Against the Gods - Volume 10 - Snow Song Flame God

by Mars Gravity

  Before Yun Che was an extremely tall building of an antique style. In Darkya City, this was definitely a conspicuous monstrosity.

  This was a large merchant guild. Several tens of entrances could be seen at a glance and the stream of people going in and out was endless.

  Yun Che raised his head high and read the few words that nearly reached the clouds in a low voice, “Black Feather Merchant Guild.”

  The black feather outline that appeared on the surface of the black jade was exactly the same as the huge merchant guild’s engraving.

  The Black Feather Merchant Guild before Yun Che was the biggest building out of all he had seen on his way here. From its vast, ancient style of construct, it definitely possessed a deep background and history.

  Yun Che stood in place, deep puzzlement on his face: Why would such a huge merchant guild do underground business? And would… even be involved with the Wood Spirit Orbs the Eternal Heaven God Realm personally put a ban on?

  Any sort of carelessness would result in damage to countless generations of fame and foundation. This Black Feather Merchant Guild was on a scale where it stood tall enough to pierce the clouds. Perhaps only a few others in the entire Darkya City could possibly compare to it, so why would it take such a huge risk?

  He originally thought that it was a small merchant guild or a secret society that wanted big and quick profits that would hold such an underground black market but he never expected it would be such a huge merchant guild, of enormous proportions and history.

  Could the profits gained from shady underground trade fairs be that huge?

  Yun Che didn’t bother to think much more as he headed toward the Black Feather Merchant Guild’s most outer hall. A young girl stood inside the hall’s entrance, welcoming every visitor with a smile.

  “Welcome to the Black Feather Merchant Guild. Esteemed guest, please come in. If you need something, feel free to say what you need at any time,” the girl said with a bow when she saw Yun Che come over.

  This girl was at the Emperor Profound Realm. In the Blue Pole Star, she could be a respected master of a generation. Here, however, she could only be someone who greeted guests. Yun Che didn’t answer and instead came to a stop before the girl and silently took out the black jade.

  Upon seeing the black jade in Yun Che’s hands, the girl’s expression slightly changed. She bowed even deeper as she spoke even more respectfully, “So it’s actually an esteemed guest visiting, please follow me.”

  Yun Che withdrew the black jade and silently followed the girl… He was previously filled with doubt earlier but now he was completely certain that the largest merchant guild he had seen in his entire life was actually doing underground transactions like the Wood Spirit Orb.

  That’s seriously strange!

  How much profit does an underground transaction make?

  I have five hundred million purple profound stones on me… don’t tell me that it’s not enough for a single Wood Spirit Orb?

  Five hundred million was an absolutely enormous amount of wealth, absolutely an astronomical number, so he was completely confident before. However, if Wood Spirit Orbs were able to make such a large-scale merchant guild sell them… if it didn’t come with insurmountable profit, why would it dare take a risk like going against the Eternal Heaven God Realm’s ban!

  This was why Yun Che began feeling a bit less confident.

  Yun Che followed the girl and walked a considerably long distance. After walking through many floors of staircases, the surroundings completely quieted down with not a single sound to be heard.

  The girl stopped at a tightly shut door to a hall. At a single glance, Yun Che noticed that this great hall was covered with many large-scale profound formations. There were so many that sound, sight and even auras were completely isolated. However, this isolation was only one-sided. The people inside were able to clearly see and sense everything outside.

  Yun Che’s brows furrowed greatly… But after thinking that it was impossible for Huo Rulie to want to harm him, his brows slowly relaxed, though he didn’t let down his guard in the slightest.

  “Mister Ji, an esteemed guest has arrived,” the girl said respectfully before the hall door.

  After a brief silence, the hall door slowly opened.

  “Esteemed guest, please enter. Mister Ji is waiting for you inside.”

  The girl gently bowed and then turned to leave.

  Yun Che didn’t hesitate as he walked in with large strides. As soon as he entered, the hall door tightly shut behind him.

