Chapter 38: Exorbitant
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
After the silver-robed elder finished his performance, he continued, “The transforming white ball creating a crisscross of sword aura is only just one of the many uses of the metal spirit. Do you all know of Feng Xifeng, the Sword King of the Dayue Imperial Court’s Three Great Martial Kings, and how he obtained his Divine Impetus Sword? That sword was forged with this very kind of metal spirit as the main material!”
“What! That Divine Impetus Sword that had dominated throughout the fourteen states was actually made out of this? Word has it that back in the day, the Sword King had once cleaved off the top half of a mountain; that was the power of the Divine Impetus Sword!”
“The power of the Divine Impetus Sword cannot be denied, but do not try to fool us, Elder Li. As far as I know, the Divine Impetus Sword is completely red, just like blood glistening under sunlight. It is not white at all. How dare you say that it was made from a metal spirit!”
When those words were spoken, the crowd went into an uproar.
The silver robed elder-struck his silver pommel hard and coldly said, “Our Linglong Hall has been established in Guang’an for over two hundred years. Since when have we committed such fraud? Fret not, all of you. This friend of ours knows this one thing but not the other. The metal spirit is no ordinary object, hence the divine weapons forged from it are no ordinary weapons either. From what I know, twenty years ago, when Sword King Feng was still young, and before he earned the name of ‘Sword King’, the sword he held was as white as snow. Twelve years ago, the sword was a pale red. Eight years ago, when the name of the ‘Divine Impetus Sword’ had spread across the lands, the blade was blood-red. Do you all actually think that in the span of twenty years, Sword King Feng used three different divine swords?”
“Could it be that weapons forged from metal spirits can evolve? Over those twenty years, the fine sword forged from the metal spirit had turned from white to red, continually evolving!” The words slipped out of Xu Yi’s mouth.
The silver robed elder gently-nodded, with a pleased look in his eyes.
The crowd erupted with noise, and a few tables and chairs were even smashed here and there.
A weapon that could continually evolve. What a tempting thought.
Martial arts practitioners loved divine weapons, and this was true anywhere.
A practitioner could train and increase his cultivation, but a weapon has no way of progressing. In the end, the practitioner usually has no choice but to say goodbye to his weapon that no longer suits him.
But a weapon that has been by your side for years is not something that is so easily discarded.
Firstly, humans are emotional creatures. Even a pen or a piece of paper that has been used for a long time would have sentimental value, even more so a divine weapon that had accompanied you across the lands.
Secondly, a divine weapon that has accompanied you for many years was as good as an extension of your hand. Abruptly changing to a new weapon would take time to get used to.
Right now, faced with the possibility of an evolving weapon made from a metal spirit, these two problems can be completely overcome. Naturally, this was a huge temptation for everyone present.
Furthermore, with a famous divine weapon such as the Divine Impetus Sword as a predecessor, everyone knew that a weapon made out of the metal spirit would definitely be unbelievably powerful.
With both a precious armour and a divine weapon soon to be in his hands, it was a double cause for celebration. Xu Yi’s heart was pounding, but his mind was still clear. He spoke. “There is one thing I still do not understand. Everyone knows that as practitioners, a divine weapon is of utmost importance to us. The metal spirit is such an amazing item. Why would the owner bear to put it up for sale?”
Xu Yi had not planned to be a wet blanket, but as long as this question was not answered, he could not rest at ease. After all, he had a metal spirit sitting in his own pocket.
The moment Xu Yi finished speaking, the mood in the room fell, simply because Xu Yi had asked the right question.
The metal spirit was not unlike any of the earlier items which were unusual but not necessarily rare. In other words, the chances of gaining such an item again was still really high. Even if the Dragon Alligator hide was considered rare, as long as Dragon Alligators did not go extinct, there would still be the chance of a Dragon Alligator hide being available for sale again.
