Selling Scriptures

Selling Scriptures

"This reception room looks pretty nice!" Zhou Tong casually looked around. Carved beams and painted rafters filled the room, and the pot of clear tea on the table beside him gave off a refreshing fragrance.

"This must be spirit tea too." Zhou Tong savored the tea carefully.

At the same time, he wondered whether his mask could block Yaoguang Holy Land's scrutiny.

"This mask was refined at great cost. It even used the 'Formation' Secret of the Nine Secrets. Unless they possess the strength of a supreme Great Power, they shouldn't be able to probe my information without my noticing!" Zhou Tong thought silently.

"Is this young brother the one looking to sell a scripture?" Before long, a voice rang out in the reception room, interrupting Zhou Tong's tea drinking.

Zhou Tong looked up and saw an elderly cultivator around six feet tall enter. His hair was completely white, and his calm gaze seemed to have seen through everything in the world.

As an appraiser for the Yaoguang Treasure Hall, he had naturally seen countless treasures. He had even seen immortal gold and Medicine Kings, things enough to drive everyone mad, many times over. That was why he possessed such composure.

"Yes," Zhou Tong said blandly.

"I am Sun Jian, an appraiser of the Yaoguang Treasure Hall." The elderly cultivator smiled faintly and asked, "May I know how to address you, young brother?"

"Zhao Hao." Zhou Tong casually gave a name.

Sun Jian said, "Which ancient scripture does young brother wish to consign to our Yaoguang Treasure Hall? Let me state in advance that if it is an inherited scripture from one of the holy lands in our Eastern Wasteland, we will not accept it."

After all, those were several major forces in the open. Selling the inherited scriptures of those holy lands here would likely offend them to the death.

Even the ever-dominant Yaoguang Holy Land had to consider such matters.

Zhou Tong said softly, "I don't know whether it is the scripture of some holy land. But I do know that this ancient scripture was created by a Great Sage named Di Lan, and it is also called the Di Lan Scripture."

"The Di Lan Scripture?" Sun Jian pondered for a while. After ruling out the inherited scriptures of the major holy lands across the Big Dipper and every other possibility he could think of, he immediately realized that this was a scripture that had never appeared before.

He then asked, "How complete is this scripture?"

Zhou Tong said, "This Di Lan Scripture contains the five volumes of the Sea of Wheels Realm, Dao Palace Realm, Four Extremities Realm, Dragon Transformation Realm, and Immortal Platform Realm. However, it contains no secret arts, only methods of cultivation."

"Is it the original copy left behind by that Great Sage?" Sun Jian continued to ask.

Zhou Tong still shook his head. "It is a handwritten copy, not the original."

"Without the original, the value of this ancient scripture will be greatly reduced!" Sun Jian shook his head.

If it were the original, they could confirm that it was indeed a scripture passed down by that Great Sage. But if it was a handwritten copy, they would have to guard against the possibility that someone had tampered with it. Naturally, its value would be greatly diminished.

"A complete scripture created by a Great Sage, even if it only contains cultivation methods and no secret arts, could sell for thirty or forty million jin of Source at an auction in our Yaoguang Treasure Hall. But since yours is a handwritten copy, its price will probably be only one-tenth of that," Sun Jian continued.

One-tenth was naturally impossible. It was merely a tactic to drive down the price.

"Of course, if you are willing to sell this scripture directly to our Yaoguang Holy Land, I can make the decision to offer you ten million jin of Source. Naturally, that would be after I have authenticated this ancient scripture..."

"Authenticate it..."

Zhou Tong chuckled. "If I hand the scripture to you and you simply memorize it, then claim that the scripture has flaws and isn't worth that much, what then?"

Ten million jin of Source was a fairly reasonable price, even a generous one.

Zhou Tong had done some research for the sake of selling the ancient scripture.

