ILDV Chapter 42

Li Sun’s danger alarm was blaring wildly in his mind. 

Though this kind of feeling was quite mystical to explain, it was indeed reliable most of the time. He instantly changed his tune, “It’s not that I’m that inter…” ested.

“Brother Qi is so learned, why not spend the time of two or three cups of tea to enlighten this ignorant person?” A pair of hands firmly and irrefutably placed a teacup before him.

Li Sun was breaking out in cold sweat. He calmly touched the scalding rim of the cup, his mind already in chaos, not even knowing how he managed to finish relating this past event.

When he regained clarity, he was already standing on the street outside the building. The voices around him were bustling and clamoring, as if he had returned from hell to the mortal world in an instant. He reached into his clothes and felt a hand full of cold sweat, as an extremely terrifying guess surfaced.

That person… could it be Tianji Daojun Shen Muxuan?

“Make way, make way!” A cultivator selling spirit herbs impatiently pushed his calf. Li Sun stepped back two paces accordingly, glanced at it twice while pretending not to be interested, then quickly left.

——No matter who it is, Young Venerable, please take care of yourself.

On the second floor, Yin Lang leaned against the railing and watched him leave, shaking his head with a sigh. “His courage is still so small.”

Qin Xun remained perfectly calm and motionless.

Heh, Master’s twisted sense of humor was acting up again.

Yin Lang withdrew the arm resting on the railing and picked up his teacup again to drink slowly, his expression revealing neither joy nor anger. Qin Xun carefully moved closer. “Master? Don’t hold it against that fool Li Sun, he…”

“This Master is not angry.”

The storyteller downstairs was still narrating the love story of this ‘immortal couple,’ drifting and swaying through the complicated noise into their ears, leaving behind a perfect ending: “…That Fairy Qilan sacrificed everything for love and finally moved Elder Feng’s heart of stone. The Immortal Lord released the immortal from the Eternal Black Ice Cave to fulfill the two of them. This pair of lovers, after experiencing countless hardships, finally became married.”

“This, this this——this is simply nonsense, that Elder Feng——“

The teacup clattered lightly onto the table, a soft sound, yet Qin Xun’s dissatisfaction came to an abrupt halt.

“No need to get angry with a group of people who are bound to die.” Yin Lang stood up to leave. As he brushed past, he suddenly reached out and rubbed Qin Xun’s face. “Your master is not someone who will accept losses. Those who wrong me by three parts, I will repay them tenfold.”

With that, he strode away.

“Remember to tell Li Sun that we demonic cultivators absolutely do not accept losses. As for the rest, he can figure it out himself. If he doesn’t understand, go buy two more volumes of storybooks to study carefully.”

The blush that had just spread across Qin Xun’s cheeks rapidly cooled at that last sentence.

……Study storybooks? The Domineering Demon Lord and the Pretty Immortal Lord or Across the Sea of Love?!

“…Isn’t this just the difference between popular style and pedantic style?” Li Sun’s ability to withstand blows was clearly stronger than the Young Venerable’s. Even after hearing such an absurd command, he could remain calm.

Qin Xun’s face darkened. “I couldn’t tell—you’re actually so idle that you have time to study storybooks?”

Li Sun smiled and laughed it off. Only when Qin Xun was about to leave did he couldn’t help but grab him and earnestly request, “Young Venerable, that person upstairs today, was it the Taihua Immortal Sect’s…” He pointed at the Big Dipper in the sky.

“No.” Qin Xun peeled his hand off his sleeve bit by bit, shaking his head with extreme conviction. “I don’t have the guts to sit at the same table as a righteous path cultivator.”

“Actually, I wanted to say this morning,” Li Sun fell silent for a moment, then reached out to pull open his outer sleeve, pointing at the bright color inside, and said painfully, “Young Venerable, you forgot to change clothes.”

Pure white base, outlined with golden thread, and a sword-shaped emblem at the collar.

