Get that corpse off the stage!" "I'll give you one copper coin to feed her to my dogs!"
Li Ye frowned. He was about to turn away. A dying girl was a liability.
But then, his [Divine Appraisal Eye] pulsed. It didn't just glow gold; it burned crimson.
[System Alert: Anomaly Detected!]
Li Ye focused his gaze on the shivering girl. The text box that appeared was blinding.
[Name: Su Qinghan] [Status: Critical Condition (Cold Poison Overload).] [Root Bone: Ice Phoenix Supreme Root (Dormant).] [Constitution: Nine Yin Profound Body (Celestial Rank).] [Potential: World Ending Calamity / Supreme goddess.] [Note: Her body is not 'sick'. It is a nuclear reactor of Yin Energy that has no outlet. If a male with high Yang energy (You) connects with her, the energy transfer will result in an explosive cultivation boost for both parties.]
Li Ye stopped breathing for a second.
A Nine Yin Profound Body.
In his past life, the Empress of the North had a mere "Three Yin Body," and she froze an entire ocean. This girl... this dying, ugly slave... was a Nine Yin.
She wasn't a slave. She was a walking cheat code. She was a battery of infinite energy.
And these idiots thought she was trash.
Li Ye's heart, usually cold and steady, beat once, hard. This was it. The market inefficiency of the century.
"Starting bid..." The Auctioneer sighed, expecting nothing. "...5 Spirit Stones."
Silence.
The crowd laughed. "5 stones? For a corpse? You're dreaming!"
"I'll give you a rock!"
The Auctioneer looked ready to cry. "Anyone? Please? Just to take her off our hands?"
Li Ye stepped out from the shadows. He held up his pouch—his entire net worth.
"I bid 5 Stones."
The laughter stopped. Heads turned. They looked at the young man in the grey servant robes, holding up a pouch of coins with a calm, indifferent expression.
"Is that... is that the Princess's husband?" someone whispered. "The Soft Rice King?" "He's buying a dying slave? Is he that desperate for a woman?" "Hahaha! Even a corpse is better than the Princess who won't touch him!"
The mockery rained down on him. They called him a pervert, a scavenger, a fool.
Li Ye didn't hear them. He was looking at the girl in the cage. She lifted her head slightly, her eyes visible through the matted, frozen hair. They were blue. terrified, and hopeless.
'Laugh all you want,' Li Ye thought, staring at the Status Screen that hovered over her head like a halo of gold. 'In finance, we call this insider trading.'
"5 Stones going once..." The Auctioneer said quickly, desperate to close the sale.
"Hold it."
A voice dripping with arrogance cut through the air.
Li Ye's eyes narrowed. He knew that voice.
A young man in white silk robes, fanning himself with a golden fan, stepped out from a VIP booth on the second floor. He looked down at Li Ye with a sneer.
[Name: Zhao Feng. Cultivation: Qi Condensation 5th Stage. Status: Young Master of the Zhao Clan. The Princess's Suitor.]
"Well, well," Zhao Feng laughed. "If it isn't Li Ye. Buying trash to match your status? I can't let you embarrass the Princess like this. I bid 10 Stones!"
He didn't want the girl. He just wanted to crush Li Ye.
Li Ye tightened his grip on his pouch. He had exactly 5 stones. Not a copper more.
'Hostile bidder detected,' Li Ye analyzed, his expression turning frosty. 'Capital insufficient for a bidding war. Switch strategy to: Blackmail.'