Chapter 138 - An Array Artifact

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Meng Wu walked carefully to the auction stand and spoke aloud. Fearing that her voice was too soft to be heard and causing the items to be auctioned off at a poor price, she almost screamed every word out. Her effort turned her face and neck red, making her look especially cute.

“The Shaoyang pill is a seventh-tier medicinal pill. It can restore a man his original pure Yang body, that is, his virgin body!”

“The Five Mountains clothes is a seventh-tier battle suit. It can ignore any attack from anyone below the realm of Martial Supremes!

“The Palewolf Sword Diagram is a set of seventh-tier sword arrays. When activated, it can kill even a Martial Supreme!”

Her voice was clear and pleasant to the ear, but it shocked and petrified all the ten thousand people in the hall!

“Ignore any attack from anyone below the realm of Martial Supremes!”

“It can kill even a Martial Supreme!”

The sound of sucking in breaths rang out across the crowd.

To them, a Martial Supreme was like a god who protected a state. But, such a mighty existence could be killed with a sword array? And a battle suit could resist any attack from anyone below the realm of Martial Supremes?

No one seemed to pay attention to the pill recipe, however. “What? A pill that restores a man his pure Yang body and turns him back to a virgin? What’s the point of that? Even if it works, the man will lose his virginity the same night!”

Only some alchemists were startled on hearing that. To some cultivators, such an effect was no doubt equivalent to a second life, especially those who cultivated strange techniques that required a pure Yang body to reach perfection. And Xu Zizhuo was, in fact, one of such cultivators.

Such an effect was almost equivalent to reshaping the fleshly body, which made it a very powerful medicinal pill. However, it was of not much use to most people. When Xu Zizhuo saw that the crowd focusing on the Fivemountains Clothes and Palewolf Sword Diagram, he breathed a sigh of relief.

In his heart, he was sneering at these philistines who knew nothing about alchemy. It was perfectly normal for a seventh-tier battle suit to ignore any attack from anyone below the realm of Martial Supremes. The problem was, when one had the ability to refine a seventh-tier battle suit, it meant that he were at least a Martial Supreme. In that case, her could already ignore anyone below the realm of Martial Supremes with his strength alone.

As for that Palewolf Sword Diagram…Well, it was indeed somewhat freakish to be able to kill a Martial Supreme, but a seventh-tier sword array could only be controlled with the strength of a Martial Supreme. ‘These frogs in the well are too blind to see. They never take their strength into consideration before drooling at such incredible items. Even if they purchase them, they would have to find a seventh-tier alchemist to refine the item for them. In the whole Firecrow, there is not even a single seven-tier alchemist, and they must go to the Sea of Soul Formation.’

Many people knew that, if truth be told, but in the face of such amazing treasures, it was very difficult for them to suppress their greed. So, a round of frenzied bidding followed, with the bidders mostly coming from those aristocratic families.

When the price of something that could not be used by common people went beyond a certain level in an auction, it was only natural for them to give up. But for aristocratic families, when they purchased something in an auction, it was not for immediate use most of the time, but would be passed down the generations as a kind of reserve of their families. As a result, these families had accumulated unimaginable wealth and treasures, and when they were facing a crisis, they could turn these things into their fighting force to help them sail through the difficult times.

After a heated, almost violent bidding war, three jade slips were auctioned off for a total of twenty-two thousand superior-grade Primordial Stones. The recipe of Shaoyang pill was purchased by Xu Zizhuo with six thousand and five hundred superior-grade Primordial stones. To him, the price was heartbreakingly high, but his eyes still shone with extreme excitement. The recipe of Fivemountains Clothes was won by Xin Ruyu, and the Palewolf Sword Diagram went to another distinguished room.

After all, they were just two recipes and a diagram, and they could not be materialized in the short term. Therefore, their prices were far below that of the Cauldron of Five Elements. Still, the result was beyond Yunxiao’s expectation, and he was grinning from ear to ear in his room, “I should really take out more things to sell. What a fortune they have made me this time!” Although he said it like that, he knew in his heart that he would invite trouble if he took out too many things in one go. He might have already caught the attention of all the aristocratic families now.

‘Hmph! So what? Since I’ve already offended half of the four major aristocratic families in Firecrow Empire, I don’t mind adding one or two more. As long as my strength can be improved rapidly, they are just a motley crowd!’ Yunxiao thought in his head.

His words startled the others, however, causing cold sweats to break out of their foreheads. ‘How many things are there in this lad’s head? Does he still have other seventh-tier items?’

The fact that a third-tier alchemist could record down things of the seventh-tier with divine sense had already toppled their common sense. Luckily, they had gradually become accustomed to this kind of shock that weakened their hearts. Yin Zhaoyang was the one who received the greatest shock. ‘This lad’s master must be on the same level as Elder Yuwen…He is simply a monster!’

Xu Zizhuo could hardly contain his excitement after winning the pill recipe. He paced back and forth in the room at the backstage with his eyebrows tightly frowned. After some time, he turned to Gan Deming and said, “Stop all investigations into Li Yunxiao at once!”

