Realms In The Firmament

“They didn’t even have the chance to strike back. Every single one of them! The Ye Clan has already contacted the government. They have told the officers that they had encountered assassins. The eight dead bodies were sent to the guardian’s department of the capital…”

“What! What did you say?” The old man slapped the table hard and stood up at once, “Unbelievable!”

The others looked at each other in speechless despair.

They felt shocked, as they couldn’t imagine that there was actually such a powerful force in a general’s family.

They knew clearly what strength the eight vanguards had; in fact, that was why they were shocked when they were told that the eight powerful men all got killed by a single strike!

The crown princess was sitting on her chair. She was shocked and her mouth was wide open when she heard the conversation.

They all felt that it was unimaginable! As if a ghost suddenly appeared right in front of them!

The crown princess even felt a bit dizzy at the moment.

“The Ye clan!!” The old man humphed heavily and his eyes were filled with coldness, “Tell me. How did it happen?”

“Well… At first they were in a quarrel. Then they started to rush into the house. At the same time, the steward of the house shouted ‘stop them’, and then many voices sounded from the house. Seven men of the Ye Clan showed up first and stopped our men beyond the ground. Each of them… took only one strike! And then…”

“One strike…” Everyone gasped fearfully.

“That’s right. One strike…”

“Tonight, I am going to experience myself the unfathomable power of the Ye clan!” The old man’s eyes were lit up with a sense of killing.

“Well… Tomorrow is the day when the auction of the supreme dan beads will be held…” A middle-aged scholar beside him spoke out, “Besides, if the Ye clan was truly that powerful, we might be defeated unexpectedly… First thing’s first. I think we should aim for the supreme dan beads… and take them back to our clan. We could avenge Cheng-Bai later, after the auction. If we hold up our clan’s mission because of some revenge, then we spoil the ship for a halfpennyworth of tar… No one wants to take such blame.”

Everyone was silent.

The next moment, a voice sounded outside the door, “Message from the king.”

It continued with the king’s words, “The capital is involved in a great disturbance. All of you should stay dutiful. Do not make any arbitrary moves…”

And then messages from different forces came to the Prince’s Palace one by one.

“The prime chief of the Qing-Yun Sect has brought three disciples to the Chen-Xing City.”

“The second prime chief of the Cang-Shan sect has settled with their disciples in the Chen-Xing City, right beside the salesroom.”

“The prime dan-maker and the hierarch of Ling-Yun Sect has entered the Chen-Xing City with seven disciples.”

“The Wu-Liang Sect has entered the Chen-Xing City.”

“The Long clan has come to the capital!”

“The Nan-Gong clan has arrived in the capital…”

“The Gong-Sun clan…”

…

Messages were piling-up in front of them. Like it was said in the king’s message, the capital was caught in a great disturbance!

In fact, the disturbance was caused by the auction of those supreme dan beads.

If they continued messing with the Ye clan and caused another delay of the auction, then, all the sects and clans would definitely see them as the first target to hit.

And… the General’s House was not far from the salesroom, so it would be impossible for them to get away from those crazy people.

The old man’s face turned dark and he took a deep breath, “You are right. The clan comes first.”

He surely needed to say something obedient, but everyone knew about his reluctance to do so just by looking at his dark face.

“Let’s go collect the bodies of our men first!” The old man felt helpless when he said so.

When Mu Cheng-Bai died, they had made some plans to avenge him; now there were eight more of them who had died, but he could do nothing but wait for an opportunity!

It really was driving them crazy!

…

On the other side, Ye Xiao felt relieved when he saw the sun rising up.

It was finally the day of the auction!

He was certain that he would not be attacked today.

In fact, one day was all Ye Xiao needed to fill up the spiritual space and to feed the Heaven’s Cyan.

Besides, he needed to make a plan to ensure his family’s safety.

However, it would be better if he could get more time.

Anyway, at least he could get a day if he could hang on till the auction.

The steward felt relieved too. People who were sent to watch the Ye clan all felt relieved, as well as Su Ye-Yue, Lan Lang-Lang and Zuo Wu-Ji.

After the battle that happened the other night, everyone had been well prepared. At least they all knew about what the Ye clan was capable of…

Even the crown prince and the king, who were in the Imperial Palace, felt relieved at this moment.

