MARTIAL PEAK Continued 140-uptodate(ONGOING)

1146-1159

Martial Peak - Chapter 1146 - BoxNovel
Chapter 1146, Pleasant Surprise
Lightly coughing while suppressing the joy and excitement in his heart, Yang Kai said lightly, “Since the culprit has suffered a grave punishment already, I’ll let this matter end here. I’ll only advice Young Lord Xie to consider his actions more carefully in the future.”

“Yes yes yes, many thanks Elder Brother, many thanks Elder Qian,” Xie Hong Wen wept as he continued offering his thanks.

“Why haven’t you scrammed yet?” Qian Tong shouted angrily, resulting in Xie Hong Wen quickly standing up and flying off unsteadily, not daring to stay here any longer, afraid he might lose the life he had barely managed to hang onto just now.

After the dispute was resolved, everyone was satisfied.

Yang Kai obtained the Soul remnants from two Origin Returning Realm masters, allowing him to absorb their sentiments of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao while studying Shi. Naturally, he was quite happy. As for Xie Hong Wen, Yang Kai had no choice but to give Qian Tong face. If he had really insisted on killing Xie Hong Wen, Qian Tong would probably have become disgruntled with him, the cost wasn’t worth it.

On the other hand, Qian Tong managed to save Xie Hong Wen and was very satisfied. Although Yang Kai was young, he at least understood how to advance and retreat, an admirable quality.

All in all, it ended with a win-win situation.

“Elder Qian, many thanks for your efforts here. Junior will not forget this,” Yang Kai thanked him with cupped fists. He knew that if Qian Tong hadn’t arrived so quickly, he would definitely have killed everyone here, including Xie Hong Wen, and if Xie Hong Wen died, he wouldn’t have been able to remain here any longer. There was still a lot of Space Spirit Crystals beneath Dragon Cave Mountain, so if for nothing else, Yang Kai had to thank Qian Tong for giving him more time to mine it clean.

“Nephew Yang is too polite,” Qian Tong laughed, “This old master didn’t do anything. On the other hand, Nephew Yang is a true dragon among men, severely wounding Hong Zhen with just a First Order Saint Realm cultivation, Nephew Yang’s future achievements will certainly be limitless.”

“I cannot take credit for this, I was simply relying on the power of this Spirit Array,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.

Qian Tong had a clear understanding of the situation as he had taken quite a few looks at the Spirit Array already. However, because the Spirit Array was currently inactive, Qian Tong couldn’t examine its mysteries at all, shocking him greatly. Now, he guessed that the master behind Yang Kai was not only an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner but also a powerful Array Master.

His guess was, of course, correct, but Qian Tong was completely off about this master’s identity. The artefacts were refined by Yang Yan, and the Spirit Array here was also arranged by her. The master he was looking for was right in front of his eyes, but unfortunately, Qian Tong had no way of knowing this.

“Does Nephew Yang have a place to settle down?” Qian Tong asked, “If not, this old master can recommend you to Shadow Moon Hall. With Nephew Yang’s aptitude, after entering Shadow Moon Hall, you will surely become a Core Disciple. Is Nephew Yang interested?”

Yang Kai, of course, knew what Qian Tong was thinking and immediately shook his head, “No thank you, I quite enjoy living here. Junior is used to living freely and doesn’t understand proper etiquette. If I were to really enter a Sect, I’m afraid I would just end up embarrassing myself.”

Qian Tong smiled faintly and immediately put aside this issue. He knew if he were to continue pestering here, the efforts he just made would be squandered. Instead, Qian Tong made several glances towards the cave while remaining in place, waiting for Yang Kai to invite him inside to sit.

The Origin Grade Artefact Refiner and Array Master behind Yang Kai must currently be resting in the cave, so if Qian Tong could get invited in, he might be lucky enough to meet this man.

Qian Tong didn’t speak, but Yang Kai also remained silent. Right now, Yang Kai was anxious to enter retreat to research this strange thing called Shi, so how could he have to mood to say anything further. The problem was he also didn’t make it clear he wanted Qian Tong to leave.

The two of them both glanced back and forth at one another, the situation quickly growing somewhat awkward.

“Wu Yi greets Elder Qian,” At the critical moment, Wu Yi arrived with Yang Yan and politely offered her greetings, breaking the awkward air.

“Good good good,” Qian Tong smiled and nodded, “Are you a disciple of the Hai Ke Family?”

“Yes, but I have separated from the family and now only follow Senior Brother Yang,” Wu Yi replied softly.

“Very good. Following Nephew Yang will definitely give you a more promising future than remaining in the Hai Ke Family. You have good vision little girl, work hard; it would be best if you can tie down Nephew Yang in body and mind.”

[This damn old fart, spouting off unnecessary nonsense!] Yang Kai cursed to himself.

Wu Yi’s face turned red as she pursed her lips and smiled helplessly, “This Wu Yi’s future is quite limited, not worthy of being joined to Senior Brother Yang.”

She didn’t mean to belittle herself, but after seeing Yang Kai’s abilities, she truly felt that very few women would be worthy of Yang Kai, and she was definitely not one of them. Moreover, she currently wasn’t interested in pursuing matters between men and women. Qian Tong had spoke casually just now, so she responded in kind.

“This is…” Qian Tong then set his sights on Yang Yan. Since she could follow Wu Yi here, her position in Yang Kai’s circle was certainly not low, so Qian Tong would not neglect her.

“This is my Junior Sister,” Yang Kai did not wait for Yang Yan to speak and took the initiative to introduce her as such.

Wu Yi and Yang Yan both turned looks of surprise to him.

“Oh, so she’s Nephew’s Junior Sister, very good.”

“She is a Saint Grade Artefact Refiner,” Yang Kai added specifically.

Qian Tong’s eyes brightened, seemingly very happy, letting out a big laugh as he nodded, “So young yet already a Saint Grade Artefact Refiner, en, it seems Nephew’s Junior Sister’s achievements won’t be lower than your own in the future.”

“Naturally, Junior Sister is truly amazing,” Yang Kai nodded quickly.

“This old master thought the disciples in my Sect were already quite good but seeing your Senior Brother and Junior Sister’s talents today, my eyes have been opened. It’s unfortunate that Nephew Yang and your Junior Sister don’t want to join my Shadow Moon Hall.”

“Afterwards, if we must join a Sect, Shadow Moon Hall will be our first choice.”

Qian Tong laughed and nodded with satisfaction, “Good, this old master will wait for good news from Nephew Yang then!”

Seeing that Yang Kai didn’t intend to welcome him inside, Qian Tong didn’t press the issue, talking about a few other minor things before saying goodbye and flying off.

Before he could go far though, Qian Tong suddenly turned back.

“What else does Elder Qian wish to discuss?” Yang Kai looked at him curiously.

Qian Tong quickly asked, “Does Nephew Yang want to attend the Treasure Trove Pavilion’s upcoming auction?”

“Auction?” Yang Kai frowned. He had never participated in auctions before and currently he didn’t have any interest in doing so. What he wanted to do right now was study Shi. Just as he was about to refuse though, Yang Kai saw Wu Yi and Yang Yan wearing looks of anticipation, so he quickly changed what he was about to say, “When will the auction take place?”

Qian Tong took out a golden invitation from his Space Ring and handed it to Yang Kai, “The time and place are written above. If Nephew Yang has the time to go and see, even if you don’t purchase anything, it will still be a nice way to relax. Naturally, if Nephew Yang has anything good to sell, it will be a good opportunity to earn some Saint Crystals, things often sell for more at auctions after all.”

Yang Kai accepted the invitation but didn’t look at it, simply handing it over to Wu Yi before saying, “If I have time, I’ll attend.”

“Good, when the time comes, this old master will also attend. Nephew Yang can simply report this old master’s name at the event if you need anything,” Qian Tong said before leaving once more.

After Qian Tong had truly left, Yang Kai glanced around and discovered that the Hai Ke Family had disappeared. Yang Kai didn’t know what happened to them, but it was obvious Wu Yi had not embarrassed them.

“Yang Kai, why did you say I was your Junior Sister?” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai with a puzzled look.

“Let’s go back first,” Yang Kai beckoned to her, not explaining right away.

Outside the cave, Yu Feng and the former Hai Ke Family disciples all stared at Yang Kai with admiration and worship.

Seriously wounding two Origin Realm masters, even with the assistance of a powerful Spirit Array, was not something any ordinary man could accomplish. There were too many outsiders around just now, so all of them could only behave calmly, but now, they were free to reveal their shock and reverence.

“Go back and cultivate,” Yang Kai waved at them before leading Wu Yi and Yang Yan to his own stone room and closing the doors behind him.

Seeing Yang Kai’s solemn appearance, Wu Yi and Yang Yan couldn’t help becoming serious themselves, understanding he had something important to say, otherwise he wouldn’t be showing such a face.

“Aren’t you wondering why Qian Tong is so partial to me?” Yang Kai asked the biggest question the two of them had.

“Yes,” Wu Yi nodded.

“He naturally has a reason for it,” Yang Kai turned his eyes to Yang Yan, “That reason is you!”

Wu Yi asked thoughtfully, “Because of Yang Yan’s Spirit Array abilities?”

Yang Kai shook his head, “Because Yang Yan is an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner!”

“What?” Wu Yi called out in fright. After Wu Yi came here, Yang Yan had never refined any artefacts, spending all her time arranging the Spirit Arrays around the cave, so she was completely unaware that Yang Yan possessed such ability. But now that Yang Kai had explained the situation, Wu Yi immediately understood why Qian Tong showed such an attitude towards Yang Kai.

“Qian Tong knows that there is an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner behind me, but he doesn’t know that person is Yang Yan. He also probably thinks that this imaginary Artifact Refiner is my master!” Yang Kai spoke his guess.

“I see, him treating you favourably is because he wants to forge a friendship with that imaginary master,” Wu Yi nodded.

“Right. I didn’t know that the best Artefact Refiners on Shadowed Star were just Origin Grade Low-Rank. If I had known, I would not have sold those artefacts before. Now it’s too late to try to conceal all of this. Fortunately, Qian Tong doesn’t dare to offend an Artefact Refiner of this level and can only try to win them over, so we’re not in any immediate danger,” Yang Kai said before staring deeply at Yang Yan and saying, “From now on, you can’t publicize the fact that you’re an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner. Your strength is too low, once you’re found out, others will definitely try to capture you!”

Yang Yan muttered, “Even if I tell everyone, none of them will believe me.”

She had worked at the Artefact Refining Pavilion in Heavenly Fate City for a time and was constantly advertising her true Artefact Refiner grade, but no one had ever believed her or provided her with Origin Grade materials to perform Artifact Refining.

“In any case, you can’t say that anymore, otherwise it will be a disaster for us,” Yang Kai said solemnly, “Understood?”

“I understand,” Yang Yan nodded.

Yang Kai was helpless, thinking that he and Yang Yan were total opposites. He wished to conceal his Alchemy skill from the world and looked forward to others underestimating him. Yang Yan, on the other hand, seemed to want everyone to know about her abilities, but in the end, she too was still perfectly fine. The world was a strange place.

“No wonder you specifically told Qian Tong that Yang Yan was a Saint Grade Artifact Refiner and that she was your Junior Sister. So it was like this,” Wu Yi said thoughtfully, understanding Yang Kai’s intentions.

“Yes, with Qian Tong thinking there’s an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner behind me, it’s only normal I have a Junior Sister who is a Saint Grade Artifact Refiner.”

Chapter 1147, Black Belly Yang Yan
Yang Kai believed that Qian Tong would believe the words he said, and as long as Qian Tong didn’t doubt him, he would be absolutely safe here. With Qian Tong’s protection, incidents like with the Xu Family wouldn’t occur again.

“I see!” Wu Yi nodded.

“If you understand then go about your own business, I must enter retreat,” Yang Kai waved to them.

“Big Brother Yang, about the Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction…” Wu Yi bit her lip and asked.

“You want to go?” Yang Kai knit his brow.

He hadn’t expected that not only Wu Yi, but even Yang Yan would nod, the two of them seemingly quite looking forward to this event.

“If you want to go then just go.” There was no need for Yang Kai to stop them. In his opinion, this auction would be an eye-opening experience for these two, a chance for them to see the broader world. Wu Yi came from a small family, so even if she had some worldly wisdom, she couldn’t compare to those disciples with great backgrounds. As for Yang Yan, she had seemingly been quite miserable and poor her whole life, so what she had seen was definitely not much, it was only natural for her to take interest in this auction.

“What about you?” Wu Yi asked.

“If I haven’t exited my retreat then I won’t attend, just be careful by yourselves.”

“En,” Wu Yi nodded before leaving with Yang Yan.

Yang Kai closed the stone room, sat down cross-legged, and sank his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea.

Inside his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar appeared before two masses of pure Spiritual Energy and stared at them excitedly.

This was the first time Yang Kai had managed to collect the remnant Soul of an Origin Returning Realm master. Never before had any Origin Returning Realm master died close enough to him for Yang Kai to do this. As such, Yang Kai had never been able to refine an Origin Realm master’s perceptions of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, causing him to not know much about this new realm or the power called Shi. If it wasn’t for his battle with Hong Zhen today, Yang Kai likely wouldn’t have had an opportunity to learn about Shi for a long time. This mysterious strength held great attraction for him.

Facing an Origin Realm expert had caused Yang Kai some alarm. He had always been fighting against opponents in higher realms than his own. He was able to defeat Immortal Ascension masters when in the True Element Boundary, Saints in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and Saint Kings in the Saint Realm. Now that he had reached the Saint King Realm, Yang Kai had assumed he would be able to defeat First Order Origin Realm cultivators, but reality turned out far different from how he expected.

The Origin Returning Realm and Saint King Realm were fundamentally different, and it was all due to Shi!

Sitting down cross-legged, Yang Kai drew these two Soul remnants towards himself and carefully began to absorb the insights into the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao contained within them. If the way he absorbed Souls remnants before was like stuffing his face, Yang Kai’s current behaviour was more akin to slowly savouring these two Souls’ taste. This was a rare opportunity, and if he didn’t take full advantage of it, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to comprehend what this Shi thing was and the next time he faced an Origin Realm masters, he would be unable to resist it.

Time passed by as Yang Kai slowly but steadily absorbed these two Souls, delicately squeezing every essence out of them.

Two days later, when he had finished consuming the two pure Soul remnants, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes.

He now vaguely understood what Shi was, but due to the strength of Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother not being very high, only First Order Origin Returning Realm, they only had a basic comprehension of Shi and its application. Since Yang Kai’s understanding of Shi was based on these two people’s, naturally it too wasn’t in any way complete.

An Origin Realm Master’s Shi wasn’t something intangible like fighting spirit, imposing manner, or killing intent, things masters honed and developed over years of cultivation and killing and would erupt almost involuntarily during the battle.

However, these invisible auras were a component of Shi.

The Shi of an Origin Realm master was a combination of their fighting intent, Saint Qi, and Spiritual Energy, woven together into a physical phenomenon which could be used directly in combat. A cultivator’s understanding of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way had to reach a certain height before they could condense Shi.

Shi was invisible, but it had physical presence as well as formidable suppression ability and lethality. Why could Origin Realm masters easily kill Saint Kings? It was because of the absolute suppressive strength of Shi. The reason Yang Kai wasn’t able to kill Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother with a drop of Golden Blood wasn’t because that drop was lacking strength, but rather because the overlapping Shis of those two had greatly impeded the speed of the Golden Blood’s attack. With the Golden Blood blades greatly slowed, the two Origin Realm masters were able to perceive where they would be struck and move to avoid suffering fatal wounds.

If not for this, they would have died.

Comprehending Shi was very difficult. Hong Zhen had broken through to the Origin Returning Realm more than ten years ago but had only just begun to condense his own Shi. His Senior Brother was slightly stronger than him, but not by much.

On top of this, Yang Kai also learned a certain truth. Only after one’s Shi reached the grand accomplishment stage could they attempt to break through to the Origin King Realm!

Even though Qian Tong was already a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, Yang Kai estimated that his comprehension of Shi had not reached the grand accomplishment stage. This meant that no matter how hard he cultivated or how much he managed to enhance his Saint Qi by, before he completely condensed his own Shi, it would be impossible to advance his cultivation realm again. This was the biggest obstacle obstructing his path and once that could not be crossed easily.

This was probably an important reason why the number of Origin King Realm masters was so low throughout the Heng Luo Star Field. Achieving such a cultivation not only required great strength but a comprehensive improvement in all aspects.

After understanding this, Yang Kai immediately started his own research on Shi. He discarded the dregs in Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother’s comprehension of Shi while inserting his own insights and opinions, doing his best to coalesce his will, Saint Qi, and Spirit Energy.

During his battle against Hong Zhen, Yang Kai had faintly touched upon the mysteries of Shi, but that touch was fleeting and light. Now, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t recall or replicate the sensation he felt at that time, causing Yang Kai to feel a little annoyed.

Yang Kai tried again and again but always felt something was wrong. Ten days later, Yang Kai gave up his current attempt to study Shi.

He feels that his strength was still a bit too low. If he reached the Second or Third-Order Saint King Realm, the process should become much smoother. After all, this profound force belonged to the Origin Returning Realm. Being able to superficially understand it already was already quite remarkable.

Yang Kai wasn’t one to plow the air, so after considering all this, he immediately got up and decided to wait for his cultivation to improve before trying again. If he could absorb a few more Origin Returning Realm Soul remnants during this time, Yang Kai was sure he could achieve twice the results with half the effort.

Just after opening his stone door, Yang Kai saw Wu Yi run over while shouting happily, “Big Brother Yang, you came out just in time.”

“Why do you seem so excited?” Yang Kai looked at her curiously.

“It’s time for the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction,” Wu Yi answered quickly.

“It’s today?” Yang Kai was surprised, thinking it was a bit too coincidental.

“En,” Wu Yi nodded and leaned closer to Yang Kai, whispering in his ear, “Yang Yan refined an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact and an Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact to sell at the auction.”

“Is she insane?” Yang Kai was frightened and exclaimed, “Where is she?”

“I’m here,” Yang Yan’s figure appeared behind him.

“What are you thinking?” Yang Kai looked at her with a stern face, “Didn’t I just tell you not to go around showing off? Are you really worried others won’t have their eyes on you? How could you have forgotten so quickly?”

