Green Jade Pendant

Ye Qin picked up the palm-sized cyan jade pendant and examined it.

The pendant was archaic in appearance, pale cyan in color, and had a heavy weight to it; it was clearly a piece with some age.

Of course, the appearance of the jade was not what mattered. What mattered was that he could faintly sense a familiar spiritual energy within this cyan pendant, much like the spiritual energy found in Cyan Rock.

"This cyan jade pendant was purchased from a down-and-out wanderer from Ping Province. It is the rule of our Treasure Gang not to inquire about the origins of items. This jade is quite peculiar; when placed in water, it produces a faint, misty shadow, making it quite a sight to behold. I shall have someone bring over a basin of clear water so you may observe it, young brother Ye."

Seeing Ye Qin pick up the pendant, Elder Huang introduced it before clapping his hands. A burly man in tight-fitting clothes standing outside the door immediately followed orders and brought in a basin of clear water.

Elder Huang smiled and said, "Please, young brother, place the jade into the water!"

Ye Qin followed suit, placing the cyan jade into the wooden basin and watching with great interest. After a short while, the ripples in the basin calmed completely, and sure enough, a faint, misty shadow was reflected in the clear water, appearing to sway continuously.

Even with Ye Qin's composed nature, he could not help but exclaim in admiration.

Elder Huang explained with a hint of pride: "The wonder of this cyan jade lies in its ability to manifest a misty shadow in clear water. A jade that floats a misty shadow implies it contains rare spirituality. Just by its appearance, it is no ordinary item and holds great aesthetic value. This cyan jade is well worth twenty gold leaves."

Ye Qin pondered for a moment. Whether it looked good or not was irrelevant; he used it to cultivate spiritual herbs with spirit stones anyway. Weighing the cyan jade in his hand, he decided to accept it and said, "Then I shall trade this Clear Heart Pill for this cyan jade pendant. I wonder if Elder Huang has any more such jade?"

Elder Huang shook his head: "Such a peculiar piece of jade is rare enough to find one; where would one find a second?"

A flicker of disappointment crossed Ye Qin's face, though he quickly returned to normal. After all, finding even one such piece of jade was already quite good. If he had to search for such jade in the deep mountains and wilderness himself, he might not find one even after a month or two.

Elder Huang had always considered his business dealings fair. Money had to be made, but only the money that was rightfully earned. In terms of value, this cyan jade was worth at most ten gold leaves, far less than the hundred gold leaves a single Clear Heart Pill commanded.

Trading a ten-gold-leaf cyan jade for a hundred-gold-leaf Clear Heart Pill—a price difference of ten times—was a massive loss for the seller. That was something he, Huang Jinhu, could not bring himself to do. Usually, he only made a profit of one or two times the cost.

Elder Huang added: "Since you have taken a fancy to this cyan jade, young brother, I shall value it at twenty gold leaves and sell it to you. As for the Clear Heart Pill, I shall purchase it for fifty gold leaves. The difference is thirty gold leaves. Would you like to pick out another small treasure, or would you prefer the cash directly?"

Ye Qin did not take a liking to any of the other treasures. He handed the pill bottle containing the Clear Heart Pill to Elder Huang, then unceremoniously accepted the small money bag containing thirty gold leaves.

Elder Huang felt delighted. He had made a profit of sixty gold leaves on this exchange. It was not often that he could make so much on a single transaction.

However, Elder Huang could never have imagined that the joy in Ye Qin's heart far exceeded his own. To others, this cyan jade might merely be a piece with high aesthetic value and no other special use, but to him, it was something he urgently needed.

Ye Qin estimated that this cyan jade could cultivate at least several dozen stalks of Dew-Falling Grass, enough to last him for ten days to half a month. The cultivation of the second level of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness, which had been interrupted for several days, could finally resume.

Ye Qin tucked the cyan jade into his pouch and adjusted his bamboo hat: "Elder Huang, if you come across any more jade filled with spiritual energy, regardless of the type, please be sure to keep it. This Humble One will use Clear Heart Pills to trade for them in the future; I will never let you suffer a loss!"

Elder Huang was startled: "What? You still have more Clear Heart Pills?"

Ye Qin said calmly: "Indeed. I never said I only had one Clear Heart Pill."

Elder Huang's heart immediately sank. If there were only one, selling it for a hundred gold leaves would be no problem, but if several more appeared, the price would drop significantly.

After all, this was merely a top-tier medicine for "recovering from cultivation deviation," not a supreme holy medicine for "increasing internal energy."

Only a few large gangs would buy a Clear Heart Pill to keep on hand.

Small and medium-sized gangs used mid-grade or high-grade recovery medicines produced by the Medicine King Gang. Ordinary wanderers mostly used low-grade recovery medicines. Therefore, if the quantity of Clear Heart Pills increased, they would not fetch a very high price.

