Firmament Sword

”Young Master… It’s all my fault for being incompetent. I’ve caused you to be humiliated.” The man who had been making the bids earlier was now kneeling on one knee before the youth, his face a mask of shame.

”It has nothing to do with you.”

The youth shook his head and helped his trusted subordinate up. ”Later, have someone keep an eye on the person in Celestial Room No. 6. Hmph… He has a Nether Flower Seed, yet he dares to openly challenge Celestial Brilliance. A person like that… can’t be let off the hook, no matter what!”

”Yes!” someone in the room answered softly.

A person beside him advised, ”Young Master… what’s most important is the main objective!”

The youth let out a long breath, leaned his head back, and said, ”I know. The reason I came to Baihua City this time… was for that heritage!”

”As long as I obtain that heritage, I’ll be able to soar to the heavens!”

”Everything else… can be temporarily set aside.”

”But this person… you all keep a close watch on him for me. Don’t you dare let him slip away!”

”Understood,” the group replied in low voices.

The youth reached up to rub his forehead, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

…

…

In the private room where Xu Luo was, Monkey’s face was flushed with excitement, but at the same time, he said with some shame, ”I’m sorry, brother. This was all on me. I was being willful. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had to clash with Celestial Brilliance right now.”

Xu Luo smiled. ”It was just a contest for a treasure, that’s all. It was fair competition. Wins and losses are all part of the auction.”

Monkey shook his head. ”It’s not that simple. I know the Celestial Brilliance People better than you do. A single attack Talisman might not be a big deal to them, but as for what happened today… first, that Advanced Disciple of Celestial Brilliance definitely feels his pride has been wounded.”

”Second, while our actions seem like nothing to us, in the eyes of the Celestial Brilliance People, it’s a definite provocation against the dignity of Celestial Brilliance. So… this matter won’t be resolved so easily. But, I’m not afraid of them either. If it comes down to it, I’ll step forward and take responsibility for this!”

”What are you talking about? Since you and I are together, we should naturally face this together! Besides… I was the one who called out the price. How could I let you take the blame for this?”

Xu Luo glanced at Monkey and said, ”We’ll have to enter Celestial Brilliance sooner or later anyway. Even if word of this gets out and we’re exposed, for us… it might not necessarily be a bad thing!”

As Xu Luo spoke, he looked at the somewhat bewildered Monkey and said coolly, ”Unless… Celestial Brilliance is a monolithic entity! Unless… that Advanced Disciple… can represent all Heavenly Brilliance Disciples!”

Monkey furrowed his brow and thought for a long time before it finally dawned on him. He looked at Xu Luo, at a loss for words.

’Humans really are the most cunning!’ Monkey muttered to himself, conceding defeat.

With such a fierce competition as a prelude, even though many more fine items appeared afterward, everyone seemed to have lost some of their enthusiasm for bidding.

Xu Luo didn’t make any more bids. The people from Piaomiao Palace, however, spoke up several times, winning a few pieces of master-crafted jewelry.

In truth, Xu Luo had his eye on those pieces of jewelry as well, wanting to buy them as future gifts for Qiqi and the others.

But with Piaomiao Palace speaking up, Xu Luo didn’t want to offend them right after offending the people from Celestial Brilliance.

Especially since this was a person Xu Luo hoped to befriend…

As the chief auctioneer of the Baihua Auction House, Lu Ping’s ability to adjust the atmosphere and control the room was undeniably strong. But even he hadn’t fully recovered from the intensity of the recent bidding war, let alone the others present.

Thus, until the very end, the entire auction’s atmosphere remained somewhat tepid, with most people’s minds elsewhere.

There were still a few excellent items waiting to be auctioned, and none of them were ordinary. At any other auction, they could have easily served as the final highlight.

But now, Lu Ping was wondering if there was even any point… in bringing this next treasure out.

At the same time, the auction house’s Chief Shopkeeper was pondering the same question. His brows were tightly locked as he said to several other Shopkeepers, ”In this kind of atmosphere… unless it’s the final item, anything else we bring out might not even fetch its usual price. It might even go unsold, completely damaging the treasure’s value!”

”You’re right, Chief Shopkeeper. Sigh, this is all because of Celestial Room No. 6!” someone complained.

”Exactly! If Celestial Room No. 6 hadn’t competed with the people from Celestial Brilliance, how could everyone have lost interest like this?”

”But after word of this spreads, our Baihua Auction House… will become famous because of it. No one will dare to say we aren’t impartial anymore…”

”Sigh, what’s the use of being impartial! We’ve offended Celestial Brilliance!”

As the group of Shopkeepers debated, the Chief Shopkeeper said coolly, ”We can’t say we’ve offended Celestial Brilliance. The person in Celestial Room No. 6 was actually right. The magnanimity and bearing of a Supreme Great Sect are beyond what we can imagine. They won’t stoop to our level.”

