Ch 57 Part 1 – The Seventh Lot (I)
December 29, 2020December 31, 2020By koffeam
Meng Qi sat in a daze for a while. Suddenly, a window opened on the wall behind her. With a ‘clank,’ a wooden handle pushed in a small black wooden slip into the room and fell onto the tea table. Meng Qi picked it up and took a look. On the back of the wooden slip was the word ‘Heaven’ written in golden ink with a strong cursive. Other than this, there was nothing on it.
Meng Qi put a mark of her spiritual sense on the wooden slip, then held it in her hands and played with it for a while. She was still not recovered from the shock of having successfully bid for the Blazing Feather. On top of that, the price was much lower than she anticipated, merely a bit more than two hundred ninth-grade spirit stones.
Initially, Meng Qi had prepared to use every single spirit stone in her possession to bid for the Blazing Feather today. She even made a backup plan. If in any case she still couldn’t compete with those bigger sects and failed to get the feather, she would put up a sign and wait on the gate of Heaven Auction House. Besides spirit stones, she also especially prepared a bottle of pills to exchange with the Blazing Feather.
Although Blazing Feather was a rare item, it wasn’t so precious that people were willing to get it regardless of the cost. Meng Qi believed that a sect with a deep enough foundation must have other Blazing Feathers in their possession.
Unexpectedly…
Meng Qi looked at the black wooden slip in her hands over and over again, then laughed contentedly. Even the golden ‘Heaven’ written on the back seemed to be so perfect in her eyes. The stroke was vigorous yet elegant. At one glance, it must be done by an excellent calligrapher.
Meng Qi appreciated the writing for a while before carefully placing the wooden slip back on the tea table. The sweet fragrance from fresh fruits and candies floated inside the room. Now that Meng Qi has finally relaxed, her appetite returned, and she began to eat again.
In such a short time, the auction had reached the seventh lot. Meng Qi no longer had anything to do, so she leisurely listened to the middle-aged man introducing the seventh lot on the stage.
“Today’s seventh lot is a record containing an unidentifiable spell.” The middle-aged man said. “Six months ago, a cultivator who went into the Starfallen Sea found a jade slip containing a record about an unknown spell inside the body of a fierce beast he hunted. Afterward, the cultivator brought back this jade slip to his sect. The sect’s elders tried to study this jade slip for a long time, but after repeated attempts, they never succeeded in cracking the seal. So three months ago, they finally sent the jade slip to Beyond The Heaven.”
Hearing it was an item from Starfallen Sea, Meng Qi’s curiosity was piqued.
Starfallen Sea connected the Three Thousand Worlds, the Demon Realm, and the Devil Realm. It was an extremely dangerous place. Apparently, a cultivator under Spirit Severing stage couldn’t survive there. If someone wanted to hunt a fierce beast in the Starfallen Sea, they had to be at least at the peak of the Spirit Severing stage.
Since the cultivator was able to hunt down a fierce beast inside the Starfallen Sea, they must come from a large sect. The elders there couldn’t figure out what kind of spell was sealed inside the jade slip. It seemed that the cultivator who left this jade slip behind must be a very powerful predecessor.
Since Meng Qi could reach this conclusion, other people naturally could also have the same thought. Right after the introduction ended, the valley was full of buzzing voices.
The middle-aged cultivator smiled and looked around the audience. He presided over the Tianzihao auction for a long time. This is the first time this situation has occurred today. Almost all the items that could appear in this auction house were so precious that they might be regarded as important treasures in small to medium sects. After the seventh lot was introduced, some of the usual enthusiasm finally began to show up.
The middle-aged man deliberately stayed silent for a while, letting the momentum build among the audience. After half an incense stick of time, he calmly continued: “The sect who sent this jade slip to be auctioned put on an additional term. Any individual cultivator or a sect who buys this jade slip has to make a soul oath. If they managed to break the seal on the jade slip, the knowledge recorded inside had to be shared with the seller.”
Loud laughter immediately burst out, full of mockery: “What a good calculation!”
“They cannot break the seal, so they want to exchange it with spirit stones, but still want to own the thing.”
“Since they can enter the Starfallen Sea and return intact, they must be from a powerful sect. Yet those old men gathered together to crack the seal on a small jade slip without a result.”
“Haha, how ridiculous!”
…
One by one, people began to ridicule. Although the words were not abusive, it completely destroyed the previous harmonious atmosphere. Meng Qi listened carefully. Most of the ridicules came from the rooms located on the lower side of the valley.
“Why arguing?” Suddenly, the voice of middle-aged male cultivator came from the upper rooms. He slowly said: “It’s up to the seller to make the term they wanted, and up to the bidder whether to accept it or not.”
“If you have no ability, just shut up.” Another voice chimed in. “Why the need to argue noisily?”
“How much is the starting price?” One person asked, “Fellow Daoist Linghu, please continue.”
