AGM 0042 – Remuneration
The main hall of the Divine Weapon Pavilion exuded a majestic atmosphere. Gorgeous colored glass decorated the many major booths, where treasures and different kinds and grades of Divine Weapons were displayed.
The area within the Divine Weapon Pavilion was extremely spacious and had a total of three levels. On average, there would be at least a few tens of thousands of customers venturing in and out daily.
At this moment, there was a young man decked in white robes outside the main hall of the Divine Weapon Pavilion, preparing to enter. His hands held wine cask, and the smell of alcohol was emitted from his body.
“Immortal Drunken Wine, you are here looking for treasures again? Come and take a look!”
“Immortal Drunken Wine, come, come. Let me see if there’s still any alcohol remaining in your wine cask.”
As the youthful-looking man stepped inside the Divine Weapon Pavilion, there were many who called out to him with smiles on their faces and exchanged jokes. By the looks of it, he was a frequent customer.
“Come find me again when there’s someone willing to treat me to alcohol.” The youth displayed hints of a smile before ascending to the second level.
Laughter erupted around the crowd, as many people silently sighed. Young and polite talents such as Immortal Drunken Wine were too rare nowadays.
One of the Royal Capital’s ten prodigies, the extremely talented Immortal Drunken Wine was known for his famous swordplay. Although the moments when he unleashed his sword were infrequent, there was none in the Royal Capital who did not know of him.
It was said that Immortal Drunken Wine’s sword techniques were as good as his capacity for alcohol. Legend has it that someone had once witnessed him executing his beautiful swordplay in an exquisite dance while drunk. Henceforth, he was known as Immortal Drunken Wine. As for his true name, almost no one remembered it.
Immortal Drunken Wine, other than being extraordinarily talented with swords, had another hobby: collecting precious swords. And thus, he frequently visited the Divine Weapon Pavilion.
On the second level of the Divine Weapon Pavilion, Immortal Drunken Wine headed directly for the area that sold swords, walking towards a wall adorned with countless swords.
“Do you want to take a look at some of our new stocks?” The beautiful server standing in front of the sword wall smiled politely at Immortal Drunken Wine before passing a few of the swords from the sword wall over to him. “These are all the newly forged divine swords of the 2nd-level. They are all mid and top grade divine weapons.”
Immortal Drunken Wine inspected each of the divine weapons carefully before shaking his head and smiling, “I will come back next time.”
The lady server, as though she was used to such a reaction, had no other expression other than lightly nodding her head. At this moment, a sword-youth approached her with three recently forged swords, “Sister Sword-Dance, these three were just forged not long ago.”
“Right.” Sister Sword-Dance inspected the swords, sinking her Yuan Energy into the blades. Glancing at Immortal Drunken Wine, she stated, “These three swords are all considered 2nd-level, but they are inferior to the swords you inspected earlier.”
“Let me take a look.” Immortal Drunken Wine drank a gulp of alcohol as he held the three swords in his hands, trying them out one by one. Unsatisfied, he finally shook his head. Immortal Drunken Wine pointed randomly at a common-looking sword on the left side of the sword wall and asked, “How much are you selling for this sword?”
“2nd-level low graded divine sword. If you want it, the selling price would be a Yuan Meteor Stone that hails from the 2nd Heavenly Layer.” Sword-Dance smiled. The 2nd-layer Yuan Meteor Stone she was talking about naturally referred to a Yuan Meteor Stone that had met the standard specification.
Yuan Meteor Stones, other than being able to be used for condensing of Astral Souls, were also accepted as a form of currency for precious and valuable goods. Yuan Meteor Stones originated from the various Heavenly Layers, and when they fell down from the heavens, their size and shape were all irregular. Before full-sized Yuan Meteor Stones were cut and refined, they were known as Astral Ores. It was only after being processed into the shape and size that met the standard specification that Astral Ores could become Yuan Meteor Stones, which the public was familiar with.
Ordinary Yuan Stones that contained the Yuan Energy of Heaven and Earth were also considered to be a form of currency for low-grade goods. Those who came to the Divine Weapon Pavilion were all from wealthy and powerful backgrounds, so every time there was a transaction, they would naturally use only Yuan Meteor Stones.
