CHAPTER 638: CHAPTER 506: THE SWAPPED SUPREME TREASURE

Originally, the matter could have been settled with five million taels of gold, but it was forcibly extorted for an additional million taels. One can imagine the look on Long Sixuan’s face.

Fortunately, the item was finally in hand.

As a scion of the Long Clan and the son of the Clan Leader, Long Sixuan had rather good discernment.

This Glazed Jade Fan was exquisitely crafted; its entire body was emerald green, palm-sized, and at the end of the handle, there was a hanging Jade Tassel.

He looked at the Glazed Jade Fan and probed it with his spiritual power.

He discovered that this jade fan was a Spiritual Artifact capable of controlling wind, and it could transform into a Flying Spirit Artifact. With a certain amount of spiritual power infused, the fan could expand to the size of a carpet, accommodating five or six people at the same time.

Such a level of Spiritual Artifact would normally be Earth-grade Lower Grade or Middle Earth-grade, but the exquisite nature of this Glazed Jade Fan was that it was of high quality with not a single impurity inside.

If used for flying, its speed was double that of average Earth-grade flying artifacts, truly a treasure among flying Spiritual Artifacts.

Begrudgingly, the extra million taels of gold weren’t too bad a loss, using it to participate in the initial trials of the World’s First Refining would be more than sufficient.

Long Sixuan was pleased when a faint hum came from the room.

Long Sixuan looked at the inner chamber of the room with disgust.

It was a spacious room, divided into an inner and outer section; this place was originally the bedroom of Long Huai of the Long Clan.

Long Sixuan stepped into the inner chamber, where on the sickbed lay an old man with a rigid body and withered face.

The old man’s body had a reeking odor of urine, evidently incontinent and unable to take care of himself.

This person was the Clan Leader of the Long Clan, Long Huai.

Upon learning of his fourth son Long Sixuan’s ambition, Clan Leader Long Huai became wary of him and secretly sent away Long Baobao.

Little did he know, Long Sixuan, this beast no better than a pig or dog, harbored resentment after learning the news of Long Baobao’s escape and used poison to turn Long Huai into this corpse-like state.

Long Huai could not move his limbs and could only rely on servants to barely keep him alive by feeding him Elixir Pills.

"You old thing, lying there must be quite boring, why don’t I show you a few amusing things?" Long Sixuan laughed cruelly.

He had no affection for his father.

He was narrow-hearted with boundless ambition, has been coveting the position of Clan Leader since he was young. Although his talent surpassed that of his elder brother Long Si Hai, the old man insisted that the Long Clan had always been inherited by the legitimate eldest grandson, and passed the Ultimate Skill of Artifact Refining to Long Si Hai.

Finally, when Long Sixuan also died, he thought that the old man should hand over the position of Long Family Master to him.

But the old man took a liking to Long Baobao instead.

Repeated disappointments filled Long Sixuan with deep hatred for Long Huai and Long Baobao, leading to his actions of poisoning his own father and murdering his nephew.

Long Sixuan took out the box containing Long Baobao’s severed head and cruelly lifted it.

"Old thing, do you see? This is the beloved grandson you longed for day and night."

Upon seeing the bloodless, tightly closed eyes of the child’s head, Long Huai, the Family Head, let out an indistinct whimpering sound, struggling to speak.

"Long Sixuan, you beast, you didn’t spare even such a small child."

Long Huai regretted not heeding Housekeeper Huang’s advice to be wary of Long Sixuan earlier. If only he had known of Long Sixuan’s wolfish cruelty, he should have killed the monster when he had the chance.

"Baobao, it’s Grandpa who has harmed you."

Feeling worse than dead, Baobao had been Long Huai’s only hope after he himself was poisoned. But now, even his most treasured grandson had perished, leaving Long Huai in utter despair.

With firm resolve, he was about to bite through his own tongue to end his life when Long Sixuan, who had anticipated this, firmly grasped Long Huai’s chin.

"Old Ghost, you want to die? It won’t be that easy. Let me tell you, you absolutely cannot die before I seize the title of the World’s First Refining. Don’t worry, I know it’s very boring to be alone. So, I’ll preserve the head of Long Baobao and place it beside your pillow, to keep you company every day." Long Sixuan smiled viciously.

"Beast, stop deluding yourself. With your capabilities, you could never seize the title of World’s First Refining. You’re dreaming." Long Huai, unable to seek death, had eyes brimming with blood.

"Old Ghost, you’ve always looked down on me, thinking Long Si Hai and Baobao were more talented than me. What a pity, those two fools, talented without brains, ended up being killed by me in the end. Now, take a good look; does this Spiritual Artifact not look familiar to you? Isn’t this the very item crafted by your precious grandson?"

Long Sixuan slowly took out the Glazed Jade Fan, determined to make the old man pay for years of being blind to the truth, to make him live every remaining day in agonizing torment.

"What? Even your eldest brother was killed by you! You... you truly lack humanity." Overcome with grief and rage, Long Huai wished to grind Long Sixuan’s bones to dust.

At that moment, however, he saw the Glazed Jade Fan in Long Sixuan’s hands.

Something flashed through the old Clan Leader’s mind.

This time, to let Baobao shine in the preliminaries, the Artifact Refining process was kept secretive, with only Long Huai and Baobao himself involved.

Even Housekeeper Huang and Long Sixuan knew only that Baobao had crafted a fan, but the specific Grade and type were unknown to them.

How could it be the Glazed Jade Fan?

There was no doubt that this Glazed Jade Fan was also an Earth-grade top-grade Spiritual Treasure, but neither in practicality nor quality did it surpass Baobao’s fan, a fact the old Clan Leader remembered vividly.

Although Long Huai was puzzled, he soon felt a wave of joy.

Baobao had once said, as long as he lived, he would protect that Spiritual Artifact at all costs – If the fan existed, so did the person; if the fan was gone, the person would be too.

The fan had been swapped, and someone, in order to deceive Long Sixuan, even used an Earth-grade top-grade Spiritual Artifact of similar quality as a diversion.

Thinking back, the old Clan Leader realized that he had been too agitated earlier to inspect the severed head closely, but when he saw the head, aside from rage, he did not feel overwhelming grief.

If it had indeed been his own grandson, tied by blood, how could he remain indifferent?

Baobao, he wasn’t dead!

As someone who had weathered many storms, the old Clan Leader went from fury to joy in an instant, yet concealed it brilliantly.

Long Sixuan didn’t notice anything amiss with the head or the Spiritual Artifact.

"Long Sixuan, you will not die a good death," Long Huai closed his eyes, hiding the joy in his heart, as he cursed bitterly.

"Old Ghost, then just wait for the day I meet my bad end," Long Sixuan laughed heartily, striding away.