Realms In The Firmament

Things were already so intense, yet this man actually still kept trying to provoke Master Xiao, and it was becoming more and more undisguised.

He was apparently going to tease Master Xiao to the end of his life.

“That is typically how cultivators in the Limitless Ocean deal with these situations. If they have already offended somebody, they would just push it to the bottom line. Master Xiao is never going to let go of this anyway, so that man wouldn’t care about making things worse. It won’t go any worse anyway.”

The Dark Evil Spirit whispered to Ye Xiao through mind connection, telling everything he knew about the situation.

“Hmm.” Ye Xiao just nodded.

“Lunatic! There is a question for you! I don’t care how you raise the price and humiliate me with it, but I wonder whether you can actually afford the number you shouted out just now! If you don’t have that much money, then you have done it with intent to deceive! Well, the Brotherhood Alliance’s salesroom will have to give me a good explanation.” Master Xiao humphed, and then gazed at that man with his cold eyes.

That man raged up abruptly and shouted angrily. “How audacious! A disrespectful man who plays songs… What did you just say? Did you say I am a plant of the Brotherhood Alliance?”

“I did not say that! I just asked the host to hold justice!” Master Xiao was extremely angry, but he was rational. That man’s provoking words didn’t drive him out of his wits yet.

That man was actually that cunning. He was trying to get the Brotherhood Alliance involved, and put Master Xiao on the opposite to the Brotherhood Alliance!

“Master Xiao, you are a famous person. I must admit it. I won’t say a word if you just point up at me, but the Brotherhood Alliance? How could you accuse the Brotherhood Alliance for that?”

The man looked pretty angry, and said, “How can you bring such a false charge against the Brotherhood Alliance? What do you want? Is the Brotherhood Alliance an organization that would plant their own people in their auction? They got all these rare metals from their client, and they didn’t take them by force. Instead, they chose to give everybody in the City of Chaos a chance to get them. They are trying all they can to make this fair to us. What you said, you said it to insult the Brotherhood Alliance! No matter how famous you are, no matter how many fanboys you have in the world, no matter how good at blowing you are, you can’t just twist the truth!”

“If I were a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, I wouldn’t endure such humiliation.”

He sounded so righteous and indignant, but he was obviously trying to sow discord between the two sides. It couldn’t be more obvious.

The auctioneer on the stage, who was a member of the Brotherhood Alliance didn’t buy it. He said, “My honest guest, could you please show your property certificate? It should prove you clean.”

The host of the auction had the right to ask the bidder to show the property certificate. However, they wouldn’t do it unless they had to. In most of the situations, the owner of the auction would check the certificate privately. After all, it was quite right not to expose one’s true wealth to the public.

However, the auctioneer asked that man for the certificate, so he had overstepped his authority. He was apparently on Master Xiao’s side.

That man laughed and said, “I am just an itinerant cultivator. I don’t have as much money as Master Xiao. He can casually take out one hundred thousand purple spirit coins after all. However, I do want to get the Feather Bronze. I said I would pay seventy-six thousand purple spirit coins, and I am able to pay the price I said.”

After that, he took out a space ring.

Suddenly, he waved his hand, and all the purple spirit coins in his space ring flew up to the sky in lines.

That was such a huge amount of coins covering the ceiling of the entire auction hall.

The purple qi had filled up the space inside the hall.

People appeared in this auction all had a pair of sharp eyes. Even if the coins were disorderly flying in the air, people could still count it clearly. Now the purple spirit coins were all tidily in lines after all.

“Eighty thousand! There are eighty thousand purple spirit coins!”

Somebody shouted.

The others all agreed.

That man did prepare enough money for the metal. He did want to purchase the Feather Bronze. If Master Xiao didn’t call a hundred thousand purple spirit coins, the man would have obtained the Feather Bronze with enough money.

