"Nine thousand Spiritual Jade! The secret manual has already reached nine thousand Spiritual Jade! Is it going to sell for over ten thousand Spiritual Jade like yesterday?"
"Impossible, they sold ten copies yesterday and three today. What does this an? It ans secret manuals are being sold every day! If there are daily sales, prices will definitely drop in the future. The later you buy, the cheaper it will be!"
"What if they stop selling in the future?"
"They will definitely sell. Right now, the Immortals pity us, distributing secret manuals from the Immortal Realm to the trade section for fair competition. The rich get them sooner, the poor later. Everyone can beco a ssenger; it’s only a matter of ti!"
"Fool, if I had the money, I would rather buy and stash them than let the poor buy them cheaply."
"Why are Immortals exchanging two saber technique manuals for one dual blade manual? Is the dual blade much more powerful than the single blade?"
"Could it be...?"
"Does anyone know what those five Fla Patterned Straight Sabers are? The starting price has already skyrocketed to five thousand!"
"Products from the Immortals must be of high quality. If I had the money, I would buy them too."
In the crowd, Shang Xuanwen and the Mouse Monk didn’t attract any attention. Because of their tall stature, they were often bumped into, and their boots got dirty.
"Immortals?" Shang Xuanwen said coldly, "Selling secret manuals, selling tokens... Great Monk, would the Buddha behave like these Immortals, driving people to fight rather than bringing peace?"
"I don’t study scriptures," Yan Qing replied sowhat sheepishly, but thankfully, the in-ga Mouse Monk didn’t show it. "If the aristocratic families didn’t monopolize force, why would the people so desperately pursue Immortals’ goods? If ordinary people could beco ssengers on their own, why would they spend a thousand Jade for a secret manual or a token?"
After discovering that the Fla Pattern Long Saber was different from the White Iron Straight Saber, Yan Qing realized he could sell it at the Treasure Pavilion. He didn’t sell the White Iron Straight Saber before because it was too closely associated with him. Selling the straight saber would easily alert other thieves that the ’goods-selling Immortal’ in the trade section was him. To avoid risk, Yan Qing preferred to forgo the money.
But the Fla Pattern Long Saber was different; the design was unique. As long as Yan Qing didn’t use it himself, others wouldn’t associate him with the seller of Fla Pattern Long Sabers. And, of course, he didn’t use it. With Bingzi Pepper Forest and Autumn Ink, the Fla Pattern Long Saber wasn’t qualified to enter his main weapon arsenal.
Two saber technique manuals for one dual blade manual was a trial; Yan Qing found self-learning the dual saber technique too cumberso. Then he rembered that the Treasure Pavilion also allowed bartering, so he decided to see if he could exchange for one.
"If there was a family where the father was unkind and the son unfilial, but because the son couldn’t defeat the father, and the father needed the son’s help to farm, they barely got by. Now, a passerby sells the son a saber, causing the son to kill the father, and without strength to farm, they starve next year. Whose fault is it?"
"Of course it’s the father’s fault. Only when a father is kind will there be a filial son. Even without the saber, when the son grows up, he would still kill the father."
"But what if the son is never allowed to grow up, never allowed to hold a saber?"
Yan Qing raised an eyebrow, "You an that since the father’s unkindness cannot change, we can only restrain the son for peace? But mutual vigilance and hatred between father and son, how is it different from a lawless world? It’s better to have a saber rchant let them kill cleanly, and by spring next year, others will farm and thrive over the graves."
Shang Xuanwen uncommonly fell silent, seemingly unable to refute it, and turned to walk out of the crowd, with Yan Qing following closely. They went to a nearby beef noodle shop, where the signature dish was beef and fried sauce lo in. Yan Qing was quite interested, but the Mouse Monk was bald and could only order a vegetarian noodle.
The entire morning, the Mouse Monk was idling, and Yan Qing switched back near noon to find him already with Shang Xuanwen at the Ministry of Personnel. As a guard, the Mouse Monk stood outside the Capital Hall all morning until Shang Xuanwen went out for lunch, naturally taking the Mouse Monk with him, witnessing the hustle and bustle at the Shangxiajiu Archway.
Shang Xuanwen eyed the nu on the shop wall and suddenly asked, "Did you notice sothing?"
"I didn’t notice anything." Yan Qing wasn’t in the mood for riddles.
"There’s beef noodles, chicken noodles, but no lamb. Do you know why?"
"This isn’t the North. Isn’t it normal not to have lamb?"
"In the Huainan area, lamb roasted bun is a famous delicacy." Shang Xuanwen shook his head, "Jiangnan City mainly has beef and chicken because the nearby Secret Realm mostly produces cattle and chickens. The Huainan Secret Realm produces sheep, so lamb is common."
Yan Qing vaguely knew what he ant and laughed, "It seems the Chancellor is the type to think it through before counterattacking."
"Throughout the ages, it’s always the ssengers who aren’t kind, and ordinary people who aren’t filial. Reconciliation?" Shang Xuanwen said, "ssengers believe they conquer Secret Realms to nourish people, but the people have no way to repay the ssengers. They provide without return — wherein lies kindness? The people resent ssengers’ superiority, their power monopolized by aristocratic families, leaving them as re mortals laboring their lives away — wherein lies filial respect?"
"Just because it’s always been this way, does it an it’s right?" Yan Qing saw an opportunity to cite famous sayings from his past life, relishing the satisfaction of borrowing others’ words.
"Of course it’s right!"
Shang Xuanwen said sternly, "With a flick, Foundation Establishnt can crush mountains and rivers. When ssengers gather, nothing stands in their way. When ssengers unite, ordinary people don’t even have the right to speak. However, this world has limited Secret Realms and resources, ensuring that only a small portion can beco ssengers, while the vast majority remain re mortals."
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