Eternal Life: I Can Sell Everything

Chapter 233: Chapter 229: Once Upon a Time, There Was a Sheep

It was mid-afternoon, and the sky had begun to dim. Song Ciwan left her home and ambled toward Wangjiang Mountain.

From a distance, she could see groups of Song Puppets milling about at the base of Wangjiang Mountain.

Some of the Puppets even had Lantern Festival Lanterns of various designs hanging from their mechanical iron arms. Though night had not yet fallen and the lanterns remained unlit, a festive atmosphere already filled the air.

It was as if last night’s Night Parade of Hundred Demons had been a mere illusion, its horror unable to diminish the liveliness of the Mortal World.

Song Ciwan thought this was for the best. ’A positive spirit is always more pleasant than a gloomy one.’

Following the path of the Song Puppets, Song Ciwan arrived outside the halls of the Wangjiang Cave Mansion. One glance, however, left her stunned.

The familiar building was gone. Overnight, the Wangjiang Cave Mansion’s Steward Hall had been replaced by a nine-story, octagonal tower. A massive plaza extended from the front of the tower, and on it, numerous Cultivators had set up stalls.

Song Ciwan walked through the plaza, eavesdropping on a few conversations, and quickly understood what had happened. It turned out that the Deceitful Realm had run rampant on Wangjiang Mountain last night, and the original Steward Hall had been destroyed.

So, early this morning, Lord Su, the Prefect of Cangling County, had arrived with a Treasure Tower.

He had flown into mid-air, shone his Official Seal, and the Treasure Tower had instantly absorbed the nation’s fortune, transforming from the size of his palm into a giant tower. It then landed steadily on the ground, forming the brand-new Steward Hall that stood here now!

Even this very plaza had been formed from the giant Magical Treasure tower.

The Cultivators were all discussing this, their voices filled with excitement and awe.

"Magical Artifacts that can shrink and grow aren’t unheard of on the market. Tents, wooden cabins, small villas—those are nothing. Even personal manors exist. As long as you’re willing to spend the Primordial Pearls, what kind of Personal Cave Mansion can’t you buy? But a treasure that needs to absorb the nation’s fortune to expand... now that’s a rarity."

"This... Could it be a rare treasure on the level of the Bright Moon Grotto Heaven?"

"HISS! No way. The Bright Moon Grotto Heaven is a *Grotto Heaven*. You can’t compare it to a mere Cave Mansion. They’re not in the same league. Impossible, impossible!"

"Then why does it need to absorb the nation’s fortune to expand?"

...

No one could answer that question for the moment. Song Ciwan listened for a while longer, but the group’s topic of conversation began to drift. Some started discussing Cultivation Techniques, others spoke of personal matters, and a few even started communicating secretly via voice transmission, no longer speaking aloud.

Song Ciwan moved on, continuing forward.

As she reached the tower and was about to enter, someone came striding toward her from the side of the gate, calling out in pleasant surprise from a distance, "Brother Xin!"

Song Ciwan turned to see it was none other than Xie Yunxiang.

The very instant Xie Yunxiang saw Song Ciwan, before he had even gotten close, a wave of human desires rushed toward her. The Heaven and Earth Scale collected it: [Human Desires: The joy, happiness, and worry of a Qi Transformation Stage Cultivator. Weight: two jin, one tael. Can be traded.]

’The quality of the wool is poor, but there’s plenty of it, and it’s a renewable resource.’

Xie Yunxiang was as enthusiastic and sincere as ever, which made Song Ciwan feel a little embarrassed.

She cupped her fist in greeting, but Xie Yunxiang was already talking a mile a minute. "Brother Xin, you really came! I knew you’d be okay and that you’d show up. And here you are!"

Before Song Ciwan could say a word, Xie Yunxiang continued, "When the Deceitful Realm collapsed last night, we all scattered. It was too chaotic, and that guy Dong Siliang scared the daylights out of me, so I ran off in a hurry. When I went back to look for you, Brother Xin, I couldn’t find you anywhere."

