Stranger Danger

Chapter 366: The Earthfire Mirror

“Furious, Tian Yizi turned traitor and stole the bronze mirror carrying the martial art. Then, he escaped and never returned. Since then, the Mountain of Mind and Heart lost the Earthfire Mirror.”

“What we’re showing you is Tian Yizi’s handwritten notes and insights into the Earthfire Mirror. Sure, it’s not the original, and it can’t hold a candle to the true Earthfire Mirror, but rest assured that the difference isn’t too big.”

As soon as Fire Skull finished speaking, an old voice spoke angrily, “How did you have Tian Yizi’s handwritten notes? Did he give it to you himself, or did you kill him?”

“My apologies, but we cannot tell you,” Fire Skull replied unhurriedly. “It is against the rules to tell anyone about the origins of the auctioned items. If you’re willing to buy it, then please submit a bid. If not, then please remain quiet.”

“Now then, let the bidding begin! The starting bid for the Earthfire Mirror is three thousand yin gold. Every bid must be at least five hundred yin gold higher than the previous number.”

Before anyone could make a bid, the old voice from before spoke up again, “Everyone, the Earthfire Mirror is an important item belonging to the Mountain of Mind and Heart. We must obtain it no matter what. We humbly beseech you to give us face[ref]NEVER do this in real life, btw. This is easily one of the stupidest moments of the story.[/[ref].”

“There really was someone from Mountain of Mind and Heart. This is going to be fun.” Ye Qing smirked.

“The speaker is probably the great elder of Mountain of Mind and Heart, Cang Jun,” Greenlake whispered to him.

She identified him just from his voice? That’s impressive, Ye Qing thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Cang Jun made his bid, “Three thousand and five hundred yin gold.”

“Five thousand yin gold,” A childish voice rang immediately after that.

“It’s you, Six Yins? What is the meaning of this?” Cang Jun must recognize the second bidder because he identified his voice right away.

Logically speaking, even the weakest warrior present was a Spirit Purifier like Ye Qing, so it was child’s play for anyone to alter their voice, not to mention that the Ghost Tower went to great lengths to conceal their identity. However, this “Six Yins” obviously didn’t bother to hide his identity.

“Are you seriously asking that question, Cang Jun? Forget that the Earthfire Mirror is the foundation of your Mountain of Mind and Heart, the Earthfire Mirror on its own is a Grandmaster-stage martial art. Did you actually think you can buy it for three thousand and five hundred yin gold?” Six Yins Superior replied in a mocking tone.

“Six Yins Superior is right. This old man would like to make a bid as well. Six thousand yin gold.”

“In that case, this gentleman can’t stay quiet either. Eight thousand yin gold!”

“You stingy bastards, you’re really going to pay a couple thousand yin gold for a Grandmaster-stage martial art? How shameful! I’ll raise eight thousand and one yin gold!”

The crowd saw an opportunity to ridicule Mountain of Mind and Heart and did not hesitate to pounce on it.

“Ten thousand yin gold,” Cang Jun sucked in a deep breath to calm himself. Furious he might be, he recognized some of the speakers as titans of the Dark Ways; people he couldn’t afford to offend for short. That was why he didn’t dare to say anything against them.

“Eleven thousand,” Six Yins Superior said lazily.

“Twelve thousand,” Cang Jun declared.

“Thirteen thousand,” Six Yins Superior continued to bid up.

Six Yins Superior would continue to bid up exactly one thousand every time Cang Jun made his bid. Everyone knew that Six Yins Superior was doing this on purpose.

Finally, Cang Jun could stand this farce no longer and threatened, “Enough, Six Yins! Are you really going to make an enemy out of the Mountain of Mind and Heart?”

“Enough? Why didn’t you think that when your sect chased me all over the place back then? Now that the tables have finally turned, you suddenly think it’s too much?” Six Yins Superior retorted loudly. Ye Qing could almost imagine the guy’s spittle flying all over the place.

Cang Jun argued, “You were the one who broke the rules back then. You only have yourself to blame for the consequences!”

“Is that so?” Six Yins chuckled coldly. “What I’m going to do next is within the rules, so you best don’t blame me for what’s about to happen. Fifty thousand yin gold!”

“You—!” Cang Jun nearly fainted from sheer fury there and then.

“Hehehe, you dead yet, old man? If you’re not, then you best make your bid. Otherwise, I’m going to use your precious Earthfire Mirror to wipe my ass when I get it!” Six Yins Superior said with a boisterous laugh.

He had wanted to take revenge against these hypocrites for the longest time, and today was the perfect opportunity to do so. The Earthfire Mirror and the Skyfire Mirror were the cornerstones of their whole sect, so they would never give it up no matter what price they had to pay.

“Fifty one thousand yin gold…” An ashen-faced, bloodshot Cang Jun uttered with volcanic fury.

“Sixty thousand!” Six Yins chuckled.

On the stage, Fire Skull was ecstatic at how successful their scheme had been. From the moment they got their hands on the Earthfire Mirror, they had immediately leaked the news to Mountain of Mind and Heart and their enemies. The Mountain of Mind and Heart would never give up on the item, while their enemies would do their utmost to impede them. Naturally, this would maximize their profit. So far, the scheme had been a resounding success.

In the end, Cang Jun won the handwritten notes of the Earthfire Mirror for the tall, tall price of one hundred thousand yin gold. Cang Jun left immediately after obtaining the goods. It was because he was afraid that he would lose control and murder Six Yins Superior and Fire Skull for what they had done to him.

