Chapter 198: Choosing Jade

No girl can refuse jewelry and jade; if she does, it must be because the piece isn't good enough.

And the tray of jade the shopkeeper had his assistant bring up was nothing short of excellent.

The jade brought up was only just peeled of its skin, unpolished and uncarved raw jade, yet one could already see its luster; with a little polishing, it would surely grow even more supple and moist.

Pan Yun told herself inwardly that these jades were all very expensive, and with her current cultivation, buying them would be a waste, but her hand had a mind of its own and swiftly felt over a piece of floating-red mutton-fat white jade.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He also fixed their eyes tightly on this piece of jade, squeezing in from left and right, and exclaimed together with Pan Yun, "So pretty."

The shopkeeper beamed until his eyes narrowed into slits and praised, "The three immortal masters have a fine eye. This floating-red mutton-fat jade is the best piece in our shop. Don't be fooled by its size—only two fists big. That touch of red permeates from the outside all the way to the inside. Pure-white mutton-fat jade is rare, but a touch of pure floating-red mutton-fat jade is even rarer."

Pan Yun: "And the price is equally rare, I suppose?"

The shopkeeper said with a smile, "If the customers sincerely want it, I can give you this price."

He held up two fingers and flipped them over.

Pan Yun had never bought jade in this world. Her mind quickly flashed through 26th-century prices, then compared them to the purchasing power of silver in this world, and her heart went cold—twenty thousand taels...

Even if she sold herself, she wouldn't be worth that much money.

Miao He had already shrieked when he flipped his fingers, "Two hundred taels? That's way too expensive!"

Pan Yun immediately stood up straight and turned her head to look at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper said, "That's not expensive. It's just the raw jade you want. If you hollow out bracelets, make jade plaques, jade rings—put this jade to full use—you can at least triple the price."

Miao Zhen: "But isn't it uncarved?"

The shopkeeper said, "If the customers feel it's expensive, then how about looking at the others?"

Miao Zhen and Miao He went to look at the other raw jades.

Although the other raw jades were a notch below this floating-red mutton-fat jade, they were still very pretty.

The two looked at Pan Yun, "Little Xiao Shishu, which one do you think is good? How about we ask the price and just buy the cheapest one?"

Pan Yun's hand was still resting on the floating-red mutton-fat jade. Her gaze drifted over the other jades, and she simply activated her cultivation art, using her innate talent to look.

She wanted to see which piece of jade contained the most spiritual energy.

After looking around and carefully comparing, Pan Yun couldn't help but sigh—jade, like people, looks better the more spiritual energy it locks in.

This piece of jade was the prettiest and caught their eye for no reason—because it also contained the most spiritual energy.

Pan Yun said, "I'll take this one."

Miao Zhen and Miao He were surprised and couldn't help but whisper, "Little Xiao Shishu, didn't you say we should pick the cheaper ones first?"

Pan Yun said, "Something that catches the eye is a matter of chance, not seeking. Since we've encountered it, we shouldn't give it up."

The main thing is it's cheap. If this were her previous life, where would you find jade this cheap?

The shopkeeper beamed, nodding repeatedly, "The little immortal is right. Good things are indeed a matter of chance, not seeking."

Pan Yun tapped the table with her finger and said, "But two hundred taels really is too expensive."

The shopkeeper was now brimming with confidence, all the more emboldened in haggling, and laughed, "But it's worth it. Such fine jade only exists here at Long Hushan. Because the place is small, it's been preserved. If this were out there, you couldn't buy it for less than three or four hundred taels."

"It just happens to have landed at Long Hushan," Pan Yun said. "You can see that's its luck. How about this, Shopkeeper—throw in some extras for me?"

Shopkeeper: "What does the little immortal want?"

"This raw jade is too good—I can't bear to split it up, and I can't think of what to carve on the spur of the moment. But I want to give gifts to my two martial nieces. So, bring out the second-tier raw jade in your shop, and let me pick two pieces from them to give to my martial nieces. How about that?"

The shopkeeper couldn't help but glance at Miao Zhen and Miao He, and meeting their sparkling eyes, couldn't help but remind her, "Little immortal, isn't it a bit improper to talk about giving second-tier jade right in front of people?"

Miao Zhen and Miao He immediately said, "We don't mind. We like second-tier jade."

The shopkeeper paused, was silent for a moment, then beckoned the assistant over, whispered a few instructions, and gave the three an awkward smile.

Second-tier jade was out of the question, but some worthless raw jade could still be given away.

In fact, they were mostly offcuts left over from cutting and carving, most only about half a palm in size, of varying thickness, with all sorts of water-head and color—some good, some not.

Naturally, the not-good ones made up the majority.

The kind with good water-head and color, and a certain thickness, could be hollowed into rings; with a little polishing, they could sell for three to five taels.

But the ones brought up had water-head but no color, or color but poor water-head; those with both didn't have the right thickness or size.

Overall, the value wouldn't exceed three taels.

Giving Pan Yun two would only be six taels—this throw-in deal could be done.

Pan Yun, Miao Zhen, and Miao He of course saw through it too.

Miao Zhen and Miao He were quite displeased. This was worse than haggling—straight up knock it down by a hundred and fifty taels, and at worst slowly add back up. They refused to believe they couldn't even knock off ten taels of silver.

