“What should we do?” Yang Yan asked with some worry.
“It’s fine to do nothing. She purposefully brought the subject up as a subtle way to tell me not to worry about it. No one else in Coloured Glass Sect should know about this, otherwise she wouldn’t have come here to ask me to refine her an Origin Condensing Pill.”
“That being said, we should act carefully; after all, Coloured Glass Mountain is Coloured Glass Sect’s foundation and most precious treasure. If they were ever to find out what we’ve done, Coloured Glass Sect would definitely not let it go.”
“I know,” Yang Kai gently nodded, “Right, is Qian Yue in retreat right now?”
“Nope.” Yang Yan shook her head.
“Tell her to come see me then, I have something I need her to help me find!” Yang Kai said briefly before turning around and walking into his cave mansion.
Inside his cave mansion, Yang Kai was sitting cross-legged, his expression calm and indifferent, seemingly thinking about something. When he noticed someone approaching from the outside, he immediately opened the barrier and let them in.
As expected, it was Qian Yue.
“Yang Kai, you wanted to see me?” Qian Yue asked.
“En, come in and sit down!” Yang Kai gestured to her. Qian Yue was somewhat confused about why Yang Kai suddenly summoned her, but she still quickly sat down cross-legged on a futon while glancing around curiously.
Besides Yang Yan, who came and went frequently, Yang Kai’s cave mansion was basically unvisited by others. Only when one of Dragon Cave Mountain’s cultivators wanted to break through a bottleneck or when they needed to enter a long secluded retreat would they come here to use one of the specially prepared cultivation rooms. Using these cultivation rooms was of great benefit because the aura from the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree and the fragrance of the Ten Thousand Year Incense which permeated the cave mansion were both useful for achieving breakthroughs.
This was Qian Yue’s first time coming here, in fact, so naturally she was a bit curious.
This was one of the most confidential places in all of Dragon Cave Mountain.
“What did you need from me?” After looking around for a moment, Qian Yue collected herself and asked. She and Yang Kai were natives of Tong Xuan Realm, and although many years ago her strength was enough to tower over Yang Kai, the good cultivation environment and abundant resources she had now were all thanks to Yang Kai’s blessings. On top of that, Yang Kai’s current strength far exceeded her own.
As such, Qian Yue treated Yang Kai as someone from the same generation, even feeling a hint of awe towards him in her heart.
“I need your help with something.”
Qian Yue smiled lightly, “Oh. I was just worrying about not being able to contribute anything here. Whatever you need from me, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“I need your Soul Avatar to enter my Knowledge Sea!” Yang Kai stared into her eyes and said seriously.
“Ah?” Qian Yue looked surprised as she stared back at Yang Kai in shock. She had never expected him to make such an unbelievable request. It was not a trivial matter to allow someone else’s Soul Avatar to enter your Knowledge Sea. Generally speaking, this practice was only done between the most trusted of friends or the most intimate of partners.
After all, there were too many private things stored in a person’s Knowledge Sea that no one would want outsiders to know about.
Last time, Yang Kai diving into Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea was also thanks to Yang Yan lowering her Knowledge Sea’s defences, otherwise, there would have been no way for Yang Kai to enter.
Listening to Yang Kai say this, Qian Yue was of course extremely surprised as well as grateful.
Regardless of what kind of request Yang Kai had for her, him allowing her into his Knowledge Sea proved first and foremost how much he trusted her.
“It’s fine for me to enter your Knowledge Sea, but what do you want me to do once inside? Are you cultivating some special Secret Technique?” Qian Yue guessed casually.
“No, you don’t need to think too much about it, I just want you to help me find a place,” Yang Kai explained.
“Find a place?” Qian Yue frowned, even more confused. Why would she need to enter Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea to find a place?
“The place where you separated from Su Yan!” Yang Kai’s complexion became slightly gloomy as he let out a sigh. Not waiting for Qian Yue to ask any more questions, he quickly continued, “It’s a bit troublesome to explain in words but you’ll understand once you’re inside.”
Qian Yue was still confused, but she no longer made any inquiries, simply nodding, “Then lower your Knowledge Sea defences.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, closed his eyes, and immersed his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea. The next moment, his Soul Avatar appeared, standing at a position high above the flames.
Before long, Yang Kai felt another Soul attempting to enter his Knowledge Sea. Not making any attempt to resist, he allowed this newcomer inside and soon after, a light flashed in front of him and Qian Yue’s Soul Avatar appeared.
The moment she appeared though, she couldn’t help letting out a scream and quickly circulated her Spiritual Energy to resist the heat coming from all directions.
The situation inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was similar to that of Yang Yan’s but more powerful. The seawater below was essentially comprised of burning hot flames so Qian Yue, who was just a First-Order Saint King, was naturally affected by them.
Seeing this, Yang Kai waved his hand to create a barrier of Spiritual Energy around Qian Yue, isolating her from the impact of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.
“Your Knowledge Sea… is quite dangerous…” Qian Yue’s face was filled with lingering fear as she scanned her surroundings. With her vision, she could naturally tell that Yang Kai possessed a mutated Knowledge Sea, and one of great power at that. If not for Yang Kai providing her protection in this place, she wouldn’t be able to remain for long.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai beckoned to her and immediately flew upwards while focusing his consciousness.
A moment later, an incredible scene appeared as a vast starry expanse began to appear above Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea. One by one, twinkling stars like fireflies began flickering into existence and rapidly spreading out across the sky. Qian Yue’s thoughts froze up as she involuntarily felt like she had suddenly been transported to the Starry Sky.
“This is…” Qian Yue looked around in shock. The scene around her had changed so dramatically and so rapidly that if she was not conscious of being inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, she would definitely have believed she had somehow entered the Starry Sky.
Looking at this astonishing scene, Qian Yue couldn’t help recalling the various trials and tribulations she experienced after entering the Star Field together with Sect Master Qing Ya and her fellow Sect Brothers and Sister from Ice Sect.
These stars were so massive, dazzling, and imposing that Qian Yue could deeply feel how small and insignificant she was. The devastating Starry Sky Storms and endless Asteroid Seas also appeared in her eyes as she examined her surroundings.
Reminded of the tragic death of several of her fellow Ice Sect Elders, Qian Yue’s expression dimmed.
Everything that had happened during that perilous journey was still vivid in her memory and Qian Yue was capable of recalling it all like it was yesterday.
Suddenly, a figure appeared beside her; naturally, it was Yang Kai. Qian Yue turned her head to look at him as a hint of loneliness filled her beautiful eyes.
At the moment, Yang Kai was the only person close to her that she was familiar with. She had no sense of belonging to the Star Field. Qian Yue soon whispered, “Yang Kai, I want to go back to the Tong Xuan Realm. I want to go back to the Ice Sect.”
The weakness in her heart seemed to be completely exposed because of the scene before her, making her look extremely delicate and fragile.
A slightly unusual light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes as he said lightly, “Such a day will definitely come, but before then, you need to first improve your strength.”
As if there was some kind of mysterious power in his voice, Qian Yue heard these words and her beautiful eyes began to cloud over. Yang Kai frowned when he noticed this and quickly let out a shout.
With the loud shout ringing in her ears like spring thunder, Qian Yue’s tender body shook and the weakness clouding her eyes quickly disappeared, allowing her original demeanour to restore itself. After understanding what just happened, she couldn’t help revealing a trace of fear and gratitude.
When she saw this scene of the Starry Sky just now, a crack in her heart had appeared. This flaw in her mind might currently seem unremarkable, but if it was allowed to fester, it would definitely become a Heart Demon, one that would pose a great danger to her whenever she tried to break through in the future.
Once a Heart Demon surfaced during a breakthrough, not only would one fail to reach the next realm, they would suffer from severe backlash and quite possibly have their Soul extinguished on the spot.
Although Yang Kai’s shout wasn’t too loud, he had used his own Spiritual Energy to deliver a shock to Qian Yue, allowing her to awaken her from weakness and reminiscence.
After understanding this point, Qian Yue naturally felt grateful and even rejoiced somewhat. At the same time, she secretly felt like her will was inferior to Yang Kai’s as he was able to maintain control while carrying an even heavier burden.
Taking a deep breath, Qian Yue collected herself before asking, “What is this, and why does it exist in your Knowledge Sea?”
“This is a Star Chart!” Yang Kai stood beside her while also observing the surrounding stars.
This Star Chart was something he obtained from a Chart Master named Wu Suo, who belonged to Purple Star when he first entered the Star Field.
Although Yang Kai didn’t know how Chart Master Wu Suo obtained this strange Star Chart, when the latter died aboard the Purple Star Starship, his Remnant Soul was swallowed by Yang Kai and this Star Chart had remained after using the Demon Eye of Annihilation to purify Wu Suo’s memories.
Yang Kai had explored this Star Chart before but hadn’t paid too much attention to it. After arriving on Shadowed Star, he hadn’t actually taken the time to study this Star Chart thoroughly.
However, after finding Qian Yue and learning that she had been separated from Su Yan and the others from Ice Sect at some point, Yang Kai began searching this Star Chart in his Knowledge Sea for probable locations where the separation might have occurred.
He had once asked Qian Yue to carefully describe the surrounding scene where she had been separated from Su Yan, but he had so far found several matching positions, making it impossible to determine which was the correct one. As such, he needed Qian Yue to enter his Knowledge Sea to confirm the location he was looking for.
Yang Kai was currently unable to find Su Yan, but if he could determine her approximate location, Yang Kai felt he would at least have a place to start looking.
After briefly explaining the mysteries of this Star Chart to Qian Yue, the latter couldn’t help showing a look of shock, never having imagined such a magical thing existed in the Star Field!
The Chart Master profession was non-existent on Shadowed Star; after all, Shadowed Star was extremely remote and isolated from the outside world. Sometimes, people would travel the nearby Starry Sky to look for ores and Saint Crystals, but there was no need for a Chart Master on such a short journey.
“You mean, this Star Chart includes every star in the entire Star Field?” Qian Yue asked with surprise and joy.
“En, even if it doesn’t have absolutely everything, it shouldn’t be missing much,” Yang Kai nodded.
“What about Tong Xuan Realm?” Qian Yue turned to look at him.
“Do you want to have a look?” Yang Kai smiled.
Qian Yue nodded repeatedly, an impatient expression filling her face.
“Then I’ll lead you to have a look!” Yang Kai waved his hand and wrapped Qian Yue in his Spiritual Energy before shuttling through the Star Field in the Star Chart.
As she passed many bright stars, Qian Yue felt as if she could touch them if she just reached out, but she knew that these seemingly real stars were just projections from the Star Chart and were not actually material.
Nevertheless, travelling through the Star Chart still felt like a dream to Qian Yue.
Not only were there brilliant Sun Stars, but also soft glowing Moon Stars, countless Dead Stars without any vitality, and vast Asteroid Seas. It was like the entire Star Field had been shrunk down countless times over and transplanted here.
Qian Yue followed Yang Kai without a sound, and in what seemed like a flash, but felt like forever, the pair came to a halt. At this moment, Yang Kai wore a complicated look upon his face as he stared forward silently.
Following the direction of his eyes, Qian Yue saw a faint blue star. This star was not too noticeable amongst the vast Star Field. This star was not brilliant or dazzling in any way, inferior to many she had witnessed before, but the moment she laid eyes on it, this star became all Qian Yue could see.
Staring blankly at this star, a strange sense of homecoming filled her heart with warmth.
Tong Xuan Realm!
This star was none other than the homeland she dreamed of, the place she had been born and raised, Tong Xuan Realm.
After entering the Starry Sky from the Ice Sect, she had once had the opportunity to see a similar scene of this gorgeous blue star from afar. At that time, she had been filled with a sense of yearning but had no choice other than following Sect Master Qing Ya away.
Qian Yue wept bitterly!
Even if she was a Saint King Realm cultivator now, even if she had been cultivating for several dozen years, at this moment, she was still unable to control her emotions as she felt like a wanderer who had finally returned home, the deep longing in her heart bursting forth.
Yang Kai did not say anything. When he was initially exploring this Star Chart by himself and found where Tong Xuan Realm was located, his reaction wasn’t much better than Qian Yue’s. As a man, he managed not to shed tears, but his emotions were still just as chaotic.
It took a long time for Qian Yue to stop sobbing, turn to look at Yang Kai, and ask softly, “Yang Kai, can we return?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai affirmed categorically.
Qian Yue’s eyes glowed with pleasant surprise. Although Yang Kai’s answer was unfounded, and she was unable to really see any hope of achieving it right now, hearing this answer still filled the emptiness in her heart greatly.
“Thank you, thank you!” Qian Yue suddenly felt quite embarrassed for completely losing self-control in front of a junior, but when she saw her homeland, she simply could not keep her emotions in check. The grievances she had suffered in the Joyous Union Pavilion over the years had weighed down on her heavily, all of them erupting at this moment.
Fortunately, all of that was now behind her and it did not take long for her to regain her composure.
Yang Kai smiled slightly before sending out his Spiritual Energy again to wrap up Qian Yue and lead her away from the blue star.
After a while, the two stopped at a certain place in the Star Chart and Yang Kai asked, “Take a look closely, is this where you and Su Yan separated?”
