Emperor’s Domination

Li Qiye took out the wooden carving for another look after getting far away from the master-maid duo. He turned it over a couple of times in order to be meticulous.

Bai Jinning also stared at the carving because she liked it at the start, not just because it cost a hundred million stones.

"Looks like you really like this carving." Li Qiye smiled.

"It… used to be an inheritance treasure from our clan but we needed to pawn it. It was passed down from a very ancient ancestor." She said softly, not knowing what kind of expression she had right now.

"Your clan has a karmic tie with Buddhism?" Li Qiye chuckled while casually throwing the carving up and catching it.

This naturally scared the wits out of Jinning. Her eyes followed the falling trajectory. What if Li Qiye were to miss? The thing would break on the ground.

"I… I don't know. I was too young but it was around when I was still back in the clan. We pawned it a bit later then I went to cultivate." She couldn't stay calm right now.

Her clan was from the wildland. However, according to the old seniors, they used to live in Immortal Lineage and needed to move for some reason.

They used to be illustrious but kept on declining, resulting in the move. Everything valuable needed to be pawned off or sold. This Buddha carving was the last item.

The seniors said that this was their defining treasure. They have worshipped it for generations and in return, the carving granted them protection and peace.

During Jinning's generation, the clan became destitute. The seniors wanted to rise up again because they were on the verge of becoming a mortal clan.

Finally, in order to pay for her cultivation expenses, one senior decided to pawn off this carving in order to buy ample resources for her training.

She didn't let them down either, eventually becoming a captain of the famous legion.

Though this achievement wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, she was still considered a cultivation expert - the strongest one within the last few generations of their clan.

She didn't expect to see this carving again today - something that could be described as a touch of fate.

That's why she was completely mesmerized while looking at the display window. Alas, the price of 300,000 stones remained out of her reach.

The next event shocked her even more, Li Qiye spent an insane price to buy the wooden carving.

"The seniors said that this carving has a protective property." The girl was as nervous as can be while looking at Li Qiye playing toss.

Even though it didn't belong to her and that she would never be able to afford the price paid by Li Qiye, she still didn't want him to break it.

"This Buddha can grant peace?" Li Qiye smiled and continued to play with it.

"Stop throwing it, what if you break it? It still cost 100,000,000." She finally glared at him.

He stopped and smiled: "If it can break that easily, it wouldn't have been able to protect your clan for generations since it can't even protect itself."

This logic was a little strange but she still agreed with it. However, it has been in her clan for so long so she had a soft spot for it.

Nevertheless, she felt much better now that he had stopped and heaved a sigh of relief. He clearly didn't care for this item despite how much he spent on it.

"Why did you spend so much to buy it? 30,000,000 would have been enough." Jinning asked.

She thought that he must have loved it in order to justify the sum. Now, this didn't look to be the case considering how careless he was with it.

"What's the difference? It's like buying a meat bun in the morning for someone like you, does it matter if it's three coins or ten?" Li Qiye smiled.

"No, there's none." She said.

Though she was no big deal compared to Eternals and emperors, it was fine for her to spend ten coins in the world of mortals. It wasn't even pocket change. She wouldn't mind spending ten coins even though the bun was only worth three.

"See? 30,000,000 and 100,000,000 are the same thing to me." Li Qiye said.

She became breathless after hearing this. Either number was unreachable for her and nearly all the experts in the world.

Even the princes and dao children of the big sects couldn't afford this sum, evident by the two monks failing to outbid him.

This disparity between him and everyone else could only be described by one phrase - the difference between heaven and earth.

"However, it is worth that much." He added during her daze.

"Is, is it worth 100,000,000?" She couldn't believe it; her eyes opened wide.

In her memories, her clan only got ten or twenty thousand stones from pawning it. It exchanged owners several times later and eventually ended up with the price of 300,000.

This price was already unreasonable in her mind. She wouldn't even be able to buy it back given her current abilities. Thus, his appraisal truly frightened her.

This carving was precious to her for sentimental values. It represented her clan's solidarity and peace.

It was only an inheritance token at best, not a real treasure.

For 300,000, she would definitely buy it when she had the money. As for 3,000,000? This required further rumination.

For 100,000,000? She wouldn't buy it even if she had the money. This price was illogical for a wooden carving.

"In fact, adding a few more zeroes are fine. Eternal true stones can't measure its value." Li Qiye smiled: "Even though I have enough money to burn, I still won't buy trash."

Jinning agreed because he didn't care for the other treasures in the shop. He could have gotten them for free too. This meant that they didn't live up to his standards.

"It is that precious?" She stared at the carving, perplexed.

She had seen it many times before growing up and never noticed anything peculiar.

"It would be amazing if you could recognize its value. Your ancestors were clearly capable, would they pick any random item to be the family heirloom?" Li Qiye said.

"You're right." She replied.

The seniors said that their clan used to be wealthy and prestigious. These ancestors still valued the wooden carving in spite of this.

How could it only be a regular carving? She never thought about this issue before until now.

"Then, what is it? Is it really carved by the Buddhist progenitor himself?" She speculated.