Chapter 45: A Demon Beast Egg

　　Lan Hong stood up and said, “Your Majesty, this is the blessing of the heavens that Tianshui has so many talented people. This subject would like to congratulate Commander Luo and Princess Ruxue.”

　　“Thank you, Lord Prime Minister!” Yunshang quickly rose to her feet and said.

　　Lan Hong smiled and waved. Immediately, two servants, each holding a jade box, walked up to Yunshang and Ruxue while he laughed and said, “It had taken me a great effort to find these two Moon Pearls from the East Sea. They are my gifts for Commander Luo and Princess Ruxue.”

　　The two servants opened the jade boxes and shafts of light shot out of them, turning the main banquet hall as bright as daylight.

　　All beautiful girls loved jewelry. So, the two girls were very happy with the gifts and hurriedly put them away.

　　“Haha! Lord Prime Minister is so wealthy! These two beads should have cost you hundreds of thousands of gold coins, right?” Xiao Qingwang laughed. “I’m not as rich as my lord, so I specially prepared two martial skills. One is a pure Yang martial technique called the Smashing Axe Sun, and the other is a water-element martial technique called the Tranquil Sutra. They are my gifts for the two ladies.”

　　Yunshang’s face flashed with surprise. “The Smashing Axe Sun left behind by a Martial Grandmaster of the Six Directions realm hundreds of years ago? Thank you, my lord!” Her mystic weapon was an axe, and the martial path she walked was also of the pure Yang. So, this martial technique was just right for her.

　　Ruxue also accepted the Tranquil Sutra and said with a smile, “Thank you, Grandpa Xiao!”

　　The value of the two martial techniques was far beyond Lan Hong’s Moon Pearls, but the two beauties were not as excited as before.

　　‘Well, women love those flashy things more than anything else!’ Everyone shook their heads and sighed in their minds.

　　Liang Wenyu also stood up and presented two pills. “These are the second-grade Staying Youth Pills this humble one has refined. They can keep my ladies young for twenty years.”

　　“AHHH!”

　　Yunshang and Ruxue cried out at the same time as if they had found a great treasure. They took the pills in their hands and looked at them for a long time before putting them away. Ruxue even took out the jade box where the Moon Pearl was stored, took out the pearl, and put the pill in.

　　Her action instantly highlighted the importance of the two treasures in her heart.

　　Lan Hong smiled and shook his head.

　　At this moment, Li Yi also got up and stepped forward to offer his congratulations. “Commander Luo, your outstanding charm is equivalent to that of a fairy. This humble one has specially ordered someone to make a hairpin for you with the Tranquil Jade. This humble one wishes Commander Luo remain young and beautiful forever.”

　　“Tranquil Jade?” Liang Wenyu said in surprise. “Young Master Li really put his mind to this gift. When wearing it, this Tranquil Jade can focus and calm one’s mind, while helping one defend against mental demons during meditation. It is a rare treasure. In those days, I wished to buy it at a high price, but couldn’t find it anywhere.”

　　Upon hearing Liang Wenyu praise him, Li Yi immediately had a good opinion of him. He laughed and said, “Isn’t it? Even I am reluctant to use this treasure myself. Only someone like Commander Luo is worthy of it.”

　　A hairpin carved of white jade, inlaid with gold and silver and giving off a faint luster, was brought in front of Yunshang. Li Yi chuckled and said, “I’ve asked Shi Wenjiang, the number one sculptor of Tianshui, to make it for me.”

　　Yunshang was slightly shocked. She had also heard of this Tranquil Jade, and since even Liang Wenyu said so, it must be extremely precious. She thanked Li Yi solemnly.

　　Li Yi’s heart was filled with satisfaction. He then walked up to Ruxue and said, “Princess Ruxue, this humble one has always admired your peerless beauty and graceful temperament. This humble one can’t think of anything in the world worthy of you.”

