>. Even though when faced with a pile of bones scattered here and there, he could only rely on his nose to smell.
When they arrived at the last beast material shop, Zhi Xuan"s face was already pink from drinking, eyes almost unable to be kept open, head resting at a hollow in Jiang Chao Ge"s neck, saliva even staining his collar. That intoxicated expression and smile at the corners of his mouth appeared considerably happy.
Jiang Chao Ge patted his bottom, "Zuzong, it"s the last shop. We"ll take you back to sleep as soon as we shop through this one."
Zhi Xuan opened his eyes and took several deep breaths, small chest rising and falling, "This smell….."
"What smell?"
"Let me think….." Zhi Xuan shook his head, "Its…. Ma Bu, the smell of Ma Bu."
Meng Sheng"s eyes lit up, voice immediately dropping several octaves, afraid of being hear by someone, "Little Jiang, Ma Bu can be made into a Dark grade spirit weapon!"
Jiang Chao Ge also became excited, "Which one is it?"
Zhi Xuan pointed towards a corner. Meng Sheng rummaged for a long time and found a section of black rib bone from the pile of bones. There was only four rows left of the rib bone, but it was much larger than ordinary poultry. You could tell with a glance that it was a beast of prey.
Jiang Chao Ge said: "Boss, how much is this?"
The shopkeeper turned his small eyeb.a.l.l.s, "You can tell its rare beast material at a glance. This is definitely not cheap."
"This is scattered materials of rare beasts, maybe the beast spirit has already long been taken. How about a hundred copper coins?"
The shopkeeper shook his head repeatedly, "Such a big piece of bone, a hundred is not ok. If weren"t for the fact it"s a scattered material, it wouldn"t be placed here for everybody to choose from. There are also a lot of treasures in scattered materials, it just depends on whether you are able to find it. I see that your judgement is pretty good, I also think that this material is most likely a treasure. Two hundred copper coins, no more bargaining."
Jiang Chao Ge smiled and said particularly indifferent, "Then never mind." Signalling to Meng Sheng with his eyes to put down the bone, holding Zhi Xuan about to go.
The shopkeeper called: "Ai, Ai, Little Brother wait. Rib bone type beast material is really rarely seen."
"No matter how rarely seen it is, it is scattered material after all. A hundred copper coins I"m still willing to take a gamble. Two hundred copper coins is not worth it. I hope that Boos can find a person willing to give two hundred copper coins." Jiang Chao Ge didn"t even turn back as he walked towards the outside.
"Little Brother, Little Brother!" The shopkeeper said hurriedly: "Ok ok, I"ll just give it to you. I am also just about to close shop."
The three returned home, spreading the beast material they bought on the table, counting it. There was eight pieces altogether, spending four hundred copper coins in total. It could be considered quite an abundant gain.
Meng Sheng felt was was said to be the rib bones of a Ma Bu, "If it can really be made into a Dark grade spirit weapon, it"ll be enough for you to eat lying down for an entire lifetime."
"Old Meng, your vision is too shallow. Money can"t be born from money if it"s sits there unmoving. Only when money rolls money can the money grow more and more." Jiang Chao Ge estimated a price for those beast materials one by one in his heart.
"How much money do you plan on making in the end?"
Jiang Chao Ge said without even raising his head, "Make enough money so that I can afford medicine for enhancing cultivation base."
His tone was very calm just as if he was relaxedly chatting about everything under the sun. But the wild ambition hidden behind him was great, crying prestige as well as a feeling of intimidation.
Meng Sheng loosened a breath of air, "I thought you were addicted to making money, and was only afraid that you will attend to one thing and lose sight of another."
Jiang Chao Ge sighed: "No matter how much money I make in this world, what use is it? It"s not like I can take back…. that much. My biggest goal is to go back. You can rest a.s.sured, I will never forget."
Zhi Xuan burped an alcohol fuelled burp and mumbled: "Jiang Chao Ge, give me a bath."
Jiang Chao Ge raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, "Hey, Zuzong, this is your first time calling my name." Before, if it wasn"t ignorant person, it was trash. Should he feel extremely flattered for once?
Zhi Xuan turned his body, jet black hair plastered on his face. He was also too lazy to stretch a hand to push it aside and only shouted: "Bath, give me a back quick."
Jiang Chao Ge fetched a big tub of water and placed it in the courtyard, and after stripping the little brat, directly threw him in the ice cold water. He wasn"t afraid of the cold anyway.