“Ah. Eighty thousand purple spirit coins are all I have. It is my life savings. I thought I could get the rare metal I wanted with my money… Well… What a shame…”

He sounded so frustrated because he lost it in the competition. However, he was also immensely proud of himself. Everybody could see it. He waved one hand again, and all the spiritual coins in the air were taken away. He started to mutter again in a low voice. “I was wrong. I should just raise the number to eighty thousand, and show everybody the highest price I can afford, then you will only have to pay eighty-one thousand. Eighty-one thousand, and you will have the Feather Bronze. What a pity, you are too impatient, Master Xiao. Now it has cost you twenty thousand more. I must feel sorry for you.”

When he said these words, he was still pretty irritating, but not as terrible as earlier.

However, it didn’t last long. When he spoke out more afterward, the nasty words appeared again. “Well, I understand. The Feather Bronze is my favorite, and it is your favorite too. I heard that the Feather Bronze is the main material for your vertical bamboo flute? I can understand that… You play a vertical bamboo flute. You are an expert. You blow it all the time. You don’t care about anything else. You aren’t good at anything else either. All you care about is how much it gets from your mouth. I can understand it.”

The ambiguous words made the crowd laugh again.

“Hah hah hah…” People kept laughing. “Hah hah hah…”

They were truly amused by this talkative man.

People used to say that cultivators in the City of Chaos were all disrespectful itinerant cultivators. When they saw those who were always in a higher position in the world got humiliated, they felt good!

Master Xiao was almost freaking out at the moment. He really wanted to just leave this place, but he needed the Feather Bronze so much. Besides, the Brocade Steel was coming next. It concerned his future in the martial world, and he couldn’t give up on his future just because of some disrespectful men.

All he did was to swallow the grudge in silence.

“You have talked so much, my friend. Would you mind to tell me one more thing? What is your name?” Master Xiao scarily said.

He sounded full of murderous intent—cold and terrifying.

Everybody knew what that meant.

“Well, it seems Master Xiao is not going to forget about me… Why do you want to know my name? Are you going to say my name when you blow your thing? Will you miss me? Won’t you upset your audience?” The man laughed and said loudly, “An honorable man never hides his name! I am Bu Xiangfeng! People call me the Farewell Sword!

“Master Xiao, you play with your flute, I play with my sword in hand. If you want to find me, in the Limitless Ocean or anywhere else, wherever you want, I will be there. You won’t regret it!”

Then he laughed loudly and sat down.

However, the entire place fell into a weird silence.

The Farewell Sword, Bu Xiangfeng.

He was one of the most powerful itinerant cultivators in the Limitless Ocean, the Number Three in the Itinerant Cultivator Power Ranking List!

Farewell to farewell, leaving the living land for the nether world.

To see the Farewell Sword rise, to never return again.

The Farewell Sword, Bu Xiangfeng.

The third most powerful cultivator in the Itinerant Cultivator Power Ranking List; the number ninety-seven in the Hongchen Ranking List!

In fact, the number three in the Itinerant Cultivator Power was not as valuable as the number ninety-seven in the Hongchen Ranking List.

The Hongchen Ranking List included all superior cultivators in the entire Human Realm Upon Heavens. Bu Xiangfeng was one of the first one hundred, which meant he was pretty powerful. He was powerful enough to influence the world as one of the top-class superior cultivators of the Human Realm Upon Heavens!

Xiao Monarch fiercely nodded and muttered, “I am wondering who you are, and it turns out you are the Farewell Sword… I will see you again. We will meet again someday.”

Bu Xiangfeng sat on the chair and blandly said, “Someday or a sexual day, I don’t care. This isn’t the end of today yet. You want the Brocade Steel, and I want it too. You should better have more than eighty thousand purple spirit coins left for the second metal, or you will be fairly disappointed.”

Master Xiao nearly spat out a mouthful of blood when he heard the man.

He had ignored the sexual day thing, but still got shocked by what Bu Xiangfeng said afterward!

