Desolate Era

by RWX

  ……

  Moments later. An enormous, rainbow-colored cloud soared into the skies, with a black-haired maiden standing atop it. Riding the cloud, she flew directly towards the air in the center of the nine peaks of the Fortunes Peaks.

  “Everyone.” The black-haired maiden laughed, spinning around and curtseying in each direction. “The time has come once more for the monthly Treasure Auction. This Treasure Auction shall be administered by myself, Feathervoid. The Heavenly Treasures Mountain has prepared, in total, 1360 treasures, each of which are extraordinary. They all have their own unique attributes, and many of them come from hidden areas. Some even come from dangerous areas that are elsewhere in the Three Realms, or even beyond the Three Realms.”

  “Same as always; aside from the treasures which our Heavenly Treasures Mountain is selling off, all the customers present who possess treasures they wish to auction off can do so, after an examination by us. The Treasure Auction itself will only charge a commission of 5%, capped off at five thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence.”

  “Alright, enough with the small talk. Let’s begin with the first item of this Treasure Auction.”

  The long black-haired maiden waved her hand, and a golden set of drums suddenly appeared in the air, wafting out with ripples of power.

  “Battlesoul Drums, Heaven-ranked magic treasure. It can be used to wound enemies, and it can also be used to make thousands of your Dao-soldiers unleash extraordinary combat power. Reserve price of five thousand kilograms! Each bid has to be at least five hundred kilograms higher,” the black-haired maiden said with a laugh.

  “5500 kilograms.”

  “6000 kilograms.”

  ……

  The formidable figures who had come to attend the Treasure Auction all began to make their bids, purchasing one treasure after another. Those who had the money to put down 5000 kilogram deposits were all extraordinary cultivators. Ordinary Primal Daoists wouldn’t be willing to spare a deposit of such size.

  Ning sat there, drinking and watching leisurely.

  “Master, aren’t you going to act yet?” Little Qing felt her blood boil as she watched the Treasure Auction go on. She was incomparably excited.

  “Don’t be impatient,” Ning said. “The Youngflame clan hasn’t acted; why should I be in a rush? And in addition, there aren’t any treasures that I deeply desire either.”

  The treasures which Ning had sold off were virtually all from either the Witchriver Immortal Estate or from Youngflame Nong. As for the truly exquisite items left behind by Immortal Juhua, Ning was holding them back and in no rush to sell! After having been ‘baptized’ by going through the treasures of Youngflame Nong, Immortal Witchriver, Immortal Juhua, and the underwater estate, Ning now had very high standards.

  “This next treasure is a formation diagram! This formation diagram belonged to the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo. These two old Celestial Immortal Diremonsters made them as part of a game. I imagine that you all know that the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo had received a legacy from a major power of the Three Realms, and are exceptionally skilled in the Dao of Formations. Although this was nothing more than a toy to these two Celestial Immortals, it is still quite extraordinary, and contains many profound mysteries regarding formations. The Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo once said… anyone who completely comprehends this formation diagram can be considered a grandmaster of formations.” The black-haired maiden laughed, “This formation diagram will start at a minimum price of 25,000 kilograms. Everyone, place your bids.”

  “The Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo?” Everyone began to discuss this. As for Ning and Uncle White, their eyes lit up as well.

  The Whitewater Hound was completely focused on the Dao of Formations. Ning had a certain degree of understanding regarding formations as well. Naturally, the two knew of the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo. The Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo were two figures out of legends. Both were Celestial Immortal Diremonsters… and they could be said to have the highest level of comprehension regarding formations, here in the major world of the Grand Xia Empire. In addition, it was said that they were apprentices to a truly major power of the Three Realms.

  “Nothing more than a toy to them… if this was the essence of their knowledge, then the price would definitely not be a mere 25,000 kilograms.” Ning gave the nearby Uncle White a glance; clearly, Uncle White was rather eager and excited.

  As someone who walked the Dao of Formations, he was naturally filled with eagerness towards this formation diagram.

  “25,500 kilograms.”

  “30,000 kilograms.”

