This Sixth Young Mistress had just returned from the stone pillars, so she was unaware of the discussion the young man had with Gan Yiping.
Having taken a look, she realized that she was helpless before these stone pillars as well.
Even a knowledgeable genius like her was helpless before these stone pillars, and yet, this fellow actually bragged that he would be able to easily decipher everything… Intense displeasure immediately struck her, and she retorted angrily.
“Who do you think you are? Am I talking to you?”
Sun Qiang glanced at the Sixth Young Mistress with a proud stature.
“You…”
The sixth mistress was taken aback.
“What you?”
Sun Qiang flung his sleeves and tilted his head upward proudly. “Can’t you see I’m in the midst of talking to the hall master? This is no place for a fellow like you who couldn’t even decipher a single stone pillar to interrupt!”
“What did you say?”
The Sixth Young Mistress nearly fainted from anger. To think that a 5-star master teacher, a Transcendent Mortal 6-dan expert, would actually be looked down on by a Transcendent Mortal 2-dan butler. Her chest puffed up in anger, and she nearly exploded on the spot.
“Audacious!” Hearing the lady he was courting being insulted, the young man exclaimed in anger.
“Audacious? You still dare to speak? Just because I didn’t talk about you, you think that you’re any better than her? You also failed to solve any stone pillars and earn any points, and on top of that, you even tried to bend the rules after your failure… Do you think you are impressive just because you have that bit of money?”
Sun Qiang harrumphed in disdain.
What the heck do they think they are? Despite looking so decent, they actually tried to bribe the owner after their failure, even using their position to threaten him… How embarrassing!
You are just a 5-star master teacher. Before our old master, even Hongyuan Empire’s Pavilion Master Mo Gaoyuan, a 6-star pinnacle master teacher, dare not utter anything!
“You…”
Seeing the other party’s contemptuous glance, both the young man and the Sixth Young Mistress were about to go insane.
They were both incredible geniuses, people who would be respected no matter where they went. And yet, at this very moment, they were actually looked down by a mere butler. If not for their etiquette as a master teacher and nobles holding them back, they would have surely flown into a temper.
“Since you said that your young master is able to decipher the stone pillars, where is he? Why don’t you invite him over to give it a try?”
Flinging his sleeves, the young man harrumphed. “I sure would like to see whether he’s as incredible as you make him out to be!”
Even he himself couldn’t decipher a single stone pillar, and yet this fellow dared to boast that his young master could solve everything cleanly. Are you jesting?
“This…”
At this moment, a helpless voice sounded by the side.
“The young master he’s speaking of… seems to be referring to me!”
Following which, a young man with an awkward expression stepped forward.
After hearing the hall master promising to sell the item, Zhang Xuan wanted to step forward to say a thing or two. However, Sun Qiang managed to beat him to it, thus resulting in such a situation.
This fellow had been rather reliable recently, so Zhang Xuan thought it should be fine for him to do the talking. Who knew that the other party would actually have him pinned on a stake with just a few words…
What the heck was this?
If you speak like that, how am I going to keep a low profile?
“So, you are the one… who can decipher all of the stone pillars?”
The Sixth Young Mistress harrumphed coldly. “Arrogant!”
She thought that the young master the other party talked about was some incredible figure, but it turned out to be a young man who wasn’t even twenty yet. She couldn’t help but feel repulsed by the other party.
As a princess, not to mention one blessed with good looks, she had faced pursuers of all kinds. The most common type was those who thought that they were superior to others, such as this young man standing right before her at this moment! They liked to pretend they were something beyond their ability despite their ignorance. In her view, such actions were nothing more than foolishness!
“This… it’s just words of flattery from my subordinate, please don’t take it seriously!”
Seeing how he was detested before he could even say anything, Zhang Xuan waved his hands sheepishly.
Upon having his words refuted by his young master, Sun Qiang panicked, “What words of flattery? Young master, those are just mere stone pillars, you should be able to decipher them easily! You should show these greenhorns what true capability is!”
