Unsheathed

It didn’t take long before the young woman returned, and she handed the pair of bamboo chopsticks to the old man with a smile as she said, “The deputy shopkeeper has asked me to congratulate you, and he also said that you’re not allowed to show off these chopsticks to him the next time you two have a meal together.”

“In his dreams! There’s no way I’m not showing them off!” the old man immediately retorted.

He then quickly stowed the pair of chopsticks away before opening a drawer and pulling out five lesser heat coins, which he handed to Zhang Shanfeng.

“Generally speaking, in transactions that take place in large shops, one lesser heat coin is equivalent to 100 snowflake coins, but everyone knows that when it comes to transactions that take place in private, each lesser heat coin is generally worth about 104 or 105 snowflake coins.”

Zhang Shanfeng nodded in response with a smile as he accepted the five lesser heat coins, then turned to find that Chen Ping’an and the green-robed children were still making faces at each other like idiots. He nudged with his elbow as he scoffed, “Quit playing dumb! These are for you.

“I still owe you the principle, but the interest has been paid off, at least. If you feel like that’s too much, then you can deduct these five lesser heat coins out of the principle instead. As for the rest, I’ll just have to repay you in the future.”

After learning the true value of that armor pellet from Ancient Elm Nation, Zhang Shanfeng knew that he couldn’t pretend as if he were still oblivious just because they were friends. The true value of the armor pellet far exceeded the 500 snowflake coin price tag that Chen Ping’an claimed, and it had to be treated as such.

Chen Ping’an accepted the five lesser heat coins and stowed them away up his sleeve as he declared, “We’re even now! Otherwise, I give you back your money, and you return the armor pellet to me.”

Zhang Shanfeng offered no response to this.

Xu Yuanxia patted him on the shoulder with a smile as he said, “That’s not a bad outcome. If you keep insisting on paying him back in full, then that would be a little pretentious of you.”

Only then did Zhang Shanfeng begrudgingly agree to this arrangement.

Chen Ping’an slung an arm around Zhang Shanfeng’s shoulder as he smiled and said, “If you really can’t get over it, then how about you sell me your peach wood sword?”

Zhang Shanfeng immediately pushed him away. “Don’t even think about my peach wood sword!”

“Hey, don’t shove me! A gentleman never resorts to violence!” Chen Ping’an exclaimed.

Xu Yuanxia shook his head with a resigned expression, feeling as if he were babysitting a pair of kids.

Meanwhile, the young woman turned to Chen Ping’an with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Could it be that he’s actually the richest one of the three?

Zhang Shanfeng turned back to the old man with a smile as he declared, “I don’t have anything else I want to sell.”

The old man was very disappointed to hear this, but Chen Ping’an immediately said, “I have some things I would like you to appraise, Sir.”

The old man immediately sat up straight, then smiled as he extended a hand toward Chen Ping’an. “I’m looking forward to what you have to show me.”

Chen Ping’an pulled out the white bowl with the true appearances of the Five Mountains painted on it, then set it down onto the table.

The old man slowly inspected the bowl with a calm expression, then set it down as he said, “What’s been painted onto this bowl appears to be the true appearances of the Five Mountains of Ancient Elm Nation. Our Green Beetle Shop is willing to offer 150 snowflake coins for it.

If these were the true appearances of the Five Mountains of a large empire, then that price would increase by severalfold. It’s just that the Five Mountains of Ancient Elm Nation only contain very limited spiritual energy, so the effects of such a painting on this bowl will be significantly reduced.”

A reminiscent look appeared on the old man’s face as he spoke, and he began recounting a story from years past. “Several decades ago, the shop that profited the most from these bowls was none other than the Cloth Wrapper Shop, which had secretly amassed a huge stock of them. At the time, they had truly made immense profits.

“After that, countless smaller shops followed the trend and began purchasing bowls from them, but who would have anticipated that the emperor of the Great Li Empire would suddenly make such a drastic decision to change all of the Five Mountains? Countless merchants were left completely out of pocket in the wake of that decision.

“Thankfully, our shopkeeper had the foresight to go against the widespread trend and refuse to purchase even a single bowl at what he believed to be a clearly overinflated twice. It was thanks to his foresight that our Green Beetle Shop was able to avoid a disaster.”

Chen Ping’an patiently listened until the old man was done with his spiel, then asked, “So what is this bowl capable of?”

“My apologies, I always get a little carried away whenever I talk about how incredible our Green Beetle Shop is. Let’s get back on track,” the old man said in an apologetic fashion, then pointed at the bowl with a smile as he continued, “Five-colored state soil is something that every nation must have, but where does it come from?

“Aside from five-colored soil that arises naturally in blessed locations, such soil can also be made artificially, and that’s where bowls like this come in.

“One can place soil taken from the Five Mountains into one of these bowls, and after some period of time, the length of which depends on the quality of the bowl, a small batch of five-colored soil can be produced. Of course, five-colored soil can also be sold.

“Given the quality of the bowl that you have, if you can secure a sufficient supply of soil from the Five Mountains of Ancient Elm Nation, then on an annual basis, you’d be able to make… this sum!”

