Chapter 0591: The Sensational Auction
As soon as he heard this beautiful woman’s words, he immediately understood that a treasure’s worth was not generally measured in celestial coins. If one wanted celestial coins in exchange, they would then be at the losing end.
“Dao Friend, if you want celestial coins……”
Ning Cheng deliberately waited for this beautiful woman to say something before he waved his hand and interrupted, “I only need a handful of celestial coins, but the payment will be mostly in Perpetual Moon Pills. As for the price, I cannot put an accurate price. It is up to you. You can quote a price, and I’ll see if it feels appropriate.”
“Ok, one million Perpetual Moon Pills and five hundred million purple coins. How does that sound?” The beautiful woman immediately quoted a price.
One million Perpetual Moon Pills, it was not something that Ning Cheng felt unexpected. Back then, he had only managed to obtain a few hundred thousand Perpetual Moon Pills from that pill pond.
“Five million Perpetual Moon Pills and one billion purple coins.” Ning Cheng knew that Time Stones were a precious commodity; however, he also had no idea what price could it fetch in the market. He simply increased the estimate to see if the other party would go for a counteroffer.
“Agreed.” Contrary to what he thought, the beautiful woman did not put up a counter offer. Moreover, the moment Ning Cheng put up his offer, and she accepted, it marked the end of the deal. Saying that, she then put away Ning Cheng’s Time Stone and brought out a storage ring before handing it to Ning Cheng with the words, “Everything you asked is inside.”
Ning Cheng immediately understood that he most likely had quoted a low price; however, he never expected that this beautiful woman would act so treacherously.
Ning Cheng grabbed the storage ring and casually swept it with his Spiritual Consciousness before nodding at this beautiful woman. He then turned around and went downstairs before quickly leaving the Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall.
Once Ning Cheng left, the beautiful woman immediately sent out a few messages. In just an incense stick-worth of time, the entire Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City knew about a piece of explosive news; that is, a Time Stone would appear in the auction held by Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall tonight.
A Time Stone appearing in an auction, it immediately caused a sensational stir throughout the Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City.
With the Immortal Jade Star on the verge of opening, one could even say that the Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City was filled with countless powerhouses. Just a casual wave of hand might end up revealing a powerhouse in the Destiny Realm.
What did a powerhouse need? It was not low-levelled cultivation resources, not celestial coins, and not even ordinary weapons. It would be items of the highest grade. What were such items? Of course, they were treasures that could help them understand the power of laws.
Because of this, once the news of Time Stones appearing came out, it instantly stirred the entire Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City. Some of the experts who did not intend to come to the auction immediately changed their minds and quickly headed to the auction venue.
However, there were only limited booths within the auction hall. Wanting to purchase the Time Stone without the protection offered by the box, why would any cultivator even think of doing such a thing? As such, the stalls within the auction hall became hot commodities in just an instant, and many people even turned up to purchase the booth for even a hundred times its original price.
……
In the Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City’s Striking Order Starry Skies’ residence, Heavenly Emperor Striking Order sat with a gloomy face. He realised that someone must have hidden the Time Stones when they came out from the Time Wilderness, unfortunately, he could not find the culprit.
However, he was also sure that the fellow who obtained that Time Stone was definitely a rogue cultivator. If it were an ordinary cultivator from an academy or sect, would they have put up the Time Stone for auction? Even if they could not use it at present, it could still bring them many benefits in the future. It was a pity that even though he was a Heavenly Emperor, within the Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City, he could only stand to one side.
……
“Junior Apprentice Sister Qiong, do you know what happened in the Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City? Time Stones happened, aah. Sacred Master would definitely go, Time Stones, aah, as long as one was a cultivator in the Heaven’s Mandate Realm or above, everyone would want it.” Jing Yiyi immediately arrived at Shi Qionghua’s cave-type abode and immediately started to rattle about it.
“Time Stones?” Shi Qionghua stood up in shock. She had ten Time Stones with her, all of which were given to her by Ning Cheng. She also knew that this kind of object was extremely precious to the level that she could not take out casually. Even if she wanted to take it out, she must figure out her actual relationship with Ning Cheng.
