Chapter 558 - 271: Cyan Heaven Dharma Aspect

Chapter 558: Chapter 271: Cyan Heaven Dharma Aspect

...

「On the morning of the fifth day.」

The market on Upper Street was already bustling.

Wang Laoshu squatted in a corner, puffing away on his long-stemmed pipe.

In front of him sat a large sack of brown rice.

Just then, a middle-aged man in a coarse, short robe, carrying a small bag, walked over.

"Need some brown rice? Twenty cents a pound, one cent cheaper than the grain merchants over there."

Wang Laoshu quickly tapped the ash from his pipe and greeted him with a smile.

"Twenty cents? Too expensive! It was only fifteen cents before the prices went up!" the man said lazily.

"Then what’s your offer?" Wang Laoshu asked with a frown.

"Eighteen cents a pound, tops. Take it or leave it. If you don’t sell, I’ll just wait for the price to drop back to fifteen cents," the man said.

"Eighteen cents?" A sharp pain shot through Wang Laoshu, as if he had a toothache. He had bought this very sack of brown rice for twenty cents a pound.

If he sold it for eighteen, he’d lose two cents on every pound!

But if he didn’t sell, he’d lose even more when the price dropped further.

"Fine, eighteen cents it is. How many pounds do you want?" Wang Laoshu said, gritting his teeth.

The man squatted down, scooped up some of the brown rice to inspect it, and nodded. "This rice isn’t bad. I’ll take two pounds."

"What?" Wang Laoshu’s eyes went wide.

The man drawled, "I’ll just buy two pounds, enough for today. I’ll come back for tomorrow’s rice tomorrow. Maybe the price will be even lower then."

"Sigh... Fine, two pounds it is!"

...

After finally managing to sell those two pounds of brown rice, he had no more customers.

Just then, Wang Chun returned, looking dejected. Wang Laoshu hurried over. "How did it go?"

Wang Chun said, "The grain sold by the Finance and Grain Department today is only thirty percent more expensive than it was a month ago. The other grain merchants are all charging the same.

And many common folk with surplus grain are selling it for even less."

Wang Laoshu stomped his foot repeatedly. "Sigh... If I’d known the price was going to drop, our family never should have hoarded so much grain.

Now we’re set to lose several hundred cents on a single sack."

Wang Chun said, "Dad, if we had listened to Lord Chen and sold our surplus grain yesterday, we could have made several hundred cents!"

"Sigh... You’re right, we should have listened to Lord Chen." Wang Laoshu sighed again. "By the way, did you find out? This price drop... was it really because the Finance and Grain Department brought in grain from other regions?"

Wang Chun replied, "The people at the Finance and Grain Department are tight-lipped. I couldn’t find out anything.

But a lot of people are saying it was Lord Chen who came up with all sorts of plans and paid a huge price to make the grain prices fall.

Right now in Linji City, the amount of grain being sold by the Finance and Grain Department is still small. Most of it belongs to the other grain merchants.

I heard that a lot of the wealthy masters in the city who had grain reserves are short on silver for their businesses, so they’re all selling off their stores.

Even with the drought this year, the grain prices won’t rise much anymore."

"We’re so fortunate to have Lord Chen looking out for the people. He’s a true ’Cyan Heaven’ Lord!" Wang Laoshu exclaimed.

The next day, grain prices in Linji City returned to the level they were at a month prior.

The grain prices in the counties under its jurisdiction also fell quickly.

All of this was due to a single decree from Lord Chen.

Grateful for his benevolence, the common people all began to call him Master ’Cyan Heaven’ Chen!

...

「Three days later.」

Chen Cheng stood tall on the highest point of a roof in the Cyan Dragon Courtyard, his profound eyes gleaming in the pre-dawn darkness.

Streams of Telekinesis converged from all directions, suffusing the air above the Cyan Dragon Courtyard.

Chen Cheng’s mind was clearer and more lucid than ever before, and the Vast Righteous Qi Song surfaced in his thoughts unbidden.

A single ray of dawn pierced the night!

The Telekinesis suddenly surged toward the space above Chen Cheng’s head, coalescing into the phantom of a Dharma Aspect about ten feet tall.

The phantom gradually solidified, revealing a Dharma Aspect with a handsome face, dressed in a cyan robe with a Long Saber at its waist—a perfect likeness of Chen Cheng.

"So this is Vast Righteous Qi?"

A faint smile touched Chen Cheng’s lips, and the Dharma Aspect smiled in kind.

"Go!"

With a soft cry!

The Dharma Aspect shot straight up, rising over a hundred feet, and then tread upon the void. It slowly unfurled its form, looking down upon all of Linji City!

’I can faintly sense threads of Telekinesis continuously pouring out from the streets, alleys, and houses below, all flowing toward me.’

"I never expected I’d be able to form a Literary Dao Dharma Aspect. This is a truly unexpected reward!"

The Dharma Aspect muttered to itself, then suddenly pointed into the void. The Telekinesis instantly condensed into a ten-foot-long Longsword. With a gentle slash, it rode the Momentum of the heavens and earth to easily tear open the void, letting out a soft hum.

"Cyan Heaven Dharma Aspect, Vast Sword Intent!"