Firmament Sword

The entire auction house erupted in an uproar, like a tidal wave, following the voice.

It wasn’t because of the terrifying price—500,000 Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones, while certainly horrifying, wasn’t what truly shocked the crowd. It was the name: Wind!

”Wind... Why is he here?”

”Heavens... He’s so bold! Isn’t he afraid that the people from Celestial Brilliance will tear him to pieces?”

”Hua Xueyue... The four famous assassins of Xi Hezhou... Heh, he really has some nerve!”

”A truly audacious fellow!”

”I heard Wind and Moon are a couple. He wants this Nether Flower Seed... obviously, it’s a gift for Moon!”

”He’s got the heart, and he’s certainly got the guts... but the key is, even if he wins the auction, can he get it out of here?”

”It’s hard to say. The Hua Xueyue assassins have been famous for years. Although countless people hate them, and those who want them dead are as numerous as carp crossing a river... after all these years, aren’t they still alive and well?”

On the first floor of the auction hall, a fierce discussion immediately broke out. At the same time, almost everyone’s gaze turned toward the very back of the first-floor hall.

At the far edge of the auction hall sat a man completely enveloped in a black cloak.

There were at least a hundred people dressed this way in the auction hall, so no one had previously suspected that the leader of the four famous Hua Xueyue assassins, Wind... would be sitting right here!

In Xu Luo’s private room, the charming and gentle Maid was softly explaining the story of Wind to Xu Luo and Monkey.

”Wind became famous very early on. Several hundred years ago, his name was already known throughout Xi Hezhou. From the moment he debuted... he killed many major figures. The most famous incident was several decades ago, when a Senior Deacon from Celestial Brilliance died by his hand. That Senior Deacon’s cultivation had already reached the Peak of the Great Saint Realm, just one step away from entering the Venerable Realm...”

”Later, three more assassins—Flower, Snow, and Moon—emerged one after another. Together, they became known as the four assassins of Hua Xueyue. Their reputation is extremely well-known. Many are said to hate them to the bone, but even more people feel a chill run down their spine at the mention of these four names. There’s even an idiom that describes Wind specifically.”

Monkey, sitting there, said flatly, ”To hear of Wind is to lose all courage!”

The Maid gave a gentle smile and said, ”It seems I was showing off unnecessarily. I didn’t realize this gentleman already knew.”

Monkey scratched his head and said, ”That’s the only thing I know about him.”

Monkey continued, ”He killed a Senior Deacon from Celestial Brilliance, and he still dares to show up here so openly? Not only does he dare to participate in the auction, but he even announced his own name so brazenly? But if that’s the case, why is he still wearing a black cloak and hiding his face? Isn’t that redundant?”

”It’s just to intimidate others. And... it’s not redundant at all. There are countless people dressed like this in Baihua City. If he’s just mixed in with the crowd on the street, how many people would dare to definitively say that someone dressed like that is Wind?”

Xu Luo smiled. ”The moment he said his name, many people were bound to feel intimidated and wouldn’t dare to compete with him. After all, an assassin who hides in the shadows is far more terrifying than Celestial Brilliance!”

The Maid nodded gently at his side in agreement.

Xu Luo, however, thought of another name: ’Young Master Feng!’

’Young Master Feng must be somewhere in the Divine Domain by now, I suppose. The surname Feng isn’t very common. So... could there be some kind of connection between this assassin, Wind, and Young Master Feng?’

The thought flashed through Xu Luo’s mind, but he didn’t dwell on it.

The temptation of the Nether Flower Seed was too great. Although Wind had successfully intimidated some people by revealing his name, many others... clearly weren’t buying what the terrifying assassin was selling.

”Just some skulking assassin. What’s the point of announcing your name? Trying to scare people? Well, I’m not scared!”

A cold, disdainful voice rang out from a private room on the second floor.

Then, the cold voice silenced the entire hall. ”The Nether Flower Seed, who doesn’t want it? Highest bidder wins! So stop with the childish ’I want it’ talk. You want it? You want my ass! If you’ve got the guts, outbid me!”

After a slight pause, the voice continued, ”I bid ten million! Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones!”

BOOM!

The entire auction house absolutely exploded.

Involuntary gasps escaped from people’s lips. They couldn’t control it; everyone was completely and utterly stunned!

Just then, a maid walked out of the room where the voice had come from. Holding a purple card, she stood at the second-floor railing and flicked it with her finger.

SWOOSH!

The card flew directly into Lu Ping’s hands.

The maid said nonchalantly, ”This is a top-tier Purple Crystal Card, accepted at every Money Shop in Xi Hezhou. It contains fifty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones. You can verify it now. My young master says that only those with more money than what’s on this card should even consider bidding.”

Inside the auction hall, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the card in Lu Ping’s hand. Their fiery gazes formed waves of heat; if the Chief Auctioneer didn’t have some cultivation himself, he might have been burned by their stares!

Fifty million... Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones!

This number was so staggering it left countless people breathless!

So rich!

