233: Chapter 233 A Jade Axe Worth Eighty Million (Part 2)

"Oh? Master Ma, you actually hid such a treasure in your hands?" Xing Zhenkun narrowed his eyes and continued with curiosity, "How come I've never heard you mention it before?"

"Since it is a treasure, it naturally awaits someone destined for it. Today, if it weren't for the instant rapport with Young Master Qin, I definitely wouldn't have brought this treasure out to show others." Master Ma laughed triumphantly, the wrinkles on his face seeming to smooth out.

But immediately after, Master Ma added: "It's just that it cannot be confirmed whether this jade axe was owned by Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin. But what is certain is that it indeed comes from the Northern Song Dynasty, and furthermore, there is a touch of blood-red color seeping within the axe blade..." Speaking to this point, a glimmer of cunning flashed in Master Ma's eyes as he watched the expressions of the few people.

"Blood-red? Could it be bloodstains? Zhao Kuangyin's bloodstains? If that's really the case, then this treasure is priceless." As Xing Zhenkun spoke, even his breathing became rapid.

Qin Yi, however, shook his head and laughed: "Brother Kun, how could it be bloodstains? Zhao Kuangyin lived over a thousand years ago; even if it were blood, it couldn't have been preserved until now. In my opinion, it might be the legendary blood-soaked Hetian jade."

"Haha, you all don't need to guess. Whether it's blood jade, you'll know once you see it with your own eyes in a moment." Master Ma smiled mysteriously, then looked at Qin Yi and asked, "Young Master Qin, I wonder if you are interested in accompanying me to take a look."

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of excitement flashed in Qin Yi's eyes. He nodded quickly and replied: "Of course I'm interested. Since Master Ma is willing to let me broaden my horizons, I naturally wouldn't want to miss it."

"Good~ In that case, everyone, please follow me." Saying this, Master Ma turned around and led everyone out of the reception room, walking towards the jade exhibition hall.

Along the way, Qin Yi and the others followed closely behind Master Ma, their eyes scanning the exhibits on both sides from time to time, their faces full of interest. The collection in this private museum was indeed rich, and every item could be called a masterpiece, truly dazzling.

Before long, the group arrived in front of a rosewood box carefully protected by a glass cover.

Master Ma took out a special key from his waist and inserted it into the keyhole of the glass cover. As the key turned left and right, the glass cover slowly opened, and the rosewood box appeared before them.

The staff member waiting on the side immediately and carefully removed the lid of the rosewood box. Master Ma raised his hand and lifted the yellow silk cloth under the lid, displaying a jade axe with a color as white as congealed fat before everyone.

Master Ma watched everyone's expressions with a smile, raising his hand to signal that everyone could come forward to take a closer look.

Qin Yi and the others crowded around impatiently. They saw that the jade axe was small and exquisite, its entire body warm, moist, and translucent. On such an exquisite jade axe, a lifelike Dragon head was carved. At the blade of the axe, just as Master Ma had said earlier, a touch of blood-red extended from the blade to the Dragon head, as vivid and eye-catching as a bloodstain.

"Master Ma, is this jade axe really an item from the Song Dynasty?" Qin Yi couldn't help but ask.

"Hmm, this isn't just my own opinion; it has been appraised by many parties and is indeed an item from the Song Dynasty." Master Ma nodded affirmatively, "But, as for whether it was an item used by Zhao Kuangyin... that is unknown. However, even if it wasn't his, it's still worth a fortune!"

"Master Ma, can I touch it with my hands?" Qin Yi asked tentatively, his eyes full of longing.

"Of course, Young Master Qin, please feel free." Master Ma raised his hand generously to signal, then reminded, "However, Young Master Qin needs to be a bit careful."

Qin Yi was overjoyed. After nodding in agreement, he reached out and gently touched the jade axe.

In an instant, he felt an unprecedented sense of refreshment passing from his fingers into his body, as if there were a flow of Qi moving through his meridians throughout his body. At that moment, Qin Yi felt as if his whole person had been purified.

He couldn't help but exclaim: "What a great treasure!"

Who knew, just as he was secretly marveling, a System prompt suddenly sounded in his mind. This sudden sound made him pause.

[Ding! Host, please note that the System has detected abnormal Spiritual Qi fluctuations in the vicinity. This Spiritual Qi is a necessity for upgrading the Low Grade Spiritual Artifact dagger, clear shadow!]

Hearing the System's prompt, Qin Yi's eyes brightened slightly. Looking at the jade axe in front of him, he secretly guessed: "Spiritual Qi, could it be that this jade axe is emitting it? Could the Qi I felt when I just touched the jade axe be Spiritual Qi?"

