Chapter 580: Is Something Wrong?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The whole area fell silent all at once.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Damn! How could he still have more smelly tofu?
He really has more! He still has a big bag of smelly tofu!
The powerhouses of the Jiang and Gong families felt the blow in their heads and everything went black. Xu Que's words almost made them tremble with rage!
The powerhouses of the other big families and sects also became enraged.
Sh*t! Why didn't you tell us you still had a big bag of smelly tofu?
Just now we became so competitive that some of us were about to fight each other!
Damn! This is so annoying!
The young sovereigns in the area were also confused. None of them expected this guy would dare tease those big shots like this. The powerhouses tried their hardest to get the smelly tofu. Some of them had even been ready to start a fight. They were like monkeys the way they were teased by that guy!
Sh*t! He's really mean!
"Hum! What a bunch of fools they are!" Buttface proudly mocked everyone with joy as if he had seen through everything.
Liu Jingning was also shocked. When she noticed that Xu Que was still peddling as he prepared the smelly tofu in the pot, she almost burst into laughter. Luckily, her mind told her it was absolutely not a good time to laugh, and she held it in.
This little brat is really tricky! He cheated all of them
"My young friend!" the powerhouse of the Jiang family said angrily. He was so annoyed that he was about to spit blood! Grinding his teeth, he said, "What do you mean? Why didn't you tell us you still had so much smelly tofu?"
"Ah?" Xu Que acted stunned and pretended he couldn't understand the question.
"I said," the Elder of the Jiang family said angrily, "why didn't you tell us you had so much smelly tofu? Didn't you say that was the last piece?" This man couldn���t suppress his anger anymore. He had thought that it was the last piece of the smelly tofu. When a thing was rare, it became precious! Therefore, he had deemed it worthwhile to buy it using 10,000 high quality Spirit Stones and ten ancient stones found in the outskirts of the Heaven Dragon Cave!
But it turned out this guy still had a ton of smelly tofu. His decision had caused a great loss to the Jiang Family!
Hearing this, Xu Que also suddenly became angry. "You didn't ask me! I said it was the last piece in the pot! If you had asked me if I had more, I would have definitely told you I had more! My God! I thought you knew that, so I didn't mention it. So, what's wrong?"
The Elder of the Jiang Family burst with anger—he was about to spit blood!
What's wrong?
Damn! How does this guy have the nerve to ask what's wrong?
You really can't tell what's wrong?
Something big is wrong!
I paid a huge amount for the last piece of smelly tofu in the pot, even at the expense of picking a fight with the Gong Family!
Now you take out more smelly tofu and ask me what's wrong!
The Elder of the Gong family's face also darkened. Actually, the Gong Family was also suffering a loss here. Although their loss was not as serious as that of the Jiang Family, they had still bought a piece of smelly tofu with 5,000 high quality Spirit Stones!
Now, this guy had taken out more smelly tofu and wanted to sell them for 998 Best-grade Spirit Stone!
"My young friend," the Elder of the Gong Family said coldly, "the price for one piece of smelly tofu is now 998 high quality Spirit Stones, but we just paid 5,000 high quality Spirit Stones for one piece. Please give us an explanation!"
Xu Que's eyes widened. "Holy sh*t! You can ask everyone else here: did I ever increase the price myself? You said you would buy it with 5,000 high quality Spirit Stones! Now are you going to go back on your word?"
The Elders of the Jiang Family and the Gong Family couldn't stop the corners of their lips from twitching. Their incredible anxiety nearly caused them to slap themselves in the face! Why had they been so eager to raise the price?
"I dare tell you that all business between our Exploding Heavens Faction and our customers is voluntary. Since you want to go back on your word, fine! Just return the smelly tofu to me, and I will refund you immediately!" Xu Que acted even angrier than the two men, as if he had suffered the loss.
Hearing that, the eyes of the Elders of the Jiang and Gong families lit up immediately. They definitely planned to ask for a refund! After all, after buying the last three pieces of the smelly tofu, they were unwilling to eat them for they were too precious!
Seeing the two old men's reaction, Xu Que quickly said, "However, if our goods have been received by the buyer, we do not give refunds. You may have spit or crapped in them—who knows!"
What?
The elders�� eyes widened immediately.
Why would we spit or crap in the smelly tofu?
Only a fool would do that! We bought it to eat! How could we do disgusting things like that?
The onlookers also wore darkened expressions
If you don't do refunds, you could just say it! Why would you use such a gross excuse? There is no sophisticated content in it at all! You could learn from the author of this novel who always finds fresh and refined excuses for his delays in submitting new chapters!
Now, the Elders of the Jiang Gong families really had no options.
After all, they had bought the smelly tofu voluntarily. Xu Que hadn't raised the price himself once. The price had been raised by them and the rest of the onlookers!
Now they had the smelly tofu. As members of the revered families in the East Continent, they couldn't force Xu Que to accept the refund in front of so many people!
Therefore, it turned out to be that Feng Wudao, the powerhouse of the Illusionary Flower & Moon Sect, who was the first buyer, won in this transaction by safely getting a piece of smelly tofu with just 1,000 high quality Spirit Stones.
Feng Wudao couldn't help exclaiming in his heart, Luckily, I was so smart and bold. Otherwise, I would have also been cheated!
At this moment, Xu Que was still pretending to be angry as if he had been greatly wronged. He looked at Feng Wudao and said, "Sir, could you please tell me what should I do about this? I am desperate!"
Feng Wudao couldn't help the corner of his lips twitching .
Everyone else felt totally embarrassed.
Damn! How could you be so desperate?
You have earned so many Spirit Stones–just stop pretending to be desperate!
"Ahem! My young friend, don't be mischievous anymore!" The Elder of the Jiang Family cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice. "This issue ends here. The Jiang Family won't ask for a refund!"
The powerhouse of the Gong Family also said he wouldn't ask for a refund.
If Xu Que kept shouting like this, the reputation of the two families would be impaired. And even though today they had been cheated, they still had chances to seek revenge in the future. They had plenty of time to do that.
"No refund? Okay! Everyone has witnessed that I have given you the chance to ask for a refund!" Xu Que smiled splendidly. As a man who was faster than anyone in changing expression, he continued to peddle. "Hey, take your time and look around! You could get one piece of freshly-cooked smelly tofu of the Exploding Heavens Faction by spending only 998 high quality Spirit Stones!"
"My young friend, the Illusionary Flower & Moon Sect will buy one piece!" Feng Wudao said immediately.
In fact, he also wanted to buy more. However, it would result in uneven distribution again, and the buyer would raise the price like before, which was not something he wanted to see again.
The rest of the powerhouses also bought one piece of smelly tofu respectively and didn't ask for more.
At last, almost each of the big families and sects got one piece of smelly tofu. Even the Jiang family and the Gong family had the cheek to buy one more piece respectively.
It was a bumper harvest for Xu Que, who earned around 50,000 high quality Spirit Stones and ten ancient stones with just two bags of the smelly tofu!
He thought he could absolutely set up a Wanda Mall in the East Continent in case he was short on Spirit Stones in the future!
Except for the Jiang Family and the Gong Family, most the big shots were satisfied with this harmonious result.
After that, under the command of the powerhouses of the Jiang Family and the Gong Family, the Stone-Cutting Convention finally commenced.
"Welcome to the Stone-Cutting Convention. It's late now, so I will get straight to the point. Now bring all ancient stones here! You could choose ancient stones freely. The price for each ancient stone is 1,000 high quality Spirit Stones. In case one ancient stone is selected by several buyers, the one who offers the highest price gets it!"
"Wait!" Suddenly, Xu Que raised his hand and shouted loudly, "I will buy all the ancient stones in this Stone-Cutting Convention! All of you can go back to bed now."
Clatter!
After saying that, Xu Que took out all the Spirit Stones he earned just now, which instantly cluttered the entire pavilion.
Chapter 581: Peculiar Ancient Stones
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xu Que's voice echoed throughout the yard.
Hearing his words, everyone present was completely stunned.
This young man must be nuts! He's simply trying to turn the Stone-Cutting Convention into a mess! No one should be like this!
Liu Jingning pulled Xu Que's sleeve a bit and spoke to him with a rather serious face. "Xu Que, do you have any idea what you're saying?! You can't possibly buy off all the ancient stones!"
The two Elders from the Jiang and Gong families were surprised and looked at the strange young man standing in front of them.
