Nine Astra Skies

Chapter 217: Dead Tree

Three beautiful women came in carrying a huge tray.

The auctioneer uncovered the red cloth on the tray. On the tray was a piece of dead wood the size of a millstone.

Boos erupted in the auction house. Even a dead tree was brought up for auction.

“Everyone, please be calm and listen to me slowly. This dead tree was discovered by a herbalist in the deep mountains and forests. We don’t know what kind of wood it is, and so far, no appraiser has identified it. This dead wood has amazing weight. A small piece like this already weighs around two hundred kilograms. So far, no purpose for it has been found but there have been slight fluctuations of Wood-type Celestial Chi detected in the wood which is equal to the amplification of an ordinary wood spirit crystal. It will be helpful to the cultivation of wood-type techniques,” the auctioneer explained, “The starting price for this item is five hundred Chi-amassing Pills.”

The hall remained silent. This piece of wood was only equivalent to the amplification of an ordinary wood spirit crystal and an ordinary wood spirit crystal was only sold for two hundred Chi-amassing Pills. Was it not too expensive for this useless piece of wood to sell for five hundred Chi-amassing Pills? Most likely, the auction house also knew that the greatest value of this piece of wood did not lie in its amplification effect, but the fact that it had not been identified thus far. There were still many rich people who liked to collect strange things, although they might just toss it into the warehouse and not give it a second glance after buying it.

A mysterious piece of wood with unknown uses. Ye Chen’s Astral Body moved and swept toward the wood. This piece of wood was like any ordinary wood but it seemed to have been broken by external forces and not by rot and decay. There were also charred traces on its exterior as if burned by a fire.

When Ye Chen’s Astral Body swept over the wood, he did not encounter the Celestial Beast’s Psyche. Perhaps the other party had already left.

Ye Chen’s mind relaxed deeply. He carefully observed the dead wood. Some Wood-type Celestial Chi seeped from the wood but it was not much. He tried to explore the inside of the dead wood with his Astral Body but was surprised that he could not!

Ye Chen’s Astral Body could not enter it!

Just what was the structure of this piece of wood?

After all, the Astral Body was formless!

It was different from Lake Nekros. Ye Chen’s Astral Body could enter the waters of Lake Nekros but as the water would burn and corrode his Astral Body, his Astral Body did not dare to enter. It was still possible to force it in, but he would just end up hurting himself. However, this time, Ye Chen’s Astral Body was completely unable to enter this piece of wood!

There were countless rare treasures between heaven and earth. Ye Chen immediately decided that no matter how expensive it was, he would obtain this piece of wood! As for what use this wood was for, he would put that aside for now.

“Five hundred Chi-amassing Pills.” Someone finally offered. It was from the person in Honored Room Three.

“Six hundred Chi-amassing Pills.”

“Eight hundred!”

Prices began to soar. Most of the people in the hall did not bid for the wood, but there were also around twenty to thirty people who were interested. The price of the dead wood rose to about three thousand Chi-amassing Pills.

“Four thousand.”

“Five thousand.”

“Six thousand.”

One bid after another. As the price of the dead wood gradually rose, more people withdrew from the competition. When Ye Chen raised the price to twenty thousand Chi-amassing Pills, no one continued to compete with him anymore. For most people, twenty thousand Chi-amassing Pills was a large amount. Even some aristocratic families would have to consider whether it was worth buying back a piece of dead wood at such a price.

After a while, the auctioneer attendant brought the dead wood to Ye Chen to complete the deal.

Great Emperor Mingwu and Master Apothecary Xuanyi were slightly confused. There had been several good items but Ye Chen had not reacted at all. However, he bought a black jadeite rough stone at an exorbitant price and now, he inexplicably bought a piece of rotten wood. It was puzzling. In their eyes, they could not tell what this piece of dead wood was for.

This piece of wood was indeed very heavy. It was comparable to Xuan-iron. Ye Chen placed the dead wood on the table and looked at it. From its appearance, it was no different from ordinary wood. It was just that it subtly exuded a little Wood-type Celestial Chi, similar to an ordinary wood spirit crystal.

“This piece of wood really is strange but it’s only a little strange. Its effects aren’t as good as an ordinary wood spirit crystal.” Great Emperor Mingwu felt the Celestial Chi seeping out from this piece of wood.

Ye Chen pondered for a moment before using the Greenwood Technique in his body. Celestial Chi seeped from his palm and just as Ye Chen was about to touch the dead wood, a huge suction force emerged from the wood and firmly sucked Ye Chen’s palm above it. The Wood-type Celestial Chi in his body quickly flowed into the wood from his palm.

Ye Chen jolted in fright and hurriedly stopped using Wood-type Celestial Chi. The suction on the dead wood also weakened and released his hand, and Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief. This piece of wood could absorb Wood-type Celestial Chi!

