Chapter 276: Chapter 154: Star Essence Gold
"Sigh..." Shen Qingyao let out a soft sigh. "I suppose that’s our only choice."
"Shopkeeper, we’re a bit short on silver, so we’ll have to take our leave." Chen Cheng said, turning to Bi Ziqian before pulling Shen Qingyao to depart.
"Please, wait a moment, you two." Bi Ziqian said, the words clearly paining him. "The price is negotiable. Since you’ve come to the Hundred Treasures Studio, we are fated to meet.
How about this? The Hundred Treasures Studio will take a small loss. We’ll sell this Snow Silkworm to you for nine thousand taels of silver. Consider it a gesture of goodwill to befriend you both."
"Making you take a loss doesn’t seem right, Shopkeeper," Chen Cheng said with hesitation.
Bi Ziqian forced a smile and said, "Our shop is taking a bit of a loss, yes, but befriending two esteemed young masters like yourselves is a gain in its own right. On that note, please also consider the matter of becoming Tributors.
The doors of the Hundred Treasures Studio are always open to you."
"Alright." Chen Cheng nodded slightly and gestured for Shen Qingyao to take out the silver notes.
The two of them were decisive, both taking out their Money Bags and pulling out all their silver notes.
Shen Qingyao’s Money Bag contained a total of eight thousand taels in silver notes.
From his own Money Bag, Chen Cheng counted out one thousand taels in silver notes. He had a few silver notes, some gold coins, and a few scattered silver taels left over, which he estimated to be worth about five or six hundred taels of silver.
After taking the silver notes, Bi Ziqian handed the Snow Silkworm to Shen Qingyao.
Shen Qingyao immediately began to examine it, an expression on her face showing she couldn’t bear to part with it.
Bi Ziqian shook his head slightly. ’The Hundred Treasures Studio never actually loses money on a deal; it’s just a matter of making a larger or smaller profit.’
’This Snow Silkworm is indeed precious and rare, but its high price makes it hard to sell. It also requires feeding with Snow Lotus Seeds, so selling it quickly is actually a relief.’
’It’s not often I run into two big spenders like them, so I naturally couldn’t let the opportunity slip by.’
’These two young masters only brought this much money with them. Emptying their Money Bags is good enough.’
Bi Ziqian was consoling himself with these thoughts, but then his eyes fell upon Chen Cheng carefully placing his remaining silver coins back into his Money Bag.
Bi Ziqian’s eyes lit up again.
’As a Shopkeeper, the most important task is, of course, to empty the Money Bags of any customer who walks through the door.’
’If I let this young man walk away with hundreds of silver taels, it would mean that I, Bi Ziqian, had failed in my professional duties.’
"Our shop still has plenty of treasures. Would the young master care to take a look?" Bi Ziqian called out with a chuckle, driven by the professional compulsion of a shopkeeper.
Chen Cheng said, "I only have a little over five hundred taels of silver left. Is that enough to buy anything in the Cloud Pavilion?"
"It’s certainly not enough for the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, but our shop also has many precious Cultivation Technique Manuals. Why don’t you take a look, young master?"
As he spoke, Bi Ziqian led Chen Cheng to the counter displaying the Cultivation Technique Manuals and began to introduce them one by one.
"This Blazing Fire Saber Technique is a Superior Cultivation Technique Manual, priced at five hundred taels of patterned silver..."
...
The Cloud Pavilion in the Hundred Treasures Pavilion was indeed extraordinary; most of these were Superior Cultivation Technique Manuals.
However, even after Bi Ziqian spent a long time on his introductions, Chen Cheng wasn’t interested in any of them.
This was because most of these Cultivation Technique Manuals lacked a Fundamental Diagram. The few that did have one were merely copies made four generations removed from the original.
No matter how flowery Bi Ziqian’s descriptions were, Chen Cheng remained unmoved. After all, what he lacked at the moment wasn’t ordinary Secret Manuals, but time for Cultivating Martial Dao. He couldn’t afford to waste time practicing a random assortment of Cultivation Techniques.
Chen Cheng also noticed that the Secret Manuals Bi Ziqian introduced were all priced around five hundred taels. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the man’s intention to empty his Money Bag.
"These Cultivation Technique Manuals are all quite good, but unfortunately, I have no use for them," Chen Cheng said.
"Er..." Bi Ziqian was faintly disappointed, but then his eyes suddenly lit up. "Our shop has one more Cultivation Technique Manual. It is the treasure of our establishment, called the Sleeve Universe Skill."
"Oh?" Chen Cheng’s interest was suddenly piqued.
Bi Ziqian smiled, then held out his open hands. "Young master, watch closely. Are my hands not completely empty?"
"Mm." Chen Cheng nodded.
Bi Ziqian suddenly activated his body’s Qi Blood Power. With a slight tremble of his hands, an ancient-looking book appeared in his palm as if from nowhere.
"The *Sleeve Universe Skill*?"
Chen Cheng took the Secret Manual and flipped through it casually, only to be greatly shocked by what he saw.
’This Sleeve Universe Skill is said to be one aspect of the Qiankun Realm. It can shrink a world to the size of a mustard seed, allowing one to store anything. It’s incredibly profound.’
"Young master, what do you think of this Secret Manual?"
Chen Cheng shook his head. "This kind of Realm is far too esoteric. I’m afraid it’s nothing more than a parlor trick."
Bi Ziqian’s expression turned serious. "This is an ancient Cultivation Technique; how could it be a mere parlor trick? Young master, did you not just see me perform the Sleeve Universe Skill?"
"Just because you succeeded in learning it doesn’t mean I will. Still, it’s decent enough to look at as a trick."
Chen Cheng kept shaking his head and asked nonchalantly, "How much for this Secret Manual?"
"Five—" Bi Ziqian had intended to say five hundred taels of silver, but fearing Chen Cheng wouldn’t buy it, he changed his mind on the spot. "Since you like it, young master, let’s just say two hundred taels of silver."
"That’s not too expensive." Chen Cheng nodded slightly, then asked, "But the Star Essence Gold mentioned in the Secret Manual... do you actually have it?"
"Hehe, of course we do." Bi Ziqian chuckled, and with another slight tremble of his palm, a glossy black Ring appeared on it.
"This is Star Essence Gold. Like Celestial Meteorite Iron, it’s a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that fell from beyond the Nine Heavens.
Star Essence Gold contains the Power of Heaven and Earth. When you are in Cultivation of the Sleeve Universe Skill, meditating with it will allow you to achieve twice the results with half the effort.
If you buy the Star Essence Gold and the Secret Manual together, young master, I’ll price them at three hundred taels of silver."
Chen Cheng took the Star Essence Gold in his hand and found it surprisingly heavy. The single Ring weighed about ten pounds.
After a careful examination, he tried the Ring on. It was a perfect fit, as if it had been custom-made for him.
"Not bad. It’ll make a decent ornament. I’ll take it."
Chen Cheng nodded and promptly took out the silver notes to pay.
After making their purchases, Chen Cheng and Shen Qingyao left the Hundred Treasures Studio. They found a tavern and booked a private room to rest for a while.
They had just sat down and taken a sip of tea when Shen Qingyao unexpectedly pulled out a stack of silver notes.
"Brother Chen, here are the one thousand taels in silver notes to pay you back."
