Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

”Cough cough, both of you, I don’t recall saying I wanted to buy this Soul Condensing Stone, right? What exactly are you fighting over?”

At the moment when Qiao Lin was undecided whether to withdraw from the competition, an inappropriate voice suddenly rang out from beside them, drawing both his and the red-clad woman’s attention.

”You’re not buying?”

The red-clad woman’s beautiful eyes widened in astonishment. She had gone through so much trouble, only for this kid to have no interest in the Soul Condensing Stone in the end. Wasn’t that a waste of effort?

”Not buying after watching for so long?”

Qiao Lin was even more infuriated. If he had known this kid wasn’t buying, he wouldn’t have bothered with the back-and-forth. This Soul Condensing Stone was incredibly useful to a younger relative of his, even capable of elevating them to the level of a Mortal Rank Advanced Meridian Refining Master. He was the one who genuinely wanted to purchase it.

”Miss, since he isn’t interested in the Soul Condensing Stone, why not just let Qiao here have it instead?”

Qiao Lin’s eyes darted around. Just now, the red-clad girl was only bidding for the rough-clothed kid. Now that the guy himself said he wasn’t buying, didn’t that mean he could acquire the Soul Condensing Stone for hundred thousand Gold Coins again?

Hearing this, the stall owner’s face collapsed immediately. He had thought the two bidders would drive the price of the Soul Condensing Stone sky-high. Who knew it would all come to nothing in the end? Time to wake up from the dream and face reality.

”Eh? I only said I’m not buying. Who said I wasn’t interested in this Soul Condensing Stone?”

As the red-clad girl also showed disappointment, Yun Xiao’s voice sounded again, causing the faces of everyone present to turn curious. What’s the difference?

The auction of the Soul Condensing Stone also attracted many Cultivators wandering the second floor, resulting in a sizable crowd around the scene. Hearing what the rough-clothed youth said, they all showed a hint of confusion.

Ignoring the bewilderment of the red-clad girl and Qiao Lin, Yun Xiao turned his head and stared at the stall owner for a while before saying: ”Boss, just give me the Soul Condensing Stone.”

”Holy shit!”

Upon hearing Yun Xiao’s unexpected words, before the stall owner could react, Qiao Lin cursed out loud. What was going on? Was this kid here to joke around?

The Soul Condensing Stone was priced at a hundred thousand Gold Coins, obviously not wanting to sell it cheap and end up losing out. And here you are, clearly broke, yet expecting someone to give it to you for free. How could that be possible?

Even the red-clad girl was turning her beautiful eyes in bewilderment, completely unable to fathom why Yun Xiao would say such a thing. Had she misjudged him? Was he truly a senseless man speaking nonsense?

As for the onlookers, they all shook their heads. On the second floor of the Treasure Pavilion, to encounter such a character was truly eye-opening.

”Sorry, without a hundred thousand Gold Coins, I’m not selling this Soul Condensing Stone to anyone!”

At this moment, the stall owner finally regained his composure. His expression grew ugly, but he still resisted the urge to explode, issuing a firm statement. This was essentially an eviction notice.

Qiao Lin wore a cold smile, thinking the Soul Condensing Stone would soon be in his hands. But in the next instant, he saw the rough-clothed youth turn his head to one side and point his hand.

”Boss, before you refuse, if I’m not wrong, you’re pricing this Soul Condensing Stone so high because you want to use the money to buy that ’Bone-breaking Bamboo’, right?”

Yun Xiao spoke with assurance and a strong sense of confidence. As his words fell, the stall owner trembled and asked in a shaky voice, ”How... how did you know?”

With a twist in the story, even the slowest onlookers came to a realization, simultaneously turning their eyes to where Yun Xiao’s arm was pointing.

In a stall not far away, a lush and vibrant bamboo stood out like a street lamp in the darkness, eye-catchingly bright.

”Bone-breaking Bamboo? Isn’t that just at the Spiritual Rank Intermediate level? And it’s priced at a hundred thousand?”

One of the onlookers, who appeared to be a Meridian Master, frowned at the declaration, and other Cultivators who were unaware of the Bone-breaking Bamboo quickly caught on.

Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of Mortal Rank naturally couldn’t compare with those of Spiritual Rank, and ten thousand Gold Coins was a boundary. It was common for low-level Spiritual Rank treasures to sell for one or two thousand Gold Coins.

But the price for Spiritual Rank Intermediate treasures would double, with thirty or forty, forty or fifty thousand Gold Coins not being unheard of. Yet, this Spiritual Rank Intermediate Bone-breaking Bamboo was priced at a hundred thousand Gold Coins. Were they out to rob someone?

Furthermore, although the Bone-breaking Bamboo had reached the level of Spiritual Rank Intermediate, its uses were not very clear. Most Cultivators or Meridian Masters wouldn’t even be willing to spend thirty thousand Gold Coins on it, let alone a hundred thousand.

”Bone-breaking Bamboo, at the Spiritual Rank Intermediate level, its primary effect is to replenish the bone marrow in the human skeleton. Am I right?”

Yun Xiao’s indifferent voice rang out, causing the just-speaking Meridian Refining Master to slowly nod in agreement, seeming to confirm there were no mistakes; indeed, because of this, the price of Bone-breaking Bamboo wouldn’t be too high.