——The personal disciple attire of Taihua Immortal Sect.

“Don’t worry about him.”

Compared to his anxious disciple, Yin Lang didn’t seem to care at all. “Smart people all like to overthink. With Li Sun’s cunning, it’s impossible for him to believe such an absurd tale.”

Qin Xun acknowledged this. “Then what about the Northern Demon Territory?”

“Can you use your brain?” Yin Lang kicked him. “What was all that chaos in the Northern Demon Territory about before? Now that the source has appeared, who would be foolish enough to continue doing useless work?”

Yan Guihe devoured Wu Mantuo’s forces for the Primordial Jade fragment;

Hu Yunu suddenly came looking for Jiao Yuyu because he had heard some rumors;

The First Venerable first flew into a rage searching for the culprit from back then, then abruptly stopped and turned to internal Northern Demon Territory strife, also because he had figured out the source of the Ming City chaos.

Now the true target of these three chaos instigators had appeared. At least until this treasure map was settled, no one would have the mind to stir up that muddy water again.

On the day the auction officially opened, everyone felt the atmosphere in Beiyu City tighten overnight, like a string stretched to its limit—any additional force applied would cause it to snap completely. 

One sect after another appeared and entered the auction venue. At first glance, each looked glamorous and imposing, but upon closer inspection, there wasn’t even a single first-rank or higher sect among them.

People from Tiantai Buddhist Sect did appear, but unfortunately, they were just two young monks. At a glance, it was clear they had the same idea as Taihua Immortal Sect.

Not far away, there was a commotion as the crowd parted. Xu Rong appeared with an iron-blue face, followed closely by someone like a persistent plaster he couldn’t shake off. Seeing them was like seeing saviors, and he hurried over quickly. “Senior Brother!”

He couldn’t even manage a hypocritical smile anymore. “Young City Lord, please stop pestering me!”

Having been embarrassed in public, Zhao Hejing’s expression looked somewhat ugly, but he quickly recovered. As if nothing had happened, he continued to ingratiate himself. “Are Senior Brothers Xu and Feng going to enter? My father has already prepared the best seats for the immortal sect. Let me escort you two inside.”

“No——“

“Then we’ll trouble the Young City Lord.” Qin Xun reached out to stop the indignant Xu Rong and nodded in agreement.

As master and disciple brushed past each other, their eyes met and separated, like normal strangers meeting by chance.

The steward who had come to clean up the mess sighed with disappointment. After Qin Xun and the others left, he walked toward Yin Lang. “The Young Master is young and ignorant and has neglected the honored guest. I hope the honored guest will not hold it against him. This old servant will escort you inside.”

“No harm, no harm.” Yin Lang smiled while fanning himself. Suddenly, he snapped the fan shut and asked, “Where’s Old Zhao? For such a grand event, isn’t he coming to keep an eye on things?”

The smile lines on the steward’s face deepened. “The honored guest jests. Behind this auction are powerful experts suppressing all sides. That we were chosen in Beiyu City was pure luck. The City Lord knows his abilities are inadequate—how would he dare participate in disputes between major sects?”

After exchanging pleasantries, Yin Lang entered the venue with a reluctant Zhou Rui trailing behind him, following the old steward. They sat down in the first-floor hall. Looking up, there were separate private rooms for major first-rank and higher sects. Several room doors remained tightly closed despite having people inside—these should be people sent by the various Demon Venerables of the Northern Demon Territory.

The First Venerable valued his status too much to appear in person—the one who came was most likely his most capable First Protector under his command. The Second Venerable had not been in power long and had always been reclusive, so Yin Lang couldn’t quite figure out this person’s way of doing things. As for Yan Guihe… it was hard to say whether he could even get out of bed.

People gradually filled the seats around them, all wearing artifacts that changed their appearance and voice. Looking around, basically all the high-level cultivators of the entire Lantian Realm were here.

Zhou Rui asked, “After all this, you still won’t tell me the purpose of bringing me here?”

