Martial World

Glowing crystals paved the passageway. Their mystical luster lit up the path to the auction hall with a rainbow of colors, casting the world in enigmatic beauty.

The channel finally came to end. Three crystalline doors appeared in front of everyone, dividing it into three different directions.

Four golden-armored guards with black capes swung over their shoulders guarded the doors behind them.

Although their auras were restrained, Lin Ming could still feel the sea-deep energy of these four.

This aura… is a Holy Lord level character.

After realizing the strength of these four people Lin Ming couldn’t help but be amazed. This was the first time he had seen Holy Lord level characters guarding gates. Before now, the highest rank guards he had seen were at the Divine Lord realm.

From this, it could be seen how much the Divine Runic Masters Guild valued this auction.

As Lin Ming was in thought, a middle-aged man approached them and spoke with a pleasant tone. “Three guests, do you plan on entering the auction? Please show your identity cards. Moreover, there are three different tiers of seating available, each with different fees. Please pay the fees for the seating tier you choose and someone will arrive to escort you there.”

Regarding the workings of the Divine Runic Masters Guild, Suya was clearly much more knowledgeable than Lin Ming. She took out a golden Divine Runic Masters Guild status card and quickly passed it over.

This middle-aged man belonged to the Runic Pill Trading Organization and he had never seen Suya before. But, he knew that Suya existed in the Divine Runic Masters Guild. After checking this card, his attitude towards her was much more respectful. He didn’t think that this beautiful woman in front of him would be the person issuing missions for the Extreme Star Holy Lands. For these past two years, the high level figures of the Runic Pill Trading Organization had kept in constant contact with Suya, and to them the Extreme Star Holy Lands was a source of significant wealth.

“And this sir and lady…”

The middle-aged man looked at Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian. Lin Ming didn’t reveal his name, only handing over his VIP card and entering.

“Sir Lin, have you rented a room yet?” Suya turned her hand and the opulent status card disappeared into her spatial ring.

“I haven’t. I heard that there were three tiers of seats?”

“Indeed. There are ordinary seats that are on the base level; these are 100,000 points each to rent. Above those are private rooms. The ordinary private rooms are a bit small but the price is 2 million, and above those are the luxury suites that are 30 million.”

The truth was that the Extreme Star Holy Lands had already rented a luxury suite in preparation for this auction. Suya wanted to invite Lin Ming but she knew that there was no chance he would join her, so she simply didn’t ask at all.

30 million points wasn’t much to Lin Ming, but he felt that this wasn’t necessary. Just an ordinary room was enough to hide his identity.

Lin Ming chose an ordinary private. Like this, he parted with Suya.

After entering the room, a maid left behind a number plate for Lin Ming and carefully informed him of the rules before leaving.

The room was similar to a floating building in the sky, a bit small and narrow inside. At the front was a massive window through which one could see the entire auction hall arena as well as a path leading to a balcony outside. The entire auction’s luxury suites, ordinary rooms, and ordinary seats were like three different tiers of mountain peaks, layered just like a theatre.

The luxury suites and ordinary rooms were both built with strange flying stones. These stones were marked with all sorts of runes that covered them like sand on paper. It was clear that these divine runic symbols provided a tremendous levitating force to the buildings.

In addition, these flying stones had a natural floating power, so as the massive luxury suites and ordinary rooms were in the skies, they dotted the landscape like islands in the air, able to overlook everything beneath them.

In front of every ordinary room was a massive floating flat projection stone that was 20-30 feet tall. These projection stones clearly reflected every movement on the stage, down to the tiniest detail.

And below that was a giant stone book controlled by a spirit stone. This stone had lines of flowing text on it that indicated the items that were to be auctioned today.

As long as Lin Ming swiped his fingers over the spirit stone, the entire stone book would shine with a gentle shimmering energy and a delicate woman’s voice would begin to explain in detail any treasure that was listed.

This was the first time that Lin Ming had experienced such an array formation that explained things in advance. This array formation indeed made things far more convenient.

And at this time, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from the top row of VIP suites.

“Look over there! That is Soaring Starlight Shuttle, Empyrean Lionheart’s personal transport! Even Empyrean Lionheart came! This year’s treasure fair is truly a grand event!” Some people cried out in alarm.

Empyrean. This word, no matter where it was said, always carried with it a mystical charm.

When Lin Ming displayed such vivid skills in the Divine Runic Masters Guild, many of the divine runic masters there subconsciously assumed that there was a peak Empyrean powerhouse standing behind him.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to have such a deep background in the divine runic arts.

Lin Ming had inherited Torchriver’s memories so he had naturally heard of Empyrean Lionheart before. This was a character that had risen to fame tens of millions of years ago, and although he was inferior to top characters like Empyrean Divine Mist, he was still a horrifying existence!

Lin Ming looked out in the center of the arena. The projection stone was currently reflecting the world outside.

All that was seen was a massive interstellar ship as large as a planet, looking like a vicious beast that spanned the heavens and earth.

Swathes of mysterious runes floated like stars around the ship, constantly swirling about.

The entire treasure ship emitted a cold and metallic luster. It was like a sun rising into the heavens, eternally glorious.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The great ship that was thousands of feet high. It emitted ear-cracking creaking sounds as it filled the surroundings with a blazing brilliance, carrying with it a momentum as if it would charge through the universe. People only saw this Empyrean level spirit treasure, the Soaring Starlight Shuttle, but didn’t see Empyrean Lionheart themselves. This left many of them feeling a bit regretful.

