Chapter 975: Exchanging for Money

True Person Sanshui died in an otherworld, his remnant soul and personal treasures both sucked away by the Spirit-Locking Treasure Cover, transforming into an existence akin to an artifact spirit, until the Great Square Pot refined it. "True Person Sanshui is..." Fang Canran waved his hand: "I know who True Person Sanshui is. Seven years ago, the Red Water Mace of True Person Sanshui appeared at a large-scale auction in Lingxu City. The organizers used it as the grand finale treasure for the first half, but unfortunately, it didn't sell in the end. The deeds of True Person Sanshui all have historical records that can be checked, so it shouldn't be difficult to find these two treasures among them. Our line of work emphasizes a clear provenance; since these are treasures recorded in the annals, they might sell for a good price!"

He Lingchuan smiled: "I'm short on money, you give me an estimate."

Fang Canran rolled his eyes in secret. For He Lingchuan to say this meant he wanted him to estimate on the high side.

"I'll lay it out for you: a quick sale has a quick-sale price, and if you're short on money, you can only sell quickly; if you're not in a rush, leave it with me for consignment, and we can play the long game to catch a big fish."

"Reasonable."

Dong Rui sat on the side gnawing on melon seeds, not minding the noise he was making at all: "What is the price for a quick sale, and what is the price for a slow sale?"

"The efficacy of these two treasures in the ancient era should have been far higher than it is now." Environmental changes have the greatest impact on ancient treasures, "Even if they are well-maintained and still usable, their divine abilities should be discounted; furthermore, the energy consumption for each use is immense, and I estimate they would need to be maintained for a long time before they could be used once."

Dong Rui frowned repeatedly as he listened, thinking only that Fang Canran wanted to drive the price down. But He Lingchuan gave a hum, understanding that Fang Canran was analyzing the selling points and weaknesses of the merchandise.

How to price, and how much to set the price at, always has a basis.

Moreover, Fang Canran was not wrong. Take the Seven Blessings Wheel that Lu Xun brought out as an example: that treasure required three or four months of energy storage just to be released for less than ten breaths of time to slaughter everything in its path. It was truly a high-consumption, low-frequency item.

"There is a slight flaw at the bottom of the Heavenly King Seal, but it doesn't affect its use. At the end of the day, this is a magic treasure, not an antique." Fang Canran stroked the Heavenly King Seal and pondered for a good while, "The main materials are the heart's blood of a mountain range and refined gold; no extremely rare materials were used, but the artifact spirit is heaven-sent, and the power...?"

"I've tested it myself; an opponent almost crushed me to death using this treasure seal." He Lingchuan told him the truth, "It can turn as large as a small mountain peak; you can also test it yourself."

"I believe you, let the buyer test it then." Fang Canran laughed, "In that case, let's estimate it at four hundred thousand taels first."

He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow, secretly startled: so expensive?

"The price of a magic treasure depends on three points: origin, condition, and utility. True Person Sanshui was a great immortal on par with True Person Shou'an, so the origins of these two treasures are fine, and while the bottom of the Heavenly King Seal has a slight flaw, its utility is good. If selling quickly, I think four hundred thousand taels is appropriate."

He Lingchuan smiled bitterly to himself.

True Person Sanshui's Spirit-Locking Treasure Cover was melted by the Great Square Pot, so he had refined the Heavenly King Seal as a substitute; this was a case of settling for second best, and its quality was certainly inferior to the Spirit-Locking Treasure Cover.

Yet even so, it was worth four hundred thousand. So when he sold the Purple Gold Pestle of the State Preceptor Sun Fuping for only two hundred thousand back then, he had truly been ripped off by Songyang Prefecture.

Sigh, one always has to pay for the innocence of youth.

Dong Rui was curious: "What about the Sanshui Token?"

"This is the origin of True Person Sanshui's title; it was once a divine artifact, now downgraded to a quasi-divine artifact. If selling quickly, eight hundred thousand taels."

He Lingchuan raised his eyebrows again.

Seeing this, Fang Canran laughed: "Are you thinking of that sword tip the Ke family auctioned off?"

"Indeed." He Lingchuan did not deny it.

"That was Lingxu City, a place of worldly vanity. The Ke family spent eight hundred thousand taels to win the sword tip of the Immortal Shou'an; the significance of that act far outweighed the reality, otherwise, that item would have been lucky to sell for two hundred and fifty thousand taels." As the former head auction manager of Dun Garden, Fang Canran revealed the inside story to them, "Besides the Ke family wanting to show off their wealth in the most high-profile way to suppress the nobility, there was another reason: ten percent of the proceeds from Dun Garden auctions must be donated to the internal government to subsidize Lingxu's transportation and traffic. The wealthy families are all very clear on this, so a portion of that money was essentially a donation."

Both of them said "Oh": "So that's how it is." There are so many invisible tricks; no wonder things in Lingxu sell for so much.

"Platinum Island doesn't have so many requirements, and the auction only charges a five percent handling fee; all other flashy expenses are waived for you." Fang Canran said solemnly, "If you want to sell quickly, I will take the money for you now. But I don't have 1.2 million in cash on hand, so you'll have to wait two days."

Over a million in cash is not something just anyone can produce at any time.

He Lingchuan thought for a moment: "Sell the Heavenly King Seal now; don't rush the Sanshui Token, just hang it here for sale or auction, and wait for a fated person."

"Fine." Fang Canran stood up, "I'll go get the money."

He was as good as his word and returned shortly, placing four hundred thousand taels in front of He Lingchuan after a quarter of an hour.

Unlike in Lingxu City, he provided many small-denomination notes here, with the smallest being only one thousand taels. It was evident that the head shopkeeper had emptied the bottom of his till to give to him.

Even in the magic treasure business, one doesn't encounter such large hauls every day.

When He Lingchuan pocketed the four hundred thousand taels, he remained calm on the surface, but let out a long sigh of relief inwardly.

With this large sum of money in his account, he could once again invest in the construction of the Yangshan Archipelago.

The existing two hundred and ten thousand plus this four hundred thousand meant he had six hundred and ten thousand in cash on his books again, which could last him for quite a while and keep him from being so strapped for cash.

Poverty stifles ambition; now, only silver notes are his source of confidence! True Person Sanshui is a good man, leaving him such a large inheritance.

Fang Canran laughed: "I won't take a cut of your money for this first deal. When the Heavenly King Seal sells for more than four hundred thousand, I will transfer the excess to you."

Although he owed He Lingchuan a favor, business is business, and even good friends must settle accounts clearly; this is the way to a long-lasting relationship.

He Lingchuan said happily: "I'll leave it to you."

Dong Rui interjected: "Don't you still have many odds and ends to sell?"

He Lingchuan nodded. He had scavenged quite a few things from the Heavenly Palace team and from the old lair of the Three Seas pirates, and putting them together could also fetch some money.

When you're short on money, you have to turn out your pockets.

Fang Canran replied immediately: "If they aren't treasures like the Heavenly King Seal, you can leave them with my front-desk clerks. After they sell, I'll find someone to send the money to the Yangshan Archipelago."

He rolled his eyes in secret. This fellow He Xiao had plucked his pockets clean of small change in one go, and now he was still pulling things out, forcing him to admit he didn't have enough cash on hand, right? Of course, he also knew He Lingchuan was building a new island and had many places to spend money: "Since Brother He is so tight on funds, I can act as a guarantor to borrow some interest-free funds from Lingshan to solve your urgent needs."

Dong Rui was curious: "How much can you borrow?"

Fang Canran said nonchalantly: "Three to five million taels of silver, there is always that much."

(End of chapter)