Chapter 1593: Unfounded Pearl and Pagoda Rune
After Zhang Ruochen revealed that he wanted to buy the Unfounded Pearl, the Western Buddhist Field immediately placed high importance on him. An Arhat with long white eyebrows personally came out to welcome Zhang Ruochen.
In the Western Buddhist Field, monks in the Saint Realm were called “Saint Monks.”
Saint Kings were known as “Arhat.”
Supreme Saints were known as “Bodhisattva.”
Gods were known as “Buddha.”
“My monk title is Jingtai. I am a disciple of Bodhisattva Bianji. Greetings.” Luoshan Jingtai put his hands together and smiled benevolently.
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t sense Arhat Jingtai’s cultivation but felt that his abilities were even more advanced than Shang Feng. He couldn’t help but lament that saint stones were a great thing. Even an advanced Arhat would smile at you if you had it.
“I heard that you wished to purchase Unfounded Pearls?” Arhat Jingtai asked.
“Indeed,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“What a coincidence. We happen to have imported a pair, but someone bought one a few days ago. Now, there is only one left.”
Arhat Jingtai clearly wasn’t a prude monk. He emphasized the two words “only one” and even smiled while studying Zhang Ruochen’s expression.
Clearly, if Zhang Ruochen had a nervous expression, he would probably double or triple the price he had in mind.
“Take me to see it,” Zhang Ruochen said calmly. “If the Unfounded Pearl really is as miraculous as people say, I won’t mind buying it to play with.”
Arhat Jingtai was a bit disappointed. He felt that Zhang Ruochen was a rich Supreme Saint’s descendant and probably only came to see the Unfounded Pearl because he heard of its miracle powers.
If he stated too high of a price, he’d probably scare Zhang Ruochen away.
After all, only cultivators who desperately needed the Unfounded Pearl would buy it for a high price. Usually, no one would ask about it for years.
Arhat Jingtai obviously didn’t reveal what he was thinking inside. While leading Zhang Ruochen in, he explained, “The Unfounded Pearl is a Bodhisattva level item. It’s a pearl made from the unfounded thoughts that you want to rid from your mind.
“If you wear the Unfounded Pearl, your unfounded thoughts will be automatically absorbed into the pearl and you can maintain a clear and pure saintly heart. A cultivator tormented by demonic thoughts will quickly become safe after wearing the Unfounded Pearl.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled without commenting. “How much is it?” he asked.
“Something created by a Bodhisattva is priceless,” Arhat Jingtai said seriously. “It’ll be at least 30 million saint stones.”
Zhang Ruochen fell silent and didn’t continue to ask.
After coming to a treasure room, Arhat Jingtai took out the Unfounded Pearl and placed it in Zhang Ruochen’s hand.
It was the size of a marble, but it was very colorful. It seemed to be made out of various colors and looked quite multifarious.
Merely thoughts could condense into such a pearl. One must admit that Bodhisattvas were quite powerful.
After a pause, Zhang Ruochen returned the Unfounded Pearl to Arhat Jingtai. Chuckling, he said, “If it can only chase away heart demons and absorb unwanted thoughts, then I can choose another treasure. Those won’t be more than one million saint stones. Why should I buy the 30-million-saint-stone Unfounded Pearl?”
With that, Zhang Ruochen started walking out with his hands behind his back.
“Wait,” Arhat Jingtai quickly called out to stop him. “The Unfounded Pearl is worth 30 million saint stones. Clearly, it has other powers. Actually, it’s also a Spiritual Power saint weapon.”
“It’s not like I’ve never seen Spiritual Power saint weapons before.”
Zhang Ruochen acted like he didn’t care, but he still halted.
Holding the Unfounded Pearl, Arhat Jingtai stood before Zhang Ruochen and smiled. “Not only can the Unfounded Pearl activate Spiritual Power attacks, it can also activate Spiritual Power defenses.
“If you stimulate the Unfounded Pearl with Spiritual Power, the unfounded thoughts will fly out of it and into the enemy’s body, disrupting their mind. It can attack one person or an entire group.
“When activating its defensive powers, the Unfounded Pearl can block more than half of the opponent’s Spiritual Power attacks, as long as they’re not Supreme Saints.”
Zhang Ruochen thought of the Yin Yang Mirror.
That mirror was like a Spiritual Power detection method. If he used Spiritual Power defenses to block half of the mirror’s power, then it would be much easier to sneak into the Yin and Yang Palace.
“It seems like the Unfounded Pearl is quite a nice treasure,” Zhang Ruochen said. “But the price…”
“The price can be discussed,” Arhat Jingtai said with a smile.
“Ten million saint stones,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Arhat Jingtai quickly shook his head back and forth. “No, no way. The lowest I’ll go is 25 million saint stones. That’s my bottom line.”
Next, Zhang Ruochen and Arhat Jingtai bargained for a long time. Finally, they agreed on 15 million saint stones.
Evidently, even a Buddhist Arhat didn’t have bottom lines.