Yang Yan just grinned though and said, “As long as the three of us don’t say anything, who will know I was the one who refined these artefacts?”

“It will still attract too much attention,” Yang Kai shook his head, “Shadow Star’s best Artefact Refiners are only Origin Grade Low-Rank, how are you going to explain the sudden appearance of an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact?”

“Big Brother Yang doesn’t need to worry about that,” Wu Yi smiled slightly, “Although the Artefact Refiners on Shadowed Star don’t have such skill, there are still a number of Origin Grade Mid-Rank and even High-Rank artefacts present, so the appearance of an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact won’t cause too much trouble.”

Yang Kai frowned for a moment but soon understood that while the current levels of the Artifact Refiners and Alchemists on Shadowed Star were low, that didn’t mean it was always so. Good artefacts could be kept in storage for thousands or even tens of thousands of years without degrading, and Shadowed Star definitely had such legacy items. There may even be Origin King Grade artefacts somewhere on this Cultivation Star, but if there were, they would definitely be treated as foundational pillars of great Sects, things not easily taken out and used.

Considering all this, Yang Kai’s expression relaxed greatly and nodded, “Although that may be the case, there’s no need to sell artefacts of this grade. Why not keep them for our own use?”

“Where are we going to get Saint Crystals to buy material to enhance the Spirit Array without selling artefacts?” Yang Yan snorted, “We’re dirt poor now; this auction is a rare opportunity to earn some money.”

Yang Kai also suddenly recalled this point. Yang Yan arranging Spirit Arrays was indeed equivalent to burning money, but thanks to her Spirit Array, Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother had been blocked last time, so this matter couldn’t be treated haphazardly, rather it was of utmost priority.

“What artefacts did you refine? Let me see!”

Seeing Yang Kai no longer object, Wu Yi was very excited to quickly took out two offensive artefacts, one was a soft whip while the other was a pair of twin daggers. Yang Kai knew at a glance that these two artefacts were refined using the Ninth-Order Monster Beast Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion’s stinger and pincers. Both sent of potent energy fluctuations and had extremely beautiful designs, ones that were particularly suited for women to use.

Yang Yan was really black-bellied, deliberately refining artefacts like this was almost like asking men to bleed money, wasn’t it? Yang Kai secretly shook his head.

(Silavin: black-bellied means sly and manipulative. In this case, she was using the chance of women and their men appearing at the auction. Of course, when the girls want something… and the guys want to show off their big *ahem* you get $$$)

“More importantly, Big Brother Yang, the reason why I support Yang Yan selling these two items is to completely convince Elder Qian Tong that your non-existent master exists! Others won’t know where these artefacts came from, but Elder Qian Tong will definitely think they were refined by your master. Once he thinks so, he will only treat us better in the future,” Wu Yi explained.

Yang Kai nodded slightly, applauding, “Your thoughts are quite meticulous. En, since that’s the case, let’s go.”

Seeing Yang Kai agree, Wu Yi and Yang Yan smiled at each other.

“How long before the auction starts?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.

“Three hours, but that’s okay. I went to Heavenly Fate City to deliver a message to Elder Qian Tong, saying that we will have something to auction, so we only need to deliver the items and Elder Qian will take care of the rest.”

“En, good. Right, Wu Yi, do you know what pill is the most expensive on Shadowed Star?” Yang Kai suddenly asked

Chapter 1148, Treasure Trove Pavilion
Yang Kai asked this question out of nowhere, but Wu Yi still responded promptly with the names of a few precious pills.

“The Strong Cloud Pill which can repair one’s meridians, the Soul Returning Pill that can patch a wounded Soul, and Wild Rose Pill that Elder Qian Tong brought out last time are all quite valuable, but if I had to name the most expensive pills on Shadowed Star, then it would have to be the Origin Condensing Pill and Origin Nirvana Pill. The latter can be said to be nearly priceless because it can help increase the chances a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master breaks through to the Origin King Realm. On Shadowed Star, there is no such master, but there are many stuck at the Third-Order Origin Realm. Those big forces wouldn’t hesitate to exchange several cities for a single Origin Nirvana Pill,” Wu Yi replied, her breath quickening slightly.

“No need to even consider it then,” Yang Kai shook his head decisively.

The Origin Nirvana Pill was an Origin King Low-Rank pill, forget about Yang Kai not having the appropriate materials, even if had the required ingredients, he couldn’t refine such a high-grade pill. The Origin Condensing Pill, on the other hand, could be refined because it was just an Origin Grade Low-Rank pill.

“Big Brother Yang, why do you ask?” Wu Yi looked at Yang Kai curiously.

“It’s nothing, wait here a moment, I’ll be right back,” Yang Kai said before turning around and returning to his stone room.

Although Yang Yan and Wu Yi were confused, they waited patiently, and roughly half an hour later, Yang Kai emerged once more and nodded, “Let’s go.”

The three of them then flew off towards Heavenly Fate City.

After the previous incident where Qian Tong came over and openly displayed his attitude, Yang Kai believed that no one would come to find trouble with Dragon Cave Mountain, so he could go out with peace of mind.

On the other hand, letting Wu Yi and Yang Yan take two Origin Grade artefacts to participate in the auction worried Yang Kai deeply, naturally, he needed to escort them there and back.

Yang Kai also wanted to know what price these two artefacts would sell for. Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts were worth between thirty thousand and fifty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, so an Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact should be sold for between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand, right? Yang Kai vaguely estimated that after selling these two artefacts, they would be able to purchase enough materials to furnish the cave’s Spirit Array.

Along the way, after listening to Wu Yi and Yang Yan talking non-stop, Yang Kai learned that Treasure Trove Pavilion didn’t belong to Shadow Moon Hall at all.

Treasure Trove Pavilion was its own force, one even more powerful than Shadow Moon Hall!

Treasure Trove Pavilion was similar to Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce in that it focused on conducting business. It had branches all across Shadowed Star and everyone once in a while, it would gather together treasures from all over the world and hold a grand auction.

The location of this auction wasn’t fixed and was instead held in turns all over Shadowed Star. This time, Treasure Trove Pavilion was hosting its auction in Heavenly Fate City.

The Treasure Trove Pavilion auction could be considered a grand event for all of Shadowed Star because, before every auction, Treasure Trove Pavilion would widely publicize a number of the precious objects to be auctioned, sending out pamphlets with exquisite illustrations to draw in expectant crowds.

The Treasure Trove Pavilion auction was attended by all the major powers on Shadowed Star and was a pseudo battle of financial resources and heritage. It was a lively occasion each time it was held, and many Heaven defying treasures had appeared over the years. Once, there was even a defensive artefact of Origin King Grade!

Rumour had it that this artefact was auctioned for over five hundred million High-Rank Saint Crystals plus fifteen flourishing cities!

Even the always calm Yang Kai was shocked by this number. Shadowed Star was too backwater so there were very few artefacts above Origin Grade Low-Rank, resulting in such an outrageous price being possible.

Yang Kai believed that on other Cultivation Stars, even if Origin King Grade artefacts were expensive, it was impossible for them to be sold for such a price.

“An Origin Nirvana Pill also appeared once and was apparently bought by a great Senior from Thunder Typhoon Sect. Unfortunately, after taking that Origin Nirvana Pill, that Senior failed to break through to the Origin King Realm and even had his cultivation realm fall as a result of some kind of backlash. I don’t know if that’s true or not though,” Wu Yi sighed softly.

Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent. Although he didn’t say anything, he was basically sure that what Wu Yi said was true.

After all, such pills were only auxiliary means. While such pills could help promote the chances of a cultivator breaking through to the next Great realm, and they were thus extremely expensive, they weren’t guarantees of success. If one’s understanding of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way hadn’t reached the appropriate level, no pill would be able to make them take another step forward.

Conversely, if one’s comprehension of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way were enough to exceed the bottleneck a cultivator was facing, even if they didn’t take an auxiliary pill, when the time came, they could still break through.

Yang Kai fell into the latter category as his understanding of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao always greatly exceeded his current realm. As such, he had never used pills that helped with breaking through to the next realm, saving him a lot of expense.

That Senior from Sir of Thunder Typhoon Sect had definitely not reached the grand accomplishment stage in the use and comprehension of Shi, as such, that precious Origin Nirvana Pill had essentially gone to waste.

Such a treasure wasn’t something that could be refined on Shadowed Star, so obviously it had been obtained through some other means.

After a cultivator fails to break through a bottleneck, they would inevitably suffer some type of backlash; this could range from strength regression like with that Thunder Typhoon Sect Senior, or in more serious cases, even death was possible.

As such, if a cultivator didn’t have enough confidence in their ability to overcome it, even if they reached a bottleneck, they wouldn’t dare attempt to break through to the next realm.

This kind of result was more difficult to see when a cultivator’s strength was low, which was why such cases basically didn’t exist in Tong Xuan Realm. Even in rare cases where failed breakthroughs occurred, the backlash was generally not strong. However, once one’s strength was high enough, such situations were more common.

In fact, it wasn’t until Yang Kai entered the Star Field that he slowly understood this information.

The group of three, while talking and laughing, quickly arrived at the Treasure Trove Pavilion branch in Heavenly Fate City.

Standing in front of the towering palace, Yang Kai realized just how prestigious this place really was! Treasure Trove Pavilion occupied almost half the street of the most prominent area in ​​Heavenly Fate City. There were people coming and going in front of the building in an endless flow, but that could not distract from the giant plague emblazoned with three golden words that was hung above Treasure Trove Pavilion’s doors.

A vigorous and tyrannical aura overflowed from Treasure Trove Pavilion, secretly stunning Yang Kai.

There were at least a hundred Origin Returning Realm masters inside this building. Fortunately, these people were all here to participate in the auction and were not deliberately targeting anyone, allowing Yang Kai to feel less uncomfortable.

In front of Treasure Trove Pavilion, two First Order Origin Returning Realm masters stood tall, their eyes as sharp as eagles as they observed the passing crowds. Yang Kai and his group of three had only just arrived when one of the guards, wearing a light cyan robe, stepped forward and raised his hand, “Guest, please halt, Treasure Trove Pavilion is about to hold its auction, it will not be open for normal business for the time being. If you wish to buy or sell something, please come back tomorrow!”

“We’re here to attend the auction,” Yang Kai said lightly before turning to Wu Yi.

Yang Kai knew that in order to participate in this level of auction, invitations were necessary. The invitation Qian Tong passed them last time was obviously for this and should currently be in Wu Yi’s hands.

Wu Yi seemed to be immersed in the magnificent of Treasure Trove Pavilion though, never before having had the opportunity to participate in this grade of auction. Her heart was filled with excitement and her face flushed a light shade of red. It wasn’t until Yang Kai looked at her that she suddenly remembered about the invitation and began scrambling to find it in her Space Ring.

“Haha, you think a cat or dog can attend Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction?” A laugh rang out nearby, one filled with scorn and derision.

Yang Kai frowned and looked towards the source of this voice, wanting to see who it was that was acting so arrogantly. Being ridiculed as stray cats or dogs for no reason naturally made him unhappy.

A young man in white robes soon walked over, his eyes sharp and seemingly possessed a brilliant light. Although his face was smiling, anyone could see the disdain in his eyes. He had a sturdy, handsome figure that perfectly complemented his shimmering eyes, a young man capable of fascinating thousands of women.

What stunned Yang Kai though wasn’t any of this, but the fact that this young man actually had a Third Order Saint King cultivation and that in front of him, Yang Kai felt a faint sense of oppression. This youth’s aura was no less imposing than Xue Yue of Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce.

Behind this young man were two masters who despite perfectly restraining their auras, were obviously of higher strength than the Hong Zhen Yang Kai faced before. These two masters wore black robes embroidered with soaring dragons and dancing phoenixes as well as a single large character.

War!

“Heaven Battling Union!” Wu Yi exclaimed, and quickly gave way.

[So he’s from Heaven Battling Union, no wonder he can have such strength despite not being very old,] Yang Kai thought to himself. He wasn’t to Shadowed Star anymore and had naturally heard about Heaven Battling Union as it was one of the biggest forces.

Among the younger generation of Heaven Battling Union, there was one extremely high aptitude genius named Qu Chang Feng. It was also said that he possessed incredibly piercing eyes.

If Yang Kai wasn’t mistaken, this young man should be that Qu Chang Feng, a talent famous across all of Shadowed Star.

Sure enough, after the guard who had stopped Yang Kai saw this young man, he respectfully cupped his fists and greeted, “Young Lord Qu, please enter!”

“En,” Qu Chang Feng nodded faintly then glancing over at Wu Yi and Yang Yan, pausing for a moment before smiling, “Do you two young ladies want to enter Treasure Trove Pavilion?”

Neither Wu Yi nor Yang Yan answered.

Qu Chang Feng continued talking though, “Entry right now is restricted because the auction is about to take place, these two guards won’t allow anyone inside without an invitation, but if you really want to go in, you can come with me, what do you two young ladies think?”

The smile he wore while offering this invitation seemed innocent and harmless, but Yang Yan and Wu Yi weren’t the types of women who would be fooled by such false humility; they naturally understood Qu Chang Feng’s intentions.

“Qu Chang Feng, I haven’t seen you for a few years but you still like showing off your superiority in front of the weak it seems. Do you really think being able to attend this auction is something noteworthy, or is it your Heaven Battling Union that is so great?” A deep voice sounded, and when Qu Chang Feng, who was still offering an invitation to Wu Yi and Yang Yan heard this voice, he couldn’t help frowning bitterly, as if he’d just swallowed a fly, the spring-like smile on his face disappearing in a flash as he turned his sharp eyes in the direction of this voice.

A short distance away, a young man in simple grey robes was walking over. He wasn’t putting on airs like Qu Chang Feng and instead appeared rather plain and unimpressive, but Qu Chang Feng didn’t dare despise him as a serious light flashed across his sharp eyes.

Chapter 1149, Disturbance in Front of the Building

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Yang Kai also turned his head to look at this newcomer, wondering who dared act so arrogant in front of Qu Chang Feng.

At first glance, Yang Kai was a little surprised. The clothes this young man wore weren’t anything special, and could even be described as crude, but the aura he gave off was even stronger and forceful than Qu Chang Feng’s; on top of that, this aura was filled with sharpness. Yang Kai even faintly felt a surge of lightning coming from him.

This young man obviously cultivated some kind of Thunder Attribute Secret Art and had already achieved high accomplishments in it. He wasn’t a robust figure, but he was definitely a master. This was because, like Qu Chang Feng, he was also Third Order Saint King!

This young man was also followed by two Origin Returning Realm masters, both dressed in azure robes with a distinctive lightning bolt emblazoned on their chests. This lightning bolt was quite lifelike and radiated a shocking presence.

“I was wondering who it was, turns out it was Brother Fang of Thunder Typhoon Sect. Long time no see! I see you still dress so shabbily, aren’t you afraid your appearance will damage Thunder Typhoon Sect’s face?” Qu Chang Feng chuckled without a smile.

Yang Kai’s brow rose as he immediately understood who this simply-dressed man was.

Fang Tian Zhong of Thunder Typhoon Sect! Like Qu Chang Feng, he was also one of Shadowed Star’s famous young talents, the first genius of Thunder Typhoon Sect’s younger generation.

Geniuses always had extremely high pride and refused to sit on par with others. These two young men were the greatest talents of their respective Sects, so naturally, there was friction between them. Once they encountered one another it would always result in a tit-for-tat mockery match.

The two guards of Treasure Trove Pavilion stood helplessly next to each other. If ordinary people dared act so wildly in front of Treasure Trove Pavilion, they would have already taught them a lesson, but Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong weren’t characters they dared to offend.

Even Yang Kai, who was standing nearby, became nothing but a foil.

“What I cultivate is the Martial Dao, what I study is the Heavenly Way. I’m not like you who worries about dressing up and showing off all day long,” Fang Tian Zhong said coldly.

Qu Chang Feng also let out a snort as he pushed his fighting intent towards Fang Tian Zhong. Fang Tian Zhong naturally refused to back down and also released his aura.

As if two storms had suddenly appeared and collided with one another, the atmosphere in front of Treasure Trove Pavilion suddenly descended into chaos and many masters already inside the building who noticed this released their Divine Senses to probe the situation. However, after learning that this was a conflict between Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong, all of them quickly took back their Divine Senses and no longer interfered.

Seeing these two geniuses confront each other with no regard to their surroundings, Yang Kai’s eyes grew cold, and his originally good opinion of Fang Tian Zhong shattered. Yang Kai had felt that this guy wasn’t pretentious like Qu Chang Feng, but now that trace of goodwill had completely disappeared.

If the one standing here had been an ordinary First-Order Saint King, they would definitely have gotten caught up in this invisible conflict and even if they hadn’t been injured, they would certainly be quite uncomfortable.

These two obviously didn’t care about him or Wu Yi and Yang Yan, all they wanted was to put the other one down.

When their two imposing manners reached a peak, Yang Kai let out a cold snort and waved his hand casually.

A sound as if something was torn apart resounded and Yang Kai stood in place like a mountain, not a single ruffle apparent on his clothes or hair. Yang Yan and Wu Yi hiding behind him also felt nothing.

“Em?” Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong converged their own imposing manners at the same time and turned to look at Yang Kai, both of them showing a tinge of surprise.

Although they had not been aiming their fighting intent towards Yang Kai just now, it was still not something a First-Order Saint King should have been able to resist, but now, this unknown youth had actually easily broken apart their conflict, shocking them slightly.

However, it was just a bit of surprise; in their opinions, Yang Kai’s current cultivation wasn’t worthy of their attention.

“Two Senior Brothers have such a good relationship, whenever you meet you get along so well, it’s really quite enviable,” A clear and sweet laughter like the sound of a silver bell rang out as a young woman stepped forward. Her creamy white skin and tender features, paired with her aura that seemed delicate, caused anyone who laid eyes on her to give birth to the desire to protect and care for her. The woman’s figure, however, was enchanting and her lavender dress perfectly outlined her luscious curves, contrasting and amplifying her graceful bearing.

When she approached, a fragrant scent wafted about, making people feel refreshed while at the same time causing their pulses to race.

Although her words were clearly mockery, neither Fang Tian Zhong nor Qu Chang Feng showed any anger, with the latter even smiling happily as he stared at this young woman with a burning look.

“Su Die greets two Senior Brothers,” The woman elegantly greeted, her face filled with a light blush that made her cheeks seem so soft one couldn’t help wanting to reach out and caress them.

