Chapter 700: The First Treasure at the Opening, and It’s Already So Controversial?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When sending out invitations to the Spirit Gem Trade Fair, the Night Cat didn’t care whether the invitee was on the side of “justice” or was a member of mobs. As long as one had money, even if it was the Holy Divine Palace, the Night Cat would still send an invitation.
Naturally, the Magic Pill Techniciains Association of the imperial city also received an invitation to the trade fair.
At this moment, in room 183 at the trade fair, a graceful middle-aged woman wearing an elixir master’s robe was sitting on the sofa.
She was holding a tall wine glass with one hand while she pursed her red lips to take sips.
Although she was middle-aged, the woman took good care of herself, thus she still looked like a young lady in her prime. Her temperament was elegant and poised, which was in stark contrast to the few old men beside her.
Others may not come in large groups to avoid exposing themselves, but for the Magic Pill Technicians Association, such matters were simply insignificant.
After all, among the people who were in the imperial city, those who lived in the Pill Pagoda were the ones who feared death the least.
This was because the moment someone wanted to attack the Pill Pagoda, countless powerful figures who had been saved by the Pill Pagoda’s elixir masters would immediately come forward and kill the enemies one by one.
If one were to wonder who was the person whom the imperial city’s bigwigs owed their lives to, it would be the woman sitting on the sofa.
“President Dong Ling,” Shi Ti sat upright as he asked the woman respectfully, “Is it possible to find the person the Saint’s Envoy is looking for at the Spirit Gem Trade Fair?”
Hua Ying was originally lying in front of the big screen, staring at the men below who were wearing beast-form masks with disappointment. Hearing Shi Ti’s question, she immediately turned around and looked at President Dong Ling with anticipation.
This was the official meeting of those in the headquarters of the imperial city’s Magic Pill Technicians Association!
If even President Dong Ling was unable to find Master’s Brother Uncle Xu, then Hua Ying had no other way to do so either in this very vast imperial city.
“Looking for someone depends on fate…” President Dongling’s red lips curled upwards as her beautiful eyes swept over Hua Ying. Then, she glanced at Zhou Tianshen, who was somewhat uneasy after being forced to attend the meeting. She smiled lightly and said, “After all, according to what that brat Zhou Tianshen said, the person the Saint’s Envoy is looking for is someone with a high profile. It’s highly possible that he will attend the trade fair. But in the end, everything is uncertain.”
Her voice was calm as she spoke lazily at a moderate speed, “We only need to wait carefully and patiently now.”
“I’m not the Saint’s Envoy…” Hua Ying lay at the side and explained weakly, her focus on Dong Ling’s words differed from the ordinary people.
However, no one cared much for her words.
As long as one came from the Holy Palace, even if they said they weren’t the Saint’s Envoys, they would still be treated as the Saint’s Envoys.
Adequate hospitality, etiquette, and so on, must not be neglected.
If it were anyone else, they would probably have invited Hua Ying up to the main seat in the private room and treated her carefully. After all, to the elixir masters in the world, the descendants of the Infernal Lineage were existences like miracles.
Even though the Infernal Lineage was not known by many, the higher-ups had indeed heard of the Infernal Lineage.
However, Dong Ling was different.
She had once gone to seek knowledge in the Holy Palace. Even if she wasn’t a disciple of the Holy Palace on the surface, she had been Mu Ling’s student for some time.
Putting aside cultivation, just in terms of conducting alchemy, Dong Ling could be considered half a disciple of Mu Ling.
Therefore, in terms of seniority, Dong Ling was in the same generation as Hua Ying, thus no one felt that it was inappropriate for her to be in the main seat at this moment.
Similarly, thanks to such matters, Dong Ling, who could be considered half a descendant of the Infernal Lineage, became one of them.
That day, when she returned from the Holy Divine Palace after discussing important matters, Dong Ling learned some of the truth from Shi Ti and Hua Ying.
Although she still didn’t know who Hua Ying was looking for, with Zhou Tianshen insisting, Dong Ling had brought both the brat Zhou Tianshen and the Saint’s Envoy Hua Ying to the Spirit Gem Trade Fair.
