Divine Level Witch Doctor

Holy cow, one cut and it’s a loss of several million?

Hearing this, it would be a lie to say Zhao Yuan didn’t feel the sting. But the cut had to be made. Using his Qi Observation Technique, he could see with perfect clarity that only a fist-sized portion in the top-left corner of this Mutton Fat Jade contained Qi. Although the rest was translucent and of exceptional quality, it was just ordinary Jade. It had no Qi and couldn’t be used to create Magical Artifacts.

’No wonder wealth is the most important resource for cultivation. The materials for a single Storage Ring cost over a million. I can’t even imagine how much money I’ll need for more powerful Magical Artifacts in the future!’ Zhao Yuan couldn’t help but sigh internally. Outwardly, however, he said, ”I told you to cut, so cut. What’s with all the nonsense? It’s just a few million. I can afford the loss!”

His words sounded magnanimous, but inwardly, his heart was bleeding. On second thought, however, he had only spent fifty thousand yuan on this stone. No matter how much potential value he ”lost,” he was still coming out ahead—way ahead. That thought made him feel a little better.

The people around him, however, had no idea what Zhao Yuan was really thinking. They were all stunned by his bold declaration.

’Good heavens, is he really going to make the cut? Tossing away several million just like that? What the hell kind of spendthrift heir from what powerful family is this guy?’

At that moment, everyone was convinced that Zhao Yuan was a prodigal son from a wealthy family. Who else would be so reckless with money? And with several million, no less!

”You’re really cutting it?” Cheng Yunlong asked, his voice trembling.

”What, you don’t dare to do it?” Zhao Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Cheng Yunlong was startled by his expression, and then it suddenly dawned on him. He remembered that Zhao Yuan had come here to buy materials for a Magical Artifact. His insistence on cutting must mean that only a part of this Mutton Fat Jade was suitable for that purpose. If he continued to hesitate, he might ruin Zhao Yuan’s important plans. Earning his resentment over this would be a terrible miscalculation.

Having figured it out, Cheng Yunlong nodded hastily and replied, ”I’ll cut it! I’ll cut it right now!” He quickly operated the machine and, following Zhao Yuan’s instructions, sliced off the Qi-containing piece from the top-left corner of the Mutton Fat Jade.

Throughout the process, the onlookers were overcome with pain and regret, as if Cheng Yunlong wasn’t cutting a piece of Mutton Fat Jade, but a piece of their own flesh.

”He really cut it!”

”What a reckless waste of a treasure!”

The crowd sighed endlessly. A few people even covered their eyes, unable to watch, afraid their hearts couldn’t take the shock.

When Cheng Yunlong turned off the machine, Zhao Yuan picked up the piece of Mutton Fat Jade that contained Qi, a satisfied smile on his face. He then pointed to the larger remaining piece and said, ”The Jade in my hand isn’t for sale, but you all can have this piece. Start the bidding.”

Someone spoke up. ”If you hadn’t cut this piece of Mutton Fat Jade, its value would have been extremely high. But now that you’ve sliced it, not only is it smaller, but its value has plummeted. How about this? I’ll give you a decent price: five hundred thousand! Let’s just call it making a friend...”

Before he could finish, Cheng Yunlong cut him off with a cold laugh. ”Jiao Shude, if you want to rip someone off, go do it somewhere else. A mere five hundred thousand to buy this piece of Mutton Fat Jade? And you have the nerve to talk about making friends? Pah! That’s right, the value of this Mutton Fat Jade has dropped after being cut, but you’re not getting it for five hundred thousand!”

The man called Jiao Shude’s face paled. Lowballing like this was something they did often, and even if their peers saw it, they wouldn’t expose it. He never expected Cheng Yunlong to break that unspoken rule today. While he felt utterly humiliated, he also secretly began to resent Cheng Yunlong.

Cheng Yunlong, however, couldn’t have cared less about his resentment.

For Cheng Yunlong, the most urgent matter was to curry favor with Zhao Yuan.

As long as he could get on the good side of this Feng Shui Master who possessed real, formidable abilities, his own rise to fortune wouldn’t be far off. For that, what was offending one Jiao Shude? He wouldn’t hesitate even if it meant offending everyone on the entire Antique Street.

