Desolate Era

“Fellow Daoists.” A loud laugh rang out as an azure-robed man with deer antlers on his head walked in.

“Brother Daoist Azuresky! I didn’t expect you to join this treasure auction.” Daolord Dracogod was the first to respond in a very warm fashion.

“Old brother Azuresky.” Daolord Badlands and his wife greeted him as well.

“Mm.” The antlered man smiled and nodded at Daolord Badlands and his wife, then glanced at Daolord Dracogod. Finally, he turned his gaze towards the white-robed woman. He smiled. “Thousand Shadows, I heard that you were the one responsible for escorting the treasures this time. My Azuresky Territory is pretty close to this place, so I came to come visit my old friends.”

“It has indeed been quite some time.” The white-robed female Daolord nodded slowly, a hint of a smile on her face.

This was the most powerful figure of the surrounding territories, Azuresky. Azuresky was another major power who was at the Verge of the Daomerge, but his Azuresky Sect didn’t have any powerful Daolords that could help assume the mantle of leadership. Given that he still had plenty of time left, Daolord Azuresky spent most of his time slowly accumulating more power and experience, planning on attempting the Daomerge sometime in the future.

Whoosh. A gust of wind blew past, materializing into a figure.

“Little sister Thousand Shadows.” A short old man dressed in short sleeves beamed merrily and called out at her.

“Big brother Waterwind.” The white-robed woman had acted in quite an aloof manner thus far, but she now hurriedly rose to her feet and walked over towards that short old man and grabbed his hand. “Big brother Waterwind, it’s almost impossible for me to find you. The only reason I accepted this mission to the Badlands Territory was because I thought I might be able to see you. And now, I really have!”

“Ahaha, your big brother just loves to go wandering around the world,” Waterwind laughed.

“Long time no see, Waterwind.” Daolord Badlands smiled as well.

“Badlands.” Waterwind nodded.

The Badlands Territory actually held four Daolords. However, most of them rarely showed their faces, and so most Elder Gods, Ancestral Immortals, and World-level figures only knew of Daolord Badlands. They didn’t know any of the others.

The four Daolords of the Badlands Territory were Daolord Badlands, his wife, Daolord Waterwind, and Daolord Cavefloat. Daolord Cavefloat was somewhat weak, while Waterwind was extremely lazy. Waterwind had no interest in setting up his own sect whatsoever, preferring to wander the primordial chaos by himself. In terms of strength, however, he was a formidable figure who was absolutely on par with Daolord Badlands himself.

Of the five Daolords on the top level, the strongest was Daolord Azuresky. Daolord Badlands and Daolord Waterwind were ranked second, while Daolord Thousand Shadows and Daolord Dracogod were even weaker. As for Daolord Badlands’ wife, she was the weakest one of them all.

Generally speaking, not many Daolords would be drawn to any given treasure auction; it was normal for four or five to attend at most. This was because these treasure auctions were mainly meant to let World-level experts have a chance to buy some fairly rare items. However, each treasure auction would also hold a few items that would make even Daolords feel envious, which was why they would often come and see if there was anything they fancied.

“Brother Daoist Azuresky.” Daolord Dracogod behaved in an extremely friendly manner, repeatedly referring to Azuresky as as ‘brother Daoist’. This caused Waterwind to purse his lips in disdain.

If Waterwind was a solitary man who wandered as he pleased, Dracogod was the exact opposite. He curried favor with everyone around him and enjoyed making friends with the most powerful Daolords he could find! Daolord Solesky and Daolord Azuresky both were at the Verge of the Daomerge and were extremely frightening figures of tremendous power.

If they failed their Daomerge, it was guaranteed that they would eventually perish. However, if they went berserk before they died, they would prove to be a terrifying foe for anyone to encounter. Who would dare antagonize someone who knew that death was coming no matter what? Not even ancient powers who had succeeded in their Daomerge and gained eternity would be willing to antagonize Daolords who had failed in their Daomerge.

Daolord Dracogod delighted in befriending the top-tier Daolords, doing everything in his power to curry favor with them. And as a result, he really did end up making quite a few friends. Generally speaking, no matter where he went, the other Daolords would give him some face. However, many solitary wanderers like Daolord Waterwind would feel very disdainful towards him.

“The treasure auction is beginning.” Daolord Thousand Shadows glanced downwards.

……

Ji Ning, Su Youji, and Wilddog peered out through their giant window towards the great hall below them. The hall didn’t look that large from the outside, but it was actually ten kilometers in size. Tens of thousands of cultivators were seated around the central auctioning platform. Most of the people present were World Gods and Chaos Immortals, with a few Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals present.