He had thought that having one Clear Heart Pill in the hands of this man in black was already a stroke of luck. He never expected that this person had more, and judging by his tone, likely quite a few.

"I wonder how many Clear Heart Pills you have, brother? I am willing to purchase them all at a high price!" Elder Huang gave a bitter smile. Even a master hunter could sometimes be pecked by a goose. If this were the case, he had better buy all the Clear Heart Pills from this mysterious man in black to control the auction price.

"There are four or five more. They were passed down by my family, and since they are of no use to me, I brought them out to trade for items. However, I do not want money; I want jade. I hope Elder Huang can accommodate me. As long as there is such jade, I will trade it for Clear Heart Pills."

Ye Qin did not want Elder Huang to know his identity, so he deliberately muddied the waters by fabricating a non-existent family background.

A family? Elder Huang seemed to think of something, startled, and looked at Ye Qin with hesitation. Was this man in black a disciple of some family in Ping Province?

"Very well. My Treasure Gang has no shortage of rare jades and strange stones; I should be able to find the kind of jade you want. I will try my best to find some. Here is a Treasure Token, which only the most distinguished guests of the Treasure Gang may hold. In the future, just bring this token to find me, or show it to any disciple of the Treasure Gang, and they will bring you to see me."

Elder Huang was distracted by his thoughts. He took out a small, golden token the size of a middle finger. His demeanor no longer held the arrogance of a senior speaking to a junior.

Ye Qin accepted the Treasure Token and, as he was leaving, added: "Elder Huang, besides jade with spiritual energy, if you have any rare herbs or formulas for rare herbs, I will trade for those as well. I will return in a few days."

Not long after Ye Qin left, a young man and woman emerged from the guest room on the left and walked into Elder Huang's room.

The white-clad youth, whose face was as handsome as jade, said with great confusion: "Master, why did you give the Treasure Token to that mysterious man in black? Our gang only has a few dozen of these tokens. His martial arts seem quite ordinary; his footwork is weak and unstable. He is nothing more than a third-rate wanderer."

Elder Huang's expression had already returned to a cold, stern state. He snorted coldly: "A third-rate wanderer? Ma Yu, I have told you before, your experience in the martial arts world is too shallow. His breath-concealing technique is so profound that even I, a top-tier expert, cannot discern the depth of his cultivation. Yet you dismiss him so lightly. Do not think that because you are one of the top ten young experts of the Treasure Gang, you can look down on the heroes of Ping Province. There are many experts you have yet to encounter!"

"Could his light-body technique be better than my Wind-Riding Art?" The white-clad youth named Ma Yu, hearing his master's high praise for the man in black, was clearly indignant. He immediately strode out of the guest room to track Ye Qin.

"Foolish, come back!"

Elder Huang's expression changed, and he shouted to stop Ma Yu.

But there was no stopping him. In the blink of an eye, Ma Yu had left the inn and disappeared from sight.

The girl in red was also curious and asked: "Master, is that man in black really that powerful? Senior Brother is a first-rate expert. Zhuqi County is not a significant place; where would a top-tier expert comparable to you come from?"

"There shouldn't be one in Zhuqi County, but there are plenty in all of Ping Province. Although our top ten gangs in Ping Province are full of experts, we have not yet reached the point of looking down on the entire province. That man in black keeps his aura restrained; I couldn't even feel his externalized true energy. He must be hiding a great deal of his cultivation. I fear his true strength is not much weaker than mine. Otherwise, would I have so easily given him the Treasure Token!? Hong'er, do not be as arrogant and reckless as your senior brother, or you will suffer a great loss one day."

Elder Huang shook his head in worry.

Those who go, return. After the time it takes to eat a meal, Ma Yu returned to the inn with a dark, gloomy face. One look at his expression revealed that his tracking attempt had clearly yielded nothing; he had gained no advantage.

Elder Huang did not blame Ma Yu this time, but instead carefully questioned him about the process and details of the tracking, scrutinizing every point. Ma Yu, ashamed and embarrassed, said that he had only followed the man in black to a small, dense forest southwest of the county town before losing sight of him. As for how the man had shaken him off, he never figured it out.

Elder Huang's expression was heavy as he waved for Ma Yu to leave the room. Losing the man in black was within his expectations.

He paced back and forth in the room, slowly falling into deep thought.

That man in black possessed four or five top-tier Clear Heart Pills, claimed to be from some family, and demanded to trade for jade with spiritual energy and rare herbs. His movements were extremely secretive. Everything was so familiar, stirring up memories that had been buried for twenty years.

At that time, he was not yet the Great Elder of the Treasure Gang, but merely an outstanding young disciple who had once followed the then-leader of the Treasure Gang to pay a visit to an extremely mysterious family in Ping Province.