Chapter 481: Making Up the Price Gap

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Zhao Tianxuan’s originally smiling face froze for a moment. He turned to look behind, where Tong Zhongqiu’s figure was already not far away.

Isn’t it only natural to recommend good martial arts manuals to members of the alliance!” Zhao Tianxuan looked at Tong Zhongqiu as he approached and exclaimed loudly.

“Yes, good martial arts are indeed valuable.”

Tong Zhongqiu had a faint smile on his face as he looked at Zhao Tianxuan and asked, “But didn’t you just say that this Profound Slaying Sword manual is difficult to cultivate?”

“I haven’t even had a chance to say it, and you’ve already arrived.”

Zhao Tianxuan glanced at Tong Zhongqiu somewhat discontentedly and continued, “Moreover, good martial arts being difficult to cultivate is normal, isn t it? Those common martial arts that are easy to cultivate, what value do they have? Brother Chen, am I right?”

Tong Zhongqiu smiled slightly but didn’t respond, just standing by the side. Chen Fei nodded at Tong Zhongqiu and then turned to Zhao Tianxuan, asking, “May I take a look at the martial art manual?”

Of course, it’s natural to judge the quality of a martial art by looking at it.”

Zhao Tianxuan laughed heartily and, prepared in advance, took out a jade slip from his sleeve and handed it to Chen Fei.

Chen Fei took the jade slip and focused his attention on it. After a moment, his expression couldn’t help but change.

Within this jade slip, there was only a simple outline of the Profound Slaying Sword technique, along with a small portion of its cultivation methods. Although it didn’t reveal the complete picture, judging from the information recorded in this jade slip, the Profound Slaying Sword was indeed extraordinary.

Compared to the Godslayer Sword that Chen Fei had previously learned, which differed by just a single character in its name, the Profound Slaying Sword displayed a much higher level of insight.

The name Godslayer Sword sounded domineering, but in reality, it was a technique that hurt oneself before hurting others, and it could only be used in critical moments, making it impossible to become a regular skill.

“Excellent martial art!” Chen Fei looked up at Zhao Tianxuan and said.

Indeed, I’ve said before that this martial art is excellent.” Upon hearing Chen Fei’s words, Zhao Tianxuan burst into laughter.

“How much for this martial art?” Chen Fei asked in a low voice.

Since we are all members of the same alliance now, I’ll give Brother Chen an honest price, one high-grade elemental stone, how does that sound?”

Zhao Tianxuan glanced at Tong Zhongqiu beside him, his eyes showing a hint of satisfaction. Tong Zhongqiu smiled slightly and remained silent. He had already reminded Chen Fei earlier.

If they continued discussing the price further, it wouldn’t look good on either Tong Zhongqiu or Zhao Tianxuan’s part. After all, blocking someone’s path to wealth was considered taboo.

Tong Zhongqiu had already shown a great deal of goodwill by offering the previous advice to Chen Fei.

“The price is indeed reasonable.”

Chen Fei nodded slightly, and he didn’t find Zhao Tianxuan’s offer insincere. Given the power demonstrated by the Profound Slaying Sword, it was indeed worth a high-grade elemental stone.

“I’m offering such a favorable price because of our alliance relationship,” Zhao Tianxuan said with a more radiant smile upon hearing Chen Fei’s response.

But unfortunately, I don’t have that many elemental stones on me right now,” Chen Fei lamented.

A high-grade elemental stone was equivalent to a hundred middle-grade elemental stones. If Chen Fei had sold the Moonlight Pearl, a treasure embryo, he wouldn’t have worried about the price.

However, selling the Moonlight Pearl like that would have been a loss for Chen Fei. Currently, it was being nourished by the Qianyuan Sword, and with some more time, it could be upgraded to the level of a middle-grade magic treasure.

Not selling it was the right choice for Chen Fei. The only problem was that he didn’t have many elemental stones in his pocket.