Qian Yue observed her surroundings for a while before slowly shaking her head, “It’s not here. I remember the Asteroid Sea there was bigger than this one.”
Yang Kai nodded and set out together with Qian Yue again.
…..
Half a day later, the barrier of the cave mansion opened and Qian Yue walked out. Meanwhile, Yang Kai sat alone in his cave mansion with a big smile upon his face.
Finally, Qian Yue was able to positively identify the place where she had separated from Su Yan and the others. Although the rest of Su Yan’s group had also passed through that Void Corridor at that time and it was unknown where they had ended up, this was still an extremely precious clue.
When the time came, as long as he was strong enough, Yang Kai could go directly to that place, find that Void Corridor, enter it, and hopefully find Su Yan.
Of course, all of this depended on him having the necessary strength, so it was a bit early to be considering such things.
After sorting out his thoughts, Yang Kai took out his Alchemy Furnace and a few herbs, refining some pills to calm his mood.
Time flew by and soon a month had passed. On this day, the gateway barrier surrounding Dragon Cave Mountain opened and two figures slowly emerged from it. It was Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
The two of them were naturally setting out to participate in the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction.
In fact, Yang Kai’s original attitude towards this auction was indifference, but after seeing one of the items which was going to be auctioned off, he immediately changed his opinion.
That item was of great use to him, and no matter what, he had to obtain it. As such, he brought out all of the Saint Crystals he could get from Wu Yi in preparation.
Currently, Dragon Cave Mountain did not have anywhere near its peak amount of Saint Crystals, but there were still around 70 million of them. According to his and Yang Yan’s estimates, this number of Saint Crystals would be enough to get that treasure.
After all, although that item was precious, it was just a raw material, so no matter what use others might have for it, no one except Yang Kai should be willing to pay this much for it.
Yang Kai was confident about his assumptions.
Crossing the trivial distance between Dragon Cave Mountain and Heavenly Fate City took but a moment via Star Shuttle.
Heavenly Fate City was currently filled with fishes and dragons, becoming completely overcrowded. City Lord Fei Zhi Tu had already become thoroughly exhausted attempting to maintain order in the city. He was originally a person who didn’t want to get involved in troublesome matters, otherwise, he wouldn’t have requested the Sect Master to assign him to supervise Heavenly Fate City, but with the appearance of the Emperor Garden and a sudden influx of foreign masters from all of Shadowed Star, Fei Zhi Tu’s peace and quiet had been completely destroyed.
The City Defending Array was now fully open, and no one was allowed to fight inside, or else they would be severely punished. On top of that, a powerful Flight Inhibiting Array was active inside the city, preventing anyone from flying.
This set of rules was completely different from before. Previously, when Yang Kai came to Heavenly Fate City, he was able to fly in and out directly, but now he had no choice but to land outside and enter through the city gate together with Yang Yan.
The city gate was also extremely crowded, and Yang Yan couldn’t help shrinking down towards Yang Kai. It took quite a lot of effort for the two of them to pass through safely.
After entering the city and seeing the sea of people literally rubbing shoulders as they walked through the streets, whether it was Yang Kai or Yang Yan, both of them felt a headache coming on. The population of Heavenly Fate City was now more than ten times its usual number.
Fortunately, with the auction being held today, teams of people had been specially assigned to clear roads and maintain order from all the major gates to Treasure Trove Pavilion. This allowed those people of high status who were participating in the auction to move relatively unhindered.
Making his way over to a reception area, Yang Kai took out the golden invitation from his Space Ring and handed it over. The cultivator responsible for the reception immediately showed a flattering look and respectfully said, “Welcome to Treasure Trove Pavilion’s grand auction, two Honoured Guests. You have been assigned a private room in Block B. This way please!”
Saying so, this cultivator called out to a young woman nearby and commanded, “Qing’er, take these two Honoured Guests to their room!”
Although Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s cultivations were not very high, the number of these golden invitations wasn’t large. Yan Pei was fully aware of the amazing financial strength of Dragon Cave Mountain and hoped that Yang Kai could provide a few items for the auction’s finale, so the invitation he had sent to Dragon Cave Mountain was of very high grade. Even if it was not as good as those received by first class Sects, the difference wasn’t great.
When the cultivator responsible for the reception near this city gate saw this invitation, how could he dare act disrespectful?
Upon hearing his orders, a young girl who seemed only seventeen or eighteen years old immediately responded. Bowing elegantly, she opened her red lips and gently beckoned, “Honoured Guests, please come with me!”
Although the girl did not have a particularly beautiful face, she was by no means unpleasant to the eye. Her strength was not very high, only reaching the Immortal Ascension Boundary, however, her voice was particularly charming to the ear. Every move and smile she made had a mysterious charm to it. Clearly, she cultivated a type of Beguiling Technique.
Seeing this, Yang Kai quietly nodded, knowing that Treasure Trove Pavilion had really put in a lot of painstaking effort for this auction. Probably every great force that came here to participate would be assigned a female attendant such as this young girl. Treasure Trove Pavilion wouldn’t have any difficulty cultivating maids of this cultivation, but having them serve their guests would allow them to gain some favour with those who had particular interest in women.
Perhaps if these men were happier, they would be more inclined to spend their money.
The girl named Qing’er walked ahead, leading Yang Kai and Yang Yan in the direction of Treasure Trove Pavilion. While walking, she explained warmly, “Qing’er will be responsible for the two Seniors this time. If two Seniors win anything at the auction, Qing’er will deliver the required Saint Crystals and retrieve the auction item. If two Seniors have any other orders, please don’t hesitate to ask. The managers have specifically instructed Qing’er to satisfy any requirements two Seniors may have.”
“Any requirements?” Yang Yan raised her brow, revealing a faint smile.
“En,” The girl named Qing’er gently nodded, her exquisite earlobes dying a tantalizing shade of pink.
Yang Yan giggled as she shot a meaningful glance over at Yang Kai before moving closer to Qing’er and whispering into her ear. The young girl’s face quickly turned from pink to red, but she still nodded.
Yang Kai wrinkled his nose when he saw this. Although he did not deliberately try to overhear the conversation between Yang Yan and this girl, he knew what kind of questions Yang Yan had asked.
Since this girl had awoken from her coma, her personality had changed! Yang Kai observed Yang Yan pensively as he felt she was not so bold or dissolute in the past. However, this much did not matter as he always felt that Yang Yan’s character was too shy and introverted. Such a change was actually good for her.
Along the way, there were a lot of people on the road and the surrounding area was even more crowded, but with the routes deliberately opened by Treasure Trove Pavilion, the three of them had no trouble advancing.
A short time later, the group arrived at Treasure Trove Pavilion.
There were not many people standing in front of this building, only two actually, but when Yang Kai saw them, he couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.
Because these two were both Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.
One of them was City Lord Fei Zhi Tu, who was standing there with a clearly unhappy and disgruntled look on his face. Thinking about how he was able to relax freely just a short time ago, but now was inundated with problems all day long and needed to constantly deter others from causing trouble, it would be strange if his complexion was good, and indeed it was only slightly better than the man standing next to him.
The one standing next to City Lord Fei was none other than Yan Pei. This Old Black Face not only had a dark complexion but also an even darker heart. Everything auctioned by him personally was sold for a sky-high price; for example, the Origin Condensing Pill that formed Pill Veins that sold during the last auction garnered a miraculous hundred million Saint Crystals.
The masters from the various great forces on Shadowed Star had a complicated relationship with Old Black Face Yan Pei. What they loved about him was that once he organized an auction, the items sold were all guaranteed to be superb, but what they hated was naturally how he made sure each of these items was sold for an outrageously high price, even making their powerful forces feel like they had been taken advantage of.
Two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters standing here showed just how much importance Treasure Trove Pavilion placed on this auction.
Seeing Yang Kai arrive, whether it was Fei Zhi Tu or Yan Pei, both suddenly wore smiles on their faces. When the young girl Qing’er saw this, she couldn’t help feeling greatly stunned. According to her memory, Head Manager Yan Pei rarely showed a smile, and it was enough to cause her to become quite excited.
Such a reaction illustrated that Yang Kai’s status was incredible, which in turn meant that the rewards she might receive were also greater. If she was lucky enough to have Yang Kai take a liking to her, then she wouldn’t need to worry about having enough cultivation resources ever again. Anyone who could attend this auction definitely didn’t lack Saint Crystals.
“Greetings, two Seniors!” Yang Kai’s brow twitched but he still had to step forward and salute.
At the end of the day, he was still the Junior here so he couldn’t just ignore decorum.
“Haha, there’s no need to act overly courteous,” Fei Zhi Tu smiled lightly and waved his hand, causing an invisible force to lift Yang Kai up in a kind and friendly manner. Since seeing the Phoenix Soul Remnant Yang Kai was carrying in his body back in the Emperor Garden, Fei Zhi Tu no longer dared underestimate him.
Even if it was just a weak Soul Remnant, it still belonged to a legendary Ancient Divine Spirit that had disappeared long ago. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that as long as Yang Kai didn’t die and his strength kept improving, the power that the Ancient Divine Spirit Soul Remnant could display would also increase. Although Yang Kai may not have an opportunity to break through to the Origin King realm while suppressed by Shadowed Star’s World Principles, once he reached the peak of the Origin Realm, with the help of that Ice Phoenix Soul Remnant, he would be absolutely invincible.
If Fei Zhi Tu didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to curry favour with Yang Kai while the latter was still small and weak, once he became strong it would be too late.
“Boy, I heard you stirred up some trouble again recently,” Fei Zhi Tu grinned meaningfully and commented.
“I don’t know what Senior is referring to,” Yang Kai replied doubtfully.
“Don’t feign ignorance, didn’t you kill someone from Sea Heart Sect?” Fei Zhi Tu glared at him.
“So it’s about Sea Heart Sect. En, I killed him, so? Did Senior hear some kind of rumour about this?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Not really,” Fei Zhi Tu shook his head slowly, “Sea Heart Sect is based far away, on the Limitless Ocean, but it is still counted as a second-class Sect after all, not a force that can be casually humiliated. Acting so unscrupulously right from the start, have you considered the possible consequences?”
Yang Kai grinned back meaningfully, “After being intolerably bullied, did Senior expect me to simply stand back and bear it?”
Seeing the sharp look in Yang Kai’s eyes, Fei Zhi Tu failed to stifle his laughter and nodded, “If you could bear it, then you wouldn’t be you.”
Last time, Yang Kai had made a mess in Heavenly Fate City despite being surrounded by eight Origin Returning Realm masters and had even killed one of them that belonged to the Xie Family. Fei Zhi Tu had long known that Yang Kai was not one to settle things peacefully, but he still warned lightly, “I heard that the people from Sea Heart Sect are now staying at the Xie Family’s residence and the relationship between the two forces seems to be quite good.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes. A cupped his fists said, “Many thanks for Senior’s reminder.”
“En, in addition, there seems to be another force staying in the Xie Family called Flowing Cloud Valley. In any case, you should be careful.”
“Flowing Cloud Valley?” Yang Kai frowned, his expression changing slightly.
“What, don’t tell me there’s some kind of grudge between you and that Flowing Cloud Valley too?” Fei Zhi Tu was stunned.
Yang Kai just laughed.
Seeing him acknowledge it, Fei Zhi Tu was speechless and quickly waved his hand, “It’s fine, young people should be energetic, so raising a big fuss is only natural. If it gets to be too much of a problem just come to my Heavenly Fate City, that Flowing Cloud Valley won’t be able to stir up anything here.”
“Junior will remember,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
Fei Zhi Tu believed that Flowing Cloud Valley was just a trivial little force, but Yang Kai was actually most concerned about it simply because that Lu Ye came from Flowing Cloud Valley! Yang Kai really didn’t know what he had done to offend Lu Ye to the point where the latter wanted to put him to death back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and although Yang Kai successfully cut off one of Lu Ye’s arms during that conflict, the latter has still managed to escape.
At that time, Yang Kai felt that Lu Ye was somewhat unusual, even an elite like Wei Gu Chang might not be his opponent.
Facing Lu Ye, Yang Kai felt no less pressure than when facing that young man named Leng Qing from Star Emperor Mountain. Both of them could pose a great threat to him, something not possible for Qu Chang Feng or Fang Tian Zhong.
Flowing Cloud Valley was actually able to cultivate such a disciple, so even if they themselves weren’t too powerful a force, Yang Kai didn’t dare look down on them. As such, he had especially collected information on Flowing Cloud Valley since then and after hearing Fei Zhi Tu mentioned them, Yang Kai’s first thoughts were naturally about Lu Ye.
Now that several years had passed, it was impossible for Yang Kai to tell how much Lu Ye’s cultivation had advanced. If he were to fight him again, it wasn’t certain who would emerge the victor, but Yang Kai wasn’t afraid. After all, his own strength was also much higher than when he first fought Lu Ye and he had obtained many more methods with which to confront powerful enemies.
Yang Kai’s conversation with Fei Zhi Tu ended here, but Yan Pei seemed to be waiting to jump in and quickly said, “Little Friend Yang being able to participate in my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction is a great blessing.”
