The Great Ruler

The sea of people gathered within the auction venue. The number of people was huge, but a respectful silence was still observed.

All of the people were staring at the stairway with passionate eyes. To be more precise, they were staring at the silver trays in the hands of the four beauties.

Spiritual energy runes were flashing on the trays, forming a light shield to isolate the spiritual energy fluctuation. This way, no one could sense it.

The middle-aged man, Han Fei, looked at their passionate eyes and smiled. He then said, “This is not a large-scale auction. However, these four items from the Ancient Celestial Palace Relics were carefully chosen for today. Now, we’ll begin with the first item…”

Han Fei swung his sleeves, and a young girl walked up with the tray. The spiritual light was glowing upon the tray. After the radiant glow slowly dissipated, the item finally revealed itself.

Numerous top powers cast their curious glances over it. It was a black pearl stone, with mottled traces, and an ancient aura exuded vaguely from within it, giving it a very mysterious and secretive vibe.

Mu Chen also stared hard at that black pearl stone, his eyes squinted in concentration. Then, a slit suddenly opened between his eyebrows, allowing him to observe the massive spiritual energy that was hidden within the pearl stone.

“What’s that?” asked Nine Nether. The pearl stone looked extremely ordinary to her.

“It’s a Quasi-Divine Artifact, and it’s pretty powerful.” The slit between Mu Chen’s brows disappeared as he was answering her.

Using the scanning power of his Exterminating Eye, Mu Chen was able to sense the massive power that was hidden within the pearl stone. The power was quite extraordinary among the Quasi-Divine Artifacts. In fact, it might even rival his Exterminating Eye!

Mu Chen could not help but be amazed, as the Ancient Celestial Palace was indeed an outstanding place. While Mu Chen was singing its praises to himself, a commotion began stirring up in the attic.

Although the majority of the people could not identify the power of this mysterious pearl stone, some still had the special ability to scan it. Hence, whisperings started spreading among the people. Eventually, the crowd became unsettled.

“Heh heh. Everyone, this thing is named the Shattering Sea Pearl. It was rumored that only those elites, who had made great contributions, could be rewarded with this item. It’s a Quasi-Divine Artifact, after all! Plus, it has the power to divide the sea! As such, even a Grade Nine Sovereign could not underestimate it,” said Han Fei, speaking from the stage.

The moment he spoke, the unsettled crowd grew even more excited. Countless pairs of passionate eyes were staring at the Quasi-Divine Artifact, as this item was a rarity! Moreover, the Shattering Sea Pearl was more powerful than any other Quasi-Divine Artifact!

“The bid for this item starts at 10 million units of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. Each bid should be no less than 1 million. Interested parties can start bidding now,” Han Fei smiled and said.

Once the 10 million price tag was announced, the crowd quieted down. After all, this amount was rather huge! If one had no backing from a top-notch force, no individual could afford such an amount of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid.

Even if they did have backing, most of the people would want to keep it for that support for the use of self-cultivation, as Sovereign Spiritual Liquid was an essential item during the cultivation process. This was because the speed of cultivation would be affected by any shortage of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid.

Even though most of the people shied away from the pricey bid, tons of top powers and Supreme Talents from various places were gathered in the West City, all of whom were well-prepared to pay such a high price.

“Eleven million!” A white-robed man yelled from the second level of the attic. His yell immediately drew jealous gazes and launched more whispering among the crowd.

“That’s the Young Pavilion Master from the Golden Jade Pavilion. I heard he’s now in the peak of Grade Seven Sovereign.”

“He’s so generous! I could sure use that to break through to Grade Seven or Eight Sovereign.”

The white-robed man was fanning his jade folding fan, while he looked at the envious gazes of the people. He was acting pretentiously, yet wore a vague, humble smile.

Then, another yell pierced the air, “12 million!”

The white-robed man seemed stunned and turned around. A middle-aged man with a hideous scar across his face was sitting in a corner. Apparently, he was another formidable character, as a wolf-like, ruthless radiance could be seen blinking in his eyes.

“Isn’t that the leader of the Celestial Wolf Lair in the Northwest? I’m surprised that he’s here…” an onlooker asked.

The crowd was full of excitement. Mu Chen was also watching the auction like a spectator, not a bidder.

Although the Shattering Sea Pearl was tempting, he did not want to participate in the auction. After all, he had the Exterminating Eye, and its power was no weaker than the pearl’s.

Hence, there was no need for him to vie for it, especially for that price! Even though Nine Nether Palace was much wealthy than it had been before, Tang Bing would still be furious if he just threw away such a great amount of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid!

