Martial Peak

Chapter 1377, Profound Gold

Atop the jade plate was a fist sized lumpy piece of unidentifiable ore that had a pure gold colour!

What was shocking about this ore though was that there were runes flowing across its surface. Obviously it was sealed under a barrier arranged by some powerful master to prevent its aura from leaking out, but even so, everyone in the auction hall could clearly feel the sharp energy radiating from it.

It was already like this in a sealed state, so what would happen if the seal was broken?

The cultivators in the hall with slightly lower strength here likely wouldn’t even be able to approach this ore in its raw form!

This item was clearly unusual, but the number of people who recognized what it was was very small, everyone only knew that it was definitely a rare treasure. It only made sense for Treasure Trove Pavilion to auction this off as its finale item.

“Good good good, hahaha, this Jin has struggled for most of his life searching for this but never expected to see it here today! Treasure Trove Pavilion’s reputation for gathering treasures from all over the world is well-deserved!” The master named Jin Shi laughed, seemingly immensely satisfied with this ore and extremely determined to obtain it.

“Do you want this?” Yang Yan glanced suspiciously towards Yang Kai inside.

Yang Kai was clearly excited so how could Yang Yan not see his thoughts?

“En,” Yang Kai nodded gently.

Yang Yan nodded but didn’t ask why Yang Kai wanted this or what he planned on doing with it.

The young Qing’er obviously overheard this and a look of joy flashed across her face, but soon that look turned to one of worry as she said, “Senior, Elder Jin of Demon Blood Temple seems to want this item too.”

“This is an auction, so the highest bidder will win it!” Yang Kai grinned. He had brought 70 million Saint Crystals this time, so he wasn’t afraid of fighting Jin Shi for this; after all, during the auction, Demon Blood Temple had already purchased a number of items for quite a sum.

Qing’er nodded docilely and said, “Then I wish Senior a swift victory!”

“I’ll be taking advantage of your auspicious words!” Yang Kai grinned. He naturally knew why this little girl seemed anxious. It was because if he participated in this auction and successfully obtained this item, she would receive a reward from Treasure Trove Pavilion and this reward would be directly proportional to the price Yang Kai paid. Before now, Yang Kai had not bid on anything, so naturally she wouldn’t be receiving any special reward; however, if Yang Kai won this item, the reward given by her Treasure Trove Pavilion would be enough for her to enjoy for a very long time.

This matter was explained by Qing’er herself without Yang Kai needing to ask her about it. This entire time, this little girl had served them very attentively, so naturally Yang Kai didn’t mind giving her some small benefits.

“Forgive this old master’s ignorance, but what exactly is this thing? Old Ghost Jin, why are you so eager to obtain it?” Another strange voice called out from a different private room, and from what was said, it seemed this individual couldn’t identify this ore.

It wasn’t as if this individual was ignorant and uninformed, but rather that in the vast Star Field, there were so many kinds of materials and this particular ore was extremely rare. Jin Shi being able to identify it was because he cultivated a special Secret Art that required this kind of ore, so he actively paid attention to and searched for it.

Only someone like Yang Yan, who seemed to possess infinite knowledge, would be able to identify this kind of material offhand, but people like her were obviously a rare minority.

“Oh, it’s understandable that Senior Jin will be this excited; after all, this Profound Gold is of great benefit to the Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art Senior Jin cultivates. With this Profound Gold as an auxiliary, I presume Senior Jin reaching the grand accomplishment stage is just around the corner!” Ren Tian Rui spoke openly, as if he was afraid that others wouldn’t know Jin Shi’s personal details.

“Profound Gold?” The person who spoke before heard this name, seemed to think of something, and called out in surprise.

“Little brat Ren, your only job is to host an auction, not spread around information about this old master’s Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art!” Jin Shi snapped in annoyance as he naturally understood Ren Tian Rui’s malicious intentions here. If they were anywhere else right now, Jin Shi would definitely have taken action to teach Ren Tian Rui a harsh lesson, but they were currently inside Treasure Trove Pavilion, so even if he was angry, he had no choice but to endure it. Perhaps because of the thinly veiled threat Ren Tian Rui gave just now, the difficulty of winning this Profound Gold would increase greatly; after all, Demon Blood Temple had many enemies and they would not want him to easily obtain this Profound Gold.

“Please forgive me, Senior. This Junior clearly spoke too much just now!” Ren Tian Rui seemed to know that he was wrong and quickly bowed in apology.

However, words spoken were like water spilling, there was no way to take it back. Although Ren Tian Rui seemed to be apologizing, behind his seemingly fearful expression was a trace of pride. To Treasure Trove Pavilion, it didn’t matter who won this Profound Gold, as long as they could sell it for a high price.

“Enough nonsense. Hurry up and start the auction!” Jin Shi urged strongly in his annoyance.

“Good!” Ren Tian Rui smiled, pointing his folding fan at the Profound Gold and declaring loudly, “For this one kilogram piece of Profound Gold, the starting price is 5 million Saint Crystals. Everyone, please!”

“Ten million!” As soon as Ren Tian Rui’s words fell, Jin Shi called out, directly doubling the price, demonstrating his determination to obtain this Profound Gold.

It was no secret now that he needed this piece of Profound Gold, so he had no reason to hold back.

“Heh, such a rare Artifact Refining material, just what this old master needs for his Golden Bone Shield, 10.1 million!” Heaven Battling Union’s Mo Xiao Sheng’s voice sounded.