“As Peak Master can see, to buy things.” Yin Lang answered casually, his gaze still drifting back and forth through the crowd.

Zhou Rui was thoroughly frustrated. He had stayed in the immortal sect’s quarters these past days, unwilling to go out. Only today did he realize with shock how many powerful cultivators had gathered in this Beiyu City. His heart was quite unsettled. Thinking of his disciple still at the sect, he suppressed his anger and asked again, “I wonder when we can return to the sect? My young disciple is still young, and I am very worried.”

Yin Lang observed the array structure of the auction hall thoroughly. Only after feeling confident did he relax considerably. He turned back to meet Zhou Rui’s anxious and angry eyes, thinking to himself that this was the first time someone who had offended him and fallen into his hands still wanted to leave alive. He unhurriedly leaned back. “Martial Nephew Lian is not like Martial Nephew Hua who made a great mistake. Why is Peak Master Zhou so anxious?”

That’s because your disciple didn’t have his spiritual root destroyed!

His words had hidden meaning, but Zhou Rui wasn’t in the mood to discern it. His cold mockery burst out. “Martial Nephew Hua at least had some connection with the Daojun, but I never thought the Daojun would be so heartless. Sure enough, you and that ruthless Xu managed to become master and disciple.”

“It seems Peak Master Zhou has listened to quite a few storybooks these past two days.” Yin Lang had been smiling a moment ago, but in the next instant, his face was cold as ice. He enunciated each word:

“Zhou Rui.”

Each syllable fell clearly into the other’s ears. “My patience has limits. Don’t force me to return to the sect alone.”

Like a heavy hammer awakening him, Zhou Rui suddenly became alert. He saw clearly the half-concealed killing intent in the snow-clothed Daojun’s eyes. For a moment, he was filled with fear, not knowing why he had made such an unclear-headed move.

Weighing the situation and wanting to apologize, he found that person had already closed his eyes to rest peacefully, instead leaving him feeling extremely stifled.

A faint fragrance permeated the air, growing heavier with the passage of time.

The chaotic sounds of conversation gradually diminished until there was complete silence.

Light appeared on the stage. In the very center, a square platform appeared out of thin air. A tray wrapped in spiritual power floated above it, and the first item to be auctioned sat there alone, unattended.

They waited for quite a while, but still no figure resembling an auction host appeared on the stage.

Too strange.

Low conversations began again below the stage, thick doubts continuously spreading through the crowd, until the first person boldly rushed onto the platform and reached out toward the unattended spirit item.

Rumble——

Thunder shook the heavens. Lightning as if illusory penetrated the roof and struck steadily on the person who was just an inch away from touching the spirit item.

The unrecognizable form, smelling of charcoal, rolled to the ground. The protective spiritual light was completely gone, muscles completely carbonized, all life extinguished.

This, this was… the Lightning Summoning technique?

Whose Lightning Summoning technique could produce such an effect like a heavenly tribulation?!

Compared to the small sects below, people in several closed rooms were shocked enough to look up at the sky.

This was real heavenly tribulation! Demonic cultivators couldn’t possibly mistake this thing!

But no one was undergoing an advancement tribulation, no one had triggered a heart demon—why was the Heavenly Dao striking with lightning?

——No one dared think about the person who had just tried to steal something.

Silence filled the rooms. No one in the hall dared to be the first to stick their neck out.

Everyone looked at each other. This auction… should it continue or not? If it continued, what were the rules?

Zhou Rui was also shocked by this incident. It should be said that as long as one was a cultivator, there was no one who didn’t fear heavenly tribulation.

He couldn’t help but nudge the quiet person beside him, his breath somewhat rapid. “Daojun, what… what should we do?”

Yin Lang transmitted his voice, “Now stand up and bid seven high-grade spirit stones.”

Zhou Rui: “……??? If you want to court death, don’t drag me along!”