“So it is Junior Sister Yin, it’s been too long since we last met, it makes Elder Brother here sad,” Qu Chang Feng no longer had any interest in Fang Tian Zhong and said with a laugh.

Fang Tian Zhong also nodded slightly to this young woman, offering his greetings.

These three were all geniuses on Shadowed Star, so naturally they knew each other.

“I didn’t expect Junior Sister Yin to come to this auction, it looks like my coming this time was the right decision. Would Junior Sister care to accompany me today? We can sit down and have a nice chat; Senior Brother isn’t talented but recently I have been diligently studying Shi and obtained some slight insights,” Qu Chang Feng enthusiastically invited, an obvious flavour of pride apparent in his last words.

Yang Kai secretly curled his lips when he heard this; he knew how difficult it was to comprehend Shi, and even after absorbing the insights of two Origin Returning Realm masters, he hadn’t been able to grasp anything about this profound type of strength. Qu Chang Feng may have a higher cultivation than Yang Kai, but it was still impossible for him to have comprehended anything of significance about Shi before entering the Origin Returning Realm. Qu Chang Feng saying all this was obviously just an excuse to get close to Yin Su Die.

Yin Su Die was naturally clearer about this than Yang Kai and simply flashed an enchanting smile while saying, “Although Junior Sister also wishes to talk more with Senior Brother Qu, Junior Sister came today as a representative of her Honoured Master. With such an important task at hand, Junior Sister must politely decline Senior Brother Qu’s invitation.”

“Of course. Of course, we both have long futures ahead of us, there’ll be plenty of other opportunities to chat,” Qu Chang Feng smiled freely, not showing any signs of annoyance at Yin Su Die’s rejection. It was clear he had bumped into such resistance from her more than once or twice already and built up a tolerance for it.

The three young talents stood in front of the door for some time, gathering the attention of many people who had come to attend the auction, but with them not entering, all the other Young Masters and Ladies could only stand by and wait.

Compared with these people, Yang Kai found that he, Wu Yi, and Yang Yan all seemed quite shabby. These Young Masters and Ladies were all dressed in exquisite robes, dazzling dresses, or powerful Artifact Armours.

Yang Kai on the other hand just wore plain clothes while Yang Yan was even more out of place, wearing her signature black robe with which she was trying to cover her face, seemingly feeling embarrassed. Wu Yi wasn’t as bad as these two, but she was still just wearing ordinary clothes, unable to compare with the high fashion of those around her.

These three stuck out like chickens among cranes and were obviously also drawing attention from the crowd.

Fortunately, the three talents didn’t continue chatting for long as the auction was about to start. They also wanted to go in early. After the Young Masters and Ladies offered greetings to Fang Tian Zhong’s trio, they quickly filed inside and quickly disappeared.

Before leaving, Fang Tian Zhong shot a brief glance over towards Yang Kai, but didn’t say anything.

It wasn’t until Treasure Trove Pavilion’s calmed down once more that Wu Yi was able to let out a sigh of relief and whispered to Yang Kai, “That woman just now was Yin Su Die of the Coloured Glass Sect. She is a famous character and also the first beauty of Shadowed Star, countless young men are pursuing her.”

“The first beauty?” Yang Kai laughed, “You two aren’t any worse than her, her title is clearly undeserved.”

“How can I compare with her?” Wu Yi blushed. Regardless of whether Yang Kai was behind honest or not, such praise still made her very happy. No woman didn’t care about her appearance, but Wu Yi knew there was a huge difference between her and Yin Su Die, their backgrounds alone weren’t comparable.

“Let’s go in too,” Yang Kai said lightly. He came to the auction today to protect Wu Yi and Yang Yan, but he hadn’t expected to run into so many young geniuses here as well.

Whether it was Qu Chang Feng, Fang Tian Zhong, or Yin Su Die, none of them could be despised. Yang Kai realized he still had a long way to go and that he was far from invincible in this world.

The appearance of these three people reminded Yang Kai that even opponents in the same realm as him mustn’t be underestimated. They were the representatives of their respective Sects, so who knows what kind of profound skills or astonishing treasures they had on them? If they were to fight, who would win and who would lose wasn’t a certainty.

Wu Yi finally found the invitation in her Space Ring and handed it to the guard outside. The guard seemingly didn’t expect that three people like Yang Kai could actually obtain this invitation, but although he was surprised, he didn’t try to embarrass them and quickly ushered them inside.

Entering Treasure Trove Pavilion, the loud bustle of the crowd immediately washed over the trio as countless people gathered in groups, discussing various different topics.

“So this Treasure Trove Pavilion?” Wu Yi’s pretty face was filled with shock as her eyes darted back and forth, filled with curiosity and wonder. It was the first time she had ever entered this place.

The sight which greeted them was a huge circular half-arc hall with a dome roof lined with the most brilliant of light stones, all of which were emitting a soft glow that made the entire interior of Treasure Trove Pavilion no less bright than the outside.

At the lowest level of the hall, rows of seats were neatly arranged. Nearly eighty percent of these seats were already filled while the higher floors still had a large number of people walking back and forth.

At the front centre of the main floor was a high platform at least two meters above ground; it was clearly the stage on which the auctioning items would be presented.

This design allowed everyone participating in the auction to clearly see the items being auctioned.

When Yang Kai arrived here, he first tried to find where Qian Tong was, but he soon discovered that in this place it was very difficult to find a particular individual. If he was a Third Order Origin Returning Realm master, he wouldn’t need to have any scruples and could just search the premises with the help of his Divine Sense. However, in this place where so many masters had gathered, Yang Kai didn’t dare use his Divine Sense at will, lest he cause misunderstandings and draw unnecessary trouble to himself.

Chapter 1150, Should Be Delivered Soon
Just as Yang Kai was wondering what to do, a figure ran over to him and bowed politely, “Luo Qing greets Young Master Yang, greets the Young Ladies.”

Yang Kai looked over at this newcomer and discovered that he was the same Origin Realm master who had been invited by the Xu Family to deal with him but had recognized Yang Kai in time and reported to Qian Tong.

Grateful to Luo Qing for his efforts back then, Yang Kai politely greeted, “So it is Brother Luo. Where is Elder Qian now?”

“Elder Qian is currently attending to some matters and cannot step away, so he ordered this disciple to wait here for Young Master Yang. Young Master Yang may rest assured that Elder Qian has made all necessary arrangements for you, if you will just follow me.”

“Understood. Lead the way,” Yang Kai nodded.

Since Treasure Trove Pavilion was holding an auction in Heavenly Fate City, and Qian Tong was one of the senior Elders in charge of in Heavenly Fate City, it was normal for him to have many things to deal with, so Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t think much about this.

Follow Luo Qing, the trio went straight up to the third floor. Pushing open the door to a certain room, Luo Qing walked inside and explained, “Young Master Yang, this is the private room Elder Qian arranged for you, is it to your satisfaction?”

Yang Kai entered the room and found that although it was a bit small, it was well furnished with comfortable chairs to sit on and good-quality spirit fruits laid out on a decorative table. A pot of hot spirit tea was brewing and there were two beautiful maidservants standing by. These two maids had bright eyes and slender figures and upon seeing Yang Kai and the two young women enter, they immediately welcomed them.

Yang Kai didn’t know if other private rooms came with maidservants, but he was certain these two had been specially arranged by Qian Tong, because both were wearing Shadow Moon Hall uniforms, indicating their status as disciples.

“Elder Qian’s arrangements are quite attentive, I’m very satisfied,” Yang Kai nodded with a smile.

“Young Master Yang being satisfied is good,” Luo Qing seemed relieved. He had heard about Qian Tong killing Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother in order to become maintain a friendly relationship with Yang Kai, so although he still didn’t know what made Yang Kai worthy of such efforts, having received Qian Tong’s orders Luo Qing dared not show any neglect.

“I beg your pardon Young Master Yang, but Elder Qian instructed this disciple to bring the items you wish to auction off today to him as soon as possible so that Treasure Trove Pavilion can evaluate their starting price and where to position them in today’s lineup.”

“En, understood,” Yang Kai sent a wink to Wu Yi, who immediately took out two beautifully packaged jade boxes from her Space Ring and handed them to Luo Qing. These two jade boxes naturally held the two Origin Grade artifacts Yang Yan had refined.

“This as well,” Yang Kai said as he took out a jade bottle and handed it to Luo Qing.

“Thank you. Please feel free to relax here for the moment, Young Master Yang, the auction should start in about half an hour, this Luo Qing will take his leave first,” Luo Qing bowed and turned around to leave, ordering the two female Shadow Moon Hall disciples to attentively entertain Yang Kai, to which the two girls nodded respectfully.

“Seems we’re in room C13,” Wu Yi walked over and closed the door, instantly blocking out all the noise from outside.

“The Spirit Arrays here are well arranged,” Yang Yan walked around, examining a few places, seemingly quite interested in the Spirit Arrays inside the room. “Others’ Divine Senses won’t be able to penetrate this room, the only downside is that it’s a little far from the auction stage.”

Yang Kai smiled lightly, “This is Treasure Trove Pavilion after all. It probably took Elder Qian a great deal of effort to even get us this private room. Looking at the people who came here today, all of them seem to be powerful characters with famous names.”

As Yang Kai spoke, the two female Shadow Moon Hall disciples couldn’t help smiling even more brightly, as if they were pleased to hear Elder Qian receive such high praise.

“You two don’t need to act restrained, just sit down. We’re not wealthy or influential people, we’re just here to watch the fun this time,” Yang Kai said to the two maids as he saw them acting slightly nervously.

The two women quickly waved their hands frantically, saying they didn’t dare.

Yang Kai did not force them after seeing them refuse, instead sitting down on one of the chairs and pouring himself a cup of tea, tasting it slowly as he waited.

Wu Yi still couldn’t believe what was happening here. She had never imagined she would one day be able to participate in this grade of auction. Let alone her, even Patriarch Yi En of the Hai Ke Family wouldn’t be eligible to attend this auction or even enter Treasure Trove Pavilion at such a time.

But now, she was actually sitting in a private room, enjoying treatment reserved for powerful masters from first-class Sects, making her feel quite complicated in her heart. The gap between people was really too big. Her biggest wish before was to work hard make Yi En look at her with high esteem so that she may later inherit the position of Matriarch and take command of the Hai Ke Family; but now, she no longer had such thoughts.

So what if she became Matriarch? The Matriarch of such a small family wasn’t even worth as much as a common disciple of Shadow Moon Hall. Take for instance the two maids who were current standing nearby, waiting to serve them. Although these two only had Third Order Saint Realm cultivation, if they had arrived at the Hai Ke Family, Yi En would still have to treat them with the utmost respect and courtesy.

This was the insurmountable gap between the great forces and small families.

A few days ago, when Yang Kai was still in retreat, Yi En had come to the cave once more along with many of the family’s Elders and Foreign Elders to request Wu Yi return and assume the position of Patriarch, but Wu Yi had immediately declined. Since she had chosen to separate from the family, she would not go back.

Suddenly feeling something flying towards her, Wu Yi’s eyes quickly shifted to the side and she lifted her hand to catch this object. Upon grasping it, she noticed that it was one of the spirit fruits from the table.

Yang Kai laughed, “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Wu Yi shook her head, picking up another spirit fruit before standing up and giving them to the female disciples of Shadow Moon Hall.

The two girls didn’t refuse this time, thanking Wu Yi politely as they received the fruits in a graceful manner.

The auction wouldn’t start for some time but the atmosphere in the private room was already quite harmonious. The two female disciples of Shadow Moon Hall also seemed to understand that Yang Kai, Wu Yi, and Yang Yan didn’t possess great backgrounds and were quite kind to others; Yang Yan even chatted with them like they were little sisters. Yang Kai couldn’t even get in a word, so he simply picked up the illustrated catalogue on the table and browsed through the items being auctioned today.

At the same time, in a back room of Treasure Trove Pavilion, a black-faced old man with a short goatee spat at Qian Tong with dissatisfaction, “Old Qian, things are about to start, when are those things you want to sell going to arrive?”

Qian Tong glanced towards the door and said hesitantly, “They should be delivered soon, just wait a moment.”

“Wait a moment? Treasure Trove Pavilion has its own rules. If not for the two of us sharing some friendship, do you think I would break those rules and allow you to insert items just moments before the auction starts?”

“Not at all, not at all,” Qian Tong met this rebuke with a smile, but in his heart, he was muttering uncomfortably. Wu Yi had come to him a few days ago and said that they would be bringing some items to auction, but she had not said what these items would be, only that they were artefacts. Out of consideration for Yang Kai’s face, Qian Tong had assured Wu Yi that as long as the items were delivered before the auction he would take care of the rest, but how could he have anticipated the items to not be delivered even now? With no other choice, he could only eloquently persuade, “Brother Yan Pei, just a bit longer, the items will definitely come.”

Yan Pei’s black face became even darker, like the bottom of a pot, and he grumbled for a moment before nodding, “Don’t say that this brother didn’t show you any consideration. Half an incense stick, if your items aren’t delivered in the next half an incense stick, no matter how precious they are, I won’t include them in the auction.”

“I know, I know, I’ll have to trouble Brother Yan Pei with this,” Qian Tong smiled helplessly, Treasure Trove Pavilion really had its own rules so he couldn’t argue any further. Just after he’d reached this agreement though, Qian Tong’s communication artefact vibrated and a Divine Sense Message reached him. It was from Luo Qing, causing Qian Tong to smile and say, “They’re here.”

Saying so, he immediately left the room.

A moment later, holding a jade bottle and two jade boxes, Qian Tong returned.

Yan Pei spat unhappily, “Are these the things you want to auction?”

“They should be,” Qian Tong hadn’t opened the boxes to see what was inside as time was short. He had simply accepted them from Luo Qing and brought them inside.

“Open them so we can have appraise their value and see if they’re even worthy auctioning,” Yan Pei said coldly, waving his hand and summoning in a number of Origin Realm masters who proceeded to circle around the jade boxes and jade bottle which were now laid out on a nearby table.

Seeing Qian Tong still somewhat on edge, Yan Pei sneered, “Brother Qian, don’t tell me you’ve brought some worthless items to be auctioned? If that’s the case, you’d best take them back now.”

“How could that be,” Qian Tong sneered, “Are Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts not worthy of being auctioned?”

Because it was Wu Yi who had spoken to him earlier, Qian Tong was somewhat lacking in confidence. If Yang Kai had met with him personally, Qian Tong won’t be worrying about anything. Behind Yang Kai was an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, protecting him from the shadows, that was also the reason Qian Tong thought Saint King Grade High-Rank artifacts would be sent because he couldn’t imagine a powerful Artifact Refining Grandmaster intentionally damaging his own face by putting out anything less.

“Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts…” Yan Pei’s complexion immediately became better but he still said solemnly, “Naturally such items are worth auctioning; but Brother Qian, this is not a precedent, if items arrive this late again even I won’t be able to take responsibility for adding them to the auction, if such things were discovered by others it wouldn’t be easy to explain.”

Although Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts weren’t too valuable, they could still be considered the most mainstream high even artefacts on Shadowed Star. There weren’t many Origin Grade Artifact Refiners so most Saint Kings and even Origin Realm cultivators would use this grade of artefact. As such, Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts were easy to sell. Treasure Trove Pavilion had also prepared many such artefacts for this time’s auction, so having two more wouldn’t change things much.

While the two old men were talking though, a cry of surprise rang out from the side.

“What happened?” Yan Pei turned his head and looked over.

“Sir, this is an Origin Grade Low-Rank offensive type artefact!” An Origin Returning Realm master immediately came over and showed the twin daggers inside the jade box to Qian Tong and Yan Pei.

Qian Tong’s eyes narrowed and suddenly felt his heart clench slightly.

Although he had long guessed that the master behind Yang Kai was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, he hadn’t expected him to actually bring out this grade of artefact to the auction. If Qian Tong had known, he would have directly bought it from Yang Kai. He had already bought artefacts from Yang Kai twice before, and each time both sides had left happy, but now that this precious Origin Grade artefact was in Treasure Trove Pavilion’s hands, if Qian Tong wanted it, he could only participate in the auction.

Buying this artefact in the auction would obviously be much more expensive than directly purchasing it from Yang Kai, and it wasn’t even a certainty he could obtain it. Those who attended this Treasure Trove Pavilion auction didn’t lack wealth or influence, so it would be a bloody battle to acquire such a good treasure.

Chapter 1151, What Mistake Did Disciple Make?
Yan Pei grabbed the twin daggers out of the jade box and pushed his Saint Qi through them to examine them, raising his brow in the next moment as he liberally praised, “Excellent… Excellent! this artefact has almost reached the Origin Grade Mid-Rank! The Grandmaster who refined it was incredibly attentive and the craftsmanship is simply exquisite.  What’s more, these daggers are perfectly suited for women, hahaha, this time, those Young Lords will bleed profusely!”

Yan Pei’s eyes were simply aglow.  How could he not see the great value of these twin daggers?  Without even mentioning their grade, their beautiful appearance meant specifically for women was enough to make all the Young Masters present break their heads while bidding to gift them to their favourite woman.

Qian Tong opened his mouth, wishing he could take back this artefact, but he knew that since it was already in Yan Pei’s hands, that was impossible, so he simply let out a long sigh and resigned himself, wondering if he should try to win back these twin daggers in the auction. Shadow Moon Hall had a number of female disciples with extremely good aptitude, so giving them this artefact would definitely increase their strength.

Just as this sigh of helplessness finished though, another of the appraisal masters suddenly shouted, this time sounding even more excited than before.

“This, this… this is…”

“What?”  Yan Pei flew over and pushed his way through the crowd gathered around the other jade box, and upon seeing what lay inside it, his eyes narrowed, immediately reaching out and picking up a long red whip before pushing his Saint Qi through it, calling out in alarm, “An Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact?”

“Ah?” Qian Tong was thoroughly shocked, his old face distorting noticeably.

“Hahaha! Excellent! This auction finally has something good for the finale!  This old master was originally a little worried about this, after all this auction was put together in a bit of a hurry so Treasure Trove Pavilion wasn’t able to collect too many good treasures.  This long whip will more than make up for that though. Hahaha, it’s really the blessings of Heaven!” Yan Pei laughed and happily while turning to Qian Tong and saying, “Brother Qian, this time you’ve helped me greatly! Brother will not forget this favour!”