  The price of this formation diagram quickly skyrocketed. Although the Dao of Formations was an extremely complex and difficult one which very few truly supreme geniuses would embark on, there were still some people who knew that they had no hopes of becoming a Celestial Immortal and who would thus focus their efforts on formations. Formation grandmasters were quite terrifying, and in fact there were even some Celestial Immortals who relied on formations as well.

  Still, the Dao of Formations was a bitter, tough Dao to follow. A single formation diagram wouldn’t rise to an excessive price.

  “40,000 kilograms.” Youngflame Xiushui finally spoke out. This was already quite a high price. Those who had come to the treasure auction were all quite level-headed, and wouldn’t bid randomly.

  “Any higher bids?” The black-haired maiden swept her gaze towards the surrounding area.

  Suddenly…

  Ning, who had yet to make a bid yet, suddenly spoke out. “42,500 kilograms!” He had immediately raised the price by 2500 kilograms, and it had already been at quite a high price.

  The black-haired maiden glanced over, revealing a smile. “42,500 kilograms. Any higher?”

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  The guests seated on the clouds surrounding the various peaks all looked over, curious as to who the bidder was.

  “Oh? A fur-clad youth? A Whitewater Hound? An Azure Skysnake?” Ning, for the sake of making himself more recognizable, had Little Qing revert to her Azure Skysnake form.

  “That fur-clad youth… is he Ji Ning, who was said to have killed Youngflame Nong?”

  “Who is Ji Ning?”

  “Youngflame Nong, the next Godplume Duke of the imperial capital’s Youngflame clan, was killed in Stillwater Commandery. Didn’t you hear about this? The person who killed him was Ji Ning! The one who just made the bid! Look at those two spirit-beasts next to him, and look at his appearance. There’s no mistaking it. It’s him.”

  “He killed Youngflame Nong?”

  “Ji Ning?”

  “The previous bidder was Youngflame Xiushui of the Youngflame clan. Ji Ning is in a bidding war against Youngflame Xiushui!”

  The many guests of the Fortunes Peaks were all focused on Ning now, and instantly, a buzz of conversation swept the area.

  Youngflame Xiushui’s face became unsightly to look at. As for the nearby Youngflame Jun, his face turned red with anger. He ground his teeth, and it seemed as though his eyes were spitting fire. He called out loudly, “45,000 kilograms!”

  * * *

  Book 11, Chapter 16 - Peacock Plume

  “45,000 kilograms!”

  The rage-filled voice echoed through the entire Fortunes Peaks, reverberating in the air. This caused quite a few guests to look over. From that rage-filled bid…they could tell that the Youngflame clan must have been truly enraged.

  “You imbecile.” Atop the cloud. Youngflame Xiushui, upon hearing his son make the bid, couldn’t help but give his son a hard look. He shouted mentally at him, “Can’t you tell that Ji Ning wants to make a name for himself today? He’s dared to come to the imperial capital openly and without any disguises, and even came to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarter to participate in the Treasure Auction and cause trouble for our Youngflame clan during the bidding. This is all because he wants to make a name for himself!”

  “In Stillwater Commandery, even the Northmont clan
would have to give our Youngflame clan face. But this isn’t Stillwater Commandery; this is the imperial capital. This isn’t a place where we can just do whatever we please. What he wants to do is make a name for himself and make everyone in the imperial capital know about him, Ji Ning! Later on, he will enter an opposing power, which will make it much harder for our Youngflame clan to act against him.”

  Youngflame Xiushui looked at his son. “Earlier, we could’ve just ignored him, but now that you are in a bidding war against him… more and more people are going to know about him.”

  “But, but I’ve already made a bid… how about, how about we stop bidding?” Youngflame Jun was beginning to panic.

  “Since we’ve made a bid, we can’t lower our heads,” Youngflame Xiushui sent. “The more people are watching, the more careful we need to be not to lose face for our Youngflame clan. Don’t say anything else. Let me handle it.”

  “Alright.” Youngflame Jun didn’t dare to say anything else.