Generally, bone marrow in the human skeleton doesn’t get lost; even if bones break and are reconnected, the loss isn’t significant, so there is little reliance on Bone-breaking Bamboo.

However, the Bone-breaking Bamboo is rare, and even if it’s not very valuable, it’s not commonly found anywhere. At least in the Treasure Pavilion or Xuri City, this might well be the only piece left.

”Boss, you want to buy this Bone-breaking Bamboo, not to replenish your own bones’ marrow, right? And you are desperate to buy, that guy noticed and hence marked up the price, labeling it at 100,000 Gold Coins, correct?”

Yun Xiao glanced at the shrewd-looking boss not far away, nearly hitting the nail on the head with his guess, which caused the Soul Condensing Stone’s owner to reveal a hint of begrudging admiration.

”Exactly as you said, young master. That guy originally labeled it at 30,000 Gold Coins, but upon seeing my urgency, he straight away hiked it to 100,000. I had no choice!”

Hearing what the stall’s owner said, the bystanders also understood the reason behind it. The Soul Condensing Stone was really worth no more than 70,000 or 80,000 Gold Coins; pricing it at 100,000 was out of necessity.

However, even so, the crowd didn’t blame the Bone-breaking Bamboo’s vendor too much. Who wouldn’t seize the opportunity to double one’s profits? The only issue was that such a practice was somewhat unethical.

”Boy, after all your ramblings, are you buying this Soul Condensing Stone or not?”

With a preconceived dislike, Qiao Lin had always been disapproving of Yun Xiao, growing impatient listening to the young man’s beating around the bush, and finally couldn’t help but interrupt.

Indifferent to Qiao Lin’s words, Yun Xiao focused on the stall owner and said, ”If I can cure you without using that Bone-breaking Bamboo, would you give me this Soul Condensing Stone?”

Upon this remark, everyone was taken aback. How did this turn into treating an illness again? The stall owner didn’t look like a sick person at all.

Leaving the skeptical onlookers out of the equation, the stall owner was overjoyed at the proposition, yet he still didn’t stand up, instead saluting with a fist and saying, ”Sir is greatly skilled. If you can cure my underlying disease, not to mention this Soul Condensing Stone, you can freely choose anything from my stall.”

”Tsk tsk, looks like Ding Hao really is ill!”

As soon as the stall owner finished speaking, the bystanders familiar with him all sighed in amazement. The ailment that they had all failed to notice was discerned by a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, which was indeed a strange occurrence.

The girl in red was awash with admiration as her eyes sparkled. Initially, she wanted to help Yun Xiao just to have him owe her a favor, but she didn’t expect him to turn the situation on its head, far beyond her expectations.

On the other hand, Qiao Lin’s face alternated between green and white. If the young man truly managed to cure Ding Hao’s illness, wouldn’t that mean he could obtain the Soul Condensing Stone without spending a penny? How loud the slap on the face would be.

”Humph, just seeking attention. Let’s see if he can truly cure the disease first!”

Displeased in his heart, Qiao Lin couldn’t help but snort coldly. Indeed, many shared his thoughts. Ding Hao wasn’t ordinary; his illness had troubled him for so long, and they didn’t believe that a seemingly sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy could treat it.

Diagnosing was one thing, and actual treatment was another. Even Ding Hao himself wasn’t very confident despite having heard somewhere that Bone-breaking Bamboo could cure his illness; whether it could be successfully treated remained uncertain.

Unconcerned with the surrounding gazes, Yun Xiao neither accepted nor rejected them. He preferred not to owe others favors and with the red-dressed girl’s inexplicable arrival, he feared that repaying any debt to her would be difficult in the future.

With his eyesight honed as the former Long Xiao Battle God, combined with his past as a High-level Saint Rank Meridian Refining Master, even if his Meridian Refining Technique hadn’t recovered to its peak, his vision remained particularly discerning.

”Roll up your trouser leg!”

Seeing Yun Xiao turn around the table and gesture, Ding Hao nodded, immediately stretching his hands and rolling up the trouser leg of his left leg that had been concealed under the table.

”Hiss...”

As everyone’s gaze turned to Ding Hao’s left leg, they couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. Before them was a leg utterly different from an ordinary one’s.

Ding Hao’s left leg was extremely thin, as though it was a dried cured meatstick, almost qualifying as skin and bones, evidently atrophied to the extreme from some underlying condition.

Some cultivators familiar with Ding Hao were even more astonished. They had interacted with him numerous times and yet they had failed to notice anything. And the poorly-dressed youth, without even seeing the leg, had discerned Ding Hao’s hidden ailment—did he truly have some sort of hidden talent?

”Indeed!”

Witnessing the drastically withered left leg, Yun Xiao nodded affirming his thoughts, then spoke up, ”It seems you already understand the situation. You sought to buy that Bone-breaking Bamboo to draw ’it’ out, correct?”

Yun Xiao’s words, light as they were, struck Ding Hao like a thunderbolt. Ignoring his withered leg, he pushed himself from his chair to kneel down and pleaded loudly, ”Please, sir, save me!”

Ever since contracting this strange illness, Ding Hao had told no one; even when Yun Xiao earlier discerned some clues, he hasn’t disclosed his biggest secret. But now that the boy had seen right through him, if he missed this chance, he feared his leg would truly be beyond saving.