Li Qiye smiled at Jinning and said: “Why not? Are they going to eat me?”
He didn’t hold back on his voice while she was blinking at him in a futile attempt to stop him.
“They’re Brightking Buddha’s companions, don’t compete with them.” She whispered.
“So what? I don’t care if Brightking Buddha is here in person.” Li Qiye refused.
She became afraid, not wanting him to invite needless trouble that might end with death.
The two monks’ expression changed after hearing this. They were attendants of Brightking Buddha, known as Brightking Left Child and Brightking Right Child. [1]
Brightking Buddha was extremely prestigious in Immortal Lineage on top of being powerful. Rumor has it that he was a grand-completion Everlasting or at the peak level. All in all, he was not one to be trifled with.
He joined Academy of Light and became the strongest student in Western Bank on top of being the abbot of Lankavatara Temple - the largest in the world. This latter status was far more prestigious than the first, gaining him the respect of many systems.
These two were his direct attendants and always served him. Thus, they were respected by others as well.
Now, Li Qiye’s blatant disregard for them on top of insulting their master made their expression change.
“Amitabha.” The two of them placed their palms together in unison.
“Benefactor, this wooden Buddha was carved by our progenitor so we wish to take it back to our temple. Please do us this favor.” The right one said.
This was reasonable if the wooden carving originated from their progenitor. It was fine for them to want to take it back to their temple.
Jinning shot more glances at Li Qiye, telling him to abandon this carving. They didn’t need to offend Brightking Buddha and his temple.
This particular temple had numerous wors.h.i.+ppers in Immortal Lineage. Brightking Buddha was naturally very influential as the abbot.
“That has nothing to do with me.” Li Qiye ignored her and said: “It’s just a transaction, go tell someone else about Buddhist fate.”
The two have never experienced such disdain before. Being disrespectful to monks was one thing but one needed to gauge their abilities going against an entire religion.
“Friend, how much is this carving?” The left monk asked the worker.
“300,000 Eternal stones, but of course, hmm, the highest bidder takes it.” The worker could tell that these two groups wanted the carving at all costs. Thus, he encouraged compet.i.tion.
“I will pay 400,000.” The right child immediately said.
“I see, I see.” The worker became excited at the generous display and smiled wryly at Li Qiye who was holding the carving: “Sir, this esteemed monk is offering 400,000, do, do you still want the carving?”
“1,000,000.” Li Qiye stroke the carving and said flatly.
The two monks became annoyed as a result.
“1,100,000.” The right one fought back.
They couldn’t be as bold as Li Qiye and more than double the price. Of course, they could afford to spend given their status but 1,000,000 Eternal stones were a big sum.
“5,000,000.” Li Qiye replied without batting an eye.
“5,000,000…” Jinning looked like a cat that had its tail stepped on.
“5,000,000?” The worker was shocked too. He has seen many customers but none ever raised the price so much.
Li Qiye seemed to be telling everyone that money is no problem.
The two monks found this to be extremely confrontational, going five times higher.
“We bid five-...” The two of them gritted their teeth after hesitating.
“10,000,000.” However, Li Qiye casually interrupted them with another bid.
The two had no choice but to swallow their words, turning red afterward and were speechless.
“You’re insane…” Bai Jinning turned pale. This item was only worth 300,000 but the bid was now 10,000,000 - simply illogical.
The stunned worker thought that this was a once-in-a-hundred-years customer. Just doubling the price was bravado enough. This guy took it to a whole new level as if he was afraid of spending too little.
The two monks exchanged glances. This sum was large enough to make it very difficult now.
They then looked at the carving in Li Qiye’s hand. They could see that it wasn’t simple since they had a keen insight after following their master for so long. Moreover, they were masters themselves.
This carving had incredible Buddhist affinity and probably did come from their progenitor. They weren’t completely sure about this but the carving was definitely worth more than 300,000 stones. 10,000,000 stones were a different story.
Thus, they hesitated and wondered. The crux of the issue was its origin. The value differed so much depending on if it came from their progenitor or not.
They finally made up their mind while staring at the carving, albeit begrudgingly, and were ready to bid again.
“50,000,000.” However, Li Qiye bid before they could speak.
“50,000,000?!!!” The worker blurted out. The shopkeeper noticed and ran over as well.
“You… this isn’t a game…” Jinning’s legs trembled as she tugged on his sleeve and whispered.
“100,000,000.” He responded to her with another raise for no reason.
“...I…I…” Jinning couldn’t form a coherent sentence.
The worker nearly fainted and leaned on the shopkeeper.
The experienced shopkeeper found this astounding as well. Li Qiye ended up bidding 100,000,000 stones for an item priced at 300,000?
Plus, he didn’t even bother listening to his compet.i.tion and just raised the price all by himself.
No one has seen someone bidding against himself before since it made no sense. Only an idiot would do so and they have met one today.
The monks had an ugly expression. First, let’s put aside whether they could afford it or not, spending this much on a wooden Buddha wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t a supreme treasure.
“Ahem, S-sir, you sure you want this carving?” The shopkeeper cleared his throat and was skeptical.
1. These names are a little silly, it is what it is. The word for attendant here has a similar meaning as “squire”, but I can’t exactly use that.