Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points

Chapter 526: Chapter 518: The Prodigal Son

The young man narrated the origin of the sword.

After hearing this, Qin Niu laughed and shook his head, “If it really were a treasure sword, could it rust like this? Your story is quite valuable, worth a Thousand Taels, goodbye.”

This person was very likely a swindler.

Before coming to the Ghost Market, that old man from the Posthouse had reminded him to be careful not to be deceived.

“Just hold it, and you’ll know I’m not lying!”

Seeing a prospective buyer who finally asked about the price, the young man quickly tried to keep him there.

Qin Niu, half-believing and half-doubting, picked up the rusty Longsword.

The weight was around twelve or thirteen catties, which made it a very heavy sword. Ordinary longswords mostly weighed around one to two catties, and never more than three.

Because a sword needs to be agile and graceful, and even many swordsmen believe that swordplay is very elegant; if it is too heavy, one would only be clumsy when striking.

He held the sword in his hand but didn’t feel anything special about it.

It was only when he tried to channel his Cultivation Power into the blade that an intense repulsive energy emanated from within the sword, blocking his Cultivation Power from entering.

“You haven’t lied; indeed, this sword is somewhat special. But its price is a bit too expensive, I would take it for Five Hundred Taels,” he said.

Qin Niu directly halved the asking price.

“You’ve slashed right at my waist! Five Hundred Taels it is, take it!”

The young man agreed to sell without even a moment’s hesitation.

Qin Niu’s heart lurched, this behavior was too reminiscent of a scam artist. Could he actually have encountered a swindler?

He scrutinized the young man, who appeared eager for him to pay.

Seeing this, Qin Niu carefully felt the Longsword again, and as before, his Cultivation Power faced strong resistance from the blade. Not a trace of power could enter.

If the young man wasn’t lying, then the beast horn on the stall must also be a good item.

“If I buy this sword, could you throw in that goat horn for me?”

He, like the vast majority of cunning merchants, always drove hard bargains and disparaged the items when buying treasures.

“No, no, absolutely not. This isn’t a goat horn, but a beast horn, handed down from my ancestors. If you want it, it’ll be Five Hundred Taels.”

“One Hundred Taels, take it or leave it!”

Qin Niu was ruthless in bargaining, cutting down the price mercilessly.

“Add a bit more, Two Hundred Taels!”

“Just One Hundred Taels; even as an ornament, others would think this goat horn overpriced at One Tael of Silver.”

“Well…all right, it’s yours!”

The young man seemed inept at negotiating, easily caving after a bit of pressure from Qin Niu.

Qin Niu internally concluded that the man was either a profligate spender or an extremely skilled swindler playing his part to the hilt.

Regardless of which it was, he was quite satisfied to acquire these items at such prices.

Even if it turned out to be a scam, Six Hundred Taels of Silver was still within his tolerable loss.

After paying, the young man packed up his stall and left briskly with a joyful expression.

The men named Chi, following behind Qin Niu, had witnessed everything and couldn’t help but voice a warning, “This person is very likely a con artist, you may have been deceived.”

“No harm done, even if it’s a scam, the loss isn’t significant. Do you really think I’d help you with revenge?”

Qin Niu turned and stared into the man’s eyes as he spoke.

“Trust!”

His words were decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

“After leaving the Ghost Market, find a secluded place and tell me about your situation in detail. I haven’t agreed to help you with your revenge yet. Let’s go!”

Qin Niu took the man out of the Ghost Market.

He found a deserted spot and stopped.

Qin Niu wasn’t fussy and sat directly on the curb by the street.

“Tell me more about your deep hatred! I know that every time you bring up that matter, it’s like tearing open your wounds. But since we’re merely acquaintances, there’s no foundation of trust to speak of, I must understand the situation clearly before deciding.”

“Understood!”

The man sat down next to him.

“My wife and I met at the end of a journey. At that time, I was only at the Acquired Realm, and I led a destitute life in Rat City. She, on the other hand, was the precious daughter of a great family, with maids following her every time she went out. Although the pocket money given by her family wasn’t much, she still lived a life without worries about food and clothing, which was much better than most people.

Back then, I worked in a beast-catching shop. While out in the mountains to catch beasts, I was unfortunately bitten by a vicious wolf and my leg’s bone was broken.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When I was carried back to the city, the shop turned its back on me, firing me without a penny of compensation.

My income was low to begin with, so all my savings went to medical treatment.

But after the savings were spent, my leg was still only half healed. I couldn’t even afford food and had to beg for it, dragging my injured leg along. She found me, bought a bowl of hot noodles, and had her maid bring it over to me.”

“I will never forget that bowl of noodles; it was the most delicious bowl I’d ever had in my life.”

“After that, she and her maid came to bring me food every day.”

“Gradually, we got to know each other. I learned that she was the precious daughter of the Qi Family, with a distinguished background.”

“Later, we developed feelings for each other, but when her family found out, they disapproved of our relationship and wanted to marry her into another wealthy family for a political alliance. To be with me, we pledged ourselves to each other in a secret ceremony under the moonlit night.”

“When her family found out, they kicked her out.”

“From then on, she drifted about with me.”

“I secretly vowed to work hard to improve my cultivation and earn money so that I could give her a good life. She was ambitious as well; she strived to practice her martial arts to become strong. One day, she wanted her family to see that without their help, she could still live well.”

As the man recounted these sweet memories, a happy smile appeared on his face.

“Later, I successfully broke through to the Innate Realm, and my income increased significantly. We bought a house in the city and had a stable home. With my help, she eventually also broke through to the Innate Realm.

“At that time, our life was getting better and better, and we were filled with hope for the future.”

“Over ten years passed, and I was fortunate enough to break through to the Spirit Qi Realm, thanks to various opportunities. My income and status improved greatly, and I did my best to help her improve her cultivation, hoping she would break through to the Spirit Qi Realm as well.”

“But the peaceful days were shattered one day.”

“We went out to the wilderness to capture a Gold-Striped Lightning Leopard and pursued it through the forest for nearly a thousand miles. Seeing the leopard flee into a cave by the river, we were overjoyed. If we caught it, we could sell it for a good price, and that would settle the funds needed for my wife’s breakthrough to the Spirit Qi Realm.”

“Who would have thought that as soon as we entered, we realized something was amiss; the leopard was sitting behind an old man with a hooked nose and sunken cheeks.”

“The old man glanced at us and then fixed his gaze on my wife.”

“He muttered to himself excitedly, talking about a Pure Yin Body and that she was the nourishment he had been desperately searching for. We sensed danger the moment we heard his words, and instinctively felt the threat. I quickly said to my wife, ‘Xiaoyan, run!’

“I drew my sword to cover her retreat.”

“But the old man was too powerful, he struck me with a move that left me seriously wounded, sending me flying. Then he captured my wife in an instant. In front of me, he committed those bestial acts on my wife. That wasn’t all; he drained my wife until she was nothing more than a dried-up corpse. How can I not seek revenge for such a deep and grievous hatred? In grief and desperation, I plunged into the river. That old villain was eager to cultivate and didn’t chase after me.”

“Escaping death, I was overcome with sorrow, driven only by thoughts of revenge.”

“Knowing the old fiend’s cultivation was unfathomably profound, I sought out my wife’s family hoping the Qi Family would help me avenge her. To my despair, they flatly refused.”