“Alright, stop spouting nonsense!”
Zhang Xuan’s face darkened. “Didn’t you hear that? The hall master has said that these stone pillars are hard to decipher. Despite fifty years of effort, only three of them have been solved to date. How could I possibly solve them easily?”
“Young Master…”
“Enough!” Interrupting the other party’s words, Zhang Xuan turned to the trio and apologized, “Pardon me, it’s due to my negligence that my butler got ahead of himself!”
“Humph!”
Seeing the other party admit his mistake, the young man and the Sixth Young Mistress’s complexion improved slightly, and they tilted their heads up proudly.
“It’s normal for a subordinate to speak up for his master, you don’t have to worry about it!” Gan Yiping replied.
It was normal for a subordinate to be in awe of their master and believe that their master was capable of anything.
“Thank you, Hall Master, for your understanding!”
Seeing that the awkward situation had been resolved, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. Then, facing Gan Yiping, he asked, “So, Hall Master… I would like the Great River Snake’s inner core, Sorrow Severing Grass, and Frost Rain Sword. How many stone pillars will I need to decipher?”
“…” The young man and the Sixth Young Mistress staggered.
Right after reprimanding his subordinate for spouting nonsense, he actually went ahead and asked which stone pillars he had to decipher… as though he could decipher as many stone pillars as he wanted…
Do you have some compulsive disorder for boasting?
Do you really think that you can decipher as many stone pillars as you want?
“How many stone pillars… do you need to decipher?”
Gan Yiping’s eyebrows twitched. While he was displeased by the other party’s arrogant words, he replied to the query, “The Great River Snake’s inner core is worth ten points, Sorrow Severing Grass seven points, and Frost Rain Sword six points. All in all, you would need 23 points. The point awarding system is such that the first artifact identified grants you one point, the second artifact two points, the third artifact three points… so on and so forth. You’ll have to decipher at least seven stone pillars before you’ll have enough points!”
“Seven stone pillars?”
Hearing that it was exactly as Sun Qiang said, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. Scratching his head, he asked, “So… Can I give it a try?”
“Sure!”
Gan Yiping nodded.
“Also, there’s another matter which I hope you can excuse me for…”
Seeing the other party answering his question so candidly, Zhang Xuan felt even more embarrassed. “I heard that as long as I decipher a single stone pillar, the deposit of ten middle-tier spirit stones will be returned. In other words, the challenge will be free as long as I can decipher a single pillar… Would it be fine if I go ahead without paying the deposit? At the very most, I’ll decipher more so as to make it up to you…”
“…”
Gan Yiping, the Sixth Young Mistress, and the young man stared at one another and nearly spurted blood.
When they heard this fellow reprimand his fat subordinate, they thought that this young fellow was at least rather humble and polite. Who knew that he would spout such arrogant words in the very next moment…
Decipher more so as to make it up to him…
Your head! Do you think that deciphering these stone pillars is a child’s play?
They thought that the fatty from a moment ago was arrogant, but his young master topped that…
“How conceited!”
A hint of wrath appeared on the Sixth Young Mistress’s face. “It sounds like you’re saying that you can decipher as many stone pillars as you want?”
“I’ll just try my best…” Not expecting a request on his part would make the other party so angry, Zhang Xuan shook his head.
“Fine. Since you’re so confident, why don’t we have a bet?”
Seeing how the other party still refused to take back his word despite having it so clearly pointed out to him, the Sixth Young Mistress clenched her jaws in anger.
“A bet?”
Zhang Xuan blinked his eyes in surprise.
What does he challenging the stone pillars have to do with her? Why is she proposing a bet?
“That’s right. I’ll pay the ten middle-tier spirit stone for you, and for every stone pillar you decipher, I’ll pay you a hundred middle-tier spirit stones… On the other hand, if you fail, I’ll still be magnanimous and bear the cost for you. However, you’ll have to kneel down and reflect on your arrogance! How is it, do you dare take on the bet?”
