Translation: Aerial Rain Translation (aerialrain.com) by 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.”

The middle-aged man on the stage—his name was Linghu Xie—smiled brightly and said: “The starting price stated by the seller is originally two thousand profound-grade spirit stones.”

Meng Qi was already numb. Except for her Blazing Feather, the starting price of the items sold in this auction was all in profound-grade level.

“But he just told me, since he makes an additional term for selling this item, the starting price now has been reduced to 200 eighth-grade spirit stones.” Linghu Xie looked around with a smile. “And if there is someone who really can crack the seal, he will exchange it with one of the spells he knows.”

Another burst of murmur came from the audience.

Meng Qi poured a cup of tea. Such an experienced way to entice the guests, indeed worthy of the name Heaven Auction House. Meng Qi took another bite of the pastry and watched the situation with gusto. From two thousand profound-grade spirit stones to two hundred eighth-grade spirit stones, even she could participate in the bid.

There were endless whispers and murmur in the valley. Unless someone deliberately spoke aloud, Meng Qi couldn’t comprehend what they were talking about. She threw another piece of candy into her mouth. The fragrant aroma from the tea filled her mouth, complementing the sweet and sour taste of the green plum candy. It was so refreshing and delicious.

Meng Qi couldn’t help but take another look at the boxes of refreshment. Did these pastries and candies come from Beyond The Heaven Restaurant? It’s so delicious, she liked it.

Meng Qi reached out to take another plum candy and popped it into her mouth. She didn’t expect that the service at Heaven Auction House to be so good. Even the complimentary refreshment was so delicious. The next time she had a chance, she had to go to Beyond The Heaven Restaurant to try the food there.

Meng Qi regretted that she left in such a hurry and didn’t take even a single bite that day. With a crunch, she bit into the sweet and sour plum candy. During the time, no one had made a bid for the seventh lot.

Meng Qi: “…”

She contemplated for a while. Since the starting price was just two hundred eight-grade spirit stones, she could make a bid. Meng Qi called out: “Three hundred eighth-grade spirit stones.”

With a starting price of two hundred eighth-grade spirit stones, the increment per bid was only twenty eighth-grade spirit stones. But now, Meng Qi was a rich woman. She could afford to boldly pay for the things she wanted to buy.

Meng Qi noticed that after she made the first bid, the entire valley suddenly quieted down. The whispers and murmurs just now suddenly vanished, and only Linghu Xie’s voice echoed in the place: “A fellow Daoist bids for three hundred eighth-grade spirit stones. Does anyone have a higher price?”

Meng Qi’s eyebrows raised slightly. Maybe they were all stunned by her action. After all, even if the cultivator who originally owned this jade slip had no choice but to sell the thing cheaply, the sects and individual cultivators who wanted to buy it would eventually make the price rose. What made them dissatisfied was the additional term that required them to share the content recorded in the jade slip with the original seller.

In its long history, Three Thousand Worlds had several recorded catastrophes. It was said that tens of thousands of years ago, the Starfallen Sea did not exist. The place where Starfallen Sea was located now was just an abyss connecting the three realms of human, demon, and devil.

Tens of thousands of years ago, a great war broke out between human and devil cultivators. The loss was extremely tragic. Countless people lost their lives or severely injured, and many large and small sects were destroyed entirely. At that time, the devil cultivators used the Starfallen Sea as the teleportation base to invade the Three Thousand Worlds. Countless human cultivators died there to block the steady stream of invading devil cultivators.

Later, the strongest cultivators in Three Thousand Worlds gathered together and pressed the devil cultivators back into the Starfallen Sea. That battle resulted in countless casualties. Even the powerful figures in the peak of the Comprehending Perfection stage—just one step into the Great Ascension stage—fell in that battle. After that, the grievances and murderous auras gradually spread over the Starfallen Sea, formed the dangerous place people knew today.

Following that great catastrophe, there were many wars between the three realms of Three Thousand Worlds, the Demon Realm, and Devil Realm. Almost every time, Starfallen Sea became the final battlefield. In the span of tens of thousands of years after its formation, the Starfallen Sea grew increasingly dangerous.

Later, the Demon Monarch’s order appeared in the Demon Realm. The most powerful demon seized the order and unified the Demon Realm. The new monarch ruled the Demon Realm, constraining the demon cultivators, and greatly eased the relationship with Three Thousand Worlds. At least, the relationship between the celestial demon and human had become relatively friendly.

That’s why there were demon cultivators like Su Junmo, who traveled the Three Thousand Worlds for a long time and formed a good relationship with various major sects. Of course, there were also people like Sikong Changlie, who secretly crossed the boundary to the Three Thousand Worlds and killed human cultivators.

On the contrary, the relationship between Devil Realm and Three Thousand Worlds has never been good. The invasion of thousands of years ago, which cut off many inheritance and knowledge of medical cultivation, was also done by the devil cultivators who came via the Starfallen Sea.

After tens of thousands of years of accumulation of death and grievances, the Starfallen Sea has become one of the world’s most dangerous places. It was said that there was no water there, only blood, full of killing intent and resentment of countless human, demon, and devil who died there. Even the strongest cultivator, if they died there, would be swallowed entirely by the place, leaving not even an intact soul.