The old man spread a hand open, and the young woman had to conceal her face behind her sleeve to conceal her amusement again.

“Is that 50 snowflake coins?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“Five,” the old man corrected with an amused expression.

The old man then explained, “Many spirit tools like this one that can continually generate income over a long period of time have their price set at the amount of income they can generate over the course of 60 years. If you can earn five snowflake coins per year, then 60 years would equate to 300 snowflake coins.

“It may sound like I’m trying to swindle you by offering only half that sum, but rest assured, there’s a reason for this. Five Mountain Bowls are rather special. For some nations that are very unstable, their Five Mountain Bowls could be worth nothing at all. The entire nation could cease to exist overnight, and with it, the Five Mountain would naturally be gone as well. In that case, where would the five-colored soil come from?

“Fortunately for you, Ancient Elm Nation is quite a stable nation at the moment. Our Green Beetle Shop has never had much interest in purchasing Five Mountain Bowls, so offering half the theoretical price is already quite a favorable deal for you.”

Chen Ping’an thought about it for a moment, then asked, “Can I not sell this bowl?”

“Of course,” the old man replied with a smile. “To be honest, if I purchase this bowl for the Green Beetle Shop today, only for Ancient Elm Nation to fall overnight, then I run the risk of having some of my wage deducted.”

Even though it wasn’t a profit of 50 snowflake coins a year, five snowflake coins were still equivalent to 5,000 taels of silver, and even the most expensive houses on Peach Leaf Alley cost fewer than 1,000 taels of silver!

Of course, now that Jewel Small World had descended and become part of the Great Li Empire, house prices in the small town had already risen drastically, but even so, 5,000 taels of silver was still enough to buy quite a few houses in Dragon Spring Prefecture.

His top priority now was to write a letter to Wei Bo and Cui Chan’s grandfather right away, requesting them to try and help him secure soil from the Five Mountains of Ancient Elm Nation.

During his return from Stalactite Mountain, he was also going to personally pay a visit to the Five Mountains of Ancient Elm Nation and take back as much soil with him as he could carry. Hopefully, at that time, he would still have sufficient spare space left in Fifteenth.

Right at this moment, Xu Yuanxia suddenly said, “I think you should sell the bowl.”

The old man had gotten very worked up over that pair of bamboo chopsticks, but now that he had regained his composure, he was still a very shrewd businessman, and he said, “You must be thinking the Great Li Empire’s southward expansion is inevitable, so Ancient Elm Nation may not be standing much longer, right? I actually disagree with that opinion.

“With Lake View Academy standing firm in the central region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, I don’t think the Great Li Empire’s troops will be able to march southward as they please. Even if they do manage to march all the way to Ancient Elm Nation, there are so many nations in between that it’ll take them many years to get to that point.”

Seeing as the old man was being so forthcoming, Xu Yuanxia also decided to express his opinion on the matter. “In my eyes, even with Lake View Academy standing in their way, I still think it won’t take too long before the Great Li Empire’s forces march into the south.”

The old man merely smiled and offered no response, not wanting to argue over this matter. The Green Beetle Shop was a business, and he had nothing to gain out of arguing with customers over trivial subjects.

Xu Yuanxia turned to Chen Ping’an as he advised, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!”

Chen Ping’an turned to Xu Yuanxia, and the latter gave him an encouraging nod.

Chen Ping’an returned the nod, then immediately set the bowl back down onto the table as he asked, “Does your offer still stand?”

The old man smiled as he replied, “Of course! If our Green Beetle Shop ends up making a loss on this sale, then I have no one to blame but myself for my lack of sound judgment, and I’ll just have to accept the wage deduction.”

With that, the bowl was handed over in exchange for 150 light snow coins.

Just as Xu Yuanxia had said, it was much better to have money in hand than to rely on a tenuous and unpredictable projected future profits.

After that, Chen Ping’an decided to have that piece of ebony and the talisman that contained the beautiful skeletal ghost appraised as well. The old man had appraised the piece of ebony first, and he was full of praise for the item, offering a price of 300 light snow coins.

He also told Chen Ping’an that the piece of ebony would be highly sought after among many Agrarian and Medicinist cultivators. As for that talisman, he was only willing to offer 50 light snow coins.

After some thought, Chen Ping’an decided to sell only the piece of ebony while keeping the talisman.

That was all that Chen Ping’an and Zhang Shanfeng had to sell, and next, it was time to spend some money.

The old man personally accompanied them to the door, and even as they were leaving, he didn’t forget to propose a wager to Xu Yuanxia. “If you ever get the chance to come again, we can see how things are going in Ancient Elm Nation, and the one who made the wrong prediction has to treat the other to a drink. What do you say?”

Xu Yuanxia smiled as he replied, “Sounds good to me! Regardless of whether I lose or win the bet, I would be honored to have a drink with you, Mr. Hong.”

“You’re far too kind,” the old man chuckled. “Just for that, I’ll treat you to a drink first next time!”