In the blink of an eye, the price tag of the Shattering Sea Pearl quickly rose to 14 million. At this point, even the Young Pavilion Master of the Golden Jade Pavilion and the leader of the Celestial Wolf Lair could barely afford the price. They both realized this and looked hesitant.

“Sixteen million.” While the two were hesitating, their expressions changed when they heard the lazy voice make its bid.

They immediately lifted their heads and saw a laid-back look on the face of Xia Hong, the Fourth Prince of Great Xia Dynasty! When they saw Xia Hong, both of them continued to hesitate for a while, then they both finally sat down and gave up reluctantly. After all, they could not afford to mess with the Great Xia Dynasty, who were obviously much more wealthy!

After casting an indifferent glance at them, Xia Hong looked away and asked emotionlessly, “Is there anyone offering a higher price?”

Mockery filled his voice. Even though his attitude provoked some of the top powers, none of them made any sound, as 16 million in Sovereign Spiritual Liquid was equal to an entire year’s income for some of them!

Han Fei watched as the crowd grew silent. He then gave a smile and said, “Since no one else is bidding, the Shattering Sea Pearl will go to the Fourth Prince.”

He clapped his hands gently, and the young lady with the tray took the Shattering Sea Pearl and disappeared behind the stage. At the same time, a second young girl walked up.

Everyone sighed with regret, while watching the Shattering Sea Pearl be carried away. They turned their attention to the second silver tray.

The rest of the top powers were rubbing their palms. If the next item was something of interest, they were ready to vie for it!

Han Fei did not stall for too long, as he could feel the excitement in the air. He swung his sleeves and the spiritual glow dissipated, revealing the item on the second silver tray.

Mu Chen took a look at it from his lofty perch. His eyes and face showed some interest immediately.

The second item was an ancient bronze scroll, which was a little torn-up. But, there was a vague yet unique fluctuation coming from it. Mu Chen determined that this must be a scroll from the Spiritual Diagram Array, meaning that it was at least at the Heavenly Grade level!

While Mu Chen was filled with interest, disappointed sounds were heard among the crowd. This was because the Spiritual Diagram Array was only useful when it was in the hands of a Spiritual Array Master. Apparently, the Spiritual Array Masters present were few and far between.

“Everyone, this scroll is called the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array. It is known to be of an Ancestral Master Rank,” Han Fei quickly said, since he had immediately noticed the lack of interest from the crowd.

Everyone was astonished after Han Fei said this, as they knew that a Spiritual Array Ancestral Master was the equivalent to an Earthly Sovereign. Thus, if a Spiritual Array were ranked at the Ancestral Master level, it would mean that it possessed a power similar to an Earthly Sovereign’s.

A Spiritual Array of such an impressive level had never existed among the top-notch forces in the Tianluo Continent. Everyone had to wonder how one could possibly be here!

Mu Chen was also a little stunned, frowning immediately. Given Mu Chen’s sharp eyes, he could tell that the bronze scroll did exude a special fluctuation, but it did not seem to be at the Ancestral Master Rank yet.

“Did you say that it was a Spiritual Diagram Array of Ancestral Master Rank?” After much observation, one of those spectators with sharp eyes finally voiced his doubt.

Han Fei coughed with a little embarrassment and said, “Indeed. If this was a complete Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array, then it would definitely be a Spiritual Diagram Array of Ancestral Master Rank.”

“Do you mean to say that this is an incomplete Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array?” The spectator was rather smart to have understood what Han Fei truly meant.

Han Fei gave a hollow laugh. “This Diagram Array is indeed incomplete. However, if anyone can display this array successfully, even the top powers at the peak of Grade Nine Sovereign would be in a sorry plight when facing you.”

“Boo..”.

The crowd booed him mercilessly after hearing the truth, and most of the people shook their heads. They were not Spiritual Array Masters, so they had no interest in spending a considerable amount of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid for a useless torn scroll!

Han Fei had no choice but to immediately continue the auction. “Then, we shall begin auctioning our second item, the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array. The bidding starts at 5 million.”

This amount of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid was much cheaper than the Shattering Sea Pearl, but surprisingly, no one bid. Some of the people, who looked like Spiritual Array Masters, were considering it, but no one knew if they could successfully comprehend the secret of this incomplete diagram array. If they failed to comprehend it, it would be useless.

With such thinking, the crowd was turned off immediately. Han Fei could not help but shake his head. He did know that it would be so difficult to auction off these four items!

Hence, after he pondered for a while, he was about to make another speech to pique the interest of the Spiritual Array Masters. However, before he could do so, a voice was suddenly heard in the vast attic.

“Six million!” the mystery voice shouted.

Han Fei was slightly stunned. He lifted his head and saw a young man with dark eyes looking back at him from the third story, a wide grin on his face.