Chaotic Sword God

While Jian Chen could surmise that these three pieces had the possibility of being left behind by Mo Tianyun, he really couldn’t begin to fathom the mystery behind it. If this was some sort of treasure map, then there was no hint of a path or marking to indicate so on it. It looked to be a regular tuft of animal skin, but it was completely unbreakable and hard to the touch.

Turning the three pieces around several times, Jian Chen finally saw no more benefit to doing so any longer and stored them back into his Space Ring. One of the three was what remained from the destruction of the Bi family, and Jian Chen had no intention on having that leak out.

Afterwards, Jian Chen stayed within his room for the next two days to when the annual auction would take place before finally leaving his room.

But during these two days, the one called Little Spirit hadn’t come to him again.

Early that morning, Jian Chen took hold of the tiger cub and made his way over to where the auction house was to be held. With the purchase of an entry ticket for several purple coins, Jian Chen was able to enter the auction house with the throngs of other people.

The space within the avenue was extremely spacious and had seven levels to the main hall. Each level had a multitude of seats that spanned as far as the eye could see. There were at the very least ten thousand of them per level, and with there being seven levels, that meant at least seventy thousand people could be seated here.

The auction houses of Mercenary City did not have special guest rooms for people to enjoy had had instead ordinary seatings for everyone. Whether it was the head of an illustrious family or the traveling merchant from some unknown land, they could be seen sitting together despite the gap in status.

Still holding the sleeping cub, Jian Chen walked up to a corner of one of the levels and carefully waited for the auction to finally start.

Roughly two hours later, the entire hall had been filled up with people to max capacity. Despite it being filled with over ten thousand people, the entire place had been relatively silent with everyone patiently waiting for the event to begin. Not a single person had tried to start a ruckus, and even those who were conversing to one another were doing so with whispers. If anything, many of them were using their eyes to do the talking.

Just then, the last remaining strands of light within the room dimmed, plunging the entire area into darkness. For a while, this darkness persisted before several intense beams of light suddenly shot forth onto the frontmost podium for everyone to see clearly.

Standing on top of this podium was a beautiful young woman who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Her appearance had told her to be around thirty years old. The azure-blue robes she wore gave her a type of allure that perhaps only the devil itself could offer. In this one moment, a small wooden mallet could be seen on the podium with her.

There had been no need for Jian Chen to even think to know that this beautiful woman right there would be the host of the auction. But what had surprised Jian Chen was the fact that this woman was an individual of the Heaven Saint Master level.

Heaven Saint Masters were individuals that if placed in the Gesun Kingdom, would enjoy an illustrious amount of fame. But for such an individual to be used to personally lead an auction house, this was a lavish opportunity that only Mercenary City would be able to afford.

With a few words of greeting from the hostess, the auction house had thus officially started. One by one, rare oddities and exotic treasures began to make the stage and be offered to the audience. The entire audience who had been silent before the auction had begun had finally started to make noise as they shouted out their prices.

“Middle Earth Tier Battle Skill for those with the fire Saint Force. Lowest bid is at fifty thousand purple coins….”

“A single Class 7 Radiant Spirit Pill that can heal even the most grave injuries of a person within minutes. Lowest bid begins at seventy thousand purple coins.”

“Class 6 Monster Core, a rare treasure that can rarely be obtained on the continent. A once-in-a-lifetime item! Lowest bid begins at forty thousand purple coins.”

One by one, the auctioneer would showcase rare items to the entire audience for them to bid and fight over. Each time the bid ended, the winning price was at least three times the original amount.

Soon enough, four hours went by before the auctioneer brought out an antique yet elegant box. As soon as the lid was opened, a fragrant aroma wafted through the air and covered every inch of the entire room, causing several people to grow excited at the smell.

From his own seat, Jian Chen concentrated his eyes to stare at the box in the auctioneer’s hand. He knew that this was something that he needed for himself.

“Dear audience, I presume that this is not a strange item to everyone here. The object I hold in my hand is an extremely rare heavenly resource. Its name is the Geofruit, a fruit that was grown with spirit dirt that was enriched by the energy of the world. For ten thousands of years, the Geofruit has existed in the world as an extreme rarity even amongst the other heavenly resources. Not only does it have a life-changing effect of power strengthening, it can also prolong the age span of the eater. Should an Earth Saint Master or Heaven Saint Master eat it, their life span will definitely go up by another two hundred years as well as elevate your power to a whole different realm.”