Pan Yun also sighed, "Shopkeeper, you really know how to do business."

She rummaged through a tray of raw jade and quickly picked out five pieces of roughly the same size and thickness, with colors ranging from blue-green to blue-white. Pan Yun set the five pieces of raw jade together and said, "Give us these five."

The shopkeeper's eyes went wide, "You said you only wanted two..."

"Well, I didn't expect your second-tier raw jade to be offcuts," Pan Yun said. "And I'm not giving these five to you for free. Miao He, tell the shopkeeper—what's your ranking on the mountain?"

Miao He puffed out her chest proudly and loudly declared, "I'm fifth!"

"You see, I have five martial nieces. Originally, if you'd brought out second-tier raw jade, I'd still have to buy three more pieces myself to round out the gifts. But look at this..."

The shopkeeper opened his mouth, very tempted to turn around and swap her a tray of raw jade, but then thought—those second-tier raw jades were priced slightly higher; even a cheap one would be five or six taels, and if she picked a good one, it might go over ten taels. Two pieces together would add up to quite a sum. Better to just let her take these five pieces of raw jade.

The shopkeeper forced a smile and said, "Fine, as the little immortals wish. These five pieces of raw jade are yours."

Pan Yun, content, took out a banknote to pay.

The shopkeeper put the jade into two boxes separately and enthusiastically saw Pan Yun out the door.

Pan Yun tucked the boxes into her sleeve—actually tossing them into the Spirit Realm space—and said, "I just realized the Immortal's Pavilion doesn't seem to sell anything like a sleeve universe."

This book's latest updates are at ##!! Update!

Miao Zhen said, "On the third floor. To go up, you not only need a token, but you also have to pay a thousand-tael deposit in advance. The deposit can only be refunded and you can leave after all payments are settled when you come down. My master told me."

Pan Yun asked, "Have you been up?"

Miao Zhen shook her head.

"So the Second Senior Brother has been there?"

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded. "My master, Third Uncle—they've all been. My master said he'll take me when I'm older and reach the Fifth Stage."

Pan Yun: "I've already reached the Fifth Stage. Why hasn't the Second Senior Brother thought of taking me?"

Seeing Miao Zhen smiled awkwardly. "My master said he didn't expect Little Auntie's cultivation to rise so fast, so he wasn't prepared. Last time he came, he didn't have much money on him."

Pan Yun sighed. "If money was short, you could've told me. Money isn't even an issue."

Seeing Miao He: "Blowing smoke. Back then, Little Auntie, you had not a single copper coin."

"I didn't have any, but I could've borrowed. I could've even gone to the Celestial Master's Mansion and prepaid Zhang Liuzhen's next month's medicine fee. Too bad the Second Senior Brother was too proud. Sigh—his skin's just not thick enough."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He fell silent.

Pan Yun said: "But never mind. Above sounds like a world of splendor. Let's wait until we're older to go up there—it'll be better. Otherwise, we'll be dazzled. Right now we have no money, and seeing good things we can't buy would break our hearts."

She said: "When we get back, I'll make you each a Sleeve Heaven. I've already planned it—I'll call mine the Jade Plate of Heaven and Earth. My cultivation's still average, so I'll start with inferior raw jade. When I break through to the First Marquis, I'll cut that fine raw jade and make you each a new one."

"Little Auntie, why not wait until your cultivation improves before buying better jade? There's plenty of good jade outside, and it's cheaper."

"But when we saw this jade, we all loved it. There may be better jade out there, but when we see it again, we might not feel this same thrill." Pan Yun said: "Good jade comes by chance, not by search. I'm not just comforting you—it's the truth."

Seeing Miao Zhen said: "Little Auntie, let Miao He and I pay for this jade."

Pan Yun waved her hand. "Your Little Auntie can still afford this. Just wait and receive your gifts."

Pan Yun beamed. Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He beamed too.

Pan Yun wasn't very familiar with making space items; as a graduate student, her advisor's stipend barely covered her meals.

To cultivate and live, she had to earn her own money.

She specialized in arrays and talismans, so she naturally made money from them.

Talismans aside, her pride lay in her array devices—including space ones.

So she thought this jade was cheap.

The jade really was cheap. As soon as Pan Yun returned to Phoenix Perch Courtyard, she took out the jade and played with it, muttering: "This was something I could never own in my past life. In this life, I have it."

Pan Xiaohei sneered at her for looking so unsophisticated. "Don't you want to look at my true form?"

"No jade in this world is as beautiful as me. You already possess the finest thing in existence—and yet you still stare at these common things?"

Pan Yun touched the jade, glanced at it, and said: "Though you belong to me, the Spirit Realm belongs to you."

Pan Xiaohei blinked. She always felt Pan Yun's words weren't quite right—but her heart was delighted, and that delight made her overlook the oddness. She lifted her chin proudly, deciding not to argue further.

Pan Yun told Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He to pick their favorite from the five jades, then began polishing the one Seeing Miao He chose.

"The youngest gets first pick, so I'll carve for Miao He first."

She took out the jade Seeing Miao He selected, cut and smoothed it into a jade plaque—about one finger long, three fingers wide.

After polishing it, she entered meditation early to restore her spirit, then, at the most potent moment of Phoenix Perch Courtyard's spiritual energy—dawn—took out the jade plaque and lit the candle and lantern she had prepared.

(End of Chapter)