In Baiguo City.
The blazing sun was shining bright and there was a snakelike queue outside the city.
Daoist Tai Hua and Su Changyu were standing outside the city and getting in line.
Standing among the crowd, Daoist Tai Hua's eyes were fixed on a notice that he couldn't take his eyes off of, seemingly pondering over something.
Su Changyu scanned the notice and soon froze.
The reason being, it was a notice about the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet.
The content was very simple too.
"The Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet will be held in the ancient city of Changyun in three months' time.
Registration requirements: Upfront fee of 10 inferior-grade Spirit Stones.
Reward for candidates in the top 500 places: Sword Dao Robe.
Reward for candidates in the top 100 places: 100 inferior-grade Spirit Stones.
Reward for candidates in the top 50 places: 500 inferior-grade Spirit Stones.
Reward for candidates in the top 10 places: Supreme-grade enchanted armament— flying sword.
Reward for candidates in the top 3 places: 1 Spirit Artifact flying sword.
Reward for Qingzhou Sword Dao champion: 1 Superior-grade Spirit Artifact flying sword.
A mysterious reward awaits you at the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet, this is an opportunity not to be missed.
Registration venue: Sect Office of all main cities in Qingzhou."
—-
The Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet, which was held once every three years, was one of the more famous meets in Qingzhou.
Although the rewards for the meet did not seem too attractive, most people who participated in the meet did not care about rewards at all. They mainly focused on gaining fame.
Who wouldn't want to be a Sword Dao genius who was respected and admired by many?
Su Changyu couldn't help but be stunned when he looked at the notice, but soon, he began to recall the state he was in when he clinched a spot in the top 500 places.
Although the number of applicants for that meet was rather small, being in the top 500 places was considered a glorious achievement.
However, when he saw the Sect Leader staring at the notice for a long time and slipping into a trance, Su Changyu couldn't help but speak up.
"Sect Leader, don't think about it. We're not qualified to participate in the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet at all. Uh… Sect Leader, are you thinking about it?"
Su Changyu was a little cynical about it, but soon, he realized what Daoist Tai Hua wanted to do so he couldn't help but be stunned.
"Don't spout nonsense, let's get to business first."
Daoist Tai Hua admonished Su Changyu to be careful with his words, and the two of them remained silent afterwards.
Two full hours passed.
They finally entered Baiguo City.
Upon entering Baiguo City, Daoist Tai Hua headed straight to a pawnshop with a cloth bag in hand.
The pawnshop was named 'Sincere Gold Pawnshop'.
The pawnshop looked very upscale and opulent, making them feel relaxed because of a sandalwood fragrance that wafted up to their noses as soon as they walked in.
Daoist Tai Hua and Su Changyu looked calm.
The pawnbroker personally came out to welcome them with a courteous smile.
"Exalted Immortals, are you here to pawn or sell your items?"
The pawnbroker seemed to be in his forties and appeared rather sly.
"Sell."
Daoist Tai Hua instructed.
Daoist Tai Hua understood the rules of the pawnshop and knew that pawnshops would generally only offer 70% of the original price of the item. Usually, one would incur a 30% loss when selling an item to the pawnshop.
However, that was inevitable because that was the fastest way to get money.
"You'd like to sell? Sure. Exalted Immortals, what do you want to sell?"
The pawnbroker asked smilingly.
"Here are the items. If you give me a good price, I will come often in the future."
Daoist Tai Hua directly tossed the bag onto the ground. It contained the items that he had scavenged for most of the day, which were basically all of the valuable items that he could find in the Qingyun Dao Sect.
"Sure, please have a seat, Exalted Immortal."
"Please serve the tea." Seeing how straightforward Daoist Tai Hua was, the pawnbroker gleefully ordered someone to serve the tea, subconsciously thinking that he had found a big client.
"No need for the tea. Just look at the goods and pay me the due amount."
Daoist Tai Hua said seriously.
He had to watch the pawnbroker check the goods, so as to prevent any slip-ups.
The pawnbroker was not the least bit displeased to hear Daoist Tai Hua's words. On the contrary, he was even happier because he thought that the more serious Daoist Tai Hua was, the more it meant that the items in the bag were good. Otherwise, who would care so much about a pile of trash?
"Exalted Immortals, please wait a moment."
The pawnbroker smiled and asked one of the staff to call the appraiser of the pawnshop.
After a short while, an old man hurriedly arrived. When he saw Daoist Tai Hua and Su Changyu, he smiled and cupped his hands to greet them.