Dong Ling did not have high hopes in successfully finding the person.
On the contrary, her aim in bringing them here was more to allow these young people to see the world and expand their horizons.
Therefore, Dong Ling had also brought along a few young elixir masters whom she had high hopes for.
“By the way, Zhou Tianshen, why are you so sure that ‘he’ will be here?” Hua Ying curled her lips and turned her head to look at Zhou Tianshen, the instigator who was forced to attend the trade fair.
After the incident that day, she was now aware that Master’s Brother Uncle Xu was wanted.
Therefore, in public, she referred to him as ‘he’ instead.
“Sixth-sense!” Zhou Tianshen replied.
He was actually quite terrified.
To be removed from the Spirit Palace’s team and brought to such a gloomy place, with only the weak Elder Shi Ti to protect him, Zhou Tianshen was simply panicking in his heart.
However, Xu Xiaoshou was also someone that he was extremely eager to find.
He glanced at Su Qianqian who had followed the team and remained silent the entire way.
At this moment, the face of the little girl was also covered by a beast-form mask and thus her emotions couldn’t be seen clearly. However, with such a companion who had the same hopes as he did, Zhou Tianshen felt much more at ease.
He glanced at Hua Ying and said, “If the person you are looking for is also in Dongtianwang City, from what I’ve gathered from investigating for a few days, there aren’t many who can meet your criteria. Young Master Xu from the First Pavilion in the Sky can be considered to half-meet your criteria…”
Zhou Tianshen voiced out his speculation, but he still had many doubts in his heart.
He had gathered quite some information over the past few days. After Young Master Xu, Xu Deye had entered the city, he had been acting eccentrically. He had even shown his strength as a master swordsman in the heaven geomantic battle.
The way Xu Deye did things and his strength as a master swordsman was a spitting image of Xu Xiaoshou himself.
The only thing that made Zhou Tianshen doubt his speculations was that Xu Xiaoshou had suddenly become a rich man.
To think that Xu Xiaoshou could rent the First Pavilion in the Sky! Where did the money come from?
That being said, when Zhou Tianshen remembered the fact that Xu Xiaoshou had joined the Saint Servant, he put his doubt behind his mind.
“Where else could the money come from? It must be the organization’s money! It can’t be that he could earn so much money just half a month after leaving the Spirit Palace, right?”
However, all of this was, after all, just speculation.
What made Zhou Tianshen stand firm in his findings was the other person who had appeared in the heaven geomantic battle that day.
“Mu Zixi…” Zhou Tianshen muttered to himself.
He had watched the video of the battle. Someone with the wood attribute, had twin ponytails, wore green clothes, and was short… there was a 99% chance that it was Mu Zixi!
With this, the remaining uncertain factor couldn’t be considered a factor at all.
After all, who wouldn’t change their face if they were being targeted by someone?
The key was that the name “Mu Zixi” was too specific. She was also very familiar with Young Master Xu. And after checking, she was from the First Pavilion in the Sky as well.
“Just you wait and see!”
As Zhou Tianshen thought of this, he became more confident. He swept his gaze across Su Qianqian and said to Hua Ying, “The First Pavilion in the Sky is rich. If they come to the trade fair tonight to join in the fun, I just need to test them to see if my judgment is correct… In any case, we can look for the First Pavilion in the Sky later so that we can guarantee our safety.”
The reason why they hadn’t gone looking for the First Pavilion in the Sky to verify their identities immediately was because President Dong Ling had stopped them.
She had said, “There’s something wrong with this Demi-Saint faction called the First Pavilion in the Sky. Currently, the Holy Divine Palace is keeping an eye on them… Right now, the situation in the imperial city is quite volatile, so do try not to provoke them, and don’t get too involved with them. Otherwise, you may be involved and impacted negatively.”
Zhou Tianshen was quite alarmed when he recalled President Dongling’s stern exhortation that day.
At this moment, he sincerely hoped that his judgment was wrong. He hoped that Xu Xiaoshou hadn’t become a Demi-Saint’s descendant and was instead holed up in a corner of the imperial city, conducting alchemy on his own just like when he was in the Spirit Palace.
