"Uncle Jiu…"
Long Kui watched Long Jiu wide-eyed, who instead watched the calm Zhuo Fan with his only eye.
Zhuo Fan gazed back with a grin, "Too low."
"Wh-"
They all cried out in response.
1.8 million was an inconceivable wealth for the Luo clan. Luo Yunchang never dreamed of having such riches. Yet in the eyes of Zhuo Fan, it wasn't enough.
Luo Yunchang and Captain Pang looked lost at him. If not for being born and raised in the Cloud Manor, they'd be thinking he was a noble descendant.
His gaze traveled so far.
Yet before others could recover from Zhuo Fan's attack, here came Long Jiu's reply.
"I understand, but this is the most this old man can give."
"Uh, then I'll sell it as a favor for grandpa Jiu at this price." Luo Yunchang chuckled embarrassingly as she wiped her brow.
She never imagined a random drawing from Zhuo Fan would garner such an insane price that took all of Godeye Long Jiu's wealth to pay for it.
And by the looks of it, Long Jiu seemed to have set his sights on it. As such, it was better to earn his favor and be on good terms with Veiled Dragon Pavilion.
Long Jiu showed a gratified smile, as expected, being extra careful as he rolled the drawing.
But then, Zhuo Fan slapped the table, "Since you can't go higher, the deal is off."
"Zhuo Fan!"
Luo Yunchang gave him a look, but he ignored her as he reached for the scroll.
Squinting his eyes, Long Jiu unleashed his awe-inspiring power, "Kid, this old man wants it."
Under such tremendous pressure, everyone recoiled, while Luo Yunchang and Captain Pang were overwhelmed from shock.
Long Jiu was far above Cai Rong. Offending him would be tantamount to instant death.
Yet, Zhuo held his own under the man's power and even sneered, "Grandpa Jiu, you're staining Veiled Dragon Pavilion's reputation."
"Kid, are you not afraid?" Long Jiu kicked his power up a notch.
"Humph, aren't you?"
Blanking out for a second, Long Jiu took back his power and laughed, "Ha-ha-ha, good kid. With you in charge of the Luo clan, they have nothing to worry about."
The others were baffled. The two were a step away from jumping at each other's throat and in the next instant all went up in smoke.
Yet, no one knew the two moved the battle from brawn to mind.
Long Jiu released his power to soften Zhuo Fan into selling him the drawing. Instead, Zhuo Fan pushed through the pressure and asked the old man about his honor. Veiled Dragon Pavilion was the number one appraising house among the seven nobles. If this coercion leaked then the damage would be unimaginable.
Zhuo Fan bet on his fate and the clan's honor's place in Long Jiu's heart and won.
With a deep look directed at Zhuo Fan, Long Jiu took the direct approach, "Kid, I know you didn't come just to sell this drawing. What are your terms?"
Grinning, Zhuo Fan pushed the drawing before Long Jiu, "Ten million is a fair offer. Let's start by having you pay us a million and the rest slowly."
"That's…"
Long Jiu eyed the scroll then nodded after a while, "Alright. Until the debt is paid, the Veiled Dragon Pavilion shall owe Luo clan."
Long Jiu took the scroll and left. Yet once he was gone, his voice lingered, "Little Kui, give them a million spirit stones and walk them out."
"Uh, yes!"
Long Kui was overwhelmed with different thoughts as she had never seen Long Jiu with such a sour expression. Turning back to Zhuo Fan, it was the first time she saw him sporting such a content smile.
Next, she handed a million spirit stones and saw them out.
At the gate, the two guards were eager for them to show up and teach them a thing or two, but Long Kui's respectful attitude threw a wrench in their plans. And when they heard the deal they made included a million spirit stones, they were stunned.
Never had they imagined a remote place like this could come with such an important deal. It became one of the top three deals in Veiled Dragon Pavilion's history.
"Damn, thank god we didn't do anything or disaster might have struck." A guard watched the four leave and wiped the sweat off his brow. The other just bobbed his head.
Veiled Dragon Pavilion treated a rich clan with respect. If any of their men dared to offend the clan, the noble house would exact punishment.
In the case of a clan with a million spirit stones, the guards' complete lack of courtesy would even end with their deaths.
Thinking about it, they began to sweat buckets…
On the other hand, Long Kui returned to Long Jiu who was now looking at every detail of the 1st-grade array.
"Uncle Jiu, isn't it just a 1st-grade array? How is this worth ten million? I never even seen an item worth that much." Long Kui asked the moment she went through the door.
Sighing, Long Jiu gestured to her next to him, "Little Kui, look closer, this might be the only one of its kind in the empire."
"This is…" Long Kui's eyes flashed with shock.
"An Ancient Array!"
Long Jiu showed how moved he was with every word, "The ancient arrays are a lost art, yet this has essentially proven their existence. It is priceless, and even ten million is too low."
"What? It's that valuable?"
Nodding, Long Jiu revealed a childish smile, as if he got his most cherished toy. But something occurred to him that soured his mood.
"Little Kui, tell Ah Jie to find five experts and watch over the Luo clan. They offended the Sun clan today."
"Why should we help them?"
Long Jiu snorted, "Haven't you been listening? We owe them."
Long Kui began to recall. [So this is what Zhuo Fan and Long Jiu were haggling over.]
Yet, the veteran uncle Jiu was defeated in negotiations by a pup. Of course he was in a bad mood.
Long Kui couldn't help but let out a giggle…