Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 54 - 45: I Heard the Li Family Is Full of Paupers
July 26, 2017, sunny
When Li Xinyu saw Wang Jiu, it was like a woman long yearning seeing a Kunlun Slave, his eyes bursting with intense brilliance.
"Brother Wang! The savior Brother Wang, you really... huh!?"
Just as Li Xinyu was excitedly preparing to throw himself into an embrace, he suddenly saw that beside Wang Jiu was a petite and delicate young girl with a face full of displeasure.
Seeing that refined and exceptional, yet still slightly childish face, Li Xinyu was at first unconsciously entranced, then reacted as if his tail had been stepped on, retreating several steps.
"Sister Qingming, why are you here?"
Shen Qingming snorted: "First thing you say is borrowing a thousand Spirit Stones, if I hadn’t come, who knows what you would do!"
Li Xinyu explained with grievance: "Misunderstanding, a great misunderstanding! I just took a fancy to a certain auction item, but couldn’t quite manage cash flow for the time being, planning to borrow a thousand Spirit Stones from Brother Wang just to tide over the crisis. He’s an Honored Guest Elder of the family and has great kindness to me, how could I deceive him for money?!"
Shen Qingming questioned: "You’re the Inner Sect Chief, even if cash flow is tight, wouldn’t you borrow from others? Even if you can’t gather enough at once, wouldn’t you ask your parents for help?"
Li Xinyu replied a bit awkwardly: "A thousand Spirit Stones isn’t much nor little, people of the same generation generally can’t gather that. As for parents... I, I have special difficulties."
Shen Qingming instantly looked suspiciously: "Special difficulties? What are you planning to buy with the borrowed money?"
"A... a secret manual."
"Secret manual?" Shen Qingming became more suspicious, "Is there any secret manual not available at the Li Family Mansion? Why do you need to go out auctioning on your own? Even if it’s a tremendously valuable manual, surely a family elder would step in to buy it for clan members to share and study, it certainly wouldn’t fall on you to buy with your own money!"
"This... this secret manual is different!" Li Xinyu explained, distressed, "Everyone has individual cultivation paths; the manual might seem worthless to the elders, but it’s very important to me personally!"
"Important to you, yet you can’t say so to your parents? Do you think I’m an idiot?"
Wang Jiu chimed in from the side: "She’s only mildly idiotic."
Shen Qingming angrily stomped on Wang Jiu’s foot – but due to the Illusion Sword Technique, naturally stepped onto empty air.
Li Xinyu, however, was already forced into a sweaty mess by Shen Qingming’s earlier questioning, several times wanting to speak but unable to organize the words properly, ultimately raising his hand in desperation.
"I, Li Xinyu, swear to the heavens, borrowing money this time is really just for buying the secret manual, without any intent to deceive for money. I promise to repay Brother Wang according to normal loan interest rates afterward. If I break this vow, may I forever have no girlfriend!"
Shen Qingming sneered: "Sounds like you’ve already broken vows before."
"... Then may I forever have no X climax!"
Such a vicious oath finally made Shen Qingming’s delicate body tremble in shock, blushing deeply: "You... you’re so..."
Thankfully, at this moment, the auction host’s clear voice interrupted their conversation.
"The next auction item, Dream of Scarlet! Starting price five hundred Spirit Stones!"
Li Xinyu hurriedly raised the auction number plate in his hand, loudly saying: "Eight hundred Spirit Stones!"
As soon as he spoke, the auction hall fell silent momentarily.
Though Li Xinyu was just a teenager, as the eldest son of the third branch of the Li Family and Inner Sect Chief, his participation in the auction came with extraordinary privileges, his seat arranged in the VIP area. When someone of his caliber bids on something, others naturally reconsider whether to bid themselves.
