Archfiend

Chapter 147: Core Formation Sets to Task (1)

It was different from the previous auction. This time, the entire auction floor was empty of clamor and absolutely silent, devoid of the cawing of both crow and peacock. The doors of the twelve pavilions had completely opened, yet what was inside couldn’t be seen clearly at all. Only layers of misty treasure light isolated spiritual sense and everything else.

“Fellow Daoists and ancestors.” Hundredtongues cleared his throat and forced down his excitement. This was an auction of all of China’s Core Formation cultivators! It was no exaggeration to say that it was the highest-ranking auction! If he could properly facilitate this transaction, his name of Hundredtongues would resonate through the entire auction industry!

“Now, the auction for the final five pills will be on its way.” He said brightly: “Through the course of our Golden Dipper Hall’s discussions, we’ve decided… that the first to be auctioned among the five pills will be the one and only Minister pill!”

Xu Yangyi smiled as he stood in a corner. Minister pill? He still had a few good pills in his hand. However, the rarer something was, the greater its value. On the contrary, if this one-time selling had ten Minister pills, it wouldn’t be as gorgeous. 

“Little child… don’t speak so much rubbish.” The wizened voice was heard again: “This old man has long since been waiting impatiently.”

“Yes.” Hundredtongues breathing was somewhat rushed. His hand gently beckoned, and the three-mark Minister Pill leaped vivid in his palm.

“Ancestors… please bid!”

The present venue was dead silent. It seemed like a tempest was on the cusp of arriving on the ocean surface. The face was tranquil, yet a heart-palpitating storm was hiding below! Oddly, the Core Formation ancestors surprisingly didn’t give voice!

“Fellow Daoists are you not moving into action?” After an unknown passage of time, gentle laughter rang out from a purple pavilion. It was the unregistered Core Formation master Yue Congrao: “In that case… it would be impolite for This Dao Master to refuse.” His voice not yet fallen, the entire room turned shining.

“Huff…” A Foundation Establishment cultivator gasped coldly and looked excitedly above. Over above, an expanse of pure and holy golden light sprinkled, akin to the black of night suddenly transforming into the light of day. A sun penetrated the roof and countless restrictions to spill downwards. It was a kind of comfortably warm sensation that caused coziness to fill the entire body, bringing him at this moment to almost overlook the immortal realm! 

A large golden hand, completely constituted from qi and a full ten-odd meters in radius, slowly bloomed in the sky, presented as a fist. It was like a unique immortal flower without match, a midnight orchid.

It could be said that time was slowed but swift, a transformation of barely several seconds. Immediately, the large hand completely opened, and in it was a small ebony sapling that swayed gently in the wind. Akin to stars, pearls of lights shed from the small tree. Its entire body was dark green and even the highest-quality icy jade was far inferior to the purity of its greeness, so verdant that it was transparent! But at a glance, it appeared that the bottom was simply unseen, like the soul would fall into it!

In the wake of this sapling’s appearance, the eyes of everyone on the floor brightened. The skin on their faces trembled so gently that it was visible like painted skin! [1] 

“This is Core Formation might…” An unknown number of people captivatingly looked at all before them like they were in the most luxurious 3D movie theater.

An old man stroked his uncontrollably jerking skin in astonishment: “That sapling… This is qi? Qi can actually prick our skin at Foundation Establishment?” 

“How plentiful is this qi to accomplish this?” 

“Maybe this isn’t a sapling… but a miniaturized ultra-grade spirit stone vein!”

“This is too terrifying… That qi is almost solidified. It’s like This Throne is sitting on pins and needles.”

“This thing…” All of a sudden, a somewhat surprised voice echoed on the floor. Like everyone awoke from a dream, they looked towards a yellow pavilion above.

Ancestor Titanspirit!

“A hundred twenty years ago…” Daomaster Titanspirit simply cared nothing for others’ astonishment. Like he was calling back on his memories, he said unhurriedly: “In the surroundings of Chichen Itza, This Dao Master, along with a hundred fifty late-stage Foundation Establishment under my sect, searched together for traces of Quetzalcoatl but obtained nothing. However, we discovered a seed suspected to have been watered by the blood of a god.” [2]  

He recounted this story blandly and ordinarily, yet it sent everyone on the floor who heard it, including Xu Yangyi, into racing thoughts and wild fascination. Chichen Itza… Quetzalcoatl… 

In the world… in those lost ancient ruins, could there truly exist the vestiges of gods? Quetzalcoatl of the Myriad Gods era. Could this god still be alive in the world? If not, why would a Core formation ancestor, a supreme lord of the world, crossover a thousand mountains and endless waters to Chichen Itza? As for Xu Yangyi… would he also have this day in the future?

Without anyone interrupting, Daomaster Titanspirit suddenly turned severe in speech and said coldly: “Yes, but when I took this seed, a dispute occurred with another Core Formation cultivator shrouded entirely in a blood mist. Oddly, this Fellow Daoist surprisingly used Chinese divine abilities. In particular, the move of a palm striking the heart is still fresh in my mind… Fellow Daoist…” His voice already carried a murderous will: That day, was it you?”

Yue Congrao’s voice laughed faintly: “Isn’t it nothing more than a heavenly oddity finding home with the fated?”

“Never mind it…” Even now, Daomaster Titanspirit’s voice was as cold as ice: “However… there was not only one opposing Core Formation master that day. I returned without achievement, but after investigating for a long time, I finally became certain of one thing…”

“Fellow Daoist… do you dare tell us in the presence of Daomaster Skybearer whether or not you joined hands with the Dracul Clan that day?”

“What?” “It’s actually them?” “Impossible…”

A youth looked in surprise at the continuously bestirred elders in his surroundings. He questioned softly: “Elder… this Dracul whatever… What is it?” 