After rebuking Jiao Shude, Cheng Yunlong turned to Zhao Yuan, bowing and scraping. ”Master Zhao, why don’t you leave this piece of Mutton Fat Jade to me? I guarantee I can sell it for a good price for you!”

His expression and posture were the spitting image of a fawning interpreter from old war films, which only further convinced the crowd that Zhao Yuan must have a truly powerful background.

”Fine,” Zhao Yuan agreed with a nod.

Cheng Yunlong picked up the piece of Mutton Fat Jade to be sold and addressed the crowd. ”Today’s your lucky day. If I hadn’t just stocked up on new inventory and tied up my cash flow, I would have bought this Top Grade Mutton Fat Jade myself. It never would have been your turn. Although the shape of this Jade isn’t as good as it was, it’s still excellent. Take it home, find a good Artisan to put in the effort to carve it, and it won’t be hard to sell it for a great price! So, you can all just give up on the idea of getting it for a bargain. I’m setting the starting price at three million. If you want it, make a bid. Highest bidder wins!”

The crowd looked at each other, helpless.

They had originally hoped to drive the price down and buy this Top Grade Mutton Fat Jade for cheap, but with Cheng Yunlong stirring the pot, that dream was now impossible. Still, the quality of this Jade was superb, and three million really was a great deal. Thus, after a brief silence, someone eagerly raised their hand to bid.

”Three million! I’ll take it!”

”What do you mean, you’ll take it? Boss Cheng just said, highest bidder wins! I bid three million one hundred thousand!”

”Three million five hundred thousand!”

”Four million!”

The auction atmosphere quickly heated up as people scrambled to outbid one another. In just a few minutes, the price for the piece of Mutton Fat Jade had more than doubled, reaching six and a half million.

”Boss Cao bids six and a half million! Are there any higher bids?” Cheng Yunlong called out, having fully embraced his role as auctioneer.

In the end, no one offered a price higher than six and a half million. The Mutton Fat Jade was sold to Boss Cao, a man with a full beard.

”Alright, this scrap material is yours,” Zhao Yuan said, handing the Mutton Fat Jade to Boss Cao.

Scrap material?

Boss Cao’s mouth twitched.

’Such a fine piece of Mutton Fat Jade, and you call it scrap material? Do you have to be so extravagant?!’

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Boss Cao asked for his bank account number and logged into his mobile banking app to make the transfer.

”Transfer ten percent of the money to Boss Cheng,” Zhao Yuan instructed, then turned to Cheng Yunlong. ”Consider it a thank you for showing me around the Antique Street for so long, and for helping me cut and sell the stone.”

Ten percent was six hundred and fifty thousand. All Cheng Yunlong had done was accompany Zhao Yuan for a little over an hour and lend a hand. Everyone present was incredibly envious. Many of them sighed to themselves, ’Why don’t we ever meet a high roller like that?’

Cheng Yunlong was overjoyed and thanked him profusely.

Zhao Yuan held up the Qi-containing piece of Mutton Fat Jade and asked, ”If this Jade were made into Jade Rings, how many could you make?”

Cheng Yunlong mentally calculated for a moment before answering, ”You could make several dozen. With the leftover material, you could also make some other small ornaments.”

Zhao Yuan nodded and asked another question, ”Do you have an Artisan in your shop who can make Jade Rings?”

”We do,” Cheng Yunlong replied, nodding hurriedly.

Zhao Yuan said, ”Alright then. Help me turn this entire piece of Jade into Jade Rings. No need for carved patterns; plain rings will be fine. Don’t make the leftover material into ornaments, either. Just give it a simple polish. How long do you estimate it will take?”

”I’ll have my Artisans work overtime on it as soon as I get back. I guarantee they’ll be done by tomorrow afternoon at the latest!” Cheng Yunlong vowed, thumping his chest.

”Good. I’ll come by to pick them up tomorrow evening.” Zhao Yuan nodded, then suddenly remembered something. He turned to the surrounding crowd and said, ”I seem to recall someone saying that if I managed to cut Jade out of this worthless rock, he would eat the stone rind. Who was it that said that? Isn’t it about time to make good on your promise?”