Zhao Tianxuan was momentarily taken aback but quickly realized that Chen Fei came from a small sect, and it hadn’t been long since he broke through. Accumulating a substantial amount of elemental stones under such circumstances was indeed not easy.

He had unintentionally overlooked this while focusing solely on promoting the Profound Slaying Sword before coming here.

How many do you have then?” Zhao Tianxuan’s smile slightly faded as he asked.

“Twenty middle-grade elemental stones,” Chen Fei said with a smile.

Zhao Tianxuan’s eyes widened in surprise. From one high-grade elemental stone to twenty middle-grade elemental stones, this was quite a substantial drop in price.

“No, that’s too little. Do you have anything valuable that you can use to offset the price?” Zhao Tianxuan shook his head, not agreeing to Chen Fei’s offer. It deviated significantly from his initial expectations.

“I have a martial art technique, the ‘Primordial Profound Art.’ Are you interested?”

Chen Fei took out a jade slip, condensed the essence of the Primordial Profound Art into it, and after a moment, handed it to Zhao Tianxuan.

Zhao Tianxuan gave the jade slip a skeptical look. He had serious doubts about what kind of valuable martial art technique someone from a small sect like Chen Fei could possess.

However, Zhao Tianxuan still allocated a portion of his attention and delved into the jade slip. After a while, his gaze showed slight fluctuations. Surprisingly, this Primordial Profound Art was quite impressive.

Although it didn’t reach the level of amazement and couldn’t be compared to the legacies of major sects and powers, it was already quite good for the average Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivator.

At least, it provided a comprehensive cultivation method from the early stages of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm to the later stages, even mentioning how to reach the peak of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. It was considered a relatively complete martial art technique.

Compared to the martial art technique from Zhao Tianxuan’s own sect, the Primordial Profound Art seemed to be slightly superior.

This was because Zhao Tianxuan’s sect’s technique didn’t include information on how to reach the pinnacle of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. In the past, Zhao Tianxuan had never paid much attention to this aspect as the pinnacle of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm had always seemed too distant for him.

It was too far away from the entire Xuan Fire Sect!

Whether there was a cultivation method to reach the pinnacle of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm or not didn’t affect the overall inheritance of the Xuan Fire Sect. It was somewhat frustrating but also very realistic.

If you couldn’t reach that level, what was the use of having a technique for it?

However, if there was an opportunity to improve his sect’s martial art technique, Zhao Tianxuan had no reason to decline it. While it might not replace the entire inheritance of his sect, at the very least, he would learn how to reach the pinnacle of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

This would benefit the Xuan Fire Sect without any drawbacks.

This technique is not bad,” Zhao Tianxuan pondered for a moment. He couldn’t directly reject it, especially since they were both at the Combined Aperture Tempering realm level. It would be somewhat unreasonable to blatantly lie.

Tong Zhongqiu, who was on the side, looked at Zhao Tianxuan with surprise, then glanced at Chen Fei. Tong Zhongqiu hadn’t expected Zhao Tianxuan to approve of the technique Chen Fei presented.

Tong Zhongqiu knew that the Primordial Sword Sect couldn’t possibly have such an inheritance, considering it had declined for hundreds of years. Therefore, this martial art technique must have been obtained by Chen Fei elsewhere.

Perhaps Chen Fei obtained this martial art technique during his cultivation in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. Chen Fei’s luck and methods were truly remarkable.

“Do you want to buy it?” Chen Fei asked.

“In that case, I’ll take a bit of a loss. Let’s just trade directly,” Zhao Tianxuan suggested after some thought.

Exchanging the challenging-to-cultivate Profound Slaying Sword for the complete Primordial Profound Art was not a loss; in fact, it was a significant gain.

Direct exchange won’t work; you’ll need to make up the price difference. The Profound Slaying Sword is just a mental technique, whereas this is a complete cultivation technique for the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. They’re not the same,” Chen Fei shook his head and said with a soft chuckle.

As Chen Fei’s current primary cultivation technique, he had no reservations about trading away the Primordial Profound Art. Other cultivators, except those from the same sect, were extremely wary of sharing their cultivation techniques.

