Deluded Zen

In the Immortal Encounter Sect, there was an elder named Gongye Lan.

This female elder possessed a treasured saber known as the Azure Luan Saber.

At the time, several young disciples in the sect had mentioned that the Azure Luan was one of the seven great sabers in the world.

In terms of renown, it was no less than the Flying Sword of the White Emperor's Legacy, and in terms of status, it was one of the six sect-protecting Flying Swords of the Immortal Encounter Sect.

Cultivators classify items like Flying Sabers, Flying Hooks, Flying Forks, Flying Axes, and Sword Pellets as a special type of Flying Sword.

Chen Ganliu was fortunate enough to have seen Elder Gongye from afar once. He had also seen this elder wearing the saber at her waist, but he couldn't understand why this saber would appear in the Suiyang Immortal Market.

"It couldn't be that Elder Gongye's Azure Luan Saber was also bought from the Suiyang Immortal Market, could it?"

"That's not right!"

"I heard back then that Elder Gongye wielded this saber to roam for hundreds of years, her fame never waning. The Azure Luan Saber never left her side. The timing just doesn't match!"

Chen Ganliu, filled with curiosity, shuffled closer and pointed at the short saber, asking, "How much are you selling this saber for?"

The owner of the stall was a middle-aged man with a shifty, rat-like appearance. His skin was sallow, and his eyes darted around suspiciously. He looked like a scoundrel. Seeing Chen Ganliu inquire about the price, he arrogantly declared, "This is a supreme Daoist Flying Sword. Without twenty thousand Spirit Stones, don't even bother asking."

Chen Ganliu rubbed his nose, a sheepish grin on his face. If it were truly Elder Gongye Lan's Azure Luan, twenty thousand Spirit Stones wouldn't be expensive at all. However, forget twenty thousand, he didn't even have two thousand. He only had a little over a hundred and thirty Spirit Stones, a small portion of which came from Ling Xiaozi's "hush money," and the rest from "merit." Just as he was about to leave sheepishly.

The rat-like man, seeing that he wasn't even bargaining, felt a slight impatience. He said, "This saber is a divine artifact. I see you have a connection with it. Why don't you make an offer and see if we can forge this fated connection."

Chen Ganliu hesitated for a moment and actually quoted a price: "How about twenty Spirit Stones?"

The rat-like man immediately exclaimed, "Little brother, you truly are destined for this divine artifact. I shall sell it to you."

Chen Ganliu snapped back to reality, inwardly lamenting, I was too greedy. How could the Suiyang Immortal Market possibly have Elder Gongye Lan's personal weapon?

"He's willing to sell it for twenty Spirit Stones? This must be a fake, no doubt."

He managed to think quickly and hastily said, "Excellent, excellent. It's just that I don't have enough Spirit Stones on me. I'll go find my sister and ask her for a few."

Chen Ganliu turned abruptly, intending to escape. After leaving, he certainly wouldn't go ask Chen Qing for Spirit Stones; he would just hide back in his humble dwelling to avoid being pestered by this man.

Never mind twenty Spirit Stones, even twenty Talisman Coins wouldn't be worth buying a fake.

The rat-like man saw him about to leave and quickly stepped forward, grabbing Chen Ganliu's arm. "How many Spirit Stones do you have? Pay a deposit first."

"Such a divine artifact is hard to find in this world. Someone else might take a liking to it any moment. While you're gone borrowing Spirit Stones, it might be bought by someone else."

"Leave a few Spirit Stones as a deposit, and I'll keep this divine saber for you, not selling it to anyone else."

Chen Ganliu was even more convinced he had encountered a scammer. He quickly said, "Unfortunately, I don't have any Spirit Stones on me, only some Talisman Coins."

The rat-like man immediately changed his tune. "Talisman Coins will do."

Chen Ganliu, annoyed by the persistence, could only change the subject. "I noticed your other items are also quite impressive. What are their prices?"

The rat-like man's eyes lit up, his joy almost impossible to conceal. "Thirty Spirit Stones for all of them, I'll sell them to you together."

Chen Ganliu inwardly groaned, quickly trying to change the subject, but only managing to make excuses.

