“One gold coin.” The owner of the stall was obviously extremely good at business, and when he saw Ning Cheng and the cloth-skirted girl taking one beaded flower each, he immediately lionized them.
What’s more, nowadays, Nan Yuan City was full of outsiders, so not to mention one gold coin, even if it was ten gold coins, as long as it was spotted, someone would buy it.
The cloth-skirted girl’s hand shook slightly as she repeated in disbelief, “A pair of beaded flowers like this costs one gold coin? How is this possible ……”
In her opinion, even if the beaded flowers were exquisite and beautiful, they would only cost a few dozen copper coins at most, or even less than a silver coin.
The stall owner said nonchalantly, “My beaded flowers are all unique, there will never be a second pair, and they are all handmade by the masters of casting in the Imperial City, so how can this price be said to be expensive? Besides, I’m talking about one gold coin per flower, not one gold coin per pair.”
Ning Cheng also knew that this boss was lionizing, but right now, not to mention one gold coin, even a thousand gold coins were not much money to him. What’s more, gold coins were becoming less and less useful to him. What he needed now were spirit stones, even if he asked for Qi gathering stones he wouldn’t be of much use anymore.
“Boss, then I’ll offer one gold coin, will you sell me these two beaded flowers?” This cloth-skirted girl looked at the beaded flower in Ning Cheng’s hand and said after gritting her teeth. She had come to Nan Yuan City this time to participate in the Ming Xin Academy selection, it was just that she loved this bead flower too much, and holding this bead flower gave her an extremely peaceful feeling, she felt that this bead flower was made for her.
Ever since she was a child, she had never been so extravagant as to spend so much money on a tiny hair ornament.
“No.” This boss said in a decisive manner, while turning his gaze towards Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng could hear from the tone of this cloth-skirted girl’s voice that she loved this pair of beaded flowers. However, this pair of beaded flowers was something he was bound to need, and to see this same pair of beaded flowers in Southern Plains City, the surprise in his heart could not be expressed at all. This was not something that could be represented by simply refining two bead flowers on his own; this was a kind of heavenly will for Ning Cheng in the underworld.
The young girl also turned her gaze towards Ning Cheng, her eyes were filled with expectation, she hoped that Ning Cheng would let her have the bead flower. She was not a fool and obviously saw that the reason why the owner of this stall had raised the price was not because the bead flower was really so precious, but because someone was competing with her, and this person who was competing with her was now standing beside her.
Ning Cheng cast an apologetic look at this young girl and said, “I’m really sorry, this pair of beaded flowers means a lot to me. Can you please give up your love and let me have the beaded flower in your hand? I am willing to give you another pair of beaded flowers, and you can pick them at your leisure.”
This cloth-skirted girl looked very rustic, but Ning Cheng found that she was not worse looking than An Yi in the slightest, her pair of eyes were even bright and clear, that innocent look was as if she could look into one’s heart, and then one could not bear to refuse. However, Ning Cheng was sure that she had not cultivated and there was no half-hearted fluctuation of true qi on her body.
Hearing Ning Cheng’s words, the young girl frowned slightly, she was not because Ning Cheng was unwilling to transfer the bead flower to her. She knew that in Southern Plains City, the only person who placed such a high value on a gold coin was probably someone like her.
The reason she frowned was because Ning Cheng had said that he would give her a pair of beaded flowers, which made her feel that this man was a little too frivolous. A man giving beaded flowers to a woman was not something to be given casually.
She shook her head, put the pair of beaded flowers in her hand down and said, “It’s better not to separate this pair of beaded flowers, since they are meaningful to you, then I’ll let you have them.”
Her tone was soft and serene, as if it was only natural for her to give the beaded flower to Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng hurriedly took out two gold coins and handed them to the stall owner before thanking the cloth-skirted girl, “Thank you so much, you pick a pair of beaded flowers, count them as a gift from me.”
The cloth-skirted maiden refused outright this time, “No need, what I like is the pair of beaded flowers in the shape of snowflakes, I don’t want anyone else to give them to me either, I can afford to pay two gold coins.”
Ning Cheng directly did not interfere with this comment, asking him to give away the pair of beaded flowers that he missed his sister Ruo Lan to a stranger, that he was not willing to do.
A person at the side looked clearly and sneered somewhat disdainfully, “A man is actually competing with a woman for beaded flowers.”
The cloth-skirted girl, obviously afraid of causing a bigger dispute, dared not say anything else and hurriedly turned around and walked into the crowd, quickly disappearing.
Ning Cheng ignored the others’ words, after he directly put the bead flower away, he did not leave, instead he asked the stall owner, “Boss, are so many people coming to Southern Plains City to attend the Ming Xin Academy’s selection? Even though the Bright Heart Academy is big, it doesn’t need so many people, right?”
The owner of that stall was in a good mood after earning two gold coins, after hearing Ning Cheng’s words, he immediately shook his head like a rattle, “How is it possible, although there are many people coming here, most of them are here to steal business from us in this city. You can go to the Spiritual Root Test Plaza later, there are stalls full of foreigners. The number of people that Ming Xin Academy wants has nothing to do with the people who come, it only has to do with Spiritual Root cultivation and enlightenment.”
“Spiritual Root Test Square?” Ning Cheng asked with some confusion.