“Haha, Senior is too polite. It is this Junior’s honour to be able to participate in this auction,” Yang Kai replied humbly.
Yan Pei maintained an affable smile as he lowered his voice to ask, “Does little friend perhaps have anything he would like to auction today? Although the auctioned items have already been determined, if little friend has something to contribute, this old master is willing to make an exception. This is not difficult for this old master.”
“Senior must be joking. The good things accumulated by my Honoured Master were all taken out many years ago for the previous auction, there’s really nothing left worth contributing,” Yang Kai said casually. In any case, he had always used this non-existent master to deflect trouble and no one as of yet had been able to determine whether such a powerful master really lived on Dragon Cave Mountain, so speaking nonsense here wasn’t a burden for Yang Kai in the slightest.
“Is that so…” Yan Pei showed a disappointed look, suddenly lowering his voice further and whispering again, “How about this old master reduces the commission by fifty percent again?”
“I truly have nothing to contribute!” Yang Kai replied bitterly.
“Oh, seems this old master was being too forceful. En, little friend, since you’ve arrived then you shouldn’t have to stand around outside. Go inside and rest for a moment, the auction will begin in an hour!” Yan Pei reluctantly relented and allowed Yang Kai’s group to pass.
Yang Kai cupped his fists once more before he and Yang Yan were led inside by Qing’er.
Like the last time he was here, the hall of this grand building was already full of cultivators here to participate in the auction. Even if there were occasionally a few free positions, the number wasn’t high and in the centre of the auction hall was a large round raised platform. It was from this stage that Treasure Trove Pavilion presided over its auction. The walls were all inlaid with glowing stones that spotlighted the high centre platform.
“Two Seniors, please wait a moment,” The young girl named Qing’er asked after walking inside before she moved to a nearby spot and discussed something with another Treasure Trove Pavilion cultivator.
A short time later, she returned with a smile and respectfully handed Yang Kai a wooden token, “This is the control token for two Senior’s private room.”
Yang Kai accepted this token, glanced down at it, and found it was inscribed with the characters ‘B-13’.
After having participated in such an auction before, Yang Kai was familiar with this type of token and knew that it was for room B-13.
However, this was an interesting coincidence. The last time he participated in the auction here, he had been seated in room C-13. But today, he was assigned to room B-13. Although the number had not changed, the grade increased a level.
Last time, it was because of Qian Tong that he could obtain a private room, but this time it was not due to anyone else’s prestige, it was entirely due to Dragon Cave Mountain’s reputation.
Considering all this, Yang Kai curled his lips slightly before storing away this token and indicating to Qing’er to lead the way.
Shortly after, Yang Kai and Yang Yan were seated in the room B-13 and Qing’er was attentively serving them tea. There was no one else in the box except for the three of them.
Motioning to the spirit fruits arranged on the table, Qing’er explained, “These are Sparrow Spirit Fruits which were specially collected by the pavilion for this auction. They are quite sweet and can help purify one’s Saint Qi. Please feel free to try them.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, picked up one of the fruits, and stuffed it into his mouth, nodding with satisfaction a moment later.
Seeing his pleased expression, Qing’er became slightly emboldened and continued, “The auction will not start for another hour. If two Seniors would like, I can arrange for some dancers to entertain you.”
“Oh? Is your Treasure Trove Pavilion’s hospitality so thorough?” Yang Yan asked in surprise.
Qing’er smiled, “Not every guest receives such treatment, only those in Block B and above.”
Yang Yan swept her eyes over Qing’er and smiled tenderly, “It’s not necessary to call anyone else, from your supple waist and slender legs, it’s obvious you’re also versed in such forms of entertainment, why not show us how you dance?”
“Me?” The girl blushed as she timidly shot Yang Kai a glance. Although her cultivation and status weren’t high, she could tell that of these two, Yang Kai was the lead, so naturally, she sought his approval first.
“Don’t cause trouble!” Yang Kai glared over at Yang Yan before saying to the young girl, “She’s just joking with you, you don’t have to take it seriously.”
“Yes,” Qing’er whispered softly, both happiness and disappointment flashing across her eyes.
Fortunately, these two Honoured Guests she was assigned to seemed easy going. Although the woman seemed to like to tease her, there was no malicious intent behind her actions while the man was obviously an upright person so she didn’t have to worry about being put in an awkward position. What disappointed Qing’er was that she didn’t have a chance to perform here.
Yang Kai saw the look on her face and could guess what she was thinking, so he lightly said, “We have no special requirements. You can just tend to your own matters for now. After the auction is over, there will be plenty of benefits for you.”
Qing’er heard this and smiled very happily, “Many thanks, Senior.”
Seemingly having figured out the temperaments of these two Honoured Guests, Qing’er withdrew a few steps and remained silent, only taking the initiative to speak or act if Yang Kai or Yang Yan called upon her.
Soon after, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er came over to chat with Yang Kai.
It wasn’t surprising that these two knew which room he was in as all they needed to do was ask Yan Pei.
These two only left just as the auction was preparing to start.
Inside the auction hall, a middle-aged man dressed in scholarly robes walked onto the high platform. The light beams emitted by the lighting stones gave him a clean appearance, and with the paper fan in his hands, he seemed like a free and unrestrained spirit.
This middle-aged scholarly man was quite good looking and had a few sharp edges to his eyes, which did not make him appear old, but rather added a refined flair to his face. Many of the young girls and women in the hall were instantly drawn to him and many even revealed infatuated looks while they hid more unspeakable desires in their hearts.
There were many other cultivators who also recognized this middle-aged man and could not help showing bitter and gloomy expressions when he appeared.
Many began whispering in the hall and private rooms.
“Damn, it’s Little Black Face presiding over this auction, what the hell is Treasure Trove Pavilion thinking.”
“It’s all over, this time we’ve all fallen into a pit again.”
“I knew Treasure Trove Pavilion didn’t have any good intentions hosting this auction, but I never expected this guy to suddenly run out. Hasn’t it been more than ten years since the last time he played host?”
…..
There were various opinions and comments, and although no one spoke loudly, everyone who was participating in this auction had fairly strong cultivation, so it wasn’t difficult to hear what was being said. This was also true of the middle-aged scholarly man called Little Black Face, but upon hearing all this not only did he not look upset, but he smiled more brilliantly instead, as if he didn’t care one bit about the harsh words being said about him. Seeing this, the young girls and young women who were infatuated with this man began sweeping their beautiful eyes around angrily, as if they were rebuking others for their indiscreet words.
“Little Black Face?” In private room B-13, Yang Kai frowned before thoughtfully asking, “Is this person related to Senior Yan?”
Yan Pei’s nickname was Old Black Face, so this person clearly had something to do with Yan Pei as he was called Little Black Face; however, Yang Kai didn’t understand why all the cultivators around him were treating this middle-aged man like some kind of plague to be avoided.
Yang Yan shot a look of inquiry at Qing’er, expecting her to give an explanation.
Qing’er pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to laugh but not daring to act so inappropriately, taking a moment to compose herself to just smiling before explaining, “Two Seniors, this is Ren Tian Rui, one of our pavilion’s lead auctioneers. Senior Yan Pei is his master, so everyone calls him…”
Qing’er did not dare say anymore. It was alright for outsiders to use the nicknames Old Black Face and Little Black Face as Yan Pei and Ren Tian Rui had clearly earned such reputations, but as a junior member of Treasure Trove Pavilion, Qing’er obviously couldn’t take such liberties, otherwise, if others were to hear of it, she would definitely be punished.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter though and nodded, “So that’s how it is, I understand.”
It seemed that this auctioneer named Ren Tian Rui was Yan Pei’s disciple and followed his master’s practices quite religiously. Otherwise, he would not have such infamy. It seemed that Yang Kai would have to be a bit careful while participating in this auction.
Atop the high platform, Ren Tian Rui smiled as warmly as ever and waved his hand before saying loudly, “To all of the Honoured Guests who have travelled from afar to participate in my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction, Treasure Trove Pavilion offers its sincere thanks. This auction will be presided over by this Ren. Please forgive me if you find that I have made a mistake.”
These opening remarks were so polite and inviting that no one was able to find any fault with them. No matter who saw him, they would think this Ren Tian Rui was the perfect host for an auction and he instantly earned the favour of many who were none the wiser.
Ren Tian Rui quickly followed up, “In fact, this auction was originally going to be presided over by my Master…”
As soon as these words were spoken, many people’s expressions became aghast and they subconsciously covered their Space Rings while staring towards the centre platform with vigilance, afraid that Yan Pei would suddenly slink out from the shadows.
Fortunately, Ren Tian Rui smiled and said, “But this Junior felt that, at Master’s age, he should stay behind the scenes and allow the younger generation to have a chance in the spotlight.”
“Good!” A cry of applause rang out.
“Brother Ren is a man of boldness with a great breadth of spirit!”
“Just let Old Black Face stay behind the scenes forever!”
Laughter quickly filled the hall.
Ren Tian Rui also smiled and nodded to the guests in the hall, “This Ren also had such intentions. En, after the auction is over, he will certainly work hard to persuade his Master to spend his remaining days in relaxation.”
Although these words carried a faint implication of betrayal and treason, it undeniably garnered a great amount of goodwill from many in the audience. At once, everyone’s vigilance towards Ren Tian Rui disappeared and was replaced with gratitude that he was the host of this auction.
“He’s not simple!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared towards Ren Tian Rui. With just a few words, he had managed to bring the audience around to his side, and although this was nothing but a simple prologue, it had given him an advantageous position to host the following auction from. When the bidding began in earnest, even if this Ren Tian Rui continued raising prices, most people wouldn’t feel anything wrong with it.
This Ren Tian Rui’s comprehension of people’s mentality was extremely profound; it was no wonder he was called Little Black Face. His style of auction hosting was quite different from Yan Pei’s, but it was equally interesting.
“Good, I’m certain these friends are anxious to get started so this Ren won’t waste any more time on idle gossip. The auction will begin now!” Ren Tian Rui closed his folding fan with a snap and motioned to the curtains behind him.
A beautiful woman wearing an exquisite dress quickly walked out with an enchanting smile on her face. Holding a jade plate in her jade white hands, she soon arrived to stand in front of Ren Tian Rui.
Although this woman was an extraordinary beauty and her slightly wet eyes were capable of drawing in any man’s soul, at this moment, very few people were looking at her. Since these people had come here to attend the auction, naturally their attention was focused on the jade plate this woman was holding.
Needless to say, the object which was placed atop the jade plate was the first auction item. Unfortunately, this object was covered in a special red cloth making it impossible to see what it was. Many of the participating cultivators craned their necks anxiously as they waited for an explanation to be given.
Ren Tian Rui carefully read the mood of the hall and after pausing just enough to add some suspense to the atmosphere, he shouted, “In accordance with tradition, the first item auctioned, while not comparable to those of the finale, is not trivial either. If any of you find it of interest, please make a bid, otherwise, if you miss this opportunity you will certainly regret it for the rest of your life!”
Saying so, he reached out, grabbed the red cloth, and pulled it away to reveal a colourless round bead roughly the size of a goose egg. At first, this round bead appeared completely transparent, but if one looked carefully, they would see some thin filaments swimming about inside it. What was odd though, was that this bead gave off no energy fluctuations at all, as if it were just a common ornament without any real value.
“What is this?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it before!”
“Since Treasure Trove Pavilion dared to use it as the first auction item, there must certainly be something unique about it. En, just let Brother Ren explain.”
…..
“Spirit Storage Bead?” Inside private room B-13, Yang Yan’s eyes lit up as she instantly identified this first auction item.
Yang Kai glanced over at her lightly, really beginning to suspect that there was nothing in this world she did not recognize. If not for her seemingly boundless knowledge, Yang Kai would not have brought Yang Yan to this auction.
However, Yang Kai did not ask her what the purpose of this Spirit Storage Bead was, because he knew Ren Tian Rui would explain carefully.
Atop the centre high platform, Ren Tian Rui reached out and silently picked up the Spirit Storage Bead, holding it in his hand before quickly circulating his Saint Qi and infusing it into the bead. In front of everyone’s eyes, the colourless round bead began acting like a bottomless pit as it continuously absorbed Ren Tian Rui’s Saint Qi.
After a short time passed, the round bead began radiating a faint light and giving off a Saint Qi fluctuation identical to Ren Tian Rui’s.
Moments later, Ren Tian Rui stopped his actions and while smiling meaningfully he began circulating his Secret Art.
A surprising thing happened next. The Saint Qi which had been absorbed by this Spirit Storage Bead once again returned to Ren Tian Rui’s body in a smooth manner, without the slightest signs of incompatibility.
At the same time, the Spirit Storage Bead’s original appearance was rapidly restored, and its internal energy fluctuation also quickly disappeared.
The entire process was clearly witnessed by everyone in the hall, and by now, ninety-nine percent of the cultivators who were participating in the auction had at least a vague awareness about what this Spirit Storage Bead’s function was, causing them to stare excitedly towards the platform.
