Chapter Twenty-Two: Determined to Win

Chapter Twenty-Two: Determined to Obtain

“So this is Venus-patterned Steel!”

The palm-sized piece of silvery stone, covered in golden specks, was unfamiliar to others, but Xiao Cheng recognized it instantly.

His heart soared with delight. Venus-patterned Steel was a premium material for forging flying swords, extremely rare—even in his previous life, no one was said to have obtained any. Yet now, before him lay a piece as large as his palm.

If a little Venus-patterned Steel were incorporated into the forging of a flying sword, its quality would be greatly enhanced: a low-grade sword infused with just a small amount would immediately leap to mid-grade. In his previous life, Master Wuhe nearly went bankrupt crafting a low-grade sword for him, but with this Venus-patterned Steel, even a tiny bit would suffice for a mid-grade sword. This alone demonstrated how precious Venus-patterned Steel truly was.

The piece before him was palm-sized—large enough to forge a sword directly, rather than merely infusing it. If the process went smoothly, it could produce a high-grade flying sword. Xiao Cheng estimated that this piece could make at least two swords.

Such an extraordinary material—now that Xiao Cheng had seen it, he would never let it go. No matter what, he had to buy it. If necessary, he would even resort to force.

Luckily, Bok did not realize the true worth of Venus-patterned Steel. If he knew, he would never display it so casually.

Xiao Cheng concealed his excitement, careful not to let Bok notice. Since Bok was unaware, he kept silent, hoping to spend less.

“Yes, this piece is quite nice,” Xiao Cheng said calmly.

He couldn't undervalue the Venus-patterned Steel too much, or Bok would not believe him. Bok was an experienced stone collector, with a decent sense of value.

“Oh? You recognize this stone, sir? Could you tell me what it is?”

“This is Venus Stone, silver throughout. If you examine it closely with a magnifying glass, you'll see star-shaped patterns covering its surface. It is composed of iron isotopes and trace amounts of carbon, forming a dense structure. Its hardness surpasses ordinary steel, but it has little practical value—once melted, it becomes ordinary iron. Strictly speaking, it’s just iron ore.”

Knowing Bok wouldn't easily trust him, Xiao Cheng added, “But for collectors, it’s a rare find. Such stones are seldom seen.”

He made his point clear: the stone was simply rare, with no special use. It was fine for collectors, and perhaps a stone enthusiast would pay well, but otherwise, it was worthless.

Bok was clearly skeptical. This stone was unlike any he’d encountered: its hardness surpassed steel, and it was extremely heavy—denser than lead. Xiao Cheng’s explanation matched what Bok had just told him, but Bok hadn’t shared everything he knew.

“Oh? May I ask, sir, do you know its melting point?” Bok asked, testing Xiao Cheng with a question he hadn’t revealed earlier.

Given it was an iron isotope, it should be a crystal mineral, and all crystals have a melting point—a universal truth.

Xiao Cheng smiled, realizing Bok was testing him. But this was no obstacle. This rare metal was unknown to most; perhaps only a handful in the cultivation world knew, but he did, thanks to the vast knowledge in his Three Lives Jade Slip.

“This stone has an extremely high melting point. Ordinary hydrogen-oxygen flames can’t melt it; only a hydrogen-magnesium-oxygen mix can reach the necessary temperature. After melting, it quickly solidifies into black powder.”

Venus-patterned Steel was revered as divine iron among cultivators, requiring true fire to refine it; ordinary flames could not melt it. His answer was an educated guess—he didn’t actually know if hydrogen, oxygen, and magnesium together could melt it.

That was the extent of his academic knowledge; as for other methods to achieve higher temperatures, he had no idea—he hadn’t studied properly in his past life.

Bok was moved by Xiao Cheng’s explanation. This property was something Bok had discovered after much experimentation, and Xiao Cheng had described it exactly. Clearly, Xiao Cheng knew the stone well and wasn’t just bluffing.

“Haha, you are indeed learned, sir. As you said, I tried hydrogen-oxygen flames and saw no change. Later, I used oxygen-magnesium high heat and managed to melt a piece the size of a fingertip, which quickly turned to black powder.”