The Feather Bronze and the Brocade Steel were both what Master Xiao needed. As Master Xiao planned, he should have spent about forty thousand purple spirit coins or less to get each of the two metals. According to the record of the highest price of rare metals in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, forty thousand purple spirit coins was already an unreasonably high price.

Master Xiao thought that he could get both the Feather Bronze and the Brocade Steel, even some other rare metal with a hundred thousand purple spirit coins!

However, the truth had pushed him to cruelty. Because of Bu Xiangfeng, the hammer price was almost three times as he expected. He had already used up the one hundred thousand purple spirit coins only for the first rare metal, the Feather Bronze!

Master Xiao was rich, and he always got what he wanted, but this was too much for him!

‘Listen to that bumpkin… Is he going to spend all the eighty thousand purple spirit coins for the Brocade Steel? Doesn’t it mean that I have to take out at least eighty thousand?’

‘He only brought eighty thousand purple spirit coins with him…’

‘Do I have to spend at least one hundred and eighty thousand purple spirit coins for these two pieces of rare metal?’

‘Am I going to spend at least that much?’

Master Xiao sat down angrily, and he did not dare to continue the conflict.

There were two reasons that he had to step back. First, he was never going to win if he kept playing the talkative game. Second, he was not sure if Bu Xiangfeng only got eighty thousand purple spirit coins. It was possible that he actually had more than eighty thousand, wasn’t it?

‘Maybe he does only have eighty thousand purple spirit coins, but he is one of the one hundred most powerful superior cultivators in the world, which means he absolutely has something valuable with him. Perhaps, he will take out something valuable to raise the price so as to go against me. I have to get the Brocade Steel, and they all know I can’t give up. I should take a step backward and try not to get into a bigger trouble!’

What got on the stage next to the first rare metal were some ordinary things, so the bidder’s block calmed down. All the auction houses played the same trick. They would love to see the bidder’s block in heat, but they would make them calm down first before the next wave of heat hit the stage!

After the bidding and calling for a few rounds, it was time to bring up the second rare metal, the Brocade Steel.

The Farewell Sword did not go against his own words. He stood up and kept raising up the price.

The number was rocketing.

Master Xiao was so angry that he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

However, all he could do was to keep following the price and raising it up too.

The reason was simple.

The situation was clear. He and Bu Xiangfeng were the only competitors for the second rare metal.

If he didn’t bid, it would be too late to do anything when the hammer hit the table.

He would never want the Farewell Sword to have the rare metal…

The Farewell Sword was now his enemy, so he would rather throw the Brocade Steel into the toilet than give it to the Farewell Sword…

“Luckily, he only has eighty thousand purple spirit coins. He doesn’t have more money now.” Master Xiao tried to comfort himself because he really didn’t want Bu Xiangfeng to win the competition.

“Eighty thousand purple spirit coins!” The Farewell Sword—Bu Xiangfeng finally spoke the highest number.

“Eighty-one thousand.” Master Xiao casually said, with a smile on his face. It seemed he was going to get it.

The next moment, the Farewell Sword Bu Xiangfeng showed a weird smile, and then took out a jade box from his pocket. He blandly said, “Master Xiao, you are against me, just as I expected. I think you have to get this thing, so as to get back at me. Since you have clearly shown your heart to me, I won’t let you down. The Brocade Steel is the most important material to enhance my sword. I don’t have enough money to make another bid now, but I would love to exchange this for more money. In this jade box, there is a Destiny Golden Lotus. With this lotus, one will be able to borrow a life from the heavens. I would love to sell it for thirty thousand purple spirit coins. I am asking the Brotherhood Alliance’s salesroom to take it. The auctioneer stood for Master Xiao and asked me to prove myself, and I think they will accept my lotus.”

Master Xiao was shocked. It was just the worst situation he ever thought of.

Bu Xiangfeng was one of the top-class superior cultivators, so he surely had something that was extremely valuable.

One Destiny Golden Lotus gave a man one more life.