　　His confession stunned everyone, and Ruxue’s face was slightly red while her eyes flashed with anger. However, she was soon shocked by Li Yi’s gift.

　　“Therefore, this humble one specially sent someone to purchase a demon beast egg from the Firecrow Empire with a large sum of money. This humble one hopes Princess Ruxue will like it.”

　　A demon beast egg!

　　Everyone was startled. Even Xiao Qingwang was slightly taken by surprise, then shook his head with a wry smile. He sighed in his heart that young men nowadays were really willing to spend a lot of money to pick up girls.

　　Demon beasts were extremely powerful creatures on the Heavenly Martial Continent. Even warriors would stay away from them when they chanced upon them. Many people had tried to subdue them, hoping to turn them into their strong aids. Although there were successful attempts, most of them ended in failure.

　　After all, demon beasts’ demonic Qi was too strong, and their violent and cruel character made them extremely difficult to be tamed by humans.

　　Later on, someone finally came up with a wonderful method—when the demon beast was still in the egg, the owner began to spend every day with it, and then fed and raised it with care after it hatched. By doing so, when the demon beast grew up, it would be absolutely loyal to the owner.

　　After the discovery of this method, the price of demon beast eggs soared by at least one thousand times!

　　The crowd stared quietly at the egg on the tray. It was all red and slightly transparent, as if there was a monster inside which might break through the shell at any time.

　　Although Ruxue did not like Li Yi, she was slightly moved. “Thank you, Li Yi! I like this gift very much,” she said softly.

　　Li Yi was exulted. However, in the midst of his great triumph, a discordant voice burst in.

　　“Hmph! This is indeed a demon beast egg, but what’s the use of a dead egg? Roast and eat it? Please, it stinks inside and is not edible.”

　　“Who is talking nonsense here?” Li Yi froze for a moment, then shouted furiously.

　　He turned to look out, and then saw that the voice belonged to Yunxiao, whom he hated so much that he wanted to kill by slicing him into pieces!

　　“Li Yunxiao, you don’t know anything, so stop uttering nonsense here!” No longer caring about his image, he roared, “Do you know how much this cost? Damnit, it can buy one hundred or even one thousand of you!”

　　Yunxiao sneered leisurely, “No matter how much it’s worth, it’s a dead egg!”

　　“YOU!”

　　Li Yi was fuming as he turned to Qin Zheng, then cupped his fist, and said, “Your Majesty, this man is deliberately disturbing the feast. Please order him to be cast out!”

　　Qin Zheng frowned and asked, “Li Yunxiao, how do you know this is a dead egg?”

　　“No matter what I say, he will deny it. Just cut the egg open and everyone will know.”

　　“Hmph! Cut open? Can you afford such a valuable thing if it is cut open?” Ruxue, too, looked suspicious and unwilling.

　　Yunxiao sneered, “Ruxue, when you have worked so hard to incubate this egg for several months and find it hasn’t even moved, you will know that I am right.”

　　“You are still uttering nonsense!” Li Yi said furiously. “Your Majesty, this humble one begs you to order this man to be beaten and kicked out of here!”

　　Qin Zheng said solemnly, “Li Yunxiao, be careful in your speech. Don’t speak randomly without evidence. For your credit of saving the Princess, I’ll let this matter pass. But, you mustn’t utter any nonsense again.”

　　Yunxiao shook his head speechlessly. The demon beast egg was undoubtedly a dead egg, no matter one went by its color or with the perception of divine sense. But this thing was too precious, and not many people had seen it, so no one knew about this.

　　When the situation finally calmed down a little, Qin Yang, the eldest prince, smiled and clapped his hands. His men immediately brought two trays and walked to Yunshang and Ruxue.

　　As soon as the trays were brought up, everyone’s eyes suddenly lit up and they were all shocked.

