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Chapter 137 Plum Wine (b)
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
In Wushan City, it is not strange to see a Cultivator walking around with their face and figure hidden. Therefore, Shiyu’s own shapeless black robes and veiled hat did not attract much attention among other people in shapeless black robes and veiled hats[1].
After strolling through the market for a while, she eventually came to a large and respectable looking medicine store she had set her eyes on earlier. Shiyu spoke to the shopkeeper, indicating that she wished to sell something.
All these large medicine stores have a separate room in the back for merchandise inspection. This won’t be the first time Shiyu was invited to step into such receiving rooms. The shopkeeper studied Shiyu’s black-clad person for a while and decided that there was nothing wrong with this person aside from being a little short… Perhaps they hid their identity because they were ashamed of their height [2] and face? Could his customer be a dwarf?
Nevertheless, he led the short person into the receiving room and said, “May I know what business honourable customer have with this humble establishment?”
Shiyu did not bother with misleading words and directly placed a jade box on the table. Just before her hand left the box, Shiyu revealed her Cultivation powers, suppressing the shopkeeper with a little display of strength.
The shopkeeper’s own Cultivation was only at Condensation Stage. Therefore, when Shiyu revealed her powers, he suddenly found himself shocked and breathless. Though he could not tell just how high this person’s Cultivation stage was, it was clearly higher than his own. It was a clear warning for him to not have crooked thoughts while dealing with this person.
After this little show of power, his attitude became a lot more deferential.
“Why don’t you take a look?” Shiyu pushed the box forward and leaned back.
The shopkeeper carefully bent forward and opened the jade box. As soon as the box was opened, frost turned his hands white. His voice went a little high pitched, “Ice Lingzhi [3]!
Ice Lingzhi was something relatively rare in the mild climate of Xuan Chu Empire. The older the herb, the rarer it is. Basically, the really old ones would not appear in the market place because as soon a whisper or rumour of one of these manifests, it would immediately be snapped up by one of those noble families at a high price.
As he stared at this rare medicinal herb, he discovered something even more amazing. The age of this Ice Lingzhi is so old he could not properly discern its age!
His heart rate picked up and he became a little excited, “Apologies, I’m afraid my poor skills are limited and cannot properly evaluate this Ice Lingzhi. If honourable customer would care to wait for a little while, I shall immediately invite an elder to evaluate this. Is that alright?”
Normally, the standard practice is to bring the item to the elders for inspection. However, considering the age of the item, it’s rarity, not to mention this customer’s high Cultivation stage, he wisely chose to invite the elder over instead.
Shiyu nodded.
The shopkeeper bowed himself out, caught a maid on his way to the elder’s room and told her to serve their best tea to the customer in the receiving room. Then, he hurried over to invite the elder before the customer decided to leave the establishment out of impatience.
He quickly reached the elder’s room and was about to call out when he was stopped by the boy guarding the door.
“The elder is currently discussing some important matters with the eldest miss. Please wait your turn,” said the boy.
Anxiety practically pouring out of his pores, the shopkeeper was nearly shaking in his shoes. What if they made him wait too long and the Ice Lingzhi walks away?!
Nevertheless, he maintained a polite tone with the elder’s boy, “I trouble you to please inform the elder that a customer had brought in a very rare Ice Lingzhi to the establishment. Moreover, the age of this herb is quite old and beyond my skills to ascertain. I must trouble the elder to inspect the item.”
The boy frowned, “Don’t you usually bring the items in for inspection? The elder ordered me to not let anyone disturb him.”
“But…”
“What ‘but’?! Just wait your turn!”
Within the room, the elder was speaking to a certain Eldest Miss Qi Chuyun.
“… there will be more and more people coming into Wushan City in the next few days. When the time comes, I trouble Elder Wu to look after the shop for me.” Qi Chuyun added, “That’s right if you happen to encounter any rare Ice Attribute medicines, I must ask Elder Wu to keep them for me.” Her Spiritual Attribute was the rare Ice Attribute and rare Ice Attribute medicines are particularly helpful when it comes to increasing her Cultivation.
“Very well. Be at ease, eldest miss. Just leave the shop to me. I shall also watch out for any Ice Attribute herbs.”
As the two spoke, a loud voice came from the door, “Elder! A-are you there-” the rest of the words were reduced to an anxious babble.
