Realms In The Firmament

Mu Zi-He’s mind was filled with fear. He wanted to say something, anything, to try and explain himself, but he was stunned to the point of being unable to speak.

In the blink of an eye, the flames of rage that had filled his chest turned into complete and utter terror!

His body was flooded with sweat that couldn’t stop flowing, immediately thoroughly soaking his clothes. Even after he had intensely cultivated for so many years, having a far better instinct than most, Mu Zi-He somehow didn’t actually notice his perspiration.

At that moment, in his mind, there remained only one thought-- If the House of the Chaotic Storm truly decided to take action against the Mu Clan… Then, only complete annihilation awaited the Mu Clan.

In fact, there wasn’t even any need for the House of the Chaotic Storm to directly take action. As long as they just hinted their desire for the destruction of the Mu Clan, many people would naturally be happy to help them. The so-called eight noble clans might be one of the the major forces in this mortal world, but in the world of martial cultivation, it would be generous to say that they were useless. To destroy them with a mere flick of the finger, wasn’t difficult at all!

Mu Zi-He’s son stood up hurriedly and nervously spoke out, “Lady Xiu Er, please…”

Xiu Er sneered and said, “Who has given you permission to call me Xiu Er?”

The two black-clad men standing beside her had pressed their hands on the hilt of their swords, while their eyes were filled with a blade-like killing intent. They only needed a word from Xiu Er, before they’d instantly draw their swords and split the two Mu Clan members into four pieces!

Mu Zi-He’s son’s face was filled with terror. “Yes, I understand. I shouldn’t speak your honorable name so unadvisedly. But these few days, the Mu Clan has undergone many tribulations. My father is tired, so he was a bit short-tempered just now. He was muddle-headed and spoke impertinent words…”

Lady Xiu Er humphed and blandly spoke, “Has the Mu Clan… not become extinct yet?”

She turned and sat down, without saying another word.

The father and son from the Mu Clan were standing there, completely stunned. They felt like the way ahead of them, was filled with endless darkness. Their bodies couldn’t stop trembling, like they were going to collapse at any moment.

One of the black-clad men affixed his razor-sharp gaze at Mu Zi-He and spoke clearly, “The Shadow Blades await your instructions at any time!”

And then he walked away with vigorous strides.

The supreme dan bead in this round of the auction was most certainly won by Xiu Er.

But now, people were no longer concerned with who the supreme dan bead belonged to. When Xiu Er revealed her identity, the supreme dan bead was already destined to be hers. If anyone dared to bid again, then he was obviously messing with the House of the Chaotic Storm. Which was equal to courting death.

They started to feel sorry for the Mu Clan: “They really are unlucky. Look at what kind of men they sent for this auction. The youth doesn’t have a calm personality and stumbled several times, bringing disgrace to their clan in front of everybody. The elder is even worse; he not only has a brash personality, but also lacks foresight. He actually made a world-class killing force into an enemy of their clan!”

“When they return to their clan, the clan elders will probably strip them of their skins, right?” Everyone was gloating in their hearts.

Guan Wan-Shan called out ‘one and a half million’ for the third time before slamming the gavel down with a bang. “Sold!”

Mu Zi-He’s body trembled heavily.

This ridiculous price of one and a half million was because he had stubbornly pushed it up.

He had not only raised the price and cost Master Bai a lot of money, but he had also badly offended Xiu Of The Heavens!

He couldn’t help looking at Guan Wan-Shan. Only now did he understand, that when Guan Wan-Shan had tried to stop him, he was actually looking out for him. What a pity. He had treated this kindness as the viscera of a donkey…

[TL: viscera of a donkey - 驴肝肺 literally means the livers and lungs of donkeys. It means to mistake kindness for malicious intent.]

He looked at Guan Wan-Shan with imploring eyes and murmured, “Brother Guan…”

Guan Wan-Shan was blank-faced as he waved his hand, “I’m but a servant of the salesroom, a slave of the people who will drop dead at any time. How can I accept a man from the glorious Mu Clan calling me Brother? I am not qualified to bear such a title…”

Mu Zi-He said bitterly, “Brother Guan, what are you talking about. Just now, I was too impulsive. I apologize to you… Please allow me to ask Brother Guan to put in some good words for me…”

Since Mu Zi-He had thoroughly lost his face in front of the entire audience, being humble was his best option. He was grasping for a last straw -- Guan Wan-Shan, who stood before him, was truly the last chance he had to save his life now.

Mu Zi-He hadn’t even finished his sentence when Xiu Er spoke up coldly, “Why is this auction not continuing? What are you waiting for? Don’t you want to keep running the Ling-Bao Hall Salesroom anymore?!”

Guan Wan-Shan shut his mouth immediately, not daring to utter another word.

Apparently, Xiu Of The Heavens was rather angry…

Under these circumstances, who would dare to extend a hand towards Mu Zi-He? To offer any kind of help would be seen as a direct challenge against the House of the Chaotic Storm. No sensible man, who valued his life, would do something as foolish as that!