The two of them nodded.
Soon, the elder opened the bag and looked at it with anticipation.
Even the pawnbroker seemed to be very expectant.
After all, Daoist Tai Hua and Su Changyu looked quite dignified. Hence, they felt that there were definitely good items.
However, after opening the sack, their faces immediately turned sullen.
There was a huge pile of things in the sack but they seemed like garbage to the two.
The appraiser rubbed his eyes, afraid that he might make the wrong judgment. Hence, he scrutinized it for a while but heaved a sigh of relief in the end.
Indeed, it was a pile of trash.
He did not make the wrong judgment.
"Exalted Immortal, did you make a mistake?"
The pawnbroker was a little confused.
"No mistake, these are the things I want to sell. Give me a good price and I'll return again next time."
Daoist Tai Hua did not feel anything. On the contrary, he was very serious.
After he heard him say that, the pawnbroker of Sincere Gold Pawnshop fell silent completely.
'Ugh, I was wondering what treasures there were.'
'Turns out it's a pile of scrap.'
'Since they're just scraps, why do you have to act like they're something impressive?'
'Also, you came to a pawnshop with a pile of scrap? Are you so poor that you've gone out of your mind?'
'Give you a good price? You'll come back next time? Do you think this is a market? This is a pawn shop, do you think I, Shi Liangjin, am a rag-and-bone man?'
The pawnbroker stayed silent for a short while.
He was full of criticism but he ultimately chose not to vent his anger.
After all, since they had set up a business, he had to accept all sorts of customers, be it good or bad.
He could choose not to do any business but his reputation could not be tarnished.
Thinking about this, Shi Liangjin had no choice but to sigh and pick up the scrap.
"Ungraded demon hide, 7 taels of silver."
"Damaged flying sword hilt, 12 taels of silver."
"One shattered shard of Dharma treasure, 9 taels of silver."
"Foot cloth. Damn it, Exalted Immortal, are you alright? You're selling a foot cloth?"
In the pawnshop.
Shi Liangjin was squatting on the ground and picking out the items from the sack, one by one. He wasn't angry at first but he couldn't help but feel a little enraged when he pulled out the foot cloth.
That item was a little too inappropriate.
"Oh, I was in a rush when I was packing, that's a mistake."
Daoist Tai Hua was also a little embarrassed as he quickly took the cloth back.
Shi Liangjin was rather annoyed.
However, he put up with it in the end.
After the time it took for an incense stick to burn out, he finished counting all the items.
Indeed, it was a pile of trash.
That broke the last bit of Shi Liangjin's fantasy.
Previously, he imagined that the two people in front of him were experts who had hidden the treasures at the bottom for the sake of teasing them. However, it seemed like he was too naive to think so.
"One gold and 35 silver taels in total."
The pawnbroker stood up and clapped while looking at Daoist Tai Hua.
"That's too little, isn't it? Take it that we're forging a friendship. On account of that, how about two taels of gold?"
Daoist Tai Hua said after thinking about it for a while.
Shi Liangjin was at a loss for words.
He fell silent as he did not know what to say.
He didn't want to make friends with Daoist Tai Hua.
"One gold and 35 silver taels, not a single cent more. Exalted Immortals, if you're not satisfied, you may visit other pawnshops."
Shi Liangjin smiled awkwardly.
Deep down, he couldn't wait for the two of them to hurry up and leave.
He was the pawnbroker of Sincere Gold Pawnshop who would earn dozens of taels of gold in two hours. Yet, the two of them wasted so much of his time. Not only did he lose money, most importantly, he was embarrassed.
"Just consider this a friendship between us. We will continue to patronize you in the future. How about one gold and 50 silver taels? How is that? I won't take advantage of you."
Daoist Tai Hua insisted.
The latter shook his head helplessly, and then laughed bitterly.
"Exalted Immortals, to be honest, the total value of these items are lesser than the rice paper of that painting. If you can afford to buy Xuyang rice paper, why bother making a fuss about these taels?"
Shi Liangjin said.
He fixed his gaze on the scroll in Su Changyu's hand.
The scroll of painting was the reason he mistook the two of them for wealthy people.
He could tell at a glance that it was Xuanyang rice paper which cost two taels of gold per foot. The scroll itself was probably worth more than ten taels of gold.
Only those who were rich would dare to use such rice paper for painting.
Ordinary literati cannot afford to spend so much money.
However, at the next moment, Daoist Tai Hua asked, "This thing can be sold for money too?"