Story 2 - Golden Fingers, Jade Boxes, and Other Treasures (6)

Story 2 - Golden Fingers, Jade Boxes, and Other Treasures (6)

I walked over to the stones I’d already scanned. Little Spring traveled next to me while cautiously observing our opponents.

“Hey, which three you would pick out of these.”

He randomly pointed to several stones. From my past perusal of them, I knew that they were either duds or low-quality jade.

Looks like I wouldn't trust his luck too much then. Knowing what exactly was in each of those, I placed my mark on the three most promising ones and started walking back to the conflict stone, which was what I nicknamed the stone we were fighting over.

After a tug at my sleeve caught my attention, I turned to Little Spring who pointed at a group of stones to my left that were fairly small. He wanted me to look through all of those? Was he trying to kill me?!

He looked up at me with adorable pleading eyes. Fuck it. An elder’s duty was to spoil the younger generation a bit.

I could only use my divine sense at Golden Core stage for a very short amount of time, so it was best to do them all at once. I reached out to the whole section of stones and peered inside each stone simultaneously for a half-second. My world dimmed. I nearly blacked out.Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

“Fairy Lin!”

Little Spring caught me before I fell. He stared at me, shock and concern evident on his face.

”Don't worry. I'm fine. It’s just an injury I sustained.”

He tightly clenched his fist and bit his lip.

I pulled out a few more talisman papers and put my mark on two more stones.

Okay. Here’s hoping whatever she picked wasn't as good as my selections. Because I was done using my divine sense for the rest of the day. It should be the rest of the week, but I doubted the enemies we were about to make would let us off for that long.

I walked up to the poor sales clerk and had him move my three best stones over to the conflict stone. I also paid for the stones as well as the cutting.

It didn’t take long after that for stupid Sea Pearl to find three stones she was satisfied with and move them over as well. I think she must have had some kind of tool to help her choose since she proudly stood while peering at us with a mocking smile. If that was the case, then I definitely couldn’t let this bitch take away Little Spring’s stone.

At this point, we’d started to draw in a crowd. Even people from outside the yard came in to spectate.

“So, how does this work?” Little Spring asked.

“The shop assistant will cut open our stones based on where we tell him to, then they’ll do a preliminary examination and an appraiser will let us know an approximate price. They judge the quality based on Color, Transparency, Texture, and Spiritual Retention. The jade with low or no Spiritual Retention would be sold off to non-cultivators while the higher quality ones would be sold exclusively to cultivators. Of course, this means that the Spiritual Retention grade is what matters most because, given a choice between paying in spirit stones or gold, most people would prefer to pay in gold.”

“Do we have any gold?”

“No, that’s why I said ‘most’ people.”

“So,” the bitch smiled. “Should we call it here, or do you want to be humiliated further?”

That boast didn’t deserve a response. I picked up my final stone and tried to hand it to the cutter, but Sea Pearl reached him first with her own. She winked facetiously.

“I want you to see this. So you know how truly hopeless your situation is.” She chuckled.

The poor stone cutter sighed and looked to Sea Pearl for instructions on how to cut her stone. Soon he made a slice down the left side and then used a spiritual tool to slowly grind away at it until a beautiful white jade appeared. It was even more beautiful than the one I had. The only issue was that it seemed to be a small piece. The appraiser, eyes twinkling with excitement, used his tool and then grinned. “This is a very small piece of white jade, but its quality is... Well. Immortal for everything except Translucency, which is Heavenly. This would make an excellent jade slip or protective pendant. It is worth at least 1 medium tier spirit stone or 1000 regular spirit stones.”

There were several people in the crowd crowing that they’d pay 1010 or 1200 for her stone but she calmly put hers away. Shit.

I handed him my last stone and told him to cut in on a thirds line, then I asked him to carefully grind it.

He ground it down using a special tool and then stopped and wiped the stone down with a cloth, showing a beautiful translucent green jade. This was a little bigger than Sea Pearl’s white jade but not by much.

The appraiser took his tool and his hand started trembling. “T-this...” he coughed. “Color, Translucence, Texture, and Spiritual Retention are all at the Immortal level, and are so close to being Golden rank in quality that I want to cry. I estimate that this jade is worth at least 2 medium tier spirit stones or 2000 regular spirit stones.”

There were a few people who spouted out a price that was a little under the 2000 price, but no one dared spend a medium-tier spirit stone on jade even if it was higher quality jade. I ignored the crowd and raised a brow at Sea Pearl.

“Looks like I win!”

The bitch glared at me. I could practically see the thoughts in her head as she likely made plans to murder me and take the stone she wanted. She handed four spirit stones to the shop associate and moved to leave.

“Hey!” Little Spring yelled and Fairy Sea Pearl jumped. “You haven’t apologized yet! And also, the loser pays! Four spirit stones aren’t enough to pay for the stone we were betting over. Unless you can’t afford it.” He looked at her with sympathy. “That’s it, isn’t it? You picked a fight with us because you couldn’t afford this stone.”

Effervescent Sea Pearl stomped her foot, turned as if possessed, and marched right back over to us. She tossed over a bag of spirit stones to the shop associate, then glared at Little Spring. “Don’t push your luck, child. I’m not apologizing.” Then she left in a huff with her glaring group of seafoam friends.

Little Spring looked like he would go after her, but I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t push her. She has a higher cultivation base. Just remember her name and face. You’ll be able to exact revenge in the future if you desire. The cultivation world is small, after all.”

I experienced a bit of joyful schadenfreude when I thought about how I was encouraging the main character to avenge himself against one of his past life’s wives... I was sure it would all turn out okay.

Hmm. The braindead wives used to talk to each other about how they met Bloodsword, as if sharing their stories proved that he loved them more.

What was her story again? She met him in her clan’s forbidden area after he won a spot to enter from a tournament. Then she fell for him at first sight as he was taming another spirit beast, so she followed after him. He found her annoying, but still protected her along their journey. He was looking for a certain item he’d heard that her clan had in the forbidden area... But actually, her clan had moved it to their safe.

Oh! That’s right. He married her to get that item as well as for her large dowry of spirit stones and treasures. Ugh. What was that item again? Well, whatever. He was on a different path now, so it probably didn’t matter.

Shit! I was zoning out again! I looked to Little Spring who peered around us. While he kept his face mostly emotionless, I could still see hints of worry in the tightening on his lips and the strength he held the corner of my sleeves.

“We need to grab our stones and go,” he said.

I nodded.