Chapter 334: Twelve Days Later |
After silently and effortlessly resolving a crisis, Long Xuan took on the role of an insect armor craftsman, starting a business selling insect armor.
Undoubtedly, as the founding master of insect armor master, Long Xuan’s skills far surpassed those of Song Qian. Coupled with his boundless creativity and innovative ideas, the insect armor he designed was several levels higher in quality and utility compared to Song Qian’s work.
Once he took over the insect armor shop, business boomed. Orders poured in daily, leaving him overwhelmed but also earning him a fortune. His high-quality insect armors, crafted from cold iron, sold for incredibly high prices. Despite having hundreds of puppets working overnight to produce cold iron insect armor, the demand far outpaced the supply.
However, time was his biggest constraint. With only twelve days left before the city's grand auction, he didn’t have confidence that his current wealth could outbid the major clans at the auction.
Finally, gritting his teeth, Long Xuan decided to auction a heaven-defying item to resolve his financial issues. He understood the principle of keeping a low profile about his wealth. Fortunately, it was his clone that would participate, while his true body would avoid the auction entirely. The clone planned to bid on the Moon Tree and escape after tearing a teleportation talisman, so a bit of wealth exposure didn’t matter.
After much deliberation, Long Xuan decided to auction off a Heaven-Defying Pill. Since each person could only consume one, the additional pills he had were of no further use to him. Selling them wouldn’t cause him any heartache.
On the twelfth day, Long Xuan ordered his Fire Clone to disguise himself as a random stranger, covering his face and setting up layers of protection before heading to the auction house with the Heaven-Defying Pill.
To stay informed about the event, Long Xuan attached a strand of his soul to the clone, enabling him to observe the auction from a second perspective and keep track of developments.
As the auction was scheduled for noon, the sky was only just beginning to brighten. Most people were still asleep, and the area around the auction house was relatively quiet. Occasionally, individuals would enter the auction house to consign treasures. Like Long Xuan, they covered themselves completely, unwilling to reveal their identities.
Arriving at the auction house, Long Xuan looked up at the massive plaque that read "Qian Auction House" and felt a wave of nostalgia. It was a familiar sight. The omnipresent Qian Chamber of Commerce reminded him of the ninth son, who was once thoroughly defeated by the gambling god. That incident, where the ninth son lost all the treasures from one of the association’s branches, must have caused quite a stir within the Qian Clan. Long Xuan wondered about its outcome.
Adjusting the black robe wrapped around him, Long Xuan stepped into the Qian Auction House. He located the appraisal room and knocked on the door before pushing it open.
"Are you here for an appraisal or to consign a treasure?" an elderly man with gray hair asked as he raised his head.
The old man sat behind a desk, his aura revealing a Spiritual Sea Peak cultivation. On the table lay a Integrity Gu, staring intently at Long Xuan with scrutinizing eyes.
Long Xuan glared back at the Gu, walked forward, and imitated the voice of an old man. "I’m here to consign a pill. Please appraise it."
As he spoke, he took a pill bottle out of his storage ring and placed it on the table.
"This is…" The old man froze as he saw the radiant, multicolored pill inside the bottle.
A seasoned appraisal expert, he dealt with treasures daily and had seen countless rare items. Yet, this glowing, seven-colored pill was entirely unfamiliar to him—a rarity that left him both astonished and deeply intrigued.
Long Xuan remained silent, wanting to see if the Qian Chamber of Commerce could determine the Heaven-Defying Pill's effects without his explanation.
The old man, filled with curiosity, picked up the pill bottle, opened the lid, and poured the pill into his palm. Instantly, a rich medicinal fragrance filled the room. Breathing it in, his expression turned profoundly solemn.
His experienced eyes could sense the extraordinary nature of the pill, even without knowing its exact effects. The sheer aura suggested it was undeniably heaven-defying.
Excitement flashed in the old man’s eyes as his right eye turned golden. Activating the power of his Golden Eye, he sought to uncover the pill’s secrets. However, before long, blood began streaming from his golden eye.
Startled, Long Xuan watched as the old man leaped to his feet in shock.
"This… this…" The old man’s trembling finger pointed at the pill, his eyes filled with terror.
"This pill… it has triggered heavenly tribulation before, hasn’t it?!"
The old man widened his eyes as he stared at Long Xuan, his current expression exceedingly uncomposed.
This was none other than the legendary divine pill capable of summoning a Heavenly Tribulation. Such a pill had only ever existed in historical records; he had never seen one in his entire life. How could he not lose his composure?
This pill was a defiance of heaven itself, and only such an artifact could cause his Golden Eyes to suffer backlash. Even if the person opposite him hadn't mentioned it, he could already infer that this pill must have triggered a lightning tribulation.
Long Xuan glanced at the Integrity Gu sitting on the table, staring at him with wide eyes, but he did not directly answer the question.
"Can your Golden Eyes discern the effects of this pill?" Long Xuan countered with a question of his own.