  ……

  Ning, upon hearing a bid of ’45,000 kilograms!’ be called out, immediately laughed. This was as perfect as someone delivering a pillow to him, just as he was feeling drowsy. He wanted to make his name known!

  “45,000 kilograms. Anything higher?” the black-haired maiden atop the cloud called out.

  “If someone else was bidding, I’d just say forget about it. But, since it’s the Youngflame clan that’s bidding, then I, Ji Ning, refuse to back down. 47,500 kilograms!” Ji Ning’s voice rang out as well, echoing within the nine peaks.

  “So it really is Ji Ning!”

  “Who is Ji Ning?”

  “Ji Ning, who killed Youngflame Nong, is at the Treasure Auction?”

  Although earlier a few guests had noticed Ning, they only made up a small part of the total people present. Now that Ning spoke out so challengingly… more and more people began to pay attention to him.

  ……

  “I KNEW he was trying to make himself known.” Youngflame Xiushui’s face was like ice. As for his son, Youngflame Jun, he didn’t dare to make a single sound. He knew that his earlier bid had given Ning his opportunity.

  “Little fellow from Stillwater Commandery, you actually want to struggle against my Youngflame clan?” Youngflame Xiushui said calmly, “50,000 kilograms.”

  “Hmph, if your Youngflame clan wants this formation diagram, then prepare a bit more liquefied elemental essence. 60,000 kilograms!” Ning once more spoke out.

  Youngflame Xiushui’s face sank. This was a formation diagram that was clearly only worth forty to fifty thousand kilograms, but the price had been forcibly uplifted. If he continued to bid, regardless of whether or not he ended up acquiring the formation diagram, the Youngflame clan would still have ‘lost’. This was because, even if they acquired it… they would’ve paid an excessive price for it. But if they didn’t acquire it? It would be akin to having let Ning trample all over them.

  “62,500 kilograms,” Youngflame Xiushui growled.

  “64,000 kilograms.” Ning didn’t increase the price too much this time.

  “My Youngflame clan has plenty of formation diagrams like this. I’ll let you have this one.” Youngflame Xiushui felt as though something was wrong, and he immediately stopped bidding. “You have no skill in formations, but actually bid so much out of spite. How amusing.”

  “Hahaha, what’s a mere 64,000 kilograms? It’s nothing. Youngflame Nong, of your Youngflame clan, gifted me with millions of kilograms!” Ning’s laugh rang out.

  Youngflame Xiushui’s face immediately sank. Actually, he knew very well that as soon as his son called out a bid of 45,000 kilograms, their side was going to suffer a loss no matter what. This was because Ji Ning’s motivation was to make a name for himself! No matter what, Ning would definitely be able to achieve his goal.

  At the price of 64,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, the formation diagram left behind by the Crab-Tortoise Immortal Duo was purchased by Ji Ning. And, in turn, Ji Ning attracted the attention of the vast majority of the guests present.

  Those final words in particular, about how ‘Youngflame Nong, of your Youngflame clan, gifted me with millions of kilograms’, was simply too vicious and brutal. Virtually all of the guests present began to murmur amongst themselves.

  “Millions of kilograms of liquefied elemental essence?”

  “Youngflame Nong was one of the Four Dukelings of the imperial capital; he had quite a few magic treasures on him. Now, all of them were taken away by Ji Ning at one go. I imagine he really does have several million kilograms now.”

  “I’m starting to wish I was the one who killed Youngflame Nong.”

  “Millions of kilograms. That’s enough to buy even an Immortal-ranked magic treasure!”

  Actually, although Youngflame Nong did indeed carry astonishingly valuable treasures on him, of his three most precious treasures, he had already used up two of them; the ‘Lock’ scroll and the black-and-white disc. The only one remaining was the Greater Teleportation Dao-seal, which was something that generally wasn’t even available on the market for those who had enough money to purchase it. Ning wasn’t willing to sell it.

  Amongst the many guests. Princess Xiyue stared at Ning from afar, a hint of softness in her eyes. This look was the look one had when one looked at a kinsman.

  “Xiyue, you are quite well-disposed towards Ji Ning?” Fairy Azurewillow laughed.

  “Yes.” Princess Xiyue nodded.

