Chapter 141: To Get Rich, First Learn to Put on Airs!

In that very instant, Chen Xiang gained over a thousand prestige points!

Although mortals provided very few prestige points, the sheer quantity made up for it. Furthermore, there was a specific achievement that required the admiration of mortals to unlock, which brought a broad smile to Chen Xiang's face.

He had never expected that casually showing off would yield so many prestige points.

Previously, when cultivating his second nascent soul, he had nearly exhausted all his prestige points. Later, when dealing with that Deity Transformation stage man at the Li family stronghold, he had spent several hundred more, leaving him with almost nothing.

Yet in just these past few days, he had earned one to two thousand. With a little over two thousand prestige points now, he could be considered moderately wealthy.

Only when one is at their poorest does one truly appreciate the value of prestige points!

Everyone down below was completely captivated by the traditional Chinese painting Chen Xiang had created, unable to tear their eyes away.

"Alas, such a flawless painting! This is the first time in my life I have ever witnessed such a masterpiece!"

"Indeed! I have previously seen Young Master Hu paint, but his works pale terribly in comparison to this bustling street scene!"

"To be able to behold such a painting in this lifetime, I can die with no regrets!"

Everyone was exclaiming in awe.

Just then, a wealthy merchant snapped back to his senses, shouting at the top of his lungs toward Chen Xiang, "Young Master Chu, I wish to buy this bustling street scene! Will you take ten thousand taels?"

The others also jolted awake from their trance, reacting instantly.

"Hah! Ten thousand taels? Have you no shame? Don't you know that ten thousand taels of Young Master Chu's is barely enough to wipe his backside once? Young Master Chu, I offer fifty thousand taels!"

"Eighty thousand! This is a major portion of my entire estate!"

"One hundred thousand! This is my entire fortune!"

A group of wealthy tycoons began bidding one after another.

These bidders were among the foremost wealthy merchants in Liuxin City, possessing fortunes vastly greater than Young Master Wang and his peers, which explained why they were so extravagantly wealthy.

Moreover, being businessmen, they immediately recognized the true value of the painting. If kept as an heirloom, its price would multiply dozen- or even scores-fold in the future!

Young Master Wang and the others could only stand on the sidelines and watch, their spotlight completely stolen by a single painting, leaving them utterly depressed.

Yet this only made their expressions grow even more solemn.

Chen Xiang had already secured the top spot once; they could not afford any more mistakes in the subsequent rounds.

The five options essentially formed a best-three-out-of-five contest. Since they were in cahoots, they could employ a minor strategy to concentrate all three victories on a single person, but first, they actually had to win three rounds!

Chen Xiang glanced at the wealthy merchants arguing until their faces were red and said with a faint smile, "Apologies, I have no intention of selling this painting. I certainly have no shortage of toilet paper."

Hearing this, those people looked somewhat dejected, though a few remained unrelenting, trying to persuade Chen Xiang to sell it to them.

Ignoring them, Chen Xiang walked over to Madame Xiao.

Presenting the painting to her, Chen Xiang said, "Madame Xiao, I came to your esteemed manor without bringing any prepared gift. As the saying goes, unearned favors should not be accepted, but since Miss Xiao invited me, I present this painting to her. Madame, please pass it on on my behalf."

"This..." Madame Xiao found herself in a difficult position. The painting had just commanded bids of up to two hundred thousand taels of silver, yet Young Master Chu was giving it away to her daughter without even blinking. How could she possibly accept it on her behalf?

Meanwhile, the wealthy merchants stared with bloodshot eyes, looking as though their wives had just been stolen from them.

"Madame Xiao, please accept it on behalf of Miss Xiao. I can paint as many of these as I like—churning out a few hundred of them is a breeze," Chen Xiang said indifferently.

Hearing this, the crowd almost coughed up a mouthful of old blood.

A breeze to paint a few hundred? Then sell us one, you jerk!

"Very well then, on behalf of my daughter, I thank Young Master Chu." Madame Xiao stopped hesitating and accepted the painting. Besides, she genuinely adored the artwork.

"Very well, Brother Wang, let us continue," Chen Xiang said with a faint smile, turning back to look at Young Master Wang and his companions.

Young Master Wang and the others clenched their teeth tightly, grinding them fiercely.

"Fine, let us choose the next one," Young Master Wang said through gritted teeth.

Chen Xiang extended a hand, gesturing with a 'please begin your performance' motion.

With a cold snort, Young Master Wang stepped forward, casually picked a slip of paper, and handed it to Manager Sun standing nearby.

Manager Sun unfolded the slip and swept his gaze across the gathering.

"Couplets?"

"This happens to be Young Master Zhang's greatest specialty."

"I wonder if Young Master Chu will win this time."

"I doubt it. Young Master Chu's painting skills are already so extraordinary; if his couplets are equally formidable, how are the rest of us supposed to live?"

"I think so too. Given how young Young Master Chu is, he must have poured immense effort into painting. He probably isn't as proficient in other areas."

