Realms In The Firmament

For treasures as precious as these supreme dan beads, ten was definitely not a small number. In fact, it had already exceeded most of the people’s expectations!

However, for the people who eagerly desired these supreme dan beads, it was never enough!

There were at least a hundred groups, who were determined to win the supreme dan beads!

But there were only ten... What could they do about that?

One by one, they started to check their wallets…

Xiao Mo-Yan breathed a sigh of relief before becoming a little nervous. Since there were ten beads, it was guaranteed that he would get a least one but… In order to attain just that one bead would require him to triumph through a bloody competition by paying a sizeable amount!

“Next, we shall begin the auction for the first supreme dan bead!” Guan Wan-Shan stood on the stage, looking energetic and high-spirited. “The starting price is 100 thousand silver bars! Each overbid requires a minimum increase of 25 thousand!”

The moment he said that, a hush fell over the audience.

For a long, long time, nobody replied.

Of course it wasn’t because the beads were unwanted but rather, people were calculating silently. To be the first Sect to bid, how much would be suitable?

Finally, Meng Wu-Fei of the Qing-Yun Sect frowned and spoke loudly, “150 thousand from OUR QING-YUN SECT!”

When he heard what Meng Wu-Fei said, Guan Wan-Shan immediately furrowed his brows. Within the No.17 balcony, Ye Xiao felt as though he was constipated with a stomach full of shit. Many people were also cursing inside their minds.

“If you wanted to bid, then just bid! What’s with the emphasis on “OUR QING-YUN SECT”?!”

What did he mean?

Well, the nuance was clear. It was definitely a threat!

The way he phrased it, if someone dared to compete against him in the bidding, then they would make enemies out of the entire Qing-Yun Sect! You could weigh the consequences yourself.

As expected, after that sentence from Meng Wu-Fei, no one dared to bid anymore. No matter what, it was just not an intelligent move to mess with the Qing-Yun Sect. Even Xiao Mo-Yan sat quietly without a word.

The high-spirited and vigorous Guan Wan-Shan felt like he had eaten a bittergourd.

As calculative as he might be, he had forgotten to account for how shameless these powerful Sects could be.

“Master Meng from the Qing-Yun Sect bids 150 thousand. Are there anymore bids? Anyone…” Guan Wan-Shan forced the words out, all while silently cursing in his heart. “150 thousand once… Anyone? 150 thousand twice… 150 thousand…”

“500 thousand!” From above, a loud voice resounded.

It was Ye Xiao.

There was no way that the Xiao Monarch could bear his supreme dan being sold at such a low price.

“Since you’ve dared to act so shamelessly in front of everyone, then I won’t hesitate to make trouble for you!”

“You’re dealing with my belongings; I won’t permit them to be taken away at such a cheap price!”

Meng Wu-Fei’s expression darkened as he swivelled around to face the direction of the voice.

Ye Xiao pushed opened the door of the balcony No.17 and said blandly, “To be honest, I am not that interested in this supreme dan. I wasn’t even going to bid. But to see someone trying to snatch this supreme dan for just 150 thousand, how blasphemous! You desecrate this treasure. Moreover, this trade should be fair; I don’t care if you’re a from the royal family, major Sect or noble clan. The moment you arrive here, you must follow the rules! Using your power to bully others, how despicable can you be! So, Master Meng, it won’t be that simple. If you want it, you better be prepared to pay what it deserves. Otherwise I will be the first one to challenge you!”

Narrowing his eyes, Meng Wu-Fei spoke coldly, “You’ve definitely got balls, Mr. Feng. But who the hell are you?”

The underlying message was clear: “A nobody like you, how dare you try to stop me from taking what I want?”

Ye Xiao held his head high and replied calmly, “I may be just a nobody. But, I am the original owner of these supreme dan beads!”

Everyone who heard his words were immediately stunned!

“The owner of the supreme dan beads!”

“He is the owner of the supreme dan beads!”

“No wonder he was trying so hard to collect all those valuable medicines. He is a supreme dan-maker!”

The girl in white - Xiu Er, the girl in cyan, people from the martial sects and people from the noble clans… All of them turned their gazes up towards him.

Ye Xiao narrowed his eyes as he casually glanced at the people from the Mu Clan. “Perhaps with my status as a supreme dan-maker, I can destroy those bastards from the Mu Clan?”

Meng Wu-Fei’s expression instantly turned ugly as he replied, “Even if you’re the owner of these supreme dan, what can you possibly do?”

“Well, I suppose the owner of these supreme dan can’t really do much.” Ye Xiao replied leisurely, “But for my supreme dan to have been sullied in this auction, I am truly disappointed, so I can choose to take back my supreme dan beads. Regarding other people’s items, I don’t have a say nor can I promise anything. But I can assure you -- From today onwards, there will be no more supreme dan in this world!”

He bared his teeth as he grinned, “Once I retrieve them, I will swallow all ten beads. If they are to be desecrated, I would rather have these beads cease existing!”

That moment, everyone stared at him with wide eyes, unable to make a sound!

This bastard was not only a supreme dan-maker, but also a supreme troublemaker.

If he was not satisfied, he would destroy everything!

“If you really want the supreme dan bead, then bid according to the rules. Ten is not a small number. If you offer a suitable price, you’ll naturally be able to get one.” Ye Xiao spoke calmly, “Under no circumstances are you to use your power to oppress others. If I see anyone do that again, this auction will end instantly!”