To have melted a piece that size was wasteful—a fingertip-sized chunk could have upgraded three low-grade swords to mid-grade. Xiao Cheng felt pained, silently cursing Bok’s wastefulness.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Cheng asked, “I wonder if you would be willing to sell this stone, Mr. Bok? My great-grandmother’s birthday is coming up, and she loves collecting stones. All I know comes from her teachings. Would you consider parting with it?”

Bok had spent twenty or thirty years studying stones, and now found himself outdone by a young man barely eighteen or nineteen. Hearing Xiao Cheng’s explanation, he realized it was family knowledge, which eased his mind. As for Xiao Cheng’s reason for purchasing, he didn’t dwell on it—Xiao Cheng’s words were logical, so he believed him.

“Five million. Any less, and I won’t sell,” Bok replied without hesitation.

He collected stones to trade for money; since there was a buyer, he was happy to sell.

Five million? Xiao Cheng hadn’t expected Bok to sell so cheaply. This stone wasn’t worth five million—it could easily fetch five billion. When he attended the Midyuan Festival with his master, a thumb-sized piece of mid-grade Mother’s Tear stone went for ten billion; yet this stone was an extremely rare high-grade material, and palm-sized at that.

Though Xiao Cheng felt it was a bargain, he didn’t plan to accept the price immediately. Since Bok didn’t know its true value, he would bargain; as a mere collectible, five million was indeed expensive.

Besides, Xiao Cheng himself was short on funds. To the Xiao family, this was a trivial sum, but to him, it was astronomical. He could borrow from Zhuo Qinglian or his sisters-in-law, but he was too embarrassed to ask women for money.

“Two million. If you sell, I’ll take it; if not, I’ll pass. It’s just a useless stone, and I’m only buying it to please the old lady. If she didn’t care, I wouldn’t bother even for a few thousand.”

His words were tactful—he made it clear he’d only buy the stone for his grandmother’s birthday, otherwise he’d never consider it.

Hearing the offer, Bok hesitated. Xiao Cheng’s argument was reasonable; the stone was indeed mostly just rare, with little value. Still, Bok had never seen its like. He was reluctant to sell, but worried he might not find another buyer.

“Please wait a moment, sir, I’ll consider it.”

“If you sell it for two million, I’ll offer this: if you ever have stones you can’t identify, you can come to me for appraisal.”

Xiao Cheng dropped his bombshell—he’d thought this over for some time.

By agreeing to appraise stones for Bok, he would gain access to more rare stones through Bok, increasing his chances of finding treasures.

This Venus-patterned Steel was proof enough: if he hadn’t previously appraised stones for Bok, Bok would never have brought it out, and Xiao Cheng would have missed out on a material worth billions.

Bok was overjoyed to hear Xiao Cheng offer his expertise. If anyone else had said this, he’d have dismissed it as empty words, but he’d witnessed Xiao Cheng’s skill firsthand—there wasn’t a stone in his cabinet that Xiao Cheng didn’t recognize.

Xiao Cheng’s promise to appraise future stones was a great boon, guaranteeing Bok could earn more money.

“Alright, I’ll sell it to you for two million. But transactions here require cash—I'm afraid you don’t have that much on you.”

Two million was no small sum. Xiao Cheng had come alone; he couldn’t possibly carry that much cash. He frowned, having expected to pay by card, only to find cash was required. Where could he get that much at night? No ATM, however advanced, would dispense two million.

At that moment, Xiao Cheng’s expression changed—he sensed over a dozen people approaching the shop, one of whom possessed innate third-tier strength. He guessed they were from the city lord’s office, likely coming because he’d broken someone’s legs earlier.

An innate third-tier expert couldn’t detain him; he could use earth escape to hide in the city and evade them easily.

But the key was he couldn’t abandon the Venus-patterned Steel. If the expert recognized its value, what then? Xiao Cheng was no match for such a foe.

Even if he managed to seize the Venus-patterned Steel, he couldn’t take it away; extraordinary materials couldn’t accompany him in earth escape until they were properly refined.

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