Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1830 - A blind shop owner

The man curiously stared at Qing Shui, trying to see through the value of the pagodas, especially since such esteemed guests had taken a liking to them, perhaps they held some extraordinary secrets?

This was a natural and logical response, if someone wanted a specific object, then that object most definitely had extraordinary origins, this man thought the same way.

“What price would you be willing to pay?” The man looked at Qing Shui as he asked.

Qing Shui hated this kind of person the most, but patiently responded: “You are the seller, how would I know what price you want, quote a price, since my women like this object, I don’t care about the price.”

Qing Shui put up an act of willing to throw away thousands of gold for his women, an act which they were already immune to. They just didn’t know why Qing Shui wanted to buy it.

“A million taels of silver!” The man thought for a while before confidently stating a price.

A million taels were enough to scare most buyers, roughly ten thousand jins of silver stacked in a pile would be a scary sight, but silver notes ranging from 1 tael to a hundred thousand taels were in circulation, reducing the need for coins or bars.

“Qing Shui, forget it, he’s just extorting us, let’s forget it.” Qin Qing looked at Qing Shui and said.

“If you guys like it, then I must buy it, boss, a million taels is really too much, can you make it cheaper, I’ll buy it directly.” Qing Shui ground his teeth, hiding his actions, but was actually doing it intentionally for the shop owner to notice.

The old man revealed a look of confidence, reveling in the pleasure of swindling a fool like Qing Shui.

“Nine hundred and fifty thousand taels, no less, or I’d rather keep it to myself.” The shop owner said seriously.

“Let’s just drop it, to pay a million taels for these toys is absolutely not worth it.” Qin Qing pulled on Qing Shui’s arm.

Qin Qing was just cooperating with Qing Shui, as a hundred million taels were simply pocket change to them. Their Interspatial Silk Sachet held around a million and eight hundred thousand taels of silver. Qing Shui even had mountains of real silver and gold weighing up to a hundred thousand taels in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, as he loved to look at those mountains of ores thought precious in his previous life.

A man bringing two women to buy something would often result in the woman constantly urging the man: “Buy it, I want it…..”

Another common scenario was kin persuading them not to buy it due to its exorbitant price, but both scenarios had the same effect in compelling the man to buy the object.

The shop owner was beaming with joy while looking at the situation unfold. He gloated at Qing Shui’s internal struggle, as he disdained him for bringing around two beautiful women yet not being rich enough.

The shop owner’s eyes flashed with a glint.

“Fine, I’ll buy it, but as an addition, you have to give me that little bronze statue.” Qing Shui pointed at the little bronze statue holding up the three pagodas. He had no idea if it was made of bronze, but that’s what it looked like.

The shop owner easily acceded to the request, as it was merely an ordinary little bronze statue made by him in his spare time and from that he could see that this man was no expert at identifying treasures.

Qing Shui was also able to see that the statue was the worst object in the whole shop and wanted to use it to secure the three Deflecting Heavenly Mandate Treasure Pavilions without raising suspicion.

The exchange was smooth and upon receiving the pagodas, Qing Shui immediately wiped them clean of dust, he couldn’t help but notice that they were pretty exquisite. However, if they were merely ordinary pagodas, then a million taels of silver was simply extortion of the highest level.

However, Qing Shui had identified them as Parry Heavenly Fate Treasure Pavilions. He even bought three with a single deal, not to mention a million, even a trillion taels of silver would’ve been worth it as these were priceless treasures.

Even if treasures were meant for the people who needed them, one still needed a level of eyesight to identify and utilize these treasures, or else they would only be ornaments. Upon wiping the pagodas clean he passed two of them to the women, while he held the last pagoda and the bronze statue. He then smiled and left the shop.

He had spotted more treasures other than these three, but they were all useless to a cultivator of his level.

After leaving, Qing Shui was all smiles and giggles as he strolled: “Guess, will the shop owner chase after us?”

“Why would he chase us after ripping us off? Actually, does this thing have any uses?” Qin Qing earnestly stared at the pagoda in her hands.

“This is an extremely useful object, if people knew of its uses, there’d be an endless horde of people chasing after us.” Qing Shui was extremely happy, since he did purchase the pagodas without a hitch and without robbing anybody.

Qing Shui subconsciously wanted to have no part in any evil deeds like senseless robbing. The natural order of the world would punish those who frequently did evil deeds. It was a karmic cycle, those who waded near the water were bound to get their feet wet.

“Good stuff, being robbed?” Qin Qing curiously gazed at Qing Shui and she didn’t believe that Qing Shui would foolishly buy an item for its aesthetics, not to mention using her and Sister Yan’s as a cover during the process. It seemed that this object was not as simple as it seemed.

If Qing Shui could read Qin Qing’s mind, he would be speechless, as this object was even more effective for stronger cultivators. Under the precondition that it had recognized a master, it would even make a normal person much tougher, a person’s punch would be like scratching an itch.

“Quickly tell us, stop trying to whet our appetite.” Qin Qing urged, knowing that Tantai Lingyan would never ask.

“Let’s deal with a few trashes first.” Qing Shui smiled as he looked at the people behind him.

There were very few people around here as Qing Shui intentionally lured them into a less crowded region. He guessed that the shop owner would follow after them, besides he was in a good mood from being gifted such treasures and in search of entertainment.

“En, fancy seeing you here.” Qing Shui looked at the shop owner and said.

The shop owner was middle-aged, but neither was he handsome nor was he ugly. There was just a sense of frivolousness seeping out from him, exhibiting his lust.

Of course, there were many such perverts, much like in his previous world. Those who had some capabilities were slightly perverted, while the honest and good-natured fellows were the ones without the qualifications to be perverted.

“Actually, I’ve been following you here.” The shop owner roared with laughter, only his eyes were cold, his smile menacing.

“Oh, following us, what for?” Qing Shui was still smiling at him.

“Nothing much, don’t you think bringing around two gorgeous beauties is too provocative?” The shop owner’s smile suddenly turned cruel and brutal.

“Oh, so you want to take away my women?” Qing Shui’s smile brightened even further.