Deluded Chan

The Immortal Encounter Sect had an elder named Gongye Lan.

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

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

In terms of fame, it was no less renowned than the Flying Sword of the White Emperor's Legacy. In terms of status, it was one of the six Flying Swords that guarded the Immortal Encounter Sect.

Cultivators classified throwing knives, Flying Hooks, Flying Forks, Flying Axes, Sword Pellets, and the like as variant Flying Swords.

Chen Ganliu had once been fortunate enough to glimpse Elder Gongye from afar. He had also seen this elder wearing the saber at her waist, but he could not understand why it had appeared in the Suiyang Immortal Market.

"Surely Elder Gongye's Azure Luan Saber wasn't also bought in the Suiyang Immortal Market?"

"No, that can't be!"

"I heard back then that Elder Gongye had swept across the world with this saber for several centuries, her fame undiminished. The Azure Luan Saber had never left her side. The timing simply doesn't match!"

Curious, Chen Ganliu approached and pointed at the short saber. "How much for this saber?"

The owner of the stall was a middle-aged man with a ferret face and rat eyes. His complexion was waxen yellow, and his eyes darted slyly. He looked nothing like a good man. Seeing Chen Ganliu ask the price, he said arrogantly, "This is the supreme Flying Sword of the Daoist school. Don't bother asking unless you have twenty thousand spirit stones."

Chen Ganliu rubbed his nose, his face turning awkward. If this truly was Gongye Lan's Azure Luan, twenty thousand spirit stones would not be expensive at all. But forget twenty thousand—even two thousand was beyond him. He had only a hundred and thirty-some spirit stones, a small portion from Ling Xiaozi's "hush money" and the rest from "merit." He was just about to awkwardly walk away.

Seeing that Chen Ganliu had not even tried to bargain, the ferret-faced man grew slightly anxious and said, "This saber is a divine treasure. I can see that you are fated to it as well. Why don't you name a price and see whether you can form this good affinity?"

Chen Ganliu hesitated for a moment, then actually offered a price. "How about twenty spirit stones?"

The ferret-faced man immediately cried out, "Young brother, you truly are fated to this divine treasure. I'll sell it to you, then."

Chen Ganliu instantly came to his senses and cursed inwardly. I'm far too greedy. How could Elder Gongye Lan's weapon possibly be in the Suiyang Immortal Market?

"If he's willing to sell it for twenty spirit stones, it must unquestionably be a fake."

He still had some quick wits about him and hurriedly said, "Excellent, excellent. It's just that I don't have enough spirit stones on hand. I'll go find my elder sister and ask her for a few."

Chen Ganliu spun around, intending to escape. After leaving, he naturally would not ask Chen Qing to lend him spirit stones. He would only hide back in his quarters to avoid being pestered by this man.

Forget twenty spirit stones—even twenty Talisman Coins would be too much to pay for a fake.

Seeing him about to leave, the ferret-faced man hurried forward and grabbed Chen Ganliu. "How many spirit stones do you have? Pay a deposit first."

"A divine treasure like this is hard to find in the world. Someone might take a fancy to it the moment you turn around. By the time you return from borrowing spirit stones, it may already be sold."

"Leave a few spirit stones as a deposit, and I'll hold this divine saber for you instead of selling it to anyone else."

Chen Ganliu became even more certain that he had encountered a swindler and hurriedly said, "What a coincidence—I didn't bring any spirit stones. I only have some Talisman Coins."

The ferret-faced man immediately changed his tune. "Talisman Coins will do as well."

Unable to shake the man off, Chen Ganliu could only change the subject. "The other things you have look quite good too. How much are they?"

The ferret-faced man's eyes lit up, and he could not hide the delight on his face. "Thirty spirit stones. I'll sell the whole lot to you."

Chen Ganliu cursed inwardly and hurriedly deflected the subject, making one excuse after another.

The ferret-faced man had been in this line of work for a long time. He could tell that Chen Ganliu was genuinely tempted, so he refused to let go no matter what. The two of them haggled and wrestled for more than half an hour before the man finally left with a broad grin.