Thinking of this, he turned to Master Ma without hesitation, a sincere smile appearing on his face: "Master Ma, this jade axe really makes my heart beat fast. I wonder if you are willing to part with it?"

Upon hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed in Master Ma's eyes, and then he laughed: "Young Master Qin, are you serious?"

Qin Yi nodded heavily, his gaze firm: "Absolutely! I am determined to get this jade axe, no matter how much it costs, I am willing to pay. Please name your price!"

Master Ma stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and then spoke: "A few years ago, Christie's Auction House auctioned a Han Dynasty yellow-soaked ancient jade axe. Just the axe head alone sold for a high price of 38 million. Although my jade axe is slightly younger in age, it has the advantage of having both a complete handle and axe head, and the blood color on the blade is natural. Therefore, the price, naturally, has to be much higher."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yi waved his hand carelessly: "It doesn't matter. As the saying goes, gold has a price but jade is priceless; if I like it, it's a priceless treasure. Master Ma, feel free to name your price. The value of this jade axe is far beyond what money can measure."

Just as Qin Yi finished speaking, the System prompt in his Sea of Consciousness rang out.

[Ding! Detected that Supervisor Ma's favorability towards the Host has increased by 20 points, current favorability is 80!]

[Ding! Favorability with a person of the same gender has reached 80, triggering a random System task — within 48 hours, increase Supervisor Ma's favorability towards the Host to 90!]

[Task completion rewards the Host with Charm +1, Intelligence +1, and the special skill 'Jade Appreciation Master'; task failure will randomly deduct two points from the Host's six-dimensional attributes and cause 24 hours of continuous bad luck.]

However, before Qin Yi could recover from the surprise of Master Ma's favorability towards him increasing so quickly, a trace of appreciation had already flashed in Master Ma's eyes as he looked at Qin Yi. Subsequently, he didn't dither anymore, directly extended his hand, made a gesture of eight to Qin Yi, and then said: "Since Young Master Qin is so straightforward, then I will be straightforward as well. 80 million, if Young Master Qin likes it, take it."

"Good!" Qin Yi agreed without hesitation, "80 million it is, I want this jade axe!"

"Cough," Master Ma was shocked by Qin Yi's straightforwardness. He coughed lightly to hide his loss of composure, and continued hesitatingly, "Young Master Qin, this is not a small amount. Are you sure you don't need to discuss it with your family?"

Xing Zhenkun also recovered from the price of 80 million at this time. Watching this scene, a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

He walked up and whispered a few words into Master Ma's ear.

After hearing this, Master Ma's pupils dilated in shock. He looked at Qin Yi in disbelief, looked him over once more, and then curiously confirmed: "So, Young Master Qin is that mysterious Young Master who spent money like water and bought 3.7 billion worth of luxury cars in one go at Zhenkun's dealership? Truly disrespectful, disrespectful."

Qin Yi thought Xing Zhenkun had whispered something to Master Ma; it turned out to be about buying the cars. So, he laughed and teased Xing Zhenkun: "Brother Kun, has my little matter been spread all over the city by you?"

Xing Zhenkun also laughed and joked: "What do you think? Let me tell you, your feat of buying cars for 3.7 billion has already spread throughout the upper circles of Shanghai. It's just that those people don't know your real name."

"Hahaha, then it seems I have to thank Brother Kun for keeping it a secret for me." Qin Yi cupped his hands in thanks.

"Cough, we are all friends, why be polite? Besides, protecting client privacy is our duty." Xing Zhenkun waved his hand with a sheepish smile, teasing.

"Alright, stop joking around." Qin Yi responded with a smile, and then his gaze turned to Master Ma again, as if afraid that Master Ma would go back on his word, he pressed: "Master Ma, can we trade now?"

"Haha, of course." Saying this, Master Ma changed the subject and added, "However, before the transaction, I have an additional request. If Young Master Qin can agree, I will sell this jade axe to you. How about it?"

"Good~ Master Ma, please speak!"

Master Ma cleared his throat and then said: "You can buy this jade axe, but you cannot privately resell it to others. If you want to sell this jade axe, I have the right of first refusal. Of course, Young Master Qin doesn't have to worry; the price I buy it back at will naturally be based on the market price at that time, and I will definitely not let Young Master Qin suffer a loss."

"Hahaha, Master Ma, rest assured. I truly like this jade axe and will never resell it to others. If you don't believe me, I can write a note right now!"

"Haha, that's not necessary, I trust Young Master Qin's character. Since that's the case, I will sell this jade axe to you."

Immediately, Qin Yi gave a wink to Xu Qian, who was on the side. Xu Qian understood immediately, took out the supplementary card of the centurion black card from her bag, and handed it to the staff member on the side.