  The hall was rather spacious and an old man sat before a wooden table. This old man ought to be the “Mister Ji” the girl had mentioned. Seeing Yun Che, he rose and welcomed him with a smile, “This esteemed guest looks rather unfamiliar, may I ask what you have come to seek from my Black Feather Merchant Guild?”

  “I want a Wood Spirit Orb, the purer the better!” Yun Che got right to the point.

  Yun Che’s words caused the smile on the old man’s face to disappear. It was replaced with a slightly angry look. “What does esteemed guest mean? The hunting of wood spirits brings the resentment of both men and gods, it is an act that goes against the heavenly law! My Black Feather Merchant Guild has a history of several hundred thousand years and has never done any dishonorable business. How could we possibly do such a repulsive thing. Esteemed guest, if you are here for Wood Spirit Orbs, I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place.

  “...”

  Yun Che inwardly frowned… This old mans anger doesn’t seem to be an act. When the words “hunting of wood spirits” were spoken, he clearly felt intense anger and moral indignation.

  What’s going on? Did I come to the wrong place?

  After a moment of pondering, Yun Che walked forward and silently placed the black jade Huo Rulie had given him on the table.

  The old man also did not say a single word as he picked up the black jade and used his profound energy to brush across its surface. He asked calmly, “Do you have proof?”

  Yun Che stretched his hand out again, taking out the command tablet Huo Rulie had given him. He said expressionlessly, “If you know who the original owner is, then you ought to know his strength, so it’s impossible for me to have stolen this.”

  Once he saw the Golden Crow command tablet, the old man’s expression eased into a smile. “So it is a recommendation from the Flame God Realm’s Sect Master Huo. I apologize for my previous behavior. Sect Master Huo is one of my guild’s most important customers, so anyone he recommends is obviously the most esteemed out of esteemed guests. Please have a seat.”

  “No need,” Yun Che said bluntly. “I want to purchase a Wood Spirit Orb.”

  The old man looked into his eyes and asked, “May I ask for this esteemed guest’s name?”

  “Ling Yun,” Yun Che said calmly. He obviously wouldn’t use his real name.

  “Hohoho,” laughed the old man. “This old man has worked in this guild his entire life. I have seen too, too many people and have cultivated a pair of eyes that can see through people. Whether or not someone is lying or saying the truth, whether someone is here to sincerely make a transaction or has a different plan in mind, can be seen in a single glance.”

  “For example, you wanting to purchase a Wood Spirit Orb is true but the name Ling Yun is false.”

  Yun Che, “...”

  “But no matter. A name isn’t important, for it is only a means of address and nothing more. In a transaction with an esteemed guest, both parties maintaining confidentiality and trustworthiness is the most important principle. Take Sect Master Huo for example, aside from this old man, no one in Darkya City knows that he had ever set foot here. As such, please be at ease, Sir Ling and comply with us,” the old man said with a smile.

  Yun Che believed his words. Otherwise, Huo Rulie would not personally visit the Darkya Realm every time.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t even have the face to speak about such a thing,” Yun Che replied.

  “Hoh
o.”

  The old man chuckled, its meaning unknown, as he cast a few more glances at Yun Che. When he withdrew his gaze, a deep complexity flashed through his eyes and he said, “As for Wood Spirit Orbs, your timing is impeccable but at the same time, unfortunate.”

  “What do you mean?” Yun Che asked.

  “What’s impeccable is that our merchant guild has just obtained a Wood Spirit Orb and is preparing to sell it tomorrow. What’s unfortunate is… that this Wood Spirit Orb is very special… no, extremely special! It is the most special Wood Spirit Orb our merchant guild has ever obtained all these years. As such, it is very expensive! So expensive that you can’t afford it even if you sell an entire family’s fortune.”

  Yun Che’s brows slightly sunk. “Special in what way? Could it be that its spirit energy is extremely high?”

  “Hoho, this old man has no authority to inform you in that regard. I have said what I am allowed to say.” The old man smiled and said, “If you are confident in your pocket, then leave behind your sound transmission imprint and I will inform you of the exchange location tomorrow night.”

