Chapter 767 – White Dragon Jade Card
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This new item in Lin Ming's hand was also a true treasure that could sell for 7000-8000 spirit essence stones in an auction house. This was something that the Knifescar fellow had received 20 years before in a small town of the Thatch Region. Although it didn't cost much, he still wasn't willing to sell it to Lin Ming for a higher price.
The White Dragon Jade Row was known to have seven fakes for every three real treasure items. But the truth was that it couldn't even match up to eight fakes for every two real treasures. Now, Lin Ming had continuously picked three real treasures in a row. Moreover, they were some of the top ranked items of the White Dragon Jade Row. Just how could there be such a coincidence in this world?
"Sir Lin, I could have never imagined… You're so young and yet you're an appraisal prodigy! The play that I put on in front of everyone must be laughable to an expert like you!" The Knifescar fellow said with a true essence sound transmission, still maintaining a smiling face.
Lin Ming faintly smiled in return and looked up at the Knifescar fellow. "Brother Knifescar, what are you trying to say? Are you saying there are any problems with the jade carvings I'm purchasing?"
Lin Ming already knew the answer to his question. He had been planning to buy both fakes and real items together, but Lin Ming's finances were limited. If he bought some fake items, then he wouldn't be able to afford the most expensive real ones. Plus, buying small fake items along with the most expensive real ones was merely him acting like an idiot, burying his head in the sand as he tried to fool this Knifescar fellow.
Thus, Lin Ming didn't bother to conceal his intentions at all. This was a one-time transaction, after all, and he didn't plan on returning to the White Dragon Jade Row in the future. If he ever came back, he feared that he would actually be asked to leave before he even went through the door. Since he was here today, he might as well take advantage of the fact that two great customers, Li Yifeng and Zhou Kun, were both here. Now, the Knifescar fellow couldn't refuse to sell to him, nor could he ask Lin Ming to leave.
"Sir Lin, let's not waste our time with these games. If you really did think there was a problem with any of these items then would you really spend over 10,000 spirit essence stones on a gamble? Today I will admit that my punishment is deserved, but that item in your hand is the last item that I can sell to you. My White Dragon Jade Row has its own rules and I can only blame my bad luck for being unable to realize that a Supreme Elder has visited my shop today. I also hope that you will consider my reputation here, and won't push me to the edge. After all, my White Dragon Jade Row is open for business in this Thatch Region where both good and bad people are mixed up. We won't allow anyone to bully us here."
Since the Knifescar fellow said that much, Lin Ming no longer put on an act. "I apologize. Things are a little tight for me at the moment. Once I leave White Dragon Jade Row, I will be sure to withdraw. But, Brother Knifescar, you've also gained over 10,000 spirit essence stones. The value of these items I take away should only be around 18,000 spirit essence stones. Brother Knifescar should still have a hefty surplus profit.
Lin Ming's few words set off a storm in the Knifescar fellow's mind. This meant that Lin Ming had realized that the blood spirit jade from before was a fake. Thinking about it, it must have been Lin Ming who stopped Li Yifeng from increasing the price.
The Knifescar man had studied those bracelets for three whole days and still could not be sure about their authenticity. Finally, he had to got to a Great Elder from the Headquarters to appraise the item. But Lin Ming had only looked at it and touched it for a bit before realizing that it was fake. This meant that his vision was at least three points higher than any of the Elders i in the Headquarters!
And thinking about it even more, when Lin Ming had chosen those three items several moments before, he had picked up the three most valuable ones from the pile of ambiguous treasures. This had made the Knifescar fellow extremely shocked.
Just who was this young man?
If he could walk together with Li Yifeng, and from the way that Li Yifeng treated him as an equal peer, it could be assumed that this young man surnamed Lin was not ordinary in the least. Still, he had never heard of him before. It was as if he had simply appeared out of thin air.
"I must say I admire Sir Lin's eyesight. May I inquire into Sir Lin's given name, and whether or not Sir Lin would like to join my White Dragon Jade Row Headquarters as a guest appraisal master?" If the Knifescar fellow had hated Lin Ming to the bones because he had swept up his three most expensive treasures, then all of that hatred had now disappeared. In the world of ancient jade carvings, appraisal grandmasters were existences respected by all. It was an extremely rare and valuable opportunity to bring a collection to a grandmaster and obtain his advice, and Lin Ming was already skilled enough to have reached this level.
"I'm sorry, but I must cultivate and I don't have much time," Lin Ming said, openly declining this offer and not even giving his name.