No matter how bad one was wounded, the lotus could heal it instantly.

That was an extremely precious treasure.

The problem was that the Destiny Golden Lotus was apparently much more valuable than the Brocade Steel!

Was he going to pay eighty thousand purple spirit coins plus something that was much more valuable than the Brocade Steel?

Was he really going to give up so much for it?

Did he really dare to give up that much?

The elders of the Brotherhood Alliance’s salesroom had been hiding behind the stage. When they heard that a Destiny Golden Lotus appeared, they all showed up and checked the treasure. After that, they came to a conclusion. “The Destiny Golden Lotus is a fully grown lotus, which is worthy of over fifty thousand purple spirit coins… We will accept it for thirty thousand purple spirit coins. It is done.”

Bu Xiangfeng nodded and looked at Master Xiao. He casually said, “Master Xiao, I say one hundred and ten thousand purple spirit coins.”

Master Xiao’s entire face turned green.

He had thought that the man might take out something valuable, but he never thought that he would actually give up so much for it. That was too serious a game to play!

A Destiny Golden Lotus, which should be worthy of fifty thousand purple spirit coins, was sold for thirty thousand instead. That made it one hundred and ten thousand purple spirit coins for Bu Xiangfeng. That metal block should only worth about thirty thousand purple spirit coins in the market! ‘He is definitely challenging me!’

‘If I didn’t get the Feather Bronze, I may give in to a man like that. I already have the Feather Bronze, and it will take me to the final step if I can get the Brocade Steel as well. The Cosmos Iron is another rare metal, but it is easier to find than these two metals.’

‘I can’t give up now!’

‘I just can’t understand… Why is Bu Xiangfeng so confident. He keeps raising the price.’

‘I guess I have to pay quite much as he expected today to get the Brocade Steel.’

That moment, Master Xiao hated the Farewell Sword to the extreme!

“One hundred and eleven thousand purple spirit coins from me!” Master Xiao gritted his teeth, growled in a deep voice—with his bloodshot eyes.

Bu Xiangfeng looked pretty angry as well. Suddenly, he smiled coldly and reached his hand into his pocket again…

Master Xiao stared at him in shock.

‘Holy hell! Is he going to take out another treasure for this?’

‘If this keeps going, and he keeps doing this against me, I will be forced to give up.’

Everybody was waiting for Bu Xiangfeng, waiting to see what he was going to take out next. Even the auctioneer was shocked and forgot to call once and twice. However, unexpectedly, Bu Xiangfeng hesitated with his hand in his pocket, and he said, “It seems Master Xiao is giving up everything for this lot. One piece of Brocade Steel, I can’t believe I am not going to get it even with one hundred and ten thousand purple spirit coins!”

He muttered, shaking his head and making a long sigh, eventually said in frustration, “Master Xiao, you are so unbelievably rich as a man who plays songs for a living. I, as an itinerant cultivator, do not match the game! You win! The Brocade Steel belongs to you! What is wrong with this world? Please don’t tell me that people like that become the ruler of the world!”

As he muttered, he slowly sat down. Afterward, sitting on his seat, he continued talking with a low voice, but he made sure everybody in the salesroom heard it. “Oh, my heavens… This is unforgettable. That is such a rich man. He actually spent over one hundred and ten thousand purple spirit coins for something worth less than thirty thousand! We itinerant cultivators are so poor… Money comes fast for the man who plays his flute… What is wrong with this world? Please don’t tell me that people like that become the ruler of the world!”

People in the salesroom were all shocked, and then they all knew what he meant. It seemed he was indicating that Master Xiao earned his money for selling sex!

“Puff!”

Master Xiao’s face turned red and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Well, he tried not to really spat out blood, but he was truly hurt inside because of the extreme anger.

“Bu Xiangfeng! You will remember me! You will regret this!”

Master Xiao gritted his teeth.

