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Chapter 219: Demon Stone
Astonishment was written all over Zhang Xinya’s beautiful face. She didn’t expect that Tang Xiu could correctly guess the type of disease her father contracted by merely knowing the medicinal herb’s name she gave out.
“Is he… a Divine Doctor?” The idea appeared inside her mind, even though she quickly cast it aside.
If it was someone else who said it, she might believe he was a Divine Doctor! But when it came to Tang Xiu, she wouldn’t believe it even if she was to be beaten to death. Tang Xiu was, after all, too young. Weren’t all the Chinese Medical doctors who were very proficient in Chinese Traditional Medicine, all of the old age?
“It’s as you say, he contracted the Virtual Fire Deficiency disease.” Zhang Xinya nodded with an agonized expression.
“Lone Riverserpent is indeed a good medicinal herb to treat this disease. The effect would be even better if it’s added to the Silver Bluegrass. Alright, since Ouyang Lulu has spoken for you, I might as well help you to the end.” Tang Xiu said.
After having said that, he dialed Chen Zhizhong’s number.
“Master, you’re looking for me?” Chen Zhizhong’s voice came out of the phone.
“Yes. I have some trivial things to ask you. Do you know Zhang Xinya?” Tang Xiu asked.
“I do.” Chen Zhizhong replied.
“I see. She needs a Lone Riverserpent herb. Help her to look for it, give a discount if you can. She’s Ouyang Lulu’s friend.” Tang Xiu said.
Without hesitation, Chen Zhizhong said, "Understood, I'll contact her later."
“She’s with me now, you can speak to her!” Tang Xiu said.
After having said that, he handed the phone to Zhang Xinya and said lightly, “It’s Chen Zhizhong, you talk to him.”
Zhang Xinya was pleasantly surprised. She thanked gratefully as she took the phone and said, “Hello, I’m Zhang Xinya. You’re Uncle Chen?”
“Yes, it’s me. My Master has just told me about your situation. I’ll try to find this Lone Riverserpent herb to the best of my abilities, and I’ll immediately inform you after I found it.”
“Your Master?” Zhang Xinya was dumbfounded. A confused expression filled her eyes as she subconsciously asked.
“So you actually didn’t know that the person who owns this mobile phone is my Master?! Alright. Since Master has told me to take care of this matter, you can consider it done. Anyways, since I wouldn’t have to talk to him over the phone again, I’ll hang up.”
“Alright…”
Zhang Xinya answered. Then, the muted beeping sounds came out of the phone. A shocked expression was written on her face as she looked at Tang Xiu as though she was looking at an alien.
“Master? Tang Xiu is Chen Zhizhong's Master? Heavens! How is this possible?”
Who was Chen Zhizhong? He was the Big Boss of the Endless Virtue Pharmaceutical, a powerful billionaire with ten billion worth of assets. How was it possible that he worshipped a young man in his 20s given his elated status?
Zhang Xinya swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked with a trembling voice, “T-Tang… Tang Xiu, are you really Boss Chen’s Master?”
"Is there a problem with that?" Tang Xiu calmly asked.
“N-no problem, of course, there’s no problem… it’s just… that… I was a little surprised.” Zhang Xinya shook her head and waved her hands repeatedly and said, “Oh, right. Thanks. Thanks a lot. If it was me, calling Boss Chen would’ve been extremely difficult.”
Tang Xiu said with a pale smile, “You’re welcome, and no need to be that polite. So long as you see Ouyang Lulu later and don’t say anything bad about me in front of her, I’m content enough. Alright. Since I’ve done all I can, I’ll be boarding my flight. Farewell.”
“Wait! I’ll send you off!” Zhang Xinya quickly said.
Tang Xiu stopped her, and said straightforwardly, “No. I don’t want tomorrow’s news headline to be ‘A Big Pop Star Zhang Xinya Is On an Intimate Secret Date with A Mysterious Young Man at The Airport’. So please, just stay where you are.”
After having said that, he took his black travel bag and walked to the door toward the departure gate.
Zhang Xinya stared at Tang Xiu’s back, dazed. Her heart was as though being turned upside down; with a mix of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and hot feelings inside. Even in her dreams, she didn’t dare to think that she would come across such a bizarre encounter, of having met an amazing person!
Originally, it was simply a mere coincidence. She lost her luggage. Then, a trivial matter of borrowing a mobile phone happened. Following that, everything accidentally led to the completion of her purpose in visiting Star City. Not only did she meet a friend of her good sister, the other party even seemingly was a practitioner who had high attainments in Chinese Medical science.
***
Tianjin City!
Since its location was very close to Beijing, Tianjin City developed extremely fast. A large number of towering high-rise buildings were built along with row after row of shops with its dazzling lineup of merchandises. The transportation network was also extensive as it was accessible from all directions, with an unending flow of traffic that looked as though the full convergence body of a dragon.
The night had almost fallen when Tang Xiu arrived in Tianjin City. Just as he arrived at Tianjin City Airport, he dialed the mysterious old man’s number. He then rushed toward the Antique Trading Market of Tianjin City after asking about the address.
“Desolate Origin Ancient Gate.”
The shop had a strange name and its decoration style gave off a gloomy vibe.
Carrying his travel bag, Tang Xiu entered the front door of the most remote store in this Antique Trading Market. A sense of repression floated inside as well as shrouding his mind. The big rafters, the walls, including all furniture inside were all black. The different colors he could see were only the rows of curios and antiques on the black shelves.
