Blood Toad Wood Leaf

"A very fair price?"

Yu Yan and the youth were both stunned, their jaws nearly dropping to the ground!

There was actually a fool willing to spend fifty thousand Small Coins to buy a leaf; this kid really didn't know the goods!

The youth's mouth hung open, drool trickling from the corners, his heart filled with wild joy. He had truly met a fat sheep today! He quickly said, "This Young Master truly has the Fiery Eyes of Truth, a piercing gaze that commands admiration! To be honest, the true value of this leaf definitely exceeds... one hundred thousand Small Coins. Sell it on, and you, Young Master, will purely earn tens of thousands of Small Coins. Impressive, admirable! Young Master, shall I wrap it up for you?"

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Not so fast. First, tell me where you picked this leaf, and I'll immediately give you the fifty thousand Small Coins."

This leaf was naturally not worth fifty thousand Small Coins, but it wasn't an ordinary leaf either.

It was a leaf of the Blood Toad Wood! Blood Toad Wood was a type of Profound Spirit Wood that could be used in medicine.

Although its value wasn't as high as Gold Thread Purple Wood, it was still extremely expensive.

An ounce of Blood Toad Wood could roughly sell for an ounce of Azure Gold.

In other words, the price of Blood Toad Wood was as high as Azure Gold.

In the Yulan Empire, there were often legends of Martial Practitioners finding a branch of Blood Toad Wood and becoming wealthy beyond compare after selling it.

Blood Toad Wood was extremely rare and difficult to identify. Many Martial Practitioners might even pass by Blood Toad Wood without recognizing its value.

Only Heart Nourishers familiar with Profound Medicines and Profound Woods could detect the extraordinary nature of Blood Toad Wood through their keen senses.

Ning Xiaochuan had seen a picture of Blood Toad Wood in the Profound Spirit Wood Compendium of the Marquis's Mansion, along with a detailed record of it. That was why he was able to recognize the Blood Toad Wood leaf on the stall at a glance.

Profound Spirit Wood didn't specifically refer to one type of wood, but rather a classification of all precious divine woods. They were rare treasures, hard to come by.

The value of Profound Spirit Wood was higher than Azure Gold and Profound Stones.

The Profound Spirit Wood Compendium recorded forty-seven types of Profound Spirit Wood, among which the value of some even exceeded Gold Thread Purple Wood.

Blood Toad Wood was considered a Profound Spirit Wood with a lower ranking in the Profound Spirit Wood Compendium.

Of course, the forty-seven types of Profound Spirit Wood recorded in the Profound Spirit Wood Compendium weren't all of them. Many more Profound Spirit Woods hadn't been recorded and were waiting to be discovered by later generations.

With a Blood Toad Wood leaf right in front of him, Ning Xiaochuan was naturally quite excited. If he could find a Blood Toad Wood Tree, he would truly become rich overnight, and perhaps even be able to gather enough money to redeem Yu Ningsheng.

However, Ning Xiaochuan still maintained a calm expression, instructing Yu Yan to take out five hundred large Silver Coins and place them in front of the youth, saying, "Stall owner, as long as you tell me where this leaf was picked, these five hundred large Silver Coins are yours."

The five hundred large Silver Coins were placed on the ground by Ning Xiaochuan, their light dazzling. Even the stall owners around them turned their gazes over, their eyes filled with greed, constantly swallowing saliva.

The youth was also swallowing saliva.

He had been setting up a stall here since he was eight years old, swindling and deceiving. Although he had succeeded at times, the most he had ever earned was eight thousand Small Coins. That time, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep for days.

This time, it was fifty thousand Small Coins!

"I... I... won't sell it!" The youth finally restrained himself.

Just kidding, someone was actually willing to spend fifty thousand Small Coins to buy a leaf, which meant that this leaf definitely had an extraordinary origin. Maybe fifty thousand Small Coins was just a drop in the bucket compared to the leaf's true value.

Sell it? Only an idiot would sell it.

Ning Xiaochuan wasn't surprised at all. He smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Buying and selling is about mutual consent. Since you're unwilling, then forget it."

Under the youth's fixed gaze, Ning Xiaochuan collected the five hundred large Silver Coins again and left the stall.

The young man saw that Ning Xiaochuan was so straightforward and didn't even try to keep him, his heart suddenly skipped a beat again, and he began to regret it. That was 50,000 Small Coins! In the end, the young man didn't chase after Ning Xiaochuan. He wrapped up the straw mat, held the leaf in his palm, and hurriedly left the street, running to the Profound Leaf Abode to have the shopkeeper of the Profound Leaf Abode appraise the value of the leaf.

Ning Xiaochuan brought Yu Yan to a magnificent wine shop in Nanshan Village, sitting by the window on the second floor, preparing to have lunch.

The wine shop was built in a very antique style, receiving Martial Practitioners from all over the world, many of whom were young talents who wanted to make a name for themselves in the Imperial City.

The most discussed topic was the "Heavenly Emperor Academy."

The Heavenly Emperor Academy only admitted students once every five years, naturally making countless geniuses yearn for it. Once admitted to the Heavenly Emperor Academy, it would truly be like a carp leaping over the dragon gate, and becoming a world-renowned powerhouse would be just around the corner.

They were all talented individuals with dreams!

