Chapter 48: Sixth-Order Musical Note!

  Just one glance, Xiao Yun knew that Zhong Kui was not honest. He had seen all sorts of people in his past life, and the most common tactic used by merchants was to inflate prices. After a round of haggling, you thought you had made a profit, but in reality, you had lost out. This beast tendon was rare, but it was clearly unrealistic to be worth five top-grade spirit crystals.

  "Master Zhong, I'm not stupid, you're charging an outrageous price!" Xiao Yun said.

  Zhong Kui said, "How much do you want to go out?"

  Xiao Yun thought for a moment and then held up two fingers in front of Zhong Kui.

  Zhong Kui got a bit angry and said, "Young man, you can't haggle like that. You cut the price in half with just one slash. No way, I'll lose money to my grandma's house if I sell it for two spirit crystals. Five is the minimum."

  Xiao Yun didn't say much, pointing to the Chun Lei on the piano rack in front of him. "Zhong Shi, those five strings on Chun Lei, even if they can't compare to this beast tendon on my hand, shouldn't they be worth about the same? You really dare to set a price, selling one of these beast tendons for five top-grade spirit crystals? I'd rather spend ten top-grade spirit crystals to buy Chun Lei, take apart two strings and sell the remaining three back to you. Five top-grade spirit crystals per string, will you take it?"

  "Uh..."

  He was so used to exaggerating prices that he got tongue-tied when Xiao Yun asked him about it. After all, he was a businessman who was accustomed to asking for the sky. However, the price of this five-tiered beast tendon did seem to be somewhat contradictory. The five strings of Chun Lei's qin were made of four-tiered beast tendons, which were slightly inferior to this five-tiered beast tendon, but the price difference shouldn't have been that drastic. If he really quoted a price like that, wouldn't it mean that this five-tiered beast tendon would be worth more than Chun Lei's?

  It's obviously unrealistic, if it were him, he would rather choose to buy Chun Lei than just buying a single beast tendon.

  He looked a bit embarrassed and chuckled, "Little brother, this price is indeed a bit low."

  Xiao Yun thought for a moment and said, "Master Zhong, according to Chun Lei's price, the fourth-grade beast tendon is worth at most one spirit crystal. The fifth-grade beast tendon must be more expensive. How about this? If you think two spirit crystals are a bit less, I'll add another one. What do you think of three spirit crystals?"

  Zhong Kui hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head. The five-stage beast tendon was sold at the price of three top-grade spirit crystals. He didn't lose out on this deal either, and he had been holding onto it for quite some time. Ordinary people couldn't afford such a price, and high-level cultivators wouldn't look down on such materials either. Since Xiao Yun was willing to buy it, he might as well get rid of it, rather than letting it depreciate in his hands over time.

  Xiao Yun smiled contentedly, and regardless of whether he had made a profit or loss, at least he had saved two Ling crystals. From this matter, he could also see that the price Zhong Kui had quoted for himself still had a lot of room for bargaining.

  The beast tendon was handed over to Zhong Kui, who wound it up and put it back in the box, handing the box along with it to Xiao Yun. Xiao Yun took the box and asked, "Master Zhong, do you have any musical scores for sale?"

  "Of course!"

  Zhong Kui nodded and stroked his beard with a smile, "Whether it's war symbols, array symbols, or other musical symbols, I have them all here. What level do you want?"

  "War symbols, the higher the rank the better!" Xiao Yun said.

  Zhong Kui looked at Xiao Yun with a puzzled expression, "You stay on the mountain and don't fight with others, what's the use of having such good music scores?"

  Xiao Yun didn't hide it either, "In a few days, there will be an arranged trial inside the gate, and we might encounter danger. I'm preparing for this in advance, after all, we need to leave some life-saving methods."

  Xiao Yun didn't seem like the kind of person who would be good at fighting, and what he said was probably true. Zhong Kui also found it inconvenient to ask more questions, so he walked over to the counter, took out a large trunk, placed it horizontally on the table, and opened it.

  The box was divided into many small compartments, each of which quietly lay with many musical notes. Although they were all different in color, they looked very delicate.

  "These musical notes were all made by myself in my spare time, from first to fifth grade, and the first row is all battle symbols. Take a look for yourself, and after you've taken a good look, we can discuss the price!" Zhong Kui pointed at the five grids in the first row towards Xiao Yun.

  "I'll go with Five-Stage!" The Five-Stage Melody, that was equivalent to a mid-term master musician's finishing move. Xiao Yun only glanced at it briefly before making his decision.