“You are still too young…” The elder breathed in deeply and patted the youth’s shoulder: “Don’t tell me you believe that in today’s globalization, only our China has cultivators in that which is known as the modern Cultivation Civilization?”

“Just wait… Once you cross the doorstep of Foundation Establishment, you… will understand everything…”

“This is the name of the most tremendous foreign clan that you should remember… Their leading clan elder is known as Vlad Dracul… His sons are all named Vlad Tepes Dracul…” 

In the venue, Yue Congrao laughed grimly, saying nothing at all.

The present floor was stretch of deathly stillness. After ages, Daomaster Skybearer said indifferently: “Each world and each nation possess their own seal from ancient to modern times. Such as the Nine Regions Immortal Execution Array in China’s sky. This is no secret. So long as one treads into Foundation Establishment, all will be made aware.”

“If a country’s cultivators at Core Formation or above enter the boundary of another nation, they are bound to suffer weakness by a great formation. In the world, the current several strongest nation-protecting arrays are the Nine Regions Immortal Execution Array, India’s Grand Burning Heavens Array, and Greece’s Olympus Myriad Deities Array. All of them are like this. If it really was Fellow Daoist Yue that day, you surely chose to act together with a matching Core Formation cultivator of another nation. This in itself is not totally unpardonable.”

“Dao Master, are you not intending to investigate?” Titanspirit snorted coldly: “This is one of the world’s several archdevils, listed as wanted by the CSIB for a century! An astronomical bounty of 580 billion USD…” 

“Put an end to this.” Daomaster Skybearer said insipidly: “Proceed.”

Daomaster Titanspirit said no more, but everyone present, including Xu Yangyi, suddenly sensed… their blood rushed to the top of their heads in an instant! Their complexions had all started to redden! In a flash, it calmed down, yet in the next second, it charged up to the crowns of their heads again! Cycling like so! At the same time, the distinct sound of breathing resounded at everyone’s ear side!

This… is Daomaster Titanspirit’s breathing in extreme fury! Xu Yangyi stifled his feeling of vertigo and lifted his head in shock to look at Daomaster Titanspirit’s pavilion.

This was a Core Formation master. Merely breathing possessed a mortal effect towards low-level cultivators! After several seconds, this sound of breathing calmed. In the venue, it was unknown how many people were slick with cold sweat.

Yue Congrao’s voice had never changed and faintly laughed as before: “Fellow Daoist Titanspirit has already spoken quite detailedly on the origin of this tree. In the world, there is only this tree…”

The enormous golden hand faintly flickered, and immediately, of the several thousand green leaves on the sapling, a green leaf, the youngest of the young and only the size of an infant’s fingernail, slowly floated down in awesomeness.

“Quote a price.”

The present floor was silent for two seconds and then boiled over with a rumble!

“This… was truly bathed in a god’s blood? This is a massive destiny!” An aged cultivator nearly stood up. His eyes open wide and staring fixedly at the green fluttering leaf. He almost rushed forth and grabbed it in his hand, yet was contained by his barely remaining wisdom.

“Say no more…” Another middle-aged Foundation Establishment cultivator’s eyes burned with fire: “The qi nurtured within it can prick my skin even if it’s so distant! It’s obvious… Plain to see!”

In the end though, no one knew what it could be used for. However, just by attracting two of China’s Core Formation cultivators and a matching foreign Core Formation cultivator to jointly fight over it was sufficient to demonstrate its value!

Xu Yangyi moved a step forward. In this instant, he felt… a kind of intolerable fluctuation come from his dantian! It was… the silkworm.

At this moment, the ordinarily peaceful silkworm suddenly began to go berserk. It used its soft and plump body to forcefully knock against the qi cage Xu Yangyi had made for It within his dantian. Nonetheless, Its strength was too feeble, simply without slightest impact.

Xu Yangyi’s hanging gaze concealed the contemplation in his eyes. He wordlessly continued to sit in his seat.

Swoosh! The green leaf seemed to float forever, but in fact floated over the massive light screen. In a twinkling, several words on the light screen began to frantically pulse!

Xu Yangyi looked at the light screen, not batting an eye. Just now, Hundredtongues had explained to him that the color green represented a C-rank heavenly treasure. Blue represented B-rank and afterwards...

In his eyes, there was almost not a degree of pause! The green leaf had already flushed blue!

Purple! An A-rank spirit object! At this time, even Yue Congrao seemed to be dazed. He didn’t expect that a recently sprouted shoot would surprisingly attain the level of an A-rank spirit object! In the his pavilion, his gaze deeply studied the sapling on the palm. In that case… what was the rank of the whole body of the sapling?

Is it possible… Quetzalcoatl truly exists in the world? Or perhaps did exist? Is this tree—truly like the clue I found in that little village—actually watered with the blood of a god? In this world… I stand at the summit of Core Formation, yet there are still secrets I don’t know of? Maybe that’s to say… even Core Formation doesn’t have the adequate qualifications to explore it?

“Purple!”

“An A-rank spirit object!”

“My heavens! A single showing of the hand yields an A-rank spirit object! This is a Core Formation ancestors’ auction?”

“Hehe, because of this trip today, this life has not been in vain. A life worthy of living, heh…”

[1] Painted skin might be referring to/making a nod towards a few things. The first, painted skin like normal painted skin. The second: a reference to a movie called “Painted Skin” where a fox demon eats people’s hearts to maintain her “Painted Skin”. When the skin is exposed, the paint begins to flake. 

[2] Chichen Itza is a mayan cultural site in Mexico. Quetzalcoatl is a Mayan God. In Chinese, his name is literally “Feather Serpent God”.