The Pavilion Master of Xingluo Pavilion promised to hunt in the Starfallen Sea, but the promise merely referred to the peripheral area. Even so, there were so many valuable things there, like the rare flowers and herb, or the fur and blood of monster beasts, all could be used as medicinal ingredients. On top of that, there were also possessions left behind by the predecessors who died in the Starfallen Sea. Since many who ventured there were extremely strong, the treasures they left behind were enough to entice even the most powerful sects in Ten Thousand Worlds.

Wherever the wealth, there was a danger. For thousands of years, no matter how dangerous the Starfallen Sea was, people kept taking the risk to enter the place.

Meng Qi recalled the rumor about Starfallen Sea that she had read in the books or heard from others. She remembered the black-robed young man she saw outside the Heaven Auction House just now. Was he really going to enter the Starfallen Sea for ten years?

Meng Qi knew a little about the inheritance method of that young man’s sect. Although Xingluo Pavilion was a sword sect, they were slightly different from typical sword cultivators in Three Thousand Worlds. Their swords were generally very thin and shorter. But when the sword was taken out, it was so dangerous and fierce, and often attacked from the place that the opponent couldn’t even think of.

So when a sword cultivator from Xingluo Pavilion wanted to refine their natal weapon, they had to go to a dangerous place. The more dangerous the place was, the more powerful their natal sword would be. Therefore, it wasn’t strange for that young man to choose the Starfallen Sea. Even without the agreement, sooner or later, he would still go into the Starfallen Sea.

After all, the place where Meng Qi picked him up in her previous life was the edge of Starfallen Sea.

Meng Qi retracted her wandering mind, focused back on the current auction. In most cases, any spells and magic tools found inside the Starfallen Sea were generally very powerful. Two thousand profound-grade spirit stones were actually not expensive. After all, having a strong exclusive technique could sometimes allow a medium-ranked sect to rise rapidly, even competed with the top ten sects of their respective realm.

For this reason, the cultivators here would definitely fight for the jade slip fiercely. Even if the final bidding price reached tens of thousands, one hundred thousand profound-grade spirit stones, Meng Qi wouldn’t be surprised. After all, the value of this kind of object couldn’t be measured with mere spirit stones.

Therefore, Meng Qi made a bid simply to join in the fun. After successfully getting the Blazing Feather, she was in a good mood. Knowing that she definitely wouldn’t be able to get the jade slip, she still wanted to enjoy the process. After all, it wasn’t every day she could participate in a transaction worth tens of thousands of profound-grade spirit stones.

She poured herself another cup of tea and slowly sipped the fragrant tea.

Meng Qi waited for a long time, but the valley was still quiet. For a while, no one spoke. She was a bit puzzled. Why did no one make a bid? Was it because the price might get too high, so they had to carefully consider their price beforehand?

Although Meng Qi knew she couldn’t see the guests in other rooms, she couldn’t help but glance around. Suddenly, Meng Qi recalled a rumor she heard in her previous life.

Had the people on the top agreed on a price, so the leaders of the big sects had to be careful when bidding?

How powerful!

Meng Qi took another sip of tea. When would she have that much money?

…

Contrary to Meng Qi’s guess, the leaders and elders of the great sects that attended today’s auction were currently in a dilemma.

In these past three days, everyone who entered Beyond The Heaven and was eligible to visit Heaven Auction House would receive a message from Beyond The Heaven’s owner via their nameplate: “Beyond The Heaven’s seventh mountain will reappear in three months. The tokens needed to enter the mountain will be auctioned as the thirteenth lot at Heaven Auction House this month. You may get one if you are lucky. I don’t like phoenixes. You must not be greedy and can only choose one.”

The meaning of this message was very clear. Outside Beyond The Heaven City, there were grotto-heavens which provided an opportunity to explore for cultivators of Spirit Severing stage and above. Although grotto-heaven was said to be blessed land, it was extremely dangerous. Every once in a while, a mountain peak would reappear in Beyond The Heaven. There was a high probability of a new grotto-heaven or secret realm to also appear in the mountain during that time. Therefore, Beyond The Heaven’s owner would always invite large sects or other prominent figures to explore the place.

The tokens that were going to be auctioned as the thirteenth lot today were needed to enter the mountain that would soon reappear. For each token, a sect could send five people to participate.

The number of the token provided was varied each time. Currently, the highest record was 24 tokens. The grotto-heaven they explored that time was indeed quite vast and dangerous, but the harvest they got was equally very rich.

But the 24 tokens were an exception. Sometimes, only three or four tokens would appear in the auction. Moreover, there had always been additional restrictions for bidding the token. For example, the owner might only allow spell sects to bid. Other times, only sects who knew certain techniques could participate.

Until now, there was still no info about the number of tokens prepared this time. Before the auction of the thirteenth lot started, everyone could only guess. However, the restriction this time had left them at a loss.

What did it mean by ‘I don’t like phoenixes’?

Blazing Feather was one of the items to be auctioned at Heaven Auction House today, and many sects had received this news beforehand. If it wasn’t for the token, many sects were willing to bid for the Blazing Feather. Anyway, for them, it wasn’t expensive.

The real treasure was the tokens. Compared with that, Blazing Feather was nothing. They didn’t even need to consider before giving up on the feather.

However, this mysterious spell was different. Many sects wanted to win it.

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