The category drawn this time was couplets.

A faint smile hung on Young Master Zhang's face.

When it came to couplets, if he claimed second place in the East Willow Academy, no one dared claim first!

Young Master Wang was growing impatient.

He was decent at couplets himself, but it wasn't his strong suit. To think they hadn't drawn poetry—he couldn't show off even if he wanted to, and he felt like exploding on the spot!

"Ah, couplets. This is rather tricky," Chen Xiang murmured, tilting his head in feigned thought, though a second later he muttered internally, "System, give old Chen a copy of 'The Encyclopedia of Couplets'!"

"Ding! Congratulations, host 'Chen Xiang', for redeeming a copy of 'The Encyclopedia of Couplets'. Two hundred prestige points have been deducted!"

"Ding! Host has successfully used 'The Encyclopedia of Couplets'. The contents of this book have been stored in the host's mind!"

A moment later, the entire contents of the couplets encyclopedia flooded Chen Xiang's mind, becoming so deeply engraved that it would be impossible to forget even if he tried!

"Heh heh, with a system, who do I have to fear? Couplets? I'm truly not afraid of anything!" Chen Xiang chuckled to himself.

After all, showing off was the ultimate source of prestige points! To get rich, mastering the art of showing off must come first!

Everyone was prepared.

Young Master Wang took the initiative, sneering, "Loquat blossoms open, two hard shells contend for spring colors!"

There was a distinct undercurrent of resentment in his words, mocking both Chen Xiang and Young Master Zhang.

However, Young Master Zhang failed to pick up on the insult, believing they were still on the same side.

"Wutong leaves fall, a single bare stick goes begging in the autumn wind!" Young Master Zhang replied after a moment of thought.

The others present, however, caught the hidden meaning and prudently kept their mouths shut, taking a few steps back to avoid getting dragged into the crossfire. Meanwhile, Young Hu remained dazed and had essentially bowed out of the contest.

Chen Xiang watched the two of them with amusement. Young Master Wang was insulting both of them, but while Young Master Zhang missed the insult directed at himself, he inadvertently helped insult Chen Xiang.

Many in the audience also noticed the subtle tension, but none dared to voice it.

"Big tree with dense leaves, no nameless little bird nests here!" Chen Xiang countered.

His hidden meaning was to mock their meager endowments, hoping they wouldn't catch on.

"Hmph." Young Master Wang realized Chen Xiang was insulting them, though he didn't catch the exact nature of the jab. Consumed by anger and in no mood for couplets, he snorted and stepped back, leaving only Young Master Zhang and Chen Xiang in the arena.

Realizing that Chen Xiang had won a minor advantage, Young Master Zhang took the offensive.

"Freezing rain sprinkles the window, two dots east, three dots west!" Young Master Zhang said with a cold snort.

"Slicing melons to share with guests, seven cuts above, eight cuts below!" Chen Xiang matched him instantly.

"Arrogant and conceited, unaware of your own weight!" Young Master Zhang declared.

He was accusing Chen Xiang of arrogance and a lack of self-awareness, serving as an indirect warning.

Would Chen Xiang be intimidated by that?

"Narrow river with shallow water, hard to harbor a horned dragon!" Chen Xiang replied calmly.

Fuming with rage, Young Master Zhang loudly declaimed, "One village, two hamlets, total three scholars, ignorant of four books, five classics, and six arts, yet daring to teach seven or eight disciples—utterly audacious!"

Chen Xiang shook his head and retorted, "Ten households, nine impoverished, scraping together eight liang, seven qian, six fen, five li, four li of silver, still half-hearted and of the lowest class!"

"Hiss!"

The onlookers stared in dumbfounded amazement. This guy—even his couplets were this formidable! He matched Young Master Zhang almost the very microsecond the words left his mouth, and with such immaculate structure. Had they not known the two were on bad terms, they would have thought the pair were just playing a friendly game!

"You!" Young Master Zhang's anger surged to new heights. Chen Xiang had essentially called him of the lowest class; that was something he could not tolerate.

"Hmph! Two apes hacking wood deep in the mountains, let's see how this little monkey handles this line (hoof)!" Young Master Zhang raged.

He had set a trap with a difficult double-entendre.

How could Chen Xiang fail to catch it? Without missing a beat, he fired back: "Ha! A horse trapped deep in the muddy mire, let's see how the old beast steps out of this prompt (hoof)!"

"Er..." Young Master Zhang choked on his words, his sentence hanging in mid-air.

Everyone else wore expressions of utter shock.

They knew it—this Young Master Chu had won again!

With this counter-couplet, if Young Master Zhang answered back, he would essentially be admitting that he was the "old beast"!

Furthermore, he didn't dare accuse Chen Xiang of foul play, because he had been the one to initiate the insults in the first place, leaving him with no ground to stand on.

"Hmph!"

With an angry huff, Young Master Zhang flicked his sleeve and retreated.