Baiguo City, Chengjin Trading Company.
Ten Taels of Gold carefully hid away the painting scroll in his hands.
He was thrilled, and excited.
No matter what, Hermit Qinglian's paintings were worth far more than a mere 6,666 taels of gold. The scroll in his hands could sell for at least ten thousand taels of gold.
Doubling the price would be no problem at all.
If he encountered some brain-dead Hermit Qinglian fan, he might be able to sell it for even more. Either way, he would not lose out.
As for Grand Hua Daoist and Su Changyu,
the two of them walked out of the pawnshop with banknotes in hand, their expressions dazed.
6,666 taels of gold.
For the Qingyun Dao Sect, this was an enormous sum.
Come to think of it, come to think of it, the entire Qingyun Dao Sect would need several hundred years to earn that much.
This sudden windfall left Grand Hua Daoist and Su Changyu somewhat at a loss.
They did not even know what they should do next.
"Sect Leader, what should we do next?"
Su Changyu was a little bewildered.
"First, repay our debts. Then, we'll make a trip to Secret Origin Pavilion."
Grand Hua Daoist came back to his senses and immediately sorted out his thoughts.
"Secret Origin Pavilion?"
Su Changyu was somewhat surprised.
Secret Origin Pavilion was a famous shop within Baiguo City, specializing in the sale of manuals and Magic Artifacts. Generally speaking, even Third-rank Sects rarely visited Secret Origin Pavilion.
"This money was earned for our Qingyun Dao Sect by your junior brother. As his master, I plan to buy him some manuals, then purchase some good things to nourish his body. Since he is a genius, we must do everything in our power to nurture him. After all, he is now the hope of our Qingyun Dao Sect."
"In the future, whether we rise to a Third-rank, Second-rank, or even First-rank Sect may depend on him."
Grand Hua Daoist's words made Su Changyu unable to help admiring his resourcefulness and foresight.
Before long, Grand Hua Daoist made a trip to the Sect Office. After painfully paying one hundred taels of gold, he led Su Changyu toward Secret Origin Pavilion.
After the time it took to burn an incense stick.
Grand Hua Daoist and Su Changyu arrived outside Secret Origin Pavilion.
Secret Origin Pavilion was lavishly decorated. Outside its entrance alone stood two jade-carved stone lions, constantly flaunting an air of immense wealth.
"Please come in, honored immortals."
A green-clad maid emerged from Secret Origin Pavilion. She was lovely in appearance and greeted Grand Hua Daoist and Su Changyu with a smile. There was not the slightest hint of snobbery in her, and her service attitude was excellent.
Grand Hua Daoist walked inside, with Su Changyu following behind him.
"Is this the first time the two honored immortals have visited Secret Origin Pavilion?"
The green-clad maid had tea served, followed alongside them, and asked with a gentle smile.
"Yes, it is our first time."
Grand Hua Daoist was a worldly man who had seen every sort of occasion, large and small. His expression was exceptionally composed. Though Su Changyu was somewhat nervous inside, he remained calm and unruffled on the surface.
"Then, are the two honored immortals looking to purchase Magic Artifacts or manuals?"
The green-clad maid continued asking.
"Manuals."
Grand Hua Daoist answered directly.
There was no need for Magic Artifacts or weapons for the time being. Manuals were the most urgent matter.
After all, with only what Su Changyu had, it would be easy for his deception of Ye Ping to be exposed.
"Very well. Then please follow me to the second floor, honored immortals."
The green-clad maid led the two upstairs.
"What type of cultivation manual do you require, honored immortals?"
the green-clad woman asked.
"Sword technique manuals. First-grade ones."
Grand Hua Daoist spoke boldly.
Upon hearing "First-grade," the green-clad woman's beautiful eyes lit up.
Cultivation manuals were classified in detail as unranked, third-grade, second-grade, first-grade, and transcendent-grade. Beyond transcendent-grade were manuals of another level entirely, which could not be cultivated without reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.
A first-grade sword dao manual was worth at least over a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones. This was simply a huge deal.
"Replace the tea for the two honored immortals with the finest tea."
The green-clad maid gave several servant girls a look, telling them to change the tea.
However, Grand Hua Daoist soon continued, "Only the introductory chapter."
He certainly could not afford a First-grade Complete Sword Manual, but the introductory chapter would be enough. Ye Ping had comprehended the complete Four Thunder Sword Technique from a single Sword Mark, proving his peerless aptitude. What need was there for a complete manual?
"No need to replace it."
The green-clad maid froze, then gave another look, telling the servant girls not to change the tea.