A look of shame crossed his face as he added, "But I did run into Brother Jiao Zuo. Brother Jiao was worried about you too, so we agreed that whoever found you first, Brother Xin, would be sure to let the other know."

"Of course, that’s only if you agree, Brother Xin." Xie Yunxiang puffed out his chest. "We’re brothers! Our bond is second to none. If you don’t agree, Brother Xin, then what’s the big deal if I, Xie Yunxiang, have to lie to Jiao Zuo once? That old coot is just... well, you know!"

Xie Yunxiang’s long, dramatic performance left Song Ciwan utterly speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

After having both escaped the Deceitful Realm, any awkwardness or sense of distance from their reunion naturally dissipated.

Song Ciwan said, "There’s no need to hide it. Brother Xie, if you see Brother Jiao in the future, you can tell him you’ve found me."

Since she planned to operate under the identity of Xin Mian, she naturally had to establish whatever connections she could.

’A character like Jiao Zuo might have seemed down on his luck in the Deceitful Realm, but in the outside world, he was someone many ordinary Cultivators had to look up to.’

Song Ciwan then used voice transmission to explain her reason for coming to Xie Yunxiang.

She had come to Wangjiang Mountain for two main reasons: first, to honor her promise and divide the Primordial Longevity Pearls with Xie Yunxiang, and second, to sell the Primordial Longevity Pearls through him.

The market price for a Primordial Longevity Pearl was one thousand Primordial Pearls, but for items like this, there was often a price but no supply. The final selling price would depend entirely on the seller’s skill!

When Xie Yunxiang heard Song Ciwan’s intentions, he immediately grew excited.

He opened his mouth, then slapped it shut and quickly lowered his voice, switching to voice transmission as well. "Brother Xin, we originally agreed on a twenty-eighty split. But you already gave me twenty-one Primordial Longevity Pearls... Don’t tell me... your total number of Primordial Longevity Pearls is actually over one hundred?"

Song Ciwan had far more than just one hundred Primordial Longevity Pearls.

If she included the ones she’d gotten from murder and robbery, her total number of Primordial Longevity Pearls was actually over three hundred!

However, Song Ciwan had no intention of sharing the portion from her murders and robberies with Xie Yunxiang.

Those were all stored inside the Heaven and Earth Scale. The Heaven and Earth Scale was a one-way storage; only materials that had been acquired through a trade could be freely deposited and withdrawn.

Therefore, while it had a storage function, it was a restricted one. Song Ciwan needed to figure out its rules before she could fully exploit it.

Furthermore, items obtained through trades with the Heaven and Earth Scale could not be traded back to it a second time. This was another restriction.

But the Heaven and Earth Scale’s powerful isolation properties made it the perfect Divine Artifact for murder and the destruction of all evidence.

Back when Song Ciwan had been acting as the Black Heart Demon Saber, Lu Bell, and slaughtering people in the Otherworld, she had directly sucked everyone she killed—bodies, belongings, and all—into the Heaven and Earth Scale to avoid being tracked.

When she had time, she would sell them off one by one. It was a completely foolproof method; after "laundering" them this way, every problem would be wiped clean!

Song Ciwan swiped a hand across her sleeve and produced a new Storage Talisman.

This Storage Talisman contained fourteen Primordial Longevity Pearls. Song Ciwan handed the Storage Talisman to Xie Yunxiang and said, "Brother Xie, counting the twenty-one I gave you before, plus the fourteen in this Storage Talisman, and the one hundred and forty-four I have left, that makes a total of one hundred and seventy-eight."

"Splitting one hundred and seventy-eight Primordial Longevity Pearls twenty-eighty, I’ll take the liberty of rounding down—at twenty percent, your share, Brother Xie, comes to thirty-five pearls."

"You already have twenty-one, Brother Xie, so you should receive another fourteen."

This rapid-fire calculation left Xie Yunxiang wide-eyed and dumbfounded, his jaw practically on the floor.