Unsheathed

Approximately half an hour later, a female ghost who was purposely not wearing palatial garb led the old esteemed immortal back to the shop at the start of the street in Gold Dust Market.

Shopkeeper Zhenguan stood there as if she were facing a formidable foe.

Tang Jinxiu had already arrived at the entrance of the shop long ago, and she stood with her hands clasped behind her back. She gently waved one hand, gesturing for the female ghost shopkeeper to not feel nervous.

After the female ghost who had led the young sword immortal over explained the situation…

Tang Jinxiu looked toward the “old geezer” who was wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a large sack on his back. She smiled with squinted eyes and said, “Old Esteemed Immortal, you surprisingly didn’t enter Daughter Market even though you passed by, and you instead went into hiding to drink wine by yourself. You were truly very difficult to find.”

She then introduced herself, saying, “I’m the main shopkeeper of all of the shops in Gold Dust Market, and Zhenguan failed to do business with you because her appraisal skills are too lowly and her pockets don’t have enough immortal coins. That being the case, why don’t I do business with Old Esteemed Immortal instead?”

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and replied, “Alright. But I hope you don’t take advantage of the fact that you’re a big shop to pick on your customer. These old bones of mine can’t take much anymore, and even empty threats are too much for me to handle.”

Tang Jinxiu couldn’t help but grumble in her mind. However, the smile on her face grew even wider as she said, “Even the youngest shop in Gold Dust Market is four hundred to five hundred years old, and the quality and reputation of our shops attract an endless sea of return customers. So, you can rest assured about our business practices, Old Esteemed Immortal.”

Chen Ping’an entered the shop, and Tang Jinxiu and Shopkeeper Zhenguan stood side by side behind the counter.

Meanwhile, the female ghost who had found Chen Ping’an stood guard at the entrance of the shop.

Chen Ping’an took off his large sack and once again placed the items on the counter one by one.

Just like before, he only placed thirty percent of the items on the counter.

There was a dazzling array of items, with their treasure light illuminating the counter.

Tang Jinxiu picked them up one by one before putting them back down, and her heart shuddered slightly when she saw the piece of jewelry that was exquisitely carved and depicted a cluster of one hundred peonies. She smiled faintly and said, “This is a truly beautiful item, and if it’s offered at the markets of the mortal empires in the outside world, it will likely be worth ten thousand taels of silver with its exquisite craftsmanship that’s definitely the work of an immortal from the mountain.

“After all, there’s a lot of history behind this item, and it was once a treasured possession of a beautiful empress from the Peace Pavilion Nation. It’s said that a peculiar phenomenon will arise if one crushes a snowflake coin and waters it onto all of the flower pistils. Mhm, I’ll offer one lesser heat coin for this item.”

Tang Jinxiu then picked up the pair of golden chopsticks, examining it carefully before tapping the two chopsticks against one another. She listened to the reverberations carefully, after which she nodded and said, “Sure enough, this is what I thought it was. These chopsticks are also recorded in history, and the final emperor of the Magpie Mountain Nation bestowed them to the renowned official, Song Jing. This was during a grand banquet, and the emperor especially ordered an immortal guest elder to craft this pair of chopsticks to reward Song Jing for his honest and uncorrupted nature as an official.

“These chopsticks aren’t made from ordinary gold, and some secret materials from the mountains have been mixed in as well. As such, tapping them together will make it sound as if someone’s quietly whispering ‘uncorrupted’ and ‘upright’ into one’s ears. Song Jing was indeed worthy of this item, especially with how he led an army on the battlefield even though he was a scholarly official. Not only that, but his military merit was outstanding, and he had many achievements on the battlefield. However, it’s a shame that the strength of a single person can’t oppose the great trend.”

“If that’s the case, then I’m not selling this item anymore,” Chen Ping’an suddenly said.

Tang Jinxiu was taken aback, and she asked, “Why do you say this, Old Esteemed Immortal? I’m willing to offer one lesser heat coin for these golden chopsticks as well, and they definitely won’t fetch such a high price if you try to sell them anywhere else. I’m here to purchase items from Old Esteemed Immortal, but I’m voluntarily explaining the history of each item before I offer my price. This is a reflection of Gold Dust Market’s sincerity, and it can be said that we’re truly acting with honesty and integrity.”

“I can naturally feel your deep sincerity,” Chen Ping’an said with a nod.

He then smiled and continued, “However, I plan to gift these golden chopsticks to someone else.”

Tang Jinxiu had no option but to relent. If this were a normal transaction with someone else, she would indeed feel tempted by these golden chopsticks as well. However, she would only offer fifty snowflake coins, treating it as if the seller were offering her a steep discount.