In the Cultivation World, there weren't that many extremely influential families, but both the Jiang and the Gong family were part of the few. Even so, neither of the two families dared call themselves the "Big Brother." They were still not powerful enough to control the entire Eastern Continent.
That was why neither of the two families dared take all the ancient stones themselves after they had been dug out from the outskirts of the Heaven Dragon Cave.: in case other families in the continent condemned them harshly.
Therefore, the two families had decided to take some of the stones and hold this Stone-Cutting Convention . On the one hand, they could comfort other families. On the other hand, they themselves would get many Spiritual Stones in return.
They had never predicted Xu Que would want to buy off all the ancient stones . . .
Someone shook his head and sneered, "You're being too naive, young man!"
"You think it's quite something for you to get that amount of Spiritual Stones, don't you? Be careful—your ambition might bring you back down!"
"Things are getting more and more interesting!"
Many young elites sneered at Xu Que.
All the other powerful men from other influential families frowned as they were a bit upset. Even though they had just bought the stinky tofu from Xu Que, his buying off all the ancient stones would most certainly destroy their interests and goals.
"Young man, you can't buy off all the ancient stones!" Feng Wudao said.
After all, the Stone-Cutting Convention was not just a convention, it had a lot to do with all the big families' interests. Therefore, Feng Wudao didn't say too much—just in case other people thought he was on Xu Que's side.
Xu Que smiled. "Why can't I? Because I'm handsome and rich? You think that's my fault?"
Hearing this, Feng Wudao shook his head and did not answer.
Liu Jingning sent him a voice message. "Xu Que, pick up all the Spiritual Stones!"
"Don't be such a coward! I know what I'm doing. Besides, I don't intend to have all the ancient stones myself."
Knowing this, Liu Jingning was a bit relieved. But still, she was very worried.
The Elder from the Jiang family smiled at Xu Que. "Young man, are you sure you want to buy off all the ancient stones?"
"Of course! But it seems that no one else wants me to!" Xu Que joked.
The Elder from the Jiang family smiled. "You are funny! If you really want to, no one here will stop you!"
"Never mind!" Xu Que said. "I'm not a greedy person and I don't know much about stone-cutting. I don't want to get into a conflict with any of you."
"So you mean you're not going to buy all the stones?!"
"Yes! I will just buy a few stones later. But you must give me ten ancient stones for free as you have promised!"
"Of course!" The Elder from the Jiang Family smiled. Then he looked at the rest of people and said, "If you all don't mind, why not let this young man choose ten ancient stones first?"
Hearing this, everyone nodded.
After all, compared with the huge amount of ancient stones lying on the ground, ten ancient stones was nothing. Besides, they all believed Xu Que couldn't possibly pick out a good one, since stone-cutting relied not only on luck, but experience.
Then, the Elder from the Jiang Family looked at Xu Que and said, "Young man, please!"
"Great!" Xu Que answered, and he jumped into the center of the yard.
The servants had already laid out many stones on the ground. Each of them had a very strange form. For example, one was as small as a ball, one was bigger than a man, and so on. Also, all the stones were simultaneously giving out a strange energy.
"This is quite something!" Xu Que exclaimed. Standing in front of the pile of ancient stones, he felt as if he were standing in a dead land and felt rather uncomfortable.
Xu Que summoned the System and took the X-ray machine out of it. He held it and started to scan the ancient stones.
Seeing this, everyone frowned.
"What is he doing?!"
"What is the thing in his palm? I don't think it's a magic object, and why on earth it is giving out a red light?"
"He is just putting on a show! Stone-cutting requires good eyes and experience. Does he really think he can see through the stone with that object?"
Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.
"Haha!"
"Ha!"
"Hahaha!"
In fact, with the help of the X-ray machine, Xu Que indeed saw through the stone.
The X-ray perspective machine projected the image of the inside of the stone onto the screen of the System, and Xu Que saw it.
However, Xu Que was shocked by what he saw: most of the ancient stones were just crap, and there was simply nothing inside. He also spot a stone in which there was a Elder's head. The Elder's eyes were closed tightly. It seemed that he had died a long time ago, but the skin and flesh on his head were still intact.
"Crikey! This is really terrifying!"
Xu Que was not that surprised by this scene, since in the Cultivation World, strange things happened everyday.
Xu Que then continue to examine other stones.
After a short while, he found a stone in which there was a piece of Dragon Soul Element. This made Xu Que rather excited.
After careful examination, Xu Que found that there were exactly twenty stones in which there were treasures, and including the one in which there was an Elder's head and the one in which there was a piece of Dragon Soul Element, there were twenty-two good stones. The rest were all crap!
"I have made up my mind! I want ten of these and twelve more of those . . . " Xu Que spoke after picking up the ten stones and pointing to the other twelve.
Chapter 582: Anyway, I don't Have a Hobby Like That
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
His words startled everyone in the area.
The Elder of the Jiang family was also puzzled. He looked at Xu Que confused, trying to confirm that the young man in front of him really knew nothing about stone-cutting.
One should choose the stone according its contour, color, and his or her experience. Even the most experienced people needed to be most scrupulous. It was quite normal to spend over two hours in choosing a stone.
However, Xu Que quickly picked out ten stones by glancing at them and scanning them with a strange item which could give out red light, which was too casual!
More to the point, the ten stones chosen by him casually were really mediocre! Many experienced experts of stone-cutting couldn't help shaking their heads.
"These ten stones are too shiny," an old man commented calmly. "Normally it is difficult to find precious items from these kind of stones!
"Right! Only the stones in deep colors contain precious items," another onlooker commented with a nod.
"Also, the contour and size are important. The ten stones he chose are quite peculiar. Generally speaking, the possibility of finding precious items in ancient stones with mediocre appearance is high!"
"Anyway, these ten stones are low quality ones among all ancient stones. He is too young to be adept at stone-cutting."
"This is good news for us! He has taken away some waste stones. The possibility for us to get better stones is higher!"
People couldn't help laughing when they talked about this issue.
For them, it it was good news when Xu Que didn't pick the stones deemed high quality by them.
The Elder of the Jiang family pondered a bit when he focused his eyes on Xu Que, then he said indifferently, "My young friend, you could buy as many ancient stones as you want without asking for permission from me!"
After choosing the ten stones, which looked quite lousy, Xu Que said he would buy another twelve ancient stones. For the Elder of the Jiang family and the rest of the onlookers, his decision was nothing less than a waste of Spirit Stones in stone-cutting, which he knew nothing about.
However, remembering that Xu Que's Spirit Stones were earned from them just now, the Elder of the Jiang family was no longer happy.
When Xu Que finished choosing the ten ancient stones, the big shots in the area began choosing stones. Even some young sovereigns started to eye the ancient stones carefully.
The Stone-Cutting Convention was commenced in this quiet way.
All participants were doing their best to choose the ancient stones freely. If one stone was chosen by two or more people, the one who offered the highest price won it.
However, after carrying the ten ancient stones to Liu Jingning, Xu Que returned quickly without saying a word. Then, he started to scan the stones with the X-ray machine again.
Soon, he picked out another twelve ancient stones. After looking at his selection, the onlookers soon lost their interest because their quality was still poor. Among these stones, one was quite large, and its quality was okay. However, most people had no interest in this stone and thought nothing valuable could be found from it.
Eventually, someone decided to make trouble for Xu Que. The woman of the Li family who had tried to drive Xu Que from the pavilion stepped out.
She pointed at one stone among the twelve with better quality and said coldly, "I also fancy that stone, and I offer 2,000 high quality Spirit Stones for it." She had doubled the price of the ancient stone.
Everyone was initially stunned,, but soon they felt relieved.
Although the Li Family was not a revered big family, it boasted strong assets. Moreover, people of the Li Family were quite gifted in stone-cutting. The young generation of the Li Family were especially famous for their outstanding luck and discriminability. The Li Family had just sent their sovereigns here, and their powerhouses at the Void Training Stage didn't participate in this event.
Immediately, people's attention was attracted by the mark-up of the woman of the Li Family.
Everyone focused on the stone picked by the woman among those twelve stones chosen by Xu Que. The stone became increasingly extraordinary as they watched it.
"It's odd! I first thought the quality of this stone was just okay. But now I've changed my mind."
"Exactly, this is not an illusion. I can sense a vague chillness in it."
"Could it be that something with supreme Yin is hidden in it? Could it be precious items like the Supreme Yin Chilly Jade?"