Ren Tian Rui chuckled and declared loudly, “I’m certain everyone must now understand the purpose of this Spirit Storage Bead. Indeed, it can store a cultivator’s Saint Qi and then rapidly return it to them, providing them with an immediate boost in the middle of a battle. Many friends, all of you must know that in the midst of a battle, the only way to supplement one’s Saint Qi is to take pills or absorb the energy from Saint Crystals, but regardless of which method one uses, the effect is far too slow. This Spirit Storage Bead is different! It can restore a cultivator’s Saint Qi reserves from empty to their peak state in an extremely short amount of time! Of course, one must store enough Saint Qi inside it beforehand.”
As soon as this description came out, the audience broke into a stir. Although everyone had their speculations just now, when Ren Tian Rui explained it in detail, they all found that they had greatly underestimated the value of this Spirit Storage Bead.
If this Spirit Storage Bead worked exactly as described, possessing it would be was nothing short of possessing a second life!
Many cultivators had fallen because their Saint Qi reserves had dried up in the middle of a fight, but if they could use this Spirit Storage Bead to supplement their Saint Qi, turning certain defeat into victory was not impossible.
For a time, countless hot eyes stared towards the centre platform, full of greed and desire. If not for having scruples about this being Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction, countless masters here would have raced to snatch this life-saving treasure.
Even Yang Kai in room B-13 was moved by this Spirit Storage Bead.
This kind of treasure was truly Heaven defying, and even with his net worth and assets, Yang Kai was unable to ignore it, let alone others.
However, this thing was useless to Yang Kai because he never lacked Saint Qi, so soon after the idea of acquiring it occurred to him, he dismissed it and sat back to observe quietly. After all, such a good thing would certainly sell for an extremely high price. Although he brought 70 million Saint Crystals with him, Yang Kai was not completely confident he could win the item he had come here for. If he were to use his Saint Crystals now, causing him to be short of funds later, the gains would not equal the losses.
Yang Kai’s reactions weren’t missed by Yang Yan and, seeing that he seemed somewhat interested in this Spirit Storage Bead, she smiled and said, “Although this thing is indeed a good treasure, it has a number of limitations to it, so you don’t have to feel bad about missing it.”
“Oh? What kind of limits?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
“Hmph, although this is no doubt a good thing, no matter how Nephew Ren promotes it, this bead must have some kind of limits to its use, correct? Why don’t you explain about it clearly!” Before Yang Yan could answer Yang Kai’s question, a majestic voice from one of the other private rooms echoed loudly.
[It seemed Yang Yan is not the only one who knows about this Spirit Storage Bead,] Yang Kai mused to himself.
Ren Tian Rui looked over towards where the voice came from and smiled slightly, cupping his fists as he said, “So it is Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Senior Cheng. Senior’s vision is indeed profound. Although this Spirit Storage Bead is very convenient to use, it does have some limitations. Even if Senior Cheng had not brought this up, Junior would have properly explained so these friends would properly understand the value of the item they were bidding on. After all, this Ren must uphold the reputation of Treasure Trove Pavilion.”
Hearing this, the cultivator surnamed Cheng snorted dismissively. Whether he believed Ren Tian Rui’s words or not, only the Heavens knew.
Many people secretly suspected that Ren Tian Rui would not have said anything about this Spirit Storage Bead’s limitations if no one had questioned it. At most, after the auction was over, he would quietly inform the new owner of this Spirit Storage Bead as a minimum courtesy.
This wasn’t the first time Treasure Trove Pavilion had done something like this.
“Who was that?” Yang Kai asked Qing’er as he gazed in the direction of the previous voice.
Although Qing’er’s cultivation was not high, she was born and raised on Shadowed Star so she naturally would have some idea about this speaker’s identity. After hearing Yang Kai’s inquiry, the young girl’s eyes flashed with slight surprise, seemingly puzzled about why Yang Kai would ask her this, but she still replied quickly, “If Junior is not mistaken, this should be Senior Cheng Peng Xuan of the Thunder Typhoon Sect. After all, in the Thunder Typhoon Sect, he is the only master surnamed Cheng.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, satisfied with her answer.
At the same time, Ren Tian Rui had begun explaining the restrictions on the use of the Spirit Storage Bead.
The story was not too disappointing. It seemed this Spirit Storage Bead had inadvertently been acquired by a small declining family and sold to Treasure Trove Pavilion. According to the one who sold it, this Spirit Storage Bead had a limited capacity to store Saint Qi, roughly equivalent to the total amount an average Third-Order Saint King could hold in their body.
In other words, it could not accept any more Saint Qi beyond what a Third-Order Saint King cultivator could hold; once it did, it would simply leak that energy into its surroundings.
This was not a major problem though. For Saint King Realm cultivators, this was not even a restriction at all. As for Origin Realm cultivators, as long as they paid attention to this storage limit, and didn’t pour too much Saint Qi into it, this Spirit Storage Bead could still play a useful role.
What it really meant was that, in a moment of crisis, an Origin Realm master would not be able to use this thing to completely restore their Saint Qi reserves.
Overall, this limitation was harmless.
However, the second limitation greatly diminished the value of this Spirit Storage Bead.
This was an artifact that stemmed from ancient times and had already been used many times. According to what the previous owner of this Spirit Storage Bead told Treasure Trove Pavilion, this bead could only be used five more times at most before too much damage was done to it and it became useless.
Hearing this, the heat in the eyes of many cultivators immediately cooled. Although five uses was not an insignificant amount, spending a lot of Saint Crystals on something which was not helpful for improving one’s fundamental strength wasn’t worth it.
“Besides these two limitations, there is nothing else one needs to concern themselves over with this bead,” Ren Tian Rui didn’t seem to care about whether this item sold for a high price or not, continuing to smile as he said, “The starting price of this Spirit Storage Bead is 500,000 Saint Crystals and each new bid must increase the price by no less than 10,000. Everyone, please!”
In fact, such a starting price was not remarkably high considering the purpose and value of this Spirit Storage Bead; after all, as the first item to be auctioned, Treasure Trove Pavilion intended for it to generate some excitement.
However, half a million Saint Crystals instantly precluded about ninety percent of the cultivators in the hall from bidding.
A Saint King Grade High-Rank artifact normally sold for about 300,000, so with this bead’s reserve price being 500,000, even if some technically had enough Saint Crystals to purchase it, most could not afford to.
Of course, this was not the case for everyone. Since they had come to attend this auction, these people had gathered enough Saint Crystals for their own use, so immediately after Ren Tian Rui’s voice fell, someone bid the base price.
Swiftly, more voices rang out throughout the hall.
Each price increase was modest, but with gathering momentum, in less time than it would take to make a cup of tea, this Spirit Storage Bead had already risen in price to 820,000 Saint Crystals.
By this time, the competing bids inside the auction hall had become somewhat sparse, with only two or three people still raising the price.
“This old master bids one million!” The booming voice of Cheng Peng Xuan suddenly called out from Thunder Typhoon Sect’s private room.
When Ren Tian Rui heard this voice as he stood atop the centre platform, he just smiled lightly, not showing the slightest surprise. It would be strange if those from the great Sects did not participate in this competition.
The few cultivators who were sitting in the main hall bidding on this item heard this and all wore dark expressions before letting out deep sighs. Since someone from Thunder Typhoon Sect had made a bid, they no longer had any hope of obtaining this Spirit Storage Bead. One by one, these cultivators silently cursed Cheng Peng Xuan for not speaking up sooner. If they had known he would bid for this item, why would they have futilely plowed the air all this time?
[Such awful luck!] Each of them grumbled to themselves.
“Haha, Old Ghost, you’ve already reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, why would you want this Spirit Storage Bead? Did you feel like brazenly competing with these Juniors?” Another voice suddenly laughed and called out from a different private room, a thick meaning of sarcasm and taunting apparent in its tone.
“Hmph, this old master may not need it, but can he not give it to the disciples of his Sect?” Cheng Peng Xuan coldly snorted, “Aren’t your words a bit misplaced, Brother Mo? Since this is an auction, this old master making a bid is perfectly reasonable, how is that in any way brazenly competing with these Juniors?”
“En, en, what Brother Cheng says makes sense!” The person man from the other private box replied carefreely before slowly adding, “Good, then this Mo will also join in the fun. We cannot have Brother Cheng enjoying the spotlight all on his own. 1.1 million!”
“Old Ghost Mo, do you know what you’re doing?” Cheng Peng Xuan called out in an unhappy voice, “1.2 million!”
“Brother Cheng just said that this was an auction, so naturally the highest bidder will win, 1.5 million!”
“Good, then let’s see who will come out on top here, 2 million!”
…..
These two seemed to be old enemies and immediately took to fighting one another both verbally and financially, neither one of them willing to back down. As a result, the price of this Spirit Storage Bead had increased several fold in the blink of an eye, and judging from the ongoing competition, it seemed like the final price was going to reach an outrageous number, causing all the cultivators in the hall to stare dumbfounded.
“Surnamed Mo?” In private room B-13, Yang Kai frowned as he glanced towards the private room which was competing with Cheng Peng Xuan.
“It should be Elder Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union!” Qing’er quickly explained.
Yang Kai gently nodded. This time, even if Qing’er had not explained, Yang Kai could have guessed the identity of this man because he had heard many others talk about Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union. Yang Kai himself had paid more attention to this person because, like him, Mo Xiao Sheng cultivated Space Force!
Even considering all of Shadowed Star, only Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Sheng studied this esoteric field, there was no third individual to be found.
Regarding the Dao of Space, Yang Kai was confident he was not inferior to this Mo Xiao Sheng. In fact, if it was just a contest of Space Force, Yang Kai estimated that he could easily crush the other party; after all, Yang Kai’s Space Blade was an incredibly lethal technique, one that not just anyone could understand.
However, this Mo Xiao Sheng had lived many more years than Yang Kai, so he may have his own unique comprehensions about the Dao of Space. Therefore, he should not be underestimated. If Yang Kai could find an opportunity to have an exchange with this Elder Mo, he might be able to obtain some positive results.
But that was clearly impossible. With Heaven Battling Union’s arrogant and aloof behaviour, if Yang Kai exposed his proficiency with Space Force, it would only bring him trouble.
So as quickly as Yang Kai had this thought, he also dismissed it.
Meanwhile, standing atop the high platform, Ren Tian Rui lightly fanned himself with his paper fan, a gentle smile adorning his face as he carefreely listened to the two Elders from these two great forces argue back and forth. Every time one of them spoke, it made Ren Tian Rui all the happier.
Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect had always been somewhat incompatible, so this competition for the Spirit Storage Bead was not just a financial competition but also one for the face of their Sect. As such, neither of these two was willing to show weakness.
After an incense stick worth of time, Cheng Peng Xuan shouted a sky-high price of 10 million Saint Crystals, causing all the cultivators in the hall to audibly gasp.
In all fairness, the Spirit Storage Bead was an excellent treasure, but 10 million Saint Crystals had obviously far exceeded its true value. If Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union had not stepped forward to compete with Cheng Peng Xuan, the price would never have reached such an outrageous level.
By now, whether it was Cheng Peng Xuan or Mo Xiao Sheng, both were feeling quite annoyed. The two of them naturally knew that fighting like this would only result in Treasure Trove Pavilion profiting, but both were riding a tiger now with no way to vent their anger, so they could only choke down their bitterness and continue to bid.
10 million Saint Crystals was not a big deal for their respective Sects, but it was also not a figure to casually be wasted. This many Saint Crystals would be sufficient for several elite disciples to cultivate for a lifetime, but the Spirit Storage Bead could only be used by a single person a few times.
Both Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters ground their teeth while cursing at each other.
After the price reached 10 million, Heaven Battling Union remained silent. It seemed that Mo Xiao Sheng was weighing the gains and losses of continuing this struggle.
It was at that moment that another voice suddenly called out.
“Ten million ten thousand!”
In an instant, almost all eyes in the hall gathered on this new bidder and were shocked to discover that the one who had called such a grand price was not from any of the private rooms but was instead a young cultivator in the main hall.
This cultivator’s realm was not too high, just Third-Order Saint King Realm, and the clothes he wore were quite ordinary. This young man was the very definition of a generic Shadowed Star cultivator and from the fact that he was sitting in the main hall to participate in the auction, it was clear his background was not high.
Still, simply calling out such a price made many in the hall admire this young man’s guts and courage!
One had to know that the two who were competing fiercely just now were Elders of Thunder Typhoon Sect and Heaven Battling Union, two people no one wanted to offend, but now this young man had suddenly stepped in and outbid them.
The price this young man shouted was exactly 10,000 more Saint Crystals than the previous bid, just in line with the rules Treasure Trove Pavilion set out for this auction item.
Not only were many cultivators wondering about this youth’s identity, even Ren Tian Rui, who had been as stable as a mountain, frowned slightly as he cast a suspicious glance towards this young man, wondering where he came from and how he possessed such massive net worth.
Even stared at by everyone in the hall, this young cultivator looked perfectly at ease, seemingly not feeling the slightest pressure or tension at all, winning him some approving nods from the masters in the crowd.
