Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhang Zhi arrived at the market of Lingtai Town.
It was a big plaza with all kinds of people doing business with each other, helping one another to find or buy what they needed or lacked.
It was not required for the people to set up a stall or open up shop for business, many of them simply chose a corner of the plaza, sat down with a mat and displayed their items for sale.
The items that all the individual cultivators put on displayed varied vastly, many of the items looked strange and were never seen before.
Some spent small amounts of money and got precious treasures; some spent a fortune just to get his hands on a fake. Due to the mentality of a gambler, the market was always filled with consumers trying to find the best deal.
Even though it was just dawn, people who were hoping to get rich by picking up potentially valuable scraps already filled the market.
Zhang Zhi came to the market with the same idea because he did not start with a whole lot of funds. He wanted to use the lowest price possible to get himself some suitable materials to forge an epic-tier artifact.
Since he was new to the market and looked like a dumb young man, many stall owners tried to rope him in with flattery.
“Hey handsome, come have a look! These are all the new items on sale, surely you will find something valuable!”
Zhang Zhi spent almost a whole day browsing the stalls but unfortunately, even until dusk, he did not find anything suitable.
He was deeply disappointed. In the end, he decided to answer one of the stall owner’s calls and try his luck one last time.
The man welcomed Zhang Zhi attentively, “Hey handsome, what are you looking for? Artifacts? Talismans? Pills? Or secret manuals? I have everything here, just have a look-see, I’ll definitely give you the best price for it!”
The man’s stall was selling scraps rather than valuable items. Zhang Zhi frowned and shook his head repeatedly.
The man noticed Zhang Zhi’s diminishing interest, so he shifted his attention to the previous customer who was still browsing.
“Immortal, this flying knife that you are holding has a great story behind it. Its original owner was an extremely powerful taoist from a thousand years ago, he used the flying knife to slay a dragon! It was said that the flying knife holds the secret of the dragon-slaying technique left behind by that taoist!”
The man was boasting in front of a middle-aged man who was tossing said flying knife.
The middle-aged man had an impressive look and he did not seem to be bothered by the aggrandizing words. A while later, the middle-aged man said, “Not bad indeed. How much is it?”
The stall owner noticed the interest of the middle-aged man, so after some thoughts, he said, “I actually want to keep this set of flying knives for myself but since you’ve asked for it, I will make an exception. 1,000 low-tier spirit stones, no negotiation!”
Zhang Zhi had a glance at the set of flying knives earlier, there were a total of nine knives in a set but only the main knife was an artifact. The other supplementary knives were just sharp objects.
The man was overcharging by listing it for 1,000 low-tier spirit stones.
Zhang Zhi knew the rules around the place, so he kept his thoughts to himself but he believed only an idiot would buy the set of flying knives for that ridiculous price.
To his surprise, the middle-aged man nodded, “Nine flying knives, each complementing one another, it’s worth it. Pack it up for me.”
Zhang Zhi was rendered speechless, even the stall owner was shocked. No one expected the middle-aged man to agree with the price this easily.
If the stall owner knew the middle-aged man was this easy-going, he could have added another 500 spirit stones but he knew he should not push it, so he said with a smile, “No problem, I’ll pack it up right away!”
The stall owner loaded the flying knives into a rusty box and judging from the look of it, the box and the knives actually formed a complete set.
Zhang Zhi originally felt pity for the middle-aged man for falling for the trick but when he saw the rusty box, he was stunned.
The middle-aged man frowned when he took his spirit stones out from his pouch, he said, “I bought other things before coming here, I’m actually short of spirit stones. Can I trade it with other items of similar value?”
The stall owner’s smile froze and shook his head, “I’m sorry, spirit stones only.”
He must be joking. Judging from the middle-aged man’s insight, the items that he could offer for a trade must be scraps or items with minimal value as well, plus the stall owner was afraid of receiving a fake, therefore he only accepted spirit stones.
The middle-aged man hesitated for a while and said, “Fine then, keep the flying knives for me. I’ll come back with the right amount of spirit stones in an hour.”