"Young Master, why did you spend 50,000 Small Coins to buy a leaf? Why did that young man suddenly refuse to sell it? Why didn't you try to persuade him when he refused to sell it?" Yu Yan had wanted to ask these questions all along the way, and she finally asked them now.

She had never thought of herself as stupid. At least when she was in the Jade Viewing Pavilion, she learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting very quickly, and her skills far surpassed those of the Musician Courtesans.

But after being with Ning Xiaochuan, she always felt that her brain was not sharp enough, and she had become a little dull, completely unable to guess what the Young Master, who was not much older than her, was thinking. Ning Xiaochuan asked Yu Yan to sit down, but Yu Yan was unwilling. There was no reason for a servant girl to sit at the same table as her Master, but under Ning Xiaochuan's command, she finally sat down apprehensively, but dared not raise her head.

Ning Xiaochuan propped open the window lattice of the wine shop, glanced at the street below, and said with a faint smile, "There will be results soon."

Below the wine shop.

The poorly dressed young man hurried out of the Profound Leaf Abode, looking very anxious, grabbing people on the roadside and asking about Ning Xiaochuan's whereabouts.

Someone pointed him in the direction of the wine shop, and then he ran over quickly.

"Damn it, since the shopkeeper of the Profound Leaf Abode said that this leaf is not a Profound Medicine, then it definitely isn't a Profound Medicine. I regret it! If I had known, I would have sold this leaf to that sucker. I don't know if that guy will still buy it now." The young man was extremely regretful, as if his wife had run away with someone, regretting so much that his intestines turned green.

He rushed into the wine shop in a hurry, looking around for Ning Xiaochuan's figure.

He didn't know that just as he rushed out of the Profound Leaf Abode, the shopkeeper of the Profound Leaf Abode walked out, staring at his departing back with a gloomy expression. He slightly beckoned, and a burly Martial Practitioner walked over.

"Go and follow him!" The shopkeeper of the Profound Leaf Abode whispered in the Martial Practitioner's ear, and then walked back into the Profound Leaf Abode.

All of this was naturally seen by Ning Xiaochuan, who was sitting on the second floor, and he just shook his head and smiled, "There are really too many greedy people."

Yu Yan also looked out the window, curiously saying, "Young Master, who are you talking about?"

Ning Xiaochuan looked at the Wine Cup on the table and smiled without saying a word.

"Dong, dong!"

A series of footsteps! "Benefactor! Master! I've finally found you." The young man rushed up, panting, and leaned on the table, gasping for breath.

Ning Xiaochuan naturally saw him coming upstairs, picked up the Wine Cup, gently took a sip, and pretended to be surprised, "Vendor, are you looking for me?"

The young man nodded vigorously, then took out the Blood Toad Wood Leaf, carefully placed it on the table, with a solemn expression on his face, and said, "Now, can I sell you this Divine Leaf?"

Ning Xiaochuan smiled and said, "Then why didn't you sell it just now?"

The young man said solemnly, "The time wasn't right just now. Naturally, for such a big deal, you have to choose an auspicious day. I specially asked Three-Fingered Lin from the village entrance to perform a divination, and now is the auspicious day. If you miss this time, you will have to wait another year. Benefactor! Buy it quickly! If you don't act now, you will miss the auspicious day."

The young man stared at Ning Xiaochuan expectantly, afraid that Ning Xiaochuan would become enlightened and not buy it.

Ning Xiaochuan still sat there steadily, paused, and smiled, "How should I address this brother?"

The youth was anxious and spoke with conviction, "My name isn't pleasant to hear, esteemed person, please don't ask. Let's finalize the deal first, then talk about names, alright?"

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Then sit down and have a cup of wine. We can discuss the deal slowly."

The youth steeled himself and said, "Alright! For the sake of this auspicious day, I'll sell it for only thirty thousand Small Coins, is that okay?"

Ning Xiaochuan glanced slightly at the Blood Toad Wood Leaf on the table and said, "It's not a matter of price."

The youth was in extreme pain and gritted his teeth, saying, "Then ten thousand Small Coins!" Immediately, he knelt on the ground, his eyes full of tears, and said, "Esteemed person! I swear to the Heavens, this leaf is worth at least... one hundred thousand Small Coins. If it weren't for my seriously ill grandfather at home, I wouldn't sell it to you cheaply for ten thousand Small Coins. I really need the money urgently and just want to get it quickly to treat my old father!"

Earlier, when he went to the Profound Leaf Abode shopkeeper for appraisal, the shopkeeper had told him that this leaf was worth at most eighty Small Coins.

If he could sell it for ten thousand Small Coins, that would be a huge profit.

The Young Master thought to himself.

This youth was full of nonsense, so naturally Ning Xiaochuan didn't believe a single word of it, and said, "Alright then! I'll buy this leaf, but you have to tell me, where did you pick this leaf? If you can personally take me there, then I'll buy this leaf at the original price. What do you think?"

The youth's eyes lit up and he asked, "What's the original price?"

"Fifty thousand Small Coins!" Ning Xiaochuan held up five fingers.

The youth originally thought that being able to sell it for ten thousand Small Coins would already be a stroke of luck, but he didn't expect that this sucker was actually willing to spend fifty thousand Small Coins to buy it!

Damn, a sucker, this is definitely a sucker!