Even if an introductory sword manual was first-grade, it would not sell for many spirit stones. A so-called introductory chapter might contain only a dozen or so Sword Moves.
Still, a guest was a guest. The green-clad maid did not slight the two because of this.
Before long, the green-clad maid led Grand Hua Daoist to the Book Pavilion and began selecting sword manuals.
There were not many first-grade sword manuals. The entire Secret Origin Pavilion had only three sets.
"Honored immortal, these three sword manuals are the Three Yuan Golden Sun Sword Technique, River Sword Technique, and Seven Star Sword Technique. All three are priced at five hundred spirit stones."
The green-clad maid said this.
"Five hundred spirit stones?"
Grand Hua Daoist was somewhat stunned.
"Surely the introductory chapter of the Four Thunder Sword Technique is not this expensive?"
Grand Hua Daoist frowned. It was not that he could not bear to spend so many spirit stones; he mainly wanted to save some money to buy Ye Ping other things. It would not do to spend it all on sword manuals.
"Honored immortal, you misunderstand. The Four Thunder Sword Technique is widely circulated throughout Qingzhou, while these three sword techniques are all enhanced by secret methods, allowing the viewer to quickly comprehend the sword techniques. Thus, five hundred spirit stones per book is not expensive."
The other woman smiled lightly.
In an instant, Grand Hua Daoist fell silent.
He had thought sword techniques would be cheap. Back then, the Four Thunder Sword Technique had not been very expensive either, yet he had not expected the asking price to be five hundred low-grade spirit stones—equivalent to five thousand taels of gold.
"Of course, we are currently holding a promotional event, so we can reduce the price by fifty low-grade spirit stones."
The woman said with a smile.
Yet Grand Hua Daoist remained silent.
He hesitated for a long time.
In the end, he gritted his teeth and looked at the green-clad maid. "Which one is the strongest?"
That was what he asked.
"Honored immortal, among these three sword manuals, the River Sword Technique possesses the greatest power. Its Sword Momentum is like a river surging into the great sea, exceedingly formidable. If your disciple's aptitude is exceptional, he might even comprehend a higher-level sword technique—the Spirit Sea Sword Technique."
The green-clad maid said this.
"He can even comprehend the higher-level Spirit Sea Sword Technique?"
Grand Hua Daoist was somewhat surprised.
"Yes. The River Sword Technique is originally a simplified version of the transcendent-grade sword manual, the Spirit Sea Sword Technique. If one's aptitude is outstanding, one may perhaps comprehend the Spirit Sea Sword Technique. It is one of the three great sword techniques of the Jin Kingdom Spirit Sword Sect."
The other woman said.
In an instant, Grand Hua Daoist was astonished.
"Then we'll choose this one. By the way, do you have Qi Cultivation Pills and Qi Replenishing Pills here?"
Grand Hua Daoist asked.
"Yes. High-grade Qi Cultivation Pills cost one spirit stone each, Qi Replenishing Pills cost four for one spirit stone, mid-grade Qi Cultivation Pills cost two for one spirit stone, and low-grade Qi Cultivation Pills cost five for one spirit stone. Which kind do you require, honored immortal?"
The green-clad maid continued asking.
"High-grade. Give me fifty Qi Cultivation Pills and two hundred Qi Replenishing Pills."
Grand Hua Daoist did not think twice. Since he had money in his pocket, he did not want to buy inferior goods for Ye Ping to consume.
Medicine was poison in three parts. The better the quality, the lower the toxicity. High-grade pills would not have much adverse effect and could help Ye Ping embark upon the path of cultivation sooner.
Ye Ping's talent in the sword dao was powerful, but his cultivation talent was poor. Grand Hua Daoist understood this.
Strong sword dao talent was a good thing, but his cultivation had to keep up as well. No matter how poor it was, he should at least reach the completion of the Qi Refining Realm, right?
Against Qi Refining Realm cultivators, it would be fine—his profound sword dao attainments would allow him to fight. But if he encountered a Foundation Establishment Realm expert, he could only wait for death. Even condensing Sword Intent would be useless.
"Very well, honored immortal. Please wait a moment."
The green-clad maid did not waste words. In less than a moment, she had prepared everything.
The total came to five hundred and fifty spirit stones, equivalent to 5,500 taels of gold in banknotes.
Before leaving, Grand Hua Daoist gritted his teeth and also bought two Cold Iron Swords. They were not Magic Artifacts, merely top-grade mortal weapons, and he bargained their price down from five hundred taels of gold to 466 taels.
At this moment, Grand Hua Daoist had only six hundred taels of gold left in hand.
But after walking out of Secret Origin Pavilion,
Grand Hua Daoist suddenly remembered something.
Before you continue