Chapter 172: Blood River Pattern
“Haha, this lass really knows how to feel shy!” The 3 old men began laughing together.
Facing these old men, Little Fatty was completely speechless. But, they were his seniors after all and he could not say anything about it. He could only grimace and say, “3 seniors, are you guys really so happy after obtaining the Dao Comprehending Tea?”
It wouldn’t matter if Little Fatty had not mentioned this matter. The moment Little Fatty spoke about it, the 3 old men were angered to the point they trembled.
The bald old man frustratedly blurted out, “Don’t mention it already. I am just too speechless regarding HongYing’s family. The child and wife are all just too able in ruining things!”
“En?” Little Fatty quickly realised that something was wrong. Thus, he hurriedly asked, “What exactly happened?”
“Haiz, let’s not talk about it already!” The bearded old man said bitterly, “Just pretend that you have no idea about this matter. If you were to know it, I’m afraid that sect master may even have the heart to silence you!”
“Okay okay!” The red faced old man then added, “Let’s not talk about it already. It’s best that we talk about more important things!” Obviously, although these 3 people seemed to be extremely heartless, their lips were still sealed tightly. They knew what to say and what not to say. If word were to spread that the First Lady used the Dao Comprehending Tea as leg washing water, she would definitely become a big laughingstock, unable to raise her head again. Thus, they decided to just keep mum about the matter and not tell Little Fatty.
Seeing that they did not answer him, Little Fatty did not dare to ask anymore. But, he still managed to understand somethings from what they said. It seems that they did not manage to get the tael of tea leaves which he gave away. As such, it seems like he would instead become the centre of attention.
Although he had long realised that, Little Fatty did not openly say his thoughts. Instead, he pretended to be in the dark and ask, “Then may I know why seniors are looking for me?”
“Hehe, it’s simple. I want to buy the pot of tea you are drinking now!” The bald old man hurriedly said.
“Save it, it is not him who is going to buy it. I am the one who is going to buy it!” The red faced old man hurriedly said.
“It will be me, sell it to me. I will pay the highest price!” The bearded old man also said anxiously.
Seeing this scenario, Little Fatty was ecstatic. He immediately knew that this half pot of tea had probably become a rare item already. Plus, seeing how the 3 of them wanted it so badly, this was obviously them coming up to his doorstep to be extorted. If Little Fatty were to have any hobby, it would definitely revolve around extorting people.
Thus, he smiled and replied, “Hehe, all 3 seniors here want the item, but I only have a single pot here. I obviously won’t be able to satisfy all 3 seniors. But being a junior, it wouldn’t be good if I did not give my seniors face. This really puts me in a spot!”
All 3 of them were all extremely sharp people and naturally understood what Little Fatty meant. Hence they all said in unison, “Cut the bullshit, what do you propose?”
“Hehe, I shouldn’t have any rights to say anything here. But since all 3 seniors requested together, then this junior will have to reluctantly give a simple solution, to have an auction!”
“Auction?” The bald old man frowned and said, “How should we hold the auction? Briefly elaborate!”
“That’s right, we can’t possibly raise the price indefinitely just for a pot of tea!” The red faced old man added.
“Yes, we have been friends for over a few hundred years already. We can’t possibly fall out just because of something so small right?” The bearded old man replied with a cunning laughter.
Hearing what they said, Little Fatty immediately knew that his plan to make them bid fiercely had failed. He then could not help but curse in his heart ‘Old foxes!’. Then, he hurriedly said with an apologetic smile, “Yes yes yes, this junior thinks so too. No matter what, I cannot let these 3 seniors fall out with each other. Thus, this junior thinks that each of you should give a price. Then, this junior would make a choice which is the most suitable for me. No matter who I choose, I hope that the other seniors would not blame me!”
“En, this is a good idea!” The bearded old man nodded.
“I think this is good, a one-time auction can avoid us having conflict!” The red faced old man said.
“Besides, you do not need to worry about anything else. The 3 of us when added up have over a few thousand years under our belts. We will not make things difficult for you because of such a small issue!”
“That would be the best!” Little Fatty rubbed his hands excitedly and said, “I wonder which senior would make the first bid?”