This made the Knifescar fellow feel extremely regretful; he had wanted to become friends with Lin Ming after all, or at least to develop good relations. But thinking about it, Lin Ming was bound to have some kind of extraordinary background, and would not necessarily wish to enter their White Dragon Jade Row.
"Since Sir Lin says so, then I won't ask anymore. This is our Jade Row's sound transmission card. If Sir Lin is interested at any time, then please come to my White Dragon Jade Row to have a look." All of the Knifescar fellow's words had been spoken with true essence sound transmission, except for these last words. He took out a viridian jade card with a lifelike Azure Dragon embossed onto the back. This was the White Dragon Jade Row's engraving.
Lin Ming was startled as soon as he received this jade card. This card was actually made of wood spirit jade. Although it did not require much material and although it was an extremely low grade of wood spirit jade, it was still remarkable. This sort of jade card could not be randomly awarded, otherwise even the White Dragon Jade Row would be unable to bear the costs.
As the Knifescar fellow passed the jade card, Zhou Kun was watching all of it. This immediately sent him into a fit of laughter, "That's the White Dragon Jade Card! I've come to the White Dragon Jade Row for several years before receiving one! Congratulations to Brother Knifescar for finding another golden goose! This is giving such face to Brother Lin here!"
In Zhou Kun's opinion, Lin Ming was too great of an idiot. The first time here he had already delivered up over 10,000 spirit essence stones to the White Dragon Jade Row! This must have been the reason why the Knifescar fellow issued Lin Ming a White Dragon Jade Card, all in order to tie up this great golden goose.
Golden goose?
The Knifescar fellow did not know what expression to make. In fact, the actual golden goose was the laughing fool. Comparing Lin Ming to Zhou Kun… The Knifescar fellow did not know whether to laugh or cry.
The Knifescar fellow glanced at Zhou Kun and thought to himself, "Many thanks to a fool like you for buying that pair of so-called blood spirit jade bracelets to fill up my losses for today, otherwise I really would be in trouble."
"Should I call you a tycoon, Sir Lin? Since you've already bought three 'treasures', do you not plan on buying any more?" Zhou Kun asked Lin Ming with zest. Today there were two wonderful events that had happened. First, he had obtained a precious treasure for a low price, and secondly he had watched as others were being tricked into buying expensive fakes.
Lin Ming faintly smiled and shook his head, saying, "I've already bought three items; I won't be able to afford any more."
"Haha, if you need spirit essence stones then you can also ask Brother Li. Brother Li is also a rich man!"
"Brother Lin, ignore him. Let's go." Li Yifeng patted Lin Ming's shoulder in comfort. He didn't know that Lin Ming had intentionally bought three expensive jade carvings in a row. With his understanding of Lin Ming, the man had no idea what wood spirit jade carvings were to begin with, otherwise he would never have asked those questions back on the spirit boat.
"Hehe." As Zhou Kun saw Li Yifeng leave the White Dragon Jade Row with Lin Ming, he looked a bit regretful. "Brother Knifescar, I'll come back next week, haha, but I will head out first for now."
"Take care!" The Knifescar fellow said, all smiles.
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"Brother Lin, why did you buy those three jade carvings? The price of those three added together is over 10,000 spirit essence stones! It isn't much cheaper than that pair of blood spirit jade bracelets!" Li Yifeng immediately asked Lin Ming as soon as they left. In his opinion, Lin Ming would not do something like that without reason. But he still could not figure out just what Lin Ming's intentions were.
There was no way for Lin Ming to explain his reasoning in a simple manner, so he just casually said, "I just had a special feeling about those three jade carvings, so I bought them."
"Alright." Li Yifeng shook his head, a bit stymied. "Since you like it, it's fine. Would you like to have your three items appraised? There is a sixth stage Life Destruction master in this city. He was also my first appraisal teacher that taught me how to identify wood spirit jade carvings; he is a highly respected and infamous individual. If he examines something he definitely won't make a mistake. Although most of the goods in White Dragon Jade Row are fake, some of them are real after all. There might be something good among those items you bought.
"Oh? A sixth stage Life Destruction master?" Lin Ming was surprised. In the Sky Spill Continent, there were some martial artists who had been able to become Peerless emperors after reaching the fourth stage of Life Destruction. However, these were very rare occurrences. This mostly happened when someone stumbled into a massive bout of luck that allowed them to become Emperor powerhouses. Even then, they would be the weakest of the rank.
The most common Emperor powerhouses had reached stages five or six of Life Destruction before becoming Emperors. There were very few who had reached stage seven of Life Destruction and nearly none who reached stage eight of Life Destruction. As for ninth stage of Life Destruction, those were legendary existences detailed in ancient texts from the Realm of the Gods.