Meng Wu-Fei’s face turned green.

The two men who stood beside him had their hands pressed to the hilt of their swords. Their eyes, full of killing intent, were fixed at Ye Xiao.

But all three of them knew that since this Master Feng had exposed his identity as the ‘owner of the supreme dan’, they couldn’t do anything to him under these circumstances!

In fact, even in the future, this kind of person was definitely not to be offended!

For a supreme dan-maker as powerful as he was, just how much resources did he truly harbour?

It was just unimaginable!

Not to mention only the three of them, even the entire Qing-Yun Clan could not hope to bear his wrath!

He could turn the Qing-Yun Sect into everyone’s enemy by simply saying something like ‘I will make dan for the one who destroys the Qing-Yun Sect’.

Meng Wu-Fei took a few deep breaths and forced a smile, “You definitely do not mince words. How admirable. But I am afraid there has been some miscommunication between us. When I offered 150 thousand just now, I was only testing the waters. It would truly be a desecration if the supreme dan bead was sold at only 150 thousand. If anyone wishes to bid, of course they are free to do so. With my status, how can I possibly forcibly oppress the market like this… Since Brother Feng has called for 500 thousand, then I shall follow. 750 thousand please.”

Meng Wu-Fei managed to restrain himself enough to spit out those words.

“I’ll have my revenge another day.”

Everyone spectating this scene couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. By taking a step back this time, Meng Wu-Fei had brought shame to the Qing-Yun Sect. But had he not submitted, the Qing-Yun Sect would not only have ended up empty handed today, but also possibly face an even bigger disaster in the future!

Although Meng Wu-Fei had retreated, no one would really looked down on him. Instead, his forbearance had gathered quite some admiration. After all, it had been the owner of the supreme dan he had been facing!

“Hmm, one million!” Li Chang-Qing from the Cang-Shan Sect spoke measuredly.

“One million and 50 thousand!” Meng Wu-Fei bidded instantly.

Ye Xiao finally stayed quiet.

The price had gone over one million now… and it was still rising.

He was not delighted in the least at the moment; instead he was bleeding in his heart. There had been 15 dan beads in total and he had actually sold 5 of them to the salesroom for 100 thousand each…

“I really want to jump off a building… How could I have miscalculated to incur such a loss…”

He had lost five million! At least!

“Oh my god… So much money! Let me die!”

While Ye Xiao was still drowning in his sorrow, Xiao Mo-Yan finally bid.

“One million and 250 thousand!”

“One million and 275 thousand!” Meng Wu-Fei gritted his teeth.

“One million and 300 thousand!”

“One million and 325 thousand!”

Meng Wu-Fei was nearly going to vomit blood.

He had to win the bid for this supreme dan bead, otherwise it would really be a huge disgrace after the scuffle between him and Ye Xiao just now.

In the end, for the price of one million and 400 thousand silver bars, Meng Wu-Fei acquired the first supreme dan bead!

After seeing just a high price, all the spectators were shocked out of their minds.

Although Meng Wu-Fei had brought this fate upon himself, this price of one million and 400 thousand silver bars was truly unreasonably high.

After that, the second supreme dan bead was sold for one million and 250 thousand to Xiao Mo-Yan.

The third was sold to Li Chang-Qing for the same price as the second one.

Till now, the top three martial sects had gotten one of the first three supreme dan beads each. One could say that they had accomplished their most important task of today.

The others bidders breathed a sigh of relief. They all understood that the first three supreme dan beads would never be theirs. No matter what, they would definitely be seized by the top three sects. Whoever encroached upon these beads would only bring enormous trouble to their own groups.

But still… the prices had still been pushed so high that many of the groups had already felt depressed.

Within just a few turnovers, the numbers had already risen way beyond the levels of what they could compete with.

When the fourth dan bead was up, people subconsciously understood that the top three sects wouldn’t bid again, so one by one, they started to bid!

“850 thousand.”

“875 thousand!”

“900 thousand…”

“…”

Although the prices continued to rise, it had already started slowing down. It was no longer the scorching battle that accompanied the first three beads. When Mu Zi-He from the Mu Clan bid 950 thousand, no one made a sound anymore.

All of them were thinking that if the prices were able to lessen even further, that would undeniably be a good thing.

Some experts like Guan Wan-Shan had already predicted that the price would be no higher than one million this time.

But right at that moment, the clear and cold voice of a girl suddenly resounded loudly, “One million and 250 thousand!”

With this shout, she had raised the price up to the price levels of the former three dan beads straightaway!

Such a price had immediately defeated most of the bidders!

As the audience turned their heads towards the voice, they realised that it was in fact, the girl in white.

When they found out that the bidder was a girl, they were instantly angry. “Previously, we didn’t want to offend the three major sects so we didn’t join the bidding. A little girl like you, who do you think you are?”

Mu Zi-He, in particular, was ready to explode with rage!

“Why on earth is there always someone messing with me? Am I a pushover to them?”

“This time, there is no way I could bear such humiliation again! If I continue to tolerate this, our Mu Clan will be known as the clan of cowardly turtles…”

[TL: 缩头乌龟 literally means turtles who retreat back into their shells when facing danger. Refers to faint-hearted cowards.]

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