“Lu Ye!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes from inside room B-13, staring at the young man down in the hall who had just bid with a look of disbelief. What shocked Yang Kai wasn’t that Lu Ye had come to participate in this auction, Flowing Cloud Valley wasn’t a giant force, but it was still at least a second class Sect, so Lu Ye was naturally eligible to enter Treasure Trove Pavilion as the Young Master of Flowing Cloud Valley, he simply wasn’t fortunate enough to obtain a private room and could only sit in the crowded hall.
No, what shocked Yang Kai was Lu Ye’s arm!
At this moment, both Lu Ye’s arms were completely intact, neither one of them missing.
[How is that possible?] Yang Kai exclaimed in his heart. He clearly remembered that he had cut off one of Lu Ye’s arms during their fight for the Red Candle Stalk in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. At that time, Lu Ye had quickly fled, but Yang Kai still vividly remembered the scene.
Yet now, this severed arm had somehow grown back, and judging from the colour and aura fluctuations, this new arm wasn’t some kind of prosthesis or artifact, it was clearly a flesh and blood arm!
How did he do that? Yang Kai was stunned on the spot. Re-growing a severed limb was something that only happened in legendary tales, not to mention that Lu Ye was just a trivial Saint King Realm cultivator.
Yang Kai suddenly found that he had underestimated Lu Ye. Solely from the fact that he was able to regenerate his severed arm, it was clear that this person still had many shocking secrets.
“This person…” Just as Yang Kai was feeling puzzled, Yang Yan suddenly frowned and stared towards Lu Ye down below, a thoughtful look flashing across her beautiful eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai turned to look at her.
“I don’t know why, but for some reason I find him quite repugnant!” Yang Yan shook her head slowly, her pretty face filling with suspicion, “But this is the first time I’ve seen him. You just called him Lu Ye, do you have some kind of grudge with him?”
“Yes! I don’t know why, but this person tried to kill me back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field!” Yang Kai snorted. His grievances with Lu Ye were indeed inexplicable; his opponent had suddenly attacked him for no reason, and directed a kind of malice towards him that said it was impossible for them to coexist under the Heavens.
Yang Kai had carefully thought about it, but before going to the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he was certain he had never even met Lu Ye. Indeed, inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, they hadn’t even exchanged greetings before suddenly becoming life or death enemies.
“En, be careful of this person, he seems very dangerous,” Yang Yan made a point to warn Yang Kai.
“I know.” Yang Yan didn’t need to warn him as Yang Kai already understood this point. However, he couldn’t help wondering where Lu Ye managed to obtain so many Saint Crystals to bid on this Spirit Storage Bead. According to his understanding, Flowing Cloud Valley was actually quite weak among second-class Sects, barely stronger than some small families with the Sect Master only being a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, and totalling in only three or four hundred disciples.
The territory they controlled wasn’t wealthy and they possessed no Saint Crystal mines, so where had these ten million Saint Crystals come from?
“Haha, Brother Cheng, I believe as Elders we should be generous with the younger generation. Since this little friend wants this Spirit Storage Bead, this Mo will withdraw,” Just as Yang Kai was immersed in his suspicions, he heard Mo Xiao Sheng’s hearty laughter from Heaven Battling Union’s private room.
Immediately afterwards, Cheng Peng Xuan snorted in response, “Hmph, Old Ghost Mo, stop putting on a righteous act. Since you’re willing to give up then this Cheng will also bow out.”
These words made it seem like he no longer had any interest in this Spirit Storage Bead, but many of the cultivators present weren’t fooled by this. They naturally understood that these two old men were simply taking advantage of this opportunity to dump this Spirit Storage Bead onto someone else.
From another perspective, this young man, for the price of ten million ten thousand Saint Crystals, had not only won the Spirit Storage Bead, but had also sold a favour to these two powerful figures.
Considering all this, many people secretly felt regret. If they had only thought of this sooner, they would have willingly paid such a price for this prize. Although ten million Saint Crystals wasn’t a small amount, if they could exchange that for an opportunity to become friends with these two Elders, it would certainly have been worth it.
But even if they understood this now, if they were given the chance once more, they still might not have had the guts to enter such a bid. If these two old men saw it as an affront instead of a favour, wouldn’t they have brought disaster down upon themselves?
This young man’s decisiveness and boldness made many admire him.
Ren Tian Rui stood on the high platform, called the last price three times and, since no one up-bid again, the Spirit Storage Bead was purchased by Lu Ye for a price of ten million ten thousand Saint Crystals. Immediately, someone led Lu Ye to the back of the auction hall where the transaction was completed.
The auction continued soon after and became more spirited with the atmosphere being heated up after the first item. Treasure Trove Pavilion hosting an auction at this time was indeed a good idea. Each treasure that appeared set off an intense competition between the gathered cultivators, causing the prices to rise sharply. Ren Tian Rui stood atop the high platform fanning himself with his folding fan the whole time appearing aloof and harmless, but he didn’t fail to live up to his nickname of Little Black Face as he quietly pushed the audience along to lift each auctioned item’s price well above their original value. However, most of the cultivators present seemed unaware of the clever means he was using to accomplish this, causing those who did understand to admire Ren Tian Rui’s methods.
The items sold in this auction were all very useful for cultivators; artifacts, pills, Secret Arts, Secret Techniques, spirit grasses, precious ores, and so on.
Yang Kai didn’t participate at all, simply sitting in room B-13 and listening to Yang Yan describe the auctioned items while enjoying a comfortable massage from Qing’er.
Although these items were indeed good, he had no use for them as it wasn’t difficult to acquire such things through Dragon Cave Mountain and Shadow Moon Hall’s channels. On the whole, the first half of the auction went smoothly, with most of the items being things that could be bought with Saint Crystals under normal circumstances. Most of the bidders were cultivators in the main hall, while the masters from the private rooms rarely participated unless something they truly needed appeared.
Nevertheless, during the second half of the auction, the masters from the private rooms bid frequently, but the items being auctioned now weren’t things the cultivators in the main hall were qualified to compete for in the first place.
Surprisingly, the young man who won the first auctioned item participated in this second half multiple times, showing off his huge financial resources. It wasn’t long before the number of Saint Crystals he spent exceeded 40 million.
Lu Ye’s actions naturally stunned Yang Kai, but soon his mouth curled into a sneering smile.
Without a strong Sect as a backer, Lu Ye showing off his wealth like this was akin to drawing trouble to himself. Sitting in his private room, Yang Kai felt many powerful Divine Senses continuously sweep towards Lu Ye. After the auction ended, Yang Kai didn’t doubt these people would try to ‘talk’ with Lu Ye.
This was something Yang Kai was happy to see. No matter what reason Lu Ye had for targeting him, since the other party had taken the initiative to attack, they were now enemies. Since Lu Ye was asking for trouble, Yang Kai was content to stand by and watch, hoping very much that someone would be able to kill him.
However, this Lu Ye was clearly not ordinary as he was still able to calmly sit inside the hall with so many malicious eyes peering towards him, not showing the slightest intention to leave, as if he was intent on continuing to participate in the auction.
With each item being sold off, the auction gradually approached its finale.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling somewhat nervous now as he waited for the item he needed to appear. Unfortunately, there had been no trace of it until now, causing Yang Kai to grow anxious and wonder if Treasure Trove Pavilion had suddenly changed its mind and withdrawn it from the auction. However, when he thought about it, since Treasure Trove Pavilion had advertised that this item would be sold on the invitations it sent out, and those invitations had been widely distributed, it was highly unlikely they would suddenly withdraw it lest they ruin their own reputation.
Just as Yang Kai was thinking about this though, atop the high platform down below, another beautifully dressed woman walked out with an exquisite jade plate, and although the item to be auctioned was covered with a red cloth like always, when Yang Kai’s Divine Sense swept it, a look of joy filled his face and he hurriedly sat up in preparation.
The item he was here for had finally appeared.
At the same time, Divine Senses also swept forward from all the private rooms and soon even the cultivators in the main hall began whispering amongst themselves. The reason for this was simple, it was because the item being auctioned this time seemed a bit unusual. When the jade plate appeared, everyone felt an invisible energy emanating from it, one that felt like an invisible blade cutting against their skin.
What could this be!
The crowd sat up and stared curiously, anticipating this item’s reveal.
Ren Tian Rui was very satisfied with everyone’s response and tapped his folding fan against his shoulder as he smiled lightly, “The next item to be auctioned is something which one may only see once in ten thousand years, an incredibly rare treasure. When this treasure was first discovered, this Ren was actually unable to identify it and could only conclude it was some kind of precious material. However, to many Seniors who cultivate some special Secret Arts or Techniques, it certainly has great uses.”
“Enough flowery words, let this old master see what it is!” From one of the private rooms in the A Block, an old yet dignified voice called out. There was a hint of anxiety in this voice however, clearly indicating that the owner placed a great deal of importance on this auctioned item.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he secretly felt that obtaining this item would not be as simple as he imagined.
“Oh, is this not Senior Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple? Senior need not be so anxious, this Junior will let you see this treasure clearly,” Ren Tian Rui immediately exposed the identity of the person who spoke before reaching out and lifting the red cloth.
Instantly, a dazzling golden light blossomed, causing many of the cultivators in the hall with lower strength to feel a stinging pain in their eyes, forcing them to look away or close them. Even those of higher strength had to condense Saint Qi into their eyes in order to clearly see through this golden radiance.
Yang Kai’s eyes also narrowed, but after seeing through the golden light clearly, his heart filled with excitement.
Atop the jade plate was a fist sized lumpy piece of unidentifiable ore that had a pure gold colour!
What was shocking about this ore though was that there were runes flowing across its surface. Obviously it was sealed under a barrier arranged by some powerful master to prevent its aura from leaking out, but even so, everyone in the auction hall could clearly feel the sharp energy radiating from it.
It was already like this in a sealed state, so what would happen if the seal was broken?
The cultivators in the hall with slightly lower strength here likely wouldn’t even be able to approach this ore in its raw form!
This item was clearly unusual, but the number of people who recognized what it was was very small, everyone only knew that it was definitely a rare treasure. It only made sense for Treasure Trove Pavilion to auction this off as its finale item.
“Good good good, hahaha, this Jin has struggled for most of his life searching for this but never expected to see it here today! Treasure Trove Pavilion’s reputation for gathering treasures from all over the world is well-deserved!” The master named Jin Shi laughed, seemingly immensely satisfied with this ore and extremely determined to obtain it.
“Do you want this?” Yang Yan glanced suspiciously towards Yang Kai inside.
Yang Kai was clearly excited so how could Yang Yan not see his thoughts?
“En,” Yang Kai nodded gently.
Yang Yan nodded but didn’t ask why Yang Kai wanted this or what he planned on doing with it.
The young Qing’er obviously overheard this and a look of joy flashed across her face, but soon that look turned to one of worry as she said, “Senior, Elder Jin of Demon Blood Temple seems to want this item too.”
“This is an auction, so the highest bidder will win it!” Yang Kai grinned. He had brought 70 million Saint Crystals this time, so he wasn’t afraid of fighting Jin Shi for this; after all, during the auction, Demon Blood Temple had already purchased a number of items for quite a sum.
Qing’er nodded docilely and said, “Then I wish Senior a swift victory!”
“I’ll be taking advantage of your auspicious words!” Yang Kai grinned. He naturally knew why this little girl seemed anxious. It was because if he participated in this auction and successfully obtained this item, she would receive a reward from Treasure Trove Pavilion and this reward would be directly proportional to the price Yang Kai paid. Before now, Yang Kai had not bid on anything, so naturally she wouldn’t be receiving any special reward; however, if Yang Kai won this item, the reward given by her Treasure Trove Pavilion would be enough for her to enjoy for a very long time.
This matter was explained by Qing’er herself without Yang Kai needing to ask her about it. This entire time, this little girl had served them very attentively, so naturally Yang Kai didn’t mind giving her some small benefits.
“Forgive this old master’s ignorance, but what exactly is this thing? Old Ghost Jin, why are you so eager to obtain it?” Another strange voice called out from a different private room, and from what was said, it seemed this individual couldn’t identify this ore.
It wasn’t as if this individual was ignorant and uninformed, but rather that in the vast Star Field, there were so many kinds of materials and this particular ore was extremely rare. Jin Shi being able to identify it was because he cultivated a special Secret Art that required this kind of ore, so he actively paid attention to and searched for it.
Only someone like Yang Yan, who seemed to possess infinite knowledge, would be able to identify this kind of material offhand, but people like her were obviously a rare minority.
“Oh, it’s understandable that Senior Jin will be this excited; after all, this Profound Gold is of great benefit to the Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art Senior Jin cultivates. With this Profound Gold as an auxiliary, I presume Senior Jin reaching the grand accomplishment stage is just around the corner!” Ren Tian Rui spoke openly, as if he was afraid that others wouldn’t know Jin Shi’s personal details.
“Profound Gold?” The person who spoke before heard this name, seemed to think of something, and called out in surprise.
“Little brat Ren, your only job is to host an auction, not spread around information about this old master’s Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art!” Jin Shi snapped in annoyance as he naturally understood Ren Tian Rui’s malicious intentions here. If they were anywhere else right now, Jin Shi would definitely have taken action to teach Ren Tian Rui a harsh lesson, but they were currently inside Treasure Trove Pavilion, so even if he was angry, he had no choice but to endure it. Perhaps because of the thinly veiled threat Ren Tian Rui gave just now, the difficulty of winning this Profound Gold would increase greatly; after all, Demon Blood Temple had many enemies and they would not want him to easily obtain this Profound Gold.