Now that Time Stones appeared in Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City, did that mean that Ning Cheng had not fallen and had returned? She once again recalled what Ning Cheng had said, “I’m fine. You do not have to worry about me.”
“Senior Apprentice Sister Yiyi, do you want to go and look at it?” Shi Qionghua immediately understood Jing Yiyi’s meaning. Since she spoke of this in front of her, it meant that she wanted her to ask Sacred Master to take them to see it.
Jing Yiyi quickly replied, “Yeah, quickly go and ask Sacred Master. Sacred Master likes you very much, maybe she would agree if you asked.”
If it were something else, Shi Qionghua would have definitely not thought about going. However, Time Stones had some relation to Ning Cheng, which also connected to some of the issues that she did not understand. She also had a feeling in her heart that she wanted to confirm. She wanted to know if this Time Stone was something that Ning Cheng had put up.
“There are a lot of people who want to obtain the Time Stone. I anyway do not have that big of a chance to obtain it, but I will still go. The auction would take out the Time Stone for everyone to see. This kind of object contains the Laws of Time; as such, just a look would also bring many benefits. Since both of you want to go, let me come with you.” Mihui’s voice immediately rang out in Shi Qionghua and Jing Yiyi’s ears.
“Many thanks, Sacred Master.” Jing Yiyi and Shi Qionghua quickly thanked her.
……
Ning Cheng had already changed his appearance once again, this time as a regular middle-aged man, before entering the Speed Celestial Rest Stop and finding Ziche Jun waiting for him.
“Brother Ziche, I got delayed by a few things.” Ning Cheng entered his booth and activated the restrictions.
Ziche Jun spoke with some embarrassment, “Brother Ning, I participated in many auctions, but I could not purchase it even once. This time, I specifically raised some purple coins; however, I am afraid that there would still be some shortage. I’m really sorry.”
Ning Cheng smiled, “It’s alright. Just hand me the auction booth. I will go there myself.”
“But I feel terrible about it. I took something from Brother Ning, but I could not be of much help in return.” Ziche Jun took out the jade card for the auction booth and handed it to Ning Cheng, while still speaking in an embarrassed tone.
Ning Cheng smiled and pat Ziche Jun’s shoulder and spoke, “Brother Ziche, you’ve helped me too much already. After arriving at the Grand Culmination Starry Skies, you were the friend who helped me the most. In the future, if Brother Ziche needs me for any kind of help, just ask.”
In Ning Cheng’s opinion, Ziche Jun was an excellent friend. Without Ziche Jun, he would not have known about the Immortal Jade Star, nor could he find out about Qionghua. As for the entry jade card for Immortal Jade Star, Ziche Jun must have worked hard for it; however, he had limited abilities at his disposal.
“Many thanks, Brother Ning. If Brother Ning is really planning on heading to the auction today, then please pay attention to keeping yourself hidden. I heard that a Time Stone would come up in this auction. As such, this Time Stone will attract a lot of powerhouses to this auction.” Ziche Jun on seeing Ning Cheng speak those words no longer talked with that embarrassed temperament.
“Brother Ziche, you can rest assured.” Ning Cheng laughed. This was not his first time attending an auction; not to mention that he also had a booth for himself along with a top-grade appearance-changing mask.
The two of them started another conversation. After drinking a few pots of spiritual wine, the two of them then left the Speed Celestial Rest Stop separately.
……
Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall had hosted many auctions and today’s sale was supposed to be one of those countless. Even if one talked about the scale, it could only be considered medium-sized. However, the sudden emergence of the Time Stone had led to a dramatic increase in its size. Many major powerhouses had suddenly decided to attend the auction. Because of this, the auctioneers had to not only remove some of the everyday items but also put up a lot of top-grade treasures.
Those attending today’s auctions were the major powerhouses from the grand starry skies. As such, these fellows were least interested in celestial coins, or even Perpetual Moon Pills. They also held not much interest in Permanent Essence Pills.
Before coming to the auction, Ning Cheng also specifically inquired about the exchange ratio between Perpetual Moon Pills and purple coins. He found out that the exchange ratio was 10,000 purple coins for a Perpetual Moon Pill in theory. However, people would hardly exchange Perpetual Moon Pills for celestial coins. As such, he knew that a billion purple coins really did not mean much to the other party at that time. In fact, the other party simply had not even considered it as a form of payment.