Qian Tong’s mouth was filled with bitterness as he somehow forced out a smile and said, “Brother Yan Pei is too polite, you and I have known each other for many years and worked together on many occasions, helping out is only natural, haha ​…”

Even while saying so, Qian Tong was cursing out Luo Qing in his heart. A single Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact alone had nearly caused him to spit blood, but now an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact had actually appeared. Why hadn’t that damned Luo Qing explained everything carefully to him? If Qian Tong had known that Yang Kai was going to auction off two Origin Grade artefacts, he wouldn’t have brought these items anywhere near Yan Pei. No matter how much it would cost, Qian Tong would have bought these two artefacts for Shadow Moon Hall’s disciples.

But now, it was far too late to say anything. If Qian Tong wanted to obtain these precious treasures, he could only participate in the auction. How many Saint Crystals would he have to spend?  He was worried he wouldn’t have enough.

Poor Luo Qing didn’t know that he was being blamed for all this by Elder Qian.  How was he supposed to know Yang Kai would suddenly bring out two Origin Grade artefacts, one of them even Mid-Rank?

The twin daggers were one thing; after all, with the level of the Artifact Refiners on Shadowed Star, such artefacts could still be forged, but the grade of the long red whip had already surpassed the level of Shadowed Star’s Artifact Refiners.  Artefacts of this grade could only be obtained through special means.

This reality had led to the price of high-grade pills and artefacts reaching sky-high prices on Shadowed Star.

“Hahaha! Excellent!”  Yan Pei’s black face blossomed like a field of spring flowers, without the slightest trace of its former sullenness. Once again, praise flowed out from his lips, “It’s another artefact very suitable for women.  This time the auction will be very exciting. This old master can’t wait to see the scenes of those people scrambling to bid for these treasures!”

“Ah… ah… Elder Yan…” A trembling voice suddenly called out, “Please look at this…”

The man said haltingly while handing a jade bottle to Yan Pei.

Yan Pei accepted and opened the bottle, glancing inside only to have his eyes bulge, his hands also shaking, nearly causing him to drop the jade bottle while shouting, “Origin Condensing Pill!”

These three words were like a sledgehammer hitting the heart of Qian Tong, and without even thinking he rushed forward and grabbed towards the jade bottle.

Yan Pei’s response was equally swift, sending out a palm strike to intercept the incoming hand, the resulting clash forcing both Yan Pei and Qian Tong back a few steps.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” Yan Pei shouted furiously as he glared towards Qian Tong menacingly.

Qian Tong’s expression was incredibly solemn as he quickly said, “Brother Yan Pei, I’ve thought about it carefully and decided I won’t be participating in this auction. Please return my items to me.”

If he hadn’t seen the Origin Condensing Pill inside the jade bottle, Qian Tong would have opened one eye while closing the other, but from the quick glance he got, he immediately understood that this Origin Condensing Pill was far more valuable than a simple Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact.

“You want to back out now? Too late!”  Yan Pei coldly snorted, “Do you want me to spit out the foods I’ve already eaten? Brother Qian, this isn’t the first time you’ve met this Yan, is it?”

“Nonsense Brother Yan, didn’t you just say that no matter how valuable the items were, if they broke the rules, you wouldn’t enter them into the auction?”  Qian Tong spat this line without any consideration for his own face; for those two Origin Grade artefacts and that Origin Condensing Pill, what did face matter?

“This Yan clearly said that if I don’t see the items within half an incense stick of time I wouldn’t allow them to be sold, are you deaf?”  Yan Pei humphed, seeing Qian Tong still wearing a shamelessly determined look, just waiting for an opening to pounce, Yang Pei quickly backed away while stuffing the two jade boxes and jade bottle into his Space Ring before waving his hand, “All of you stare at Elder Qian. If he dares take one step forward, beat him ruthlessly!”

“Yes!” Five Origin Returning Realm masters all shouted as they began eying Qian Tong, meticulously following Yan Pei’s order. Once Qian Tong moved, they would surely launch an all-out attack.

“Damn it…” Qian Tong couldn’t help cursing.  Since hard methods had failed, he could only try soft ones now, “Old Yan, out of consideration for our many years of friendship, can’t you return my items to me? Can’t you just pretend you didn’t see these things? This grace will be remembered by this Qian Tong for the rest of his life…”

“The rest of your life? Your neck is already half-buried in the ground! You’ve got a few good years left at best, there’s no need for you to remember my affection,” Yan Pei smiled and waved.

“Can you not speak with such a poisonous tongue!?  This old master is hale and hearty, living a few hundred more years won’t be a problem!” Qian Tong rolled his eyes.

Yan Pei snorted, “If I were you, I’d send someone out immediately to begin collecting Saint Crystals, but instead you actually choose to stay here and grumble with this old master, impressive indeed! Only you and I know such treasures have appeared now, so you still have the advantage.”

As soon as Qian Tong heard this, his eyes lit up and he quickly cupped his fists to Yan Pei before turning around and rushing off. Qian Tong knew better than anyone that no matter what kind of extravagant and colourful words he spoke, it was impossible to get those things back.

“Old Qian, who brought these things to auction?” Yan Pei shouted out, but naturally received no response. Of course, Yan Pei knew his old friend was holding a grudge but he didn’t care one bit and just grinned happily, “Whoever it is has shockingly good luck. Not only did they manage to find two Origin Grade artefacts but also two Origin Condensing Pills.”

Qian Tong came out from the underground secret room and Luo Qing quickly went up to greet him, but before Luo Qing could say a word, Qian Tong slapped him across the face twice.

Although he hadn’t used any Saint Qi, Qian Tong’s two slaps weren’t weak by any means, causing Luo Qing to grimace in pain.

Qian Tong’s expression was gloomy, like a volcano that was ready to erupt, causing Luo Qing to exclaim, “Elder, what mistake did disciple make?”

“You scoundrel, why did you move so quickly?  Couldn’t you have been just half an incense stick later?!” Qian Tong reprimanded.

“Yes… no… ah?” Luo Qing was dumbfounded.

Obviously, it had been the Elder’s own orders to immediately bring the items Yang Kai brought to auction to him, and that was exactly what Luo Qing had done, so why was Elder Qian suddenly blaming him for doing just that?  Elder Qian Tong was normally kind and treated others temperately, never giving out such contradictory orders and never beating a disciple for no reason. It was because of his personality and demeanour that Elder Qian commanded high prestige and admiration from Shadow Moon hall’s disciples.

Although there was doubt in his heart, Luo Qing did not dare to speak.  Even a blind man could see that Elder Qian was in a terrible mood, so at this time silence was Luo Qing’s best option, lest he make another mistake without realizing it.

“I’ll let you make up for your crimes through good work,” Qian Tong stared at him coldly.

“Disciple will obey Elder’s commands!”  Luo Qing hurriedly wore a sincere expression and shouted loudly.

“Within one hour, go to all the stores in Heavenly Fate City under our control and raise twenty million… No, no, raise fifty million Saint Crystals!”

“Fifty… fifty million?” Luo Qing was startled.

“Yes!”

“Understood!”  Luo Qing responded quickly, disappearing like lightning. Collecting fifty million Saint Crystals in an hour would be no easy task.

Seeing Luo Qing’s figure disappeared, Qian Tong secretly exhaled. Fortunately, this time the auction was being held in Heavenly Fate City. Heavenly Fate City basically belonged to Shadow Moon Hall, so he could still freely raise Saint Crystals.

If this auction was being held at one of the other great force’s sites, Qian Tong would only be able to helplessly watch from the sidelines.

At the same time, in the basement of Treasure Trove Pavilion, Yan Pei sat in his chair for a moment to think, a strange grin soon creeping onto his face.  Beckoning to one of the Origin Realm masters who was involved in the appraisal just now, he whispered a few instructions.

This man quickly nodded and left.

A short time later, a number of people left the A-Block Private Rooms, their expression dignified.  These people quickly left Treasure Trove Pavilion and headed straight to the hall where the Space Array of Heavenly Fate City was located.

Soon after, people from the B-Block Private Rooms also began leaving.

The reason why Treasure Trove Pavilion chose to hold this auction in Heavenly Fate City this time was because its Space Array was connected to many other cities on Shadowed Star, helping to facilitate the attendance of the various great forces.

Space Arrays were extremely precious and not open to ordinary people, but these people all belonged to great forces, so the Shadow Moon Hall disciples who were responsible for guarding the Space Array didn’t dare to stop them, simply collecting the required fee before allowing them to pass.

Chapter 1152, Black Hearted Money
For a time, the space around Heavenly Fate City fluctuated as the Space Array was used at a frequency higher than at any point in history.

When the first spatial fluctuations appeared, Qian Tong didn’t pay it much mind, only thinking about seeing Yang Kai to say a few words about not bringing such precious treasures out to auction again in the future. No matter what they were, Qian Tong was fully capable of buying them all.

However, after another three or four consecutive spatial fluctuations propagated through the air, Qian Tong’s expression slowly solidified, and a certain thought came to him. His face changing greatly, Qian Tong quickly disappeared from Treasure Trove Pavilion and rushed to the palace where the Space Array was housed.

Inside the palace, the Shadow Moon Hall disciples who were responsible for guarding the Space Array all wore looks of shock. They didn’t understand why so many people all of a sudden needed to use the Space Array. Wasn’t it just about time for the auction to start? What were these people doing returning to their Sects instead of participating?

On top of that, those here were all from great forces like Thunder Typhoon Sect, Heaven Battling Union, Coloured Glass Sect, Twin Heart Valley, Grand Fire Temple… Each of these Sects was no less powerful than Shadow Moon Hall, some of them even exceeding them in strength.

Moreover, these people all seemed to be on guard against one another, their eyes darting about vigilantly, resulting in a very tense atmosphere inside the palace.

The few Shadow Moon Hall disciples here were afraid a fight would all of a sudden, break out here so none of them dared to ask any question, just quickly collecting the appropriate fee before sending people on their way.

Even though this was the case, everyone here was still urging these poor disciples to hurry things along.

In total, there were several dozen individuals representing several dozen powerful forces, so even if the Shadow Moon Hall disciples acted with all haste, it was still taking some time. Opening the Space Array, supplying enough Saint Crystals, and setting the appropriate destination wasn’t a process that could be completed in just a breath or two.

Just as the several Shadow Moon Hall disciples were about to shed tears from this sudden intense workload, another powerful aura rushed in from outside, causing the several dozen masters inside to frown. After seeing who this newcomer was though, all of them greeted him with cupped fists, “Elder Qian!”

Qian Tong’s face was filled with gloom as he strode inside quickly. Originally, he had just been suspicious and rushed over to investigate the situation, but after seeing so many people waiting to use the Space Array, how could he not know what happened?

“Old dog Yan, this old master will remember this! This Qian must sever his friendship with you!” Qian Tong snarled.

Just now, Yan Pei had told Qian Tong that he held the absolute advantage right now because he was the only one knew about the rare treasures which had appeared, but in a flash, that advantage had disappeared. If Yan Pei hadn’t intentionally leaked the news, how could these people have gathered here?

Everyone heard Qian Tong’s words and wanted to laugh, but none of them dared show any signs of doing so on their faces. Elder Qian was clearly unhappy right now, so no one was eager to find trouble with him.

“Elder Qian!” The busy Shadow Moon Hall disciples finally breathed a sigh of relief when their Elder suddenly appeared.

They really couldn’t handle this situation.

“How many already went through?” Qian Tong took a deep breath, calming his anger while trying to ask in a calm tone.

“Six have left so far,” A Shadow Moon Hall disciple replied quickly.

“En,” Qian Tong nodded. Since only six departed already he hadn’t come too late. Turning around, Qian Tong saw between sixty to seventy people in the hall. Snorting loudly, he asked, “Do all of you want to return to your respective Sects to gather Saint Crystals? Did you receive news from that old dog Yan?”

The sixty or seventy people in the hall wore embarrassed looks, some of them scratching their ears while others scratched their cheeks, some looked up at the dome of the hall silently while some looked down and whispered under their breath …

No one answered Qian Tong’s question though.

“Good, if you want to go back to raise Saint Crystals, this old master won’t try to stop you, but such frequent use of Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array will put a huge load on it, resulting in great damage, possibly even its complete destruction! As such, this old master must raise the usage fee.”

The sixty or seventy masters in the hall immediately shot incredulous looks towards Qian Tong. Everyone here knew he was spouting nonsense. Each Space Array was an ancient relic that had been used for many years without any issue. Even if it was used far more frequently than normal, it wouldn’t be in any danger of being destroyed. This was all just an excuse for Qian Tong to raise prices.

Everyone understood this truth in their heart, but no one dared to question Qian Tong. After all, this was Heavenly Fate City, a city under Shadow Moon Hall’s jurisdiction. The Space Array here also belonged to Shadow Moon Hall, so unless they didn’t want to use it, they would not offend Qian Tong. All of them had been entrusted with an important mission so none wanted to return empty-handed.

Qian Tong grinned meaningfully before saying, “It’s just a small additional charge, five hundred thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals a person!”

“Elder Qian, please be reasonable!” Someone immediately shouted, “The price to use a Space Array is usually just ten thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, how could you suddenly raise the price fifty times, isn’t that excessive?”

“Yes yes, five hundred thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals is too much, isn’t it?”

“Elder Qian, how can you collect such black-hearted money?”

…

The large group of people began shouting and clamouring. If a single use of a Space Array cost five hundred thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, who would ever use it?

When the few Shadow Moon Hall disciples saw the situation spiralling out of control, they couldn’t help feeling terrified. This was nothing less than provoking public anger, how could Elder Qian say such a thing? All of them thought their Elder had made some kind of mistake.

“You don’t have to use it, this old master won’t force you either way,” Qian Tong said, unperturbed, “But this old master must remind you that the auction will start soon. If you fail to raise enough Saint Crystals and return before those few items appear, heh…”

“I’ll use it, this is half a million Saint Crystals!” Before Qian Tong even finished his words, a burly man walked up and tossed over a Space Ring to a Shadow Moon Hall disciple guarding the Space Array.

The disciple caught the Space Ring, swept it with his Divine Sense, confirmed the amount was correct, then nodded to Qian Tong.

“Open the array!” Qian Tong waved his hand and a white light flashed, causing the burly man’s figure to quickly disappear.

Even now, the several disciples of Shadow Moon Hall were still completely baffled about what was happening. None of them could figure out why they had suddenly obtained five hundred thousand Saint Crystals so easily.

The maintenance and use of a Space Array were simply to facilitate the communication between the major cities and Sects on Shadowed Star. No one had ever used it as a tool to make money, but today, it seemed Elder Qian Tong was about to set a new precedent.

A single use of the Space Array for half a million Saint Crystals, sixty or seventy people waiting to use the Space Array, other people still rushing over…

How many Saint Crystals were they going to earn? The Shadow Moon Hall disciples soon began trembling with excitement. If this worked, in the future Shadow Moon Hall wouldn’t need to operate any shops or stores, the fee collected for using the Space Array along would be enough to make Shadow Moon Hall the wealthiest Sect on Shadowed Star.

Everything was easier once someone went first. After the burly man left, everyone who had been hesitating immediately charged forward, handed over the five hundred thousand Saint Crystals, then quickly departed via the Space Array.

The disciples from Shadow Moon Hall smiled from ear to ear, assigning one person specifically to take inventory of the Saint Crystals. Each time they received the appropriate fee, the other disciples would open the Space Array and send the one who had paid to their intended destination before continuing to collect the next fee.

“Elder Qian, if you ever come to my Vast City, my Floating Mist Palace will be sure to entertain you appropriately!” A middle-aged man who was clearly angered by Qian Tong charging so many Saint Crystals stared at him and declared. Clearly, he meant that if Qian Tong wanted to use the Space Array in Vast city, it would cost him five hundred thousand Saint Crystals.

Qian Tong simply grinned happily and retorted, “This old master intends to die of old age in Heavenly Fate City and won’t be going anywhere.”

Hearing those words, the middle-aged man was so mad he nearly couldn’t contain himself, the Space Array flashing in the next instant, delivering him to Vast City.

The scene inside the hall was very lively. Watching one person after another pay Saint Crystals then being transported away, the bitterness in Qian Tong’s heart finally dissipated.

Yan Pei had just eaten meat so he could not blame him for drinking some soup! In any case, since things had gotten to this point, Qian Tong could only make money first and think about everything else after.

Never before had there been an auction like this one, where all the great Sects scrambled to raise as many Saint Crystals as possible just moments before it began. There was a surge of activity in Heavenly Fate City.

No auction had ever brought such a huge gain to its host site either.

This time, though simply tolls on the Space Array, Shadow Moon Hall was able to raise over thirty million High-Rank Saint Crystals. There were other forces present that didn’t have sufficient financial resources or simply felt they had no chance of winning and gave up using the Space Array. Otherwise, Shadow Moon Hall would definitely have gained even more wealth.

Even though the Space Array was constantly being opened, Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction started on time.

Yan Pei was quite sinister and deliberately let some people spread rumours that the bidding for the finale items would be far more intense than normal. In fact, he did it, but this did not prevent the auction from being held, nor did he deliberately postpone its start time.

The most valuable items would naturally be sold at the end of the auction, which was at least seven hours away. With that much time, it wouldn’t be hard for those great forces to collect a large number of Saint Crystals.

Yan Pei was looking forward to the progress of this auction more than ever, sipping tea in his A-Block private room, calmly waiting for the finale to arrive.

Wind instruments played as drums were beaten, causing the noisy auction hall to suddenly quiet down. Atop the platform, more than a dozen young girls floated down from above, scattering flower petals from the baskets they were carrying as the bright lights further illuminated the centre stage, drawing everyone’s attention.

The fragrance of the flowers filled the auction hall as the dozen young girls smiled dazzlingly, like graceful goddesses descending from the heavens.

The girls waved their long sleeves in an enchanting dance, each of them displaying different yet equally intoxicating expressions that fascinated the hearts of all who were watching before gently landing and drawing back.

A beautiful woman with a voluptuous figure then walked up onto the high platform, her skin was as white as snow and her tight-fitting dress accentuating her astonishing curves while leaving her two jade arms bare. The low cut around her neck revealed a deep, seemingly bottomless valley that sucked in the eyes of the audience members.

Her hair was pulled up into an exquisite bun that exposed delicate nape of her neck, adding a touch of nobility and grace to her appearance.