The stall owner was not bored and replied, “You shouldn’t be here for the Ming Xin Academy selection, right? Generally, those who come to participate in the selection will go to the Spiritual Root Test Grand Square to take the first Spiritual Root Test. Only those who pa*s the first Spiritual Root Test are qualified to enter the Ming Xin Academy for the second Spiritual Root Test.”
After saying this, this boss was afraid that Ning Cheng did not understand very well and said with extreme pride, “Our Ming Yi True Country’s Ming Xin Three Star Academy is not easy to recruit disciples this time, if you are chosen, you might be able to ascend to heaven in one step.”
“Oh, what’s this about?” Ning Cheng was truly somewhat curious. It was definitely a great honour and luck to be chosen for the Brightheart Three Star Academy, yet it wasn’t a step to the sky.
The stall owner was incomparably smug, as if the Brightheart Three Star Academy was his personal property, “You’ve heard of the Continent of Transformation, right? There are nine continents in the Yixing Continent, of which Hua Continent is the most abundant in spiritual energy among the three lower continents, and if not for its bad location, it could have been cla*sified as an intermediate continent.”
“I know, I know, but I still need to ask for advice on the details.” Ning Cheng hastily lowered his posture and said with a cupped fist, he was really ready to go to the Continent of Harmony.
The stall owner was so satisfied with Ning Cheng’s attitude that he didn’t even bother to greet his business and carefully explained to Ning Cheng, “I heard that there are five Five Star Academies in the Continent of Transformation, and in three years’ time there will be a most important competition in the Lower Continent that will be held between these five Five Star Academies. Once whichever five-star academy wins the competition, it will receive great benefits.
In order to win the competition in three years’ time, these five academies will be recruiting the best students from the Ping, Wuan and Hua Continents at the same time. The academies that can participate in sending the best disciples are all three star or higher academies. My Bright Heart Academy rightfully belongs to one of them, and as long as I’m chosen by Bright Heart Academy, I’ll have the chance to go to a five-star academy on the Hualou Continent.”
“What kind of great benefits does that academy receive?” Ning Cheng subconsciously asked, he was really a little curious about the mojo that even the five-star academies cared about.
“I don’t know about that.” The stall owner got a little embarra*sed in a rare moment.
“I can know, but you’ll need to sell me that beaded flower you just bought back again to do so.” A hoarse buzzing voice rang out next to Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng turned around and saw an extremely stout-looking youth, who was not only extremely stout-looking, but was also wearing this rough clothing. Ning Cheng immediately guessed that this youth should be related to the cloth-skirted girl who had just left.
Seeing this, Ning Cheng first thanked the boss before saying to the youth, “Since my friend wants the pearl flowers, let’s go to a quiet place to talk.”
Ning Cheng did not want to give the pearl flowers, but he wanted to know something about it. This youth didn’t seem to have any origins and seemed to know more than the stall owner of this stall.
The youth did not think much about it at all and immediately nodded and said, “Okay, you lead the way. Whatever you ask, I will tell you whatever I know, on condition that you give me the bead flower.”
He seemed to be very naive, but he could see Ning Cheng’s purpose at a glance.
Ning Cheng did not take the youth to the resting inn, the resting inns and restaurants in Southern Plains City were now long overcrowded, and he would not be able to find a quiet place to sit if he went there.
Ning Cheng only brought the youth to a secluded place where there were fewer people, and said bluntly and politely, “Friend, that pearl flower is extremely important to me, and I have no way to give it to you. But I have indeed just arrived in Southern Plains City, and I don’t understand many things, so I have to ask for advice.”
The reason why he had to choose this youth to ask was because Ning Cheng could see that the other party should be an extremely naive person and had not cultivated before. Asking him would be safer than asking some people who had cultivated, otherwise, if he, a Qi gathering cultivator, came to Southern Plains City and didn’t know what was going on with the Ming Xin Academy’s recruitment of disciples, he would definitely attract suspicion. If it was somewhere else then forget it, but here he had an enemy, Lan Yingyue.
After hearing Ning Cheng’s words, a hint of gloom flashed across this youth’s eyes, “My sister was a bit sullen after she found me earlier, I had never let her suffer since she was a child. After I asked her about it, I realised that the beaded flower she had her eye on had been bought by someone else.”
“Then how did you know it was me?” Ning Cheng said offhandedly, there were so many people on this street, the cloth-skirted girl had been gone for quite some time, and he had delayed not leaving because he had questions to ask the stall owner. It was reasonable to say that this youth did not see him purchasing anything, so he should not know that he was the one who bought the beaded flowers.
The youth, somewhat embarra*sed, took out a handkerchief and said, “When I said I would get it back for her, she drew a portrait for me and I recognized the person as you at a glance ……”
When Ning Cheng saw the portrait on the handkerchief, he was dumbfounded, there were people with such dexterity in the world. This portrait was painted with just a few strokes, but his image was completely outlined on the handkerchief. This simple realism was completely comparable to the realism captured by that digital camera, and even the one drawn by this hand was a bit more realistic.
Ning Cheng had always been conceited that his memory and analytical skills were unmatched, but today he realised that he was not the only one with a strong memory. With a simple glance, he was able to sketch out his facial expressions and every detail, how much of a genius would it take to do that?