In the end, including the golden headdress, Tang Jinxiu purchased approximately half of the items that Chen Ping’an had placed on the counter. She spent nine lesser heat coins in total, and this equated to nine hundred and twenty to nine hundred and thirty snowflake coins due to the premium that lesser heat coins commanded.

One of the items that Tang Jinxiu purchased was an old gold-gilded censer that even Chen Ping’an hadn’t noticed anything special about. However, she surprisingly offered the most immortal coins for this item, and she didn’t describe its history in great detail either. She simply said that she was willing to offer four lesser heat coins. Chen Ping’an raised the price by one lesser heat coin upon hearing this, and Tang Jinxiu hesitated for a moment before accepting his asking price.

Only when Shopkeeper Zhenguan put away the small censer did Tang Jinxiu finally burst into loud laughter, appearing as smug as could be. Chen Ping’an immediately knew that he had sold the censer for a low price, but he was fine with this since Tang Jinxiu had relied on her appraisal skills to get this bargain purchase.

In reality, Chen Ping’an already had estimations for how much the items remaining in the sack and the containers and bottles in his minimization treasure were worth. They could at most sell for five hundred snowflake coins.

In fact, he would make a huge profit even if he only sold them for three hundred snowflake coins.

Chen Ping’an acting as a wandering merchant this time was a case of him trying to create a small but steady income stream. He wasn’t dreaming about becoming filthy rich overnight.

Tang Jinxiu restrained herself for a long time, but she eventually couldn’t help but take the small censer from Zhenguan’s hands. She carefully ran her hands over the small censer, and she truly liked it so much that she couldn’t bring herself to put it down. She looked at the “old man” wearing a bamboo hat and said with a faint smile, “This small censer has quite an interesting history. A mighty hidden immortal of the Lofty Moral Sect had this cultivation item accompany him during his youth, but the seal script characters on the bottom don’t make it clear that this small censer was from the Lofty Moral Sect.

“However, this mighty hidden official once had a travel journal of his spread throughout the world, and I was coincidentally able to obtain a copy even though there weren’t all that many copies in circulation. I occasionally flick through this travel journal, and I’m already very familiar with all of its contents, and it’s thanks to this that I’m aware of this small censer’s origin.

“The small censer isn’t an immortal treasure, and it’s instead only a spirit tool. Its true value should be one grain rain coin, and those under the level of earth immortal can quickly calm their minds and gather their concentration once they light up a mountain incense or water incense in this censer, regardless of whether they’re a ghost or a spirit. They can enter a state of deep meditation, a profound state that’s normally very difficult to reach.”

Shopkeeper Zhenguan became slightly anxious, so she gently tugged at Tang Jinxiu’s sleeve.

Only after receiving the female ghost’s warning did Tang Jinxiu huff and stop talking, no longer showing off her impressive knowledge.

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “Then this is a clear sign that I’m not fated to possess this treasure, while the opposite is true for you.”

Tang Jinxiu handed the censer back to Zhenguan and said, “Since Old Esteemed Immortal is so easygoing, then I’ll also be more generous this time and throw in one extra lesser heat coin to make up one grain rain coin!”

She grabbed a purse from her waist and retrieved one grain rain coin, handing it to Chen Ping’an and saying, “I’ve made full payment for the goods now.”

Chen Ping’an accepted the grain rain coin and rubbed it between his fingers, weighing it in his hand for a moment before carefully putting it into his sleeve. He nodded and said with a smile, “Both the buyer and the seller are happy, and this is truly a rare sight indeed. I’ll definitely visit Gold Dust Market again if I obtain any rare treasures in the future.”

Tang Jinxiu pointed at Chen Ping’an’s large sack before covering her mouth and chuckling, “Old Esteemed Immortal, have you forgotten that more than sixty percent of your items are still in there?”

Chen Ping’an slapped his forehead and said, “I’ve barely touched any grain rain coins in my life, so please excuse me for my being so muddle-headed. I’ll slowly take out the remaining items and allow you to examine them one by one.”

Tang Jinxiu smiled and didn’t say anything, appearing as if she were extremely understanding.

However, she was actually chuckling coldly in her mind.

Go on, continue your little performance.

As for Shopkeeper Zhenguan who was currently holding the small censer, she felt as if a whole new world had opened up in front of her. This young sword immortal who had disguised himself as an old man was truly born for doing business.

Tang Jinxiu didn’t idle around as Chen Ping’an started to retrieve items from his large sack and place them on the counter, and she started to temporarily place the items that she had just purchased onto the treasure shelf behind her. As for the items that she hadn’t purchased, she moved them to the other side of the counter first. Her movements were adept, and her manner of placing the items was also very skillful, with none of the items making contact with another. Because of this, the counter didn’t seem too full even after Chen Ping’an retrieved another thirty percent of the items from his large sack.

