Chapter 178: Exchange
Within this market, the place to exchange gold taels for Spirit Stones charged an administration fee, even though it was established by the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.
When Xiao Chen got to the shop, there were still some people in there. They were inner disciples who were preparing to go down the mountain; most of them were using Spirit Stones to exchange for gold taels.
The owner of the shop was an ordinary person without any cultivation. He was dressed in premium satin and had a mustache that was split into two whiskers. There was a twinkle in his eyes, this was the typical look of a merchant.
When the rest of them left, that man walked over to Xiao Chen with a gleeful smile on his face, “This little brother has been waiting for a long time, it must be a large sum, right?”
He is pretty insightful, Xiao Chen smiled and said, “Just call me Ye Chen. Might I know this boss’ name?”
“Haha, I don’t dare claim to be the boss, just an assistant. If you do not mind, you can call me Old Hu,” the boss spoke in an unhurried manner as he revealed a smile.
Xiao Chen did not waste any time on further pleasantries and took out stacks of banknotes from the Universe Ring. He arranged them neatly on the table and they soon filled the entire exquisite wooden table.
Old Hu was shocked and it clearly showed on his face. His mustache curled upwards as he slowly walked to the shop entrance and cautiously closed the door; he then hung up a sign that said ‘closed’.
After he doing that, he turned around to face Xiao Chen and said, “Looks can be deceiving. Little Brother Ye is indeed dealing with a large sum. I estimate there is about 10,000,000 gold taels worth of banknotes. Are you exchanging them all for Spirit Stones?”
Xiao Chen nodded. Old Hu smiled, “This must be the first time you are doing an exchange. If you make an exchange on such a large scale, you will lose out a lot.”
Could it be that the exchange rates would change as a result of the large amount? Xiao Chen was filled with doubts as he asked, “How so?”
“Take a look over there.” Old Hu turned around and pointed to a wooden board on the wall.
Xiao Chen looked at where Old Hu was pointing. The wooden board clearly stated the exchange rates of Spirit Stones. 3,000 gold taels could be exchanged for one Inferior Grade Spirit Stone. However, when the amount exceeded 100,000, it became 5,000 for one Inferior Grade Spirit Stone.
The higher the transaction amount, the lower the exchange rate became. Xiao Chen continued to look downwards. When he reached 10,000,000 gold taels, 10,000 gold taels only could be exchanged for one Spirit Stone.
This was not just shady on an ordinary level, Xiao Chen thought speechlessly. 10,000 gold taels for one Spirit Stone… that is to say, the 10,000,000 can only get him 1,000 Inferior Grade Spirit Stones.
“What’s going on? Exchanging for just one only required 3,000 gold taels. How come the higher the number gets, the exchange rates goes higher as well?” Xiao Chen asked as he could not understand.
If he made the exchange once a day, he could get close to 4,000 Inferior Grade Spirit Stones. However, if he changed it all in one go, that would only be a quarter of what he could get. This was something that nobody could accept.
Old Hu smiled faintly, “There were other people who used a large amount of gold taels to change for Spirit Stones. They were all from the wealthy mortal clans and had no ways to obtain Spirit Stones. Thus, they tried to think of ways to seize the opportunity.
“Just think about it, which has a higher value? Spirit Stones or gold taels? After a Spirit Stone is used, it is gone. However, gold circulates, it will never disappear. Furthermore, the Heavenly Saber Pavilion does not have that much Spirit Stones for people to make exchanges with. Thus, they instituted this rule.
“However, if you used Spirit Stones to exchange for gold taels, the more you exchange the more you get. This is the principle of gold having a value and Spirit Stones being priceless.”
Xiao Chen thought about this principle. It was easy for a cultivator to gain gold, much easier than getting Spirit Stones. If the exchange rate was too high, it would not be a good deal for the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.
After all, this money did not belong to Xiao Chen in the first place; he felt a slight pinch and it was over. In the end, he decided to make the exchange. Old Hu immediately counted the banknotes with a smile on his face. After he finished counting them, he immediately passed Xiao Chen one thousand Spirit Stones.
After Xiao Chen took the Spirit Stones and left far away, Old Hu went wild with joy. He thought to himself, if there were a few more idiots like him, he would get promoted soon.
Actually, Xiao Chen felt like he suffered a loss. Old Hu’s final smile clearly showed that he was unable to wait. However, this was something he snatched away. After all, it was sufficient that he could exchange them for Spirit Stones.
Xiao Chen went to the place where the stalls could be set up freely and started shopping. There were many things and the sheer number of things there was dizzying. With just a casual glance, Xiao Chen saw a lot of treasures that were normally hard to find.
“Horn of the Rank 5 Spirit Beast—Silver-Horned Tiger. Selling for 20 Spirit Stones or exchanging for a Rank 4 and above Medicinal Pill for healing wounds!”
Xiao Chen’s gaze stopped at a particular stall. The person running it was a middle-aged man who was an Inferior Grade Martial Saint. In the Heavenly Saber Pavilion, once one reached a certain age, if they had not advanced to the appropriate cultivation realm, they would stop providing remunerations.
They could choose to go down the mountain and be free or they could choose to stay in the Heavenly Saber Pavilion. However, they had to do everything themselves. Furthermore, they had to pay a certain sum of Spirit Stones.
The middle-aged man in front of him should belong to the latter category. Since Lingyun Mountain Range had dense Spiritual Energy, he could not bear to leave. Thus, he chose to stay.
“I want this beast horn. However, can it be cheaper? How about ten Spirit Stones!” a youth was standing in front of the stand, bargaining.