"It is highly possible! After all, these stones come from the Heaven Dragon Cave. After being honed over such a long time, these stones might really generate precious items like the Supreme Yin Chilly Jade!"
"This stone is well worth the risk!"
After their discussion, people abruptly made up their minds.
Xu Que didn't participate in the bidding; however, someone started the mark-up. "I offer 3,000 high quality Spirit Stones for this ancient stone!"
"I am also interested in it, and my offer is 4,000!"
"I will offer 6,000."
"Eight thousand!"
"The Bai Family offers 10,000 high quality Spirit Stones for it!"
"The Li Family offers 12,000!" the woman of the Li Family said. It seemed she was quite optimistic about that stone.
Xu Que was totally shocked. The price of a stone could increase to over 10,000 high quality Spirit Stones in such a short period of time!
These people were really gamblers who planned to waste their Spirit Stones today!
The reason that they hadn't spent much on the miraculous smelly tofu was that they wanted to use the Spirit Stones to compete for ancient stones.
After all, the rate of return of stone-cutting was very high!
Sometimes they could obtain precious items worth 100,000, or even 1,000,000, high quality Spirit Stones by only spending several thousand or 10,000 high quality Spirit Stones! Luck and discriminability were both crucial!
Therefore, the smelly tofu was nothing compared to the stone-cutting.
Finally, Xu Que didn't participate in the bidding. He took out the stone and gave it away with a smile.
The price of the stone kept increasing. After the woman of the Li Family offered 12,000 for it, someone else raised the price again. At last, the stone was obtained by the woman of the Li Family at the price of 20,000 high quality Spirit Stones!
People had evaluated the value of that stone. If the Supreme Yin Chilly Jade was really hidden in that stone, it was still profitable even the price had reached 20,000 high quality Spirit Stones!
However, if no Supreme Yin Chilly Jade was in the stone, it would be a great loss by spending 20,000 high quality Spirit Stones on it. The loss was more than they could afford. Therefore, most people gave up.
Finally, the woman of the Li Family fulfilled her wish by obtaining the stone.
Even more importantly, she took this stone from the hands of Xu Que, which gave her sense of accomplishment.
"Only the one who knows stone-cutting is entitled to own this stone!" After the payment, the woman of the Li Family laughed in a showy way and glanced at Xu Que.
Xu Que didn't reply but bought the remaining eleven ancient stones calmly with 11,000 high quality Spirit Stones.
The Elder of the Jiang family was in charge of collecting Spirit Stones from the buyers.
Xu Que scraped together the sum with the IOU of 10,000 high quality Spirit Stones and another 1,000 high quality Spirit Stones.
The Elder of the Jiang Family was disgusted by Xu Que's action, which reminded him of being cheated.
He wanted to seek revenge on Xu Que, so the Elder of the Jiang family spoke cynically after receiving the Spirit Stones and the IOU. "My young friend, the only stone of good quality you chose was robbed. Just don't regret it during the stone-cutting process later."
"Nothing will make me feel regret!" Xu Que replied with a faint smile. "Maybe she is just a fool or has some kind of peculiar hobby. She insisted on buying a dead man's head with 20,000 high quality Spirit Stones. Anyway, I don't have a hobby like that!" Then he walked to his pavilion carrying the eleven ancient stones.
The Elder of the Jiang Family was stunned. His eyebrows furrowed.
A dead man's head?
What does he mean?
Chapter 583: Cutting The Ancient Stones
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The ancient stone that impressed the young woman with the surname Li and the other important people was a stone in which there was an old man's head.
Xu Que was sure that the old man's head was nothing special. But, still—after all these years, it was strange that it was still intact. If it weren't for the young woman and the others, Xu Que would have happily bought and carefully examined it.
But when the young woman wanted to buy it with 20,000 Spiritual Stones of high quality, Xu Que immediately lost interest.
"Buying an dead old man's head with 20,000 high quality Spiritual Stones? I'm not stupid!" Xu Que joked.
Hearing this, people got curious and frowned.
What was he saying just now? Was he cursing or something? The young woman Li sneered.
"You know nothing about stone-cutting. You're just a fool and you have no right to judge."
"You'll see who the stupid one is when you cut the stone apart." Xu Que laughed, walking back to the pavilion with eleven ancient stones.
There were only twenty-two stones with treasures. Apart from the one bought by the young woman with the surname Li, Xu Que had gotten all of them—he had twenty-one stones.
The young woman was furious. "Give me my jade knife!" she said. "I'll show him what stone-cutting is!"
Xu Que paid no attention to her. He took out his X-ray machine and began to examine the stones.
Liu Jingning smiled and came to his side.
"Little Que Que, I am so glad that you were not impetuous and impulsive earlier. Still, I don't think you should waste your money buying stones. After all, you haven't been very lucky lately. I doubt you'll find good stuff in the stones."
Xu Que shrugged. "Don't worry, I will!" he said with a smile.
Liu Jingning smiled as well. "If you're so sure, then cut one apart."
"If I find some treasures, I think you should at least give me some reward, right?"
Liu Jingning got close to Xu Que and gently whispered, "Little man, tell me, what do you want?"
"You are standing too close." Xu Que backed away and spoke coldly. "I know we are already quite familiar with each other, but you are a woman, and I am a man. We should behave ourselves."
He already knew what kind of a woman Liu Jingning was: a woman who dared to flirt with a man, but never dared to have sex with him.
Liu Jingning was surprised to see Xu Que back off. Her eyes widened.
D*mn! I really want to punch him in the face. Liu Jingning was so angry she almost wanted to bite him.
Xu Que sent her a voice message. "I was only joking. If I find some treasures inside the stones, you have to tell me where Hong Yan is."
"I can't!" Liu Jingning instantly refused.
"Fine! Without your help, I can still discover her whereabouts!"
Right at the moment, in the center of the yard, many influential men bid the price for a few beautiful ancient stones.
Among the stones, there was one that was as tall as grown man's upper body, and the price had already gone up to 100,000 high quality Spiritual Stones. People wanted it because they thought something good was inside. There was also a round stone, and the price of it had gone up to 60,000 high quality Spiritual Stones, and people wanted it because of the pattern on the stone.
As for Xu Que, he did not think there was anything special about the pattern; he thought the stone might have been stepped on by some holy beasts and that was why it gave out powerful energy from time to time.
"Look!" a young elite exclaimed. "Elder Zhang from the Heaven Secret Pavilion is about to cut a stone."
Elder Zhang had bought an ancient stone with 6,000 Spiritual Stones and was about to cut it. Everyone present watched because, after all, people from the Heaven Secret Pavilion always had good luck. They were famous for being good at divination and could even predict what would happen in the future and in one's life. They always found something nice cutting stones.
Xu Que was also initially interested in the stone, but when he took a closer look he instantly shook his head. "It is definitely a piece of crap!"
No one paid attention to Xu Que's comment.
With everyone looking, Elder Zhang cut a layer of stone off with his jade knife. Inside, there was nothing but stone, which was not good news at all.
Seeing this, people shook their heads. Even Elder Zhang himself frowned with a bit of disappointment.
He did not say anything and continued to cut the stone. The stone was eventually cut into two halves and nothing was found.
"It seems that today is not a good day for me." Elder Zhang sighed and gazed at the sky. He performed a divination and his face grew rather dark.
Meanwhile, the young woman with the surname Li was also about to cut the stone she bought. Everyone, including the powerful men from the Jiang and Gong families, all stared in her direction.
Earlier, Xu Que had said there was a dead man's head inside. No one had really paid attention to his words and thought he simply disliked that stone. In fact, most of the people thought this stone appeared to be a good one.
The young woman quickly cut a layer of stone off.
Bang!
A creepy cold air suddenly erupted from the stone . . .
The water in the lake started to freeze; it was as tranquil as a mirror, and even though the wind blew not even a single ripple formed on the surface.
Seeing this, everyone all got rather excited.
"Can it be possible that there is a piece of Supreme Yin Chilly Jade inside the stone?"
"I knew she would find something good inside. After all, she comes from the Li Family!"
"If the thing inside really is the Supreme Yin Chilly Jade, she is going to make a fortune from it."
Some people got quite jealous.
The young woman suddenly stopped and looked at Xu Que.
"So, you still think the thing inside is just a dead man's head?"