Even the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals who were allowed in had to have at least ten cubes of chaos nectar in wealth. The chairs were all seated a fair distance from each other as there was ten kilometers worth of space here. But of course, all of them had such perfect vision that they could see ants crawling on the ground from ten kilometers away with absolute clarity.

“Master, it has begun.” Su Youji hurriedly pointed downwards.

“Right.” Ning looked as well.

Three female Chaos Immortals dressed in marvelous floral robes walked out to the central auction platform. Their leader was a woman whose skin looked like it had been carved out of ice, and her eyes were a steely silver color. This silver-eyed woman stood there in the center, the other two standing by her side.

“Welcome, distinguished cultivators and guests from many different territories. I shall be the one in charge of this treasure auction.” The silver-eyed woman had a smile on her face. “I imagine all of you are tired of waiting, so I won’t waste any time. Let the auction begin! The rules to the auction are quite simple. Every single treasure will have a reserve price, and every bid has to be at least one cube of chaos nectar higher than the previous bid.”

“Alright. Let the first item be brought out.”

The silver-eyed woman waved her crystalline, frozen arm. Instantly, a dried yellow wooden slip appeared in her hands, then levitated into the air. It rose to a height of roughly thirty meters, so as to allow all of the cultivators a clear line of sight to it.

“This is a piece of Soulguide Wood.” The silver-eyed woman smiled. “Soulguide Wood. Once it is lit, it will completely ignite and transform into a certain type of smoke. If you completely inhale all of the smoke, you’ll enter a deep slumber for a thousand years. Any cultivators whose hearts have been cast into shadow due to some event will find the shadow to be dramatically weakened and no longer pose a threat to them.”

“Soulguide Wood has a reserve price of twelve cubes of chaos nectar. Let the auction begin!”

“Fifteen cubes! The first bidder was an Elder God whose eyes were filled with desire.”

“Sixteen cubes.” A gray-robed Chaos Immortal called out calmly from a different part of the hall. The Elder God immediately gritted his teeth helplessly. The reason why he had immediately increased the bid to fifteen cubes was because he wanted to scare off any bidders…but alas, everyone knew just how valuable Soulguide Wood was. How many Elder Gods could possibly win a bidding war against World-level figures?

“Seventeen cubes.”

“Eighteen cubes.”

Ning watched as the bidding proceeded, rather surprised. “Soulguide Wood? I didn’t expect the first treasure to be such a valuable one.”

When cultivators encountered certain types of setbacks, every so often a shadow would be cast over their heart. Sometimes, the shadow would be as strong as a demonheart curse. This would constantly disturb and nag at the cultivator, worrying away at him. Even if he was able to suppress it, he wouldn’t be able to be truly at peace when meditating on the Dao, making it much more difficult for him to grow more powerful. However, Soulguide Wood would send the cultivator into a thousand-year slumber. Upon awakening, the cultivator would feel as though the shadow cast over his heart was something that had happened long, long ago. He would barely be able to remember it.

This was quite a marvelous treasure. Although it was comparable in value to most Dao weapons, it was incredibly rare. Normally, if a person wished to purchase this item within the Palace Opulentia, the Palace Opulentia would charge an extortionate price to help them even locate the item. The price would start off at fifty cubes at least! Sometimes, even organizations like the Badlands Court would find it difficult to acquire, making it truly expensive to purchase.

However, the prices offered at these treasure auctions were much lower.

This was the reason why even Daolords would come and take a look. They wanted to see if they could pick up something cheap.

“Thirty-two cubes. Any higher bids?” The silver-eyed woman glanced at the surrounding cultivators. “Since there are no higher bids…” As she spoke, the Soulguide Wood slowly began to float downwards. When it landed in her hand, it represented this particular bidding cycle as having been completed.

The Soulguide Wood landed in her hands.

“Very well then. The Soulguide Wood is sold at thirty-two cubes,” the silver-eyed woman said. The woman behind her immediately walked forward, accepting the Soulguide Wood and then taking it off the auction platform. She walked to the Elder God who had placed the final bid of thirty-two cubes.

Soulguide Wood was something which many Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals were desperately in need of.

Generally speaking, the higher one’s level of insight into the Dao was, the more powerful their hearts were. It was very rare for World-level experts to have their hearts troubled by the demonheart, and even if they were the problem wouldn’t be resolvable through usage of Soulguide Wood. If they truly did wish to buy Soulguide Wood, they could just spend fifty cubes to buy it at a later point in time. It was slightly cheaper now, which was why the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals present were desperate to buy it.

Many of the World-level experts had merely watched. It wasn’t yet time for them to make bids.

As for Ning, he also just watched from the third floor as well. He had sold off quite a few treasures for the sake of this treasure auction, precisely because he was waiting for rare, powerful items he needed to show up!

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