The Sixth Young Mistress harrumphed.
Despite knowing nothing at all, how dare he speak of the challenge so lightly? Aren’t you being too arrogant!
If I don’t teach you a lesson now, your head might become so big that you won’t even remember yourself!
“You’ll pay me hundred middle-tier spirit stones for every stone pillar I decipher?”
Turning around, Zhang Xuan saw two rows consisting of a total of nearly a hundred stone pillars, and his breathing hastened. “Are you certain?”
If every single pillar was worth a hundred middle-tier spirit stone and he deciphered all hundred pillars, wouldn’t that add up to ten thousand middle-tier spirit stones?
If he could earn that many spirit stones, he would have no worries for his future cultivation…
“Of course! Why? Are you intending to chicken out? If you dare not accept my bet, I advise you to act humble the next time around!”
The Sixth Young Mistress waved her hands.
After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan replied, “It’s not that, I just fear that you might default on your debt…”
That was ten thousand middle-tier spirit stones! Zhang Xuan found it hard to believe that the other party would be able to produce so many spirit stones.
“You…”
The Sixth Young Mistress’s eyes reddened in anger.
She was a proud 5-star master teacher, not to mention, she had an incomparably noble identity as well. How could she possibly default on her debt?
Gritting her teeth, she replied, “You need not worry. I, Yu Fei-er, never go back on my words! Since I dared to propose this bet, naturally, I won’t default on my payments. Rather, I hope that you will hold on to the end of your promise and kneel down later on!”
“It’s good that you won’t default…”
Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan glanced at the stone pillar with shining eyes before turning to Gan Yiping and clasping his fist. “As long as I identify the artifact inside the stone pillar, it’ll automatically burst apart, am I right?”
“That’s right!”
Gan Yiping nodded.
“That’s good!”
Nodding his head, Zhang Xuan walked over to the first pillar.
The moment he approached the pillar, he immediately understood why the young man and the Sixth Young Mistress’s faces would turn awry here.
The words inscribed on the stone pillar were, by no means, a hint. Rather, it was written in an unknown language that simply baffled those looking at it.
If one couldn’t even understand the words inscribed, naturally, it would be impossible for one to guess the meaning behind them… Under such circumstances, it would be a wonder if one could still identify what was within the stone pillar.
Seeing how that fellow dared to accept the Sixth Young Mistress’s bet, the young man sneered coldly.
“He sure is an arrogant fellow!”
He had undergone the challenge personally, and he knew how difficult it was to identify the stone pillar. He believed that even if a 6-star appraiser were to come here, he would only end up staring blankly at the stone pillars, confused. How could a lad who wasn’t even twenty yet possibly decipher them?
Without a doubt, that lad would surely end up kneeling before the sixth young mistress!
“Just because he managed to achieve something minor at his young age, he became complacent and began boasting around. This will teach him that there’s always a mountain higher than the other!”
The Sixth Young Mistress also harrumphed coldly. She stared at the young man intently with her eyes, and just as she was about to say something, the latter turned around with a smile.
“Can I start now?”
“Feel free!”
Lighting an incense, Gan Yiping nodded his head.
“Alright then…”
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan tapped the first stone pillar with his finger and said, “This is the Golden Heptahearts Shuttle!”
Kacha!
In an instant, the stone pillar before him was reduced into dust. Following which, a golden-colored shuttle-shaped weapon appeared before everyone’s eyes.
“This is the Purple Sunset Meteor Hammer…”
“This is the Steel Bone Fist Imprint…”
“This is the Connected Hearts Bowl…”
Proceeding forward, Zhang Xuan would tap on each stone pillar, and those that came into contact with him shattered immediately. Rock fragments flew as if a grand parade welcoming him.
Golden Heptahearts Shuttle:
In this case, shuttle refers to the weaving equipment which you use with a loom. I’d imagine that it’s used as a hidden weapon by mainly ladies, perhaps in the form of a dart.