"Sorry?" Xu Que suddenly asked, his face serious. "The thing inside is a old man's head, with his hair and beard gone white. It's intact and rather creepy. Everyone, I suggest you all stay away from her. I'm afraid the old man's head inside the stone will come back alive and f*ck with her later . . . "
"You're talking nonsense!" the young woman sneered. "I said that a man like you should have never been allowed to get in here in the first place! Now, let me show you what is really inside! Open!"
She cut the stone in two halves . . .
Everyone was hit with an extreme gust of cold.
The next minute, a old man's head rolled out.
Chapter 584: Not Challenging At All
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Creak!
The tranquil water in the lake completely froze in an instant!
The air in the surrounding area became stagnant for a moment and then condensed into clumps of white gas, which covered the whole courtyard like a white mist.
The warm spring day had suddenly turned into a chilly winter day.
The change was so fast that no one had enough time to react.
Everyone was immediately dumbfounded. Their frightened eyes focused on the dead man's head, which caused great terror in their hearts.
A dead man's head could apparently be very powerful after emerging from stone!
"My God!" one of the extremely shocked people said. "This is amazing!"
"He's long dead, but he can still influence this world after the reappearance of his body!"
"It's just a head! I'm afraid that the entire body of this man could turn this area into a world of ice and snow!"
"Even the powerhouses at the Form Synthesis Stage don't have such horrible strength! Could it be that he was an ancient cultivator at the Crossing Calamity Stage?"
"I guess he was at the Mahayana Stage! After so many years, his head is still powerful, which can be realized by a celestial! Cultivators at the Mahayana Stage are only within a stone's throw to the Celestial Stage!"
When people perceived that this dead man's head was not dangerous, they started to discuss and guess the cultivation level of its former owner.
Xu Que, who sat on the pavilion with crossed legs, rocked back and forth calmly.
Liu Jingning was also shocked. Suddenly, she turned to Xu Que as if she remembered something. "You . . ." she said in surprise, "knew there was a head hidden in that stone, right?"
"Of course. Otherwise, how could I give it away?" Xu Que smiled arrogantly, narrowing his eyes.
Then, he mocked the woman of the Li Family, who stood not far away. "Hey, you spent 20,000 high quality Spirit Stones to buy a dead man's head. Are you surprised or happy?"
"Shut up!" the woman of the Li Family shouted, glaring at Xu Que angrily.
Although this head had some research value, it definitely not worth 20,000 high quality Spirit Stones!
The bodies of ancient powerhouses were not rare in the World of the Cultivators, which could be found in some mysterious areas. However, nothing useful was found through the research of those bodies.
What's more, this was just a head! The woman of the Li Family had absolutely suffered great losses.
"No, I refuse to shut up! I just want to say: Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah! If you're not a coward, just beat me!" Xu Que continued to mock at her by openly laughing.
Seeing his mean expression, the onlookers really wanted to beat him.
The woman of the Li family was so annoyed that she was about to spit blood. Her body trembled and her eyes filled with rage and murder.
However, the big shots and some responsive sovereigns had fixed their eyes on Xu Que. Their eyes were full of admiration, greed, and excitement.
Before cutting the stone, Xu Que had mocked the woman of the Li family for buying a dead man's head with 20,000 high quality Spirit Stones!
People had initially thought Xu Que was just comparing the stone to a dead man's head, so none of them cared about his comment.
However there was really a dead man's head inside, which was thought provoking.
Only a fool couldn't figure out what people weren't saying!
Maybe this young sovereign can really look through stones!
If we could capture him and steal that magic art, we'll always be successful stone-cutting in the future!
At the thought of this, even the big shots couldn't keep their seats anymore.
After all, this miraculous ability was even tempting for powerhouses at the Form Synthesis Stage!
Liu Jingning sensed the eagerness in everyone to capture Xu Que. She opened her red lips slightly and delivered a message to Xu Que. "Little brat, the only thing you can do now is prepare to flee."
However, her message was ignored by Xu Que, who didn't reply but sat there as cool as a cucumber.
The next moment, he shouted at the onlookers arrogantly by crossing his arms. "What are you looking at? If you want to talk to me, just talk to me; otherwise, stop looking at me! I hate being looked at like this! Damn! I know I'm handsome, but it's really tiresome being looked at by people like you every day!"
Tiresome?
Are you feeling bored?
Is it really a good time to act tough? This guy is really poor at adapting to changing circumstances!
Liu Jingning almost went insane because of her anger. She wanted to gouge out Xu Que's brain and check its ingredients.
Nobody responded to Xu Que. The whole area was in an inexplicable silence.
With sinister motives in their hearts, everyone planned to exclusively own Xu Que's miraculous ability of looking through stones.
"Alas, break is over!" Xu Que stood and stretched as if he were currently alone. "It's time to display my real skills! Let me see which stone will be cut first!"
Along with his movements, some of the onlookers moved forward a bit placidly. It seemed their actions were quite casual. Actually, they were trying to encircle the pavilion where Xu Que was to prevent him from escaping!
Liu Jingning's face darkened anxiously. She was considering whether she should reveal her identity as the Holy Virgin of the Utopia Faction. After pondering it for a short while, she dismissed the idea.
Although she was the Holy Virgin of the Utopia Faction, in front of big families and sects like the Jiang Family, the Gong Family and the Illusionary Flower & Moon Sect, the Utopia Faction was nothing! She couldn't scare these people off.
"Oh, this stone is quite handsome! Let me see what's hiding inside!" Xu Que murmured to himself. His voice was quite high, almost deliberately, as if he wanted to be heard by the onlookers.
He took out the X-ray Perspective Machine to scan the stone with the infrared ray. The next moment, he said, "Wow, I see a bronze fragment with ancient characters. It's probably an ancient magic art!"
After saying that, Xu Que pretended to be pleasantly surprised, then he grabbed a jade knife from the stone table and slashed at the stone directly.
Crack!
Bang! Immediately, a bronze fragment fell out from the stone.
The fragment was quite rusty. However, thickly-dotted ancient characters were faintly visible on it. Before people started to check the fragment with their Soul Strength, Xu Que put the fragment into his System Package by waving his hand!
The onlookers frowned immediately, then they fixed their eyes on the X-ray Perspective Machine in Xu Que's hand.
All of them had figured out that the red light of that machine helped Xu Que look through the stones. He could know everything inside the stone by just scanning them.
"Boring! The stone-cutting is not challenging at all! Really boring, and I don't want to play anymore!"
Xu Que pretended to be bored to death, then he raised the X-ray Perspective Machine in his hand and shouted at the onlookers again. "My fellow cultivators, now the Exploding Heavens Faction is launching a new product! You see this item in my hand, right? Yes, this is the Invincible Heavenly Titanium Alloy Dog Eye of the Exploding Heavens Faction, which can look through ancient stones and check the content inside. Now, it is selling at a low price. The base price is just 100,000 high quality, Best-grade Spirit Stones! IOUs and credit sales are unacceptable. The one who offers the highest price will own this miraculous product!"
Chapter 585: Chapter 585
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
One hundred thousand high quality Spiritual Stones?
A magical object that can see through ancient stone for only 100,000 Spiritual Stones? Is he insane?
Everyone stood in surprise, their eyes wide. They couldn't believe Xu Que was selling the object at such a low price. Especially since those broken pieces of bronze were already worth tens of thousands of Spiritual Stones.
With the help of this precious magical object, he managed to get twenty-one ancient stones with treasures inside, and now he is about to sell that object?!
If he sets a comparatively reasonable price for this object, I would definitely buy it!
Many people couldn't believe what Xu Que had just said. However, some of them were getting over the initial shock and felt very happy about this.
In fact, no matter what price Xu Que set for this object—one hundred thousand or one Spiritual Stone—the person who offered the highest price would end up getting it anyways.
Xu Que was sure that, with so many powerful men from influential families present, he would make a fortune at last. However, a problem arose: to get the precious magical object, these people were bound to be aggressive.
Now that everyone knew about this object, anyone who got it would become a target . . .
That was why no one dared make the first move.
The old man from the Gong Family gently moved his lips and sent Elder Jiang and Elder Bai a message. "Elder Jiang, Elder Bai, why don't we put money together and buy this object?"
The two old men immediately answered.
"Sure!"
"No problem!"
They knew clearly that not a single family could have this precious magical object for themselves, since it was just too precious.
However, if it were jointly owned by the three big families, no other family would dare contradict them.
Some powerful men from other influential factions realized what the three old men were plotting.
Feng Wudao turned around and looked at the powerful men of the Heaven Secret Pavilion and other factions.
