Ninth In the World

No one bid for the Zenith Divine Metal. Therefore, Di Jiu naturally obtained it.

The various powers and experts did not doubt Di Jiu’s words. Most of the cultivators assumed that Di Jiu was an Immortal Emperor who came from a distant land, for there was no way an ordinary cultivator would be so rich. The only question they had was how this Immortal Emperor had managed to obtain so many Liberal Points.

Xing Sui was very excited, as she loved bidders like Di Jiu, who would place astronomically high bids, the most. Such an act would both save time and let the auction house reap great profits.

“Congratulations to this generous guest for obtaining the top-notch blacksmithing Dharma treasure called Zenith Divine Metal. The next item up for auction was a body-tempering cultivation technique that contains a top-notch body nirvana technique. The starting bid for this body-tempering cultivation technique is 500,000 Liberal Points. Each incremental bid should be no lower than 10,000…”

When this price was mentioned, Di Jiu speechlessly discovered that no one placed a bid immediately. It took a few moments before someone increased the bid to 550,000 Liberal Points.

Everyone instinctively assumed that Di Jiu would increase the bid by several million again, as a result of the arrogant, filthy-rich demeanor he had exhibited. Furthermore, he had bid for the Time Crystal and the Zenith Divine Metal in a very unrestrained fashion. No one had expected that he would not bid this time.

After they confirmed that Di Jiu would not participate in the bidding, the price of the body-tempering cultivation technique started to soar rapidly. Its price quickly almost reached 1,000,000 Liberal Points, and it was eventually sold for 950,000 Liberal Points. Good body-tempering cultivation techniques were extremely rare and body-tempering cultivation techniques that facilitated the nirvana of the body were even rarer.

Based on the items being auctioned, everyone knew that the quality of this auction was very high.

Di Jiu did not take any action for a long time. He had already finished refining the Ultimate Cloud Auger, so he had no choice but to wait.

He planned to quickly purchase what he needed and hurriedly escape. He could only wait, however, as the item he wanted was still not out.

Just as Di Jiu started feeling anxious about when the Agama True Glazed Water would be auctioned, Xing Sui took out a tattered cloth of unknown age with an image of a map on it and said, “Everyone here is a powerful being of this galaxy. However, I believe that none of you would believe that you are invincible in this entire universe, which is also why possessing a good escape technique is of extreme importance. In my hand is an ancient map that seems to record a top-notch escape technique…”

For the second time, Xing Sui’s words caused an uproar. The Time Crystal previously might not have been something everyone coveted, but the same could not be said for a top-notch escape technique like this.

Everyone knew very well what a top-notch escape technique signified.

One might not be able to gain any insight if they had purchased the Time Crystal. However, this escape technique was a true treasure.

Xing Sui knew that the appearance of this item would cause an uproar, so she continued speaking with a smile on her face. “This top-notch escape technique is called the Spirit Immolation escape technique. Depending on the strength of the cultivator’s Spiritual Force, the distance one could flee would be three times the original distance when this escape technique is used… If anyone does not understand what this implies, let me explain. If your Spiritual Force is a level-one Immortal Force, after casting the Spirit Immolation escape technique, you could escape from even the Spiritual Force of a level-four Immortal Force expert…”

Numerous people inhaled sharply. Even Di Jiu was astounded.

This Spirit Immolation escape technique was frightening. It implied that, given his current level-six Immortal Force, if he was to cast this Spiritual Force escape technique, even an expert who possessed a level-nine Immortal Force would not be able to sense him. This was a powerful weapon for people who intended to escape.

The trip he had made for this auction was worthwhile, as many treasures had appeared.

While Di Jiu was thinking of obtaining this Spirit Immolation escape technique, even more people were thinking of preventing him from obtaining it.

Di Jiu had called himself an Immortal Emperor and was indeed wealthy and arrogant. However, his cultivation level was self-proclaimed. Before his true cultivation level could be confirmed, every Immortal Emperor present at this auction would want to kidnap a wealthy man like Di Jiu, especially Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty, who felt deep animosity for Di Jiu. If Di Jiu obtained this escape technique, he would probably learn it while the auction was still in progress.

“May I know what side-effects casting this escape technique has?” inquired someone.

No one would believe that there were no side-effects, given that this was a top-notch escape technique called Spirit Immolation escape technique. As the host of the auction, Xing Sui would naturally not actively mention this.

No one would dare to use this technique if using it once would result in the destruction of one’s Spiritual Sea. Should that happen, it would be no different from being killed.

Xing Sui’s smile did not fade as she said, “I truly don’t know what side-effects this escape technique has, as it is actually incomplete. One would need to research for a while after purchasing it. This is why its price is extremely low…”

The hall was filled with disappointment. It was no wonder that such an escape technique would be put up for auction, given its incomplete state.

When it came to top-notch escape techniques like this, there was almost zero possibility of recovery if they were incomplete.

“The starting bid for this escape technique is 500,000 Liberal Points. Each incremental bid should be no lower than 10,000. Let the bidding begin!” Xing Sui’s voice rang out.

There was no bid announced on the bidding panel even after a long moment. An escape technique was great to have, but it would be a waste of immortal crystals to purchase an incomplete escape technique.