Zhi Xuan half closed his eyes, looking at the crescent moon in the sky. The black pupils he concealed when going out gradually returned to a bright golden. His eyes had a bit of indescribable yearning.
Jiang Chao Ge sat on the ground, rubbing his little arm, "What are you looking at?"
"The moon. This world is completely different from the world I lived in but the moon is always that moon."
Jiang Chao Ge also lifted his head and glanced at the moon, "In my world, the moon also looks like this."
Maybe he and Zhi Xuan have always gazed at the same moon. Even if the two lived in different eras and in a different time and s.p.a.ce, like how distant the Milky Way was, because of an intriguing destiny, they met here. The world was this big, this bizarre. A person and a rare beast that seemed like they should never meet, in a life or death situation, actually met. Jiang Chao Ge couldn"t describe the thoughts and feelings in his heart. He only knew that in this world, there would be nothing he would consider to be "impossible" anymore.
"When I was being sealed, I already knew that one day, there will be a spirit weapon user that will awaken me." Zhi Xuan stared at Jiang Chao Ge unblinkingly, "I thought the person that"d be able to awaken me, would definitely be a very powerful spirit weapon user. I didn"t expect it to be trash like you."
Jiang Chao Ge sighed: "Wasn"t our atmosphere pretty good a moment ago?"
Zhi Xuan gave a soft humph, "I"m awake, they also should almost be awake…. If at that time, you cause me to be defeated because you are too weak, I will definitely eat you."
"They? Who are they? Heaven grade spirit weapons?"
Zhi Xuan gave him a glare, "We aren"t spirit weapons. We are only sealed within a spirit tool."
"But you"ve already died. Right now you are precisely a spirit weapon."
"Who said I"m dead." Zhi Xuan"s small tender face revealed a sneer, "Its impossible for us to be killed, only sealed."
Jiang Chao Ge became dazed, a bit of uneasiness suddenly rushing up in his heart. Zhi Xuan had never spoken this much to him. Even when he had wanted to politely ask what type of rare beast he actually was several times, Zhi Xuan"s face was always full of disdain, saying that he didn"t deserve to know. Today, perhaps he drank too much, saying a lot of baffling things, making Jiang Chao Ge think it"s strange the more he listened. He frowned, "But even your horn has been made into a sword."
Zhi Xuan"s bright golden pupils burned like fire, "Inevitably, there will be a day I will regain my body…." He looked towards Jiang Chao Ge and with a swing of his small hand, a splash of ice cold water was flung at Jiang Chao Ge"s face, "Become strong quickly, trash!"
Jiang Chao Ge wiped the water from his face and expressionlessly lifted the water ladle. A ladle of water drenched Zhi Xuan from head to toe with a splash.
Zhi Xuan lifted up his arms and legs, unwilling to be outdone, ice cold water splashing in all directions. Jiang Chao Ge"s clothes became wet very quickly.
The little brat wasn"t afraid of the cold, but Jiang Chao Ge was afraid of the cold. He pressed Zhi Xuan"s shoulder firmly, "Ok ok, stop fooling around. If you continue to fool around I won"t give you a bath anymore."
Zhi Xuan lifted his small arms, "Wash me clean quickly!"
Jiang Chao Ge didn"t know whether to laugh or cry, carefully cleaning his body with a towel and then washed that long long hair once with Chinese honey locust. Zhi Xuan laid comfortably in the big bathtub, eyes half closed looking up at the starry sky, not knowing what he was thinking about.
After carrying the shiny and smooth little brat into the room, Jiang Chao Ge sat on the bed and started to cultivate. He knew it was impatient and useless but as far as his aspirations with cultivating spiritual power, it was becoming stronger and stronger. His everything seemed to all be entrusted to it. He didn"t want to wait till after five or ten years perhaps even longer, in order have the strength to fight the State Preceptor. He wanted to be able to control Zhi Xuan sword immediately. He hoped that this Heaven grade spirit weapon can make up for his insufficient spiritual power, but just like what Old Meng said, he must first have control at least.
Zhi Xuan nestled in a corner, watching Jiang Chao Ge as he closed his eyes and cultivated, bright golden pupils seeming even more luminous in the dark night.
Having practically no sleep for a whole night, getting up the next morning, Jiang Chao Ge"s complexion was somewhat pale. But it was even more hard and tiring in the beginning when he first started building a business. He was long since accustomed to it. As soon as he washed his face and ate a little something, he took Zhi Xuan to continue to wander around the city. This time, he longer went to those large scale beast material shops because they had visited them all yesterday. He began looking for beast material shops buried deep in alleys, in street stalls and near harbour.