But objectively speaking, there wasn’t much hope of his hopes coming true…
After all, that fellow was someone who couldn’t stay idle!
“It’s about to begin,” At this moment, President Dongling suddenly spoke.
She seemed to be lazily holding her wine glass, but she had actually been paying attention to the crowd outside the private room.
When the people entering the venue decreased until no one new entered, she knew that the bell of the trade fair was about to ring.
“Dong –” As expected, a dull bell rang a moment later.
With the bell, a black-robed man wearing a beast-form mask walked onto the high platform promptly.
“Good evening,” The voice of the first trader had been modified by the beast-form mask as fell clearly into the ears of those in the private seats and the major traders in the private rooms.
The black-robed man wearing the beast-form mask picked up the small hammer on the wooden tray, knocked it gently on the stand, and calmly said, “First of all, I would like to thank all of you for coming to participate in the Eighteenth Spirit Gem Trade Fair hosted by the Night Cat. Here, I would like to announce the rules of the trade fair.”
He paused for a moment, then turned his masked face as if he was looking around before lightly nodding.
“First, the treasures to be transacted should be worth over a hundred million.”
Those in the arena nodded.
Everyone was familiar with this rule.
“Second, the transactions will be done through auction. Each increment must not be less than a hundred million,” The man wearing the beast-form mask said as he raised a finger.
The arena suddenly became noisy.
Even though everyone knew that the class of this auction was extremely high, but to require that each increment had to be at least a hundred million…
For any other ordinary faction, their faction would probably wither if they bid even just once!
Some of the faction representatives who were attending the auction for the first time were so shocked that they stood up and almost chose to leave the auction venue.
These people didn’t know that there was such a rule and thus did not have much cash on them in the first place.
The black-robed man wearing the beast-form mask remained unmoved. He tapped the small hammer on the wooden tray and instantly, the entire auction venue fell silent.
“Third, transactions will be conducted in the form of auctions. For each turn, one trader will display and introduce his treasure’s characteristics. If the auction fails, the Night Cat will make a comprehensive judgment based on the characteristics, abilities, and market of the treasure and buy it at a reasonable price. However, we can not rule out the possibility that we do not want the treasure. I hope everyone can understand this point.”
As soon as these words were said, Xu Xiaoshou, who was in Room 172, was shocked on the spot.
“Is the Night Cat so rich?” He could not help but turn his head to look at Liu Lu.
From what the black-robe man was saying, the trade fair was just a gimmick.
The Night Cat was simply using the factions in the world to search for treasures for themselves!
The key point was that there were so many people present, even the number plate that Xu Xiaoshou had obtained was already “No. 172”.
Even if everyone only offered one treasure, the value of all of them added…
Xu Xiaoshou got more terrified as he thought about it, and he shivered.
For the first time, he felt that the conversation he had with Yuan Haisheng that day was just the tip of the iceberg of a large faction like the Night Cat.
For an organization that could gather both the ‘justice’ forces and the mobs in the imperial city in one venue in the name of a trade fair while maintaining the order of the venue, the Night Cat could only be described as “unfathomable.”.
Liu Lu was obviously shocked as well. He replied in a daze, “Young, Young Master Xu, this is also my first time participating in the Spirit Gem Trade Fair.”
Xu Xiaoshou: “…”
He remained silent and continued to watch. However, his heart was on guard against the Night Cat.
This faction was not simple!
It was obvious that the First Pavilion in the Sky was not the only faction that was participating in the trade fair for the first time. Many of the leaders and representatives of the other major organizations that were participating for the first time were also shocked by the Night Cat’s words.
However, the black-robed man with the beast-form mask on the high platform was still as calm as ever, as if he had just said something that didn’t matter.
After he announced the rules, he knocked the small hammer down on the table, and without any chitchat, he went straight to the main topic.
“I believe that everyone is already impatient. The trade fair tonight is organized by the Night Cat, so naturally, we also brought along valuable treasures. Next, I will display three treasures consecutively to break the ice. I hope that the things that our respected traders will display later on will be more valuable than these treasures.”