When this beautiful woman appeared, she immediately drew in more attention than the young girls who came before her with her rich, mature charm, exuding an exotic flavour that enticed the appetites of everyone around.

Chapter 1153, Ancient Map
The beautiful woman stood on the high platform and bowed elegantly, her glossy red lips curled into the most attractive of smiles as a pleasant voice leaked from them, “Honoured Guests from far away, thank you all for participating in my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction. I would also like to say a special thank you to Shadow Moon Hall’s Elder Qian Tong for his strong support. This auction was only able to proceed so smoothly thanks to Elder Qian’s contributions.”

As soon as these words were said, several dozen people in the A Block and B private rooms immediately muttered curses. They had all received messages from their disciples just now and knew that Qian Tong had extorted five hundred thousand Saint Crystals from each of them in exchange for a single use of Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array. Knowing this, who would thank him at this time? Not shouting profanities at him right now was already giving Qian Tong a huge amount of face, but thanking him? In his dreams!

Yang Kai, in room C-13, observed this beautiful woman with interest. Although he had never participated in such an auction before, that didn’t mean he knew nothing about them.

The auctioneer played an important part in any auction. A good auctioneer could control the atmosphere of the room, heating it up to the point where prices also rose.

With this woman’s beauty alone, even if she didn’t say a word, she could increase the various bidders’ enthusiasm by several grades. Treasure Trove Pavilion was really sinister.

The beautiful woman on the stage reported her name, then humbly spoke about the hospitality offered by Treasure Trove Pavilion, apologizing for any shortcomings the guests may have experienced. Her words were smooth and sincere, so no one could find fault with her. She kept a fresh, spring-like smile on her face, causing everyone to feel warm and comfortable, as if they were relaxing in their own home. Her elegant eyes also moved about lightly but deliberately, making everyone mistakenly think that she was looking at them, hoping to see them display their valour, and wealth of course.

After speaking for a while, the beautiful woman let out a silver bell-like laughter before saying, “But enough idle talk, let the auction begin! The first item we are auctioning today is a Saint King Grade High-Rank Artefact Armour!”

While the auctioneer spoke, a woman donning an elegant dress slowly walked up on stage holding a large jade plate in her hands. Atop this jade plate was a five coloured Saint King Grade High-Rank Artifact Armour, one that was radiating powerful energy fluctuations and was exquisitely designed, it was no doubt a high-quality defensive artefact.

The beautiful woman paused for a moment, and after everyone had a chance to admire this Artifact Armour, she continued, “This five coloured Artifact Armour is a recent work of my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s Grandmaster Artifact Refiner, Grandmaster Gong. Grandmaster Gong’s reputation precedes himself so I will not elaborate on his skills. This Artifact Armour not only possesses excellent defensive strength, but it can also change size at will so it can be easily used by a man or a woman. The starting price is set at thirty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, each new bid must raise the price no less than two thousand Saint Crystals. Everyone, please!”

When this beautiful woman reported the starting price, Yang Kai frowned slightly before glancing over at Yang Yan.

If he remembered correctly, among the first batch of artefacts Yang Yan had refined for him, there was a single Saint King Grade High-Rank auxiliary artefact. That artefact was refined from the wings of an Illusionary Cloud Butterfly and according to Yang Yan was worth about thirty thousand Saint Crystals.

Although they were both Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts, Yang Kai felt that Yang Yan’s wings were far better than this five coloured armour. Not only was it rarer and more beautiful, it also had better functionality.

If those wings were only worth thirty thousand Saint Crystals, could this Artifact Armour also be worth just as much? And this was just the starting price!

While he was thinking so though, someone had already started bidding, the price they offered causing Yang Kai’s eyes to twitch.

“Fifty thousand!”

The person who bid actually raised the price by twenty thousand Saint Crystals right off the bat.

The beautiful woman on the stage smiled and said, “This friend in seat one six nine is indeed a man who knows the quality of goods, he bids fifty thousand for this Artifact Armour, is there any…”

Before she could finish what she was saying though, someone shouted, “Fifty-two thousand!”

“Fifty-five thousand!”

“Fifty-eight thousand!”

The beautiful woman no longer spoke and simply stood atop the high stage while flashing the same enchanting smile she had worn since she appeared. She knew that she didn’t need to say anything more as those who wanted this Artifact Armour would definitely raise the price all on their own.

As the price rose, the cultivators sitting on the auction’s main floor scrambled to bid, none of them willing to show weakness, but the guests in the private rooms remained silent, none of them showing any intention to participate.

Those who could sit in the private rooms belonged to famous great forces on Shadowed Star. Although this Artifact Armour was good, it wasn’t worthy of them lowering themselves to compete with the people in the hall.

In Room C-13, Wu Yi stared at the five coloured armour with envy, her beautiful eyes filled with excitement, but the starting price already being thirty thousand, she could only sigh.

Yang Yan coldly snorted and spat disdainfully, “This kind of thing can also be sold for such a high price? There are too many blind people here.”

Yang Kai also felt the same. The cultivation resources on Shadowed Star were relatively scarce, especially Saint Crystals, so the value of a single piece of Saint Crystal here was much higher than in the outside world. Seeing this kind of defensive artefact still rising in price really made Yang Kai wonder what these people were thinking.

One of the Shadow Moon Hall female disciples who had been waiting by the side chuckled lightly and explained, “They are competing over this artefact due to Grandmaster Gong’s fame. If this Artifact Armour had been refined by an unknown person, it would be impossible for it to have such a high price.”

Yang Kai nodded gently, understanding that fame had an effect no matter where one went. Gong Tai Hong was apparently an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, so even if the product he produced wasn’t the highest of quality, others would still compete to own it. As such, it was only natural for his artefacts to sell for more than other Artifact Refiners’.

However, after the price of the five coloured armour reached eighty thousand, the rate of new bids slowed down noticeably. It seemed those who were interested in this Artifact Armour were running out of Saint Crystals.

A short time later, this Artifact Armour was purchased for eighty-four thousand Saint Crystals by a young man in the hall.

The Treasure Trove Pavilion female disciple holding the Artifact Armour stepped off the high platform and delivered it to the young man while accepting his payment.

The young man who received the Artifact Armour immediately handed it to the beautiful woman nestled next to him, winning him a kiss his cheek. The young man laughed heartily as if he were the biggest winner in the world.

The second item auctioned was a set of ten King Transformation Pills with a starting price of ten thousand Saint Crystals. These pills eventually sold for twenty-seven thousand Saint Crystals and were similarly purchased by someone on the main floor. From the winner’s appearance, they were obviously here to represent some small family and had purchased them to bring back home with them.

The next items were a variety of pills, artefacts, Secret Arts, Martial Skills, etc. There were even some precious raw materials with high and low starting prices.

The atmosphere in the auction house gradually became hot and as one precious item after another was brought out, countless people rushed to bid. The most expensive item selling for two hundred thousand Saint Crystals, shocking Yang Kai speechless.

He felt that he had greatly underestimated the capital of Shadowed Star’s forces. Most of his understanding of Shadowed Star came from Wu Yi, but Wu Yi came from a relatively small background and didn’t understand the true strength of those great forces or what kind of wealth they possessed.

Apparently there was no lack of rich people on Shadowed Star.

Soon, Yang Kai was infected by the atmosphere of the room and even had the urge to shout out a bid for some items, even knowing they weren’t useful to him.

Fortunately, he was completely broke and had no ability to participate in this auction; however, even if he could participate, he had enough self-control to not do so.

Secretly though, Yang Kai marvelled at these things called auctions. An item worth only ten thousand Saint Crystal could be sold for several times more once it was put up in a good auction, it seemed auctions were definitely a great way to gather money.

Yang Kai was a bit calmer and sensible, but Yang Yan and Wu Yi were completely different. They had become completely caught up in the heat of the auction and even though neither of them were qualified to bid, that didn’t prevent them from standing up, pointing at others, and cheering them on, celebrating when the ones they were rooting for won and sighing forlornly when they failed.

Where had their poised ladylike looks disappear to?

With a slightly blushing face, Yang Kai grabbed two spirit fruits and shoved them into Wu Yi and Yang Yan’s mouths, finally settling them down a bit.

The two female Shadow Moon Hall disciples stood behind them pursing their lips as their shoulders trembled, doing their best to not laugh.

The auction was in full swing, and as time passed, the value of the items Treasure Trove Pavilion brought out was getting higher and higher. For the first hour or two, the auctioned items were basically for the cultivators sitting on the ground floor. Those in the private rooms up above had barely participated up to this point, but after the two-hour mark, voices from the private rooms began calling out with much higher frequency.

The beautiful woman on the stage has been standing there for so long yet the pretty smile on her face never wavered and she didn’t seem the least bit fatigued, her words still ringing out crisp and sweet. At the most appropriate times, she would raise the enthusiasm of those people who were bidding so that every item was sold for a high price.

“The next item to be auctioned is a very special one…” The beautiful woman opened her lips again, her charming voice seemingly drawing Saint Crystals out of the crowd’s pockets, “The reason why this thing is special is that its value may be high or may be low.”

While saying so, the elegantly dressed woman responsible for displaying the auction items stepped out onto the high platform holding a jade plate in her hands. Almost everyone’s eyes were fixed on that jade plate, wanting to know what was being sold as the beautiful woman’s description had been so ambiguous.

Atop the high platform, the woman set down the jade plate and picked up its contents, pinching its corners with her hands and slowly rotating around so that everyone could get a good look at it. Countless Divine Senses swept the stage immediately, and after waiting for everyone to see this item, it was placed back down on the jade plate.

The beautiful female auctioneer giggled and proceeded, “Everyone should have seen it clearly. This is an ancient map! The origin of this ancient map is very special. When one of my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s disciples was out collecting items to be auctioned, he coincidentally saved someone’s life, and in return for his actions, he was given this ancient map. The saved individual said that this was an ancestral relic of his family and according to the research of many experts in my Treasure Trove Pavilion, this ancient map is only a fragment of a much larger map. We don’t know the specific fraction this map is of the complete map, but it is at least several thousand years old. The location pointed to by this ancient map isn’t clear and no one knows what treasures it is hiding. Perhaps there is nothing special at its end, but perhaps… there is amazing wealth, profound inheritance, or high-grade artefacts and Secret Arts just waiting to be discovered!”

Chapter 1154, A Small Gift
As the beautiful woman’s voice rang out, and the map’s description left her lips, the atmosphere inside the auction heated up even more.

Shocking wealth, profound Secret Arts, mysterious inheritances, these words drew the attention of everyone in the private rooms and on the floor.

Of course, everyone knew that despite this woman’s extravagant and coloured description, her words were very unreliable. This was just a fragment of a map, who knew it would be of any use or if what it led to was of any worth?

Moreover, if this ancient map had great value, it would not have been put up for auction. Treasure Trove Pavilion was an incredibly powerful force in its own right and would naturally send its own people out to dig up this treasure if they felt it was worth doing so.

The beautiful woman, however, could see that excitement in the room had risen so she knew she had achieved her objective, no longer wasting any time and simply saying, “The starting price for this ancient map is ten thousand Saint Crystals!”

She didn’t even mention any restrictions on increasing the bid, obviously intending for people to act freely.

“Ten thousand!” Although it was just a fragment of a map, that didn’t lower the value of obtaining it. The fact that no other map fragment had been found so far didn’t mean one wouldn’t be found in the future. For a mere ten thousand Saint Crystals, one may be able to purchase a priceless opportunity, so when the beautiful woman’s voice fell, countless people shouted bid the minimum price.

The beautiful woman smiled lightly as she looked at one of the people on the main floor, “This friend in seat eighty-seven was the first to bid, if other friends wish to win this treasure, please raise your bids!”

“Twelve thousand!”

“Fifteen thousand!”

The bids from the main floor rose rapidly and even those from the private rooms entered the fray, but each time someone made a new bid, they would at most raise the price by two or three thousand Saint Crystals.

Soon, the ancient map fragment with a base price of ten thousand climbed to fifty thousand, then seventy thousand, then eighty thousand…

After reaching eighty thousand, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly solidified and no one continued to bid.

Eighty thousand Saint Crystals for this ancient map fragment was quite a high price and no one was willing to increase it further; after all, its current value wasn’t even that high.

Yang Kai shook his head and was about to say a few words to Wu Yi about an unrelated matter when he suddenly discovered that Yang Yan’s expression was a little weird, prompting him to ask, “What’s wrong?”

Yang Yan glanced back at him and replied in a whisper, “I have a similar map fragment!”

“What?” Yang Kai was startled, asking again to confirm, “Are you sure?”

Yang Yan nodded sincerely.

“Eighty-two thousand!” Yang Kai didn’t even think about it and directly entered a bid, but in the next moment, his face cramped as he remembered he didn’t actually have that many Saint Crystals on him, making him feel incredibly awkward.

But since he had already sent out a bid, it was naturally impossible for Yang Kai to take it back. If he were to try, he would definitely be thrown out by Treasure Trove Pavilion’s people, resulting in a great disgrace.

The atmosphere that had cooled down suddenly became hot again with Yang Kai’s offer, and the beautiful auctioneer smiled brilliantly towards the private room and said in a loud voice, “This friend from room C-13 has bid for eighty-two thousand, is there any higher bid?”

Just when Yang Kai was about to panic about what to do, a new voice called out from down on the main floor, solving this embarrassing problem for him.

“One hundred thousand!”

Yang Kai clearly felt that after this person called out this price, countless Divine Senses gathered on him. There were only two possibilities for this man to make such a determined effort to acquire this ancient map fragment, either he didn’t care about spending a hundred thousand Saint Crystals for this uncertain opportunity, or he had another fragment of this map.

The man who called out this last bid also seemed to detect that something was wrong and immediately lowered his head, but his appearance has long been remembered by the interested parties, hiding now was useless.

Yang Kai also took note of this person’s appearance. He was a middle-aged man with low strength, only a First Order Saint King. He was wearing ordinary clothes and didn’t seem to be very well off.

Did this person also have a map fragment? Yang Kai thought secretly.

Yang Kai was fairly certain this was the case, and not only was he, but several others in the hall were also convinced as well. Once this man left Treasure Trove Pavilion, he would likely be stared at by countless people. Buying this ancient map fragment had brought disaster down upon him.

Thinking so, Yang Kai was secretly startled and felt fortunate that this person had solved this danger for him, otherwise, he would be the one everyone would be paying attention to.

However, Yang Yan possessing another fragment of this map was something completely unexpected for Yang Kai. If these two map fragments were pieced together, perhaps he would be able to find some clue about what it led to. Yang Kai was secretly debating what to do about this second map fragment. If he wanted to take it, he would need to choose an appropriate method and act quickly before others could.

What if what the beautiful woman said was true and this ancient map fragment led to some kind of amazing treasure….

On the high stage, the voice of the beautiful female auctioneer sounded again, “One hundred thousand, is there any higher bid? One hundred thousand once… one hundred thousand twice…”

After a slow three count during which no other bids were made, the ancient map fragment was won by the middle-aged man for one hundred thousand Saint Crystal. The Treasure Trove Pavilion disciple holding the map fragment then delivered it to the man and accepted his hundred thousand Saint Crystal payment, completing the transaction.

As soon as he got hold of this map fragment though, the middle-aged man felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He definitely wanted to get up right away and leave, but he didn’t dare to act so rashly, forcing himself to sit in his chair and wait.

His performance only made everyone else more certain he had another piece of this ancient map.

The auction proceeded, but suddenly, one of the two Shadow Moon Hall female disciples took out her communication artefact and after reviewing the message sent to her, smiled widely, “Young Master Yang, Elder Qian has come to see you.”

“Please have him come in,” Yang Kai happened to be looking for Qian Tong, but he hadn’t expected him to come over on his own accord.

The female disciple nodded and immediately went to open the private room’s door only to see Qian Tong waited outside with a big smile.

Anyone who had suddenly obtained thirty million Saint Crystals without any effort would also be laughing stupidly like Qian Tong. As for Yan Pei leaking out news causing Qian Tong to lose this rare opportunity, Qian Tong no longer cared.

With an additional thirty million Saint Crystals, if Shadow Moon Hall couldn’t outbid the competition, Qian Tong would have nothing to say.

“Nephew Yang, this Qian had some matters to attend to and was unable to get away until now, please forgive me!” Qian Tong cupped his hand and said politely.

“Elder Qian is too serious, we wouldn’t be eligible to sit here without Elder Qian’s help,” Yang Kai chuckled while inviting Qian Tong in to sit down.

Qian Tong however just waved his hand and said, “This Qian must represent Shadow Moon Hall in this auction so I cannot remain here for long. I merely came here to thank Nephew Yang.”

“Thank me?” Yang Kai was confused, not knowing what he was talking about.

“Indeed, I must thank Nephew Yang for bringing such huge benefits to my Shadow Moon Hall. En, this is just a small token of appreciation from my Shadow Moon Hall, I hope Nephew Yang won’t refuse,” Qian Tong said as he passed over a Space Ring.

Yang Kai didn’t respond for a moment, simply staring back at Qian Tong for a while before asking, “Elder Qian, can you explain the situation clearly? I really don’t know what I have done to warrant such a gift from Shadow Moon Hall.”

Qian Tong’s words were quite meaningful. He had said that this was a show of appreciation from Shadow Moon Hall, not himself. Accepting a gift from such a powerful force for no apparent reason made Yang Kai quite uncomfortable.

This couldn’t be related to the few items he had brought to the auction either, as the ultimate beneficiary of those items was Treasure Trove Pavilion, they brought no advantage at all to Shadow Moon Hall.

Seemingly understanding that Yang Kai didn’t want to owe others any favours, like when he had tried to give him that Wild Rose Pill, Qian Tong knew that if he didn’t make the situation clear this time, Yang Kai would certainly not accept this Space Ring.

Thinking about it briefly, Qian Tong explained, “It’s like this: The several items Nephew Yang delivered just now to be auctioned were valued extremely highly, catching the great forces that came to participate in this auction unprepared. As such, all of them needed to use by Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array to return to their respective Sects to collect additional Saint Crystals. Seeing this, this old master decided to charge them a small additional toll to make use of it. Ahem, en, so the large part of this toll is Nephew’s credit, but after all, those assets belong to Shadow Moon Hall so this Elder doesn’t dare give you too much of it. This is just a small gift; Nephew Yang has no reason to refuse.”