The rat-like man, experienced in such dealings, could tell Chen Ganliu was somewhat tempted. He refused to let go, and the two of them haggled for over half an hour. Finally, the man, with a chuckle, walked away.

Chen Ganliu held seven Magic Treasures, on the verge of tears.

He was convinced he had been swindled. Otherwise, why would something priced at twenty thousand Spirit Stones be sold to him for seventy Talisman Coins? And he even got six extra treasures?

The rat-like man's eloquence was truly formidable. In his three lives, Chen Ganliu had never met anyone with such a quick and agile tongue. He was rendered speechless and was even probed by the man, who then forcefully sold him the items.

Chen Ganliu closed his eyes, his chest aching. After calming his emotions for a while, he thought, It's not too expensive, seventy Talisman Coins. I can afford to lose that.

But I shouldn't have carelessly quoted a price next time.

Despite consoling himself, Chen Ganliu still felt the sting. Before he had received Ling Xiaozi's hush money and before he had accumulated "seventeen instances of merit," seventy Talisman Coins represented two to three months of his hard work drawing talismans to earn profit. Now, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone, swindled away.

Chen Ganliu also knew that he fell for it because he still held onto a sliver of hope. After all, the short saber looked too much like Elder Gongye Lan's personal weapon. He couldn't dismiss the possibility entirely.

He sighed and decided not to browse the Immortal Market anymore. Dejected, he left the Suiyang Immortal Market, found a patch of forest outside the market, chopped down dozens of logs, intending to make chairs for the two young girls, and then returned directly to Chen Qing's humble dwelling.

He had barely returned when Chen Qing rushed back. Seeing him, she said, "Do you know something major has happened?"

Chen Ganliu thought, Is it about me being scammed? Did Sister Chen find out?

Chen Qing didn't beat around the bush. "A Demonic Cultivator who was indiscriminately killing people in the Suiyang Immortal Market has stormed the Immortal Encounter Sect's mountain gate. The two sides are currently in a fierce battle. It's said the battle is so intense that the heavens are darkened and the sun and moon are dim. The Immortal Encounter Sect has suffered many casualties."

"The news just arrived, and most of the cultivators in our Suiyang Immortal Market have already scattered."

Chen Ganliu was startled and thought, That event has finally happened.

"Hmm, I wonder if Senior Sister... "

"Will be in danger?"

Although Chen Ganliu knew that in his previous life, Senior Sister had not died at the hands of that Demonic Cultivator, their decades of marital affection still made him somewhat worried.

However, his cultivation was too low; he couldn't possibly get involved in this.

Senior Sister was a Golden Core cultivator, after all. What could he, a mere Qi Refining Layer One novice, do? Could he really play the hero and save the damsel?

Chen Qing saw him holding seven "Magic Treasures" and couldn't help but say, "Our family sells Magic Treasures. Why would you buy them from outside? Isn't that just wasting money?"

After saying this, Chen Qing's face flushed slightly. She knew that they were merely sticking together for mutual support, and there wasn't any particularly special affection between them. Moreover, Chen Ganliu looked like he was only about ten years old, so how could she possibly manage him?

However, she felt a slight sense of indignation, thinking, If you're going to buy Magic Treasures, why not buy them from me?

Chen Ganliu's face flushed with embarrassment as he said, "The seller was in a hurry to get rid of them, so these items were very cheap, only a few Talisman Coins. I thought Sister Chen worked hard refining Magic Treasures, so I wanted to try buying low and selling high. If I could resell them, wouldn't that allow Sister Chen to worry less?"

Chen Qing's expression softened slightly. She casually picked up the short saber and tried to draw it out to inspect its quality, but she couldn't pull it out no matter how hard she tried.

Chen Ganliu's face turned red. He thought to himself, I thought it would at least be a mundane weapon, but I didn't expect it to be just for show, probably a single piece with the sheath and blade fused together, without even an edge.

Unable to draw the short saber, Chen Qing also felt suspicious and asked, "Why can't this saber be drawn out?"

Chen Ganliu, still unwilling to give up, took it back and activated the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art, pulling with all his might. A faint golden light shot out, responding to his effort.