"Of course. If the grade of this pill were even slightly higher, my Golden Eyes would be completely blinded and unable to perceive its effects."
"But this pill is a fourth-grade pill, effective only for Gu cultivators below the fourth rank. It just so happens to fall within the tolerance limits of my Golden Eyes."
"This pill truly lives up to its reputation as a tribulation-attracting item; its effects are indeed defiant of heaven."
The old man leaned forward, his face flushed, breathing heavily as he said, "The effect of this pill is to unconditionally raise a Gu cultivator's aptitude by two grades, isn't it?"
"That's not even the most heaven-defying aspect. Its greatest defiance lies in its ability to break through the limits, being effective even for geniuses with Heavenly-grade aptitude."
"Even the legendary Heaven-Mending Fruit, known to enhance aptitude, has negligible effects on Heavenly-grade geniuses. Yet this pill can break the upper limit of Heavenly-grade aptitude."
"If a genius with Heavenly-grade aptitude consumes this pill, their aptitude will elevate to the mythical Divine-grade. Just how heaven-defying is that?"
"No wonder this pill can summon a tribulation; its effects truly defy the heavens!"
At this moment, the old man’s eyes were red with excitement. He felt that witnessing a pill capable of summoning a Heavenly Tribulation in person made his life worthwhile.
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan was slightly shocked. He genuinely hadn't known that a genius with Heavenly-grade aptitude could be elevate to Divine-grade after consuming the Heaven-Defying Pill.
At the time, he had only considered himself and had never thought about how others might benefit from the Heaven-Defying Pill. This old man's understanding of the pill was actually deeper than that of Long Xuan, who had created the pill's recipe.
Without showing any emotion, Long Xuan said calmly, "The Golden Eyes truly live up to their reputation. Yes, this pill is called the Heaven-Defying Pill, and its effect is to unconditionally raise anyone's aptitude by two grades."
"I suppose this pill qualifies to be part of the auction, doesn’t it?"
"Qualifies? Qualifies?! This pill more than qualifies for the auction," the old man exclaimed excitedly, rubbing his hands together, his smile stretching from ear to ear. "Not only does this pill qualify, but it can also serve as the grand finale of the auction."
"With such a Heaven-Defying Pill, the final auction item must be rearranged."
"Wait a moment!" Long Xuan was startled. He hadn’t anticipated that his Heaven-Defying Pill could bump the finale auction item from its position. Alarmed, he quickly interjected:
"Did I hear you correctly? Are you saying my Heaven-Defying Pill can be the final auction item?"
"I’ve heard that the finale item of this auction is a Heavenly-grade spiritual herb called the Moon Tree."
"The Moon Tree is a twelfth-grade treasure, while the Heaven-Defying Pill is only a fourth-grade treasure. Are you sure the Heaven-Defying Pill qualifies as the finale item?"
The old man shook his head with a smile, saying, "You don’t understand. The value of a treasure isn’t measured solely by its grade but by its demand."
"Let me ask you this: if you were presented with a treasure that could make you immune to illusions and another that could raise your aptitude by two grades, which one would you choose?"
Hearing this, Long Xuan fell silent.
Without hesitation, he knew that if he had to choose between the two, he would undoubtedly pick the one that could enhance aptitude.
Aptitude determined cultivation speed. Faster cultivation meant reaching higher realms.
Cultivation was the ultimate pursuit; compared to that, immunity to illusions was trivial.
Predictably, if the auction offered both the Moon Tree and the Heaven-Defying Pill simultaneously, everyone would pool their resources to bid for the Heaven-Defying Pill, leaving the Moon Tree undesired.
This unexpected twist was far beyond his expectations. Long Xuan truly did not want the Heaven-Defying Pill to be the finale item.
The reason he was auctioning the Heaven-Defying Pill was to quickly gather enough spiritual stones to secure the Moon Tree with overwhelming financial power.
Since the Qian Auction House always conducted transactions on the spot, if the Heaven-Defying Pill was auctioned last, he wouldn’t have enough spiritual stones to compete for the Moon Tree.
Thus, Long Xuan quickly said, "There’s no need to be so troublesome. It’s unreasonable to arbitrarily change the finale item. My Heaven-Defying Pill should be auctioned in the second-to-last position."
Long Xuan’s voice was firm and left no room for argument.
The old man was momentarily stunned but quickly realized that this person probably intended to use the proceeds from auctioning the Heaven-Defying Pill to bid for the Moon Tree. Respecting this reasoning, he agreed.
"Very well! As you wish, the Heaven-Defying Pill will be auctioned second-to-last."
"Still, your Heaven-Defying Pill is the most valuable item among all the auction lots and qualifies you for the first VIP room."
"There’s still plenty of time before the auction begins. Would you prefer to return later, or would you like to wait in the first VIP room now?"
Long Xuan immediately replied, "I’ll wait in the first VIP room now. Please, lead the way!"
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