Picking Up a Bargain: The Second Statue (4K)

After getting the exact location from Chen Fan.

Xiao Chen immediately set off and arrived at San Dao Gou, north of the market, and easily found the long row of shelves.

It must be said that there are still some talented individuals among the independent cultivators.

To attract customers, they made a point of displaying all the prizes openly.

As long as you draw the corresponding number, you can redeem the prize on the spot.

Especially in the middle of the shelf, there were several items worth thousands of Spirit Stone.

As a result, it attracted quite a few passersby to watch, and many people chose to try their luck.

After all, they had just sold the Double Jade, so they had some extra money in hand.

Even if we lose ten Spirit Stone, it won't have a particularly big impact.

If you manage to win a valuable item in the gamble, that would be an even bigger profit.

Xiao Chen had just arrived when he saw three cultivators drawing lots.

However, two of them only received the worst reward, which was Grain Avoidance Pill worth one Spirit Stone.

Only one person was lucky enough to draw a spirit vine worth fifteen Spirit Stone, making a small profit.

"Let me see if there's anything else of value."

Xiao Chen didn't rush to participate in the lottery. Instead, he scanned the spiritual items on the shelves, looking for any leftovers he could find.

If there's nothing good left, then forget it.

To his surprise, he saw a sculpture that looked somewhat familiar; it was the Golden Tail Tiger statue he had just inspected.

Did Chen Fan return the items?

That's impossible; he's definitely not as fast as me.

Xiao Chen immediately realized that these things were likely in pairs.

Great, now the next goal is clear.

That means drawing the slip of paper numbered three, four, or five, and then taking the statue with you.

"Would you like to try your luck, fellow Daoist?"

Seeing Xiao Chen approach the specially made protective box, the stall owner quickly explained the rules, "Here, it only costs ten Spirit Stone per draw, and the outcome depends entirely on luck."

"However, this is a small business, so you have to pay first before it's settled."

To prevent people from running away after not winning anything good, we require payment before you can participate.

This is a perfectly normal precaution.

Xiao Chen readily pulled out one hundred Spirit Stone: "Sure, ten rounds to start."

He then reached into the protective box and randomly pulled out ten small pieces of paper folded into squares.

To his disappointment, not only was the sculpture not there, but there wasn't even a small prize.

All they got in return were ten pieces of junk worth ten Spirit Stone.

"Ah?"

The stall owner stared at the note on the table, momentarily stunned.

To attract more cultivators, they've set up many items here worth three or five Spirit Stone Spirit Stone each.

The main strategy is to operate on a low-profit, high-volume basis to attract more cultivators to participate.

Generally speaking, you can get a good result every three draws, so it's really rare to get only one Spirit Stone in ten consecutive draws like this.

"Um?"

Xiao Chen frowned slightly; he also felt that something was amiss with this result.

He immediately pulled out another hundred Spirit Stone: "Ten more times."

This time, he finally won a reward that had been specially placed there to recoup his investment, and received an item worth fourteen Spirit Stone.

"Hey, ten more times!"

"That doesn't make sense, do it ten more times."

"I failed again! I refuse to believe it, I'll try ten more times!"

Xiao Chen drew a thousand Spirit Stone in a row and won a hundred prizes.

However, all these things combined weren't even worth two hundred Spirit Stone.

This caused many of the onlookers to hesitate and not proceed.

"What's going on? Could there be no valuable reward in the box at all?"

"You know what, I also find it strange. There are so many valuable spiritual items displayed outside, but not a single one has been sold."

"If you ask me, there's definitely something fishy going on here. I saw that senior smoke it a hundred times with my own eyes, and he didn't find anything valuable."

Hearing the discussions among the crowd, the cultivators who were in charge of setting up the stall were stunned.

They admitted that the chances of winning the grand prize were actually quite low, and most cultivators would inevitably fail to recoup their losses.

But normally, it wouldn't be necessary to receive these worthless items one after another.

They didn't tamper with the box, so what happened?

"Brother, why don't we stop this fellow Daoist from continuing to draw?"

One of the monks responsible for guarding the shelves approached the stall owner and whispered in his ear, "If this continues, no one will dare to come anymore."

The stall owner was also in a dilemma. "No, if we chase people away now, it will only make it seem like we have a guilty conscience."

"The best approach now is to let this fellow Daoist continue participating and win a prize of at least several hundred Spirit Stone. Only then will others believe in us."

However, this is not an easy task.

If Xiao Chen gets angry and quits, or if they try a few more times but still can't draw anything good, their reputations will be ruined.

To be honest, the stall owner is even starting to regret it.