"Why don't we pool our money and buy it?"
The old man of the Heaven Secret Pavilion nodded. So did the man from the Eight Directions Green Dragon Sect. The old man from the Eight Directions White Tiger Sect said, "If we work together, I don't think we should be afraid of the three big families!"
Hearing this, the powerful man from the Eight Directions Vermilion Bird Pavilion smiled.
"With the help of the The Illusionary Flower & Moon Sect, the Heaven Secret Pavilion and us Eight Directions Four Images Sects, it is the three families that will be afraid."
Everyone was suddenly divided into different groups. The atmosphere in the yard was getting rather intense, and the conflict was about to start at any minute.
Liu Jingning sent Xu Que a voice message. "Little man, you did this on purpose, right? Anyway, you have to sell your magic object to the person who bids the highest price! You can't go back on your word!" She had no idea why Xu Que wanted to sell it.
"I can do what I want to!" Xu Que said rather indifferently.
In fact, Xu Que had rented this X-ray machine from the System. He had not bought it, and tomorrow the System would take the machine back. That was why he dared "sell" the X-ray Perspective Machine.
Liu Jingning had a totally different assumption.
She thought that Xu Que was selling it so these influential families and factions would fall into a huge conflict and become distracted from discovering Jiang Hongyan's whereabouts.
Even so, I think he should find another way instead of selling this precious magical object. Thinking of this, Liu Jingning stared at Xu Que in a strange way.
She felt very jealous. She had never thought that Xu Que would be willing to sell this precious magical object for Jiang Hongyan's sake.
"Young man, I would be willing to buy this object with 200 high quality Spiritual Stones!" The old man came forward and spoke on behalf of all the three families.
Earlier, everyone had only wanted to have the ancient stones. Now, everyone wanted to get the X-ray Perspective Machine for their own use!
"Young man!" Feng Wudao shouted. "I would be willing to buy this object with 300,000 high quality Spiritual Stones!"
A man on behalf of other factions also shouted. "I would be willing to buy this object with 350,000 high quality Spiritual Stones!"
"I would be willing to buy this object with 350,001 high quality Spiritual Stones!"
"Three hundred fifty thousand one?! Are you serious?!"
"Yes! I am serious!"
"Young man, don't mind them! I am willing to buy this object with 400,000 high quality Spiritual Stones!"
"The Illusionary Flower & Moon Sect would be willing to buy this object with 300,000 high quality Spiritual Stones!" Feng Wudao repeated.
The old men from the Jiang Family and the Gong Family were silent. Obviously, they were waiting for the right moment.
Right at this moment, Xu Que raised up hand and shouted, "I, Wang Sicong from the Exploding Heavens Faction, would be willing to buy this object with 800,000 high quality Spiritual Stones!"
Hearing this, people glanced at Xu Que in a daze.
Excuse me?! You're the one selling it! You can't buy it! You just said you're Wang Sicong? You're Chou Yun-fat!
"Sorry, everyone," Xu Que laughed, "we have a member here called Wang Sicong. He asked me to bid for him. I promise I will not raise the price again!"
Hearing this, people didn't mind at all. After all, they believed this precious magical object was worth more than 1,000,000 high quality Spiritual Stones.
"Young man! I would be willing to buy it with 1,000,000 high quality Spiritual Stones," the old man of the Jiang Family said.
Feng Wudao hurriedly said, "One million two hundred thousand high quality Spiritual Stones."
"The Burning Mountain Sect—one million three hundred thousand!"
"One million three hundred fifty thousand."
"One million four hundred thousand."
"One million four hundred fifty thousand."
Xu Que suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "I, Hua Wuque from the Exploding Heavens Faction, would be willing to buy this object with two million high quality Spiritual Stones!"
People became furious and glared at Xu Que.
You just said you wouldn't raise the price! You're such a liar!
Chapter 586: Make a bundle!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In front of so many angry eyes, Xu Que just smiled calmly and shrugged his shoulders. "Let me explain! This product is also high-in-demand in the Exploding Heavens Faction. My buddy Wang Sicong offered 800,000 high quality Spirit Stones, but I didn't sell it to him. After that, my buddy Hua Wuque offered 2,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones for it, but I didn't sell it to him either. However, it makes sense to bid for him here. Am I doing something wrong?"
The onlookers were embarrassed immediately.
Are you wrong?
Who dares say you're wrong?
But you can't do that! If later someone offers a higher price, you could simply offer a higher price! You're definitely teasing us!
We have to get this before anything else. Otherwise, the bidding will be endless!
All at once, the Elder of the Jiang family spoke in a low voice. "My young friend, it's okay for you to bid for your buddy in the Exploding Heavens Faction! But we can't keep bidding like this. Could you tell us how many members of the Exploding Heavens Faction already bid for it?"
The question asked by the Elder of the Jiang Family confused the other big shots in the area. They had to ascertain it now. Otherwise, they would definitely suffer losses later. After all, they had already been cheated by this guy. They decided to avoid that this time.
"Please don't worry. Only a few members of the Exploding Heavens Faction bid for it!" Xu Que waved his hand and smiled gracefully. "Just several thousand people."
What? Several thousand people?
The onlookers' eyes widened. Their noses almost broke in their anger.
Several thousand people already bid for it! How can you say "only a few?"
More importantly, the current price had reached 2,000,000. He had just bid for the second member of his faction. After he'd stated the price offered by several thousand members, the price would be unimaginably high!
"My young friend, you have gone a little bit too far this time!" the Elder of the Jiang Family said angrily. However, he held back his rage for he didn't dare lose his temper.
He was afraid that Xu Que might sell the item to Feng Wudao directly if he lost his now. This guy could even find shelter from Feng Wudao, and the Jiang Family could do nothing about that.
Xu Que could comfortably act tough and fearless because there was a balanced situation among the bidders, who took precautions against each other and worried that their bidding rights might be deprived if they provoked Xu Que.
However, what the Elder of the Jiang Family said was the heartfelt question of everyone. If they allowed Xu Que to bid for his thousands of buddies, the bidding would really be endless!
In addition, everyone knew that the several thousand members mentioned by Xu Que was definitely false! The prices had also been fabricated by him so that he could tease everyone and raise the price. However, no one was willing to point this out.
"My young friend," Feng Wudao said calmly, "just state the highest price offered by the members of your faction. This could save a lot of time!"
Xu Que smiled but shook his head. "Forget it! They just make offers for fun. Maybe they don't want it now. So, I will not bid for them anymore. You can continue now!"
They made offers for fun?
Hearing that, everyone was about to spit blood again!
However, one after another, they heaved sighs of relief. As long as this guy stopped making trouble, they could continue their bidding.
They continued to raise the price crazily. With abundant Spirit Stones in hand, several alliances of the big sects and families kept raising the price.
When the price reached 3,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones, the families and sects that didn't have enough Spirit Stones gave up by sighing and shaking their heads.
Three million high quality Spirit Stones was a horribly astronomical figure—enough to set up a powerful faction!
Even the Jiang and Gong families couldn't easily take out so many Spirit Stones. Luckily, they were cooperating with each other. Three million high quality Spirit Stones was still affordable, and they could even keep raising the price!
Also, they firmly believed that as long as they obtained that precious item, they could definitely get a return more valuable than millions of high quality Spirit Stones within several months.
At this moment, Liu Jingning fixed her eyes on Xu Que again. Since she'd first met Xu Que in the Water Nation, she'd felt this young man was quite special.
However, she had only felt he was special. She hadn't thought him very capable. At that time, Xu Que had at most been a sovereign who could rival the Holy Son for her in the future.
She had never expected this guy could come to the East Continent after several months and make trouble on the first day here.
Maybe he was also influenced by the bad luck of Jiang Hongyan. However, a normal person would have been killed, or at least seriously wounded, after experiencing the things he'd encountered today. But nothing happened to him, the man who sat there safely.
More ominous still, this guy had taken on the leading role in the Stone-Cutting Convention!
He was fiddling with the big shots of all the large families and sects in the East Continent as if they were toys. Anything he did caused an uproar!
Liu Jingning knew she had totally underestimated Xu Que!
Liu Jingning stared at Xu Que placidly and delivered to him a message. "Little Queque, it has struck me that you could really live up to Jiang Hongyan!"
Xu Que's eyes lit up immediately. He said delightedly, "You really have experienced eyes, my little sister. Frankly speaking, only I, the one with the most handsome appearance in this world, could live up to Hongyan!"