Despicable bastards, Ye Qing and many other people thought at the same time. The Ghost Tower’s ploy was obvious to all but the dimmest.

Fire Skull moved onto the next item. “Alright, our next item is even better than the Earthfire Mirror. It is a Strange Artifact who could supposedly command thousands and thousands troops with a single blow, the Call To Arms!”

A horn that was shaped like a rhino’s horn was carried up the stage. It was covered in complex and mysterious runes.

“Is that the Call To Arms belonging to the Call To Arms Sect from three hundred years ago?” Someone asked.

“That is correct! For those who didn’t know, it is a Phenomenon-class Strange Artifact!”

Fire Skull explained, “The Call To Arms is made from the horn of the Black Jade Spirit Rhino. The Black Jade Spirit Rhino possessed the ability to communicate yin and yang, which is why the Call To Arms also possessed the same power. Anyone who blows the horn can borrow tens of thousands of yin soldiers from the underworld and command them as they pleased.”

“The Call To Arms was how the Call To Arms Sect became a major sect during its halcyon days, but unfortunately, they never learned how to live without it. From the day they lost the item, they grew weaker and weaker until they disappeared altogether.”

“Now then, let the show begin, shall we? The starting bid for the Call To Arms is ten thousand yin gold, and every bid must be at least five hundred yin gold higher than the previous number. Begin!”

“Fifteen thousand yin gold!”

“Sixteen thousand.”

“Twenty thousand!”

Who didn’t want a Phenomenon-class Strange Artifact? The price quickly shot up to eighty thousand yin gold. In the end, Greenlake bought it for a total of ninety thousand yin gold.

To this, Ye Qing could only say, “Money makes the world go round.”

“Congratulations to our dear customer for winning this item! Now then, our next item is… a drop of blood.”

After a female ghost carried a porcelain bottle up the stage, Fire Skull uncorked it and released what looked like a puff of pure white air. Such was its power that it instantly covered the entire floor in frost and entombed the female ghost who carried it up the stage in ice.

“A Stranger’s aura?”

Ye Qing frowned as he attempted to perceive the strange energy. It was highly potent, evil, and anomalous. The Ghost Tower’s presence must have suppressed it to a certain extent, or this puff of air alone could’ve turned everything within several hundred meters into a frozen wasteland.

Fire Skull’s flames were threatening to go out as well, so it quickly corked the bottle and declared, “It looks like some of you have figured out the answer. That’s right! This is the blood essence of a Stranger, the Disaster-class Stranger Snow Maitreya to be exact!”

“The blood essence of the Snow Maitreya?!” Countless people exclaimed in surprise. The Snow Maitreya was an extremely powerful Stranger that naturally caused an ice storm just by existing. It was clear that the blood was no ordinary blood essence either. It was the heart’s blood of the Snow Maitreya, what they felt just now was a glimpse of its power.

This made the blood essence so much more valuable than what it would’ve been. To a Stranger, the blood essence could strengthen their bloodline and class. To a warrior, it could be used to greatly enhance their power if they cultivated a martial art of a similar attribute, create medicine, forge Strange Artifacts and more.

As soon as Fire Skull finished, countless people began bidding for the blood essence, and among them were some Strangers. As far as his senses could tell, Ye Qing could sense at least six Strangers participating in the bidding. In the end, a Stranger managed to win the blood essence at the hefty price of one hundred and fifteen thousand yin gold.

Fire Skull wasn’t done yet, however. It showed off the incomplete scroll of the “Divine Art of Nine Deaths” next.

“The “Divine Art of Nine Deaths” was a godly martial art a warrior nicknamed the “Old Man of Nine Deaths” created based on the “Nine Metamorphosis of the Heavenly Silkworm” three hundred years ago. Every time the practitioner died, their power would multiply by leaps and bounds. Nine deaths later, they would become a Sage, immortal and imperishable. That was why it was also known as the martial art that could turn anyone into a Sage in nine deaths.

Of course, the deaths mentioned in the martial art wasn’t true death or even the death of one’s mortal shell. It was referring to a near death experience. The near death experience couldn’t be staged either, or it wouldn’t count.

Naturally, the “Divine Art of Nine Deaths” was an extremely difficult martial art to practice. It was all too easy for a near death experience to result in true death. It was said that the Old Man of Nine Deaths himself failed to reach the adept level of the martial art before he died.

Moreover, the one being auctioned on the stage wasn’t even the full version of the martial art. It was just an incomplete scroll. Otherwise, there was no chance it would be auctioned.

That said, the “Divine Art of Nine Deaths” was still a Sage-stage martial art. In the end, someone bought it for ninety thousand yin gold. It wasn’t too high or too low a price.

“Alright, it’s time for the climax and final item we’ll be auctioning today. I’m sure that many of you are here for this item.”

Fire Skull took a moment to build up the hype before revealing, “The last item we’re auctioning is… the martial inheritance of the Dark Overlord, Li Hentian!”

“What? The martial inheritance of the Dark Overlord?”

“Really?”

“This can’t be real! There is no way the Ghost Tower would be willing to put it up for auction if it is real!”

“Are you toying with us, Fire Skull?!”

As soon as Fire Skull finished, the loudest murmurs yet of the auction broke out. Shock, suspicion, impatience, greed… countless emotions swirled within the floor.

1. Literally Son of Heaven’s Will. Not sure if moniker, but he doesn’t appear again so whatever. ☜