  “Alright.” Yun Che slowly nodded, “Then I’ll wait until tomorrow!”

  Chapter 1070: Black Feather Underground Trade Fair

  In the dead of night, Darkya City.

  Yun Che spent a total of two days and one night exploring Darkya City after leaving the Black Feather Merchant Guild. He also inquired about the Black Feather Merchant Guild during this time. To his surprise, he learned that the Black Feather Merchant Guild was actually the number one merchant guild of the Darkya Realm!

  The Black Feather Merchant Guild had existed for over fifty thousand years and their roots were deep and vast. Not only were they known to all the people in this lower star realm, they were very famous among some middle star realms too. The merchant guild in Darkya City was also the heart of the entire Black Feather Merchant Guild and they had not only spread their control throughout the entire Darkya Realm, they were even reaching beyond it.

  Its vast source of customers and incredible reputation were literally rivaled by no one in a total of thirty thousand lower star realms. The wealth they possessed was practically beyond a normal person’s imagination.

  It was rumored that the Black Feather Merchant Guild was supported by the ruling sect of Darkya Realm, the Black Soul Divine Sect. The sect master of the Black Soul Divine Sect was also the Great Realm King of the Darkya Realm!

  The more he learned about the Black Feather Merchant Guild, the more puzzled he grew. Why did a large and prosperous merchant guild like this—one that wasn’t lacking in wealth—risk annihilation to conduct an underground trade like this? What on earth were they aiming for?

  While carrying such heavy doubts in mind, Yun Che finally waited until the time mentioned by Mister Ji had arrived. A short and simple message was sent to him the moment it was time and following its instructions he arrived at an unfamiliar city area about one hundred kilometers to the north of the Black Feather Merchant Guild and entered a ruined stone tower.

  After going through four checkpoints in total, he finally reached the bottommost level of the stone tower. Here, it was so dark that one couldn’t even see their own fingers. He had to wait there for a very, very long time before the wall in front of him suddenly opened to reveal a beautiful girl. The girl walked over to him and bowed slightly. “I apologize for the wait, esteemed guest. Please, come with me.”

  He followed the girl through the secret door before he abruptly fell through the darkness. He estimated that he had fallen at least a couple hundred meters before he finally reached the bottom. A flash of profound light later, yet another secret door opened before his eyes.

  “If you will, esteemed guest.”

  Yun Che walked through the door slowly.

  The world beyond the door was a large stone chamber. Although several lamps were lit inside the chamber, the lights were purposely adjusted to create an incredibly dim environment. At a glance, there were hundreds of tables and chairs placed tidily inside the stone chamber. A lot of people had filled in the seats already.

  These people’s reactions towards Yun Che’s arrival were pretty much non-existent. At best, they threw him a single, careless glance. Although he was a completely unfamiliar face, no one paid attention to him because pretty much everyone who came here was hidden behind a different identity. It was all too normal for people to wear false names like Yun Che and a large number of them had even disguised their appearances.

  However, the Black Feather Merchant Guild knew who they really were. Although Mister Ji hadn’t dug to the bottom of Yun Che’s identity, he knew that the person behind Yun Che was Huo Rulie. That, was enough.

  Silence filled the stone chamber. Yun Che swept a glance across the chamber and counted less than two hundred people inside. It wasn’t many. More than half of the participants had disguised their faces with profound energy but every one of them were carrying themselves with an air of extreme arrogance or nobility. They were obvious extremely highly placed characters in Darkya Realm and no one here was ordinary.

  These people were basically all youths and more than eighty percent of them were at the Divine Soul Realm. The strongest among them had already neared the peak of the Divine Soul Realm and considering that they were all youths of lower star realms, it was an impressive lineup.

  Although these young masters were obviously extraordinary people, none of them appeared to be guarded by an elder. It was obvious that this was a rule set by the Black Feather Merchant Guild too. The message he received today had also mentioned that he was to attend this trade fair alone.

