Chapter 2765 — Haggling

"That's right!" Wei Zhao cupped his hands in a polite salute. "You must be the Supreme Elder, then?"

The person before him was a formidable expert at the peak of the late Heaven rank, and Wei Zhao guessed she was most likely the very Supreme Elder the valley-patrolling disciple had spoken of.

"Indeed." The Supreme Elder gave a nod, then turned to the disciple. "Go brew some tea. I will have a detailed talk with this cultivator."

"Yes, Supreme Elder," the disciple answered hurriedly.

"Heh. And how should I address you?" the Supreme Elder asked Wei Zhao.

"Wei Zhao." He made no secret of it—his identity was hardly a secret anymore at the ancient level, so there was no need to hide it. "This youngster has only just arrived and begs the Supreme Elder's indulgence. But I came here on the recommendation of my little wife, Feng Xiaoxiao—that is, the vice palace master of the Ice Palace."

Wei Zhao had brought up Feng Xiaoxiao's status for the obvious reason that he did not want to be shortchanged in the transaction to come. His own standing, after all, was hardly equal to that of Snow Valley; if he simply came begging for medicine, he feared a single Heaven-rank divine weapon might buy no more than a single spirit herb. By invoking Feng Xiaoxiao's name, Wei Zhao was in fact making the Supreme Elder understand that he too had backing, and he hoped she would trade fairly rather than seize his goods by force.

Of course, Wei Zhao had no way of knowing that the Supreme Elder had recognized him from the start and knew all about his background—and that even without Feng Xiaoxiao's name, she could never have cheated him, for Tang Zhi and Tang Zhi's mother were still there, and those two were not so easily fooled.

"Oh? So you are a friend introduced by the Ice Palace." The Supreme Elder smiled, secretly relieved. From the look of it, Wei Zhao had not come looking for Tang Zhi—and so long as he was not here for Tang Zhi, everything could be discussed. "May I ask what Mr. Lin has come to trade for?"

"Well... there are indeed a few things I would like to trade for, but I only know of one item you have here; as for the rest, I have no idea what you might possess. So I would ask the Supreme Elder to look over my goods first, and then decide what you would offer in exchange," Wei Zhao said.

"Your goods?" The Supreme Elder was briefly taken aback. She had assumed Wei Zhao had come seeking spirit herbs, never expecting him to produce an item for her to appraise. This rather piqued her curiosity—just what fine thing could he be holding?

"Naturally." As he spoke, Wei Zhao took from his pack the Heaven-rank divine weapon that had belonged to Xue Xianzi, the founding ancestor of Snow Valley, and laid it on the tea table before him. "Pray examine it, Supreme Elder!"

"Oh... eh?" The Supreme Elder had not taken it seriously at first, but the moment her gaze came to rest on the divine weapon Wei Zhao had set out, she could not look away—and on her face appeared a look of shock and disbelief. "This... could it be..." As she spoke, she took the Heaven-rank divine weapon from the tea table into her hands. When she saw the tiny character "Xue" upon it, along with the unique symbols and markings of Snow Valley, her hands trembled with emotion!

Wei Zhao had long since anticipated such a reaction. After all, the weapon itself belonged to Snow Valley, and the Supreme Elder, as an inheritor of the sect, would have been strange indeed not to be overcome at the sight of the lost armament of her own founding ancestor!

"Well, Supreme Elder? This is a fine thing, is it not?" Wei Zhao asked with a smile.

"Yes, this is it—this is the Ancestor's Heaven-rank armament!" The Supreme Elder's voice had lost its composure. She cultivated the Heartless Art, and few things could stir her emotions, yet at this moment she could scarcely contain herself!

For this was simply too astonishing! This truly was that Heaven-rank divine weapon of the Ancestor from all those years ago—the celestial armament most perfectly attuned to the mist attribute! Over the years, Snow Valley had never ceased searching for this weapon, but no trace of it had ever surfaced. After Ancestor Xue declared that she would go in pursuit of the heavenly Dao, she had never appeared again; no one knew where she had gone, nor whether she lived or died, and so the Heaven-rank divine weapon had vanished all the more completely.

Now that it had appeared once more before the Supreme Elder, she was naturally overcome with emotion, joy and sorrow mingled. Her joy was that the weapon had at last returned to Snow Valley's hands; her sorrow was that it had surfaced alone—did that not mean Ancestor Xue had failed in her pursuit of the heavenly Dao and had long since passed from this world?

"Heh heh, Supreme Elder, what do you think? On what terms would you be willing to trade for this Heaven-rank divine weapon?" Wei Zhao said with a smile. "Originally, I meant to give it to my little wife, Feng Xiaoxiao, to use. But she has a yin-cold constitution, and ice-attribute divine weapons suit her best; a mist-attribute weapon is merely usable for her, unable to draw out its full effect. So I brought it here to see whether I might trade it for something better. If you have something better and I judge the deal worthwhile, I will trade it to you; if not, I will take it back for Xiaoxiao to use..." Hearing this, the Supreme Elder was somewhat speechless. She thought to herself: your little wife is a wife, but is your principal wife not a wife too? If you would give it to your little wife, you might as well give it straight to your principal wife! Even if I trade for this weapon, it will be for Tang Zhi to use—only in her hands can it unleash its greatest power. But the Supreme Elder could not speak the truth, and so could only swallow her vexation and say, "Our Snow Valley possesses a water-attribute Heaven-rank divine weapon, a treasure of the first order, in no way inferior to this one! How about I trade that one to you instead? Feng Xiaoxiao cultivates an ice-attribute mental cultivation art, so mist-attribute and water-attribute weapons are the same to her, with no great difference. But this mist-attribute divine weapon is of the utmost importance to our Snow Valley."

"Supreme Elder, saying that only shows a lack of sincerity, does it not? Never mind that I traveled ten thousand li to trade with you—even if Snow Valley stood at my own doorstep, a trade between us would still leave you the gainer and me with nothing to show for it, would it not?" Wei Zhao shrugged in refusal. "Mist-attribute or water-attribute, it makes no difference at all to me, so why should I trade? And what if that water-attribute Heaven-rank divine weapon of yours is inferior to the mist-attribute one? Then I would be the loser—either way you come out ahead. Where does one find such a bargain?"

The Supreme Elder was somewhat at a loss for words, yet could hardly vent her temper on Wei Zhao. After a moment's thought, she said, "Since you came to my door of your own accord to trade, you must want something—and you said just now that you were after a kind of spirit herb, did you not?"RS