Best of Both Worlds

　　When the numerous clans within the Drifting Cloud Mansion’s garden heard, ‘five hundred thousand taels of gold’, they immediately decided to give up.

　　“Five hundred thousand taels of gold—are there any offers higher than that?” A smile blossomed on Situ Fan’s face. At that time, the Situ Trading Company and the seller had determined a rule—if the final price was lower than three hundred thousand taels of gold, the Situ Trading Company would make up for the deficiency and hand it over to the seller! However, in the event that the price exceeded the amount, the amount of money would be split evenly between the seller and the firm!

　　Based on the calculation alone, this large sum of money would earn the Situ Trading Company no less than one hundred thousand taels of gold! Of course, Situ Trading Company wished for the price to be raised even higher!

　　“Mister Teng,” Fu Dao whispered.

　　“Hmm?” Teng Qingshan looked over.

　　Fu Dao inquired, “What is Mister planning on using this set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets for? Are you retaining it for long-term, or is it a short-term usage, for cultivation purposes?” Fu Dao had a sort of feeling… that under the heavens, there was no influential household by the name of Teng. Perhaps Teng Qingshan was not purchasing the Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets for his family.

　　Teng Qingshan’s eyes lit up after hearing that.

　　Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets?

　　Although it was difficult to remember the numerous strokes and main points on the thirty-six stone tablets, Teng Qingshan had planned to concentrate on cultivating for a year and a half. So, the Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets would probably be worthless to Teng Qingshan in the end. Moreover, as Teng Qingshan’s comprehension increased, he would have memorized the inscriptions on the stone tablets thoroughly.

　　“I only need a year and a half!” Teng Qingshan opened his mouth to say.

　　Fu Dao was overjoyed, “Then shall Mister and I bid together for this set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets? I will fork out three hundred and ten thousand taels, and it’ll suffice if Mister offers one hundred and ninety thousand taels of gold. Then Mister can use it for a year and a half and when you no longer have any use for it, hand it over to me. How does that sound?” Fu Dao needed to cultivate too.

　　“Sure.” Teng Qingshan nodded his head with a smile.

　　It was not difficult for Teng Qingshan to plunder items in secret. However, it was widely rumored the Tianfeng Martial Immortal existed within Duanmu Continent’s number one clan, Tianfeng Clan. Although Teng Qingshan was confident he would be able to deal with the Tianfeng Clan, it was naturally better if he could succeed without going through that much trouble!

　　“If there’s no one else, this set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets will belong to the Tianfeng Clan!” Situ Fan glanced at his surroundings, as though hoping for other bidders to appear.

　　Helian Haoxing of the Tianfeng Clan smiled as he watched on.

　　“Five hundred and five thousand taels of gold!” A yell resounded throughout the garden.

　　Everyone turned their heads to look; the various influential households were in an uproar! Helian Haoxing’s expression froze and turned around as well. The person who shouted the bid was precisely Fu Dao. He smiled in response to the gazes of the various influential families which gathered on him.

　　“Five hundred and five thousand taels of gold!”

　　Situ Fan promptly yelled, “Mister Fu Dao has offered five hundred and five thousand taels of gold. Are there any higher offers?” The higher the offers were, the happier Situ Fan would be. As Situ Fan was yelling out, he glanced over to where the Tianfeng Clan was located, as though he was looking forward to the Tianfeng Clan adding onto the bid!

　　On the other hand, Helian Haoxing was calm and collected. He glared at Fu Dao for a moment and let out a cold snicker before going into silence.

　　He had already said it previously… anything higher than five hundred thousand taels of gold and he would call it quits! At the moment, Fu Dao’s offer was merely five thousand taels of gold above from the previous! On every quoted price, the lowest offer must not be lower than five thousand taels of gold. Fu Dao had merely increased the bid by this little, so it was only natural for Helian Haoxing to be infuriated and indignant!

　　However, no matter how resentful he was…!

　　He had already spoken on the behalf of the Tianfeng Clan. Once the words were said, they definitely must not be retracted! Otherwise, their household would become a laughing stock!

　　“Anyone willing to bid a higher price?” Situ Fan continued to watch by the sidelines.