Liu Jingning shook her head with a faint smile on her face. "Jiang Hongyan is suffering from a rocky fate, and she could even bring bad luck to people around her. As the Heavenly Cursed Lone Star, she is destined to be alone in this life if she can't change her fate. Now it turns out that maybe you, a crafty old scoundrel, can easily solve all kinds of bad luck in this world!"
Xu Que's face darkened immediately. He turned around, speechless.
'A crafty old scoundrel?' Are you kidding? What are you talking about? Can a smart scholar be described as 'a crafty old scoundrel?'
My name should be something like 'strategic cheater,' or you could describe me as someone who uses dirty tricks tactfully and rationally. How could I be described as 'a crafty old scoundrel?' My nominal age is just nineteen. How am I 'old?'
Noticing his reaction, Liu Jingning couldn't help smiling. She didn't say more but turned her attention to the bidding among the big shots.
Now the bidding had reached the critical stage. Most bidders had been scared off by the high price. Only Feng Wudao, who represented the alliance of the big sects, and the Elder of the Jiang family, who represented the alliance of the big families, were left.
The two of them continued to raise the price to 4,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones, which was quite domineering! The two of them, however, who were under great stress, were extremely nervous.
Their limit was 5,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones. Any price higher than that was unacceptable to them!
Therefore, it was the time to test their psychological endurance!
This was just like playing chess. No matter how nervous you are, you should never let your opponent know your limits. And you should do your best to convince your opponent that you will strive for victory at all costs.
Suddenly, the Elder of the Jiang family calmly said, "The Jiang Family offers 5,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones!"
His understated words immediately raised the price by 1,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones!
Feng Wudao opened his mouth a bit with trembling lips. He at last didn't dare raise the price.
It seemed the Elder of the Jiang family had lost the patience to raise the price gradually, so he directly raised the price by 1,000,000.
This made Feng Wudao believe that the alliance of the big families would continue to raise the price if he marked it up again.
Apparently, when this idea held a leading post in Feng Wudao's heart, the scale of the battle had been tipped toward the Elder of the Jiang Family.
After communicating through delivering messages, Feng Wudao and several representatives of the big sects shook their heads regretfully and decided to give up.
"Fine, it is destined that we can't own this miraculous item!" When Feng Wudao uttered these words regretfully, the Elders of the Jiang Family, the Gong Family and the Bai Family let out sighs of relief in their hearts. Finally, they had won.
At last, the three big families scraped together the sum of 5,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones by taking out 1,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones respectively and borrowing another 2,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones from the big sects in this area. They put all the Spirit Stones in a high quality storage ring and placed the ring in front of Xu Que.
"Congratulations! This is really a happy transaction!" Xu Que received the storage ring with a smile and gave the X-ray Perspective Machine to the Elder of the Jiang family.
The Elder of the Jiang family was quite unhappy for he had no love for Xu Que. He just snorted and said nothing.
Just at this moment, Xu Que reached his hand into his pocket with a smile as if he planned to take out something.
The Elder of the Jiang family's expression changed abruptly, as if he had remembered something. Then he shouted in surprise, "Wait! My young friend, don't tell me you have another miraculous item like this!"
Although he thought it was almost impossible, the memory of the Smelly Tofu had cast a shadow over his heart.
If Xu Que really took out another X-ray Perspective Machine, the Elder of the Jiang family would definitely burst with anger. He could probably kill Xu Que on the spot.
However, Xu Que took out a pack of cigarettes and shook his head. "Don't be nervous. It is a one-of-a-kind product. Just take it easy!"
After saying that, he lit a cigarette and started to enjoy the smoke.
Hearing his words, the Elders of the Jiang family, the Gong family and the Bai family let out a sighs of relief and felt completely reassured.
However, when they looked at Xu Que, a strand of killing intent flashed through their eyes.
Five million high quality Spirit Stones was not a small figure. How could a young man earn such a large sum from the three big families this easily?
The Elders of the three big families had reached a tacit agreement that they would follow Xu Que after the Stone-Cutting Convention and then they would erase him from this world when conditions changed.
Even other big shots in this area had been attracted by this. With sinister motives in their hearts, they placidly fixed their eyes on Xu Que.
However, when the Elder of the Jiang family received the X-ray Perspective Machine, Xu Que's mean voice hit their ears before the Elder of the Jiang family had time to check the machine.
"Guys, the next auction item is the Operation Manual of this miraculous item! And the base price is 10,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones!"
Chapter 587: I want them to suffer until they cry
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hearing this, everyone was shocked.
What? This magic object has its own manual that costs ten million high quality Spiritual Stones. I knew this young man had made up his mind to play with these powerful men and make them suffer.
He already has five million high quality Spiritual Stones from the big three Families, and he is still not satisfied with that?!
He will surely regret this!
Liu Jingning was also stunned. She never realized Xu Que was such an extremely shameless man.
He sold this magical object without telling them how to use it?!
The Elders from the Jiang and Gong families were so angry that they almost passed out.
Still, they believed they could figure out how it worked without the so-called manual.
The Elder of the Jiang Family grabbed the X-ray Perspective Machine and pressed the on/off button.
The next minute, the X-ray Perspective Machine gave out a ray of red light.
"Haha! I know how it works!" the Elder of the Jiang Family exclaimed. But immediately, his smile froze.
There was only a ray of red light and nothing more.
"Oh, really? You really know how it works?" Xu Que laughed. "Then it seems that the manual can no longer be sold."
How stupid they are! They really think they can see through the stones simply with that X-ray Perspective Machine?
In fact, only Xu Que could see the image of the inside of the stone. This was because the image was projected into the System to which only he had access.
In other words, the big three families had spent five million Spiritual Stones on something they could not even use.
"Young man, I think you should at least tell us how to use it! I spent so much money and you must tell us how to use it!" The Elder of the Jiang Family looked ready to burst.
In truth, the big three families could not afford another ten million high quality Spiritual Stones.
If the manual only had cost less than ten million high quality Spiritual Stones, they would definitely buy it. Besides, they had already decided to kill Xu Que as soon as the convention was over.
Liu Jingning stood close to Xu Que and sent him a voice message. "Young man! You should stop playing with them! You will regret it later on."
If Xu Que insisted they pay ten million high quality Spiritual Stones, the Elders from the big three families would furiously work together to kill Xu Que.
Buttface had still been playing with the recorder but suddenly stopped. He also felt the threat.
"Xu Que, just tell them how to use it! We should leave now! By the way, I'm not frightened, I just have something urgent to deal with!"
Xu Que did not answer Buttface and smiled.
"You are right," he said, "I should have told you how to use it. Well, this is the manual, take it!" Xu Que took out a manual and threw it to the Elder from the Jiang Family.
The Elder from the Jiang Family hurriedly seized the manual. As soon as he opened it, his face turned blue.
There was not a single word in the manual book.
Xu Que smiled. "Calm down and allow me to explain. We all know the X-ray Perspective Machine is very precious. So I used some tactics when I wrote this book. Put it in the sun, and you will see what is written inside."
In fact, this so-called book was just a fake.
Hearing this, the Elders from the big three families frowned.
Since it was night already, they would have to wait till tomorrow to see if Xu Que was telling the truth or not.
"Young man! Well, if this is what is happening, I think you should stay here temporarily in case we read some contents that might confuse us!"
The Elder meant to lock Xu Que here.
"No, I can't possibly stay here tonight. I am an active person, and I need to relax from time to time."
The Elder from the Jiang Family smiled. "Of course you can relax. As long as you don't leave this city."
Xu Que shook his head. "You can't to this to me! I have given you the manual and you can learn how to use it by reading it yourselves. I am not obligated to teach you!" He glanced at the dark sky and smiled. "Well, I think we should call it a day! Excuse me, I am going to leave. By the way, anyone who wanted to loot me please follow!"
Then, he handsomely turned around and walked to the entrance of the yard.
Hearing this, everyone present was surprised.
How dare he! He clearly knows that we are going to loot him and he just said it out loud in front of everyone! How on earth can he be so audacious! He must have already been fully prepared.
Thinking of this, those who intended to loot him hesitated.
The Elders from the Jiang Family and the Gong Family, however, still wanted to loot and kill Xu Que.
The two looked at each other and nodded.
They had decided not to let Xu Que go unless they were sure that what he said was true or not. They would not kill him before that.