Yang Kai was stunned, not having expect Qian Tong to do this kind of business, admiring his boldness as he thought about just how many people Qian Tong must have offended. No wonder he had seen so many people leaving the private rooms in A Block and B Block just before the auction started, it was all to raise more Saint Crystals.

Yang Kai knew very well what the value of the treasures he had brought to auction were, and with Qian Tong’s explanation just now, he immediately understand that this really was his own credit.

No longer seeing a reason to refuse, Yang Kai happily accepted the Space Ring and laughed, “Since that’s the case, this Junior won’t be polite. I originally wanted to find Elder Qian to borrow a few Saint Crystals in the interim, but now that seems unnecessary.”

Yang Kai truly wanted to see Qian Tong to borrow some Saint Crystals just now. Originally, he had no intention of participating in this auction; however, the appearance of the ancient map fragment had made Yang Kai realize that perhaps something he truly needed would appear. If such an item appeared but he didn’t have any Saint Crystals to bid with, how sad would it be? Moreover, seeing Wu Yi and Yang Yan cheer so enthusiastically for others, how could Yang Kai not realize they too wanted to join in the fun?

Unexpectedly, as if he had predicted such the future, Qian Tong came over and gifted him some Saint Crystals.

This delighted Yang Kai.

Qian Tong also laughed, “As long as Nephew Yang doesn’t bid on something too expensive, these Saint Crystals should be enough.”

He didn’t say how many Saint Crystals he had given and Yang Kai didn’t ask. Such things weren’t meant to be discussed openly by civilized gentlemen. Qian tong had also said that this was just a small show of appreciation from Shadow Moon Hall and couldn’t be used to make Yang Kai owe him a favour personally.

Just then, the beautiful woman on the auction floor said loudly, “I believe everyone will be very interested in the next item, so please prepare your bids!”

With this remark, Yang Kai clearly felt that the atmosphere in each of the private rooms sudden become tense. Obviously they had gotten some small advanced warning about what this item might be and while the cultivators on the main floor were in the dark, that didn’t hinder their expectations from rising as well.

The woman in charge of presenting the auction items walked out onto the stage with a beautiful jade bottle placed atop a fine jade plate. The beautiful female auctioneer picked up the jade bottle and opened the cap while excitedly saying, “What will be auctioned next is an Origin Condensing Pill!”

Sure enough, as soon as the beautiful woman’s words fell, the audience burst into a ruckus, causing her to smile even more brightly, satisfied with everyone’s response.

Chapter 1155, Filthy Rich

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

After the beautiful female auctioneer’s remarks, everyone in the auction hall began clamouring. In room C-13, Qian Tong hurriedly cupped his fists to Yang Kai and said, “Nephew Yang, if you have time after this auction, this old master would still like to have a word with you, but right now this old master must snatch this Origin Condensing Pill, so please excuse me.”

Yang Kai did not try to detain him and simply nodded, “Elder Qian, please carry on.”

Qian Tong left in a hurry. The beautiful woman waiting a moment before lifting her hand and quieting the audience; after the noise subsided, she continued, “Everyone knows the effects of this Origin Condensing Pill. It can improve the chances a Third Order Saint King cultivator can break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Shadowed Star is severely lacking in resources so there are no Origin King Realm masters, the Origin Returning Realm are the greatest powerhouses of our respective forces, but each year the number of cultivators who reach the Origin Returning Realm is very small, the biggest reason for this because we do not have many Alchemists capable of refining Origin Condensing Pills. Although this pill is just a Saint King Grade High-Rank pill, the difficulty in refining it is no less than a common Origin Grade Low-Rank pill with a success rate of less than thirty percent. It took great effort and resources to even acquire this single pill. The base price is one hundred thousand Saint Crystals, each bid must increase the price no less than two thousand Saint Crystals, please!”

When the words of this beautiful woman reached his ears, Yang Kai was startled.

This Origin Condensing Pill was obviously brought to the auction by him, and it wasn’t just one but two, so what was all this about Treasure Trove Pavilion expending great effort to collect it? This woman really knew how to spin out a tale, but in the auction hall, except for a few people who knew the truth, everyone else was obviously oblivious to the origins of this Origin Condensing Pill. The beautiful woman was doing all this just to raise the Origin Condensing Pill’s price.

Buying an Origin Condensing Pill was almost equivalent to buying an Origin Returning Realm master, any great force would desperately want to acquire it.

However, Yang Kai had clearly brought two Origin Condensing Pills, but Treasure Trove Pavilion was now only auctioning off one. Apparently, they wanted to raise a big fuss over this Origin Condensing Pill as a warm-up, but even if someone snatched it up, the competition probably wouldn’t be too intense.

Most cultivators didn’t want to rely on such pills to break through as they were just supplementary means.

Yang Kai’s guess was soon proved right. The competition over this Origin Condensing Pill was truly hot, but none of the honoured guests in the private rooms joined in. Instead, it was the cultivators sitting on the main floor who were posting all the bids, raising the price in a short time from one hundred thousand to two hundred and eighty thousand.

The forces behind these cultivators weren’t nearly as powerful as the ones behind those sitting in the private rooms, so the number of Origin Returning Realm masters they possessed was quite small. A single Origin Condensing Pill wouldn’t bring too many benefits to a great force, after all, it could only be used by one cultivator, but for these small forces, a single Origin Returning Realm master could increase their strength and status significantly.

If a force like the Hai Ke Family or Xu Family, that had a number of Third Order Saint Kings but no Origin Returning Realm master, could acquire this Origin Condensing Pill, they would be able to soar upwards and enter the inner circle of Shadow Moon Hall, enjoying completely different treatment that what they were currently receiving.

That was why these smaller forces went all out to win this Origin Condensing Pill.

After the price reached two hundred and eighty thousand, the bidding gradually weakened. Two hundred and eighty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals were the bottom line for most of these people, so no matter how much they wanted to increase the bid, they were not unable to.

“The guest in seat three two one has bid two hundred and eighty thousand, is there any higher bid?” The beautiful female auctioneer called out repeatedly, her smile as elegant as before.

The man who called the price of two hundred and eighty thousand stood up in excitement, looking around with equal parts nervousness and eagerness on his face, lest someone now outbid him, so anxious he couldn’t bear to wait for the beautiful woman to make her customary appeals, “Hurry up, no one is going to increase the price, hurry up.”

The beautiful woman also seemed to have reached such a conclusion and smiled slightly upon hearing these words, calling out loudly, “Two hundred and eighty thousand going…”

“Three hundred thousand!” A low voice suddenly echoed from one of the private rooms, interrupting the beautiful woman’s words.

The beautiful auctioneer froze as her dazzling eyes went towards the private room where the voice originated from.

The cultivator who was just about to win heard the three hundred thousand come from one of the A Block private rooms and immediately sat down dejectedly.

Forget about the other party making a higher bid than him, the simple fact that this person was sitting in the A Block private rooms meant he was not someone who could be provoked. This person not bidding before was obviously because they disdained to participate in a shouting match with the cats and dogs on the main floor and was only intended to speak the final word.

It could be said that this person’s methods were commendable. He had allowed the lower level cultivators in the hall to heat up the atmosphere before jumping in at the last moment and showing off his wealth.

His approach was quite successful as no one on the main floor made another bid.

The beautiful woman’s lips curled upwards slightly as she prepared to start the countdown again. Although an Origin Condensing Pill was quite rare and precious, three hundred thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals fell within her expected sale price.

But before she could speak, someone made a new bid, and an outrageous one at that.

“Four hundred thousand!” After quoting this price, the person behind the bid let out a great laugh and quipped, “An Origin Condensing Pill is such a valuable treasure, it deserves better bids than this. It’s insulting to simply raise the price a few thousand Saint Crystals at a time.”

These words were no doubt mocking the A Block private room guest who had just bid three hundred thousand, but no one thought there was a problem with that, because the one who made this new bid was also sitting in the A Block private rooms. Clearly, this person’s status was not lower than the previous bidder.

On Shadowed Star, the great forces didn’t share a harmonious relationship. There were many open fights between them, and some were even blood enemies. The smarter individuals in the hall had already guessed that there was some kind of grudge between these two people, or the forces behind them; otherwise, why would they be picking such an obvious fight?

“Elder Qian…” Wu Yi whispered in private room C-13. The voice that just called out the four hundred thousand bid was actually Qian Tong’s. This old fogey left only a moment ago yet in the blink of an eye he had thrown out so much money. It really made her wonder where he had gotten so many Saint Crystals.

Yang Kai also frowned, wondering what game Qian Tong was playing. He clearly knew that this Origin Condensing Pill was brought here by him, so why was he raising the price so high? If Qian Tong really won it, wouldn’t he just be losing money? Or did he really want this pill for some reason?

Perhaps he was deliberately raising the price in order to buy it back at a high price and sell Yang Kai a favour, but But Qian Tong no doubt knew there was a better Origin Condensing Pill to come in this auction so there was no need to go all out here. If Qian Tong really wanted to sell Yang Kai a favour, it would be better to raise the price of the other Origin Condensing Pill instead.

Yang Kai could only assume that Qian Tong had some kind of grudge with the person who made the previous bid.

“Hmph, four hundred and ten thousand!” The previous bidder outright ignored the ridicule behind Qian Tong’s words and with a cold snort raise the price by a mere ten thousand again.

“Five hundred thousand!” In contrast, Qian Tong put on the air of a filthy rich man and immediately bid a price that drew shock and admiration from many cultivators in the hall.

“Five hundred and ten thousand!”

“Six hundred thousand!”

…..

The situation devolved into a fight between these two people with on Qian Tong and the other man now shouting out successive bids in the hall. The price of this Origin Condensing Pill soared, making Yang Kai feel like he was dreaming, hardly able to believe the pill he had casually refined would sell for such a high price.

He had asked Wu Yi what pill was the most expensive on Shadowed Star. Wu Yi had named the Origin Condensing Pill and Origin Nirvana Pill. Yang Kai wasn’t able to refine the Origin Nirvana Pill so he instead refined two Origin Condensing Pills. He was originally afraid that Yang Yan ‘s two Origin Grade artefacts wouldn’t be able to see for a high enough price so he wanted to contribute something, but he had never thought that the price of an Origin Condensing Pill would reach such heights.

With six hundred thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, Yang Kai could purchase a large number of precious materials, enough for Yang Yan to expand and enhance the Spirit Array around Dragon Cave Mountain significantly.

What’s more, the bidding war between Qian Tong and the other man was still ongoing, causing the price to soar to seven hundred thousand in a flash!

Countless gasps and sighs rang out from the private rooms, all of them feeling like these two had gone crazy, actually raising the price of an Origin Condensing Pill to such a height. Even if there was a deep hatred between these two, that alone shouldn’t have been enough to create such a debacle. What if this set a precedent for future Origin Condensing Pills that appeared for auction? Would they all need to be bought at such an outrageous price? If that was the case, only fools would buy them.

“So many Saint Crystals, these rich people are really too terrifying,” Wu Yi smiled bitterly, thinking about how the Hai Ke Family would struggle desperately just to earn a few tens of thousands of Saint Crystals while here in Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction, this kind of money could be freely squandered.

“Just wait a bit and those Saint Crystal will be ours,” Yang Kai scratched his cheek lightly.

“Why?” Wu Yi stared at him blankly.

“That Origin Condensing Pill being auctioned is mine.”

“What?” Wu Yi and Yang Yan both stared at Yang Kai in disbelief, and even the two female disciples from Shadow Moon Hall covered their mouths in shock, neither of them having imagined that the young man they had been assigned to serve was actually so wealthy. With just these seven hundred thousand Saint Crystals, his status in their minds had immediately soared.

“Eight hundred thousand!” Qian Tong called out, his voice still unhurriedly, as if eight hundred thousand Saint Crystals weren’t even worth him worrying about.

“Nine hundred thousand!” The man competing with Qian Tong had also been driven to the limits of forbearance and abandoned his previous stance of only increasing his bid by ten thousand, directly adding a hundred thousand Saint Crystals before angrily shouting, “Qian Tong old dog, if you want to fight, this old master will accompany you! A trivial hundred thousand Saint Crystal is nothing for my Sea Temple!”

“Hahaha!” Qian Tong laughed wantonly, “Jiang Huai An, what do you mean? Is this your first-time participating Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction? No matter the treasure, whoever bids the highest price wins it, do you not even understand such a simple truth? This old master has a liking for this Origin Condensing Pill, so naturally he will bid freely. If you can’t afford to compete with this old master, then accept defeat graciously. En, this old master recently picked up a few tens of millions of Saint Crystals but has no idea what to do with them. If I don’t even buy something I want, what am I supposed to do with them? Bury them with me?”

As soon as these words came out, angry grumbling leaked from many private rooms while the master from Sea Temple called Jiang Huai An was so mad he nearly coughed up blood.

The Saint Crystals Qian Tong had ‘picked up’ were from nearly everyone in the auction hall’s private rooms. Naturally, Sea Temple had also made a generous contribution. Using others’ Saint Crystals to snatch a treasure that person wanted, Qian Tong’s approach was simply too wicked.

Chapter 1156, Sudden Wealth

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

Although everyone was spurning Qian Tong in their hearts, in truth they were all quite envious. Why did such a great opportunity to collect money land in Qian Tong’s lap? The Treasure Trove Pavilion auction was held every two or three years and at cities controlled by various different great forces, but being able to turn this into an opportunity to reap a huge profit required both cunning and ingenuity.

No one spoke up to support Jiang Huai An. Forget about Qian Tong’s words really being how auctions worked, all of them were more than happy to see the atmosphere become livelier. On top of that, it was known that there were some grudges between Shadow Moon Hall and the Sea Temple, so Qian Tong targeting Jiang Huai An in this way was actually a veiled conflict between these two great forces. No one wanted to meddle in this matter.

“So that’s how it is,” Wu Yi whispered suddenly.

“What did you figure out?” Yang Kai looked at her and asked.

“I know why that Jiang Huai An is so determined to buy that Origin Condensing Pill,” Wu Yi smiled, “He is one of the three Temple Masters of Sea Temple. I heard that his favourite son, Jiang Zhi Ren, was born with only average aptitude. Jiang Huai An has used countless precious treasures to promote his son’s cultivation to the Third Order Saint King Realm, but unfortunately, Third Order Saint King is Jiang Zhi Ren’s natural limit. If there is no Origin Condensing Pill, he will forever be unable to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. I heard that Jiang Huai An has travelled widely to buy an Origin Condensing Pill and has also collected several batches of materials to refine an Origin Condensing Pill but has so far been unsuccessful in both respects.”

“So he is willing to go all out to buy this Origin Condensing Pill?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, finally understand why Qian Tong would raise the price so brazenly. He was taking advantage of Jiang Huai An’s weakness and knew that the latter would buy it no matter what.

“It should be so. This Sea Temple Temple Master being willing to pay such a high price is definitely because he wants to bring it back for Jiang Zhi Ren.”

“But there is a limit to everything, this Jiang Huai An may be hot-headed but he’s not a fool. I suspect that if Elder Qian raises the price again, that Origin Condensing Pill will land in his hands,” Yang Kai was slightly worried. Qian Tong was quite good to him so Yang Kai naturally didn’t want Qian Tong to suffer a loss at his own hands.

Wu Yi however just smiled, “What’s there to worry about? Didn’t you just hear what Elder Qian said? He said he just picked up tens of millions of Saint Crystals. Although that’s surely an exaggeration, Elder Qian is no doubt a wealthy man. En, that’s right, how many Saint Crystals did he give you just now?”

“I don’t know,” Yang Kai suddenly remembered that he still had a Space Ring in his hand. Just now, Qian Tong had handed him this ring and then hurriedly left. The auction for the Origin Condensing Pill had started immediately, drawing Yang Kai attention, and in the rush of the bidding, he had forgotten to check just how many Saint Crystals he had been gifted.

Sweeping the Space Ring with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai’s expression instantly froze up.

“How many?” Wu Yi saw Yang Kai’s face cramp and asked nervously, not knowing why her heart was suddenly pounding slightly. Even Yang Yan craned her neck slightly while eagerly waiting for Yang Kai’s reply.

Yang Kai took a deep breath before to calm himself before handing the Space Ring to them, “See for yourself.”

Wu Yi accepted it doubtfully, but after using her Divine Sense to check the amount of Saint Crystals inside the Space Ring, she couldn’t help yelping as she covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock.

Seeing this, Yang Yan seized the Space Ring and also examined it, her reaction not differing much from Wu Yi’s a moment later.

Three million High-Rank Saint Crystals were in the Space Ring sent by Qian Tong. There were actually three million High-Rank Saint Crystals inside this Space Ring! Let alone Wu Yi and Yang Yan, even Yang Kai was dumbstruck by this shocking and unexpected amount.

Yang Kai had thought that Qian Tong was simply sending him a ‘small gift’ of perhaps two or three hundred thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, how was he supposed to know it would actually be ten times that amount? No wonder Qian Tong said that as long as he didn’t try to buy anything too expensive, these Saint Crystals should be enough for him to spend.

With three million Saint Crystals, how many things could he buy?

“Looks like, Elder Qian wasn’t exaggerating at all. He really did pick up tens of millions of Saint Crystals.” Yang Kai wore a strange expression. He knew that these Saint Crystals were all road tolls collected by Qian Tong, but he hadn’t expected Qian Tong to be so black-hearted. Tens of millions worth of road tolls meant that these three million were less than a tenth of the total amount.

Wu Yi shot a wary glance over to the two female Shadow Moon Hall disciples before whispering to Yang Kai, “We need to act cautiously here…”

Yang Kai however just snorted, “Why should I act cautiously? Those road tolls were mostly my credit. Without me, Elder Qian wouldn’t have been able to charge those forces so many Saint Crystals. We can accept these three million Saint Crystals boldly.”

“Alright…” Wu Yi nodded, still a little worried.

While Yang Kai’s trio were talking amongst themselves, Qian Tong and Jiang Huai An had been trading insults back and forth. Inside his A Block private room, Yan Pei, who had been sipping his tea calmly, had gradually grown annoyed, coldly snorted, and said, “Cease your bickering, everyone here is waiting to continue the auction. If you two really find the other not pleasing to the eye, go outside and fight it out, what point is there in simply exchanging words? Don’t delay my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s business!”