“Okay, I want it.” Immortal Drunken Wine smiled. He then directly retrieved the sword before passing the Yuan Meteor Stone to the female server, who became stunned. Sword-Dance had thought that Immortal Drunken Wine was just asking casually, and as such, she randomly threw out a price. A 2nd-layer Yuan Meteor Stone was definitely not a low price, but to think that Immortal Drunk wouldn’t even react when paying the price she requested. As he snatched the sword away, Sword-Dance’s heart became heavy with unease.
“Immortal Drunken Wine, what bargain did you just made? Let me have a look.” At this moment, a middle-aged man walked over. He was none other than the elder in charge of administration for the Divine Weapon Pavilion’s second level.
“Old Chen, take a look at this.” Immortal Drunken Wine passed the sword over to the Administrative Elder, Yang Chen.
Yang Chen held the sword and infused the Yuan Energy within his body into the sword. Gradually, his stern-looking visage transformed into amazement as he looked towards Sword-Dance and asked, “Who was the one that delivered this sword?”
“Grandmaster Francis, a guest of our pavilion, wanted me to deliver the sword here for sale. He is in desperate need of Yuan Meteor Stones,” the sword-apprentice respectfully replied.
“Immortal Drunken Wine, consider this our loss.” Yang Chen glared at Sword-Dance before turning to leave, directly seeking Francis.
“I’ll go with you.” Immortal Drunken Wine exclaimed. Drinking from his cask, he followed Yang Chen to the place where Francis was staying: the backyard of the Divine Weapon Pavilion.
Naturally, Francis did not expect Yang Chen to pay him a personal visit. After all, Yang Chen’s status as an Administrative Elder far exceeded Francis’s status.
“Francis, was this sword’s divine imprint engraved by you?” Yang Cheng raised a finger and pointed it at the sword in Immortal Drunken Wine’s hand.
Francis’s eyes flickered as he replied, “The divine imprint was inscribed by my Master.”
“Could I meet your esteemed Master?” Yang Cheng smiled.
“Let me check with him.” Francis answered. He walked back into the Weapon Forging Hall, seeking for Qin Wentian’s opinion. Shortly after, Yang Cheng saw two youths walking out, causing him to be thunderstruck.
“Elder Yang Cheng, this is my esteemed Master, Qin Wentian.” Francis introduced.
“Excellent, geniuses indeed come from a young age. Grandmaster Qin, this lowly one is Yang Cheng. Shall we change location to a more pleasant place before we chat?” Yang Cheng gazed at Qin Wentian, who agreed. He had not thought that his divine imprint would cause an Administrative Elder to seek him out personally. From this, Qin Wentian could deduced that the divine imprint he inscribed had an extraordinary price.
The group of people walked towards a lakeside pavilion inside an inner courtyard, which depicted a beautiful scenery.
“Immortal Drunken Wine, why are you still here?” Yang Chen stared at Immortal Drunken Wine, who was standing beside him.
“I consider those who can forge a weapon that I love as my friends. The reason why I’m here was simply to make a new friend.” The smell of alcohol floated over from Immortal Drunken Wine’s body as he replied.
“Wanna drink a mouthful?” Immortal Drunken Wine gestured to his wine cask while looking towards Qin Wentian.
“This fellow is marvelous.” Qin Wentian smiled, but he politely declined.
“Grandmaster Qin, as for this divine imprint, there are still some flaws.” Yang Chen looked at QIn Wentian, beginning to talk official business.
“They are not flaws. I have not yet managed to completely comprehend the insights, so they give off a sensation of flawed runic lines.” Qin Wentian tactfully answered.
“Would you be willing to sell this divine imprint to my Divine Weapon Pavilion? You can state whatever price you want.” Yang Chen finally revealed his hand. Qin Wentian cast a glance at him before smiling and shaking his head. If he sold the divine imprint, Yang Cheng would spread his divine imprint to all the weaponsmith in the Divine Weapon Pavilion. If that occurred, wouldn’t the divine imprint be no different from scrap paper?
“Since this is the case, would esteemed Grandmaster Qin be willing to become a guest of my Divine Weapon Pavilion? I can grant you special rights and treatment.” Yang Chen added.