He then gave the stall owner a mid-tier spirit stone, “A deposit.”
“Not a problem, I’ll keep it for you then.” The stall owner happily took the spirit stones, an extra hour would make no difference.
The middle-aged man nodded and strode away, disappearing into the crowd.
“Hey handsome, see anything you like?” asked the stall owner when he noticed Zhang Zhi was spacing out in front of his stall.
Zhang Zhi regained his senses and said after a quick thought, “Sir, can I have a look at the set of flying knives?”
The stall owner said, “No can do, the man ordered it already.”
“Sir, please, I just want to know what a 1,000 low-tier spirit stones flying knife set looks like, just once glance to satisfy the curiosity of a dumb young man, please.”
The stall owner chuckled and said, “Well then, I guess a glance wouldn’t hurt.”
He handed the box of flying knives to Zhang Zhi and started boasting again.
Zhang Zhi nodded in agreement but he was actually captivated by the flying knives, or more precisely, the box.
He was a lot more insightful than before. He was stunned earlier because he realized the lustre of the box looked a little unusual. It might look like a rusty bronze box on the outside but it felt extremely light, similar to the material the system provided him for sword refinement earlier.
When he finally got his hands on the box, he could use the system to analyze the material’s characteristics. The system was the reason why he was so confident in searching for potentially valuable scraps in the market.
After the system gave him a detailed analysis of the box, Zhang Zhi’s hands shook for a moment.
‘Holy sh*t! It is what I thought it is! This is not some rusty bronze, this is Firelord Gold! It’s definitely suitable for an epic-tier artifact!
Zhang Zhi finally understood why the middle-aged man spent that much money to buy the flying knives, he must have noticed the material of the box. Spending 1,000 low-tier spirit stones for 4 to 5 catty worth of Firelord Gold was a huge bargain because the material could fetch a hundred times the price in other places.
Zhang Zhi played with the knife while thinking it was inappropriate to steal someone’s purchase but the middle-aged man had not paid for it, so it was still up for grabs.
Some thoughts later, he said, “Sir, I like the flying knives as well, why don’t you sell them to me? I can pay you 1,000 spirit stones right now.”
The system exploited his earnings heavily, he did not have 1,000 spirit stones with him, he was just trying to trick the stall owner.
The stall owner frowned. ‘What’s with the idiots today?’
Even though he desperately wanted to sell the flying knives, he did promise the middle-aged man first and had even taken a deposit, so he rejected Zhang Zhi, “No can do, I’ve promised to sell the flying knives to the previous customer. Why don’t you wait for an hour, if he doesn’t show, I’ll sell them to you instead.”
The stall owner knew how to protect his reputation as well, if the middle-aged man did not return in one hour, he would not be breaking the promise if he sold it then.
Zhang Zhi sighed, feigning regret on his face. His eyes then suddenly glistened and said, “Sir, if I can’t get the flying knives, can you sell me the box instead? I just want to have memorabilia or something to remind me of it.”
Firelord Gold looked exactly like common copper, only those who had experience in dealing with iron or metal materials could tell the difference.
The stall owner looked at the box and said mysteriously, “Young man, I didn’t expect you to notice the unusual box…”
Zhang Zhi’s heart skipped a beat, ‘What the heck? Did he know he’s holding onto a Firelord Gold box from the start?’
The stall owner then added, “This box is made from the Heavenly Dragon Copper dug out by the powerful taoist, I have to say that the box is almost as valuable as the set of flying knives!”
Zhang Zhi was stunned, he soon realized that the stall owner was trying to swindle him but he was fine with it as long as the stall owner did not know about Firelord Gold.
He sighed a breath of relief and went along with the stall owner’s boasting, he feigned an excited look, “Is it that amazing?”
“Of course it is! Why don’t I make you an offer: since the previous customer wants the flying knives, if you like the box so much, I’ll sell it to you for 100 low-tier spirit stones!” The stall owner stroked his beard proudly as he thought Zhang Zhi had fallen for his trick.
