Chapter 1273: Shock, Utter Shock!
Chapter 1273: Shock, Utter Shock!
The first grade treasures having been shown, there were only the three supreme rank treasures remaining. They were the crowning jewels of this segment and their display was of paramount importance.
“I’m sure the last three treasures are also the most eye-catching ones.” Veluriyam Capital’s young lord smiled. “I’d like to offer my formal congratulations to their respective owners. In my opinion, any one of these three far surpasses any first grade treasure in value!
“Of course, I think it’s natural that we didn’t quite come to a complete consensus regarding the treasures. I’ll go into the details now.” He explained the differences between Master Dong Ye’s opinion and his own. The two had agreed upon this beforehand. The public had a right to know.
“Master Dong Ye, please go ahead. You deserve equal time out of fairness.” Jiang Chen wasn’t at all dictatorial, instead deferring to the Buddhist monk.
The master was the most junior amongst the four guests. He found it inappropriate to open his mouth just yet, glancing toward his three more senior peers. As the oldest, Emperor Wellspring was the first to speak up.
“As the one with the thickest skin here, allow me to step up first,” he laughed. “I know that all three of these are superb treasures, but young lord Zhen was the one who told me exactly why for each. I trust his wisdom and honesty. That’s all.”
Han Qianzhan nodded. “I concur with every point.
Su Huanzhen smiled as well. “I have faith in the keenness of the young lord’s eye.”
It was Master Dong Ye’s turn. He let out a soft sigh first. “The other three fellow daoists have the gist of it. I trust young lord Zhen’s ability and judgment as well. I don’t contest the second place treasure’s position, and I’ve been enlightened as to why third place is so valuable. As for first place… I have absolutely no idea, so I must reserve any decision on it. However, young lord Zhen has already said that he’ll shoulder any associated responsibility. If there’s any fault in his identification, he is willing to personally purchase it for the price that a treasure with equal valuation would fetch.”
Master Dong Ye was an honest man and disclosed everything about their discussion prior.
“Just as Master Dong Ye has said,” Jiang Chen smiled. “It’s normal for there to be debate about supreme rank treasures. To demonstrate the resolution behind my judgment, I’ll be responsible for any problem that arises as a result of possible misidentification. I’m willing to buy or trade for all three of these treasures for a equivalent price. Before we come to that, let’s get into what the three treasures actually are.”
There was very little doubt that young lord Zhen knew his stuff. Emperor Wellspring, Han Qianzhan, and Su Huanzhen were all prominent individuals who supported his conclusion. In light of that, there should be no issue whatsoever with the veracity of his claims. Though Master Dong Ye was verbally stubborn, his clueless but approving attitude was evident to his listeners nevertheless.
“We trust you, young lord Zhen. Show us the treasures!”
“Yeah, you’ve tantalized us long enough!”
“I can’t believe that a wandering cultivator would have a supreme rank treasure. I’d really like to see what it is!”
“Isn’t that right? Show them to us, quick! Maybe I’ll have a treasure just like it, ahahaha!”
The last comment wasn’t entirely baseless. Only a portion of the attendees had submitted their unknown treasures for identification. There were many left over who either hadn’t managed to register or were simply unwilling.
Because the latter group was tremendously large, there was no question that a few more existed who carried priceless things.
Some of the guests were just as fascinated as the wandering cultivators. The three treasures were sure to be incomparably expensive and valuable. There was no reason for young lord Zhen to hype them up so much otherwise.
The first grade treasures were already exciting enough. How much better would the supreme rank ones be? Absolutely everyone craned their necks in anticipation.
“Supreme rank treasure, third place. This is a sky rank spirit herb called the Heavencloud Ganoderma. It’s unique among other spirit herbs of its rank for being the main material to a pill called the Emperor Supremacy Pill. What is the Emperor Supremacy Pill, you might ask? A pill that allows great emperors to ascend one level for free and therefore possesses value beyond compare. Unfortunately, the Ganoderma isn’t quite mature enough, so it’s slightly lacking in terms of quality. The likelihood of successfully refining it into pills is much lower, and only two pills can come from it at most.” Jiang Chen brandished the spirit herb in question to the crowd.
The owner of the Ganoderma felt his body shiver helplessly. He was an earth sage realm cultivator, having obtained the herb purely out of happenstance. It had been with him for several decades now.
He hadn’t been blind to the possibility that it was a sky rank spirit herb – or failing that, an earth rank spirit herb at least. Originally, he’d even planned to get it identified after reaching emperor realm. He’d only come to the Dragon and Tiger Meet after hearing about a treasure identification segment. He hadn’t expected to receive such an amazing surprise gift out of it! His herb wasn’t just any sky rank spirit herb, but many times pricier besides!
