Desolate Era

“Bloodfire Cloudfruit?” Su Youji was puzzled.

“Bloodfire Cloudfruit!” World God Pillsaint’s eyes bulged out as he called out in shock.

“You know of it?” Su Youji turned to look at World God Pillsaint.

World God Pillsaint hurriedly nodded, too excited to act smug. “That’s one hell of a treasure. It is a unique fruit which can only be formed under very special conditions. It has marvelous properties, and cultivators who walk the Dao of Fire all dream of possessing something like it. But of course, it wouldn’t work for you. You Ki Refiners are too physically weak; there’s no way your bodies could possibly withstand the enormous amounts of energy the Bloodfire Cloudfruit contains. Only Fiendgod Body Refiners are able to endure its energy, which they can then use to forcibly convert their bodies into fire-attribute bodies. By then, they would be able to easily take control over Chaos fire and ride it to escape. Most likely, even Daolords would not be able to catch up to them.”

“It’s that amazing?” Su Youji was rather shocked. Not even Daolords would be able to catch up?

“If I sold it to Armaments Gorge, I’d be able to sell it for a million cubes of chaos nectar,” Ning said. “However, I’m hoping for a higher price. That’s why I’d like for you to help me spread the news of this treasure to the black-armored Daolords. They’ll definitely discuss it amongst themselves and with many others. Soon, everyone in the Twelve Palcaes will know, and I’m sure there will be some who would be willing to pay a high price for the Bloodfire Cloudfruit.”

“Selling for a high price? Easy! Leave it ot me.” Pillsaint was quite confident.

“Just spread the news as widely as you can. Even if a Daolord wishes to speak to me personally, just have them give you the bid,” Ning said. “A hundred years from now, I will leave the Forest of Sword Pagodas and choose the highest bidder, giving the Bloodfire Cloudfruit to him or her.”

“Alright.”

“Understood.”

Pillsaint and Su Youji were both a bit excited. Although this was a simple task, it was still a task that involved a million cubes of chaos nectar. They couldn’t help but be filled with enthusiasm.

“Alright. I’m heading to the Forest of Sword Pagodas.” Ning rose to his feet.

“Am I now allowed to enter and exit the Sword Palace freely?” Pillsaint was a bit worried about this. Just now, Ning had personally guided him through the palace, which was why the Sword Palace’s defenses had not automatically attacked him.

“Don’t worry. The spirit of the Sword Palace was able to see you becoming my retainer,” Ning said. The rules of the Sword Palace were that each formal disciple was permitted to grant two retainers free entry to and from the Sword Palace. Su Youji and Pillsaint were now both able to enter and leave freely, but Ning wouldn’t be able to grant this permission to a third retainer.

Swish.

Ning transformed into a streak of light and flew out the gates of Immortal estate and towards the Forest of Sword Pagodas.

Pillsaint and Su Youji watched as Ning left. Both of them felt a sense of pressure. Although this was a simple task, it still involved a great deal of wealth!

“As his new retainer, I need to make sure I handle this well,” Pillsaint mused silently.

“I’ve never been able to help out Master much. I can’t let him down.” Su Youji felt the same sense of pressure.

……

The Forest of Sword Pagodas.

Ning set out his temporal acceleration cottage, then sat down in the lotus position and began to cultivate.

“I hope I’ll be able to garner a high price for it. I don’t really have many valuable treasures on me right now,” Ning mused. Although he did have a few Eternal weapons, there was nothing special about them. The only other item he owned which was worth over a hundred thousand cubes of chaos nectar was the spare Mirrorsnow Painting. When Ning left the Astral Islands and headed towards the Sword Palace, he had acquired a spare from the underwater creatures. However, Ning was in no rush to sell if. If he really did need money, he could sell it then. If he waited for a good opportunity, he might be able to sell it for a better price.

Still, the truth was that Ning really didn’t have many items he could sell for a high price.

As for the Bloodfire Cloudfruit…

The Twelve Palaces actually weren’t the best place to sell it, because almost all of its major powers were wandering the outside world. The Sword Palace theoretically had over a hundred Daolords, not including the black-armored ones, but almost all of them were out adventuring. Only ten or so were here at the Sword Palace. This was simply how the Twelve Palaces worked. As a result, there would be less competition resulting in lower prices for Ning.

If this was one of the places where many major powers of the Dao Alliance congregated, the price would probably be much better.

Alas, by the time Ning reached such a place he would probably have already become a Daolord. By then, even if he did sell the Bloodfire Cloudfruit for a high price it wouldn’t be of much use to him.

Time flowed on.

Pillsaint and Su Youji spread the word, causing the news that Swordlord Darknorth of the Sword Palace wished to sell a Bloodfire Cloudfruit to spread throughout the Twelve Palaces.

“Bloodfire Cloudfruit?”

The people most excited to hear this naturally all belonged to the World-level cultivators and Daolords of the Palace of Fire, although virtually all of the World-level cultivators could do nothing more dream about it. These individuals all walked the Dao of Fire. If they had fire-attribute bodies, they would be able to cultivate much more quickly. They were thus the most suitable candidates for purchasing this item.

“Bloodfire Cloudfruit?”