The stall owner was over the moon with the deal. ‘Yeah, there are idiots everyday but there’s one too many today!’
Zhang Zhi was also extremely pleased with the deal, he immediately paid the stall owner 100 low-tier spirit stones and the stall owner happily took the flying knives out.
He gave Zhang Zhi the empty box and said, “Young man, this will be the deal of your life!”
Of course it was the deal of his life, Zhang Zhi held the empty box in hand and chuckled happily.
The stall owner sighed and shook his head when he saw the silly chuckles from Zhang Zhi, ‘Kid, I’m teaching you a life lesson here…’
Zhang Zhi kept the box in his pouch and left in a hurry.
The stall owner continued doing business, thinking that he earned a considerable amount for selling a useless box.
A while after Zhang Zhi left, the middle-aged man returned. He glanced over the stall and frowned, “Where’s my flying knives?”
The stall owner happily opened up another intricate box and said, “Here, I kept it for you. Got the spirit stones?”
The middle-aged man looked rather unhappy, “Where’s the other box?”
The stall owner was stunned. ‘What is wrong with you people today, why is everyone asking about the rusty box?’
He said, “The young man who browsed with you earlier bought the box, but don’t worry, I’ve added in a better box for you. This one is made with jade stones!”
The middle-aged man got furious and bellowed, “Didn’t I tell you to keep the whole set for me?!”
The stall owner was unhappy with the man’s attitude, he argued, “I did! The set of flying knives is in this box, not one less!”
The middle-aged man was infuriated by the stupidity of the stall owner.
He noticed the box of Firelord Gold when he was searching around but he did not want to tell the stall owner about it because the stall owner would surely raise the price. Therefore, he said he wanted the flying knives instead of asking for the box. Never did he expect someone else to beat him to it.
“Then do you still want the flying knives or not? If you don’t want them, the deposit is non-refundable!” The stall owner got impatient when the middle-aged man got quiet for a while.
“Who wants your flying knives without the box?!” bellowed the middle-aged man.
“Well isn’t this rare? I thought the story about buying the case but returning the pearl was just a story, never did I think it’d happen to me, TWICE in fact!” The stall owner argued in disdain.
“Returning the pearls? I’d say your eyes are as blind as the pearls! That box is made of Firelord Gold!” The middle-aged man revealed the truth since he failed to get his hands on the box.
The moment the term Firelord Gold came out, it attracted a lot of attention from the market, everyone gathered around, asking, “Firelord Gold? Where is it? It’s a real treasure in this dump!”
The stall owner was shocked. He argued, “Are you kidding me? What proof do you have? That’s not Firelord Gold, that’s just copper!”
The middle-aged man chuckled, “What proof? My name, Ouyang Changtian, is proof!”
The moment his voice subsided, his hidden aura of a Golden Core overflowed and proved his identity.
“Ouyang Changtian?”
“The forging master of Lingtai Sect?”
“Elder Ouyang?”
The crowd was in awe when the man revealed his name.
The stall owner looked as pale as paper. The name Ouyang Changtian was more than enough to prove it, if he said the box was Firelord Gold, the box would be Firelord Gold.
The stall owner fell on his knees in regret. A while ago, he thought he was teaching the young man a lesson but now, it seemed like the young man taught him a lesson instead.
“Hahaha! This guy tricked people for all his life and now someone’s tricked him big time!”
The passersby who understood the situation laughed at the stall owner.
The stall owner ignored the merciless laughs, his heart felt painful, as if it was being cut open, he cried his lungs out, “My Firelord Gold!”
Ouyang Changtian felt better when he saw the stall owner’s regret but he too felt the heartache.
The Firelord Gold slipped away from his hands because he did not bring enough spirit stones. Even though first come first served was the market’s unspoken rule, Ouyang Changtian bore the lesson in mind, especially the young man who beat him to it.
“Don’t let me see you again.” Ouyang Changtian swung his sleeves and left the stall.