  Zhong Kui pulled out a few pale yellow jade tokens from the fifth grid, "These five fifth-grade music tokens are refined with the fifth-grade battle song 'Heart Scorching', and compared to the three-grade music tokens I gave you last time, their power is several times greater. After activation, they can transform into a sheet of fire rain, and even ordinary musicians' early-stage masters must temporarily avoid its edge."

  Xiao Yun's face lit up with joy, "Good, I'll take this one."

  "This price is not low, one mid-grade spirit crystal for fifty pieces." Zhong Kui said.

  Xiao Yun heard this, his smile froze, his face turned serious, and he said, "Master Zhong, don't tease me, I don't have many spirit crystals on me, can't withstand your exploitation."

  "Unbeatable price!" Zhong Kui was speechless for a moment.

  "Master Zhong, I come here every time to take care of business, you should give me some discount, how about half price?" Xiao Yun smiled, having had experience buying beast tendons before, he was also good at haggling prices. He didn't believe that Master Zhong's quote would be without any water content.

  "The thing that secures one's life and establishes one's fate, yet you're still haggling over the price!" Zhong Kui gave Xiao Yun a withering look.

  Xiao Yun Dao said, "Precisely because this is a lifesaving thing, Master Zhong, you should give me more discounts. If I die, which big fool will take care of your business in the future..."

  "Alright, alright, I won't argue with you, half price it is then!" Zhong Kui hastily interrupted Xiao Yun's words. This kid was so good at haggling, if he wasn't a disciple of the Tianyin Sect, it would be a waste for him not to work as a shop assistant at Juyintang.

  Xiao Yun heard this and a satisfied smile appeared on his face as he put away the five fifth-grade music notes, "Are there any higher grades?"

  Zhong Kui heard this and hesitated for a moment, "I do have a sixth-grade music note, but let's make one thing clear, if you want to buy it, bring an upper-grade spirit crystal in exchange, no haggling allowed."

  "Take it out and have a look."

  Xiao Yun nodded and urged immediately, a sixth-order musical note is equivalent to the late-stage master of the musician, if you can get one on your body, this holy relic trip will undoubtedly add a bit of security.

  Zhōng Kuí's hand flipped over, and a yellow jade token appeared in his hand. The jade token flowed with colorful light, its appearance far more beautiful than the several fifth-grade music tokens from before.

  Zhong Kui said, "This music note is refined from the sixth-order battle song 'Taishan Tune', and can be used to move a thousand-ton mountain to crush people with its momentum. It's quite overbearing, but for me, it's not very useful. If you want it, take it away for an upper-grade spirit crystal!"

  Xiao Yun opened his mouth!

  "No bargaining!" Before Xiao Yun's words were out, Zhong Kui hastily added, "One price, take it if you want it, don't and I'll keep it for myself."

  "Hmm!" Xiao Yun hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, let's settle the bill together!"

  Zhong Kui heard this and nodded his head in satisfaction. After a moment's calculation, he said, "525 mid-grade spirit crystals!"

  Xiao Yun didn't hesitate, took out the Ling crystal from her storage bag and paid the bill. Zhong Kui handed over the six-stage music symbol to Xiao Yun, who paused for a moment before casually picking up a five-stage music symbol from the box on the table.

  "What's wrong with you?" Zhong Kui was taken aback.

  "Buy one get one free!" Xiao Yun laughed and said, "Zhong Shi, I said no haggling, but didn't say you can't give me a gift!"

  "You..."

  Zhong Kui's beard shook with anger, and Xiao Yun was so angry that he was speechless. "Fine, take it away, take it away!"

  Hurry up and lock the trunk, put it under the counter.

  "What's the origin of this note?" Xiao Yun raised the five-stage music note that had come with him and asked Zhong Kui.

  "That's a defensive array symbol refined using the 5th rank Array Song 'Golden Bell Shield'!"

  "Thank you, Master Zhong. I wish your business will flourish and wealth will come in abundance. I'll take my leave now."

  With a white-eyed glance at the past, Zhong Kui said gruffly, "Thanks for your auspicious words."

  Xiao Yun smiled and put everything away, bid farewell, and went downstairs.

  ——

  After circling the market, several large shops were asked, but no more beast tendons were found for sale. Under helplessness, Xiao Yun had to return to Ju Yin Tang again, find Zhong Kui, and ask him to pay attention, if there are beast tendons, keep them for him.

  In addition, Xiao Yun also bought a dozen or so fourth-grade music scores and was ready to leave the Jinyun Mountain City.