With that, the Chief Shopkeeper commanded, ”Go inform Lu Ping. Those few collection pieces won’t be auctioned this time. Move directly to the final item… the Nether Flower Seed!”

After receiving the notice, Lu Ping’s spirits lifted somewhat. Looking at the crowd, who were clearly not in the right state of mind, he announced in a resonant voice, ”This next auction item is a treasure we have all been anticipating for a long time. To call it a treasure seems somewhat inappropriate, because… it is merely a seed!”

”But as the ancients said: A single grain of sand can contain three thousand great worlds… Mount Sumeru can be hidden within a mustard seed!”

”A single seed can also grow into a towering tree!”

As Lu Ping spoke, he looked at the now-quiet auction hall, at the eager expressions on everyone’s faces, and at the ragged breathing that was almost audible… A victorious smile finally appeared on his face. In that moment, Lu Ping’s usual composure had finally and completely returned.

The atmosphere of the entire hall… was once again under his control!

”This seed of ours cannot grow into a towering tree, but it… can bestow a face that never ages!”

”Whether man or woman, I believe that as long as you’re an adult, there is no one who doesn’t desire eternal youth!”

”Yes… our appearances can be restored to a youthful state through cultivation. Many of our honored guests here may be in this situation, hundreds of years old but looking to be in their twenties or thirties. But allow me to say something that might be offensive…”

Lu Ping took a deep breath as if steeling his courage, and said loudly, ”For those who have reshaped their appearance through their Cultivation Realm, do you ever feel that your face is stiff? The youth preserved through Divine Techniques… is it a successful reshaping… or a true return to one’s prime? My words are blunt, but everyone must admit this is true!”

Many in the audience couldn’t help but nod. Several women who appeared exceptionally beautiful subconsciously reached up to touch their own faces, a hint of gloom in their expressions.

Lu Ping continued in a haunting tone, ”Time… is the most powerful weapon in this world!”

”It is silent and traceless. It won’t bare a single savage fang, but it will strike you down when you least expect it.”

”No one… can escape the assault of time!”

”Even… the supreme, those with vast Divine Techniques who seem nearly omnipotent, find it just as difficult to escape the erosion of time!”

”Sooner or later, it will leave its mark on their faces, on their bodies, and within their bodies!”

”Those women skilled in preserving their looks can only say they are skilled in preserving their looks; they would never dare claim to be eternally young!”

”In this world, only the Netherworld Flower can grant eternal youth!”

”ETERNAL youth!”

By the end, Lu Ping was completely on fire. His voice was almost a roar, shouted with all his might!

The entire auction hall echoed with Lu Ping’s bellowing cry!

No one knew where the Netherworld Flower came from, and no one knew why it contained such miraculous power!

This power seemed as if it did not belong to this world, hence the name ”Netherworld”!

At this moment, countless women in the auction hall gazed fervently at Lu Ping on the stage, as if he himself were the Netherworld Flower.

The countless scorching gazes made even Lu Ping, who had weathered many storms, feel a bit overwhelmed.

However, Lu Ping broke into a happy smile, because he knew that in this moment… he had succeeded!

He had finally succeeded in stirring the atmosphere of the entire hall, finally made everyone want to participate!

It wouldn’t be just a few giants fighting amongst themselves.

Because if it was always just a few giants competing, then over time… the value of the auction house would seem to diminish!

In the future, when people obtained treasures, why would they need to send them to an auction house? They could just ask the major powers for quotes directly!

Lu Ping took a deep breath, controlled his emotions, and then said, ”In a very ancient era in Xi Hezhou, a few Netherworld Flowers once appeared. That era is too distant, and the specific dates can no longer be verified. However, detailed records of the Netherworld Flower have been passed down. Therefore, today, we can proudly confirm that this seed is, indeed, a Nether Flower Seed!”

”Whoever obtains this seed, please treat it well!”

”Please let it… produce more seeds, so that… more people can benefit!”

With a sincere and emotional expression, Lu Ping said, ”And now… I announce that the auction for this Nether Flower Seed begins! Its starting bid is… zero!”

How much courage did that take?

To dare start an auction item at a price of zero?

Even if this item was of the highest quality, what if someone bid only one Spirit Stone? And mind you, a Spirit Stone, not an Immortal Spirit Stone. If someone really bid just one Spirit Stone, and no one else competed with them, then this Nether Flower Seed would become theirs!

Although such a possibility was minuscule, it was not non-existent!

If not for the fierce clash between Celestial Room No. 6 and Celestial Brilliance earlier, it was hard to say whether such a situation might have occurred during the auction of this Nether Flower Seed!

It was precisely because of this precedent that the auction house dared to make such a bold move!

This time, there was no silence. Someone made a bid immediately.

”Five hundred thousand… Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones! This seed… I, Wind… am taking it!”