The middle-aged man shook his head, “No way, this is the lowest price already, it cannot be any cheaper.”
“15 Spirit Stones! This is the highest price I can offer. What do you think? If you want to sell it, you have to be fast. Consider yourself lucky, I need this beast horn to refine a Medicinal Pill. Otherwise, no one would be interested in it,” that person continued to bargain. He was clearly dissatisfied
The middle-aged man shook his head again, “I am not selling it for anything less than 20 Spirit Stones. The horns of the Silver-Horned Tiger only grows an inch every ten years. For it to grow to this length, it would require at least 150 years.
“This kind of beast horn contains a very dense Spiritual Energy. It is good for making strong bone weapons or it can be ground into powder for Medicinal Pills; it is very valuable. 20 Spirit Stones is already the lowest price.”
“Bang!”
That person threw the beast horn back onto the stall heavily. He said with despise in his voice, “What a trash, shamelessly staying on the mountain. Me wanting your product is an honor to you. Let’s see who will buy your beast horn.
“Let see how are you going to pay the Spirit Stones to the Main Hall. Just wait to be chased off the mountain! I showed you my regards but you rejected it. You are simply asking for trouble!”
The youth only had a cultivation at the Medial Grade Martial Grand Master. Despite being mocked, the middle-aged person remained expressionless; he was very calm, “I have to respect the efforts I put in. Selling things cheaply is selling myself cheaply. If I was really chased away, I would be willing.”
After that youth mocked him a few more times, he walked away, cursing and swearing as he did so. As he left he would turn his head back occasionally, looking at the Silver-Horned Tiger’s horn. It was clear that he was not resigned.
Xiao Chen walked in front and carefully inspected the beast horn at the stall using his Spiritual Sense. It was indeed as the middle-aged man had said, it was a beast horn that was at least a hundred years old; it was full of dense Spiritual Energy.
There could not be a better material for the Life Bestowal Spell. Although with Xiao Chen’s cultivation realm, he could use ordinary materials to fight using the Life Bestowal Spell. However, its effects were not as good as when he used quality materials.
“Friend, are you here to buy this beast horn as well? If you are intending to bargain, then don’t bother. I am not lowering the price.”
Xiao Chen smiled, “I am indeed going to bargain, there is a problem with your price.”
The middle-aged man’s complexion changed. Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Chen continued, “Your price is a little on the low side. 20 Spirit Stones is already selling it cheaply. I am offering you 50 Spirit Stones, this is my respect for your efforts.”
After Xiao Chen spoke, he dug out 50 Spirit Stones and handed it to that person. Then he took the beast horn, stored it in his Universe Ring, and turned around to leave.
The words of the middle-aged man had touched him. He stayed on the Heavenly Saber Pavilion alone, receiving cold, detached, and supercilious looks from others. The middle-aged man was much better than the him of the past—under such an environment, he was still able to maintain such a mentality.
This stirred up the compassion in Xiao Chen, so he decided to help him out. After all, 50 Spirit Stones was only a small sum to him now; perhaps it could be used to resolve a desperate situation for others.
“Little Brother, why did you help me?” The middle-aged man chased after Xiao Chen and asked.
Xiao Chen turned around and smiled gently, “A river flows in the east for 30 years, then a river flows in the west for 30 years, who knows what will the future brings. Who knows, maybe by helping you today, you would end up making your mark in future. By then, it would be worthwhile to have you owe me a favor.”
[TL note: A river flows in the east for 30 years, then a river flows in the west for 30 years: This refers to how unpredictable the flow of a river can be and how it can frequently change. It is basically saying the future is uncertain.]
A river flows in the east for 30 years, then a river flows in the west for 30 years, who knows what will the future brings, The middle-aged man repeated this sentence in his heart, However, will I, Lan Chou, have such a day?
Taking advantage of the moment he was distracted, Xiao Chen turned around and used his Movement Technique to quickly leave. It was simply a small effort on his part, there was no need to focus on it too much.
The day was still young, so Xiao Chen continued shopping. Occasionally, a few things caught his eyes; High Rank Spirit Beast blood, rare ores, and rare herbs. A hundred Spirit Stones was spent very quickly.
A stall that had many people gathering around it appeared in front of Xiao Chen. He was feeling very curious; he pushed his way through the crowd.
The stall owner was a youth of about 20 years of age; he was a peak Martial Grand Master wearing Beichen Peak uniforms. There were three gold lines embroidered on his collar; this was a Beichen Peak core disciple.
There was only one item in his stall, a half meter long strip of wood that was as wide as the width of a finger. The strip of wood lay quietly in the stall but there was a visible light green Spiritual Energy wafting out of it like green smoke.
“Fusang Spiritual Wood!” Xiao Chen exclaimed to himself.
This tree had an inexhaustible Spiritual Energy; its never-withering flower bloomed once every thousand years; it bore fruits every ten thousand years. The fruit it bore was an undying divine fruit, after eating it, one would gain a longevity comparable to the heavens and the earth. They would never die and never grow old.
When a branch of this tree was broken off, it would give off a green smoke. The strip of wood placed on the stall was exactly the same as how the Fusang Spiritual Wood was described.
However, this was not the true Fusang Spiritual Wood. Xiao Chen extended out his Spiritual Sense and examined it. He discovered that although it contained a very dense Spiritual Energy, it was slowly being reduced.
As for the branch of the Fusang Tree, after it was broken off, the Essence contained in it would be inexhaustible as well; it would not be reduced.