Now in this random desert city that Li Yifeng had stopped by there was actually a sixth stage Life Destruction Supreme Elder. It was natural that Lin Ming would be stunned. Such a person would logically enter the Divine Sea realm in just one more step.
Of course, this so-called 'one more step' was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
As Li Yifeng and Lin Ming were talking, they suddenly a hearty laugh from in front of them. As Lin Ming followed the voice, he saw that not too far away, in a teahouse there were seven or eight men sitting around a stone table. The stone table had many pots filled with that putrid shredded-meat tea. And one of those men was Zhou Kun.
Zhou Kun swung his folding fan, a self-satisfied smirk covering his face. He had an open box in front of him and in that wooden box was that pair of blood spirit jade bracelets that he had previously bought.
"Brother Zhou's expertise is amazing! Blood spirit jade has all but disappeared from the Thatch Region for the last several years, but now Brother Zhou's purchase has really broadened our minds!" a middle-aged man wearing animal skins made compliments from across the table.
Zhou Kun laughed, his heart overjoyed. S Still, he modestly said, "It's just a preliminary judgment of mine. Although I'm 90% sure of my decision, there is still some risk involved. "
Just as Zhou Kun's voice fell, a Revolving Core realm white-clothed old man smiled and said, "Brother Zhou is too prudent. Brother Zhou has extremely keen perception towards ancient jade carvings. You've only entered this trade for several years and yet your eyesight is no worse than this old man's!"
The white-clothed old man laughed and picked up the pair of jade bracelets. He repeatedly studied them under the sunlight, occasionally taking out a small treasure mirror to examine it closer. Finally, he laid the bracelets back down and sighed in admiration.
"Old White, how is it, are they real?" a young man eagerly asked.
"They shouldn't be fake," the white-clothed old man breathed out. Seeing that this old man had come to the same conclusion as he had, Zhou Kun's smile turned even brighter.
"How many spirit essence stones do you think they're worth?" another young man couldn't wait to ask.
"How rude!" The white-clothed old man admonished the youngsters, "Blood spirit jade, is extremely rare. Even new jades are hard to find, not to mention something as old as this! Every year the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom only produces an exceedingly small amount, and nearly all of that is supplied to the Royal Family. You can hardly find this anywhere else, so don't just open your mouth and ask how many spirit essence stones it's worth!"
Chapter 768 – Guru Blueway, Destiny Decree
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The young men that were reprimanded by the white-clothed old man didn't seem perturbed at all. One of them laughed and said, "Old White, consider me as having spoken a hasty remark, but such a rare wood spirit jade carving must have a price to it. We are also newcomers to this area so our experience is limited. Just tell us how many spirit essence stones you think this is worth so we can open our eyes."
As the white-clothed old man heard the young man's words, his expression became like a dead log. But, Zhou Kun actually bluntly said, "This pair of blood spirit jade bracelets can be sold on the auction house for 25,000 to 30,000 spirit essence stones. If you manage to bump into someone wealthy that loves blood spirit jade then it might go for even higher."
As Zhou Kun reported this price, all of the young men present sucked in a deep breath of air. 30,000 spirit essence stones! Those present only had a net worth of several thousand spirit essence stones. This was an amount several times their complete wealth!
When they played with jade carvings they only messed around with small items. As for the expensive ones, those were only for looking. Who could play around like Zhou Kun?
At this moment, Zhou Kun saw Li Yifeng nearby.
"Haha, Brother Li is also here! I saw that Brother Li bought an ancient dragon carving from the White Dragon Jade Row. I just happen to have Mister White here. Mister White has a great deal of experience; he's already looked at my blood spirit jade bracelets."
Zhou Kun casually spoke these words for two reasons. First to show off that this white-clothed old man had affirmed that these blood spirit jade bracelets were real, and secondly because he didn't have much faith in the ancient jade dragon carving that Li Yifeng had bought. He wanted to have Mister White appraise it to embarrass Li Yifeng. After all, that ancient jade dragon had been one of the ambiguous items and had been at the White Dragon Jade Row for far too long. If it were really something good then someone would have bought it up a long time ago.
Li Yifeng knit his eyebrows together. As he saw that Zhou Kun was showing off his blood spirit jade bracelets to the circle of men and also simultaneously hearing that he had obtained Mister White's confirmation, it would be wrong to say that he didn't feel a twinge of regret in his heart. This Mister White had been in the jade carving trade for several dozen years now. Although he wasn't a top class appraisal grandmaster, he could still be considered an expert in his profession. He had even been banned from entering the White Dragon Jade Row; he was no longer a character that they could entertain.