“I don’t have the time to stay here in the Divine Weapon Pavilion. Francis’s presence here will be as long as mine.” Qin Wentian replied as he looked at Yang Chen, who furrowed his brows in worry. Before Yang Chen could respond, Qin Wentian stated, “If Elder Yang has nothing else for me, I will take my leave first:”
“Grandmaster Qin, please wait.” Yang Chen stopped Qin Wentian and retrieved a few Yuan Meteor Stones. Astral Light shimmered brilliantly, indicating that there was immense amounts of energy contained within them. The Yuan Meteor Stones were all from the 2nd Heavenly Layer.
“Grandmaster Qin, please do not be in such a hurry to reject. This could be considered the price for that divine sword you forged earlier.” Yang Chen pointed to the sword in Immortal Drunken Wine’s hand as he said this politely. Qin Wentian, upon seeing the Yuan Meteor Stones, was slightly tempted, but yet he still held back. People from the Divine Weapon Pavilion were wealthy indeed. Thinking back to his Qin Clan, they did not even have a single Yuan Meteor Stone left inside their vaults.
The Qin Clan was truly too poor; their remaining resources were continuously being drained.
Fan Le, who was standing beside Qin Wentian, felt his eyes light up in greed. They were going to be rich!
“In the future, could the the divine weapons forged by Grandmaster Qin be brought over to the Divine Weapon Pavilion for sale? The proceeds will be split 50-50, half of it going to Grandmaster Qin. And of course, the materials needed would all be provided by my Divine Weapon Pavilion. Moreover, if Grandmaster Qin is unwilling to remain here as a guest, I could elevate Francis’s status to a higher level, allowing him to enjoy the benefits and resources of our Divine Weapon Pavilion.”
Qin Wentian was finally moved by Yang Chen’s words. The difference between the price he personally sold the weapons for and the price for which he sold his divine weapons to the Divine Weapon Pavilion before being resold was like the distance between Heaven and Earth. Using the Divine Weapon Pavilion as a platform was the right choice to make.
And moreover, the materials needed to forge a weapon would be provided by them. This request to cooperated indicated their level of sincerity.
“I can’t guarantee that I would be able to forge divine weapons often.” Qin Wentian looked towards Yang Chen.
“The rarer something is, the more expensive it would be. For Grandmaster Qin’s masterpieces, we will sell them using the auction method. And of course, we would not dare to impose a monthly quota of divine weapons on Grandmaster Qin. It shall be as your heart desires.” Yang Cheng further elaborated on the offer.
“I agree.” Qin Wentian’s face broke into a youthful smile, causing Yang Chen to be slightly stunned.
“Since this is the case, I shall not be polite regarding the matter of these Yuan Meteor Stones.” Qin Wentian’s eyes shone as he kept the Yuan Meteor Stones that Yang Chen had taken out.
“Boss, how about me?” With flickering, Fatty stared at Qin Wentian, repeatedly calling him “boss”.
Qin Wentian glanced disdainfully at Fatty, but eventually, he passed a Yuan Meteor Stone over to him. Although Fatty continued staring at the other Yuan Meteor Stones in Qin Wentian’s hand, Qin Wentian ignored his pitiful looks.
“Haha, Grandmaster Qin, if you are free in the future, please visit the Divine Weapon Pavilion often. I will get my men to arrange living quarters and a better Weapon Forging Hall for Francis. If you need any help, Grandmaster Qin, feel free to look for me!” Yang Chen rose with a smile. This two fellows were just too interesting.
“Noted.” Qin Wentian smiled and bid farewell to Yang Chen. Immortal Drunken Wine glance at Qin Wentian and smiled. “If you’re ever looking for a drinking buddy, remember to look for me.”
After Yang Chen and Immortal Drunken Wine left, Qin Wentian stared at the Yuan Meteor Stones in his hands. His lips curled into a smile, knowing that he finally had enough Yuan Meteor Stones to open his Astral Gate.
“Grandpa Qin, Father, wait for me.” Qin Wentian silently vowed in his heart. He had never forgotten the fact that both his Grandpa and Father were currently being imprisoned.