Gan Deming was stunned. Puzzled, he asked, “Why? I thought he has become more suspicious after what happened today, and we should crank up the investigation!”

“No!” Xu Zizhuo said coldly. “Who knows what would be the power behind a man who can take out some seventh-tier recipes to be auctioned off! Besides, look at how that Yin Zhaoyang follows behind him like a little pet dog. If our investigation annoys him, I fear the consequence is not something both of us can afford!”

A wary look flashed across Gan Deming’s face, but when he thought of Yin Zhaoyang’s arrogant face, he felt he was boiling with rage again. “Hmph! That Yin Zhaoyang is nothing but a big flatterer!”

“In any case, we will not help or harm this Li Yunxiao,” Xu Zizhuo said faintly. “We will stand in the middle and do what we should, so that even if we can’t get any benefits from him, we will not invite trouble to ourselves. Yin Zhaoyang’s excessive hospitality may not bring him to a good end. I’ll leave for Firecrow Empire in a few days, and I will hand all the affairs here to both of you for the time being.”

Gan Deming nodded. He knew Xu Zizhuo was going to look for someone to refine the Shaoyang pill for him.

Xu Zizhuo was cultivating a soul-tempering technique that could bring him a limitless future, but it had a very strict requirement, that was, it could only reach perfection when the cultivator had a pure Yang body. He had thought he would be stuck at the fifth-tier for the rest of his life, but it seemed that the heavens had heard his prayers and brought him the recipe of the Shaoyang pill. With it, his achievement in this life would not just stop at the fifth-tier!

The crowd quieted down after all three jade slips were auctioned off, but their heads were filled with awe and speculation toward the people in Yunxiao’s distinguished room.

Mister Mei had returned to normal as well. He chuckled and said, “The items added last minute this year are the most amazing ones I’ve seen over all my years as an auctioneer. Now, we come back to the items on the list. The next item is a fourth-tier array artifact. Although it is only fourth-tier, it is engraved with an extremely rare soul-tempering array, which has an enhanced effect on the alchemist’s soul power and covers a range of one thousand meters. It is truly a peerless treasure that all alchemists wish for!”

Xu Zizhuo’s eyes showed a trace of regret. Artifacts that could enhance one’s soul power such as this could only be refined by some legendary alchemists, and each was so rare that any alchemist would fight for it when they saw one. Originally, he planned to purchase this array artifact, but he lacked the wealth to buy it after paying for the pill recipe.

“Oh? A treasure that can enhance one’s soul power? Those alchemists are going to be crazy this time.”

“Haha! That’s what I thought. Well, since they are so rich, it is a pleasure to watch them fight against each other.”

This kind of thing was of little use to warriors, so most people just looked on as if it was a show. Meanwhile, a handful of alchemists became extremely nervous, with their eyes lighting up.

From his room on the second floor, Yunxiao fixed his eyes at the array artifact on the auction stage. He could not help but sigh. “Even I cannot refine an array artifact that can enhance one’s soul power like this. They are all left behind by the almighty experts of the ancient times, and their quantity is getting lesser and lesser.”

Meng Bai said shockingly, “What? Even someone so amazing as Master can’t refine it? This artifact must be something extraordinary!”

The others just smiled and made no further comment. None of them knew that Yunxiao was referring to his previous life when he said that; he had not been able to master the art of carving the soul-enhancing array like this even when he was at his prime. As for whether someone else on the continent could, he did not know.

He lifted his eyes slightly, which gleamed brightly. This array artifact was his primary target. He had purposely requested the three jade slips to be auctioned off before it, so that he could have enough Primordial Stones to buy it.

As soon as Mister Mei’s voice faded away, Yunxiao shouted, “Five thousand superior-grade Primordial Stones!”

The people down below all sucked in a cold breath, astonished by the fact that the first bid was already so high. Five thousand superior-grade Primordial Stones were equivalent to five hundred thousand medial-grade Primordial Stones. This was how a rich man should have bid, they thought, and they all knew the man in that room had just gotten himself twenty thousand superior-grade Primordial Stones.

The rest of the alchemists were dumbfounded. If this rich man insisted on buying this array artifact, what hope did they have?

“Six thousand superior-grade Primordial Stones!” An alchemist stood up and shouted, his eyes almost turning bloodshot.

“Hah! Ten thousand!” Yunxiao chuckled. Although his voice was not loud, it rumbled like a sudden thunderclap in all ears down below. He had just increased his bid by four thousand!

That shut all the mouths in the hall. Mister Mei smiled, and he was about to slam his hammer on the table and count down when Xin Ruyu’s voice suddenly rang out of the distinguished room of the imperial family, “Twelve thousand.”

Yue Jiulin was slightly taken aback. “Your Highness, why do you need this thing? Besides, the price of twelve thousand is…”

With a smile on his face, Xin Ruyu said, “I’m just having a little fun, testing our neighbor and finding out how high a price can he afford.” Perhaps, only a member of the Xin Family could use twelve thousand superior-grade Primordial Stones to have a little fun. Yue Jiulin could only smile wryly and shake his head at the thought.