After hearing that this type of person had confirmed the veracity of the blood spirit jade bracelets, he only shook his head. After all, he too had been biased towards thinking that they were the real deal to begin with. "Brother Lin, let's get out of here. I plan on going to the grandmaster to appraise this ancient jade dragon carving; perhaps it might be real, hahaha!"
Lin Ming didn't speak. In the ancient jade carving trade, it was easy to be influenced by thoughts and give birth to past regrets if one didn't make the purchase, one made the purchase, or made them think that they had been fooling themselves all along.
"Mm, alright." Lin Ming didn't mind. He had already identified the items that he bought as being quite good, and now he just lacked spirit essence stones.
Opening the third gate of the Eight Inner Hidden Gates didn't require a specific kind of miraculous body transformation medicine. As long as he had some body transformation miracle medicine of a certain rank, no matter what type it was, it was completely applicable to him. Lin Ming had searched through the Realm of the Gods alchemist's memories several times and had locked onto several types of medicines that he could refine. As long as he had enough time and materials then he he was confident he could successfully concoct them. And the bountiful lands of the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom were much better than Lin Ming had imagined. He would be able to find many materials he needed here. Of course, that was providing he had enough spirit essence stones.
Lin Ming and Li Yifeng headed towards the mansion of this small city's appraisal grandmaster.
As Zhou Kun saw the two people walking away, he immediately realized where they were going. He faintly smiled as he darkly thought, 'Li Yifeng must be going to Guru Blueway to have that ancient jade dragon carving of his appraised. He didn't dare to let Mister White appraise it because he feared that his jade dragon carving might be a fake, and it would be a loss of face if that was revealed in front of everyone, hahaha. I'll go see Grandmaster Blueway and take a look at just how precious your ancient jade dragon carving is.'
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The so-called appraiser residency that Li Yifeng had mentioned was in truth a very ordinary-looking house. The courtyard walls were built from rough stones and the whole place looked a bit shabby and worn out from the outside. It was impossible to imagine that a sixth grade Life Destruction powerhouse lived here.
"Brother Lin, this appraisal grandmaster has lived here for the last 100 years; his name is Guru Blueway. He's one of the top 300 ranked characters on the Destiny Decree!"
"Destiny Decree?" Lin Ming asked, a bit stunned.
"Mm, the Destiny Decree is a ranking list for strength within the Sky Spill Continent. Only Life Destruction powerhouses are listed on it and it is jointly issued out by several great intelligence organizations. Aside from the Destiny Decree, there is also an Emperor Decree which only has Divine Sea powerhouses. However, the Emperor Decree rarely changes. Those Divine Sea Supreme Elders are always wandering around with unknown whereabouts so it's difficult to collect any information on them.
"Ranking the Life Destruction powerhouses isn't easy either; it's only a rough estimate used for reference."
There were over 100 Emperor level powerhouses in the Sky Spill Continent, but definitely no more than 200. As for the number of Life Destruction powerhouses, that was far too difficult to calculate. Wanting to arrange the top ranked of these individuals in a list was extremely difficult.
Li Yifeng chuckled and said, "It naturally isn't easy, but this Destiny Decree is actually quite accurate. It's not much of a difference if you're three or four ranks away from someone, but being 30-40 ranks basically isn't wrong. The only exceptions are if you come across a massive lucky chance or recently experienced a breakthrough without anything knowing. The Destiny Decree is changed every three years, and is an important factor for the great forces to decide who to win over. As for the four Divine Kingdoms, they often use this ranking list as a way to contrast the quantity and quality of their young elites.
How young are those martial artists on the list?" Lin Ming emphasized the word 'young'.
"Relatively young. For a Life Destruction powerhouse, even 50 years old is considered young. To be ranked on the list at 50 years of age isn't easy at all! Most of the martial artists on the ranking list are at least at the fifth or sixth stage of Life Destruction; there are even some abnormal seventh stage Life Destruction monsters. Moreover, these martial artists are all astounding individuals in their generation. If your foundation is poor, you might not make it on even if your cultivation is high!"
As Li Yifeng spoke to here, they finally arrived. He reached out his hand to knock on Guru Blueway's gate.
With a soft creaking sound, the gate automatically opened.
In the courtyard, the ground was covered with fallen leaves. Underneath the gently falling leaves was a stone table with a checkerboard engraved atop of it. A blue-clothed old man was sitting at the stone table with a pot of boiling tea nearby. He had two black and white board pieces in his hands and his entire body was tense with concentration as he seemed completely focused on his game. From time to time he would lay down alternating black and white pieces; it turned out he was playing chess with himself.
