Translator: Lordbluefire
Editor: Lordbluefire
“Hmm, I remember Xia Yuan’s progress in the martial path is crippled due to an internal injury,” Xia Qingchen quietly mused.
In his memories, at the start, Xia Yuan’s cultivation base had surpassed Xia Xun’s. But later on, he somehow suffered an internal injury that caused his cultivation speed to slow and he was eventually surpassed by Xia Xun.
It was one thing if he didn’t encounter the Thunderfire Char. But now that he saw it, he would naturally buy it and cure the internal injury that had plagued Xia Yuan for many years, helping him to recover his cultivation.
But he only had a single divine scroll.
If he purchased the Thunderfire Char, he would no longer be able to purchase the ingredients needed for the Dragonblood Powder.
After contemplating for a while, Xia Qingchen asked the person in charge of the counter, “If I use the divine scroll to exchange for the Thunderfire Char, can I use other items to exchange for the ingredients needed for the Dragonblood Powder?”
The things in the Shrine’s collection were never up for sale.
But it was possible to do an exchange using things of equal value.
The person-in-charge was a white-haired old man with protruding eyes.
Ever since Xia Qingchen had arrived at the counter, the old man had been looking down at his abacus and had not even cast a straight glance at Xia Qingchen. He was extraordinarily proud.
“The Shrine only collects rare and valuable items. You don’t need to take out any ordinary stuff.” The long-robed old man inclined his head and glanced at Xia Qingchen. After that, he seemed indifferent and continued to lower his head to do his own stuff.
His attitude was extremely nasty and made people feel very uncomfortable.
Xia Qingchen calmly glanced at him, “I’m selling a martial skill.”
He had reigned supreme throughout the galaxy and defeated countless enemies. The number of martial skills he collected was at least 8,000 even if it wasn’t 10,000.
Among them, there was no lack of quality goods. He could casually take out one of them and that martial skill was enough to cause the entire martial world to tremble.
“Martial skill? Sure, but for low-grade yellow-tier products, there’s no need to take it out. Our Shrine wouldn’t collect such things.” The long-robed elder surveyed Xia Qingchen from head to toe. He didn’t feel that a youth like him could take out any high-grade martial skills for sale.
Could it be that this youth stole a passed-down martial skill from his clan?
“You will know when you see it.” Xia Qingchen was extremely calm. He took the pen, ink, and paper from the counter and wrote the first two hundred words of the martial skill named [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum].
The keeper here indifferently shifted his gaze over. But with a single glance, he said, “The rules of the Shrine dictate that you have to give the full version of the martial skill. If you don’t trust the Shrine, you can sell this martial skill to others instead!”
If one wrote down all the information of the martial skill and it was memorized by others, wouldn’t the one buying it suffer losses in terms of goods and money?
However, the rules of the Shrine were extremely tyrannical.
“I suggest that you seriously read the first two hundred words I’ve written,” Xia Qingchen calmly spoke.
The keeper glanced at the words and read through it. He then waved his hand. “Ordinary stuff, take it away!”
His actions were like chasing off a fly.
Xia Qingchen shook his head. “I initially thought that your judgment would be very good given your attitude. But it turned out that you understand nothing at all. Even if I sold this martial skill to you, you wouldn’t be able to tell whether it is good or bad.”
This [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum] was a mid-grade yellow-tier martial skill. Its content was profound and deep. Among mid-grade martial skills, it was considered one of the best.
Although he only wrote the opening, for people with high enough judgment, they should be able to tell how extraordinary this martial skill was.
Sadly, this counter-keeper had a bad temper and his judgment was truly too bad.
The keeper was naturally unhappy seeing that he was mocked. He snorted, “Ignorant brat! This old man is the third-ranked treasure examiner in the Lone Cloud City. The number of treasures I have examined in my life is even higher than a mountain when stacked. Whether my judgment is good or bad, you as a hairless brat doesn’t have the qualifications to judge!”
As he spoke, he pointed to the written words, “This martial skill of yours, the circulation of inner force, the change in the stances, the connectivity of movements are all rated at the bottom-most tier, pure garbage. At most, it can only be a low-grade yellow-tier martial skill, right?”