I should have tampered with the prize; that way, I could have secretly controlled the other person's chances of winning.

However, his concerns in this regard were clearly unnecessary.

Xiao Chen has plenty of methods; he doesn't need any help at all.

He reached out and pressed down on the box, asking, "Let me confirm first. For everything that's displayed on the back of the shelf, there's definitely a corresponding note in the box, right?"

Upon hearing this question, the stall owner hurriedly patted his chest and assured him, "That's right!"

"All the prize numbers are in the box, they match, and nothing is missing."

"Please rest assured, fellow Daoist and everyone else, we brothers are not the kind of people who would engage in deception."

That makes things easier.

Xiao Chen smiled slightly, "Now calculate how many sticks are left in this box?"

"I'll take them all!"

Fun fact: If there's no behind-the-scenes manipulation, buying all the lottery tickets guarantees you'll get the item you want.

"Ah?"

The stall owner paused for a moment. "All-inclusive?"

Is this for real?

It's worth noting that the average price of all the prizes is less than five Spirit Stone.

If someone actually takes on all the work at once, they can not only make a large profit but also finish work early.

However, this unusual situation made him instinctively suspicious.

Is there any problem?

Seeing him standing there in a daze, one of the scattered cultivators watching the scene spoke up, questioning, "You guys aren't hiding something, are you? Otherwise, why are you hesitant to agree?"

Immediately, someone chimed in, "That's right, that's right, let's open the box and check the goods!"

Seeing that things weren't going well, the stall owner immediately agreed, "Of course, no problem!"

"There are still 1,236 items left. I'll round down the total price to 12,000 Spirit Stone."

As it turned out, the numbers in the boxes did indeed match perfectly.

In other words, he really just had bad luck with the lottery before.

Xiao Chen remained silent for a moment, then quietly put away the large pile of spiritual items.

Well, at least we got the statue, didn't we?

As for the extra miscellaneous items, they can be handed over to Zhang Cunfu to dispose of when we meet again.

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen felt that he could go and see what the situation was like on the other side tomorrow.

But for now, let's examine these sculptures first.

The stall owner, who was only at the Golden Core Cultivation, clearly hadn't noticed the hidden Profound Mystery within.

Therefore, although Xiao Chen spent more than 10,000 Spirit Stone, overall he could be considered to have gotten a small bargain.

He took the sculpture back to the Xu Family and immediately began to carefully study its secrets.

To his surprise, the second sculpture contained a melody that had no beginning or end.

It sounds like a fragment that a fourth-level Sound Cultivator spontaneously recorded while comprehending the Great Dao, suddenly having a sudden inspiration.

Strange, these two sculptures are extremely similar, according to common sense.

Even their methods of concealment are the same, so they must have come from the same person.

However, the things contained within them are completely different, especially since they each carry different Dao Comprehension, making them seem as if they came from the same person.

After all, it is extremely rare for a cultivator to comprehend different Great Daos at the same time.

Based on this, it is highly likely that these two sculptures were created by a single organization, each inscribed with different insights to be passed down to future generations.

"Hmm, that doesn't seem right either."

Xiao Chen examined it again, but felt that this thing didn't seem like a legacy left for future generations.

After all, although a trace of Sword Intent and a melody remained inside, it clearly had no educational meaning whatsoever.

Moreover, if it is a senior cultivator who wants to take care of a junior, they will usually make it more detailed and easier to understand.

However, the Artistic Conception conveyed by these two sculptures clearly shows no intention to cater to future generations; rather, they seem more like a True Lord recording his own insights and reflections.

"Wait, proficient in both Flying Sword and music?"

Xiao Chen suddenly remembered a special prodigy he had read about in the Cai Family's Ancient Books a few days ago— Venerable Dai Jian.

This was Genius Cultivator who left the Ze Realm Blessed Land more than 300,000 years ago.

His most famous feature is that he simultaneously practices swordsmanship and vocal music, and always carries a fast sword and a Bamboo Flute on his left and right.

Furthermore, he liked to play a song to send off his opponents after defeating them.

The life of this Venerable Dai Jian was quite legendary; Xiao Chen remembered it vividly after reading it only once.

He was one of the few Wilderness Cultivators who displayed extraordinary talent, thus being specially recruited into the Gui Yun Sect Immortal Seedling.

It is said that he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm in just forty-nine years.

He became one of the very few exceptional geniuses to advance to the Nascent Soul Super Prodigy before the age of fifty.

Later, he went to the Holy City for training and made a name for himself, earning the nickname "Flute Sword Twin Supremacy".