When the 3 of them heard that, they immediately became hesitant as they glanced towards each other.
Obviously, all of them wanted to be the last one to bid in order to offer a slightly higher price than the one who bid first. But, none of them were foolish and were all able to keep their cool. Thus, they all stood there for a while with no one wanting to be the person to take the leap of faith.
Seeing the situation start to deteriorate, Little Fatty hurriedly said, “Seniors, why not all 3 of you take out your items together and block it with a light screen. Then, each of you can take turns to explain it. You cannot regret or change the item that you take out! Is that reasonable?”
“Well said!” Hearing that, the 3 of them nodded in satisfaction and waved their hands together. Then, 3 items shrouded in a green light appeared in front of all of them. Since it was covered by the green light, Little Fatty could not see what they took out. But, just thinking about the fact that it was taken out by 3 FenShen cultivators, it would definitely not be anything ordinary.
Little Fatty was naturally filled with happiness in his heart. But, he still acted as though he was extremely calm as he nonchalantly spoke, “Now that everything is out, all of you cannot regret already. I wonder which senior wants to introduce your item first?”
“Let me!” The red faced old man was obviously extremely confident thus jumping out to be the first. As he waved his hands, he removed the green light and revealed a robe. This robe was filled with 5 colours, but Little Fatty could not tell what it was made from. There was beautiful embroidery on top of it with a strong wave of 5 elements spiritual Qi emanating out from it.
The red faced old man then said delightfully, “This is a Five Element Robe which is a proud product of mine 800 years ago. I had refined it many times and spent lots of my heart and soul on it. I originally wanted to refine it into a spiritual artifact. But, I managed to obtain a spiritual artifact robe dozens of years back. Thus, this item is no longer important to me anymore. But, I have refined it with my heart for so many years after all. Although it did not gain any sentience, it still managed to develop a trace of spirituality. I believe that it wouldn’t be an issue for it to become a spiritual artifact if it was given some more time! Little boy, I can tell that your cultivation method has all 5 elements and you are extremely suited for this item. You don’t seem to have any protective treasure on you now right? What are you waiting for? This super magical artifact which has its own five element escaping formation is your best choice!”
After the red faced man finished his pitch, Little Fatty’s eyeballs nearly turned green. Indeed, this item was extremely suited for him. Although the copper bell was good, it iwas not something that could be revealed easily. Plus, its defenses were not as complete as this item with the five elements escaping formation. With it, Little fatty would be able to escape a couple of kilometres away in times of danger. This was the best magical artifact for him to escape with his life! For half a teapot to exchange with such an item, it was just like a piece of pie falling from the heaven! But, just as Little Fatty was about to nod his head, the bald old man immediately became anxious as he said with a cough, “Little guy, I strongly recommend you to make a choice after seeing my item! In all honesty, although that Five Element Robe is good, it may not be the most suitable for you! Trust me, at least the thing which I take out would be more helpful for you!”
“En?” As Little Fatty heard that, he immediately became alert as he asked, “I wonder what is senior’s item?”
“Look carefully!” The bald old man waved his hands, removing the green light and displaying an extremely old jade strip. Then he began to introduce, “Little guy, you are a lightning cultivator right? Plus, you can cultivate the lightning of all five elements right?”
“Yes!” Little Fatty hurriedly nodded, “This junior is indeed a 5 element lightning cultivator!”
With regards to the fact that they knew about him, Little Fatty was not surprised at all. The sect master must have told them about himself.
“That’s right!” The bald old man smiled delightfully, “This is a 5 element lightning talisman from the ancient times. It has the records of all lesser and mid lightning spells, a total of 20 of them!”
The reason why there were so many of them was because every lightning spell had a positive and negative one. Thus, both the lesser and mid lightning spells had 10 of them each which added up to 20. The lightning talisman of a lightning spell is already worth a lot, and it can be considered to be a small fortune. But to Little Fatty, the only use of it would be the 10 lesser lightning spells. He would not be able to use the mid lightning spells yet. Furthermore, the lesser lightning spells were not too rare and could be slowly collected by him. Thus, he was still more tempted by the Five Element Robe.