After the staff member took the card, he looked at Master Ma to ask for his opinion. Seeing Master Ma nod, the staff member respectfully asked Xu Qian to leave the jade exhibition hall together.

At this moment, Xing Zhenkun, who saw Xu Qian take out that credit card, seemed a bit curious and asked: "Young Master Qin, if I didn't see it wrong, that card just now should be a centurion black card, right?"

"Yes," Qin Yi nodded and replied, "That's right, it is a centurion black card. It was only delivered today. Why? Brother Kun doesn't have one?"

"Oh no, I have one too. However, the limit on my card is only 10 million. Could it be that your card can swipe 80 million?"

After hearing this, Qin Yi smiled: "Haha, to tell you the truth, Brother Kun, my card is quite special, it has a limit of 100 million. It's just enough, I suppose."

Qin Yi acted cool with a calm expression. "Damn!" Xing Zhenkun was shocked by Qin Yi's extravagance once again, and couldn't help but complain, "Young Master Qin, you are too awesome! A 100 million limit! Why is mine only 10 million?"

Master Ma was listening from the side, and his gaze towards Qin Yi became even more fervent. He secretly pondered in his heart: "What is the background of this Young Master Qin? I haven't heard of this person before; it's as if he just popped out of thin air..."

Qin Yi laughed sheepishly and joked: "How about I ask President Xu for you to see if he can increase your limit too?"

"Eh~ forget it, forget it," Xing Zhenkun waved his hand hurriedly, "I'd rather not bring humiliation upon myself." After saying that, Xing Zhenkun shook his head and sighed, "Sigh! People really are different, it's infuriating..."

Speaking of this, Xing Zhenkun seemed to have remembered something again and asked: "By the way, Young Master Qin, are you attending the cocktail party this Saturday?"

"Oh, you mean the cocktail party at the Ritz-Carlton banquet hall?"

"Yes, that's right, that's the one."

"Hmm," Qin Yi nodded and replied, "If there's nothing special on Saturday, I'll go take a look and broaden my horizons."

"Haha, that's good. I wasn't planning on going, but since Young Master Qin is going, I'll go too, and I can introduce those people to you by the way."

The two chatted, and before long, the staff member returned with Xu Qian.

Master Ma smiled and greeted the staff member: "Help Mr. Qin pack this jade axe well, and include the rosewood box as well."

"Yes," the staff member responded, then carefully wrapped the jade axe with the yellow silk cloth, then covered the rosewood box, and carefully held the bottom of the rosewood box and handed it to Qin Yi.

Qin Yi didn't take it immediately, but looked at Xu Qian and said with a smile: "Qianqian, you swiped the card to buy this jade axe, are you sure you want to give it to me?"

Everyone was confused by his meaning. Xu Qian was speechless and thought to herself: I give it to you? Isn't that still swiping your card... What's there to ask about this, it's really boring...

Upon hearing this, the staff member handed the rosewood box to Xu Qian. Xu Qian was helpless and had to take it first.

Afterward, she looked at Qin Yi and said coquettishly: "Young Master Qin, this jade axe is too valuable. And since it's a gift for you, you should hold it yourself..." After saying that, she didn't wait to see if Qin Yi agreed, and directly handed the box into Qin Yi's hands.

"Alright," Qin Yi pretended to have a helpless expression and took it with a smile, but he felt extremely comfortable inside. The moment he took the rosewood box, he silently said to the System, "System, use the Elementary Opposite-Sex Consumption Cashback Critical Hit Card!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the System's pleasant prompt sounded in Qin Yi's Sea of Consciousness!

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host, the Elementary Opposite-Sex Consumption Cashback Critical Hit Card was used successfully! Detected that the Host received a 'Song Dynasty Hetian Jade Axe Handpiece' *1 gifted by an opposite sex, value: 80 million huaxia currency! Successfully triggered a triple cashback critical hit, obtaining 240 million huaxia currency, which has now been transferred to the Host's bank card, please check in time!]

At the same time, the notification sound of Qin Yi's mobile phone text message also rang happily.

However, he didn't check it in front of everyone, and secretly rejoiced in his heart: Awesome! After deducting the 80 million used to pay back the black card, this transaction made a net profit of 160 million! And got a Song Dynasty Hetian ancient jade with Spiritual Qi for free... This is just too awesome!

Now that he had the item, Qin Yi had no intention of wandering around the exhibition hall anymore.

So, he looked at Master Ma and invited him with a smile: "Thank you, Master Ma, for parting with this treasure. I wonder if Master Ma would do me the honor of having a meal together tonight. I'll treat, so I can express my gratitude to Master Ma."