"Everyone! The Stone-cutting Convention is ongoing. Please excuse me for taking an early leave, I need to bring the X-ray Perspective Machine back to the Jiang Family." After all, the Elder from the Jiang Family was one of the hosts, so he had to show some politeness before he left.
The rest of the people were no longer interested in this convention. They knew that all the good stones had been claimed by Xu Que, and they would not waste their money on crap.
Meanwhile, the Elders of the Gong Family and the Bai Family stood and spoke..
"We need to accompany Elder Jiang. After all, the X-ray Perspective Machine is so precious!"
Hearing this, everyone rolled their eyes.
They all knew that no one in the Cultivation World dared to loot anyone from the big three families. After hearing what they said, the rest instantly knew they wanted to take back the five million high quality Spiritual Stones.
Seeing the three Elders leaving, those who meant to kill Xu Que hesitated and did not follow them.
They knew that if they followed the three, they would also be killed. If the news that the three Elders' killing of Xu Que spread, the reputation of the three families would be damaged.
"The three old boobies are so shameless!" Feng Wudao cursed.
He had already guessed what would happen next. No matter how much he sympathized with Xu Que, he could do nothing about it.
After all, he could not put the entire Illusionary Flower & Moon Sect in danger to save Xu Que.
Hearing Feng Wudao's curse, the rest just forced out smiles and pretended they had not listened.
…
Meanwhile, Xu Que, Liu Jingning and Buttface were already on their way.
Xu Que slowly walked as if it were after a meal.
Seeing this, both Liu Jingning and Buttface became very anxious. They had already noticed the three Elders and a few Elders of the Void Training Stage following them.
"Little Que Que, we need to leave right now!" Liu Jingning said seriously.
Buttface was frightened. "Hurry up! I really have something urgent to deal with!"
Xu Que laughed at Buttface. "Nonsense! I know you're just afraid."
Then he shook his head and sent a voice message to Liu Jingning and Buttface. "Don't worry, those people won't dare hurt us now. By the way, I have not even used my final trick. I want them to suffer until they cry! Just wait—I'm going to give you two a great show!"
Xu Que smiled and walked to the outside of the city.
Chapter 588: An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Liu Jingning just didn't believe what Xu Que had said.
Is he planning to cheat the three big families substantially?
How could this be easy?
Liu Jingning's eyelid twitched after hearing Xu Que's words. After all, she had witnessed his bad conduct. He would cheat someone to death if he decided to do so.
For example, at the beginning of today's Stone-Cutting Convention, this guy earned over 50,000 high quality Spirit Stones with some Smelly Tofu and his mouth. Then, he obtained twenty-one ancient stones and 5,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones with a miraculous instrument. Also, a lot of people who participated in the event were greatly annoyed by him.
Also, because of his brazen behavior, the people of the three big families had started to follow him.
For Liu Jingning, it was totally unnecessary for Xu Que to do so. With so many miraculous items, he could find some big auction houses to sell them. And he could definitely earn more Spirit Stones than he'd earned in this convention. It would also be safer for him and his identity would remain confidential.
However, she hadn't expected that Xu Que was not in need of Spirit Stones at all. The only reason for his behavior today was to act tough!
There was no difference between a man who didn't act tough and a salted fish. If Xu Que decided to keep a low profile, he wouldn't earn Acting Tough Points. He'd encountered so many things today! For normal people, this was definitely misfortunate!
But Xu Que had really realized a bumper harvest in Acting Tough Points and Spirit Stones through these experiences. Today had been the most rewarding day for him since he'd stepped into the World of Cultivators.
Thus, today confirmed for Xu Que that, in the future, he should assign importance to simultaneously acting tough and making trouble.
"Why don't they just come to me? It's boring! Are they going to wait until I get out of the city?" At the thought of his plan to cheat the people of the three big families, Xu Que couldn't hold it back anymore.
Hearing that, Liu Jingning couldn't help rolling her eyes. Ordinary people would always want to keep a distance with the three big families. For him, the three big families were just like beautiful girls who could light up his eyes.
My Gosh! How was he brought up? How could he be so bold?
"Little brat, have you worked out the plan to deal with them?" Buttface asked. "If you have, I want to join you!"
He had also witnessed Xu Que's tricks. Seeing Xu Que's excited face, he couldn't resist his curiosity and wanted to join in the plan.
It was quite rare for Buttface to be brave, so Xu Que said delightedly, "Later you are responsible for playing music! You will be in charge of this tape recorder!"
"Really?" Hearing that, Buttface was quite excited. He hugged the tape recorder in his front legs tightly.
Xu Que patted Buttface's forehead and silently nodded. "Of course! Buttface, just work harder and you will become a great DJ in the future. And if your performance is good enough, your title will be MC Buttface, who is extremely cool and can control the microphone on the spot!"
Buttface didn't understand the meaning of "MC" or "control the microphone." However, he couldn't resist the allure of the words "extremely cool." Therefore, he immediately became overexcited.
In this way, a man and a dog walked toward the city gate with swagger. Liu Jingning stopped and pondered a bit, then she decided to follow them with a wry smile.
At the beginning, she wondered whether she should get involved in this issue or not. After all, the Utopia Faction couldn't afford to offend the three big families!
However, after pondering it a bit, she made up her mind to follow them for she didn't want to leave Xu Que alone.
At first, she was worried about Xu Que's safety. Now she started to worry that Xu Que should not be allowed to stay in the East Continent alone. Otherwise, according to his style, he would definitely turn the entire East Continent upside down.
…
The people of the three big families followed closely.
The Elders of the Jiang Family and the Gong Family as well as the powerhouse of the Bai Family were powerful cultivators at the Void Training Stage.
Besides, many servants and young sovereigns of the three big families were also in the team, which was very conspicuous in the city.
Many people in the street made way for them. Seeing people of the three big families marching toward the city gate, the onlookers were greatly confused.
Everyone knew the relationship between the big families in the East Continent was very tense.
However, the news that the Jiang Family was connecting the Gong Family through marriages came out, which demonstrated the recovery of the relationship between these two big families.
But why is the Bai Family also in the team?
Since when are the three big families so united?
It is quite weird for them to walk together so harmoniously!
"Could it be that something precious was found?" someone guessed doubtfully.
"No! They came out from that building. The Stone-Cutting Convention just ended."
"It is quite odd! The Stone-Cutting Convention is co-hosted by the Jiang Family and the Gong Family. Why did the hosts leave first? Where are the other families and sects?"
"Maybe a precious item was found, which made all of them part on bad terms. I noticed those big shots were very unhappy!"
Many people were guessing. Some of them even planned to watch the fun by following the people from the three big families.
Just at this moment, the gate of the building opened. The big shots of the other families and sects who participated in the Stone-Cutting Convention stepped out and then left.
Immediately, someone in the street shouted, "Breaking news! Today's Stone-Cutting Convention ended horribly! The big families and sects gained nothing. It is said that all valuable ancient stones were bought by a young sovereign from the Exploding Heavens Faction! All the remaining stones are worthless!"
"What?" everyone was greatly shocked.
Someone in the crowd continued to shout, "I heard this young sovereign from the Exploding Heavens Faction had a miraculous item which can look through the ancient stones! With the aid of this item, he became the sole winner of this event by picking out all the high-quality ancient stones!"
"It could look through the ancient stone! How could that be possible?" People were somehow even more shocked.
"It is absolutely true! At first, that young sovereign cooked some Smelly Tofu, which could enhance a cultivator's Soul Strength by ten percent. Many big shots joined the panic buying. After that, the Jiang Family bought the miraculous item which could look through the ancient stones from that young man by cooperating with the Gong Family and the Bai Family at a formidable price of 5,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones!"
This news immediately caused an uproar among all the cultivators in the city.
"Holy sh*t! Five million high quality Spirit Stones?"
"This is way too much!"
"That's why the three big families walked together toward the city gate just now! Because they bought a precious item by cooperating with each other!"
"My God! How could such a miraculous item, which can look through the ancient stones, exist in this world?"
"Nobody will organize the Stone-Cutting Convention in future!"
As everyone voiced their surprise, the other big shots who participated in the Stone-Cutting Convention left quietly.
The news was released by people sent by these big shots, who had accumulated abundant experience in handling issues like this after so many years.
The reason they had been cheated by Xu Que during the Stone-Cutting Convention was that they had stayed in the high positions for a long time, and no young people dared tease them like that.