With Treasure Trove Pavilion’s chief steward’s intervention, Qian Tong and Jiang Huai An finally settled down. Even if they didn’t give each other any face, they had to give face to Treasure Trove Pavilion; otherwise, if they were banned from participate in the auction in the future, the ones who would lose would be them. Many of the most precious and valuable treasures on Shadowed Star were auctioned through Treasure Trove Pavilion.

Qian Tong grinned meaningfully and said, “This old master just can’t get used to the stinginess of some people. Forget it, there’s no point in arguing over something so trivial. Whoever wins this wins it. En, girl, what was the last bid for this Origin Condensing Pill?”

The beautiful female auctioneer smiled and replied, “Elder Qian, Temple Master Jiang just bid nine hundred thousand.”

“Nine hundred thousand, such a high price, heh. That’s enough to buy three Origin Condensing Pills.”

As soon as Qian Tong’s words came out, the sound of a chair being crushed could clearly be heard from the private room of Jiang Huai An. This Sea Temple Temple Master obviously wished he could skin Qian Tong alive right now. The price had been raised by Qian Tong himself, yet he now had the audacity to make sarcastic remarks about it. It was like he had vowed not to rest until he annoyed Jiang Huai An to death.

Qian Tong soon shouted again, “One million!”

The audience gasped once more. The auction had been going on for three hours now, and finally a million crystal item had appeared. Although everyone knew that this price was drastically higher than the market price, this was an auction after all, pricing being higher than normal was only natural.

The sound of something being crushed rang out again from the private room occupied by Sea Temple.

Qian Tong however just laughed, “Jiang Huai An, don’t say this old master doesn’t know how to be considerate. You and I have known each other for many years after all. En, it’s a bit inappropriate for us to make a scene here and have others laugh at us for a mere Origin Condensing Pill. If you can outbid this old master once more, this old master will let you have this Origin Condensing Pill, what do you say?”

“One million ten thousand!” Even if he knew perfectly well that Qian Tong was ridiculing him still, Jiang Huai An had to increase the price.

After coming this far, this competition was no longer about this Origin Condensing Pill, but rather about reputation. In addition, these past few years, Jiang Huai An had expended great pains to acquire an Origin Condensing Pill, the herbs he had collected alone costing him over a million Saint Crystals, yet every time he sought an Alchemist, these herbs had ended up being destroyed. Now that there was a ready-made pill in front of him, there was no way he wouldn’t grab hold of it.

What made Jiang Huai An truly want to cough up blood though was that clearly he was the one who bought this Origin Condensing Pill, but for those who were uninformed, it looked like Qian Tong had sold him a favour by allowing him to win it. If it wasn’t for this being Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction house inside Heavenly Fate City, Jiang Huai An would definitely attack Qian Tong here and now.

He had simply gone too far!

After the one million ten thousand Saint Crystal price was called, no one else spoke, not even Qian Tong. The beautiful female auctioneer quickly stepped forward and called the count, delivering the Origin Condensing Pill to Jiang Huai An. Yet, a moment later.

With the three million Saint Crystals Qian Tong had delivered him, and this additional one million crystals, Yang Kai was very happy, but after receiving the first three million Saint Crystals, acquiring one million more didn’t affect the trio as strongly. After obtaining a certain amount of money, everything just became mere numbers.

However, this didn’t prevent the trio from looking forward to their other items being auctioned. Even Yang Kai wanted to know what kind of price his other Origin Condensing Pill would sell for, as well as how valuable Yang Yan’s Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact would be.

The auction now entered its second half.

With the appearance of the Origin Condensing Pill serving as a transition point, the following items Treasure Trove Pavilion brought out were truly of a different grade. Whether it was in terms of rarity or quality, all of the items in the second half of the auction were much higher than before, and so too were their prices.

By this point, the cultivators sitting on the main floor had basically lost the qualifications to participate in the auction. Now, the bidders were all people in the private rooms with the rest of the audience just watching the fun.

The winning bid for almost every auctioned item now was not less than two hundred thousand Saint Crystals, with a few items breaking through the one million Saint Crystal mark. This display made Yang Kai once again realize that there were many rich people on Shadowed Star, it was just that ordinary people were not as aware of them. The auction of Treasure Trove Pavilion was what brought these rich people together.

With three million Saint Crystals in hand, and one million waiting to be collected, Yang Yan and Wu Yi also wanted to participate in the auction. Yang Yan was an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner, so naturally they wouldn’t bid on any artefacts, and when the pair wanted to buy some pills, they were stopped by Yang Kai.

Yang Kai was an Alchemist, so how could he let them waste money unnecessarily?

In the end, Yang Yan only bought some precious raw materials for arranging Spirit Arrays and Artifact Refining.

A piece of Star Iron the size of a melon for two hundred and fifty thousand Saint Crystals, ten pieces of high-quality Azure Spirit Wood worth three hundred and seventy thousand Saint Crystals, and some Ninth-Order Monster Beast parts plus its Monster Core for around one million crystals. The three million Saint Crystals in their hands rapidly shrank.

Yang Kai never called a bid because he didn’t see anything he wanted.

It wasn’t until a strange, unidentified stone about the size of a washbasin appeared that Yang Kai bought it for its starting price of one hundred and fifty thousand.

According to the beautiful female auctioneer, this strange stone could not be identified even by Treasure Trove Pavilion’s appraisal Grandmasters and even their Artifact Refiners had failed to melt it down.

Numerous masters in the auction hall also investigated this stone with their Divine Senses, but none were able to discover anything about it and it became the first item to be sold at the base price.

Because no one knew what it was, and Artifact Refiners were unable to melt it, it was clearly not ordinary, so the base price set by Treasure Trove Pavilion wasn’t too low.

It was only at the last moment that Yang Kai lazily quoted the reserved price and easily purchased it.

Chapter 1157, Profound Insect Stone And Three Great Forbidden Zones
Others only thought Yang Kai was eager to burn his money and had decided to buy this strange item to add to his collection, but Wu Yi and Yang Yan knew Yang Kai had not acted for such a shallow reason, because while waiting for the Treasure Trove Pavilion disciple to send the stone over, Yang Kai’s expression was clearly quite excited but also somewhat uncertain.

After a moment, a woman from Treasure Trove Pavilion brought the strange stone to private room C-13 and Yang Kai handed over the hundred and fifty thousand Saint Crystals.  Happily playing with the strange stone for a while, Yang Kai soon threw it into his Space Ring.

Yang Yan walked over and asked softly, “Do you know what that thing is?”

“I don’t,” Yang Kai shook his head.

“You don’t know what it is but you still bought it?”  Yang Yan was struck speechless and rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s useful to me,” Yang Kai said defiantly.  If he didn’t know it would be useful to him, how could he have spent a hundred and fifty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals to buy it?  Even if that much money wasn’t much compared to his current worth, it wasn’t an amount he would simply waste either.

“It’s useful to you?”  Yang Yan frowned, leaning in further as she whispered, “Do you have some kind of Exotic Insects?”

“Exotic Insects?”  Yang Kai looked at her in confusion, his brow slowly rising as he asked, “Do you know what this stone is for?”

Yang Yan nodded.

This time it was Yang Kai’s turn to be amazed. Even the Grandmaster appraisers of Treasure Trove Pavilion didn’t know what this strange stone was, nor did any of the powerful masters in the auction hall, yet the seemingly incredibly young Yang Yan actually knew what it was.

On top of that, she was also an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner and a powerful Array Master.  This little girl was one big mystery.

Yang Kai had long suspected that Yang Yan had an incredible story behind her, but now it seemed it really was so.

“What is that stone?”  Yang Kai whispered while Wu Yi also leaned in to hear.

“A Profound Insect Stone!”  Yang Yan said confidently, “It has no effect on human cultivators and can only be used to cultivate some Exotic Insects.  It’s quite rare and contains a strange type of energy that is useless for Artefact Refining and cannot be absorbed by cultivators, but once Exotic Insects settle on it, they can grow rapidly, that’s why I asked if you have Exotic Insects.”

Hearing this explanation, Yang Kai suddenly understood why then Soul Devouring Insects that were living on the six coloured island floating in his Knowledge Sea suddenly became excited when this stone appeared.

The Soul Devouring Insects were Exotic Ancient Insects, which were naturally a type of Exotic Insects.  These Soul Devouring Insects were originally obtained by Yang Kai on Tong Xuan Realm and had been living on his Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus ever since.

When he first acquired them, they weren’t very strong, only effective on cultivators below the Saint Realm, but if a cultivator at or below the Transcendent Realm had their Knowledge Sea infested with them, they would instantly die.

After a number of mutations and many years living on the Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus though, Yang Kai’s Soul Devouring Insects had become much stronger, but they were still only able to cause harm to Saint Realm cultivators.  Saint Kings would easily be able to destroy them and with the growth of Yang Kai’s strength, these Soul Devouring Insects had gradually lost their usefulness.

Yang Kai, however, didn’t abandon them and simply allowed them to multiply and develop by themselves.

If it weren’t for the appearance of this Profound Insect Stone today, and the Soul Devouring Insects’ vivid response to it, Yang Kai might have even forgotten about their existence entirely.

It was because of the excitement of the Soul Devouring Insects that Yang Kai had not hesitated to buy this Profound Insect Stone.

Now listening to Yang Yan’s explanation, Yang Kai immediately knew that he had bought a real treasure.  Those hundred and fifty thousand Saint Crystals had not been spent in vain. If this Profound Insect Stone could allow his Soul Devouring Insects to evolve to the point where they could cause harm to Saint Kings or even Origin Realm masters, it would be a huge boost to his strength.

“What Exotic Insects do you have?” Yang Yan asked curiously.

“I’ll tell you after we return home,” Yang Kai smiled mysteriously.

Yang Yan looked at him strangely but didn’t press the issue.

“Look at that pair of twin daggers are up for auction!”  Wu Yi suddenly called out in excitement. She knew that she couldn’t reveal that these daggers were refined by Yang Yan, so she could only speak in a roundabout manner.

Yang Kai and Yang Yan both turned to look at the auction platform where they saw the twin daggers being brought out alongside a number of other Origin Grade artifacts.

A process of twelve women dressed in fine robes each holding a jade plate walked out onto the high stage.  Atop each jade plate was an Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact, all of them emitting a brilliant halo and rich aura that attracted everyone’s attention.

The beautiful female auctioneer smiled and said, “Everyone should know what is going to be auctioned this round.  Yes, these are exactly twelve Original Grade Low-Rank artefacts. I think everyone here also knows that it won’t be long until the Flowing Flame Sand Field, one of Shadowed Star’s Three Great Forbidden Zones, opens.  This is a great opportunity that can only be encountered once ever few hundred years. To enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field, one must have sufficient strength, but also excellent equipment. These twelve Original Grade Low-Rank artefacts were specially prepared by my Treasure Trove Pavilion for the upcoming opening of the Flowing Flame Sand Field and can add some life-saving strength to those who will be treasure hunting.  There are not many Origin Grade artefacts on Shadowed Star, so my Treasure Trove Pavilion had to exert great effort to collect these twelve artefacts, even suffering many casualties and injuries amongst our disciples…”

While the beautiful woman continued her high spirited introduction, Yang Kai frowned and turned to ask Wu Yi, “What are these Three Great Forbidden Zones?”

Wu Yi smiled, “You haven’t been on Shadowed Star for long, so it’s only natural to not have heard of them.  The Three Great Forbidden Zones are famous ominous places on Shadowed Star, everyone’s face will pale when thinking about them.  The first of these zones is as she said, the Flowing Flame Sand Field. No one knows how vast it truly is, but it is a place that is perennially covered in blazing heat.  Even the outermost region’s heat cannot be resisted by us cultivators. Once, an Origin Returning Realm master, relying on his great strength, tried to dive into the Flowing Flame Sand Field to treasure hunt, but even though his cultivation was truly high and he had made ample preparations, the moment he entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, his body was incinerated and even his artefacts were melted away.”

“Seriously?” Yang Kai was startled.

“Yes, and that was just the heat in the outermost outskirts.  It is said that if one penetrates further inside, even an Origin King master wouldn’t be able to resist the blazing heat.  However, that’s just the rumour, there are no Origin Kings on Shadowed Star so no one knows it’s true or not,” Wu Yi smiled sweetly.

“Then why did that woman say the Flowing Flame Sand Field is about to open?”  Yang Kai frowned. If the Flowing Flame Sand Field really was a place that no one could enter without dying, who would be stupid enough to rush into it?  No one disliked their life being long.

“Because there is a period of time when the heat of the Flowing Flame Sand Field greatly reduces.  This time isn’t fixed and may occur after several dozen years or several hundred years. Once the heat weakens, cultivators can enter it.  From what I saw in the family records, the last time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened was four hundred years ago; since then, no one has entered it.”

Yang Kai’s eyes brightened. If no one had entered that place for four hundred years, how many good things would have appeared?  No wonder the beautiful auctioneer had said it was a huge opportunity.

Yang Kai knew there were many precious treasures that only grew in extremely hot environments, and the hotter it got, the stronger these treasures would grow.  There may be many such treasures just waiting to be found in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.

However, it wasn’t the precious treasures which most attracted Yang Kai at the moment, but the high temperature itself.  This would be a perfect chance for him to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water.

Back on Rainfall Star, Zong Ao once said that if he wanted to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water, he first needed to find a place with extremely high heat.

Yang Kai had more than twenty drops of Profound Yin Sunflower Water on him and had collected all the required materials for refining it, so now all he needed was to find a suitable place to do so.  The Flowing Flame Sand Field undoubtedly met his requirements.

As long as he could refine even one drop, Yang Kai’s strength will definitely improve again.

Wu Yi continued, “The second Forbidden Zone is the Emperor Garden, which is said to have been the back garden of the Starry Sky Great Emperor.”

Yang Kai was startled, “The Starry Sky Great Emperor?”

“En, that legendary Senior!  It is said that many, many years ago, the entire Heng Luo Star Field was controlled by the Starry Sky Great Emperor.  Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the Star Emperor one day disappeared and no one knows where he went.”

Yang Kai heart pounded.  He had heard rumors about the Star Emperor going back as far as the floating continent.  At that time, he hadn’t cared too much though as he thought this so-called Star Emperor was just a myth.  But now, it seemed that this person may really have existed at one point, because even on a remote, isolated Cultivation Star like Shadowed Star, he was still a legendary figure.  Such a widely known character couldn’t be just an empty rumour.”

The Star Emperor that ruled the entire Star Field, just how powerful would he have had to be?

Both forget about the Star Emperor, Yang Kai had yet to even meet a true Star Master.  All Yang Kai knew was that in order to become a Star Master, one had to at least reach the Origin King Realm, after which they needed to take a great risk to refine a Star Source.  If they failed though, that Origin King Realm master would die.

“The Flowing Flame Sand Field has always existed, but no one can enter it at will.  The Emperor Garden, on the other hand, is nowhere to be found. No one knows where it is, and only occasionally, for a fleeting moment, can some people enter it, but no one can return alive.  Only at certain special times will the Emperor Garden stabilize and become a massive opportunity!”

Yang Kai heard this with some excitement.  The back garden of the Star Emperor, anyone who heard of such a place would be able to imagine just how many priceless treasures it held.

“The third Forbidden Zone is Shadowed Soul Island, which is out at sea and also extremely dangerous.  If the Flowing Flame Sand Field has always existed, and the Emperor Garden has occasional appears, then Shadowed Soul Island is really nowhere to be found.  All those who have found it died before they could tell anyone of it,” Wu Yi said in a chilly voice, causing Yang Yan nearby to tremble in fright. Though, this trembling did not mean much because this little girls courage had always been a little too small.

“Since no one as seen it and lived to tell the tale, why is everyone sure this Shadowed Soul Island even exists?”  Yang Kai frowned, of the Three Great Forbidden Zones, he felt this last one was a little unrealistic.

Wu Yi smiled slightly, “It’s reasonable to say it exists.  Since everyone knows about Shadowed Soul Island, it must exist.”

Yang Kai didn’t try to dwell on the issue. On the other hand, with the Flowing Flame Sand Field about to open, he was actually quite excited.  There was definitely no better place for him to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water.

Zong Ao had said that when refining the Profound Yin Sunflower Water, as long as it was within one’s own tolerance range, the higher the temperature of the environment, the better, as the great heat would further stimulate the power of the Profound Yin Sunflower Water.

[I wonder how I can go in when the time is right?]  Yang Kai thought to himself.

Chapter 1158, Hot-Headed Ge Xiong

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

As Yang Kai’s expectations soared upwards, atop the auction stage, the beautiful female auctioneer began the bidding for the first Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact.

Because the Flowing Flame Sand Field was about to open, and due to the scarcity of Origin Grade artefacts, even if Treasure Trove Pavilion had brought out twelve artefacts for this auction, the enthusiasm of the masters in the private rooms did not fade; if anything, it was even higher than normal.

There was no doubt all twelve of these Origin Grade Low-Rank artefacts would be sold at high prices.

Yang Kai heard Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Fang Tian Zhong call out a high bid, soon followed by Heaven Battling Union’s Qu Chang Feng. He also heard the silver bell-like voice of Coloured Glass Sect’s Yin Su Die. All these young geniuses seemed to be scrambling to acquire these Origin Grade Low-Rank artefacts to enhance their strength in preparation to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field.

The starting price of one hundred thousand Saint Crystal’s for the first Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact quickly rose to six hundred thousand and showed no signs of slowing down.

Yang Kai realized as he listened that he had still been underestimating the purchasing power of these great forces as well as the preciousness of Origin Grade artefact on Shadowed Star. He had thought that since Saint King Grade High-Rank artefact sold for between thirty and fifty thousand Saint Crystals, an Origin Grade Low-Rank should sell for around two or three hundred thousand.

But this was not the case at all.

Although Origin Grade Low-Rank and Saint King Grade High-Rank were only separated by a single rank, their prices of each differed immensely.

But after thinking about it, Yang Kai soon understood. These great forces did not lack wealthy as years of accumulation had given them huge reserves of Saint Crystals. What they lacked was the opportunities to purchase good treasures, so once such items did appear, they wouldn’t hesitate to spend more Saint Crystals to acquire them.

Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact were such treasures. On Shadowed Star, the highest level of artefact Refiner was Origin Grade Low-Rank, but not all of them could successfully refine every artefact they attempted to make like Yang Yan.

Like in Alchemy, Artefact Refining also carried with it a great chance failure, and once an artefact was damaged during the refinement process, not only could it not be completed, even the raw materials would be lost.