　　No one placed their bid afterward, and after yelling several more times, he then declared with a smile on his face, “The item of this bid, a set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets, goes to the winner, Thunder Blade Martial Saint, Fu Dao, at the final bid of five hundred and five thousand taels of gold! Once Fu Dao has handed up the five hundred and five thousand taels of gold to the Situ Trading Company, this set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets shall be handed personally into the possession of Fu Dao.”

　　The auction had ended and the results were out!

　　Of course, Mister Fu Dao still couldn’t get this set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets, as the principle was cash on delivery. The Situ Trading Company had to first witness the gold with their own eyes.

　　“Congratulations to Mister Fu Dao.”

　　“As expected, Mister Fu Dao is indeed extraordinarily generous,” Individuals from various households praised with smiling faces.

　　Fu Dao smiled in response.

　　“Mister Teng, we need to get the gold now. I’ll assign some people for the task, Mister Teng…” Fu Dao looked at Teng Qingshan, and the latter nodded with a smile. “I’ll go retrieve some gold… Let us assemble here at the Drifting Cloud Mansion an hour later.”

　　Fu Dao’s face blossomed into a smile. “Of course!”

　　“Brother Teng, if you had mentioned earlier the fact that you only need a year and a half, the Rising Sun Trading Company would’ve joined hands with you.” The Great Elder at the side shook his head as he sighed. “A delay by a year and a half is practically of no difference! Fu Dao has gotten it cheaply—three hundred thousand taels of gold to buy a set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets.”

　　Fu Dao grinned.

　　The Great Elder said this, but during the discussion between Teng Qingshan and Fu Dao, he had not interrupted them. After all, he had placed importance to his own identity, and it was only until after the event that he mouthed a couple of sentences.

　　“I owe Mister Teng a huge favor,” Fu Dao chuckled.

　　As Teng Qingshan and Fu Dao spoke, the people in the vicinity, who had come over to extend their congratulations, or members of some other household, who walked past, naturally overheard their conversation.

　　It was then that everyone knew——

　　Teng Qingshan and Fu Dao had joined hands to purchase it! Furthermore, Teng Qingshan would first use it for a year and a half.

　　Yet, whether it be Teng Qingshan or Fu Dao, they were both confident… If these Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets were in their possession, absolutely no one could snatch it away from them!

　　……

　　Amongst the congratulatory words as well as under Situ Fan’s gaze, Teng Qingshan and Fu Dao left the Drifting Cloud Mansion to retrieve their gold.

　　An hour later!

　　In the Drifting Cloud Mansion’s hall, there was a row of five trunks containing gold laid down, two of which Teng Qingshan had brought over while the remaining belonged to Fu Dao. These chests had already been opened, and their insides were filled with bright, golden dazzling bars of gold, along with various neatly placed bricks of gold.

　　When the five chests of gold were placed before one’s eyes, it illuminated even the contours of one’s face!

　　“Quick. Hurry up and weigh them!” Situ Fan berated.

　　The ten fellows from the Situ Trading Company were fiddling rapidly with the bricks and bars of gold. While inspecting the authenticity of these items, they weighed them as well.

　　“Elder, everything totaled up to five hundred and five thousand taels of gold, no more and no less.” These fellows were drenched in sweat from transporting the goods.

　　“Mmm.” Situ Fan was beaming.

　　“Haha, sorry for the long wait, Misters.” Situ Fan turned toward Teng Qingshan and Fu Dao, who were currently seated while they sipped on tea. “This is a large transaction. My Situ Trading Company does not dare to be negligent.” If his subordinates used fake gold, the Situ Trading Company would have suffered a great loss.

　　Whether it be Fu Dao or Teng Qingshan, both of them were super experts. All they had to do was pat the dust off their backsides and run.

　　Would the Situ Trading Company dare chase after them?

　　Fu Dao waved his hand with a smiling face. “You are running a business. It’s only natural to be meticulous.” Fu Dao was in a great mood.

　　“This set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets should belong to us now, right?” Teng Qingshan smiled.

　　“Yes.” Situ Fan pointed toward three iron chests. “These belong to you two misters now.”

　　“Mister Teng, I’ll go examine it to see if it’s authentic.” Fu Dao strode over and unlocked all three metal chests at once, glimpsing over the Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets.

　　Teng Qingshan was unable to differentiate the authenticity of the Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets.

　　At least… Teng Qingshan was certain that the engravings on these stones were indeed the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》.