Chen Ganliu held seven magic treasures in his arms, on the verge of tears.

He was certain that he had been swindled. Otherwise, how could something priced at twenty thousand spirit stones have been sold to him for seventy Talisman Coins—with six more treasures thrown in?

The ferret-faced man's gift for persuasion was truly formidable. In his three lifetimes as a person, Chen Ganliu had never encountered a tongue so nimble and slick. He had been rendered speechless, and the man had even probed out his circumstances before forcibly selling the goods to him.

Chen Ganliu closed his eyes. His heart ached terribly. After calming himself for a while, he thought, At least it wasn't too expensive. I can afford to lose seventy Talisman Coins.

But next time, I absolutely must not ask prices at random.

Although he comforted himself, Chen Ganliu's heart still ached. Before taking Ling Xiaozi's hush money and earning "seventeen merits," seventy Talisman Coins would have represented the profits from two or three months of painstaking talisman drawing. Yet in the blink of an eye, someone had swindled it all away from him.

Chen Ganliu also knew that he had been willing to fall for it because a glimmer of hope remained in his heart. After all, this short saber looked far too much like Elder Gongye Lan's weapon. He could not help imagining that perhaps, just perhaps, it was genuine.

He sighed and stopped wandering around the immortal market. In low spirits, he left the Suiyang Immortal Market and found a wooded mountain outside it. There, he chopped down dozens of logs, planning to build chairs for the two young women, and only then returned directly to Chen Qing's quarters.

Not long after he returned, Chen Qing came rushing back. The moment she saw him, she said, "Do you know that something major has happened?"

Chen Ganliu thought, Did Chen Qing find out that I was swindled?

Chen Qing did not keep him in suspense. "The Demonic Cultivator who was slaughtering people in the Suiyang Immortal Market broke into the Immortal Encounter Sect's mountain gate. The two sides are now engaged in a great battle. They say the battle has darkened heaven and earth, silenced the sun and moon, and killed many people in the Immortal Encounter Sect."

"The news only just reached us, and more than half the cultivators in our Suiyang Immortal Market have already dispersed."

Chen Ganliu was startled and thought, So that event really happened after all.

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

"Could she be in danger?"

Although Chen Ganliu knew that in his previous life, Senior Sister had not died at the hands of that Demonic Cultivator, after all, they had shared several decades of husband-and-wife affection. He could not help worrying a little.

It was just that his cultivation was too low, and there was no way he could meddle in this affair.

Senior Sister was at least a Golden Core Great Cultivator. Could a tiny Qi Refining Layer One cultivator like him possibly play the hero and save the beauty?

Seeing the seven "magic treasures" in his hands, Chen Qing could not help saying, "Our family sells magic treasures. Why did you have to buy them outside? Aren't you just wasting money?"

After saying this, Chen Qing's face reddened slightly. She also knew that the two of them had merely banded together for mutual support and could not truly be said to share any special feelings. Besides, Chen Ganliu looked no more than ten years old. How could she possibly discipline him?

Yet she still felt a little indignant inside and kept thinking, If he wanted to buy magic treasures, why didn't he buy them from me?

Chen Ganliu wore an awkward expression and said, "The seller was eager to get rid of them, so these few things were extremely cheap—only a few Talisman Coins. I thought of how hard Sister Chen works refining magic treasures and wanted to try buying low and selling high. If I could resell them, wouldn't that spare Sister Chen some effort?"

Only then did Chen Qing's expression improve slightly. She casually picked up the short saber and tried to draw it to inspect its quality, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not pull it free.

Chen Ganliu's face reddened, and he thought, I thought it would at least be an ordinary weapon. I never expected it to be nothing but a prop. The sheath and blade must be one piece—it probably doesn't even have an edge.

Chen Qing also grew suspicious when she failed to draw the short saber. "Why can't this saber be drawn?"

Chen Ganliu still refused to give up. He took it, activated the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art, and pulled with all his strength. A pale golden rainbow of light shot forth from his hand.