At present, there wasn’t anyone on the first floor. Aside from two visitors who were looking at the curios and antiques here, there was no one else. Tang Xiu was secretly surprised and wondered, was this shop owner not afraid that the visitors would steal the merchandise? However, in order to find the old man he just talked with on the phone, he released his perception and immediately found him in a private room on the second floor. Aside from a white-haired old man wearing reading glasses, there were also a couple of middle-aged man and woman there. The trio was currently staring at a foot length and a half-foot height finely carved coffin on the table in front of them.
"That is…"
Tang Xiu’s pupils flickered. Along with the expanding of his perception, he focused his attention on the coffin. He didn’t expect that he would find a Demon Stone on Earth.
Demon Stones were necessary treasures needed by Demon cultivators from the Demon Realm. It contained a great amount of demonic force inside, for which it could enhance their cultivation bases and strength after they absorbed and refined it. It had the same usefulness as the Immortal Stones used by the Immortals in the Immortal Realm; whereas for the Immortals, they absorbed the immortal force from the Immortal Stones to enhance their strength.
“I have to obtain it!” Tang Xiu’s eyes flashed.
For Tang Xiu, at present, unlike the Immortal Stones that would only bring about ordinary effects for him, Demon Stones were different. It was because of his cultivation technique—the Heavenly Art of Cosmic Genesis was actually a cultivation technique to refine the body into that of a Demon and God’s Divine Body. In the case that he was to absorb its demonic energy, it would be a great boon for him in molding a Divine Body.
Tang Xiu took a deep breath and then walked to the second floor. He stopped at the door and knocked it.
“You are?” As the door was opened, the silver-haired old man looked at him curiously.
“Tang Xiu, from Star City.” Tang Xiu answered.
The silver-haired old man suddenly realized. However, he immediately frowned because he didn’t expect that Tang Xiu would be so young. After hesitating, he said, “You see, this old man is kind of a dotard. You’re the one who called me, right? That… ah please wait a bit! Some people came to me to sell an old object. I have to entertain them first.”
“An old object? Can I take a look at it?” Tang Xiu pretended to be surprised and said.
The silver-haired old man actually wanted to refuse it. However, recalling that Tang Xiu was here to buy his precious stones, he nodded as to avoid other difficulties later.
After entering the room, the silver-haired old man was as though he forgot Tang Xiu’s presence. He quickly went back to inspecting the small coffin with the middle-aged man and woman, constantly moving back and forth.
“I can’t open it! Didn’t you say that this was passed down from your ancestors? Could it be that nobody among your ancestors was able to open it?” Finally, the silver-haired old man couldn’t help but ask.
The middle-aged man was plainly dressed and looked simple and honest. Upon hearing the question, he immediately shook his head and said, “Originally, the elders of the family thought that opening this coffin would be… ominous, thus they put it in the family’s ancestral shrine. Recently, there was a fire in our village. Dozens of houses were burnt, including our family’s ancestral shrine. At first, we thought that everything had been burned to ashes, but we didn’t expect that after we cleaned up the ruins, we’d found this coffin still intact. We also wanted to open it, however, no matter what means we tried, either smashing it with a hammer, burning it, nothing could damage this coffin, even a bit. This object is extremely hard. Even though I don’t know how hard a diamond is, but I’m definitely sure that this coffin is harder than a diamond.”
The silver-haired old man nodded and said, “Yes, this object is indeed extremely hard. I just used an electric drill and cutting machine before, but I can’t destroy it. Also, this is the first time I saw this object and I can’t identify the material and its quality. I’m not sure about the origin of this object, from which dynasty era. As for the valuation of this object… It’s really hard for me to estimate it.”
The middle-aged man and woman glanced at each other as disappointment could be seen on their faces.
They had visited more than a dozen antique stores. Neither of those shopkeepers or antique experts was able to figure out the value of the coffin. Even the highest price they were willing to offer was but only a mere 50 thousand yuan.
The middle-aged man asked, “Old man, just say your price. If we feel that it’s okay, we’ll sell this thing to you. If not, then we’ll leave.”
The silver-haired man had obviously considered the issue of the price for a long time. Upon hearing the middle-aged man’s question, he stretched his finger and said, “I’ll buy it for 100 thousand.”
Upon hearing the offer, the middle-aged man and woman’s faces were still full of disappointment. The middle-aged woman then asked again with anticipation on her face, “Can you give a higher price? We’re really in need of a lot of money, but we can’t sell it for only 100 thousand!”
For a moment, the silver-haired old man was silent. After that, he slowly said, “120 thousand yuan. This is the highest price I can offer. It’s because I’m also taking a great risk in buying this object! If you can accept it, then we’ll conclude the deal now. But if you can’t, I won’t raise my offer again.”
The middle-aged man said with a bitter expression, “I’m sorry, we can’t sell for 120 thousand yuan.”
After having said that, he wrapped the coffin with the yellowish cloth again, looking down and dejected.
"Wait!" Tang Xiu suddenly spoke.
That middle-aged man was surprised for a moment, even the middle-aged woman and the silver-haired old man were astonished.
Looking at the middle-aged man, Tang Xiu asked, “Can you tell me what happened to your family?”
“Ah, alright. A big fire broke out in our home. Not only was the house all burnt, even my father got severe burn injuries. In order to treat our old father, we, husband and wife, have borrowed a lot of money. So, if this object is sold for less than 300 thousand, we can’t even pay our debt.”