For some reason, Ye Chen felt a trace of vitality from this withered wood. He looked at Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu, but they did not seem to have seen him. They had already lost interest in this piece of wood.

Ye Chen thought in his heart that this was not the right place and kept the piece of wood away for now. He would wait until the time was right to study it. For now, he placed the dead wood into the armguard space.

Ye Chen did not participate in the following auctions, but Ye Changxuan in Honored Room Three bid from time to time and bought dozens of items that could be used to enhance the strength of the Ye Clan.

In the afternoon, the auction house arranged for Ye Chen and the others to stay in an inn near the auction house.

Ye Chen and Little Tanuki stayed in a spacious and extremely luxurious room with all kinds of decorations. Little Wingsy and Little Squido stayed in one room, and Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu stayed in one room each.

Ye Chen felt that there were quite a number of masters living in this inn. There were Heavenly Venerable Ones, Mystique Venerable Ones, and even two Mystique Adept Rank Psyches.

Using his Astral Body to do a sweep, Ye Chen did not find that Celestial Beast Daemon King. The two Mystique Adept Rank Celestial Beasts got frightened and did not dare to move.

“Little Tanuki, today’s harvest is good. I got a piece of soul jade, and this piece of wood is also somewhat mysterious.” Ye Chen took out the black jadeite rough stone and the dead wood.

Little Tanuki was also curious and jumped onto the table, and started to fiddle with the two items.

Ye Chen picked up the black jadeite rough stone, and with a low grunt, slapped his palm down at it. The black jadeite rough stone was crushed to pieces, revealing a pigeon-egg sized soul jade that released a faint black luster. “It’s a shame that it’s a little small. It’ll be a good idea to make a pendant for you but I don’t know how to carve.”

Ye Chen put the soul jade on the table. Little Tanuki stood beside the soul jade and opened her mouth, and slowly spit out the Illusory Pearl. The luminous Illusory Pearl slowly flew above the soul jade and a faint white light poured down and enveloped the soul jade. The soul jade then started to vibrate and made a buzzing warbling sound, and released a dazzling brilliant light. Then, with a whoosh, the soul jade disappeared in the light and Little Tanuki swallowed the Illusory Pearl again.

“Little Tanuki, you’ve taken away the soul jade?” Ye Chen asked in surprise. The Illusory Pearl was amazing. It could even store items.

“Mm.” Little Tanuki smiled and nodded. The Illusory Pearl was very useful.

“Do you want me to give you this piece of soul jade as well?” Ye Chen asked. He still had the Mitama Bracelet with him.

Little Tanuki shook her head. One piece of soul jade was enough for her.

Ye Chen felt that the soul jade might be more useful to Little Tanuki and wanted to give her the Mitama Bracelet but she insisted on rejecting it. Since Little Tanuki did not need it, Ye Chen dropped it. His eyes fell on the dead wood. He guessed in his heart and wondered if he could verify his idea.

Ye Chen urged the Flying Dagger in his mind and used the Greenwood Technique. His body was soon filled with Wood-type Celestial Chi. Ye Chen carefully pressed his right hand on the dead wood and it instantly sucked his hand. Wood-type Celestial Chi surged out of his body and was absorbed into the dead wood.

So fast!

Ye Chen was slightly shocked. If an ordinary person had their Celestial Chi absorbed by a foreign object at such a speed, it might cause serious damage to their bodies.

Fortunately, the Flying Dagger in Ye Chen’s body provided Celestial Chi. Surging Celestial Chi poured out continuously, allowing the lost Celestial Chi to be quickly replenished.

What Ye Chen did not know was that ordinary people’s Celestial Chi would not trigger any reaction from the dead wood. Before him, many masters had cultivated Wood-type Celestial Chi beside this dead wood but it did not cause such an abnormal reaction. Ye Chen’s Wood-type Celestial Chi was at a completely different level than those masters’. The Celestial Chi in the Flying Dagger was a pure source of energy!

More than half an hour later, the dead wood was still absorbing Wood-type Celestial Chi.

It was truly surprising that such a huge amount of Celestial Chi could not fill up this piece of dead wood.

Little Tanuki stared at it. She was also very curious about the origin of this piece of wood.

As his Celestial Chi was absorbed, Ye Chen’s heart suddenly felt a mysterious feeling. The dead wood under his palm seemed to have a strong vitality!

A branch of the dead wood began to grow a little bud, making this dark wood a little greener.

Ye Chen did not know what kind of tree this wood was from. It was not dead!

Ye Chen was extremely surprised. Little Tanuki also pawed at the little bud with an incredulous expression.

What kind of tree species had such strong vitality that it could grow even after being destroyed to this extent and had withered for such a long time?

This tree might still be alive since it had started to grow so Ye Chen had to find a place to plant it. He could not continue carrying it around everywhere and supply it with Wood-type Celestial Chi. A tree still needed soil, water, and sunlight to grow, right?

Where should Ye Chen plant it?