Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

Magic treasures, curios… those were all secondary. The divine ability, [Starseizing Hand], was what would make Ning’s power rise the most! The peacock plumes… he absolutely had to have them!

“2.5 million kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. Any higher bids? Any higher?” The black-haired maiden, atop her cloud, called out in a high voice. The Fortunes Peaks were filled with a buzz of conversation, but not a single bid came out. Although Youngflame Xiushui’s face was quite ugly to behold, even he hesitated. As for Immortal Eastclown, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.

“If there are no higher bids, then this peacock plume will go to fellow Daoist Ji Ning!” The black-haired maiden made one final urging call to the crowd.





* * *





Book 11, Chapter 18 - The Princess Wishes to See Me?


After a long pause, during which the black-haired woman carefully looked at both Immortal Eastclown and Youngflame Xiushui, the woman called out loudly, “Done! 2.5 million kilograms. The peacock plumes go to fellow Daoist Ji Ning!” And with this declaration, the ownership of the peacock plumes was settled.

Youngflame Xiushui let out a single, long sigh.

Just now, he had been hesitating and considering to bid again, but in the end, his reason won out and held him back. The nearby Adept Woodpass gave him a glance, then picked up his goblet of wine and took a sip.

“Father, why didn’t you buy it?” Youngflame Jun couldn’t help but ask, “The peacock plumes would be of great service to you during your tribulation… and that Ji Ning was insisting on bidding straight against us. Whether for the sake of giving vent to our anger or for your tribulation, Father, you should’ve continued.”

“What do you know? 2.5 million kilograms? Do you even know how much that is?” Youngflame Xiushui stared at his son.

Youngflame Jun was stunned. His status in the clan could not be compared to Youngflame Nong’s; any amount of liquefied elemental essence above a million kilograms was already a vast, astronomical sum to him.

“With that much, I could just go ahead and buy an excellent Immortal-ranked magic treasure!” Youngflame Xiushui said, “There are many types of Immortal-ranked magic treasures that can be used for the tribulation; why should I completely focus my attentions on those peacock plumes? Paying more than 2.5 million kilograms isn’t worth it. That’s a sum of money that would have a major impact on my Immortal path; I can’t possibly make random, stupid bids just because I’m angry and want to give vent.”

Youngflame Jun nodded obediently.

“And this Ji Ning is an idiot as well.” Youngflame Xiushui turned to give him a cold look. “Even though he has the peacock plumes, he’s just a Wanxiang Adept. What’s the point of having them?”

“If we kill Ji Ning, then the peacock plumes will be ours,” Youngflame Jun said, a hint of desire in his eyes.

“And who would go do the killing?” Youngflame Xiushui shook his head. “This isn’t something for you to concern yourself over.”

……

“2.5 million kilograms.” Immortal Eastclown shook his head as well. “This young Wanxiang Adept is really quite crazy.”

……

“2.5 million kilograms. My little brother really is… formidable.” Princess Xiyue stared at the distant Ning, a smile on her face.

……

“Hmph. Acquiring the peacock plumes won’t do a damn thing for your power. After you leave the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, you die.” Immortal Floatcloud quietly drank his wine, watching from afar.

……

Ning, however, was extraordinarily excited. Success! He had acquired the peacock plumes! Immortal-ranked magic treasures? Curios? Those were all less than a dog’s fart in comparison. His Primaltwin only needed a large amount of flying swords, while his main body, as a Fiendgod Body Refiner, mainly needed divine abilities!

“With this thing, I won’t have to trouble myself at all regarding the completion of the second and third Cycles for my [Starseizing Hand].” Ning was absolutely delighted.

Time continued to flow on.

Because there were more than a thousand magic treasures up for sale, the entire Treasure Auction took up an entire day. Still, Ning left roughly six hours later, because during the sixth hour of the Treasure Auction, the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp came out for bidding.

Azuresilk Godfire Lamp, an Immortal-ranked magic treasure. This was a completed treasure!

It instantly aroused a storm of bidding. The Azuresilk Godfire Lamp was different from the peacock plumes; very few people needed the latter, but quite a few had a use for the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp. This was because it could nurture ‘skyfire’ to the first grade! Although each usage of the lamp consumed a large amount of resources that took a long period of time to replenish, after the replenishment, it could be used again.

This was an item that could be used over and over!

However, because the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp needed time to absorb elemental energy from the natural world and replenish its own energy, none of the major tribes would ever be worried about having ‘too many’ of the lamps on hand.

The reserve price was 1.5 million kilograms, but the price quickly skyrocketed! It rose all the way up to a price of 2.45 million kilograms before the bidding came to an end.

Immortal-ranked magic treasures of this level were, in the end, still fairly common. Thus, the price would settle down at a certain point. There was a limit to how much it could rise during an auction.

……

“He left?” Immortal Floatcloud immediately noticed when Ning began to prepare to leave. Frowning, he too began to leave.

Soon, Immortal Floatcloud arrived at the streets outside the Heavenly Treasures Mountain headquarters. It was early morning now. The Golden Crow had just risen into the skies, casting its light upon the world.

“Senior.” Immortal Floatcloud’s emergence caused the members of the Youngflame clan who were waiting outside to immediately move towards him.

“Ji Ning should be coming out soon. Go inside the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and keep an eye on him. Be ready to report as soon as he does.” Immortal Floatcloud gave them an order, then began to wait outside silently. He was waiting for the final battle he would experience in his life! In this battle, he would use all of the power available to him to kill a supremely talented Wanxiang Adept within the imperial capital of the Grand Xia.

……

“He’s leaving?” Princess Xiyue, upon seeing Ning prepare to leave, immediately rose to her feet. A hint of panic was in her eyes. She could feel her heartrate quickening, and she immediately said to the nearby Fairy Azurewillow, “Azurewillow, help me make some arrangements. I want to meet privately with Ji Ning.”

“Ji Ning?” Fairy Azurewillow was startled, but then she nodded. “I’ll go make the arrangements right now.”

“Thank you.” Earlier, when Princess Xiyue had been watching Ji Ning, she hadn’t felt that nervous. Now, however, as she thought about how they were about to meet, she immediately became incomparably nervous.

“Whew.” Princess Xiyue let out a long sigh, then said quietly to herself, “Little brother, we’re going to meet soon.”

Princess Xiyue began to withdraw from the event as well.

Actually, since the Treasure Auction would go on for a full day, over the course of it, quite a few people would withdraw.

Ning, after handing over his liquefied elemental essence, acquired his formation diagram and the peacock plumes.

“Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, in the future, if you have any more magic treasures you don’t want, you can deliver them here to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. It doesn’t matter if you decide to sell them to us or if you sell them at the Treasure Auction.” The white-robed woman, Soledust, laughed.

“Treasures don’t just fall out of nowhere from the sky,” Ning sighed. “I even had to hand over my Azuresilk Godfire Lamp to you.”

Soledust laughed, then withdrew.

Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing glanced towards the nearby violet-robed Yu Qi.