“This old master will also join in the excitement, 10.5 million!” Cheng Peng Xuan of Thunder Typhoon Sect chimed in, seemingly not wanting to be outdone.

“11 million!” Another husky voice sounded from a different private room, an old woman’s voice at that.

“12 million!”

…..

Inside Demon Blood Temple’s private room, Jin Shi’s expression was ugly to the extreme. Although he knew that Demon Blood Temple had many enemies and that obtaining this Profound Gold would definitely be difficult, he hadn’t anticipated that six other people would actually try to compete with him. Worse, these six all had equal status and strength to him, so there was no way he could suppress them in any way. Frustrated by this development, he angrily shouted, “20 million!”

“Brother Jin’s boldness is admirable, but you don’t really believe you can obtain this piece of Profound Gold for a trivial 20 million do you? Brother Jin should stop dreaming. This old woman bids 25 million!” The old lady sneered and raised the price by 5 million directly.

However, this price only lasted a moment before a higher one replaced it.

This wasn’t surprising though as this Profound Gold was truly rare. Ren Tian Rui wasn’t exaggerating when he introduced it before. This kind of rare material was really something that only appeared once in ten thousand years. Whether it was used for Artifact Refining or to cultivate a special Secret Art, it would yield great benefits.

For a time, bids came flying in from the private rooms of the auction hall, and the price for this Profound Gold soared to a height which shocked countless people as they secretly admired these great Sects. The amount of Saint Crystals being quoted here was high enough to allow a small Sect or family develop worry-free for many years, these great forces were actually willing to spend this much for a single small piece of material.

Inside room B-13, Yang Kai remained silent, not participating in this competition at all because he knew that the current price was far from what it would eventually sell for. As such, he didn’t want to waste his energy and instead was waiting for his competitors to drop out.

“40 million!” Jin Shi’s voice sounded again. This piece of Profound Gold had heated the auction up to new heights, but it was still far from over. After shouting this price, Jin Shi called out again, “This Profound Gold is truly important to this Jin, if fellow friends are willing to relinquish it to me, this Jin will always remember it in his heart and will certainly return the favour in the future.”

Even now, no one was willing to withdraw, causing Jin Shi’s heart to pound like a drum. Seeing the price continue to rise, he faintly felt it wouldn’t be long before it surpassed his limit, so he chose to speak out.

As soon as this remark came out, the bids from Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect stopped as it seemed Cheng Peng Xuan and Mo Xiao Sheng were weighing the pros and cons.

A moment later, Mo Xiao Sheng let out a laugh and said aloud, “Since Brother Jin has said so, this Mo will withdraw. En, in any case, no Artifact Refiner can properly refine this grade of material, so using it on this old master’s Golden Bone Shield would be a careless waste of Heaven’s precious gifts.”

Immediately afterwards, several other masters who had been participating in this bidding war also expressed their willingness to withdraw. It wasn’t that Jin Shi’s face was so big, but rather, all of them knew how determined he was to obtain this Profound Gold. Continuing to fight over it would only result in Treasure Trove Pavilion and Ren Tian Rui picking up a bargain. Instead of allowing this little brat with a slippery tongue to profit, it would be better to sell a favour to Jin Shi.

What’s more, even if they bought this Profound Gold for themselves, it didn’t really have a big use to them. Although it was a very high grade ore, there was no Artifact Refiner capable of using it to its fullest, so what point was there struggling over it to this extent?

Seeing this, Jin Shi calmed down and offered some words of thanks.

“Hmph! Old Ghost Jin, just because you say this Profound Gold has a big use to you, you think this old woman will simply hand it over? 41 million!” The old woman’s voice sounded again, but contrary to the others, she didn’t give Jin Shi any face.

“Old Woman Feng, what do you want this Profound Gold for? If you don’t make yourself clear immediately, this old master will not forgive you!” Jin Shi was furious. Everyone else had known when to back down, but this Old Woman Feng seemed intent on competing with him. Unable to stand it anymore, Jin Shi erupted in fury.

“You think this old woman is afraid of you?” Old Woman Feng seemed to also have a bad temper and, hearing Jin Shi’s threat, she immediately snapped back dismissively.

Inside the private rooms of these two great forces, the auras of two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters surged upwards and their words were quickly filling with hostility.

“You two, this is Treasure Trove Pavilion, please act with some restraint!” Suddenly, from somewhere undisclosed, a faint voice called out. Hearing this voice, Old Woman Feng and Jin Shi’s looks both changed slightly as they seemingly remembered something and quickly withdrew their auras.

The cultivators in the main hall all panted for breath as lingering fear filled their faces.

Ren Tian Rui, who was still standing atop the high platform, couldn’t help wiping his cold sweat as well. Although Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auctions have had some minor incidents in the past, if these two people had really exchanged blows, the matter would not have ended with just some small consequences. Thinking for a moment, Ren Tian Rui opened his mouth and said, “Please do not feel aggrieved Senior Jin, since Senior Feng insists on participating in this auction, she must naturally have a use for this Profound Gold.”

“And what use would that be?” Jin Shi coldly snorted, obviously not believing Ren Tian Rui’s words so easily.

Ren Tian Rui however just smiled lightly and said, “As far as this Junior knows, the Golden Thunder Vein Lion which has accompanied Senior Feng for most of her life should have need of this Profound Gold to assist it with breaking through.”