For Cultivators in the Divine Domain, ordinary gold and silver couldn’t be considered wealth. Only Spirit Stones counted, and Immortal Spirit Stones were, of course, exceptionally good.

Ordinary Cultivators would never even see a Top-level Immortal Spirit Stone, and a fortune in the tens of thousands was an amount most had never even heard of.

Yet a tiny little card held fifty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones!

It was simply terrifying!

What was even more terrifying was that a mere maid had tossed this card out so casually. One must understand... anyone holding that card could walk into any Money Shop in Xi Hezhou and withdraw this heaven-defying fortune!

Many small and medium-sized Money Shops... wouldn’t even be able to produce that much!

What kind of extravagance was this?

What does it mean to be filthy rich?

This was it.

Even though Lu Ping was used to seeing high rollers spend money like water, a sum this enormous... honestly, he had never seen anything like it!

The Purple Crystal Card in his hand felt as heavy as a mountain. He could clearly feel his own hand trembling.

”Ahem...” Lu Ping forced himself to calm down, trying to reason with himself. ’It’s nothing. The assets of the Baihua Auction House alone are worth more than this.’

But thinking it was one thing; actually doing it was much harder.

It got to the point where the Chief Shopkeeper of the Baihua Auction House personally came forward, followed by a group of people carrying what looked like a highly sophisticated machine, and inserted the card into it.

A moment later, the Chief Shopkeeper of the Baihua Auction House announced with an excited expression, ”This card is indeed a top-tier Purple Crystal Card! The amount inside is genuine—fifty million... Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones!”

This time, the entire auction hall fell completely silent!

So quiet you could hear a pin drop.

People didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. Many felt as if they were in a daze.

At this moment, who was Wind? No one cared anymore!

Inside the Piaomiao Palace’s private room, the sisters Xie Yudie and Xie Yurou stared at each other in dismay. They never expected someone else would jump in, and with a show of fifty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones right from the start!

Although the bid was only ten million, their maid had made it clear: if you don’t have more than fifty million, don’t even bother, because they were prepared to keep raising the price to the very end!

”So clever! So formidable! So ruthless!” The serene and gentle beauty Xie Yudie could only string together three exclamations to describe her feelings.

”Everyone knows the value of this Nether Flower Seed isn’t just in the seed itself. Most importantly, whoever controls it can use it to cultivate more Netherworld Flowers. In the not-too-distant future, they could dominate the entire female market of Xi Hezhou... and even the entire Divine Domain!”

Xie Yudie said faintly, ”This will be a sky-high fortune, worth... far more than a mere fifty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones. But the problem is, to be able to put up so much capital, to have such confidence, to not care about a top assassin like Wind, and to seemingly... also disregard a Supreme Great Sect like Celestial Brilliance... which family in Xi Hezhou... has that kind of power?”

Xie Yurou said, ”There seem to be quite a few families with that kind of power, but very few who would dare to act this way...”

With that, Xie Yurou looked up at her sister. ”What should we do?”

Xie Yudie’s elegant brows furrowed slightly as she murmured, ”Let’s wait and see for now!”

In Celestial Room No. 6, the Maid was also stunned. She knew the seed belonged to the two men before her, and she knew the Chief Shopkeeper had already decided to waive the commission on this sale. Even though none of that money would ever end up in her hands, the Maid still felt as if her heart was bleeding.

She believed the Chief Shopkeeper must be feeling even worse than her right now!

Xu Luo and Monkey looked at each other. Monkey sent a mental message to Xu Luo, ”That Immortal Spirit Stone Mountain of ours... is only about this much in total, right?”

Xu Luo took a deep breath and sent back, ”Fifty million at most... no more than that!”

”They’re so rich!” Monkey sighed.

The maid who had thrown the card had not returned to her room. At this moment, she looked toward the auction stage and said indifferently, ”Mr. Auctioneer, can we continue now?”

”Ah, yes! Yes! Let’s continue!” In his entire life, the combined embarrassment and mistakes from all the auctions Lu Ping had ever hosted did not add up to what he had experienced today.

Even back when he had just started out as an Auctioneer, he had never been so frequently dazed and at a loss as he was today.

”The distinguished guest from Celestial Room No. 13 has bid ten million... Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones! Heh, in all my years in this business, this is the single largest bid I have ever seen. Is there anyone... who will go higher than this price?”

The entire hall was silent. Some people looked toward the center of the second floor, in the direction of the private rooms for Celestial Brilliance and Piaomiao Palace, waiting with anticipation.

Finally, after a long while, just as the maid on the second floor furrowed her elegant brows, about to remind the auctioneer that time was up, a gentle female voice finally came from the Piaomiao Palace’s private room.

”A fine item is naturally desired by all. This little lady... is no exception. Though I may not be able to win the contest, I must at least make an effort. The result may be disappointing, but at least I will have tried...”

With that, the woman’s gentle voice continued, ”I bid thirty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones, plus a five-million-year-old Transformation Medicine King. This Medicine King is close to the cultivation of a Great Saint. Having it is like having an extra life. Therefore, I believe this Medicine King is worth at least thirty million Top-level Immortal Spirit Stones.”