But the metal spirit was an object of legends. Across the entire Dayue Imperial Court, only the Sword King’s Divine Impetus Sword was known to be made of such a material. There was no other news of a metal spirit that existed anywhere else.
For the owner to willingly put such a rare item up for sale, what secrets lie behind it?
Although Xu Yi practically spoiled the mood for the auction, the silver-robed elder was neither alarmed nor angry. He calmly replied, “A good question, distinguished guest! The reason why the owner was willing to put this up for sale is simple. He had possessed the metal spirit for many years, but alas, he is still unable to forge it. As for the specific reasons, I am not aware. I believe that it is either because the method to forge it is hard to obtain, or it is hard to successfully forge it. In summary, the original owner was unable to enjoy its benefits. Instead of holding onto it in resentment, he chose to put it up for sale. At this point, let me remind all of you, although a treasure is a good thing, it still needs a capable person fated to own it. Hence, when announcing your bids later, I advise you all to think before you leap and not be blinded by its temptation.”
With such a speech, Xu Yi really had to take his hat off to the silver-robed elder. The old fella was truly crafty to be able to turn such an unpleasant situation around.
As practitioners who were at least at the peak of Body Forging, none of them in the room would feel that they were ordinary individuals, and none of them would admit that they lacked the ability.
With those words from the silver-robed elder, each member of the audience was inadvertently hyped up. Who would still bother to think about the suffering and effort that the original owner had gone through for decades? They would only think that he was not wise or resourceful enough and that they themselves would definitely succeed in his place.
As expected, after the silver-robed elder addressed all matters and announced the starting bid of “2000 gold,” the crowd went out of control.
Just as Xu Yi was calculating how high the price could go, in the blink of an eye, the price had soared to an unbelievable figure thanks to the crowd of people with fire in their eyes.
Elder Shui bellowed, “5000 gold,” and before he could follow up with any threats, another figure was already called out. The price was soaring to above 6000 gold.
In the end, while Xu Yi’s eyes were still dazzled, the auction came to a close.
The metal spirit finally ended up in the hands of Elder Shui.
When Elder Shui raised up a golden pill in his hands and shouted, “I will exchange it for a Divine Origin Qi Pill. Who dares to compete,” Xu Yi’s mental faculties broke down. He was practically seeing stars.
All of the storm that was raging was put out at that moment, and everyone went silent.
All that was heard was a crisp sound of the pommel, and everything ended.
Even after returning to his private secret room, after forking out the money to obtain the Dragon Alligator hide and walking through the passageways that snaked everywhere, Xu Yi’s pounding heart still had not calmed down.
A Divine Origin Qi Pill! It was the divine pill that all those in the Body Forging stage could only dream of.
Entering the Qi Ocean stage from the Body Forging stage was like a step into immortality. One’s strength becomes Qi, and True Qi can be released from the body, making one immensely powerful.
But in order to achieve all of this, the condition was to open up the Qi center to store True Qi.
The Divine Origin Qi Pill was made specially to open up the Qi center of Body Forging practitioners, and it was exceedingly rare.
Earlier during the auction, when Elder Qi from the Pill Cauldron Hall was buying the Baby Ginseng, that was just to attempt at making a Divine Origin Qi Pill. That alone had garnered the awe of the entire crowd.
Elder Shui had brought out an actual Divine Origin Qi Pill. He had no idea how much one would actually cost.
Xu Yi had bit on his own tongue just so that he would not blurt out the words, “I’ll trade you for that”.
Xu Yi stepped through the passage way absentmindedly. The black robe was already returned, and the Dragon Alligator hide was in his pocket. By right, he had definitely gained a lot today at Linglong Hall, but in his mind, the notion that he had lost something great was to heavy to dismiss.
“Sir, you had me waiting. So how was it? Linglong Hall’s auctions are quite something, right? What did you manage to get, sir?”
As Xu Yi’s mind was wandering, Yuan Qinghua popped out of nowhere.