"Oh, it's the Li Family's little baby boy again. Did you come to ask me to be your grunt again?"
The blue-clothed old man laughed. With a wave of his sleeves a pair of thin and elegant teacups suddenly appeared on the table, filled with a light amber tea. From the refreshing fragrance emanating from the tea, this tea was not the… popular… shredded meat tea of the Thatch Region, but a very high quality and exceptional tea.
"Hehe, Uncle Blueway, I came this time to specifically bring you some good things." Li Yifeng was apparently extremely familiar with this blue-clothed old man. He good-naturedly grinned as he laughed.
As Li Yifeng spoke he took out the ancient dragon carving jade carving from his spatial ring. The blue-clothed old man glanced at the ancient jade dragon carving but didn't speak; he had already guessed that Li Yifeng had gone shopping at White Dragon Jade Row and had come to ask him for an appraisal.
Li Yifeng was just about to walk forwards but he suddenly stopped in his steps. He swiveled around and saw Zhou Kun arriving along with the others from the street corner.
"Zhou Kun! That brat!" Li Yifeng frowned. Zhou Kun had bought the blood spirit jade bracelets, but Li Yifeng had only bought the ancient dragon jade carving which he didn't even know was real or fake. Even if it were real he would still lose face, and there was no need to mention what it would be like if it were fake. That damned brat had come just to embarrass him.
"Grandmaster Blueway, I brought some good things for you to look at today." Zhou Kun was all smiles as he approached. He was apparently also familiar with Guru Blueway.
"Yo! Sir Li, what a coincidence meeting you here." Zhou Kun pretended that he accidently bumped into Li Yifeng here. His eyes immediately locked onto Li Yifeng's ancient jade dragon carving. "Isn't that the White Dragon Jade Row's ancient jade dragon carving that is priced at 3300 spirit essence stones? Did you come to ask Grandmaster Blueway to appraise that for you?"
Since Zhou Kun had brought the shame game to this level, even the normally tranquil and carefree Li Yifeng had an extremely ugly look plastered on his face. But in front of Grandmaster Blueway, he could only endure this insult.
As Guru Blueway saw Li Yifeng and Zhou Kun in a tiff with each other, he only faintly smiled as he slowly sipped his tea, not saying anything. It was far too common for youths to engage in such disputes. And not to mention youths, but in the ancient jade carving trade, even those old experts would flush with anger with rage as they argued over the authenticity of their treasures.
Zhou Kun snickered and made an inviting gesture with his hands, "Sir Li, since you arriv arrived first?"
At this time, Li Yifeng was holding onto the box containing his ancient jade dragon carving. He could only place it on Guru Blueway's stone table and say, "Uncle Blueway, this is an ancient jade dragon carving I bought at the White Dragon jade Row. In truth, I don't dare to confirm that this is a real item. It's just that I've looked at it several times and I had an unbearable itch to buy it. I would like to ask Uncle Blueway to apprise this for me."
Li Yifeng respectfully opened the box with the ancient jade dragon carving and presented it to Guru Blueway.
Guru Blueway looked at the jade carving and released a wisp of his perception to gently circle around it. He gently traced the ancient jade dragon carving's scales. After a quarter hour, Guru Blueway finally stopped and said, "This ancient jade dragon carving comes from the hands of a famous expert. But, it's a bit young; it's only from a few hundred years ago. There have been some clever methods used to modify the appearance and give off this beautiful look, otherwise there is no way that the fine hairs on the surface would be so stiff. Generally speaking, this is a pretty good item – it is genuine true essence jade. It is ninth grade true essence jade, and roughly estimating, it should be worth around 800 spirit essence stones."
As Li Yifeng heard Guru Blueway's appraisal he looked a bit pained. He originally bought this item without caring if it was real or fake, and it would have been fine if he had it secretly appraised, but now in front of so many people, this was simply a great loss of face. In this circle, buying imitation goods at such a high price was really a laughable matter.
"Brother Li, oh, it really is such a pity. This ancient jade dragon carving really does have a beautiful appearance. If it were me I also might be a bit impulsive and buy it." Zhou Kun smiled as he gloated at Li Yifeng's misfortune. But, the surrounding people didn't say anything, only watching the good play unfold before them.
Zhou Kun's eyes shined as he took this moment to take out a wood box from his spatial ring. "Grandmaster Blueway, this is a pair of 10,000 year old blood spirit jade bracelets that I just bought. Could you take a look at them?"
"What? Blood spirit jade?" Guru Blueway's eyebrows shot up. His interest had obviously been stirred up.