Obviously, the bald old man also saw that Little Fatty wasn’t very interested in the item. But, he wasn’t anxious at all. With a smile, he revealed his final trump card.
“Little guy, I know that the 5 element lightning spells are far from the value of the Five Element Robe. But, how would I have the face to take out something as useless as that?”
The bald old man then said with a smile, “Actually, the 20 lightning spells recorded here is just a small part of it. The thing really precious about it is the refinement method of the Lightning Congregating Station!
“Lightning Congregating Station?” As Little Fatty heard that, he was immediately taken aback. Then, he asked in doubt, “What is this Lightning Congregating Station?”
“Hehe, the Lightning Congregating Station is a magical artifact which is able to condense divine lightning!” The bald old man then added, “With it, you do not need to spend time daily to refine your divine lightning. The Lightning Congregating Table can help you to condense them. This is as good as saving you a large amount of time!”
“What?” As Little Fatty heard that, he immediately said in shock, “There is actually a magical artifact which is able to automatically condense divine lightning? Why haven’t I heard of it before?”
“Hmph, this is because it is an item that only appears once every 10 thousand years. Although this would indeed make life easier for a lightning cultivator, a lot of high-quality resources require makes it extremely expensive. A Lightning Congregating Station for a low-grade divine lightning would be almost equivalent to a giant magical artifact of a sect! Plus, the materials for a mid divine Lightning Congregating Station would be almost equivalent to a spiritual artifact!” The bearded old man said with a frown “Little guy, this item is something that even I can’t afford. Do you think you will have so much wealth?”
“Don’t underestimate this little fellow. Maybe he really has the ability to refine it!” As the bald old man heard that, he huffed in exasperation.
“You obviously just want to cheat him!” The bearded old man said in disdain.
When Little Fatty heard that, he immediately regained his senses and understood why the old man was willing to give him this ancient refinement secret. To a weak cultivator like him, this was obviously something useless. But to Little Fatty, this was not something which was impossible to achieve. After all, he had just too many materials in his Natal Artifact. Even if it is not enough, he can just get the remaining by trading. Since it was useless for him to leave his materials untouched, it would be good if he could refine a Lightning Congregating Station. Then, he would not have to refine divine lightning every day but still have a large amount of divine lightning to use.
Thinking about this, Little Fatty indeed felt little tempted. But since he had yet to see the last item, Little Fatty did not choose it immediately. Instead, he looked towards the bearded old man and said, “I wonder what is senior’s item?”
“Hehe!” As the bearded old man heard that, he immediately answered, “My item is naturally not like those trash. Let me show you today what is considered to be a treasure!”
As he said that, the green light in his hands was also removed and he revealed a palm-sized tortoiseshell. The surface of the shell was filled with blood coloured pattern. Although this item felt extremely unique, Little Fatty could not tell anything special about it.
But, the moment the other two old men saw the item, they immediately exclaimed, “Blood River Pattern!” The red faced old man then shouted out, “Old fellow, are you nuts? You actually took something so good out?”
“Goodness, the last time you even refused a 4th grade spiritual artifact. Why did you take it out today?” The bald old man then said, “Just for this pot of tea, is it worth it?”
“Haiz!” As the bearded old man heard that, he took a long sigh before saying, “I have been stuck at this bottleneck for over 500 years. If I do not achieve a breakthrough in another 100 years, I would run out of time. This pot of tea is my final hope! If I do not have this treasure, I can still find it again. If I do not have my life, then I will have nothing left!”
The moment the red faced old man and the bald old man heard his words, they revealed faces of grief. Then, they laughed bitterly, kept their items and said helplessly, “Forget it, since you are willing to pay such a price, then we’ll let you have it!”
“Thanks, many thanks!” The bearded old man cupped his hands in thanks.
“Cough Cough!” Only then did Little Fatty had the chance to cough twice and say with a bitter laughter, “3 seniors, please don’t make a decision so quickly. I don’t even know what this Blood River Pattern is.”
“Hehe, it’s something awesome!” The red faced old man said in envy.
“Something that even DaCheng cultivators would drool over!” The bald old man added, “This time, you really got a good deal!”