At this time, Wang Jiu also turned his gaze to the center stage, beside the host was an antique scroll, the Spiritual Qi fluctuations not strong but containing a unique rhythm—is indeed a genuine lower-tier Purple Tier Magical Treasure. Yet by current market standards, a lower-tier Purple Tier Magical Treasure usually maxes out at two or three hundred Spirit Stones, the five hundred Spirit Stones auction price was already visibly high, as for Li Xinyu’s bid of eight hundred Spirit Stones, it was simply incomprehensible.
But as Li Xinyu said, this scroll was not just a treasure; it was also a secret manual, certainly containing some profound cultivation technique written within—a technique so valuable it must be contained within a treasure, difficult to measure its worth.
Shen Qingming, seeing this, also uttered a soft sound of surprise: "Really a secret technique manual? What cultivation technique sells for such a high price?"
Wang Jiu shook his head: "With the scroll unopened, I can’t see the contents inside, my Heaven-Reaching Tower hasn’t even laid its foundation, my eyesight hasn’t returned to even a fraction of what it once was."
Shen Qingming then turned her gaze back to Li Xinyu.
Li Xinyu awkwardly mumbled a little, but didn’t explain, just replied: "As long as you know it’s a secret manual, it’s fine. I have five hundred Spirit Stones on hand, fearing someone would raise the price, that’s why I bid a thousand with Brother Wang, looks like borrowing just three hundred would..."
As he spoke, another voice echoed throughout the hall.
"One thousand Spirit Stones!"
"Damn, it’s Qian the Third!" Li Xinyu cursed, raising his placard again and shouting, "One thousand five hundred Spirit Stones!"
Li Xinyu resolutely pushed all his chips on the table, hoping to overwhelm his opponent with this aggressive momentum.
Yet, moments later, a member of the Qian Family defiantly shouted, "One thousand six hundred!"
Li Xinyu was dumbstruck, unable to believe that the other side was actually standing firm against him to the bitter end! Moreover, in just the second round, they had pushed the price up to a level he could hardly reach.
This was a blatant slap in the face, yet the chubby Li Xinyu could not scrape together even a single extra Spirit Stone, reddening with embarrassment as he sat there for a long while, only to hear the auctioneer slowly declaring, "One thousand six hundred Spirit Stones, first call!"
Li Xinyu gritted his teeth. "Brother Wang, how much money do you have on you?"
Shen Qingming looked cautious. "Fatty, don’t play with fire. Competing with the Qian Family in wealth, are you out of your mind?"
Though the Qian Family was the wealthiest in Cyan Cloud, without the heritage of the Seven Great Noble Families, if one were to talk about family assets, they certainly couldn’t compare with the Li Family, whose branches extended everywhere. However, at the very least, when it came to cash in hand and daily living expenses, they were indeed second to none in QingCyan Cloud yun City. The monthly stipend of the younger generation even greatly exceeded that of the Li and Lu families.
Li Xinyu said, "I’m determined to obtain this item, no matter the cost! Brother Wang, whatever I borrow today, I promise to pay it back, even if I have to sell my organs!"
Wang Jiu calculated for a moment. "The amount I can currently mobilize is about five thousand five hundred Spirit Stones."
"That’s a lot! More than enough!" Li Xinyu was overjoyed.
In fact, a month ago, Wang Jiu had over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones at his disposal—the ten thousand Spirit Stones gifted by Li Tianya to Lu Xin were all handed over to Wang Jiu to manage. However, Wang Jiu obviously had no interest in financial management, and Shen Qingming himself refused to accept money from Lu Xin. As a result, the money was returned to Lu Xin, who straightforwardly established an immortal cultivation fund. Whenever Shen Qingming’s cultivation broke through to a certain realm, he could withdraw a portion from it—of course, at that time, it would be cleverly distributed to Shen Qingming through Mutual Aid Association tasks or other means.
Now, these five thousand five hundred Spirit Stones were actually the private stash Li Xinyu had stolen from his father, Li Kongcheng, a few days ago.