　　“As expected of one of the nine sets which were copied directly from the thirty-six engravings with the use of the stone rubbing technique. Just the inscriptions on one tablet only give off a different kind of aura! Furthermore… there’s also that word, ‘Dao.’” Teng Qingshan praised inwardly. Every single one of the strokes were rectangular-shaped. The engravings of the Axe Art were on the left side of the tablet, while the word, ‘Dao’ was on the right.

　　TLN: Dao is written as 道 ← the word was written this way

　　Every one of the ‘Dao’ character contained different auras.

　　“Although Emperor Yu’s ability in carving was ordinary, he was pretty well versed in calligraphy!” Teng Qingshan praised it inwardly, “It’s no wonder that… he left a ‘Dao’ character beside each image of the Axe Art. Perhaps, he hoped the concept the calligraphy contains would help the cultivator understand the marvel of the Axe Art easier!”

　　In Teng Qingshan’s opinion, the 36 pictures of the Axe Art were indeed important, but what was more important… were the 36 ‘Dao’ characters.

　　“En, it’s genuine!” Fu Dao smiled at Teng Qingshan. “Mister, this set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets is completely authentic—I can confirm that. From now onwards, it belongs to Mister.”

　　“I’ll return it to you a year and a half later.” Teng Qingshan smiled.

　　“There’s no hurry Whether it be a year and a half, two or even three years, it’s fine.” Fu Dao had certainly received a large profit this time. Teng Qingshan spent nearly two hundred thousand taels of gold when he would only be using it for one to two years, while Fu Dao would be using it for an unlimited amount of time…Therefore, Fu Dao was naturally more sincere.

　　Teng Qingshan sent down his instructions immediately, getting the men and horses, who had been arranged for him by the Rising Sun Trading Company, to transport the chests.

　　“Congratulations, Big Brother Teng.” Little Jun smiled.

　　Teng Qingshan smiled in response. “Let us set out.”

　　Who had gotten the advantage from the purchase of this set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets? It was hard to tell! This was because it was very easy to copy the secret record of the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》. The clans kept this a secret, but the great clans could get a copy of the secret record of the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》 just by paying a small price.

　　With a copy of the secret record, the clans naturally wouldn’t value the set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets so greatly nor be crazy for it.

　　However——

　　If the set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets was in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, it would be considered a priceless treasure! This was because…… Emperor Yu had left the 《The Heavenly Book of the Nine Cauldrons》 with the Emperor Yu’s Hall, and the 《Thirty-six Mountain Splitting Forms》 with the Godly Axe Mountain. It was likely the Emperor Yu’s Hall didn’t have a collection of this lost art,《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》.

　　At the very least, Teng Qingshan knew of the four Great Divine Codices, but he had never had heard of the 《Thirty-six Mountain Splitting Forms》 in the Land of the Nine Prefectures.

　　……

　　By the Crescent Moon Lake, located at the foot of the Godly Axe Mountain:

　　The Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets were stuck in the soil, forming a single row from the first to the thirty-sixth stone tablet.

　　Teng Qingshan stood on the snow-pelted ground as he looked over the long row of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets. The thirty-six engravings of axe art which were vastly different from one another and thirty-six different ‘Dao’ characters which contained different concepts—placing the thirty-six engraved tablets here formed an integral whole. This caused Teng Qingshan to feel a sense of pressure emanating from the heavens and the earth.

　　It seemed as though a gigantic axe which had the ability to split the heavens had struck toward him!

　　“It is indeed different!” Teng Qingshan’s eyes shone.

　　“With these thirty-six Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets, I will be able to reach the realm of Profound Emptiness three years earlier than I expected!” Teng Qingshan gazed at these handwritings, and some of the difficult points, he had encountered during his comprehension of axe art, were understood thoroughly.

　　“Teng Qingshan!” A resonant voice resounded.

　　“Hmm?” Teng Qingshan turned his head to take a glance.

　　He saw a flickering silhouette flitting over from afar. “I will be returning to the West Tang Region, but before returning, I wish to have a war with you!” A voice was heard, but the blurry figure was congealed. Before Teng Qingshan’s eyes, there stood a man donned in a black leather jacket. He carried a terrifyingly large blade on his back and had a youthful appearance, but he had a few silver hair on his temples as well.

　　It was the Great Elder of the Rising Sun Trading Company!