Chapter 142: I need some spirit stones

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——(POV Li Huang, The Gift Bringer)——

I think I have given grandpa Long everything that could help in his breakthrough so I knew that there won't be a problem for his next breakthrough, and it would only be a matter of time before he is in a new cultivation stage.

Now that he has the [Phoenix Ash] to train with, he can form a really strong comprehension of the rule of fire. From what I can estimate his rule will be the most powerful rule that grandpa has trained in.

"Rule of fire really suits the heavenly sword demon." I said with a smirk.

Grandpa who was in thought looked at me and laughed.

"Of course it does!" He said with a grin. I think I saw the same grin that gave him this nickname.

"I need to think of a suitable rule for the next river…" Grandpa Long said as he continued looking at the horizon.

"*sigh* That won't do." I told him as I looked a bit disappointed.

Grandpa Long looked at me and wanted to say something, but I continued before he could say a thing.

"In the path of cultivation, one should look at everything step by step. Rushing in these matters only results in shaky footing, and a shaky footing goes to show that you do not have a firm foundation." I said these words exactly the way grandpa Long has once said to me just to piss him off.

"Cheeky brat." Grandpa Long said as he shook his head. I couldn't help but laugh at his expense. It was beautiful as he couldn't really deny my words as he acted like a junior who just stepped in the way of cultivation. To be fair, this treasure is something that would make any expert in the Taoist Palace realm salivate, so his reaction is only natural.

After I stopped laughing at grandpa Long, as I could see that even these gifts wouldn't stop him from punching me in the head, I cleared my throat to get his attention.

"By the way grandpa, I am in need of some spirit stones." I told him with the most natural face that I could muster. Even though I had a lot of my allowance saved up from a young age, I might need more this time.

Why? Because of the auction.

This auction that is going to be held in a month is one of the most important auctions in the world, if not the most important one. It is called the [Golden phoenix auction] and this is the reason that the Feng family is one of the 9 big families in the divine central continent. This auction is a week-long event, and this goes to show how many items will be showcased there.

The first five days are in a form of a pseudo-market. In this pseudo-market, you have to place a 'white bet' on the item to show that you are interested in buying that item. When the market is on its final day, each item will have a small auction and only the ones who put a 'white bet' can buy it and if you are the only one who is interested in that item, you can buy it for the base price.

This pseudo-market is created so that the smaller families that have a hand in auctioning would have a chance to show their items in a big event like this and get higher prices and bigger profits. Of course, if there is an extraordinary item, the Feng family would put that item in the main event.

The last two days are the main event and the 'real' auction will be held on these two days. The first day is mostly a teaser of sorts as the items are at most rare, but the second and final day is different. On the final day, they at least showcase a couple of items that are considered family heirlooms for any family outside of the 9 big families.

Considering the number of goods there, it is only logical for me to stockpile a little as my pockets are a little empty after the trial and all the items that we used there.

Grandpa Long Looked at me and nodded.

"Yes, I have also talked with other holy lands and they too think it is appropriate to give you compensation for the items that you have used there. Although because the instigator of this event was from our sect, we choose to pay a bigger part of this compensation. In the end, you get the same amount of spirit stones." Grandpa nodded. I didn't think that he has done so much in the time that I was sorting my situation but, naturally, the other sects wouldn't let us gain all the recognition so they have to do this at the very least to show that they have done their parts.

"Thank you, grandpa." I said and grandpa Long just nodded.

"…But I need more as I am going to buy some items in the upcoming auction." I added. If I'm going to get the best things there, even the wealth that I have accumulated all these 14 years won't be enough. The biggest auction in the richest continent is no joke…

Grandpa Long looked at me for a couple of seconds and then spoke.

"Okay, how much do you need?" He said as it seemed that he had no problem with giving me the money that I needed. A couple of items that could catch my eyes could sum up to 3 or 4 months of my allowance.

"About a year's worth of allowance." I said with a straight face.

Grandpa Long looked at me with an incredulous look on his face.

"What do you want to buy that could cost you a year's worth of your allowance?" He asked.

"No, no. There is a misunderstanding…" I said and grandpa calmed down a little.

"…I meant a year's worth of your allowance grandpa, not mine." I said with a soft smile. I have a big chunk of what I have received in these 14 years and you can say that I have about 8 years worth of allowance, so this one year is not something that would make any big difference in my resources. Now if it was a year's worth of what grandpa received from the sect as the patriarch and from the family as the family head, that would make a big difference.

As I was imagining the satisfaction of that much money and the treasures that I could buy with it, Grandpa Long was just looking at me. He kept looking as he was seemingly lost for words.

I gave him a minute to gather his thoughts as I could understand he really didn't think I would ask for that much.

"Huang." Grandpa Long said.

"Yes." I answered him.

"Don't you think this is a little too much?" He said with a smile that wasn't really a smile.

"I thought I could get my birthday gift sooner too." I said nonchalantly.

"You little…" Grandpa Long said with a low voice but I pretended that I didn't hear him.

"I think even that storage ring that I gave you as a 'gift' would more or less worth that much…" I said with a pondering look on my face. If I'm being honest, they would at most worth a couple of months but if you add the oil lamp and the [Phoenix Ash] it would be worth more so I wasn't really extorting grandpa Long or anything.

'They say it is only natural for the given gift to be comparable to the taken gift.' I thought. There must be such a saying somewhere as it really makes sense.

Grandpa touched his temples and then looked at me.

"At least tell me why you would need this much money…" He asked. I could understand that from his point of view, it was weird that I asked for money as I have never done so.

"Honestly, I have found a technique in the trial that needs a lot of herbs and material to master." I said as I could at least tell him a little.

"And you call that honesty?" He looked at me to see if I explain further but I just shrugged.

Grandpa Long looked at me for a few more seconds and sighed as he knew that I won't say more for now.

"*sigh* Two years' worth of my 'allowance' and we don't talk about this again." Grandpa said.

"Yes, grandpa." I accepted this offer fast as this was more than I bargained for.

"Give me a storage ring." Grandpa Long said as he knew I had a lot of them.

After I gave him the storage ring, he quickly put two years' worth of his salary in the ring and gave it to me. The moment I checked the ring, I understood that this amount was way bigger than what I thought I could get. I can say that this easily was more than what I could get in 100 years.

'I couldn't see this coming.' I thought.

"Thank you, grandpa. This is the best gift that I have received!" I said as I couldn't hide my excitement.

…At the time, I didn't see how the corner of grandpa Long's mouth twitched, and I certainly didn't know that I almost said the same thing as grandpa.