"Two thousand Spirit Stones!" With Wang Jiu’s financial support, Li Xinyu was suddenly full of confidence and didn’t even consider the wealthiest family in Cyan Cloud as a threat.
But moments later, a member of the Qian Family shouted, "Three thousand Spirit Stones."
Li Xinyu’s eyes widened in fury, jumping directly from his seat and pointing at the other’s nose, shouting, "Three thousand Spirit Stones, Qian the Third, are you out of your mind?!"
No matter how profound the Dream of Scarlet might be, it was merely a lower-tier Magical Treasure, typically worth a few hundred Spirit Stones at most. Yet Qian the Third pushed the price up to three thousand?!
Qian the Third also stood up. He was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth, adorned with glittering jewels, looking both ashamed and angry. "I have money, and I enjoy it! Li Xinyu, if you’re broke, shut up and watch quietly!"
Li Xinyu gritted his teeth. Comparing family wealth, he indeed couldn’t match the Qian Yu, the most doted-on by the Patriarch Qian. But right now, he had no choice but to continue down this path.
"Five thousand Spirit Stones!"
At this price, even Li Xinyu felt his scalp tingling. These thousands of Spirit Stones were not gifts that came for free; they had to be repaid with interest later on. For a mere Cultivator at the Cloud Surge Realm, how could he easily repay such a huge debt? The private stash of Li Kongcheng was also limited...
And facing Li Xinyu’s all-out bid, Qian the Third was left speechless, and even the auctioneer was stunned.
The top Spiritual Treasure of the entire auction had yet to appear, yet a single Dream of Scarlet Scroll was auctioned for a sky-high price of five thousand Spirit Stones, truly unexpected. But before they had time to celebrate, Qian the Third, his face flushed, shouted through gritted teeth, "Six thousand Spirit Stones!"
Li Xinyu immediately hit the ceiling. "Qian Yu, enough with the pretentiousness! Six thousand Spirit Stones, I don’t believe you have that much cash in hand!"
Admittedly, thousands of Spirit Stones were merely a drop in the bucket for a major family in QingCyan Cloud yun City, but for younger disciples far from financial independence, it was an unattainable fortune. The small chest of Li Kongcheng, as the head of the third branch, accumulated over several years, amounted to only a few thousand Spirit Stones.
Qian Yu’s face was ashen as he slowly removed a cyan jade bracelet from his wrist. "Indeed, my cash is limited, but what about with this bracelet?"
"Damn, you’re even pawning the Celestial Fortune Set?!" Li Xinyu was practically spitting blood. The Celestial Fortune Set was commissioned by Patriarch Qian Long at a great cost from a Grandmaster, tailored for his beloved son Qian Yu. Each piece was an exquisite Purple Tier Magical Treasure, worth thousands of Spirit Stones. With five pieces in total, appraising them at tens of thousands of Spirit Stones wouldn’t be surprising.
Qian Yu, his eyes glaring with redness, said, "Exactly, if needed, I’d pawn the necklace, Heart-Protecting Mirror, Jade Pendant, and headscarf—all of them! Do you dare match that?"
Li Xinyu retorted angrily, "Your father had the Celestial Fortune Set made for you, and this is how you use it? I honestly don’t know what you’re so proud of!"
"You’re not my dad, why do you care how I use it? If you have the guts, ask your dad to make you a Celestial Fortune Set too!"
The veins on Li Xinyu’s temple were bulging, yet he had nothing left to say. Competing in wealth with the Qian Family was indeed not a wise move.
Seeing Li Xinyu back down, Qian Yu felt a wave of relief and happiness, prompting him to mock, "Ha, your Li Family always boasts about being the first noble family in Cyan Cloud, but it seems your younger generations aren’t living as well as our Qian kids. I heard your Patriarch has a daughter who lives on clear soup and radishes all day..."
Before he could finish, half the auction house heard a sound as if a vein had burst.