　　With a look of complacency on his face, Qin Yang laughed loudly and said, “These ten pieces of supreme-grade Primordial Stones are my gift for Commander Luo. I wish you an early breakthrough to become the third Martial King of Tianshui. Meanwhile, these ten Longan Pearls are for my dear sister Ruxue. I wish you become more and more beautiful, and marry a suitable husband as soon as possible!”

　　Longan Pearls were not as expensive as Moon Pearls, but they also cost at least tens of thousands of gold coins apiece. The fact that Qin Yang was able to take out ten pieces at once showed how rich he was. But, what shocked everyone was the ten pieces of supreme-grade Primordial Stones.

　　The higher the level of a warrior’s cultivation, the more dependent he became on Primordial Stones. In the market, the exchange rate of Primordial Stones was one hundred superior-grade Primordial Stones for a supreme-grade Primordial Stone, one hundred medial-grade Primordial Stones for a superior-grade Primordial Stone, and one hundred inferior-grade Primordial Stones for a medial-grade Primordial Stone.

　　Ignoring the fact that inferior-grade Primordial Stones were all used by ordinary warriors, even if one offered one million inferior-grade Primordial Stones, no one would want to exchange ten supreme-grade Primordial Stones. After all, the deposit of supreme-grade Primordial Stones was extremely scarce, and they had a wide range of uses.

　　The value of these ten supreme-grade Primordial Stones was far higher than that of the demon beast egg.

　　Now, not only Yunshang, but even Xiao Qingwang’s face was flickering as he was slightly tempted.

　　On the other hand, although the ten Longan Pearls were precious, they were nothing when compared with the ten pieces of supreme-grade Primordial Stones. It also reflected Qin Yang’s mindset in one way. Although Ruxue had a prestigious status, she was useless in his eyes, and that was why he simply gave her a few pearls. But, Yunshang was completely different!

　　She was not only one of the five commanders of the State Guardians, but she had also become a Martial Lord of the Four Quadrants realm at such a young age. Her future achievements were bound to be limitless. Moreover, she had now made a breakthrough and become an alchemist. In short, she was the most gifted person in the state of Tianshui in the past one thousand years, in addition to Yang Di.

　　Qin Yang was the eldest prince, so he must think like an emperor. In his view, wooing Luo Yunshang was not only of great help to his accession to the throne, but also an important factor to the stability of the state in the future. There was why he spent so much of money to get these ten pieces of supreme-grade Primordial Stones!

　　In addition, Yunshang was a rare beautiful girl, and Qin Yang had long been in love with her. He sent people to express his thoughts to her many times, but all he got was cold replies.

　　Yunshang naturally knew what he wanted, so she turned him down in a light tone, “My lord, your gift is too expensive. I dare not accept it.”

　　Qin Yang got up from his seat and tidied up his clothes, then strode up to Yunshang as he reached out his hands and said, “Yunshang, don’t you understand my feelings for you? Today, in front of all the civil and military officials, I would like to propose to you! Marry me, Yunshang!”

　　Suddenly, he was down on one knee, his eyes blazing!

　　“Waa!”

　　The banquet hall broke out into an uproar. No one was expecting that the eldest prince would propose in public, let alone see him kneel on one knee! No matter in appearance or strength, Qin Yang was the best choice. Although his strength was not as good as Yunshang, there were not many men in Tianshui who could surpass him. Moreover, he was able to lower himself to propose even as a prince.

　　His proposal of marriage on one knee had immediately broken the hearts of countless girls.

　　Yunshang was also struck dumb by it. Her face flickered while a gentle Primordial Qi spilled from her hands, lifting Qin Yang to his feet. “My lord, if you are so presumptuous again, don’t blame me for turning against you!”

　　Qin Yang’s expression changed dramatically as he found it hard to believe. He had already gone so far, and yet he was still rejected by Yunshang. For a moment, he forgot himself and said angrily, “Yunshang, I know I don’t deserve you! But in Tianshui, no one is worthy of you except me!”