  Yun Che randomly chose a seat, sat down, and spread out his spiritual perception. After scanning around once, he was surprised to find that there were no experts spying on this trade fair at all. He immediately felt a lot safer after this revelation.

  While everyone was waiting in silence, a stone platform slowly rose about one and a half meters from the ground at the far end of the stone chamber. Then, a secret door above the stone platform opened to reveal two people walking out one after another. They were followed by six beautiful girls.

  The pair was a man and a woman. The woman had a pretty countenance and well developed body. Her walking form was beautiful and graceful and her black dress added to the air of mystery and charm around her.

  The man behind her was a middle aged man clad in black clothing. His head was bowed slightly and his face looked stiff. His entire person was giving off an uncomfortable feeling and the profound energy aura he kept withdrawn was extremely thick. He was at the Divine Tribulation Realm.

  The arrival of the beautiful girl caused the atmosphere inside the quiet stone chamber to change instantly. Wanton gazes immediately roamed up and down the woman’s shapely body.

  “Hahaha! I didn’t realize that Miss Ruyan was the one who would be hosting this event. Forget the pleasant surprise inside the ‘invitation letter’, your presence alone brings massive joy to me, Miss Ruyan!” The young man sitting at the foremost of the group laughed brashly.

  Invitation letter? Yun Che’s eyebrows moved… did this mean that they were all invited here and he alone happened upon this so-called trade fair?

  “The last time your great merchant guild sent an invitation letter of their own accord was three years ago. I’m sure that you won’t disappoint us this time either. This noble one grows impatient, Miss Ruyan,” said another guy slowly.

  “Hahaha,” the woman chuckled. Her laughter sounded unusually soft and mind-numbing, “You are all important guests of the Darkya Realm. We wouldn’t dare invite you all over without a good enough surprise, would we?”

  “Alright, tonight’s trade fair officially begins now. My name is Ji Ruyan and this servant shall be in your care, oh noble ones. The rules are the same as last time, alright?”

  Yun Che: “...” (What rules?)

  Clap! Clap!

  Ji Ruyan clapped her hands together softly before a maid walked for
wards fingerly while holding a long, wooden box.

  Ji Ruyan pushed away the cover gently and an immeasurably powerful sword energy spilled out of the box. It immediately started a hurricane of sword energy in the stone chamber that persisted for a long time.

  “That is a good sword!” Dozens of people immediately cried out in shock. In fact, some of those cultivators who belonged to sects of sword were already standing on their feet.

  Ji Ruyan said leisurely with a smile, “Do you all still remember the terrible massacre of Wind End Villa from three years ago?”

  The atmosphere inside the stone chamber frozen for an instant. Then, a person cried out in surprise, “Are you saying that this sword once belonged to Wind End Villa?”

  “That is exactly right,” said Ji Ruyan, “There is no one in the Darkya Realm who is unaware that any sword forged by Wind End Villa is worth a fortune and there is no profound practitioner of the sword way who doesn’t wish to obtain a sword that is forged by Wind End Villa. However, everyone in Wind End Villa was slaughtered to the last in a single night three years ago and the entire villa itself was turned into a lifeless ruin. To this day, we still have no idea who the culprit was that destroyed Wind End Villa. It is such a sad tale.

  “This sword was found in the ruins of Wind End Villa and it was forged with the Stone of Stars. You have all sensed for yourselves how powerful its sword energy is, so I won’t waste everyone’s time by explaining it. After Wind End Villa was annihilated in one night, every sword it forged also became unparalleled in rarity. Again, I don’t need to describe how priceless they are.”

  “You’re right… this sword energy contains the power of a wind handle. It truly is a sword from Wind End Valley. Please give us a price already, Miss Ruyan!” A young man clad in blue clothing said with eyes blazing with excitement.

  “I know Sir Zhuo is a man who loves swords beyond all things. It will no doubt be a fine thing if the sword ends up in your hands,” said Ji Ruyan with a blooming smile. “This sword hasn’t been named yet, so it is waiting for its true master to grant it a formidable title. Its asking price is only two million eight hundred thousand purple profound stones, so don’t miss it!”