Smiling, Jiang Chen showed the Heavencloud Ganoderma all around the square. “As a baseline, the Ganoderma should be three to five times the price of a regular sky rank spirit herb. With a needy buyer, it is reasonable to hypothesize that six or seven times is entirely reasonable, too. Therefore, I offer a toast to the spirit herb’s owner. You have riches rivaling many great emperors.”
In the cultivation world, sky rank spirit herbs held inestimable value. Even great emperor realm experts didn’t necessarily have a large supply of them. Possessing just a few was already remarkable enough.
The price of the Heavencloud Ganoderma rivaled five normal sky rank spirit herbs, giving credence to Jiang Chen’s comment. The crowd boiled over in wonder and praise.
Similarly, the guest area mirrored Emperor Wellspring and Master Dong Ye’s astonishment in their reactions. They’d never heard of the Emperor Supremacy Pill before. Did such a miraculous pill really exist?
Jiang Chen had no intention whatsoever of explaining the finer points of the Emperor Supremacy Pill. Master Dong Ye, Emperor Wellspring, and the others would spread the information for him naturally. He didn’t need to spill all the beans outright.
After brandishing it once more around his audience, Jiang Chen picked up the Seven Star Convergence Talisman.
“Second place for supreme rank treasures belongs to this talisman. This is a treasure passed down from ancient times, one of the best defensive charms available only for the most well-off. This is the Seven Star Convergence Talisman, and it has seven runes to protect against the seven attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning. An all-around superb shield, reliable against even the strongest great emperor.”
Jiang Chen held the talisman aloft. “A toast to the cultivator who owns this talisman, please! Your treasure is even more valuable than the Heavencloud Ganoderma. If you’re a strong cultivator, I advise you to keep it for yourself. If you are a cultivator below emperor realm, I recommend trading away or selling it instead. The amount of resources you’ll receive in exchange will easily bolster your progress into emperor realm – perhaps even great emperor as well.”
Helpful as always, the young lord gave an overview of what the Seven Star Convergence Talisman was roughly worth. The owner of the talisman was a wandering cultivator as well, but emperor realm. His face was completely emotionless at hearing Jiang Chen’s breakdown, but his heart was leaping with joy.
He was unquestionably one of the luckiest participants of the event. Just like the owner of the Ganoderma, he knew the talisman was pretty useful, but had no idea whatsoever as to the extent of the item’s value. He had attempted to get it identified several times, resulting in failure every time. He didn’t expect for Veluriyam’s young lord Zhen to be the one to succeed! And it was such a potent treasure, to boot. What a haul!
Waves of astonishment, admiration, and jealousy rippled through the crowd. Some were quite envious of the results being pronounced, and others very regretful that they hadn’t entered this segment.
Meanwhile, the heavyweights in the guest area were all looking at the talisman covetously. This was a treasure! If in their hands, it would be a life-saving treasure! It would gift them two lives in a fight against an expert.
What a pity that Veluriyam Capital was so principled and refused to announce the owner of this talisman. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could get their hands on it?
The ordinary guests aside, even Han Qianzhan and Su Huanzhen had been enticed by such thoughts, however fleetingly. The same was true for a man as composed as Emperor Wellspring.
After everyone had finished taking in the weight of the talisman, Jiang Chen finally put it down, smiling. “I’m sure the last treasure is the one that you’re all looking forward to the most.”
He raised the first-place jade slip high into the air. “This jade slip contains an ancient heritage. The text contained within is an immensely powerful cultivation method, recorded in prehistoric writing. Its worth dwarfs the current first grade sects’ signature methods!
“There is one small flaw, however. How exactly prehistoric writing is deciphered has been lost to time. The owner will find that decoding the jade slip is essentially impossible.” The young man smiled crookedly. “If efforts to interpret the jade slip are unsuccessful, the owner is welcome to flip the treasure to me. I'll trade for or purchase it for an appropriate price. Of course, you are welcome to try using it yourself. I won’t force your hand or reveal your secret.”
Jiang Chen wasn’t interested in sinister plotting. He had a surfeit of valuable methods. In general, he had a much bigger need for resources. He carried plenty of methods within his brain and could produce a large batch on demand.
The method in the jade slip was somewhat exceptional in certain ways, however. The jade slip and the method formed a harmonious whole, meaning that the value of the whole was more than the sum of its parts. He wasn’t in a position to declare any of this though. For the sake of fairness, he had to disclose the jade slip’s true value.
His words caused mass confusion through the entire audience, the heavyweights in the guest section included. An ancient method? More powerful than current first grade sects’ signature methods? That was too absurd for description!