This top-notch escape technique would allow its caster to escape from the scouting distance of an expert who possessed a Spiritual Force three levels higher than their own. Such an escape technique would usually have an astronomical price tag. 500,000 Liberal Points would most likely only be able to purchase a small portion of the technique itself.

However, there was a rule at top-notch, large-scale auctions like this: If no one bid after 30 seconds, an item would be considered abortive.

Just as Xing Sui thought that this item would become an abortive item, 510,000 Liberal Points suddenly appeared on the bidding panel.

“Someone bid 510,000 Liberal Points. Is there a higher bid?” Xing Sui was extremely pleased, as she did not wish to have any abortive items.

Di Jiu was the one who had bid 510,000 Liberal Points. He could repair and complete this escape technique, as he possessed the Ninth Dao Law.

At first, everyone thought the item would be sold for 510,000 Liberal Points. However, the bid soon jumped to 520,000 Liberal Points.

Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty had bid 520,000 Liberal Points before ordering the cultivator standing beside him, “Investigate immediately who the person who bid the 510,000 is.”

“Yes!” the cultivator said before he swiftly left.

Di Jiu quickly increased the bid to 1,000,000 Liberal Points without hesitation. Yue Wuliang did not give up either. Instead, he increased the bid to 1,010,000.

Many people were drawn to the competition between the two individuals over this incomplete escape technique. Logically speaking, such an escape technique should not be worth much. Hence, it was incomprehensible why the competition would become so heated.

Di Jiu sensed that something was amiss, for if someone truly wanted this escape technique, they would have bid without waiting for so long. However, they had only placed a bid after he had done so and used relentless bidding tactics.

10,000,000 Liberal Points! Di Jiu’s bid increased dramatically the moment he started suspecting that this bidding war was done with ill intentions.

Upon seeing this bid, almost everyone thought of the nameless Immortal Emperor who had ridiculed Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty previously. Only this person possessed such bidding vigor.

The results of the investigation had yet to come back, but Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty was certain that the fella who wanted this escape technique was the same fella who had seized the Time Crystal. Was this fella thinking of escaping by using the escape technique? Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty snorted and increased the bid to 11,000,000. He intended to infuriate the other party, even if he could not learn this incomplete escape technique.

Di Jiu frowned, as he knew that he was being targeted by someone who was definitely aware that he was the bidder. This person held a grudge against him, so the Immortal Emperor who had competed for the Time Crystal with him previously fit the bill quite well.

Xing Sui was so excited that her face had turned red. She did not expect that an incomplete escape technique would be bid for at the price of a complete escape technique. Furthermore, the bidding competition between the two parties was intense.

“100,000,000 Liberal Points.” Di Jiu increased the bid to 100,000,000 because this escape technique would be truly of extreme use to him.

The entire hall fell silent when they saw this bid. How rich exactly was this bidder?

Xing Sui was almost rendered mute. It was said that the highest bid at an auction like this was only 100,000,000 Liberal Points. Now, however, someone had bid 100,000,000 Liberal Points for an incomplete escape technique. This was a surreal situation.

What made it even more surreal was the fact that someone increased the bid immediately afterward to 110,000,000.

At the moment, she wisely remained silent. As the host of the auction, it was not required of her to constantly promote the items by exaggerating. It was evident that these two bidders were competing against each other and neither was willing to back down. She might ruin this atmosphere if she spoke, causing one of the two to stop bidding.

“Sect Master, the investigation results are out. The bidder is staying on the second floor in Unit E-307.” A cultivator trotted over.

While staring at the bid of 110,000,000, he wrote ‘200,000,000 Liberal Points’ calmly.

In his opinion, what he lacked were top-notch escape techniques like this, not Liberal Points.

Yue Wuliang sneered after confirming who he was up against. Without any hesitation, he bid 210,000,000 Liberal Points. He was certain that Di Jiu would instantly increase the bid to 300,000,000 Liberal Points.

It would be considered small revenge if he made the opponent pay 300,000,000 Liberal Points. He currently had a feeling that the opponent would not be weaker than him if they faced off publicly.

All cultivators participating in this auction were stunned that the price of an incomplete escape technique had soared to 201,000,000 Liberal Points. This was utter lunacy. In the history of the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City, no item had been sold at such a high price.

Di Jiu did not call for a higher bid, as he was certain that if he did so, the other party would not continue bidding. He was not a fool. He did not want to spend so many Liberal Points to purchase an escape technique. His opponent would just lie in the bed they had made themselves.

It was only after Di Jiu did not increase the bid for a long time that Xing Sui finally reacted. In an excited tone, she announced, “210,000,000 Liberal Points! This escape technique must surely be an ultimate treasure if two extinguished guests were able to identify it as a quality item. This is the highest ever bid at our auction house since it was first established. Is there a higher bid? 210,000,000 going once…”

Yue Wuliang’s heart sank and he had a bad foreboding when he heard Xing Sui start to call for the last three times. The opponent had yet to increase the bid. He was indeed an Immortal Emperor, but he did not possess a way to earn wealth like Di Jiu, nor did he possess several hundred millions of Liberal Points.