When Mu Zi-He looked around at the audience again, they all turned their heads and averted their gazes. They didn’t even dare to make eye contact with him. They were treating him like he carried a fatal plague…

After looking around him, Mu Zi-He completely gave in to his despair.

He stood there in a daze, looking like he had aged several years.

His son walked over quietly and whispered, “Father?”

Only then did Mu Zi-He sober up as he sighed sadly. He waved his hand feebly and said, “There’s no need to say anymore…”

He stood up shakily and staggered out of the salesroom. The Mu Zi-He at that moment was akin to a walking corpse.

His son quietly followed behind him.

No one stopped them; no one said goodbye to them, not even the staff of the salesroom.

Everyone knew, that since they had offended Xiu Of The Heavens, they should leave as soon as they could. Otherwise, once the auction ended, even that opportunity would be lost to them.

People watched the two men walk out. It was like they were looking at two dead bodies, filled with the smell of death.

Xiu Er looked at the backs of them and sneered. She then paid no more attention to them.

People all understood: If Xiu Of The Heavens wants you dead, even if you ran to the edge of the world, it would still not be a difficult thing for her to get you! Let alone a group as huge as the Mu Clan; it was impossible for them to hide well.

“The fifth supreme dan bead…”

Guan Wan-Shan’s voice sounded again and it drew everyone’s attention back to the stage.

But then--

“One million!” Xiu Er’s clear voice sounded out. There was no sign of emotion in her voice.

People all stayed silent; no one dared to snatch it.

Guan Wan-Shan sighed slightly, “Sold!”

BANG!

The gavel descended. He didn’t even count to three.

Everyone gave a sigh of relief.

“The sixth supreme dan bead…”

“One million!” Xiu Er bid again.

The crowd suddenly erupted into a small commotion.

It seemed a little bit excessive that Lady Xiu Er would bid once again.

“Damn! We know you’re in a bad mood. It’s fine that we give in for you once. But don’t you know when to stop? Do you want to snatch all the supreme dan beads? The House of the Chaotic Storm is mysterious and powerful, but you can’t suppress us all!”

Xiu Er stood up and said peacefully, “Please forgive me. I allowed myself to get upset at two nobodies just now; it has nothing to do with all of you. However, I am under strict orders from my master to secure three dan beads during this auction. Since I have been tasked to do so, I have to bid. I appreciate it if you can do me this favor. I promise that your patience will be rewarded another day.”

After Xiu Er’s explanation, people instantly felt more comfortable, as the atmosphere in the room calmed down. Someone even replied amiably, “What are you talking about, Lady Xiu Er. If Master Bai has given you orders, of course you can get as many as you wish. Even if I won a bead, I would send it to Master Bai myself…”

People were all going along with his words, but in their minds, they were all cursing at that guy. How could he be so shameless?

But at the same time, everyone had the same feeling of regret: “Why wasn’t I the first one to stand up and say that? It was a convenient path to build a good relationship with Master Bai. What does it matter if it was shameless; why wasn’t I more shameless…”

No one knew that Ye Xiao was gnashing his teeth with hatred.

He could clearly sense that Xiu Er wasn’t really angry with what had just happened, or rather, the Mu Clan was simply not significant enough to concern her. However, she used that facade of fury to snatch two supreme dan beads.

She had spent the lowest price to get the supreme dan beads. And then, she had used such gentle words to appease the audience, and relax the atmosphere once again. This kind of calculative scheming, it was truly startling.

What annoyed Ye Xiao even more, was that, despite the displeasure in his heart, he couldn’t do anything about it.

She paid for the dan beads after all, and the price was fair…

As he thought about that, he became even more cautious of her: “She has such a status, even though she’s but a mere maid. Just who is this Master Bai? And… This House of the Chaotic Storm, what kind of place is it? How can it frighten everyone to this extent?”

After that, from the seventh supreme dan bead onwards, the competition got fiercer and fiercer. In fact, the scale of the battle could even be described as horrifying!

Everybody understood clearly that six of the ten supreme dan beads were already gone!

The four that remained were targeted by dozens of groups. They would never give up, as long as they still had a penny to spend!

The final price of the seventh dan bead reached one million and 450 thousand!

For the eighth dan bead, the price beat the previous highest price, one and a half million, and reached one million and 600 thousand!

Even crazier was the price of the ninth dan bead which reached one million and 750 thousand!

Ye Xiao’s anger had finally been relieved; he was smiling and gleefully laughing. He seemed to see a huge amount of money flowing into his wallet, as endless as the Chang-Jiang River…

“The last supreme dan bead!”

Guan Wan-Shan turned excitedly and shouted, “This is the last supreme dan bead of this auction! The starting price is the same, as are the bidding rules…”

He hadn’t finished when the first offer was given, “One million and 750 thousand!”

The next moment, several people shouted at the same time.

“One million and 800 thousand!”

“One million and 850 thousand!”

“Two million!”

When the record-breaking price of two million came out, the crowd turned silent for a short while. And then suddenly a faint voice was heard, “Two million and 250 thousand…”

The prime dan-maker of the Ling-Yun Sect, Shi Yue, sat restlessly. In the end, the way he looked at Xiao Mo-Yan was akin to begging!

…