“It’s fine. An Empyrean level character isn’t someone we look up at.”

“I heard that before Empyrean Lionheart came, Empyrean Minor Violet had already arrived. But I have no idea where she is…”

“Mm? Empyrean Minor Violet also came?”

“That’s right… rumors say that Empyrean Minor Violet isn’t on friendly terms with Empyrean Lionheart… if the two of them compete, I wonder what sort of scene that would be…”

In the audience, many people were wildly discussing amongst themselves. These two Empyreans were the rulers of their own Empyrean Holy Lands with incomparably rich resources. If they were indeed planning on competing in this auction then that would truly be a dizzying sight!

Lin Ming hadn’t activated the isolation array formations in his room so all of these discussions entered his ears.

Lin Ming also knew of Empyrean Minor Violet. She was a woman who had equally risen to fame tens of millions of years ago and had established her own Holy Land. Whether it was in strength or methods, she was a terrifying character. Empyrean Minor Violet’s name struck like a bolt of thunder in the ears of everyone within the inner Asura Road!

In this auction, two Empyreans had arrived. This was truly a grand event for the ages.

“I just hope these two ruthless people don’t take a liking to the things I want…” As Lin Ming thought of the possible situations that could occur, he could only secretly complain to himself. If they were to struggle with him then he absolutely would be in trouble!

There were many people who even if they had a large number of points wouldn’t dare to compete with two Empyreans. They simply didn’t have the confidence to do so!

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have waited for far too long.”

At this moment, a deep and sonorous voice spread throughout the entire auction hall arena. The scene on the projection stones rippled once more, showing the scene of the auction stage below.

They saw a tall middle-aged man in neat and meticulous clothing stepping onto the auction stage platform. His eyes were deeply set and his nose was high. He had a sharp, pronounced jaw and his aura was deep, giving off a calming feeling.

This person was the president of the Runic Pill Trading Organization as well as a high level Elder of the Divine Runic Masters Guild.

Out of all the Elders within the entire Divine Runic Masters Guild, Song Wen was the only one who wasn’t a divine runic master. Even so, he was still an Elder.

Not only did he not have many attainments in the divine runic arts but his strength was also only at the early Holy Lord realm. Still, there wasn’t a single person in the Divine Runic Masters Guild that underestimated him, because he had a surpassingly outstanding ability to manage operations of large-scale organizations. This was also the reason he was able to become an Elder.

Divine Rune City was not purely a sect; it was a comprehensive gathering of interests and individuals, and as such needed a person with Song Wen’s talents.

“Today’s treasure fair has gathered elites from all over. As a show of respect, the first auction today will have me as the auctioneer!”

Song Wen’s voice wasn’t loud but his words spread through the massive arena site. Not a single word was left out from everyone’s ears.

After he finished speaking, a squad of late Divine Lord guards brought up a giant square box to the auction stage.

This box was completely carved from special obsidian material. This material had an extremely strong isolating effect and also had strong defensive divine runic symbols fused into it.

Even so, from the middle of the box one could hear sounds like the roaring of dragons and tigers. The light of the treasure leaked out shot into the sky, attracting the attention of everyone.

Generally speaking, the first item in an auction would be an extremely high quality item. This was to whet the appetite of the bidders and ignite the enthusiasm of the crowd so that the auction started off on a high note.

And as everyone’s eyes were focused on the obsidian box on the auction stage…

In an opulent VIP suite, Duke Fullmoon was embracing his ‘junior-apprentice sister Qing’ in his chest as he fiddled with an information jade slip.

“Ordinary private room #36? This brat isn’t even willing to pay out for a VIP suite?”

When Duke Fullmoon entered the auction hall the first thing he did was to ask someone to look up where Lin Ming was. The locations of all visitors were registered so looking up where someone was wasn’t difficult at all.

“He’s nothing but a poor little beggar, how could he possibly compare with the Duke?” Junior-apprentice Sister Qing softly said.

“Haha!” Duke Fullmoon laughed, using a little bit of strength to pull Junior-apprentice Sister Qing’s waist. He said, “He’s not as poor as he seems. 30 million isn’t a price that he can’t pay. I’ve looked up some of his information already. After he crafted that batch of Nirvanic Tribulation Flame Symbols, even with conservative estimates the Extreme Star Holy Lands still paid him over a billion points!”

Duke Fullmoon had already investigated the quantity and approximate price of Lin Ming’s sale of Nirvanic Tribulation Flame Symbols. Only by knowing oneself and knowing the enemy could one be undefeated. Since Duke Fullmoon was on bad terms with Lin Ming and he needed the Dragon Contract to begin with, it was naturally best for him to clearly investigate as much as he could into Lin Ming.

At this time, Shadow Overflow, who was also sitting in the VIP suite, lifted up the hood of his black cloak, revealing a face like a wizened old sorcerer.

He hoarsely said, “A billion plus points, how could he be Duke’s match? I heard that the Duke must purchase many things for Divine Void Divine Kingdom this time so you must have a great sum of wealth in hand! In addition with the Duke’s own wealth and mine, that Lin Ming has already lost!”