The black-robed man with the beast-form mask put down the small hammer as he spoke and took out a tray covered with black cloth from his ring.
This treasure looked too plain!
In everyone’s expectations, the first treasure that would establish the status of the trade fair should at least be bright and shiny, right?
However, even though this tray did not look cheap, that was simply its looks. As for the black cloth on it, it only had the ability to resist spiritual senses, similar to the beast-form mask.
Thus, the only explanation would be that the thing covered by the black cloth was a treasure that was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
What was worth hundreds of millions of dollars when it was so small?
Elixirs, array wheels?
The people in the private seats all stretched their necks, and the people in the private room were also interested.
The black-robed man with the beast-form mask had just stated that they would buy all the treasures that weren’t auctioned off. With this, the treasure at the opening shouldn’t be simple.
“Don’t keep us in suspense, brother!”
“Hurry up and open it for everyone to see what’s under the black cloth! Why are you making it so mysterious? It can’t be a void token, right?”
“Haha, void token… Awesome. Those from the Holy Divine Palace should be sitting in one of the private rooms. Do you think the Night Cat would dare to take out this thing?”
“That’s right. Only clues to the void token have been announced. If you ask me, I think that it’s a map under that black cloth.”
“Hurry up and open it!”
“…”
Everyone in the private rooms was silent, but those sitting in the private seats who were watching from a close distance seemed to be much more interested.
Everyone’s voices had been modified by the beast-form mask. At this moment, even if they said anything ridiculous, it would not be an issue.
As such, they had no scruples when it came to speaking.
Moreover, the opening of the trade fair did need a heated atmosphere. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that most of the hecklers here were from the Night Cat.
The black-robed man with the beast-form mask on the high platform was silent. Seeing that he had captured everyone’s interest, then only did he slowly raise his hand and use two fingers to pinch the black cloth as he slowly lifted it.
“Everyone, look carefully!”
As the black cloth was lifted bit by bit, everyone’s eyes were fixated on it.
After the cloth was removed, what was revealed on the Xuanming Black Wood was actually a simple and unadorned… command token.
“What’s that?” The crowd was lost.
They were a group of knowledgeable people, but they simply couldn’t find any special traces on the black command token.
The only thing they could sense was a hint of profoundness.
However, which treasure could appear at the trade fair and not have profoundness?
Everyone was at a loss, but Xu Xiaoshou, who was in Room 172, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
The black token!
He recognized this thing!
A few days back, when he had asked the Storyteller and Lei Shuangxing what was the second mission they had for him, hadn’t they threw three black tokens like this on the table and told him to do his best to cause trouble?
But the thing was, the Night Cat had only claimed that they had obtained clues to the ‘void token’ before the Spirit Gem Trade Fair.
So why did they dare to take out such an item that was ordered to be sealed so openly in front of the Holy Divine Palace?
“Bang!”
At this moment, a loud sound of a heavy object crashing onto the ground was heard from private room No. 1.
Everyone jumped from the sudden noise.
The soundproof array in the private rooms would prevent the sounds inside to escape from the rooms, thus the only explanation was that whoever was inside private room No.1 was using the sound to express his anger at the Night Cat.
“The Holy Divine Palace is in private room No.1?”
“That’s right. In the imperial city, only they have the right to be in that room!”
“But…”
The people below the platform looked back at the black token as they thought of the crash that came from private room No.1. Their pupils dilated as they said in shock, “This can’t be true, right?”
They recalled the terrifying truth that someone had jokingly said just now.
“Is it really the void token?”
“How bold is the Night Cat?”
“The first treasure at the opening, and it’s already so controversial?”
The black-robed man with the beast-form mask on the high platform merely turned his head to slightly glance at Private Room No.1 before knocking the hammer calmly once again, and the scene quieted.
“Everyone is really smart.. Your guess is completely correct,” The black-robed man with the beast-form mask’s tone was still calm as he said frankly, “The first treasure that the Night Cat has taken out is the key that can open the Sacred Secret Land — the void token.”
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