The two searched for treasure among a hideous pile of beast materials, and after a day, their heads and faces were covered with dirt. Jiang Chao Ge carried a ragged bag and held Zhi Xua. When he pa.s.sed by the port, he saw the sorry appearance of the two reflected in the water, looking about the same as people who collect rubbish. At that moment, he really didn"t know whether to laugh or cry. To think that he was also a big boss in his original world. Now he was a tiger that had fallen flat and was bullied by a devilish brat. He also had to look for bones in a rubbish pile all day long. He really didn"t know how much further he could fall. He, Jiang Chao Ge had been fighting hard for dozens of years. As soon as he crossed worlds he was returned to before he was liberated. The bitterness in it really made him feel as if he couldn"t even cry.
After three days, they went to find Old Xu again. As soon as Old Xu saw them, his face glowed with happiness. Jiang Chao Ge"s heart was happy. He knew that that Li Li bone had definitely been made successfully into a dagger.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered the house, Old Xu came over with a short dagger. The body of that dagger was ivory white, the grains of the bone was distinct. It was thus clear that the handle of the dagger was wrapped in a ferrous metal. The workmanship was excellent. You could tell it was a good thing at a glance.
Old Xu said proudly: "What do you think? I really made the best use of this piece of Li Li bone. This dagger has gained the nature of a weapon. No matter how, it can still be sold for three or four hundred silver coins."
Jiang Chao Ge took hold of the dagger, and began to skilfully play with it in his hands. That dagger was a like a water snake, travelling joyfully around his wrist. It was so dexterous, it appeared very dazzling. He had mixed with both black and white paths for many years and the skill in his wrists were most nimble. This was what he practised when he was a little pickpocket on the streets those years ago. Later, after using that skill with the wrist to practise with daggers, it further became a very effective way to earn a living for him. He decided to wait till he had money to also get himself a good dagger. He even turned his nose up at this Li Li bone dagger.
Meng Sheng was rather surprised, "You know how to use a dagger?"
Jiang Chao Ge smiled: "This is my most proficient skill."
Zhi Xuan saw that dagger displaying a trick in Jiang Chao Ge"s hands, even his eyes stared fixedly at it, as if he also thought it was very interesting.
Jiang Chao Ge gave the dagger to Meng Sheng, "Old Meng, summon the beast spirit to let me see."
Meng Sheng took the dagger. With a flash of white light, a thick black wild beast about the size of a type of wild boar appeared in the room in an instant. Upon closer inspection, the body of that beast was like a pig, but it"s four trotters were similar to that of chicken claws. Its morphology was strange, appearing somewhat fierce.
Jiang Chao Ge smiled: "Good, very good."
Old Xu said excitedly: "Little Brother Jiang, is this dagger made well?"
Jiang Chao Ge"s face held a smile: "Good."
"Then the remaining beast materials….."
Jiang Chao Ge lifted the bag in his hands, "I brought four more pieces today, but this time I want to pay in advance."
"No problem."
"But I have a request. I hope that Old Xu can lend me some money. I also discovered some pretty good beast material in Hu An City, only I don"t have the money to buy it. Please rest a.s.sured Old Xu, this money I will return twofold."
Old Xu had just gained a Earth grade dagger and is currently considering Jiang Chao Ge as the G.o.d of Wealth. He naturally wouldn"t refuse and said generously: "Feel free to ask Little Brother."
"I need a hundred silver coins." Jiang Chao Ge smiled.
Ma Bu/马腹– This could literally refer to the belly of a horse but in this case, it refers to an ancient beast with the face of a human and the body of a tiger. Oh and an extra fact: it eats humans XD.
A tiger who had fallen flat and was bullied by a devilish brat/虎落平阳被熊孩子欺– This one is actually really funny. So the original idiom 虎落平阳被犬欺 means a tiger who had fallen to level ground and is insulted by dogs, but here the author replaced the dog part of it with Zhi Xuan lol. Figuratively, it describes a man who has lost his position and is subject to humiliation as a result.
Translator"s Corner
Andddddddd I"m back guys! I got back on the 17th so forgive any typos the jet lagged me may have made in the process of translating this. I"m posting this quite early as I haven"t yet translated the next chapter yet but I feel like you guys deserve this after the long wait. XD
Next release may be a take a bit longer tho cuz I have to catch up.
Happy reading!