However, the convention was over. Now the three big families had obtained a precious item by cooperating with each other. Therefore, these big shots had to make trouble for the three big families by spreading the news and making enemies for them.
Someone released news again.
"The latest hearsay: the three big families have gone out of the city, and their target is to intercept and kill the young sovereign of the Exploding Heavens Faction so that they can get back those 5,000,000 high quality Spirit Stones!"
Wow!
The hearsay caused another uproar among the cultivators in the city immediately.
As big families, how could they act shamelessly like this?
How could that be?
"I noticed the big shots of the three big families were quite unhappy just now. And their eyes were filled with killing intent. Are they really planning to kill that young man and rob the Spirit Stones?"
"This is horrible! No one will dare deal with the three big families in the future!"
"No, we should go and have a look. We should save that young man! The three big families are too overbearing! They must be stopped."
"Right! If they really want to break the rules, we have to save that young man and deprive that precious item from them!"
"How could such a miraculous item be in the evil hands of the three big families?"
"Let's go out of the city together! The team of the three big families only has several powerhouses at the Void Training Stage. If we attack together, they will be defeated!"
All at once, being agitated by numerous instigations, thousands of cultivators in the ancient city teamed up and dashed together toward the city gate!
Chapter 589: This is all you've got?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xu Que, Liu Jingning and Buttface slowly walked along the path outside the city, as if they were simply taking a night walk.
There were three pamphlets in Xu Que's hand, and he was writing something on them.
Seeing this, Liu Jingning became rather curious. "Little Que Que, what are you writing?"
"Virus!" Xu Que smiled.
Hearing this, Liu Jingning was stunned. "What?"
"Have you ever heard of the 'Trojan Horse?'" Xu Que asked while writing.
Liu Jingning shook her head. "No."
"Ha!" Xu Que smiled shamelessly. "Well I won't tell you."
Liu Jingning rolled her eyes, almost ready to hit Xu Que.
He is such a b*tch! God! I am so annoyed with him! I have never seen anyone as shameless as he is!
…
Meanwhile, the three Elders from the three influential families followed after them.
"He knows we are about to kill him, why is he so calm?" The Elder from the Gong Family frowned. "Is it possible that he has some sort of back up?"
Hearing this, the Elder from the Jiang Family sneered. "What? Don't tell me you're afraid of him! He's just a young man in the Infant Transformation Stage—he can't possibly beat us!"
"Ha!" The Elder from the Gong Family sneered. "There's no need to be so nervous about all this. I don't mean anything of what I just said. I think it's you who's afraid."
Even if the two had been tricked by Xu Que earlier during the Stone-cutting Convention, they were still extremely powerful. They thought that, at last, they would be the ones laughing the longest.
Compared to the two Elders of the Void Training Stage, Xu Que would always be in a much weaker place regards to competitiveness.
The Elder of the Bai Family turned around to look at the city, which was over ten miles away. "I think people in the city already know our plans!"
The Elder from the Jiang Family was a bit upset. "It must have been Feng Wudao who spread the news!"
"Never mind that! I sent a voice message to my family asking them to come protect the X-ray Perspective Machine. Feng Wudao will behave himself unless he wants to start a war with us! The most important thing for us to do now is to catch that young man!"
The three men then looked at each other and gently raised their hands at the same time. The next minute, all the people following them initiated their attack.
Suddenly, dozens of rays of light flew across the sky!
All these people were in the Infant Transformation Stage. In just a few minutes, they all landed in front of Xu Que, Liu Jingning, and Buttface, blocking their way.
Xu Que was not surprised at all. He had expected this would happen.
He smiled. "Tell me, do you want me or my money?"
Hearing this, these people were speechless.
The three Elders, together with a few young elites, walked forward.
"Young man, it's rather dark and windy, quite unsafe for you to walk all by yourselves. Why not allow us to accompany with you?"
Xu Que shook his head. "I know you want to loot us—there's really no need to make excuses!"
"Young man, you misunderstand us. We simply want to keep you safe. And, well, of course we would charge some fees."
The Elder from the Gong Family smiled. Everyone could tell that he wanted to kill Xu Que.
Hearing this, Xu Que was amused.
They are really shameless! Charging fees?!
Xu Que smiled at them. "How much do you want to charge us? Five million Spiritual Stones?"
Seeing this, Liu Jingning frowned. In fact, she never liked the three big families; but even so, she never realized they were such hypocrites.
"Fine! Since you already know our real intentions, then just give us all the Spiritual Stones you earned back in the Stone-Cutting Convention. Then I will be very willing to finish your life."
"Please don't be like this," Xu Que murmured with a smile. "You just want to know how to use that treasured object, and I��ll tell you! But I can only tell one of you!"
Hearing this, the Elder from the Jiang Family laughed and shook his head.
"Are you trying to trick us?! Just spit it out! If you don't, we will make you spit out!"
The three Elders were not stupid and would not be easily fooled by Xu Que. They worried that Xu Que might say nothing at all and pretend that he had to create conflict among them.
That was why none of them was willing to walk forward.
"You've surprised me," Xu Que exclaimed. "I thought I would fool you three again!"
Hearing this, Liu Jingning was speechless and turned around.
"Don't tell me that's all you've got?!"
Xu Que shrugged. "It is! Unfortunately, I've failed."
Then he sighed and raised his head to look at the sky.
"I always consider myself a wise man, I never thought I would fail!"
Buttface was playing with the recorder, and when he heard Xu Que's words, he was frightened and was about to run away. But he stopped since he knew Xu Que would easily catch up with him.
"Xu Que, hurry up! I told you many times that I have something urgent to do!"
Liu Jingning was also terribly upset by Xu Que's words.
She had thought Xu Que had some big plans in mind . . .
Liu Jingning gently moved her lips and sent a voice message to Xu Que. "Since you've got no more tricks, I think we should leave here now!"
Xu Que waved his hand dismissively and did not reply.
The three Elders smiled at each other, and were very confident that they could kill Xu Que.
"Young man, I suggest you behave yourself," the Elder from the Jiang Family said.
"Give us all the Spiritual Stones you've got and come with us. Otherwise, we'll make you suffer!"
Xu Que stopped smiling. "I'm sorry," he said seriously, "but I really can't go with you, and I can't possibly give you the Spiritual Stones. I already said that I will tell you how to use the treasured object, and then I owe you nothing."
Hearing this, both Liu Jingning and Buttface were shocked.
He's giving in? He's such an arrogant and bElder, and he's just giving in like this?!
The three Elders were not surprised at all.
"The pamphlet I gave you earlier is fake," Xu Que said, taking out three books and throwing them at the Elders. "Now, I'll give each of you a real one!"
The three Elders caught the books and immediately opened them.
They worried that the pamphlets were not the same, so they began cross checking the content as soon.
Luckily, they found that the content was the same.
"What?" the Elder from the Jiang Family exclaimed. "I can even put this treasured object inside my body and it will grow more powerful?! This is amazing!"
On the first page of the pamphlet, there was a rather complicated hand gesture and a mnemonic phrase. Once someone mastered the hand gesture and the mnemonic phrase, he would be able to absorb the X-ray perspective machine into his body and make it stronger.
The Elder from the Bai Family frowned. "This mnemonic phrase is really strange. I think we should try it first to see if it's real!"
Hearing this, the Elder from the Jiang Family nodded and took out the X-ray perspective machine. He held it above his head and made the hand gesture the pamphlet instructed to. Then he began to murmur the mnemonic phrase.
"Wo si da sa bi, zai shuo yi bian, wo zhen de shi da sha bi, sha de bu yao bu yao de. Chui no xiong kou!"
As soon as he finished the mnemonic phrase, the X-ray perspective machine suddenly disappeared and was taken back by Xu Que's System.
The three Elders had no idea what had really happened.
Seeing this, the Elders from the Gong Family and Bai Family exclaimed.
"It's real!"
The Elder from the Jiang Family was surprised. He touched his head and frowned.
"How strange! I thought it would not work! But I don't feel the X-ray perspective machine inside my body . . . "
"Wait a minute! On page two, it discussed the way to take it out. We should try it!" The Elders from the Gong Family and Bai Family exclaimed.
They were really happy to find it so easy to control the X-ray perspective machine, while the Elder from the Jiang Family was very doubtful. But he had no option but to do as the pamphlet instructed.
He made the gesture and read aloud the mnemonic phrase.
"Come out! Wo de xiao ji ba!"