Tang Jinxiu looked through the items and eventually picked out another three, yet she only made an offer of two lesser heat coins this time. Among the three items was a jade ornament and a spear tip with gold inscriptions, and they were only worth so much because they were relics belonging to past emperors and officials of the two great empires.

However, Tang Jinxiu revealed honestly that Chen Ping’an could have perhaps sold the spear tip for two lesser heat coins if he had gone elsewhere and come across a Militarian cultivator who had good appraisal skills. This was Malicious Ghost Valley, however, so the innate value of this item wasn’t very high. It could only be displayed as an ornament, so Gold Dust Market wouldn’t offer a very high price.

Chen Ping’an didn’t pay much heed to this, and he decided to sell the three items to Gold Dust Market anyway.

The counter couldn’t fit any more items, so Tang Jinxiu instructed Zhenguan to put the small censer away and relocate the items on the treasure shelf behind the old esteemed immortal.

Chen Ping’an placed more items on the counter, and Tang Jinxiu picked four of them this time. There was a silver mallard bowl, a painting with two peonies, a golden cricket cage, and a small pair of rugged boots…

Chen Ping’an’s expression remained calm and unfazed as Tang Jinxiu put down the painting and picked up the small pair of rugged boots. These items were all money, after all.

In the end, Tang Jinxiu spent another four lesser heat coins for these items. The painting was the most expensive, and the two peonies depicted in the painting were seemingly huddled together, with one named the “Little Yellow Lady” and one named the “White Robed Darling.” These were two of the ten most renowned peonies in the Divine Strategy Nation.

This painting cost three of the four lesser heat coins, and Tang Jinxiu had only bought the remaining three items because she liked the look of them. They were only worth something because of their ties to the historical stories of the various nations in Skeleton Shoal, or else they genuinely wouldn’t be worth many immortal coins at all. However, she was Copper Stench City’s Tang Jinxiu, so the “old esteemed immortal” in front of her had found the right person to sell these items to.

Regardless of whether it was the painting, the golden headdress, or the small censer that she had purchased for a bargain price, even earth immortal cultivators with good appraisal skills would fail to realize their value if they weren’t experienced and long-time residents of Skeleton Shoal and Malicious Ghost Valley.

They exchanged goods and money two times, with Chen Ping’an receiving several more lesser heat coins.

Chen Ping’an started to pack his large sack, thinking that his trip to Copper Stench City as a wandering merchant had yielded surprise after surprise.

It was a surprise of one grain rain coin and six lesser heat coins.

There was a large pile of items that Chen Ping’an had failed to sell and needed to put back into his large sack, but these items weren’t genuine trash, and he could still sell them for gold and silver after he left Malicious Ghost Valley and Skeleton Shoal.

Chen Ping’an made up his mind and decided that he would leave Copper Stench City the way that he had come. He definitely needed to reward the ghost captain guarding the city gate with one snowflake coin. His words had been like a good omen, and Chen Ping’an had indeed enjoyed good fortune and a bountiful yield at Gold Dust Market.

Chen Ping’an put on his bamboo hat after placing the large sack on his back, and he then retrieved the pink porcelain bottle and placed it on the counter, looking at the young female ghost shopkeeper and saying with a smile, “Just treat this as a small present and a small show of sincerity to go with the purchases. Here’s wishing that Shopkeeper enjoys booming business in the future.”

Shopkeeper Zhenguan took a quick glance at Tang Jinxiu, and only after seeing no reaction from the prime minister examiner did she smile and accept Chen Ping’an’s present.

Chen Ping’an left Gold Dust Market, exiting Copper Stench City through the same city gate that he had entered. He tossed a snowflake coin to the ghost captain guarding the city gate, and the latter was delighted as he bowed again and again and said thank you.

Chen Ping’an made his way to Green Cottage Town.

Apart from finding a place to rest and recuperate, Chen Ping’an also needed to draw two gold paper Land-Shortening Talismans.

Green Cottage Town could be regarded as a safe and stable place, after all, and the same couldn’t be said for even Orchid Scent Town. Only Green Cottage Town, which was personally overseen by the Flax Robe Sect’s Sect Leader Zhu Quan, enjoyed such a status.

Green Cottage Town wasn’t far from Copper Stench City, but the mountains and rivers between the two places meant that the path was understandably long and winding. Chen Ping’an didn’t fly through the sky on his sword either, and he instead chose to travel to Green Cottage Town on foot. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he finally saw the silhouette of Green Cottage Town.