The Saber Palace, Heartforce Palace, Sword Palace, Spacetime Palace, and other palaces also held Daolords and World-level cultivators who were interested.

Ning, for example, was a member of the Sword Palace who had a body that was lightning-attribute in nature.

But of course, those who walked the Dao of Water or the Dao of Metal would never procure fire-attribute bodies. That would make it twice as hard to cultivate, with half the effect. The fire-attribute body would disrupt their affinity to those Daos.

“That kid, Swordlord Darknorth, plans to sell it off within a hundred years? He’s probably doing this to prepare for the upcoming opportunity. Heh heh… fellow Daoists, there’s no need for us to bid up the price too much. He’s definitely going to sell it no matter what. Let’s keep the price low.” Instantly, some Daolords came up with this idea. There were some Daolords in the Twelve Palaces who walked the path of evil. In fact, some had committed tremendous sins and atrocities. Although the lifeblood oath prevented them from acting against Ning, they were still able to do something like lowball him for his treasures.

……

“The highest bid stands at 1.3 million cubes!” Pillsaint made this claim within an Immortal estate within the Sword Palace.

“What?” The old man frowned, his entire body emanating an aura of explosive, ruinous energy. “Who made such a high bid?”

“I can’t reveal that,” Pillsaint said placidly. “If your bid isn’t any higher than this, there’s no point in even bidding.”

“You punk.” The old man was irritated. He turned away and departed.

“Pillsaint.” Su Youji watched the old man walk away, then sent Pillsaint a stealthy mental message. “You lied to him. What if no one ends up bidding a higher price? We’ll be in trouble.”

“Don’t worry.” Pillsaint was quite confident.

Pillsaint and Su Youji had both noticed that the Daolords were in no rush to place any bids. Ning had given a limit of a hundred years, after all; they didn’t want to get the price too high, too early. In fact, some of the Daolords were colluding in secret to keep the price low.

Half a year later, the old man returned.

“I’m willing to bid 1.31 million cubes,” the old man said.

“The highest price is now 1.33 million cubes,” Pillsaint said, his eyes wide and innocent.

“Ah?!” The old man was stunned.

Pillsaint continued to raise the price. 1.33 million cubes, 1.35 million cubes, 1.36 million cubes, 1.37 million cubes… every half a year or year, the price would rise slightly.

Faced with the continuously rising price, some of the Daolords that were colluding began to grow a bit impatient.

“Who the hell keeps upping their bids?”

“Why are the bids continuing to rise?”

They were able to keep calm when the price was steady, but this constant rise made some of them a bit impatient.

Pillsaint secretly felt quite smug about this. “You have no idea who you are dealing with. I’m a grandmaster alchemist! I’m not just skilled in making pills, I’m also an expert in selling them.” There was a certain art to selling pills and treasures as well, and there was always a bit of artifice built into the prices. Many of the ‘bids’ for the fruit were false, but Pillsaint did manage to lure in a few real bids as well.

A hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

“The highest price is now 1.46 million cubes! This is the final year,” Pillsaint declared. “My master will return from the Forest of Sword Pagodas anytime now. When he does return, the auction will come to an end. The highest bidder will win the Bloodfire Cloudfruit.”

“What? The auction will end as soon as his master leaves the Forest?”

“This is the final year. Swordlord Darknorth might return at any moment.”

Even the most patient of Daolords were no longer able to hold on. Once Ji Ning returned, they would have missed this opportunity for good. They didn’t believe that Pillsaint was lying, because no one would dare lie to so many Daolords at the closing time of an auction.

“I’m willing to offer 1.47 million cubes.”

“I’ll offer 1.48 million.”

“1.5 million.”

In the final year, the bids increased very rapidly. Some of the Daolords had truly grown impatient. Once they gained this treasure, more than 99% of the other Daolords would be unable to catch up to them in speed. Generally speaking, not even Verge-level Daolords would be able to fly as quickly as Chaos fire or Chaos lightning! Only those who had techniques allowing them to control Chaos fire or Chaos lightning would the exceptions. Once this opportunity went past, who knew how long it would be before the next opportunity? Even if another opportunity did arise, it was entirely possible that they wouldn’t even have a chance to bid on it. The Endless Territories were simply too vast; by the time they heard the news, the thing probably would’ve been sold already.

Pillsaint went so far as to run over to the Forest of Sword Pagodas to send Ning a secret message. “Master, don’t be in a rush to return. Give me another half year. Come back then.”

“Alright.” Ning trusted them.

Some of the Daolords truly did need this treasure, and time was running out. Once this sort of naturally-occurring treasure was gone, it would be eons before anothing one appeared. The bidding process became noticeably fiercer.

Ning finally emerged from the Forest of Sword Pagodas.

“How did it go?” Ning descended from the skies into the Immortal estate where Su Youji and Pillsaint were located.

“1.8 million cubes,” Pillsaint said proudly.

“What?!” Ning was quite surprised. If he sold it to a major organization, the price would’ve been roughly a million cubes. If he was lucky and many Daolords desperately bid against each other, the price could be several times higher. However, there weren’t many Daolords in the Twelve Palaces right now. To be able to sell it for 1.8 million cubes already vastly exceeded Ning’s expectations. He had thought that a price of 1.5 million cubes would already be quite high.

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