“Please forgive me, Senior. This Junior clearly spoke too much just now!” Ren Tian Rui seemed to know that he was wrong and quickly bowed in apology.
However, words spoken were like water spilling, there was no way to take it back. Although Ren Tian Rui seemed to be apologizing, behind his seemingly fearful expression was a trace of pride. To Treasure Trove Pavilion, it didn’t matter who won this Profound Gold, as long as they could sell it for a high price.
“Enough nonsense. Hurry up and start the auction!” Jin Shi urged strongly in his annoyance.
“Good!” Ren Tian Rui smiled, pointing his folding fan at the Profound Gold and declaring loudly, “For this one kilogram piece of Profound Gold, the starting price is 5 million Saint Crystals. Everyone, please!”
“Ten million!” As soon as Ren Tian Rui’s words fell, Jin Shi called out, directly doubling the price, demonstrating his determination to obtain this Profound Gold.
It was no secret now that he needed this piece of Profound Gold, so he had no reason to hold back.
“Heh, such a rare Artifact Refining material, just what this old master needs for his Golden Bone Shield, 10.1 million!” Heaven Battling Union’s Mo Xiao Sheng’s voice sounded.
“This old master will also join in the excitement, 10.5 million!” Cheng Peng Xuan of Thunder Typhoon Sect chimed in, seemingly not wanting to be outdone.
“11 million!” Another husky voice sounded from a different private room, an old woman’s voice at that.
“12 million!”
…..
Inside Demon Blood Temple’s private room, Jin Shi’s expression was ugly to the extreme. Although he knew that Demon Blood Temple had many enemies and that obtaining this Profound Gold would definitely be difficult, he hadn’t anticipated that six other people would actually try to compete with him. Worse, these six all had equal status and strength to him, so there was no way he could suppress them in any way. Frustrated by this development, he angrily shouted, “20 million!”
“Brother Jin’s boldness is admirable, but you don’t really believe you can obtain this piece of Profound Gold for a trivial 20 million do you? Brother Jin should stop dreaming. This old woman bids 25 million!” The old lady sneered and raised the price by 5 million directly.
However, this price only lasted a moment before a higher one replaced it.
This wasn’t surprising though as this Profound Gold was truly rare. Ren Tian Rui wasn’t exaggerating when he introduced it before. This kind of rare material was really something that only appeared once in ten thousand years. Whether it was used for Artifact Refining or to cultivate a special Secret Art, it would yield great benefits.
For a time, bids came flying in from the private rooms of the auction hall, and the price for this Profound Gold soared to a height which shocked countless people as they secretly admired these great Sects. The amount of Saint Crystals being quoted here was high enough to allow a small Sect or family develop worry-free for many years, these great forces were actually willing to spend this much for a single small piece of material.
Inside room B-13, Yang Kai remained silent, not participating in this competition at all because he knew that the current price was far from what it would eventually sell for. As such, he didn’t want to waste his energy and instead was waiting for his competitors to drop out.
“40 million!” Jin Shi’s voice sounded again. This piece of Profound Gold had heated the auction up to new heights, but it was still far from over. After shouting this price, Jin Shi called out again, “This Profound Gold is truly important to this Jin, if fellow friends are willing to relinquish it to me, this Jin will always remember it in his heart and will certainly return the favour in the future.”
Even now, no one was willing to withdraw, causing Jin Shi’s heart to pound like a drum. Seeing the price continue to rise, he faintly felt it wouldn’t be long before it surpassed his limit, so he chose to speak out.
As soon as this remark came out, the bids from Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect stopped as it seemed Cheng Peng Xuan and Mo Xiao Sheng were weighing the pros and cons.
A moment later, Mo Xiao Sheng let out a laugh and said aloud, “Since Brother Jin has said so, this Mo will withdraw. En, in any case, no Artifact Refiner can properly refine this grade of material, so using it on this old master’s Golden Bone Shield would be a careless waste of Heaven’s precious gifts.”
Immediately afterwards, several other masters who had been participating in this bidding war also expressed their willingness to withdraw. It wasn’t that Jin Shi’s face was so big, but rather, all of them knew how determined he was to obtain this Profound Gold. Continuing to fight over it would only result in Treasure Trove Pavilion and Ren Tian Rui picking up a bargain. Instead of allowing this little brat with a slippery tongue to profit, it would be better to sell a favour to Jin Shi.
What’s more, even if they bought this Profound Gold for themselves, it didn’t really have a big use to them. Although it was a very high grade ore, there was no Artifact Refiner capable of using it to its fullest, so what point was there struggling over it to this extent?
Seeing this, Jin Shi calmed down and offered some words of thanks.
“Hmph! Old Ghost Jin, just because you say this Profound Gold has a big use to you, you think this old woman will simply hand it over? 41 million!” The old woman’s voice sounded again, but contrary to the others, she didn’t give Jin Shi any face.
“Old Woman Feng, what do you want this Profound Gold for? If you don’t make yourself clear immediately, this old master will not forgive you!” Jin Shi was furious. Everyone else had known when to back down, but this Old Woman Feng seemed intent on competing with him. Unable to stand it anymore, Jin Shi erupted in fury.
“You think this old woman is afraid of you?” Old Woman Feng seemed to also have a bad temper and, hearing Jin Shi’s threat, she immediately snapped back dismissively.
Inside the private rooms of these two great forces, the auras of two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters surged upwards and their words were quickly filling with hostility.
“You two, this is Treasure Trove Pavilion, please act with some restraint!” Suddenly, from somewhere undisclosed, a faint voice called out. Hearing this voice, Old Woman Feng and Jin Shi’s looks both changed slightly as they seemingly remembered something and quickly withdrew their auras.
The cultivators in the main hall all panted for breath as lingering fear filled their faces.
Ren Tian Rui, who was still standing atop the high platform, couldn’t help wiping his cold sweat as well. Although Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auctions have had some minor incidents in the past, if these two people had really exchanged blows, the matter would not have ended with just some small consequences. Thinking for a moment, Ren Tian Rui opened his mouth and said, “Please do not feel aggrieved Senior Jin, since Senior Feng insists on participating in this auction, she must naturally have a use for this Profound Gold.”
“And what use would that be?” Jin Shi coldly snorted, obviously not believing Ren Tian Rui’s words so easily.
Ren Tian Rui however just smiled lightly and said, “As far as this Junior knows, the Golden Thunder Vein Lion which has accompanied Senior Feng for most of her life should have need of this Profound Gold to assist it with breaking through.”
“Golden Thunder Vein Lion!” Demon Blood Temple’s Elder Jin Shi exclaimed with a hint of fear in his voice.
Many of the masters in the other private rooms also frowned, seemingly quite wary of this Golden Thunder Vein Lion.
“Qing’er, where does this Senior Feng come from? What kind of Monster Beast is that Golden Thunder Vein Lion?” Yang Kai turned to the young girl standing nearby and asked.
Qing’er smiled and replied softly, “Senior, this Senior Feng is an Elder of Myriad Beast Mountain and that Golden Thunder Vein Lion is her Companion Monster Beast which is connected to Senior Feng’s life. It is said that this Golden Thunder Vein Lion is a variant of a powerful ancient species and is currently a Ninth-Order Monster Beast. In terms of strength, it is probably equivalent to a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm Master. Senior Feng has apparently just recently broken through to the Third-Order Origin Realm, but if she works together with her Companion Monster Beast, the two should be able to display strength equal to an established Third-Order Origin Realm master.”
“Myriad Beast Mountain?” Yang Kai raised his brow. He had long heard about this great force which was capable of taming and controlling Monster Beasts. Yang Kai had also briefly encountered a group of Myriad Beast Mountain disciples in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. This Sect seemed to be situated close to Coloured Glass Sect and there was clearly some friction between the two forces.
As for the Companion Monster Beasts that Qing’er spoke of, Yang Kai had also heard about them. Myriad Beast Mountain cultivators cultivated somewhat differently from other cultivators. Every Myriad Beast Mountain disciple had their own Companion Monster Beast and their strength would improve together with the said Monster Beast’s. If their Companion Monster Beast broke through, it would be of great assistance to their cultivation as well, possibly even providing an opportunity to break through their own bottlenecks.
According to Qing’er, this Old Woman Feng had just reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, but if her Golden Thunder Vein Lion was able to obtain this Profound Gold, it was very likely that the pair’s strength would increase dramatically.
Once her Companion Monster Beast broke through as well, if they worked together, they would be able to overpower most lone Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai immediately understood why this Old Woman Feng was competing with Jin Shi for the Profound Gold. At the same time, Yang Kai felt a slight headache coming on. Whether it was Old Woman Feng or Jin Shi, both had great need of this Profound Gold, so they were unlikely to give it up. The only way Yang Kai could obtain it now was through outbidding them.
“Little brat Ren, does your Treasure Trove Pavilion not only gather treasures from around the world but information as well?” Old Woman Feng’s voice was mixed with a trace of annoyance, obviously because Ren Tian Rui had exposed her reason for wanting this Profound Gold.
Ren Tian Rui, who was standing atop the high platform, laughed lightly but didn’t dare respond.
“Hmph, even so, this old master won’t easily give up. Your little beast may need this Profound Gold, but this old master needs it more, 42 million!”
Old Woman Feng hadn’t had time to raise its price yet when all of a sudden a melodious giggle, full of seductive flavour, rang out from a nearby private room, “This Junior would also like to join the fun, 43 million!”
Yang Kai was startled and the corner of his mouth curled upwards slightly, revealing a strange smile.
It was a natural reaction though as the one who just bid was none other than Yin Su Die of Coloured Glass Sect! It wasn’t surprising that she was here; after all, Dai Yuan had told Yang Kai the last time she came to Dragon Cave Mountain that Yin Su Die was leading the team Coloured Glass Sect had sent to monitor the Emperor Garden.
However, her daring to bid now should be on instructions from the Elders of her Sect. Coloured Glass Sect and Myriad Beast Mountain had always been incompatible with one another, so naturally, they weren’t just going to stand by and watch Old Woman Feng obtain this Profound Gold which would allow her strength to soar.
This was a great opportunity!
Yang Kai was still thinking about how to enter this bidding war without being too noticeable, now Yin Su Die calling out this price had given him his chance. Not hesitating, Yang Kai quickly followed up, “50 million!”
A burst of noise immediately spread throughout the auction hall while, in private room B-13, Qing’er’s beautiful eyes opened wide as she stared at Yang Kai in shock. It seemed she had not thought Yang Kai possessed such great wealth.
Two new voices suddenly joining this auction caused the already tense atmosphere to become even more treacherous.
“Good good good!” Old Woman Feng ground her teeth and coldly snorted, “Truly interesting, it seems many stray cats and dogs dare to fight for this old woman’s thing, are you not afraid of paying out money but failing to receive anything in the end?”
The implied threat in her tone was so apparent that Ren Tian Rui, who was standing atop the high platform, immediately narrowed his eyes coldly.
Treasure Trove Pavilion had held many auctions in the past, and although masters from various forces would always furiously compete for items, even coming to blows once the auction was over, sometimes resulting in deaths, no one had ever dared utter blatant threats while still inside the hall.
After all, such a statement was showing naked disdain for Treasure Trove Pavilion’s authority and credibility. As such, Ren Tian Rui sullenly called out, “Senior Feng, I only want to hear such words spoken once in my Treasure Trove Pavilion, if it happens again, Myriad Beast Mountain will be forever banned from attending our auctions. Please consider carefully!”
Although Ren Tian Rui’s cultivation wasn’t high, he was representing Treasure Trove Pavilion at the moment, so his words naturally carried weight.
Old Woman Feng also seemed to realize that her words had been out of line and let out a peal of hoarse laughter, “Little brat Ren, there’s no need to get so worked up. This old woman was just making a joke, of course. This matter will be settled through bidding.”
“I see,” Ren Tian Rui suddenly smiled happily, fanning himself lightly as he nodded, “It seems this Junior became overanxious, please forgive me for speaking out of turn, Senior Feng. Good, for this Profound Gold, does Senior Jin wish to enter a new bid?”
“Naturally, 51 million!”
“60 million!” Yang Kai didn’t hesitate, immediately entering this price without even raising his brow. To him, the biggest purpose of this trip was to obtain this piece of Profound Gold, so he was naturally not going to back down. Even if he had to spend all his fortune, he would acquire it. At this point, there were still a number of people competing for this Profound Gold, so Yang Kai felt he had to display some financial prowess and determination by sharply raising the price in order to deter others.
The private room belonging to Myriad Beast Mountain suddenly fell silent. It seemed that this price had exceeded Old Woman Feng’s bottom line. This Profound Gold was indeed valuable, but apparently not more than 60 million Saint Crystals.
On the contrary, Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple said after a moment of hesitation, “60.1 million! If you can offer a higher price, this old master will withdraw.”
60 million Saint Crystals had obviously also exceeded Jin Shi’s bottom line.
