Section Chief Jin's thoughts were simple.
Since even Piao Jiansheng valued the sword marks on the golden ox so much, that was enough to prove how powerful it was. What if he bought it and allowed more people to see it?
That would mean that he could attract a large number of sword art martial artists to the Han state.
Qin Shenglong sneered. As a shrewd old man, how could he not see through Section Chief Jin's thoughts?
"I'm sorry, but we're not selling this statue! It will be transferred and kept at Jianghai Martial Arts Academy."
Everyone in the world knew how shameless the people of Han state were. If that golden ox was given to them and they would attract sword art martial artists, they might even come back to scam the nine provinces.
Qin Shenglong was not stupid.
"The price is easy to negotiate. We can start the negotiation now. 100 million, 200 million, 300 million! One billion! Money is not a problem!"
Seeing that Section Chief Jin still wanted to bargain, Du Changfeng smiled.
"This sword mark was made by a top-tier martial artist. His cultivation might not be inferior to your sword sage, Liu Chengxun. If you take his sword mark away without permission and make him angry, I think no one in your state can save you."
As soon as he said that, Section Chief Jin broke out in cold sweat.
He had only wanted to buy it, but he had not thought of the consequences.
Indeed, the person who could make that sword mark was definitely not an ordinary person. If he took it and made the other unhappy, it might really be a big problem.
Pausing for a moment, he put on a smiling face and settled for the second-best option.
"Director Qin is right, I was rude. However, this sword mark was discovered by our Jiansheng first. It shouldn't be a problem for him to stay in Jianghai city to observe it, right?"
Qin Shenglong frowned slightly.
Actually, he did not want Piao Jiansheng to observe it either.
After all, Piao Jiansheng was from the Han state. If he were to observe it, it would be a loss for the nine provinces.
Martial arts did not have national boundaries, but martial artists had nationality!
At that moment, Du Changfeng transmitted his voice into Qin Shenglong's mind.
"Allow him to do so! Piao Jiansheng has already seen this sword mark, and he already has an impression of it in his mind. Even if you don't let him continue to see it, he has already memorized a lot of it. There's no way to stop it.
"Rather than that, it would be better to use his fame to do something practical for the Jianghai Martial Arts Academy.
"If he were to join the academy, there would definitely be many students who would come because of his reputation and join the martial arts academy as well.
"In addition, his master is the sword sage of the Han state, Liu Chengxun. His attainments in the sword art are no small matter. If you have him share his teachings from the sword sage, it will definitely improve your understanding of sword art. It will definitely be a win-win situation!"
Qin Shenglong's eyes lit up.
'That's right!'
Piao Jiansheng had already seen it. There was no way he could reverse that. It would be better to convince him to join the academy and gain some benefits.
'You have to spit it out the same way you took it in. In fact, I'll have you have to spit it out twice as much!
'If you want to take advantage of our nine provinces, I'll have you know that it is absolutely impossible.'
"Alright! I agree. However, this sword mark is extremely precious, so much so that we can't leave it here. I will bring it back to the academy and preserve it.
"If Piao Jiansheng wants to continue observing it, then he is more than welcome to become an exchange student of Jianghai Martial Arts Academy."
"What did you say?"
Section Chief Jin's expression suddenly changed.
Piao Jiansheng was a star figure among the younger generation in the Han state, the personal disciple of Sword Sage Liu Chengxun! If he became an exchange student of Jianghai Martial Arts Academy, which was a lower-middle-class academy in the nine provinces, he would be letting others take advantage of him for nothing.
How much would that affect his image?
Although that sword mark was strong, Qin Shenglong could not risk showing it to more than one person. If he were to show it to tens of thousands of people, it would not mean that much to Piao Jiansheng anymore.
It was just like an ultimate move. If one person knew it, it would be called an ultimate move. If ten thousand people knew it, it would be a lousy move that anyone could do.
"No!"
Section Chief Jin immediately rejected.
What a joke. After all, only Hans could take advantage of others. How could they let others take advantage of them?
"Then there's no other way. I'll be taking the golden ox now."
"Wait a moment."
Piao Jiansheng immediately stood up.
"I'm willing to join the Jianghai Martial Arts Academy as an exchange student, but only for one year!"
"You're crazy!"
Section Chief Jin could not help but roar, while Piao Jiansheng spoke again,
"I'm not crazy. You go back and tell my master about this. He will handle the rest."
"You! Sigh... You're crazy! I'm going to be killed because of you this time."
Qin Shenglong and Du Changfeng looked at each other and smiled like old foxes.
It could not be said that they were shameless. After all, that was a competition between nations.
Piao Jiansheng had already seen that sword intent and there was no turning back. Therefore he could be used another way.
Although it was not proper, it was for the good of the nine provinces.
...
On Ye Xiao's side, he watched the video of Qin Yuyan and Piao Jiansheng's duel in the library.
It was not that he wanted to watch. He was not interested in the duel between Qin Yuyan and Piao Jiansheng at all.
Qin Yuyan was already in such a state. How strong could Piao Jiansheng, who was fighting with her, be?
It was Gu Hai who had nothing better to do and insisted on showing it to him.
After watching it, Ye Xiao could not help but let out a deep breath.
It was trash!
It was a complete waste of his time!
In Ye Xiao's eyes, the duel between the two of them was just like a child playing house. It was extremely boring.
Even if he suppressed his cultivation to Houtian fifth grade, Ye Xiao felt that he could single-handedly take on ten people like the two of them.
Piao Jiansheng was slightly better, but... In his eyes, he was still trash.
"How is it? Old Ye, isn't it awesome?"
Ye Xiao nodded in response.
"Very awesome... So very awesome."
"There's something even more awesome! The forums, Weibo, and WeChat are all exploding!"
"Oh? What's going on?"
"There's still something about this Piao Jiansheng. He walked to a roundabout in our city and seemed to have discovered an extremely strong sword intent. He was so scared that he spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot. Later on, he shamelessly sat on the roundabout and was unwilling to leave.
"Our Jianghai city is really a land of outstanding people!
"First a mysterious grandmaster, and now a master of swordsmanship!
"Why do you think I never met one who would take me on as a disciple?"
"Roundabout? Sword marks?"
Ye Xiao's eyebrows rose.
'That sounds very familiar.'
If he remembered correctly, the breakfast he bought two days was also on a roundabout, where he killed an evil spirit. At that time, he used his spiritual energy to kill it. Although he suppressed his strength and tried to hold back, it seemed that he still left marks on the golden ox on the roundabout.
"Is there a video?"
"Yes!"
Gu Hai immediately found it for Ye Xiao. When Ye Xiao saw the video, his face could not help but twitch violently.
As expected!
It was that place!
However, that Piao Jiansheng's eyes were quite sharp. How could he have discovered it?
He did not use his full strength at all. That sword mark should only be less than two fingers long.
'D*mn it, it seems that I have to be more careful in the future.
'Next time, I will try my best not to leave a single trace. Otherwise, there will always be some trouble.'