Xu Yuanxia cupped his fist in a parting salute.

Upon hearing that Zhang Shanfeng wanted to purchase a Daoist talismanic sword capable of slaying demons and vanquishing fiends, the young woman led the three of them straight to the fourth floor, then took them to a large room with a wooden plaque that read “Cold Light” hanging above the entrance.

There were guards stationed at the entrance of the room, and the young woman informed them that she was here with some customers, then gently pushed the door open to reveal shelves upon shelves of swords of all types of descriptions, and the entire room was filled with formidable sword qi.

However, much to the young woman’s disappointment, Zhang Shanfeng inexplicably declared that he had lost interest as soon as he stepped into the room.

“Don’t mind him, we’ll still have a look at the swords,” Chen Ping’an said to the young woman.

Zhang Shanfeng stubbornly refused to enter the room, but in the end, Xu Yuanxi forcibly dragged him inside.

The young woman introduced around a dozen Dao swords of different prices to them one after the other, and even though Zhang Shanfeng tried to feign disinterest the entire time, he still couldn’t help but take an extra glance at one of the swords, namely an antiquated bronze sword. The word was missing its scabbard, and there was a rather indistinct inscription on it that read “True Martial”.

The blade of the sword was riddled with scratches, so even though it had been forged out of an exceptional material, the asking price was only 400 snowflake coins. Chen Ping’an immediately decided to purchase the sword, but he hesitated momentarily as he was pulling out the coins to pay.

The young woman gave a faint smile, then made a thoughtful gesture of leaving the room to give him some privacy. By the time she returned to the room, Chen Ping’an had already placed the 400 snowflake coins down onto one of the shelves. After counting the money to make sure that it was the correct amount, she slid the True Martial into a ready-made scabbard before handing it to Chen Ping’an.

The four of them then made their way out of the Cold Light room, but instead of taking the trio out of the Green Beetle Shop’s main entrance, she led them over a hovering covered bridge on the second floor to a tall building in the backyard, and from there, they left the Green Beetle Shop through a side door.

The young woman then informed them of some of the rules of the ferry station, as well as the routes to take to certain important places, before waving them farewell. As she turned around, the martial artist guarding the backyard of the Green Beetle Shop had already closed the side door, and she leaned back against the door as she secretly pumped her fist with an ecstatic expression.

However, she then quickly adopted a calm facade, and by the time she returned to the main building of the Green Beetle Shop, her elation had already turned to melancholy as she began complaining to her coworkers about how stingy those three customers had been.

The Green Beetle Shop was only less than a kilometer away from the ferry station, and there just so happened to be a ship that was setting sail for Cloud Pine Nation. Even though that was still very far away from Azure Phoenix Nation, it was still going to be countless times faster than if Xu Yuanxia were to make the journey on foot.

On top of that, upon disembarking from the ship at Cloud Pine Nation, he would be able to immediately board another ship straight to Azure Phoenix Nation.

Hence, Xu Yuanxia was going to be leaving Water Combing Nation on this ship. As for the ship that Chen Ping’an had to take, it was one that sailed over an ancient route that was over 1,000 years old. Its ultimate destination wasn’t Old Dragon City, but it would also drastically shorten the journey of hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

As they drew close to the ferry station, Chen Ping’an and Zhang Shanfeng both stopped in their tracks at almost the exact same time.

Chen Ping’an was carrying the True Martial sword, while Zhang Shanfeng was looking down at the ground, not daring to say anything.

Xu Yuanxia heaved a faint sigh, then turned to Chen Ping’an as he said, “Back in Blusher Prefecture, Daoist Chong Miao once mentioned that in the southeastern region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, which is near Azure Phoenix Nation that I’m traveling to, a grand Liberation Rite of Water and Land is going to be taking place in half a year’s time.

“Countless esteemed figures of Daoism will be flocking to the event, and even a few Daoist immortals vastly renowned across the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent will be hosting lectures there.

“Of course, Zhang Shanfeng wants to go and take a look, but he doesn’t know how to bring up the subject to you. He feels like changing the itinerary on a last-minute basis like this would be a very scummy thing to do, and now that you’ve bought him this Dao sword, he feels even more ashamed to have to part ways with you.

“After all, he promised you from the very beginning that he would accompany you all the way to Old Dragon City. I bet he’s feeling so guilty that he wishes he could die right now! You know what? This is perfect! Why don’t you put him out of his misery with True Martial, then bury him right here?”

Chen Ping’an jumped up and slapped Zhang Shanfeng on the head. “What are you, an idiot? You’re like an indecisive woman! You don’t need to feel like you owe me anything! Take the sword and get out of my sight! You can pay me back for it later.”

Zhang Shanfeng’s head remained bowed, and his shoulders began trembling slightly.

Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything further as he tossed True Martial to Xu Yuanxia, then quickly departed on his own.

By the time the teary-eyed Zhang Shanfeng raised his head, Chen Ping’an had already made his way into the distance. Right at this moment, Chen Ping’an raised a hand up high and gave Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia a wave, as if he could sense the former’s gaze.