After the exchange, Arhat Jingtai kept sighing. “Sir, you really took advantage of me this time.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t believe that Arhat Jingtai would sell the Unfounded Pearl at a loss, but it was indeed an incredible treasure. It could actually defend against Spiritual Power attacks.
This was why Zhang Ruochen didn’t feel like he’d been cheated even though he spent 15 million saint stones.
“Earlier, while bargaining with you,” Arhat Jingtai continued, “you claimed that you wished to buy other treasures from the Western Buddhist Field. You weren’t lying, right?”
“Of course not,” Zhang Ruochen said seriously. “I wish to buy defensive and offensive rune scrolls.”
Rune scrolls were very expensive. Knowing that he had another chance to make saint stones, Arhat Jingtai smiled pleasantly. “Come, follow me to the rune technique palace.”
Arriving at the palace, he brought Zhang Ruochen directly to the second level. “The rune scrolls in the first level are for Saints,” he said. “I believe you wouldn’t want them. The rune scrolls on the second floor are for Saint Kings. Each one is worth cities and the average cultivator won’t be able to afford it.”
After entering the second floor, Zhang Ruochen noticed sensitively that there were many formations. If he forcefully took a rune scroll, he would immediately get attacked by the formations.
He walked near the center of the second floor and saw a wooden tablet with Sanskrit words written on it. “Defensive rune scroll, Pagoda Rune.”
“The Pagoda Rune is one of the most popular defensive rune scrolls of the Western Buddhist Field.”
Arhat Jingtai followed him over. He extended a hand and pressed on the wooden tablet. Buddhist Qi poured out of his palm.
Poof!
The formation was opened and a rectangular jade shelf appeared behind the tablet.
There were seven golden scrolls on the shelf. Each one was three inches long. There was a pagoda drawn on each scroll and they were surrounded by Buddhist words.
Each scroll differed in the amount of levels the pagoda had. The light that shone from the scrolls had different densities too.
Arhat Jingtai introduced them to Zhang Ruochen. “This is a first level Pagoda Rune. It can stop a first step Saint King’s attack and be used multiple times until it shatters.
“A second level Pagoda Rune can stop a second step Saint King’s attack…
“A seventh level Pagoda Rune can stop a seventh step Saint King’s attack and be used multiple times.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes stopped on the seventh level Pagoda Rune. He was very interested. “How much does one cost?”
Arhat Jingtai instantly smiled his trademark smile with crinkled eyes. “Forty million saint stones. No bargaining.”
How much was 40 million saint stones?
Many Saint Kings who’d lived for more than 1,000 years wouldn’t be able to produce ten million saint stones at once. Forty million saint stones was enough for you to ask a ninth step Saint King to do something for you.
“It’s this expensive? No wonder most cultivators don’t have high-level defensive runes. Even a Deity might not be able to spend 40 million saint stones.”
After buying the Unfounded Pearl, he only had ten million saint stones left. How could he afford a seventh step Pagoda Rune now?
Arhat Jingtai could obviously tell that Zhang Ruochen couldn’t afford it, so he started explaining how much the other Pagoda Runes cost.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen realized that even if he spent all his saint stones, he could only afford a fourth level Pagoda Rune and stop a fourth step Saint King.
He didn’t buy it immediately. Instead, he had Arhat Jingtai show him some offensive rune scrolls.
“The Light-burning Rune is a one-time rune scroll. After activating it, it’s comparable to a third step Saint King’s full power attack. It costs four million saint stones.
“The Buddhist Light Rune is also a one-time rune scroll. Once activated, it’s comparable to a fourth step Saint King’s full power attack. It costs ten million saint stones.”
…
The more Zhang Ruochen saw, the more numb he felt. These runes were quite powerful but…too expensive!
Just imagine. He could pay all his savings but only receive one rune scroll. This was enough to stop countless Saint Kings.
Thinking back, he’d really profited from getting Gu Songzi to make those three Tiangang Purple Fire Runes for him!
After all, those were comparable to the Buddhist Light Rune and each one should cost ten million saint stones. Using one rune scroll was like spending an entire treasury. Millions of saint stones would turn to ashes at once.
Zhang Ruochen thought of the two Tiangang Purple Fire Runes that he’d used already and wanted to cut his hands off. He’d been so wasteful!
No wonder a rune master is of equal status with a Supreme Saint. I finally understand why now… I must be lifelong friends with Gu Songzi.
Thankfully, Gu Songzi was stuck in the Shatuo Heavenly Domain and was too poor to buy materials for making rune scrolls. If he was as rich as other rune masters, it wouldn’t be so easy for Zhang Ruochen to ask him to make rune scrolls.
Seeing how Zhang Ruochen wasn’t replying, Arhat Jingtai asked, “Sir, which rune scroll would you like to buy?”
After a pause, Zhang Ruochen finally said, “I have limited saint stones with me, but I recently received a rules saint weapon. Could you appraise it and see how many saint stones it can be exchanged for?”
With that, Zhang Ruochen took out a tripod-shaped rules saint weapon and handed it over.
Someone would actually sell a rules saint weapon?
Arhat Jingtai was taken aback. Then he quickly accepted the small tripod and started studying it to see what grade it was.