He even broke through the Major Realm at the age of over three hundred years, entering the realm of the Spirit Transformation Venerable.

It is said that after becoming Venerable, he made a special trip back to the Ze Realm Blessed Land and toured his hometown thoroughly.

However, the subsequent records in the book are vague and unclear.

After all, once someone becomes Venerable, many things become difficult for outsiders to access or inquire about.

What usually circulates to the outside world are various rumors, most of which are unreliable and obviously not suitable for formal recording in family Ancient Books.

Of course, Xiao Chen wasn't too concerned about what happened next.

He suddenly remembered that this Venerable Dai Jian had made a special trip back to the area.

If that's the case, is it possible that these two spiritual items were intentionally left behind by the other party?

"Oh, could it be that..."

Xiao Chen's eyes lit up; he felt this place was definitely worth exploring further.

Although this is just speculation, continuing to investigate may not yield any results.

However, he had been waiting for news from the Cai Family about contacting a weapon refiner these past few days, so he had plenty of free time to spare.

Moreover, this is very likely something left behind by a Venerable.

If any discoveries are made, there's a high probability of substantial gains.

But where should we begin?

Xiao Chen had already read through all the books in the Cai Family, but there was no more valuable information in them.

He would have to find another way to obtain information on this matter.

Actually, there's not much to think about; I'll just go find Zhang Cunfu.

Xiao Chen remembered that he had said before that as long as you have Spirit Stone and spirit objects, you can smooth things over within the sect and secretly steal some of the internal information collected by the Gui Yun Sect.

Since that's the case, let him also make a record about Venerable Dai Jian.

After all, that Venerable Dai Jian was also a disciple of the Gui Yun Sect.

Therefore, the records within the Gui Yun Sect would inevitably be more detailed and reliable.

So the next afternoon, Xiao Chen arrived at the market ahead of time and left Secret Mark on the only way to the warehouse.

This was a marker they had specifically agreed upon last time.

Sure enough, not long after, Zhang Cunfu, having discovered the Secret Mark, quietly entered that alley.

As soon as he entered, he bowed deeply and said, "This humble one greets Senior!"

As he spoke, he turned around and bowed to everyone in front, behind, left, and right.

Although he couldn't see the person, since Xiao Chen had taken the initiative to invite him out, he must already be waiting.

Therefore, Zhang Cunfu immediately bowed, believing that it was better to be polite than not.

Where are you looking?

Xiao Chen deliberately appeared behind him, then looked him up and down. "You seem to be doing well lately, your face is glowing."

Zhang Cunfu quickly replied with a smile, "It's just because of your influence, senior."

"These past few days, while dealing with spiritual items, I unexpectedly encountered a big client and had two spiritual banquets with him."

"I was just thinking of coming to congratulate you, senior. Nearly half of the spiritual items you asked me to deal with last time have already been disposed of."

Major clients?

Where did this big client come from? Did he just appear out of nowhere?

Xiao Chen was well aware that the batch of spiritual items was extremely valuable, totaling over Ten Million Spirit Stones.

Nearly half of that would amount to around five or six million.

Therefore, he was somewhat surprised. Besides the Gui Yun Sect and the Four Great Families, were there other forces in the area?

Hmm~, it can't be the Rebellious Immortal Alliance, can it?

Curious, Xiao Chen pressed for details, asking, "What exactly happened?"

"Tell me in detail who that big client is."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cunfu immediately recounted in detail everything he had seen and heard over the past few days.

At first, it even went down to the specifics of how many dishes were eaten at each meal and what they were called.

It was only after Xiao Chen requested a simplification that the explanation became slightly more concise.

After acquiring that large batch of spiritual items last time, Zhang Cunfu began to devise a plan for how to make his move.

With the Double Jade Assembly currently underway, various private gatherings and Exchange Meet are in full swing.

So he also thought of taking advantage of this opportunity to get rid of those spirits without anyone noticing.

Therefore, Zhang Cunfu was involved in many of these Dark Market.

It was during this process that he unexpectedly encountered a cultivator who traveled around buying spiritual items.

Although both were initially masked, they became quite familiar with each other after making deals at several gatherings.

Both sides wanted to deal with the spiritual objects while simultaneously wanting to purchase them in large quantities.

So they went to Market Restaurant together to discuss cooperation.

Of course, Zhang Cunfu was initially wary, also suspicious of the other party's identity and why he would use so many spiritual objects.

But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that Senior Xiao was actually True Lord of the Rebellious Immortal Alliance.

There's no reason for our own people to sell to each other.

So he didn't suspect anything.