Scriptures created by Great Sages were actually comparable to the inherited scriptures of most holy lands. Other than the few holy lands that had produced Great Emperors, the scriptures of other holy lands had basically been created by Great Sages. Some weaker holy lands even possessed ancient scriptures created merely by Saint Kings or Saints.

A scripture created by a Great Sage was equivalent to the core cultivation method of a holy land. It was extremely valuable!

If it were the original scripture, it could probably fetch fifty million jin of Source at auction. But handwritten copies were difficult to authenticate, so their prices were greatly reduced. Ten million jin of Source was already close to the limit.

"Young brother, our Yaoguang Treasure Hall has stood in Spirit Lake City for countless years and enjoys an excellent reputation. We would never do such a thing!" Sun Jian shook his head, looking utterly sincere.

"Moreover, our Yaoguang Treasure Hall holds its grandest auction once every year, and each auction sees transactions totaling around several hundred million jin of Source. How could we possibly covet your mere ten million jin of Source?"

Sun Jian made it sound convincing, but Zhou Tong did not believe a single word.

The rise of every power was accompanied by blood and fire. Yaoguang Holy Land was no benevolent force, and he would not place his hopes in their goodwill. Especially not in a transaction involving ten million jin of Source; even for Yaoguang Holy Land, that was a substantial deal.

Zhou Tong instinctively activated the Purple Sun Lamp within his body, sending out a wisp of saintly might.

Sun Jian immediately shrank back like a startled cat, raising his head to stare at Zhou Tong in terror.

Heirloom Sacred Weapon! Sun Jian was certain that the other party definitely possessed an Heirloom Sacred Weapon!

"Is he the Holy Son of some holy land? But if he obtained a Great Sage's ancient scripture, wouldn't it be most worthwhile to hand it over to his own holy land? Could he be some lucky bastard who accidentally found a Great Sage's inheritance? Could this Saint Weapon have been left behind by Great Sage Di Lan?"

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Sun Jian's mind.

"How about this? Our Yaoguang Holy Land can first pay you seventy percent as a deposit. You hand over the scripture to us, and we will authenticate it as quickly as possible. If there are no problems, we will then transfer the remaining thirty percent to you. What do you think?" Sun Jian hesitated for a moment before finally asking.

Once he discovered that the other party carried an Heirloom Sacred Weapon, Sun Jian's attitude immediately changed.

"That works." Zhou Tong hesitated briefly before replying.

"Please wait a moment!"

After Zhou Tong agreed, Sun Jian immediately left the VIP room to gather the Source. Ten million jin of Source was not something that could be produced casually.

Zhou Tong quietly waited there.

He believed that within the Yaoguang Treasure Hall, especially after confirming that he had a Saint Weapon protecting him, Yaoguang Holy Land would certainly not dare act rashly. Otherwise, the reputation the Yaoguang Treasure Hall had built over tens of thousands of years would be ruined in an instant.

Destroying a reputation accumulated over more than a hundred thousand years for the sake of ten million jin of Source was absolutely not something a smart person would do.

Besides, Yaoguang Holy Land did not lack ten million jin of Source.

After the Northern Plains Wang Clan was destroyed in the original story, there had been an entire hall full of Divine Source!

If they possessed that much Divine Source, ordinary Source was even less worth mentioning.

And Yaoguang Holy Land's foundation far surpassed that of the Northern Plains Wang Clan. They certainly did not lack ten million jin of Source.

The original story made ten million jin of Source sound incredibly extravagant, but what was the reality?

The moment Jiang Taixu spoke, the Jiang Family brought ten million jin of Source the very next day. The Feng Clan casually gifted three million jin of Source.

Ten million jin of Source was considered a lot only in comparison to low-level cultivators. For Great Powers, it was not an unbearable amount.

Hadn't so many descendants of aristocratic families spent millions of jin of Source at auctions whenever they bought something?

Even the younger generation had access to so many resources. Could Saint Lord Great Powers and the like really be unable to afford a few million or ten million jin of Source?