Apart from the reasons related to lineage, they were also concerned that others might discover flaws in their techniques.

However, Chen Fei’s cultivation of the Primordial Profound Art had long been fused with the Primordial Sword Scripture, benefiting each other.

Fundamentally, it was no longer just one technique.

As time passed, Chen Fei would continue to integrate other techniques, and the proportion of the Primordial Profound Art in his system would decrease.

In this situation, there was no need for Chen Fei to conceal the fact that he had obtained this technique from the Haiyue Cave.

“Make up the price difference?” Zhao Tianxuan’s eyes widened once again.

“I think what Chen Fei said makes sense. The Profound Slaying Sword is just a mental technique, and you want to exchange it for a complete Combined Aperture Tempering realm technique? That’s not such an easy deal,” Tong Zhongqiu chimed in from the side.

Zhao Tianxuan glanced at Tong Zhongqiu but remained silent, thoughts racing through his mind.

Obtaining a Combined Aperture Tempering realm technique was something the Xuan Fire Sect could have done in recent years. However, the reality was that Zhao Tianxuan had rarely come across an externally available technique that satisfied him.

Either they were very ordinary, not even comparable to the Xuan Fire Sect’s own legacy, or they were exceptional but had exorbitant prices that he couldn’t justify.

After all, for Zhao Tianxuan and the Xuan Fire Sect at this point, martial techniques were not a pressing matter. Investing such a large sum of money in this area might not be the wisest decision.

The Primordial Profound Art seemed to be just right. Judging from the outline in the jade slip, the difficulty of cultivation was acceptable. More importantly, the Profound Slaying Sword in his possession could serve as bargaining chips. However, today, he had come to promote his technique to earn some elemental stones. Now, it felt like he was being asked to pay extra. The situation was somewhat unexpected for him.

“How much to make up?” Zhao Tianxuan pondered for a moment, then looked at Chen Fei and asked.

“Let’s make it one high-grade elemental stone,” Chen Fei suggested after a brief consideration.

“No, that’s too expensive!” Zhao Tianxuan promptly refused, unwilling to part with a high-grade elemental stone when he hadn’t earned one through the Profound Slaying Sword.

“What do you think is a fair amount then?” Chen Fei threw the question back to Zhao Tianxuan.

“At most fifty middle-grade elemental stones,” Zhao Tianxuan proposed after thinking about the current market prices for various techniques.

“Alright, deal!” Chen Fei agreed straightforwardly.

Zhao Tianxuan was taken aback. He had expected a bit more negotiation, but Chen Fei’s immediate acceptance made him feel like he might have offered too much.

Zhao Tianxuan glanced at Tong Zhongqiu beside him, feeling a sourness in his teeth. With everyone watching, he couldn’t easily back out now.

It’s mainly because I believe in the relationship between allies, we shouldn’t be too petty,” Chen Fei said with a smile.

Zhao Tianxuan’s teeth grew even more sour, and he chose not to respond to Chen Fei’s words. Instead, he quickly exchanged the jade slip, handed over fifty middle-grade elemental stones, and hurriedly left the scene.

Today seemed like a mixed bag for Zhao Tianxuan. He wasn’t sure whether he had gained or lost, leaving him with a somewhat uncertain mood.

The Profound Slaying Sword is indeed difficult to cultivate. Even after all these years, Zhao Tianxuan hasn’t made much progress,” Tong Zhongqiu whispered to Chen Fei as he watched Zhao Tianxuan leave.

“Yes, it’s quite challenging. My main goal was to sell the Primordial Profound Art I had,” Chen Fei said with a smile.

Tong Zhongqiu was taken aback for a moment and couldn’t help but chuckle.

He had been unnecessarily worried.

At the same time, as the fifty middle-grade elemental stones were acquired, a notification began to blink on Chen Fei’s interface, much like the exclamation mark he had seen when he first purchased a storage grid..