In Lone Cloud City, a low-grade yellow-tier martial skill was usually something martial aristocratic clans would fight for.
But to the Shrine, it was considered nothing much.
“What sort of place is the Shrine? Why would we collect such an inferior martial skill?” The keeper pushed that piece of paper into Xia Qingchen’s embrace. He waved his hand like swatting a fly. “Take your treasure away and keep it well.”
Xia Qingchen smiled slightly. He didn’t take the paper and allow it to fall to the ground. He simply turned and left with his hands placed behind his back.
He didn’t argue nor explain anything.
Upon seeing his departure, the keeper snorted coldly, “Brat that has no judgment, spoiling this old man’s mood for nothing. Hmph!”
He lowered his head and glanced at the paper that fell to the ground.
He picked it up and casually crumbled it into a ball before tossing it into the rubbish bin outside.
However, as the paper ball flew through the air, a wizened hand moved like the wind and stably caught it.
The keeper was startled. He inclined his head and his expression drastically changed.
He who was originally extremely prideful changed completely. His attitude underwent a 180-degree change.
He hurriedly jogged toward the person and bent his waist while smiling. “Welcome, old Shrine Master! Please excuse this little one for my tardiness!”
The keeper’s heart pounded rapidly.
This man was the previous Shrine Master, Zhen Nantian!
Twenty years ago, he was the number one expert of the Divinebloom Duchy, and he was a martial path legend!
His cultivation base was supreme, capable of dominating the world.
He only lost when the devil sovereign Gu Qianhen appeared. From then on, he became a recluse and went to his hometown, the Lone Cloud City, to establish the Shrine there.
Now, the Shrine Master’s position was inherited by his son.
He faded behind the scenes and was recuperating in the inner layer of the Shrine.
It was rare to see him even once over the years.
Today, the old Shrine Master actually came to the center layer, something that he had never done before. In addition, the old Shrine Master was here at the counter he was responsible for. How could the keeper not feel immense pressure?
The old Shrine Master asked, “This is what the youth earlier wrote?”
The old Shrine Master was none other than the old man Xia Qingchen had met earlier, Zhen Nantian!
His granddaughter which he doted on most was beside him, Zhen Zhilan. She was a famous beauty of Lone Cloud City.
“Yes!” The keeper felt bewildered. Why would the supreme and lofty old Shrine Master care about this?
Zhen Nantian spread the paper open and stared at the martial skill that only had two-hundred words in its content.
Zhen Zhilan curiously looked over. After glancing at it a few times, she spoke, “Pretty ordinary. This should be a low-grade martial skill.”
She had thought Xia Qingchen might have taken out some shocking martial skill to sell to the Shrine.
(Seems like he is only good at talking. In truth, he is nothing special, and he is definitely not an expert.)
Zhen Nantian quietly kept the paper and asked, “What did he want to exchange this for? Arrange everything out.”
Mn?
The keeper felt puzzled. Why was the old Shrine Master so concerned about that young man?
But feeling puzzlement was one thing. He still obediently arranged the ingredients for ten portions of Dragonblood Powder and a Thunderfire Char. He packed them neatly and gave them to Zhen Nantian.
“Mn.” Zhen Nantian received it. He stared at the keeper. “Go to the Shrine’s account office and withdraw 200,000 taels of silver. After that, you can retire and return home to spend your remaining years there.”
Huh?
The keeper inclined his head, his eyes were filled with confusion.
(Retire? Who’s he talking about?)
Zhen Zhilan was surprised by her grandfather’s words. She pointed to the keeper. “Grandpa, are you talking about him?”
Zhen Nantian calmly spoke, “Is there a second counter-keeper on the scene?”
Puteng~
The keeper was so frightened that his knees went weak. He knelt onto the ground and kowtowed. “Old Shrine Master, please show mercy. When have I not put in any effort in my work before?”
“That’s right, Grandpa. Why are you firing Master Jia for no reason at all?!” Zhilan thought that her grandpa might be muddleheaded because of his age and randomly fired Master Jia on a whim.
Master Jia was a treasure examiner in Lone Cloud City, and he was hired by the Shrine for quite a huge sum of money.
There were no prior signs of any fault and the old Shrine Master suddenly wanted to fire him?