The probability of destroying the raw materials was quite high, naturally causing the prices of Origin Grade artefacts to rise dramatically.

The first Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact quickly broke through the million Saint Crystal mark and although the number of bidders had gradually decreased, many people were still continuing to increase the price.

Yang Kai very much wanted to see how much this artefact would sell for, but suddenly, his expression changed and he whispered to Yang Yan and Wu Yi, “I’m going out for a bit, I’ll be back soon.”

The two women gave him a stunned glance but didn’t ask any questions, simply nodding while seeing him off.

Yang Kai quickly left private room C-13 and walked straight out of Treasure Trove Pavilion. He lingered around the Treasure Trove Pavilion for a while before diving into the crowd and disappearing.

Although he had been paying attention to the progress of the auction, Yang Kai had not relaxed his observation of the cultivator who had bought the ancient map fragment earlier. The appearance of the twelve Original Grade artefacts had raised the tension in the auction hall greatly, and when everyone’s attention had been drawn to the twelve Origin Grade artefacts, the First Order Saint King cultivator who bought the map fragment actually tried to sneak out.

Obviously he thought it was a good opportunity to escape unnoticed!

Before, when this man had unhesitantly spent a hundred thousand Saint Crystals to snatch up this ancient map fragment, he had attracted many people’s attention, so he was now trying to get away while most people were distracted.

However, it was now too late for any of that. A cultivator like him should never have tried to win this map fragment.

Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was comparable to that of an Origin Returning Realm master, so it was naturally quite easy for him to monitor this man. Moreover, Yang Kai had found that many others had the same plan as him as, after he left Treasure Trove Pavilion, a number of others also quietly exited, all of them trailing behind the new owner of the map fragment.

Yang Kai was struck speechless for a while. He had thought that not many people would be paying such close attention to this cultivator besides him, but now it appeared the exact opposite was true.

The great forces behind these people obviously thought that this First-Order Saint King had more than one piece of this ancient map, and once they were able to acquire them, they might be able to uncover some useful clues.

Yang Kai’s face went black. Although he no longer had any good way to grab this map fragment, it was impossible for him to simply give up just like that; after all, Yang Yan definitely had another piece of this ancient map, so for the time being, he decided to take one step at a time, staring by tailing this man out of Heavenly Fate City.

Although the owner of the map fragment deliberately concealed his aura and tried his best to be mindful of his surroundings, how was a mere First Order Saint King supposed to escape the eyes of so many experts?

After less than an incense stick worth of time, this man left Heavenly Fate City with a series of silhouettes following close behind.

Yang Kai was the furthest back of this group, and although many people’s Divine Senses had already found him, including some belonging to Origin Returning Realm masters, no one paid a minor character like Yang Kai any mind.

Fifty kilometres west of Heavenly Fate City.

A desolate clearing with some small rocky outcroppings standing at the edge of a chaotic, messy stone forest. It was definitely a good place to rob and kill someone.

Ge Xiong had long ago noticed that some people were following him, but even if he knew this, he had no way to get rid of them as he clearly knew why they had him in their sights.

His legs were shaking and his face was pale, wishing he could slap himself a few times.

For the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction in Heavenly Fate City this time, he had managed to buy an admission ticket from his friend and brought along all the Saint Crystal he had accumulated over the years, hoping to buy something good to improve his strength.

But instead of buying something that could immediately bring him benefits, in a fit of what must have been insanity, he had actually bought this map fragment for an absurd hundred thousand Saint Crystals.

That wasn’t just all of his savings, but also the savings of several generations of his family.

If he was given another chance, Ge Xiong swore he would never have waded into these muddy waters. Whoever wanted this ancient map fragment could buy it, as long as it wasn’t him.

Unfortunately for him, it was too late to regret it now, and as he continued flying forward, Ge Xiong could feel the countless cold stares piercing his back.

He didn’t even dare to summon his Star Shuttle for he was certain the moment he did that, he would be greeted by a storm of attacks.

Looking at the messy stone forest roughly ten kilometres in front of him, Ge Xiong came to a halt, not daring to go any further, for if he did, he would definitely die!

A cold wind blew past him, causing Ge Xiong’s shirt which was filled with sweat to flap wildly. Unable to bear the stress any longer, Ge Xiong collapsed to the ground, knelt down and shouted loudly, “Seniors, please spare this Junior’s life! This Junior should never have bought this map fragment! I just broke through to the Saint King Realm, I don’t want to die!”

The wind’s howled slightly, carrying the sound of Ge Xiong’s wailing, causing this deserted place to seem even eerier.

There was no movement from anywhere, but Ge Xiong knew that these people weren’t afraid of him, but rather each other!

Truly unable to withstand his own anxiety any longer, Ge Xiong took out the map fragment from his Space Ring, held it up high, and along with the wind continued to shout, “The map fragment is here, if several Seniors want it, please take it, just spare this insignificant Junior’s life!

Although no one appeared, Ge Xiong noticed an invisible pressure well up from all directions, as if a dozen great hands stretched out towards this map fragment but in the next moment drew back.

Ge Xiong continued crying and begging for mercy, a short time later shouting once more, “Seniors, I’ll leave the map fragment here, whoever wants to take it may do so freely. May this Junior withdraw now?”

Still, no one answered.

Ge Xiong shouted the same request three times before speaking as if trying to deceive himself, “Since Seniors have no objection, this Junior will take his leave.”

Saying so, he set the ancient map fragment down on the ground, placing a stone on top of it to ensure it didn’t blow away, then slowly stood up.

As soon as this man turned around though, he saw a young man standing behind him, scaring Ge Xiong so greatly he collapsed to his knees again. This young man wore a powerful artefact Armour and at first glance was clearly not an ordinary person. What surprised Ge Xiong the most wasn’t this youth though, but the two masters who wore grim expressions standing behind him. From the aura these two revealed, it was easy to infer that they were both Origin Realm Masters.

”Do you think this place is the same as an auction? You shout three times and everything is settled?” The young man sneered.

Ge Xiong quickly waved his hand, “I dare not! I’ve shown this Young Master something disgraceful, but no matter how long I shouted here, no one here bothers with me. Young Master, I’ve left the map fragment here, if you want it, please take it, I only ask you not to kill me!”

“You’re not qualified to bargain with me!” The young man remained unmoved, motioning to the master behind him to pick up the map fragment.

He didn’t want to come out so early, because there were at least thirty people here waiting to pounce, but seeing this timid Saint King Realm cultivator try to leave, this Young Master couldn’t restrain himself any longer and stepped forward.

One of the Origin Returning Realm masters behind this young man lifted his hand and drew the map fragment over towards him, opening it and inspecting it for a moment before nodding, “It is the one that appeared at the auction.”

Saying so, he handed the map fragment to the young man.

The young man took it and tossed it into his Space Ring before turning to stare at Ge Xiong and demanding, “Show me your Space Ring!”

“Ah?” Ge Xiong hesitated for a moment. Apparently this was his first time being robbed, but even though he was unwilling, he didn’t dare to resist, obediently removing his Space Ring and handing it to the young man.

The young man used his Divine Sense to sweep the inside of the Space Ring, his face immediately becoming gloomy afterwards as he questioned angrily, “You don’t have any other map fragments?”

“I never said I did…” Ge Xiong replied weakly.

“Bastard!” The young man was furious and viciously kicked Ge Xiong’s stomach, grinding his teeth as he shouted, “If you didn’t have any other fragments of this map, why did you bid on it?”

“Didn’t that beautiful woman say this map fragment led to amazing wealth, powerful Secret Arts and high-grade artefacts?” Ge Xiong asked in an aggrieved voice. It was only because he had listed to the beautiful female auctioneer’s words that he had gotten all riled up and spent a hundred thousand Saint Crystals to win this map fragment.

“Since she said it, you believed it?” The young man’s face sank even further as he shouted, “Did you think you’d be able to find any clues with just this tiny piece of a map?”

Ge Xiong nodded awkwardly, as though it was a given he would.

Chapter 1159, Next Time Be Careful What You Buy

Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain

The young man was speechless, and the murderous intent in his eyes flared up. He wished he could immediately kill this idiot Ge Xiong, because he increased the price foolishly, riled everyone up, but in the end didn’t even have another piece of the map. This young man felt as if he had been played for a fool and the murderous intent coming from his body grew stronger with every breath. Slowly raising his hand, the young man condensed his Saint Qi into the shape of a sword.

Ge Xiong shed bitter tears as he kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.

Before the young man could kill him though, one of the Origin Realm masters behind him suddenly whispered, “Young Master, you cannot kill him.”

The young man froze up and asked coldly, “Why not?”

“If you kill him, without everyone else first checking his Space Ring, they will all think we obtained two map fragments. Having one is not an issue, but acquiring two will cause us many problems!”

When the young man heard this, he couldn’t help thinking it over, and after a short time, he realized he had no choice right now, kicking and cursing Ge Xiong a few more times before tossing the Space Ring back at his face and flying off.

Surprisingly, no one tried to stop him.

Soon after the young man and the two Origin Realm masters left, another person came out from hiding and walked over to Ge Xiong, knitting his brow as he asked a few questions.

Ge Xiong answered truthfully.

The man then picked up the Space Ring on the ground and examined it before slowly shaking his head with a look of disappointment, dropping it to the ground, and also departing.

A third person came out and did exactly the same thing as the second person, followed by a fourth, then a fifth…

After experiencing the gap between life to death several times, Ge Xiong’s emotions seemed to have calmed down significantly, but being continuously asked the same set of questions by masters with much higher strength and status than his own, he still remained a bit apprehensive. However, each of them just asked a few questions, checked his Space Ring, then let him go, none of them trying to take his life or rob him of his possession.

After half an hour, it was finally the last person, Yang Kai’s turn.

By now, Ge Xiong was familiar with this process and before Yang Kai could even open his mouth, Ge Xiong quickly said, “I don’t have a second map fragment. I just listened to that beautiful woman and thought that if I obtained this map fragment I would be able to find amazing wealth, exquisite Martial Skills, or other treasures. My Space Ring is on the ground, if you’d like to inspect it, please feel free to, just don’t kill me!”

Yang Kai let out a long sigh and didn’t even bother to check the Space Ring.

With so many people already having inspected it, if there really had been a second map fragment inside, it was impossible for it to still be there.

“Next time, be careful what you buy,” Yang Kai said in exasperation.

Of the dozens of individuals who had tailed Ge Xiong, none of them had any kind of deep-seated grudge against him, they were all simply fooled by him. That wasn’t to say that Ge Xiong had prodigious acting talent, it was just that none of them thought he would be so easily conned by the words of that beautiful female auctioneer.

Ge Xiong nodded incessantly, “I’ll never buy anything at auction again.”

“Just leave!” Yang Kai waved at him, “No one killing you this time was pure luck, there’s no guarantee you’ll be so fortunate next time.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Ge Xiong kowtowed gratefully before grabbing his Space Ring and running off. He was so scared he didn’t even realize that Yang Kai had the same cultivation as him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so polite to him.

After running a ways away, Ge Xiong summoned his Star Shuttle and flew off. Vaguely, Yang Kai seemed to hear tearful sobs coming from his direction.

The map fragment that appeared at the auction had been taken away by the first youth who appeared, causing Yang Kai some frustration. His strength was too low right now, so it was impossible for him to snatch that map fragment.

The reason others didn’t try to rob that young man of that map fragment was that they knew doing so was pointless. If that wasn’t the case, they would have already tried to win it back at the auction. How could they have anticipated that someone like Ge Xiong would snatch it up? Moreover, the first young man who had come out seemed to have a powerful background, so none of the people here were willing to offend the force behind him for a useless map fragment.

It seemed like the map fragment would really have been better off staying in Ge Xiong’s hands. Now that it had been taken away by that Young Master, Yang Kai had no way to retrieve it in the short term. Fortunately, he had already memorized the young man’s face so he could try to ‘acquire’ the map fragment sometime in the future.

After grumbling for a moment, Yang Kai returned to Heavenly Fate City and walked straight back to Treasure Trove Pavilion.

Arriving at room C-13, Yang Kai pushed open the door, walked inside, and sat down on his chair, taking a sip of spirit tea as he saw Wu Yi and Yang Yan both immersed in the excitement. Curious, he asked, “What artefact is up for auction now?”

“You’re back?” Wu Yi and Yang Yan only seemed to realize Yang Kai was back after he spoke, with Wu Yi smiling broadly as she explained, “The prices here are all so unexpected, all of the artefacts sold for over a million crystals so far. They’re auctioning off the last artefact now, the twin daggers!”

“Oh?” Yang Kai looked out and sure enough, he saw the twin daggers being displayed by the beautiful female auctioneer. To his surprise though, no one was bidding.

“What’s the price so far?” Yang Kai thought that it was impossible for such an artefact to sell for a low price.

“2.1 million!” Wu Yi replied joyfully, not even waiting for Yang Kai to ask anything before taking the initiative to explain, “The grade of the twin daggers is close to Origin Grade Mid-Rank, much better than the previous eleven. Therefore, its price is naturally higher. It seems many people here have good eyes.”

At that moment, the beautiful female auctioneer shouted, “2.1 million going once, 2.1 million going twice, 2.1 million going three times… sold! Congratulations to the honoured guest in private room B-3. This mistress wishes this friend good fortune in the Flowing Flame Sand Field and a triumphant return with a rich harvest!”

The beautiful woman uttered a few words with a smile before directing the female Treasure Trove Pavilion disciple to carry the exquisite twin daggers to private room B-3.

“Em? Room B-3? Not Coloured Glass Sect?” Yang Kai was somewhat surprised. He had thought these twin daggers would surely be snatched up by Yin Su Die of Coloured Glass Sect. After all, it was an artefact suitable for women, but he quickly recalled that Coloured Glass Sect’s delegation would be sitting somewhere in the A Block private rooms.

“Coloured Glass Sect?” Wu Yi asked back in confusion.

“Never mind,” Yang Kai smiled slightly.

While Yang Kai had been out, the twelve Origin Grade Low-Rank artefacts had all been auctioned off, and the next items to be sold were actually pills, Origin Grade Low-Rank pills!

Treasure Trove Pavilion had fully prepared for this auction, and knowing that the Flowing Flame Sand Field was about to open, they knew that the various great forces would not be stingy with their Saint Crystals. As long as there were good things, they would sell at high prices, so after the Origin Grade Low-Rank artefacts, Origin Grade Low-Rank pills were immediately brought out on stage, once again heating up the atmosphere in the auction hall.

Yang Kai soon witnessed just how expensive Origin Grade pills on Shadowed Star could be. Pills that could quickly supplement Saint Qi were sold for as high as six hundred thousand Saint Crystals a bottle; that was sixty thousand Saint Crystals a pill!

Wild Rose Pills, which were excellent healing pills, also sold in sets of ten, but for an even higher price, averaging 703 thousand Saint Crystals a bottle.

A bottle of five pills capable of repairing meridians was sold for 800 thousand.

The most expensive, though, was a bottle of ten Snow And Ice Pills that could scatter heat from a cultivator’s body, going for an astonishing 1.1 million!

The Flowing Flame Sand Field was a zone filled with intense heat, so Snow And Ice Pills would be extremely useful there as they greatly restrained the outside heat from entering a cultivator’s body. As such, when these five bottles of these pills appeared, the great forces went all out to purchase them.

Pills were different from artefacts. As long as an artefact wasn’t critically damaged, it could be repaired and used countless times, but once one swallowed a pill, it was gone forever. It could be said that these great forces were sparing no expense in preparation for the Flowing Flame Sand Field. In normal times, although Origin Grade pills would be precious, they would never have sold for such high prices.

However, understanding the demands of the market, Treasure Trove Pavilion was able to sell these pills for three to four times higher than usual.

The beautiful female auctioneer stood on the stage and smiled widely, a light blush even appearing on her face.

It took more than an hour for all the Origin Grade Low-Rank pills to be sold off, with each great force occupying the private rooms having some gains, satisfying them all.

Just when many people thought that this auction would come to an end, the beautiful female auctioneer once smiled coquettishly and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the next item to be auctioned is something my Treasure Trove Pavilion specially prepared as a finale…”

As soon as these words came out, the entire auction hall fell silent, with only the sound of heavy breathing lingering in the air. Countless eyes focused on the beautiful female auctioneer and a few keener cultivators even noticed that her voice was trembling lightly, making them realize that this finale was something truly extraordinary.

“Because of its importance, this auction’s finale will be presided over by my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s Chief Manager Yan Pei. Manager Yan, please!” After the beautiful woman finished, she stood to the side with a smile and looked in a certain direction.

Yan Pei, with a solemn and serious face, strode out from that direction.

“Yan Pei is actually going to be auctioning this item personally!” Not only were many on the ground floor chattering at this development, but even the private rooms were abuzz with whispers.

Old Black Face Yang Pei was a sly old fox known as Treasure Trove Pavilion’s most ruthless, black-hearted auctioneer. Every time he presided over an auction, he wouldn’t rest until he shaved several kilos of meat from the bidders. Thankfully, as the years went by and Yan Pei’s status rose, he rarely showed up on the auction stage.

Many were shocked that Yan Pei, who hadn’t hosted an auction for many years, had actually stepped forward at this time.

Everyone also knew that since he had appeared, the following auction would become a blood bath. For a time, the masters sitting in the private rooms all wore bitter looks as they unconsciously rubbed their Space Rings, sighing to themselves as they worried for the Saint Crystals they had stored inside.

(Silavin: ‘Oh baby, stay inside. Don’t go out.’ Haha. Seems like they are chanting this in their heads.)

“That thing actually became the auction’s final item!” In Room C-13, Wu Yi and Yang Yan both looked at each other with such excitement they wanted to jump up and down.

Without even mentioning the grade of the artefact, just the word ‘finale’ was enough to cause its price to soar. The two women could already see themselves becoming rich women after this auction ended.

Yang Yan was already figuring out how many precious materials she should buy.

In private room A-5, in the private room which belonged to Shadow Moon Hall, Qian Tong was sitting together with six youths, each of them a rising star of Shadow Moon Hall.

However, there was only one man and one woman who were qualified to sit beside Qian Tong. The young man was a Third-Order Saint King with a brave and heroic look about him and deep, piercing eyes. The young woman was delicate and beautiful, with a sweet air around her. Although she too was a Third-Order Saint King, her aura was not as restrained as the young man’s so it was apparent she had only recently broken through.