The appearance of the Geofruit had inflamed the eyes of everyone there with excitement. Each of the Heaven Saint Masters were not lacking in funds by any means, and they had also several large groups to help supplement their wealth should they need it. For those almost at the end of their life span, worldly items such as money were nothing important at all--their lives were far more important.

The auctioneer smiled towards the audience to conclude her speech, “Well, this servant will delay no longer with the auction. Everyone is well aware of the effects of the Geofruit I’m sure, and so it should go without saying that this is an opportunity that cannot be missed! With the starting price of five hundred thousand purple coins, with each successive bid defaulting to another ten thousand. Begin!”

“Five hundred and fifty thousand purple coins.” At the end of the auctioneer’s declaration, a person had already increased the bid by five times the stated default.

“Six hundred thousand.” A person to the side of Jian Chen had made a bid as well. He was a burly middle-aged man that wore a rich purple robe. His facial appearance was nothing special other than the two bright and spirited eyes of his and the tall sharp eyebrows over them. With those two traits and the powerful sword intent that exuded from him, he looked like a strong deity of the sword.

“Heaven Saint Master!” When he had sensed the man’s strength, Jian Chen had been secretly shocked. As expected, Mercenary City was a place where the strong gathered. It was rare to see Heaven Saint Masters elsewhere, but they were a common sight in the city.

“Seven hundred thousand!”

“Eight hundred thousand!”

　　……

In the short moment after the Geofruit was announced, a war between the bidders had already brought the price up to a million purple coins. A price like this was already enough to buy several thousand year heavenly resources already.

“One million three hundred thousand.” An elderly voice called out from the first level. By now, the astronomical price of the Geofruit had already scared off many of the bidders so that only a few remained.

“One million three hundred and fifty thousand.” The man next to Jian Chen spoke with clenched teeth. It seemed as if this price was already nearing the limit of what he could afford.

“One million four hundred thousand.” The same elder from before immediately called out.

With a disappointed sigh, the man muttered to himself, “Forget it, I’ll wait for the next auction to buy one.” Even though he had given up, there was still regret to be found in his voice.

Jian Chen had clearly heard what the man had said and gave him a quick glance before looking back to the auction once more.

“One million seven hundred thousand….”

“One million eight hundred thousand….”

By now, the price of the Geofruit had already skyrocketed to almost two million purple coins. While it looked like the only difference between a thousand year old heavenly resource and a ten thousand year old heavenly resource was age, a ten hundred thousand year old heavenly resource was able to prolong the life of the one who ate one. With just this one factor alone, a ten thousand year old heavenly resource was far better than a thousand year old one.

Furthermore, ten thousand year old heavenly resources were extremely hard to obtain. The ones that had managed to survive the harsh winds and stormy rain in nature weren’t many, and many heavenly resources in the several thousand year old ranges were plucked by the magical beasts or humans already. Thus, raising heavenly resources to an ancient age like that was an extremely hard task.

“Two million eight hundred thousand.” At last did Jian Chen break his silence to offer a bid of his own that beat the previous bid by a whooping million. He knew that plenty of people were fighting desperately for the Geofruit, so in order to deter the others from bidding, he would have to bid an even higher amount.

This time, the auction house grew silent. Two million eight hundred? That was a sky-high price that would wash out the rest of the bidders.

Even the middle-aged man right next to Jian Chen had stared strangely at him. Chuckling, he spoke, “Brother, you are quite bold if you’re willing to spend so much money for the Geofruit. I presume you’ll be giving it to an elder of yours?”

With a silent smile, Jian Chen shook his head.

Laughing openly, the man replied, “I was mistaken it seems. Then, is it for your own use, brother? A ten thousand year old heavenly resource gives a considerable amount of power to the eater, a Great Saint Master can become an Earth Saint Master guaranteed with the help of one. One doesn’t even have to worry about the risk of becoming a cripple during that threshold either.”

Jian Chen’s eyes had lit up straight away when he heard those words from the man. Cupping his hands, he spoke, “Brother, is what you just said true? Can a Great Saint Master really become an Earth Saint Master with this?”

“Of course! This isn’t a secret by any means. Brother, if you don’t believe me, then feel free to ask any other man the same question. But because of the immense rarity of a ten thousand year old heavenly resource, not a single household would be willing to waste such a treasure on a single Great Saint Master.” The man spoke.

“Three million.” Just then, another offer was given.

“Three million five hundred thousand!” Jian Chen did not hesitate to increase the price again. For the sake of his younger cousin, he would take this heavenly resource with all his power.