  “Want to bring him on as your groom?” Azurewillow teased.

  “Don’t speak nonsense.” Princess Xiyue frowned as she snapped back in a soft voice. She viewed Ji Ning purely as a family member, as a little brother. What was this nonsense about marrying him?

  “I have to admit though, this Ji Ning really is bold. He actually dares to go completely head-on against the Youngflame clan.” Fairy Azurewillow sighed. “He even said that Youngflame Nong gifted him with millions of kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. I imagine that when the Youngflame clan heard these words… I don’t even know how angry they must be right now.”

  ……

  Time flowed on. One treasure after another was auctioned off.

  Nearly two hours later.

  “Everyone.” The black-haired maiden’s voice suddenly went higher. “Don’t just chat with your friends. This next treasure is the most valuable one this particular Treasure Auction has put up so far. This is truly a treasure which normally cannot be purchased. If you miss this chance, who knows if you’ll ever have another one?”

  The many guests all immediately turned to look at her, curious.

  Ning, curious, looked over as well. The most valuable treasure thus far? The highest bid for a treasure in this auction thus far had gone up to more than 150,000 kilograms.

  “This is an ‘intrinsic magic treasure’, left behind by a peacock-type Godbeast from the Heaven Realm after it died,” the black-haired maiden called out loudly. “And this peacock-type Godbeast had an incomparably pure lineage; even after it had reached the Void level, it was still unable to transform.”

  “What?!” Ning, hearing this, was shocked. Unable to transform even after becoming a Void-level Earth Immortal? Could it be that it could only transform after becoming a Celestial Immortal? A Godbeast like this… he hadn’t even heard of such a creature in this world of the Grand Xia.

  “This peacock-type Diremonster’s ‘intrinsic magic treasure’ consisted of five plumes.” The black-haired maiden waved her hand, and instantly, five peacock feathers appeared out of nowhere. These five peacock plumes hovered there, emanating a natural aura of might and power. One was wreathed by fire, one was wreathed by water, the third seemed to emanate an aura of infinite ponderance, the fourth howled with golden energy, and the fifth emanated a blurry, azure aura.

  When the five plumes appeared, the surrounding space seemed to be immediately frozen.

  “That is…!”

  Instantly, a series of cries rang out from throughout the Treas
ure Auction area.

  Peacocks were born from the Five Elements, and even amongst such creatures, were the favored children of the heavens. Supposedly, the more pure the lineage of a peacock-type Godbeast was, the more dense and pure the Five Elements essence would be in their plumes. Some were capable of manifesting two plumes, others three. Only those with the most exquisite and pure of Godbeast lineages would be capable of forming five plumes!

  A peacock Godbeast with such a pure lineage was definitely no weaker than a Fiendgod. A Void-level peacock Godbeast was most likely comparable to a Celestial Immortal!

  “These five plumes it had were innately bestowed with the five elements,” the black-haired maiden said with a laugh. “Unfortunately, it was merely a Void-level Diremonster. If it had been a Diremonster at the Celestial Immortal level… the value of these five plumes would be truly high. Most likely, even Celestial Immortals would go mad for it. But of course, if this peacock Godbeast had become a Celestial Immortal, this plume wouldn’t appear in a place like this. In fact, there’s no way we would sell it.”

  Everyone nodded. These five plumes were already incredibly precious; if the peacock had undergone the heavenly tribulation and become a Celestial Immortal, the value of its plumes would probably rise by thousands of times. Most likely, even the emperors of the major worlds would feel desire for it. However, a Celestial Immortal peacock Godbeast with such an exalted, rare, and pure bloodline would probably be comparable to an ordinary True Immortal. It wouldn’t easily perish.

  “Although it was merely a Void-level Earth Immortal, given how exalted and noble its lineage was, and how its five plumes were divided into the Five Elements… if these plumes are used to forge a magic artifact, when a few other things are mixed in, they can absolutely produce an Immortal-ranked magic treasure. Normally, it would at least be a high-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure, but if you were lucky, you might even be able to produce a top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasure,” the black-haired maiden said.