Bu Xiangfeng looked at Master Xiao and pretended to be surprised. “Master Xiao, what is wrong with you? How can you do this to me? I was so confident about the two rare metals, and you took both of them with your incredible money… How can you still stare at me with anger? Where is justice?! People say that women in bed pretended to care, while men on stage only pretended to have feelings… Master Xiao, you are both… I mean you are neither… Come on, you can’t bully me like this! I already gave up! What do you want? Do you want me to do that or do this? Or are you going to do this or that? I am not a brave man! I have given you my word! We can find another day to do that thing… What? Do you want me to have you now?”

The crowd was in chaos. No matter how Bu Xiangfeng pretended to be innocent, people knew he was pretending. What a contemptible man! Nobody could endure such humiliation!

However, it was surprising to everybody else that Master Xiao became calm and cold again. He said in a deep voice, “I said, one hundred and eleven thousand! Auctioneer!”

Master Xiao knew that it was done, and he won. The more he talked to Bu Xiangfeng, the more he got humiliated, so he wanted to end this as soon as he could. As he held down the anger in his heart, he started to urge the auctioneer!”

The auctioneer only came back to himself and went on with the auction.

“The Brocade Steel! Master Xiao calls one hundred and eleven thousand purple spirit coins! One hundred and eleven thousand purple coins, once! Any more bid? Anybody else? This is such a piece of fantastic treasure that hasn’t appeared for a long time… One hundred and eleven thousand purple spirit coins, twice! Twice! The fabulous rare metal, Brocade Steel, you are going to need it… Anybody?”

Master Xiao had finally calmed down, but then he was provoked again. He wished he could slaughter the auctioneer right away and swallow him!

‘F*cking assh*le! Stop doing this now!’

‘What if another f*cking moron stands up and calls for a higher price… I don’t want to pay anymore…’

“One hundred and eleven thousand purple spirit coins…” The auctioneer raised his gavel high and stopped for a while before he finally hits it!

“Sold!”

As Master Xiao finally heard the word, he felt like it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. His back was drenched in sweats.

He finally got it.

He had finally done it, and he took a breath of relief.

What mattered to him now was the Cosmos Iron.

All Master Xiao wanted was to find a piece of Cosmos Iron as soon as he could and took it!

He just didn’t want to get it from another auction…

Even if he had to get it from an auction, he wished Bu Xiangfeng wouldn’t be there!

He just couldn’t take it anymore!

If he had to do this all over again when it got to the Cosmos Iron, he would immediately be broke…

“Farewell Sword Bu Xiangfeng, I won’t forget!” Master Xiao said, with his eyes full of vicious lights.

‘Nobody ever humiliated me as you did.’

‘For the first time of my life, I am this disgraced.’

‘I never get humiliated like this!’

‘I never get embarrassed like this!’

‘I will kill you.’

It seemed Bu Xiangfeng could hear what Master Xiao thought in his head, because he just coldly raised up his head, glanced at Master Xiao, and showed a sneering smile on his face.

‘That pretty boy who plays flute must be really pissed at the moment.’

‘He must be planning how to kill me.’

‘So what?’

‘I just do not like useless pretty boys like you.’

‘Oh. You are the great Master Xiao, so you can get the privilege?’

‘There is no such thing in the real world!’

‘In the Limitless Ocean, even the five sky kings have to take a role in a fair competition.’

‘You want to save some money, Master Xiao?’

‘I would make you spend more!’

‘I will push you to the last dime you can afford!’

‘Oh, you want to kill me? Come on! I will wait for you. Someday, we will meet again.’

‘I am definitely looking forward to it!’

After the two most important lots of the auction, everybody had enjoyed the show. Most of the time, Bu Xiangfeng and Master Xiao were the only bidders, but the others all enjoyed the conflict a lot.

They all felt like it was a lifetime experience that they would never want to miss.

It was so exciting!

They were even addicted to it! They actually wanted to watch such conflict to happen again!

…