Although what happened between the Mu clan and the Ye clan the other night was just a battle between two forces, it was something that had drawn everyone’s attention…

In a single day, things totally changed in the capital. Different forces settled in the capital but the whole situation was oddly kept in balance! At least it looked peaceful and gave the illusion that nothing was happening.

…

Early morning, before the sun rose, the Ling-Bao Hall was still sparsely occupied. However, everyone who passed the door could feel that a lot of eyes were inspecting the hall.

When the first sunlight shone, the colorful flag of the Ling-Bao Hall was finally raised. It was a seven-colored flag which was waving in the air and it showed the people that the auction taking place over here would be extraordinary.

People who saw the flag felt excited.

The seven-colored flag meant that this was a top-class auction!

There had only been three instances in the mortal world when the seven-colored flag had been raised, so everyone interested in this auction felt thrilled when they saw the flag.

Since the salesroom had already raised the seven-colored flag, there were going to be immensely valuable items for auction!

All the clans and sects would definitely want to participate in today’s auction!

They needed to take advantage of the auction to improve their strength, to break through the bottleneck of their cultivation, to train their successors…

There was a long way to go for all of them!

…

The sun was shining on the roof of the salesroom and the flag was gently waving in the air. A lot of instruments were creating music, which seemed to cover the entire auction hall. The door of the salesroom was suddenly opened and then two columns of girls in white came out. Their long dresses were fluttering as they walked. They stood still on each side of the door and a red carpet spread between the two columns from inside the salesroom to the street.

The wind was flowing. The white dresses were fluttering, their beautiful hair was waving in the air and an enchanting scent was spreading all over!

“It is the top standard!”

Some people couldn’t help staring at the girls while everyone realized the same problem – they didn’t know if they had brought enough money or not.

They didn’t want to be disgraced.

“The auction begins shortly inside the Ling-Bao Hall salesroom! All our honored guests please get in the salesroom!” A loud voice was sounding like a huge bell.

Some people started to enter the Ling-Bao Hall from different ways in front of the door.

They were all wearing robes and walked leisurely. They acted like sages.

Some other people had actually arrived for a long time, but they didn’t get into the salesroom with the crowd.

There was a latent rule for entering the salesroom at the auction that people should take turns to enter the salesroom – the stronger person entered first. He who broke the rule might get killed… If one was to mess with some powerful guy, his entire clan might get wiped out.

People in the martial world cared a lot about prestige.

A man would enter when it was his turn; if someone entered before him and he thought this ‘someone’ was inferior… then he would start a fight against the inferior fellow who had the audacity to enter before him!

And it was basically, a fight of life and death.

In front of the door, there was an emcee naming the list, in a singing voice.

“The prime master of the Qing-Yun Sect, Meng Wu-Fei. Mr. Meng, please!”

“The master of the Cang-Shan Sect, Li Chang-Qing. Mr. Li, Please!”

“The hierarch of the Ling-Yun Sect, Xiao Mo-Yan, Please!”

…

The names of the important persons in the martial world were read aloud one by one. People felt awed when they heard these names.

All of them were legendary people in this mortal world, and now they were all here.

They were all here for a simple auction!

As more and more big shots were called, about twenty of them had already entered. And there were still a lot of people crowded outside the door.

Everyone started to get excited. They wondered how many more great men would actually turn up.

There was more than one supreme dan bead for sure, but there were absolutely not enough dan beads for all of them!

A sign of a foreseeable battle was showing up silently!

Well in fact, it was a battle of financial might!

No matter who won, he was definitely going to pay through the nose this time.

Suddenly, a man with a strong body and a square face casually stepped to the door jumping the queue. He looked somewhat handsome.

People were surprised. They couldn’t believe that there was actually someone who dared to break the custom!

They thought that even though no one in the queue would stop him, people from the Ling-Bao Hall would definitely banish him at once!

Surprisingly, people from the Ling-Bao Hall didn’t do anything, except that the emcee spoke loudly, “Feng Zhi-Ling, Master Feng, Please!”

“Master Feng? Who the hell is Master Feng?”

The crowd was in an uproar.

They had never heard of this name before.

But this guy came and casually entered the salesroom…

Why? Was this unknown guy really that important?

Who was he?

Where was he from? What was his background? How could he enter before all the great men who were still standing outside?

There were too many questions lying inside everybody’s mind.