A few hours before the auction, Ning Cheng arrived outside the auction venue and found it filled with people. He even saw signs everywhere for the purchase of auction booths, and the prices listed were a hundred, even a thousand times, higher than usual.
This made Ning Cheng feel even more grateful towards Ziche Jun. If it were not for Ziche Jun, he most likely would not have even obtained a booth.
When Ning Cheng first entered the venue, many people immediately came up to ask if Ning Cheng wanted a booth, but Ning Cheng ignored everyone and quickly found box no. 391 before opening the restrictions and entering. The first thing he did after entering was to check and arrange as many concealment array formations and masking restrictions all around him inside the booth.
It did not take long before Ning Cheng found the Display Array Formation within the booth that provided him with information about the various items for today’s auction.
Ning Cheng closed his eyes quietly sat down, choosing not to sweep out with his Spiritual Consciousness.
A few hours quickly passed. Ning Cheng finally opened his eyes and swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness and fount the auction venue filled with people. As a powerful Spiritual Consciousness brushed past Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness, it left Ning Cheng in a state of shock. Fortunately, his auction booth not only had Shielding Array Formations from the auctioneer’s side but also had the support from the Array Formations that he had laid out. Coupled with his altered appearance, which made him look like a middle-aged man, he felt that it should be more than enough to avoid any problems.
Why is Qionghua here? Ning Cheng quickly spotted Shi Qionghua. She and Jing Yiyi sat next to that Sacred Master from Everlasting Sacred Shrine, apparently without getting a booth for themselves. From the looks of it, they did not look like they came here to buy something. Moreover, even their seats had no indication of activated restrictions.
At this moment, a pretty-looking female cultivator wearing a tight-fitting cultivator’s robe took to the middle of the auction floor. This female cultivator had six Celestial Wheels behind her, indicating that she should be at or near the peak of Heaven’s Mandate Realm. This also showed the deep foundation of Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall. Just the female cultivator hosting the auction today had cultivation much higher compared to him.
The female cultivator gave a slight bow to the audience and spoke, “Respected friends, I am Dai Jia from Eternal Heaven Merchant House. I welcome you all for participating in this evening’s Eternal Heaven Marchant Hall Auction. This auction brought in a lot of powerhouses, even including many Heavenly Emperors. However, although you are senior and also a guest of my Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall, I apologise for not having enough booths within our Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall for you all.”
Everyone knew about how hypocritical this female cultivator sounded. Although everyone could feel the hypocrisy in her words, no one stood up to correct her. Everyone knew about the power held by the Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall within the Grand Culmination Starry Sky. Even if the Eternal Heaven Merchant Hall offended a few ordinary Heavenly Emperors, why would they care about it? What they truly cared about was how much they earned.
“This marks the official start of the auction. The first treasure up for auction today is a pair of starry sky bracelets, which also doubles as a defensive item and a high-grade Dao Artefact. When your opponent attacks, it can form a stack of beautiful ring shadows. These ring shadows could not only be used for defence but can also help you weaken the opponent’s domain. What’s more, this starry sky bracelet is also a beautiful bracelet that one can wear on their hand. For a female cultivator, there is no better treasure than this.”
After Dai Jia finished, she lifted a pair of starry sky bracelets, stimulating it to bring out beautiful-looking ring shadows. Just as she said, this starry sky bracelet was not only beautiful, it was also a decorative accessory.
After the display, Dai Jia spoke with a smile, “Now let’s start the bidding for the starry sky bracelet, with a base price of 10 million purple coins. The bid with Perpetual Moon Pills will get a priority.”
This beautiful thing immediately attracted many offers from the audience. However, most of the bids came from the female cultivators.
Ning Cheng’s gaze fell on Shi Qionghua and found that Shi Qionghua’s eyes revealed an eager look. Seeing that, he put his hand on the display with the intent to bid. Although he wanted to quote, he felt slightly afraid that he would not have enough celestial coins. However, he quickly decided to buy this pair of starry sky bracelets for Shi Qionghua.