Inside private room B-13, Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and shouted,”60.2 million!”
He only added 100,000, which was the minimum up-bid.
“Good, good, good!” Jin Shi said good three times in succession, with everyone able to hear the dark emotion in his voice. However, he really didn’t increase the price further, allowing Yang Kai to relax as this Profound Gold was now in all likelihood his.
Treasure Trove Pavilion was obviously very satisfied with such a price and with a big happy smile on his face, Ren Tian Rui looked up to private room B-13 and said, “Is there any higher bid? If not, this Ren will begin the countdown. Good, 60.2 million once, 60.2 million twice…”
“61 million!” Just as Yang Kai was full of confidence and was preparing to have Qing’er receive the Profound Gold, a new voice suddenly called out from inside the hall.
Yang Kai was startled, but as he traced the voice back to its source, he couldn’t help clenching his teeth.
Because he found that the one who had suddenly raised the price at the last moment was none other than Flowing Cloud Valley’s Lu Ye!
Lu Ye had completely exposed himself to the limelight during this auction by bidding numerous times on various treasures, spending tens of millions of Saint Crystals.
This was completely unheard of for a small cultivator from a small Sect, and many people were now secretly paying attention to him. However, instead of knowing when to conceal his abilities and wealth, Lu Ye had actually swaggered out at the last moment and drawn everyone’s attention back onto himself.
However, since the price had been refreshed, Yang Kai, of course, refused to show any weakness, gritting his teeth and immediately going all in, “70 million!”
Ren Tian Rui raised his brow atop the high platform as he turned his attention to Lu Ye, seemingly expecting him to bid again, but to his disappointment, Lu Ye only offered a single bid after which he stayed silent, shooting a meaningful grin up towards Yang Kai, one filled with pride and sarcasm.
[Fuck!] Yang Kai cursed to himself as his face sank, understanding that he had been badly cheated.
If he hadn’t bid just now, it would surely have caused great trouble for Lu Ye because he absolutely didn’t have enough Saint Crystals on him anymore to pay up. Lu Ye had only called out a new price to coax Yang Kai into up-bidding him, and in a moment of carelessness, Yang Kai had fallen into this pit.
Understanding this, Yang Kai’s mood plummeted as he felt like he had just been forced to swallow a fly.
Yang Kai wasn’t too distressed over the extra Saint Crystals he was forced to pay, but rather that he had missed an opportunity to cause trouble for Lu Ye. Treasure Trove Pavilion had its own rules. If a cultivator didn’t have enough Saint Crystals but still bid with malicious intentions, they would surely pursue and kill this agitator after the auction ended!
This was a Heaven-sent opportunity Yang Kai had just missed, so his face was naturally quite ugly.
But soon, a smile returned to his face as he calmed himself. If you often walk next to the river, how can you not wet your shoes? There was nothing to do but continue walking and see what the future had in store!
After the price of 70 million Saint Crystals was called, no one made another bid, Ren Tian Rui happily completed his three-count and announced at last that this piece of Profound Gold belonged to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took out a Space Ring and handed it to Qing’er, ordering her to retrieve his winnings from Treasure Trove Pavilion, an order she carried out swiftly.
At this moment, another item was brought up to auction, a Ninth-Order Monster Beast egg, and like Old Woman Feng’s Golden Thunder Vein Lion, it too traced its lineage to a powerful ancient Monster Beast. Although not as powerful as the Golden Thunder Vein Lion, it was still quite precious.
Such a good thing naturally caused many people to furiously bid for it, especially Myriad Beast Mountain which truly spared no effort.
After all, this was a Ninth-Order Monster Beast’s egg. As long as it was properly cultivated, it would be akin to one day adding another Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master to a Sect.
This beast egg was eventually snatched by Myriad Beast Mountain for the not high but not low price of 36 million. Several other finale items were brought up one after another following this beast egg and each one was sold for several times its initial price, causing the cultivators sitting in the main hall to be struck speechless.
As the last few items were being auctioned, Yang Kai was naturally sitting on the sidelines. All of the Saint Crystals he had taken from Wu Yi had already been used to buy the Profound Gold, so he no longer had the capital to fight for other things.
Having said that, although the last few auction items were all quite good, Yang Kai was not interested in any of them.
After an incense stick worth of time, Qing’er returned along with a jade box. Handing this box to Yang Kai respectfully, she congratulated him, “Congratulations Senior for obtaining the item you desired, please accept this.”
Yang Kai naturally accepted it with a smile and opened the jade box to take a look. Inside he found the piece of Profound Gold he had bid on. It was the size of a goose egg and its entire body radiated a pure golden radiance. This piece of Profound Gold was sealed by powerful masters with a strong barrier, but it still could not stop the strong metal aura from overflowing from it. The sharpness of this aura was not to be underestimated.
The best way to describe this Profound Gold was as an invisible sharp blade.
Yang Kai happily played with it for a while before storing it away into his Black Book Space.
The reason he acquired this Profound Gold was naturally in preparation to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. If one wanted to cultivate this Body Tempering Secret Art, they first needed to find five extremely precious treasures from the five elements!
Of these five treasures, Yang Kai already possessed the Thunder Wood, Profound Yin Sunflower Water, and Sun’s True Essence. Now that he had acquired this Profound Gold, the only precious treasure he still needed was one of the Earth Attribute. Once he found such a treasure, he would be able to start cultivating the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
Yang Kai actually thought about asking Treasure Trove Pavilion to help him with this matter; after all, this great force was dedicated to searching the world for precious treasures. As such, after this auction ended, Yang Kai felt that he should pay a visit to Yan Pei.
He did not believe the other party would refuse as long as he offered a sufficient price.
In a good mood, Yang Kai naturally wasn’t going to be stingy with his reward, so he quickly waved his hand and gave Qing’er several bottles of pills, a good artifact and many Saint Crystals.
The pills were all refined by him personally, so their quality was naturally superb, while the artifact was one Yang Yan had refined and was also equally excellent. These things were all quite suitable for this little girl to use right now, and although there weren’t so many Saint Crystals, only a couple tens of thousands, for a cultivator a Qing’er’s level, it would be enough to support her cultivation for quite some time.
Naturally, this made Qing’er extremely happy.
Just then, Ren Tian Rui’s slightly excited voice came from below, “Friends, this auction has been very fulfilling and will end here. Many thanks to all of you for travelling from afar to participate. En, though the auction has ended, please remain for a moment. My Treasure Trove Pavilion has been entrusted by a powerful secluded master with a certain request.”
“Ren boy, what is this all about?” Immediately, a master from one of the great forces asked.
Ren Tian Rui just smiled lightly however, and gestured towards the rear while bowing slightly. The crowd all followed this gesture with their eyes but soon could not help recoiling slightly, because the one who emerged from the shadows was none other than Old Black Face Yan Pei.
“Hehe, friends, there’s no need to act so nervous. Since the auction is over, there will be no more items sold. This Yan was only entrusted by an old friend to discuss a certain matter with all of you,” Yan Pei said unhurriedly.
“What is this matter for discussion? If you want to fart, put it out quickly, we don’t have time to waste here with any nonsense.” Obviously not everyone believed Yan Pei and many remained on high alert.
“My old friend simply wanted to propose an exchange of goods!” Yan Pei did not keep everyone guessing and after lightly explaining, he took an item from his Space Ring and held it up high in front of the crowd.
The masters in the hall all released their Divine Senses to carefully scrutinize this object.
A moment later, a burst of exclamations sounded.
“This is…”
“No, could it possibly be?”
“There’s a lingering Emperor Pressure about it, so there’s no chance we’re mistaken. I never dreamed that legend was actually true!”
Inside private room B-13, Yang Kai also stared at the object in Yan Pei’s hand with a stunned expression on his face. As he was lost in thought though, he suddenly realized something was off and turned to look at Yang Yan who he saw was wearing a look of excitement and hesitation, her two pink fists clenched tightly with her nails unconsciously almost piercing into her flesh.
“Star Emperor Token!” Mo Xiao Sheng’s exclamation sounded, “Brother Yan, forgive this old master’s limited vision, but is the object in your hand truly a legendary Star Emperor Token?”
Yan Pei smiled lightly, “Since Brother Mo already knows, why ask this Yan? Presumably, most of you present have reached this conclusion, yes?”
“It’s really a Star Emperor Token? Not a fake?”
“If it was a fake, how could this Yan take it out?” Yan Pei snorted, “This Yan and several others from Treasure Trove Pavilion have personally appraised this and determined it to be a genuine Star Emperor Token; after all, the faint remnant Emperor Pressure around it is something no one can imitate!”
“Rumor has it that the Starry Sky Great Emperor refined ten of these Star Emperor Tokens, each of which sealed one of his Divine Abilities. Each of these Divine Abilities can only be described as Heaven Destroying and Earth Shattering, moving mountains and filling seas. Could it be that it is so for this one too?” Cheng Peng Xuan’s voice was filled with excitement.
If this was truly one of the ten Star Emperor Tokens refined by the Starry Sky Great Emperor, as long as one could possess it, they would essentially be invincible.
The Starry Sky Great Emperor was an existence above the Origin King Realm! On top of that, there were no Origin Kings on Shadowed Star, so who could possibly compete with the Divine Ability sealed inside a Star Emperor Token?
All the masters from each of the great forces had this thought and, in an instant, they fixed hot eyes on this Star Emperor Token, causing the atmosphere inside Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction hall to become incredibly tense.
Yan Pei was carefully observing everyone’s mood and understood that countless people now felt intense greed in their hearts towards this token, but he still didn’t rush and simply explained slowly, “This is indeed one of the ten Star Emperor Tokens, but the Divine Ability that was sealed inside of it has already been used, so do not even consider it.”
There was a slight implied warning in his words.
Hearing this, many of the masters felt like they had cold water splashed onto them. This only made sense though, if this Star Emperor Token was completely intact, no fool would ever take it out to trade, nor would Yan Pei make its existence public.
“Its Divine Ability has already been used. A pity, a pity,” Mo Xiao Sheng’s tone was extremely deflated as he let out a long sigh.
“Hmph, Old Ghost Mo, do you not want to obtain this Star Emperor Token even though its Divine Ability has already been used up?” Cheng Peng Xuan sneered.
“Does Brother Cheng not have the same idea?” Mo Xiao Sheng did not mind the sarcasm in Cheng Peng Xuan’s voice and readily admitted his intentions.
“Brother Yan, what use does this Star Emperor Token have now that its Divine Ability has been used up?” Someone asked.
Yan Pei calmly answered, “Although the Divine Ability in this Star Emperor Token has already been expended, the token itself is by no means useless; after all, it is a treasure personally refined by the Starry Sky Great Emperor. Without even mentioning the remaining Emperor Pressure inside that one can meditate on and gain inspiration from, just the material this token is refined from is beyond the understanding of my Treasure Trove Pavilion. Perhaps others know of even more uses for this Star Emperor Token.”
“That being said, the value of this Star Emperor Token is still not too high. What, may I ask, does Brother Yan want in exchange for it?” Mo Xiao Sheng asked after he pondered over the matter for a moment. Even if the Divine Ability of this Star Emperor Token had already been used, the token still retained tremendous research value, so Mo Xiao Sheng was certainly not willing to miss an opportunity to acquire it.
Many other masters had similar thoughts to him, some of them echoing Mo Xiao Sheng’s sentiments, “Yes, Brother Yan, with all of Shadowed Star’s great Sects here, there’s a good chance one of us has what you want. Please tell us what your friend is seeking, perhaps one of our Sects will have it in our treasuries!”
Yang Pei shook his head lightly, “What my old friend wants in exchange for this is not something easily found!”
This made sense. If whatever this person wanted was easy to find, with the strength and connections of Treasure Trove Pavilion, this Star Emperor Token would have long ago landed in their pockets. So, although there were many people gathered here, Yan Pei did not have much confidence he could help his old friend acquire what they wanted.
“Well, what is it then? Out with it!” Cheng Peng Xuan said impatiently.
“A Flowing Flame Flying Fire!” Yan Pei revealed the answer.
“Your friend actually wants a Flowing Flame Flying Fire?”
“Where are we supposed to find such a thing?”
“The previous Flowing Flame Sand Field opening was over four hundred years ago, and although it opened again just a few years ago, I haven’t heard of any Sect whose disciple managed to obtain one by luck.”
…..
The auction hall instantly became noisy.
Some masters inquired if this Star Emperor Token could be exchanged for other valuable materials. Some others even proposed purchasing it with Saint Crystals. However, Old Black Face Yan just swung his head like a rattle and repeatedly said, “Forgive me, but this Star Emperor Token is not my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s thing, it was only entrusted to this Yan to exchange specifically for a Flowing Flame Flying Fire. Of course, if there is anyone who can inform this Yan about the location of a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water, that will also be acceptable!”
“Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Brother Yan must be joking. If any of us knew where such a treasure was, we would already have enjoyed it for ourselves. How could we possibly exchange it for a useless Star Emperor Token?”
