Transmigrator meets Reincarnator II

Chapter 15| Ridiculously Wealthy, Ridiculously Risky: Young Miss Xia Meixiang

The auction continued from there, with the Four items passed before the Fanged Jade Serpent whip was presented.

Xia Meixiang sat up straighter the moment the the weapon was brought out on a jade tray by a showgirl in a short blue dress.

The showgirl showcased some basic techniques with the whip, her form passable at best. However, Xia Meixiang's eyes were drawn to to the form of the whip as it cracked through the air unaided by qi.

The Fanged Jade Serpent whip was a yellow-grade weapon made from the body of a demonic beast called the Fanged Jade Serpent, a high silver-ranked demonic beast. Braided from the skin of the seven meter long serpent, it had a deep and lustrous green color, with a gold handle and an ivory tip made from the hollow fangs of the beast.

The emcee boasted the capabilities of the item strongly, and began the bidding at 200 silver.

After someone called out to meet the price, Xia Meixiang called out, "300 silver!"

"350 silver!"

"500!"

"700!

"1 000 silver!"

The prices rose to staggering amounts, but it Xia Meixiang's eyes, they hadn't even scratched the surface of the price of the item. Finally when a youth from the ground floor raised the price to 1 500 silver, Xia Meixiang made her final offer.

"2 000 silver!" she declared, causing the youth standing to pale.

Xia Jiaolong looked at his niece with a strange look on his face. "Mei girl..." he shook his head, thinking of how heavy handed Xia Meixiang was being. Luckily his own daughter was gentle and refined.

Xia Yuanzhou glanced at his younger brother. Xia Yuanzhou had always prefered business pursuits to cultivating, so his rank remained at the Martial General Realm. However, he was in charge of the revenue and finances of the Xia Family, including their lucrative businesses and partnerships they kept. Often called the Cunning Fox of the Xia Family, Xia Yuanzhou and his household were considered wealthy, even apart from the family itself.

Of course he gave his daughter pocket money here and there, but not so much as to drown her reason. He wanted her to learn how to manage finances, even if it may make him seem unyielding.

Against his expectations, she took to it rather well, and three years ago she had asked for him to buy into a small business for her, putting forward a quarter of her sizeable savings to do so. He had never felt prouder; until he happened to glance at the bookkeeping and saw she was turning a nice profit on her own.

His daughter possessed his business sense in spades!

Xia Meixiang coldly glanced down at the ground level masses and smirked. "Weapon obtained," murmured Xia Meixiang.

Xia Ling-Er saw her smirk and smiled maliciously. My pitiful cousin, soon you will fall!

*

The auction continued, and several high priced items came and went. Xia Ling-Er bought a seven layered jewelry box inlaid with precious stones and a flashy martial skill called the Jade Pulse Palm Art.

Xia Meixiang was looking forward to the next item, which was the Purifying Body Pills.

Bidding began at 800 silver, and rose steadily to 2 000 silver and beyond. Xia Meixiang made a few bids before she claimed it at just under 5 000 silver. She narrowly outbid the scholarly Song Family, and completely outbid the Gu Family.

Xia Meixiang was somewhat satisfied with the results, but felt that the price was rather expensive, considering that in five years time, the protagonist would lower the price of medicine pills to 100 a bottle.

Then again, pills were a valued commerce for all cultivators and practitioners. They were graded by their potency and their ability, unlike some martial skills. Take her newly acquired Qilin Lightning Needle technique. It was valued high, not for difficulty or strength, but because of the prestige it held as part of the legendary Qilin Legacy of the Fourth Prince of the former Royal Dynasty. It would always be pricey.

Consumables like the pills she obtained, however, were prized by their herbal content, ability and craftsmanship. The Alchemists who made the pills were higher than the so called Alchemists who set up shop in Fanrong. The novel explained that true Alchemists could craft pills and elixirs; what Fanrong had were glorified witch doctors who made salves and tonics. What else could they do when the valley in which the kingdom sat was not conducive to growing a larger variety to study and learn from. Any Alchemist worth their salt would abandon ship to find another place to study.

It was only the Imperial Alchemist who still could be considered an alchemist in the truest sense. But he also spent nine months out of the year outside the kingdom, perfecting his craft.

Putting aside the pisspoor business acumen of the novel, Xia Meixiang readied herself for the next item, the Yuanling Tempest Whip script.

She listened as the emcee described the skill, glossing over the difficulty with practiced ease.

Xia Meixiang watched as her father put forth 1 200 for the skill. It was immediately met with 1 500 from the Wei Family. A few bids topped it before Xia Yuanzhou bid 1 900 silver. Before the words could properly get out, the Wei family bid 2 500 silver.

This happened a few more times, before Xia Yuanzhou fell silent scorn flashing in his eyes. It seemed that the Wei Family was set on making trouble with his Xia Family.

Xia Meixiang noticed the look on her father's face and put on a stubborn face. "That Wei Qi Qi! If she wants to make trouble for our Family, I will gladly meet her!" she scowled, before grabbing the edge of her father's sleeve and saying. "Father, I will put forth the rest of my money, let's increase our bid to 4 500 silver!"

Her words caused Xia Jiaolong to suck in a cold breath, calculative the amount of money Xia Meixiang had used buying items. His usually skinflint brother casually gave his daughter 10 000 silver? Was he not the Asura of the business world, the true Martial Lord of Business?

If Xia Meixiang had been boastful, had she heard what her Third Uncle thought, she would have sneered. Just 10 000 silver? This young miss has 100 000 gold in her savings at Jiang Royal Bank! If this miss wanted, she could buy the auction house three times over!

Xiao Zhong gave a pained look towards her miss before glaring in the direction of the Wei Family private box. Wei Qi Qi, you forget your place!

Xia Yuanzhou frowned. "Mei'er, sometimes it is best to let go."

Xia Meixiang pouted. Her face clearly indicated she was not willing. "Father, I promise I will study hard. Put forth the money ah. Let me show that stinky girl that our household is better than hers!"

Reluctantly, Xia Yuanzhou raised his bid. He had never been one to restrict what his daughter did with her money. Although he was unwilling, he would accept her wishes.

When the Wei Family raised their price to 5 000 silver, Xia Jiaolong recovered himself, and after thinking for awhile, he said to his brother, "Xiao Zhou, you may not know this but the Wei Family is ridiculously wealthy recently. Maybe it is best not to compete with them..."

Xia Meixiang snorted. "So what? Our family has the rare lightning spiritual root, and Yu-tangjie is marrying into the Imperial Family in a year's time. How is our family inferior to theirs?"

Xia Yuanzhou frowned. "Mei'er, it is because we are not inferior to them that we should step back. Truthfully, I do not like that technique for you."

When Xia Meixiang looked ready to argue, he added. "How about this, the next whip technique you like, we will buy it without fail. But for now, give up on this thing."

Although Xia Meixiang's face looked unwilling as she agreed with her father's decision, inside she was laughing at her cousin and Wei Qi Qi. You just helped we secure a better technique. Little cousin, I give you my thanks.