Qi Chuyun frowned. The elder did not look pleased either. To think that one of his employees would disturb him when meeting with an important guest, is this person trying to pull down his face?
He was about to order the boy to kick the person away when Qi Chuyun said, “Never mind, I have spoken what I needed to convey. That person seems to have something very urgent to speak with you. Perhaps you should deal with him first.”
“Yes,” Elder Wu looked very stern as he stepped out.
When he saw the shopkeeper, Elder Wu draw himself up to give this rude subordinate a talking to when the person cut in, “Elder Wu! You must come quickly! A customer has come to sell an Ice Lingzhi!”
Elder Wu’s expression grew even sterner. Though Ice Lingzhi was rare, they were not so uncommon as to draw this kind of reaction. Perhaps he should re-evaluate this person’s ability and switch him out for someone calmer.
Beside him, the boy also sneered, “Have you never seen an Ice Lingzi before? Do you think that a mere Ice Lingzhi is something to be excited over?” What the boy was most angry about is the shopkeeper’s attitude of shouting into the room. This man clearly disrespects me!
The shopkeeper merely cast an irritated eye at the boy and said with forced calm, “Well, what about an Ice Lingzhi that is well above 500 years old?”
Silence fell.
The boy stared at him with wide eyes. “Don’t you dare lie, the elder is still here…”
He had barely spoken when the important customer came out. She turned to the shopkeeper and said sternly, “Is what you said true?”
The shopkeeper was startled by her imposing manner. His already rapid heart rate quickened up again. Nevertheless, he patted his chest and said, “This lowly one dare not lie. The Ice Lingzhi is as white as frost. When this lowly one opened the box, my hands were covered in a layer of frost. This lowly one has seen many Ice Lingzhi before, but this is the first time this lowly one could not discern its age. Therefore, this lowly one came to beg Elder Wu to come and make the inspection.”
At this, Qi Chuyun tried to still her excitement. Though she still has some doubts in her heart, it’s still better to see the item with her own eyes. With that, she ordered, “Take us there.”
The three of them quickly rushed for the receiving room.
As for the boy, he was left behind by the three anxious adults. The boy muttered to himself, “Surely that guy is not that lucky, right?”
When Qi Chuyun’s party arrived at the door of the receiving room, Qi Chuyun kept herself back and let Elder Wu walk in first.
When she stepped into the receiving room, the jade pendant on Qi Chuyun’s chest heated up. Stiffening, Qi Chuyun stared sharply at the person seated behind the table. Though the person was dressed in all black, Qi Chuyun was sure this was the mysterious girl she had been trying to locate.
Shiyu had been enjoying her tea when the three of them came in. [4] She casually placed the teacup onto the table next to the jade box with a little clink, drawing all eyes to the box.
Elder Wu’s eyes immediately narrowed. He was actually a little excited to see whether the Ice Lingzhi was really over 500 years old. After a brief greeting, he sat down and opened the box. Ice frosted over his hands and he breathed in the cold medicinal scent that came billowing out of the box. With careful hands, he lifted the Ice Lingzhi and examined it closely. Unlike most other medicinal herbs, Ice Lingzhi will start to shrink after reaching a certain age threshold. The older it is, the smaller it became as its essence grew more and more concentrated.
The Ice Lingzhi in his hands was as clear as glacier and the chill he felt went beyond his hands and shot straight to the bottom of his heart.
After a long while, he finally said, “This is indeed a Thousand Years Old Ice Lingzhi. In fact, I dare say it is over a thousand years old.” His eyes were very fiery, “Dear customer, what are the terms of exchange for this item?”
After all, no matter how good a medicinal herb, if the terms of exchange are too high, there’s no meaning to it.
[Gumihou: I guess, since Shiyu has reached a certain threshold of power, there’s no need to be too careful anymore?]
Gumihou is keeping track so that you don’t have to ~
<table>Condensation Stage Stage 1 Core Transformation Stage 2 Core Condensation Stage 3 Divine Transformation Stage Amazing, lol</tbody></table>
[1] It’s a… chuunibyou convention, lol!
[2] Added Details for Logical Thought Progression: Surely being short isn’t that shameful? However, being a dwarf and ugly might merit a better reason for hiding one’s face.
[3] Originally ‘Ice Ganoderma’, but I thought that’s kind of a weird mouthful. So, changed to the more vernacular ‘Ice Lingzhi’.
[4] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: Come on, put a little drama here after all that fuss in front of the elder’s office