Many of the masters present felt deeply annoyed, thinking that the owner of this Star Emperor Token was being too unreasonable. If they possessed a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, exchanging it for this Star Emperor Token wouldn’t count as a loss, but Soul Cleansing Divine Water was known as one of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters and its value was immeasurable. No fool would exchange it for a used Star Emperor Token.
Inside private room B-13 on the other hand, Yang Kai and Yang Yan looked at each other with strange expressions.
While no one else might have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, Yang Kai did!
Last time, in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai obtained a total of nine Flowing Flame Flying Fires, and besides the few he used and the two he gave Yang Yan, he still had three left. Yang Kai was thinking about finding time to refine them to enhance the power of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, but having been busy with so many other things, he simply had not gotten around to it.
Never had he expected that these Flowing Flame Flying Fires would suddenly come in handy like this.
Yang Kai was no stranger to Star Emperor Tokens as he already possessed two of them. One of these two was given to him by the Origin King Realm master Gui Zu while the other he had found deep inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field. However, the one given to him by Gui Zu actually still possessed its stored Divine Ability while the one from the Flowing Flame Sand Field was the same as the one Yan Pei now held, devoid of the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s power.
“Should I trade for it?” Yang Kai muttered to himself, his expression a little hesitant. Regarding this exchange, he was qualified to make it, but he felt that trading a Flowing Flame Flying Fire for a useless Star Emperor Token wasn’t quite worth it.
“You should!” Yang Yan firmly declared.
“Oh? Why?” Yang Kai looked at her curiously.
“I don’t know, but I have a vague feeling that these Star Emperor Tokens are useful for more than just the Divine Ability sealed inside of them. It must have other valuable secrets.”
This token possessing other secrets was a distinct possibility; however, to exchange for it, there probably wasn’t a need to use a Flowing Flame Flying Fire. Yang Kai had some guesses about what the other party really wanted in exchange for this Star Emperor Token, but he could not be sure yet. Regardless, each Flowing Flame Flying Fire was of great use to him for enhancing his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, so if there was a chance to save it, Yang Kai was willing to try.
Considering all this, Yang Kai nodded gently and prepared to make an exchange.
Atop the high platform in the centre of the auction hall, Yan Pei waited for half a stick of incense, but after seeing that no one was willing or able to make this exchange, he couldn’t help showing a look of disappointment, “It seems that none of you have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or news of a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water. Alright. Very well, that is all, thank you all again for attending this auction!”
Saying so, he turned away and left.
Although the masters from the various great forces very much wanted to acquire the Star Emperor Token, since none of them could meet the request of the token’s owner, they could only shake their heads and sigh. They had no intention to snatch this token either; first of all, the Divine Ability it contained had already been used rendering it mostly useless, but more importantly, doing so would highly offend Treasure Trove Pavilion which made it not worth it.
Soon, the cultivators in the auction hall withdrew, but when Yang Kai glanced around the hall curiously, he suddenly discovered that Lu Ye had at some point disappeared.
It appeared that even he knew he had shown off too much of his wealth and drawn too much attention to himself, making it dangerous for him to remain, thus he quickly and quietly left. Yang Kai snorted and no longer paid any attention to the issue. In any case, the grievance between him and Lu Ye would be resolved sooner or later, so Yang Kai wasn’t in a rush. Standing up, he turned to Qing’er and said, “Take me to see Senior Yan, I have something I want to discuss with him.”
“Yes!” Qing’er nodded, not asking any questions before leading the way.
Although Yang Kai had only bid on one item this auction, that alone was enough to prove his extraordinary wealth. On top of that, when he had arrived at Treasure Trove Pavilion, Qing’er saw Yan Pei take the initiative to speak to Yang Kai and Yang Yan, indicating that the two of them weren’t strangers. As such, Qing’er knew that Yang Kai was qualified to meet with Yan Pei.
Just after leaving private room B-13, Yang Kai felt two subtle Divine Senses sweep over him, causing him to pause for a moment before he continued following after Qing’er casually.
Although he couldn’t trace who was spying on him, Yang Kai had a fairly good guess.
No doubt it was Old Woman Feng from Myriad Beast Mountain and Jin Shi from Demon Blood Temple. During the auction, the one time Yang Kai bid on something he had been competing against these two, and now it seemed they had not given up on acquiring the Profound Gold.
Sneering dismissively in his heart, Yang Kai didn’t show anything on his face.
The Divine Senses that spied on him just now had come and gone rapidly, without showing any other intentions. After a while, Yang Kai arrived at one of Treasure Trove Pavilion’s back rooms and sat down to wait.
About half a cup of tea’s worth of time later, Old Black Face Yan Pei opened the door with a smile, walked in, and greeted, “Little Friend Yang.”
“Greetings, Senior Yan!” Yang Kai got up and cupped his fists.
“You are very courteous, please have a seat,” Yan Pei gestured before walking over to a chair opposite Yang Kai, sitting down, and asking, “Does Little Friend Yang have a matter he needs this old master’s assistance with?”
“Senior Yan thoughts are indeed sharp. This Junior does have something he wishes to ask Senior Yan to assist him with,” Yang Kai grinned and added, “En, to be precise, I want to borrow the strength of your noble establishment.”
“Please go on. However, please keep in mind that my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s primary objective is to earn profit, so even though this old master is happy to help Little Friend Yang, you will still have to pay a certain amount of Saint Crystals. Additionally, Treasure Trove Pavilion and this old master do not accept requests that require killing or pillaging.”
“Junior naturally understands this and has no intention of violating Treasure Trove Pavilion’s principles.”
“Very well!” Yan Pei nodded in satisfaction.
“En, Junior would like to request Treasure Trove Pavilion look for a precious treasure of the Earth Attribute.”
“An Earth Attribute precious treasure?” Yan Pei raised his brow as he observed Yang Kai and smiled meaningfully, “Today, Little Friend Yang spared no expense to obtain a piece of Profound Gold, and now you come requesting my Treasure Trove Pavilion search for an Earth Attribute precious treasure… could it be Little Friend Yang is trying to cultivate some kind of profound Secret Technique?”
[This old fox!] Yang Kai secretly cursed. Around sharp and well informed people like Yan Pei, one needed to be extra careful with how they spoke as anything one said may give away precious information. However, even though the other party had guessed his purpose, Yang Kai wasn’t about to foolishly admit to anything and instead just smiled, “Senior Yan, in addition to collecting treasures from around the world, could it be Treasure Trove Pavilion is really responsible for prying into others’ private information?”
During the auction that was just held, Old Woman Feng of Myriad Beast Mountain had said something to similar effect, so now Yang Kai taking advantage of her words couldn’t be considered as offensive.
Yan Pei gawked for a moment before letting out a chuckle, “This old master was simply asking casually. Little Friend Yang does not need to explain his purpose, of course. However, I must ask Little Friend Yang for a few more specifics so that this old master and Treasure Trove Pavilion will be able to determine a direction and objective for our search. There is even a chance we may have what Little Friend Yang needs in our storehouses already.”
“My specific requirements are that the scale of this treasure must be no lower than a Tenth-Order Monster Beast core!”
“A Tenth-Order Monster Beast core…” Yan Pei narrowed his eyes as he stared at Yang Kai with some shock. Although he had some speculations, he hadn’t expected Yang Kai’s request to be so great. If this was the case, then the items Treasure Trove Pavilion currently had in storage would not be able to meet Yang Kai’s request; after all, a Tenth-Order Monster Beast was equivalent to an Origin King Realm master. It was impossible to find such an existence on Shadowed Star.
“It need not be a Monster Core, any treasure which is of equivalent scale to a Tenth-Order Monster Beast Core will do,” Yang Kai added.
“Alright. This request will be somewhat difficult to fulfil, so this old master doesn’t dare make any guarantees. I can only say that Treasure Trove Pavilion will do its best. Of course, Little Friend Yang should not remain idle himself, perhaps with enough opportunity Little Friend Yang will be able to obtain what he wants on his own.”
“Junior naturally understands this,” Yang Kai gently nodded. Of course he wasn’t going to place all his hopes on Treasure Trove Pavilion. This time, him coming to see Yan Pei was primarily to discuss the Star Emperor Token, the Earth Attribute treasure was simply a side-note.
Thinking this way, Yang Kai moved the conversation forward, “Right, Senior Yan, the Star Emperor Token you took out a moment ago…”
“What’s wrong, do you want to exchange for it?” Yan Pei put down the tea he was drinking when he suddenly heard Yang Kai mentioning the Star Emperor Token, raising his brow and asking hurriedly, as if he was quite anxious to make this deal.
This came as a great surprise to Yang Kai; after all, according to Yan Pei, he was only acting on behalf of a mysterious old friend. Seeing Yan Pei act so urgently though, showed that the relationship between this powerful master and Yan Pei was not shallow, otherwise how could this Old Black Face act so urgently?
“Good, this Junior is interested in this exchange!” Yang Kai nodded thoughtfully.
“You have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire?” Yan Pei’s eyes widened as he asked excitedly.
Yang Kai, however, shook his head.
Yan Pei frowned for a moment but was immediately startled and shouted, “Then you know where to find Soul Cleansing Divine Water?”
“I don’t,” Yang Kai still shook his head. Soul Cleansing Divine Water could not be carried away from its source, hence it could only be used where it was found. If this wasn’t the case, when the pond of Soul Cleansing Divine Water was found in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Qu Chang Feng, Leng Qing, and all the others would have long ago divided it up and taken it away, there would have been no need to soak in that pool at all.
Seeing him repeatedly deny having the required items for this exchange, even though Yan Pei had a good impression of Yang Kai, he still couldn’t help his face from sinking as he asked lightly, “Little Friend Yang, are you intentionally making trouble for this old master? Only these two items can be exchanged for that Star Emperor Token, but since you have neither a Flowing Flame Flying Fire nor information about Soul Cleansing Divine Water, why would you bring up this topic?”
“Please calm yourself, Senior!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, not showing the slightest signs of panic as he explained, “If it is convenient, could you allow this Junior to speak directly with the Senior who made this request? Junior guarantees he will not disappoint him.”
Seeing how calm Yang Kai looked, Yan Pei couldn’t help wondering where the former’s confidence came from.
If it were someone else, Yan Pei would have already asked them to leave, but Yang Kai’s origins were quite profound. According to his investigations, Yang Pei knew that Yang Kai actually came to Shadowed Star from the outside world. Perhaps he would have some means or methods that locals of Shadowed Star didn’t possess that were comparable in effect to Soul Cleansing Divine Water or a Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
Considering all this, Yan Pei’s complexion eased but he still stated calmly, “Since that is the case, I will call him over, but Little Friend Yang, you’d best have enough assurance of success.”
“Is one hundred percent assurance enough?” Yang Kai grinned confidently.
This was not an exaggeration on Yang Kai’s part, for even if his speculations were wrong, he still had Flowing Flame Flying Fires on him; it was simply that he didn’t want to exchange them unless forced to do so.
Yan Pei’s mouth twitched slightly when he heard this but did not say any nonsense, instead immediately taking out a communication artifact, pouring in his Divine Sense, exchanging a few words with someone, then quietly waiting.
Less than half an incense stick worth of time later, a knock came at the door.
“Come in!” Yan Pei shouted.
The door was pushed open immediately and a man walked inside. This man looked young but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showed that he was not as young as he appeared.
What was more eye-catching though was this man’s peculiar looking face. He had two thin eyes that seemed to almost be closed as well as puffy cheeks and rounded ears, making him look a bit like a monkey. Additionally, his arms were somewhat long, his hands somewhat big. However, of all his odd features, it was his two buck teeth that drew the most attention.
Yang Kai’s first impression of this person was wild.
After recovering from his initial shock, Yang Kai swept this man with his Divine Sense and was shocked to discover that he was only a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator.
This was the man Yan Pei called an old friend?
[Why does he look like a common thug from the city backstreets?] Yang Kai almost spat out his tea, and even Yang Yan who was sitting next to him couldn’t help covering her mouth with her small hands, trying hard to suppress her shock and laughter.
Yan Pei lightly coughed and broke the silence, “There’s no need for suspicion, this is a disciple of my old friend. It is a little inconvenient for my old friend to appear in public, so the Star Emperor Token was brought to exchange this time by him.”
Yang Kai showed a look of understanding. If this wild looking man was the disciple of a powerful mysterious master, having such a cultivation at such an age was reasonable.
“Senior Yan, you wanted to see me?” The bucktoothed man didn’t seem to put Yang Kai or Yang Yan in his eyes at all and instead directly asked Yan Pei upon entering.
“En,” Yan Pei gently nodded.
The other party looked delighted and asked, “Is there news about the proposed exchange?”
“Something like that,” Yan Pei didn’t know how to answer, and his words caused a look of surprise to appear on this bucktoothed man’s face. Fortunately, Yan Pei moved the conversation along quickly by pointing to Yang Kai and explaining, “This Little Friend Yang Kai, he says he can satisfy Nephew Ge’s requirements, but that he wished to speak with you face-to-face first. This old master is only responsible for introducing the two of you, as for what comes next, that will be up to you to discuss.”
“Satisfy my requirements?” The bucktoothed cultivator turned his head and looked at Yang Kai for the first time, a strong look of suspicion and disdain flashing across his eyes.