“One Heavenly Spiritual Vein Bone.”

Zhou Rui was moved. Heavenly Spiritual Vein Bone was precisely the essential main ingredient for reconstructing spiritual roots! With this, he would have an eighty percent chance of reconstructing Xinqiao’s spiritual roots and veins!

He forcefully suppressed the urge to stand up immediately and haggled. “The risk is too great.”

Yin Lang smiled and raised the stakes. “As long as you guarantee to follow my commands throughout this auction, not only the Heavenly Spiritual Vein Bone—all the heavenly materials and earthly treasures needed for Lian Xinqiao to reconstruct her spiritual roots and veins and cultivate to the Spirit Transformation stage, this lord will provide everything. I can make a Heart Demon Oath right now.”

Zhou Rui immediately switched sides.

After personally watching Yin Lang complete the Heart Demon Oath, he stood up efficiently and declared loudly, “For this item, I bid seven high-grade spirit stones.”

An uproar ensued.

Even though they couldn’t see his face clearly, it didn’t prevent everyone from looking at him like he was a madman.

But not everyone held the same view. A young man not far away stared at Zhou Rui for a long while, raised his hand thoughtfully, “Ten stones.”

His companion couldn’t stop him and drew in sharp breaths while rapidly reciting the Prajna Sutra, immediately exposing his Buddhist identity. Fortunately, the Prajna Sutra was a common scripture, so it wasn’t easy to detect his true identity.

Zhou Rui: “Fifteen.”

The young man: “Eighteen.”

“Twenty-three.”

“Thirty.”

They raised bids as if no one else existed, completely ignoring others’ gazes treating them like madmen.

“Ha, interesting. This lord would also like to try. Fifty.” An interested male voice transmitted from one of the rooms.

The young man’s expression didn’t change. “Seventy.”

The person in the room: “One hundred.”

“One hundred twenty.”

“Two hundred.”

The young man stopped. “I yield to you, this esteemed one.”

The person in the room waved his hand, and immediately a black-robed subordinate flew out and landed on the stage. That corpse struck dead by lightning was brazenly lying face-up at the edge of the platform, in the brightest spot of light.

Demonic qi surged around the black-robed person. His entire body was tense as he slowly approached the platform.

Before he could reach out to take it, when he got within three meters, the treasure on the tray automatically floated up and slowly flew into the black-robed person’s outstretched palm.

!!!

The cultivators at the auction had never seen anything like this and were dumbfounded. They never imagined that these three bidders really didn’t have problems with their brains.

Some sharp-eyed people recognized the first treasure and lamented with heartache. “That’s a thousand-year Dragon Blood Ginseng! To think it was bought for just two hundred high-grade spirit stones—such waste, such waste!”

Those who hadn’t recognized it before were also shocked upon hearing this. A thousand-year Dragon Blood Ginseng of such caliber would have a starting price in the tens of thousands at any auction house. Who would have thought that here someone would easily pick up such a huge bargain?

No matter how envious they were, they didn’t have the courage to snatch something from what seemed to be either an immortal sect member or one of the Ten Venerables of the Demonic Path.

“Could it be that this auction doesn’t set minimum prices?”

“What kind of personage is behind this, to be so extravagant…”

“This poor Daoist has learned for the first time that auctions not only test financial resources but also judgment!”

The speaker was casual, but the listeners took it to heart. The first person to eat crab appeared, and when they looked at the stage again, everyone’s gazes became much more fervent.

It was time to compete in judgment!

Zhou Rui exclaimed in admiration. “How did Daojun discover this?”

With his status, he wouldn’t care about a Dragon Blood Ginseng being sold cheaply. It was just that Yin Lang’s tone when bidding was so certain, so certain that it seemed he had already foreseen what would happen next—he couldn’t help but be amazed.

Immediately, quite a few people glanced over with what they thought was subtlety. Yin Lang acted as if unaware, pinching his fan and playing with it carelessly, smiling casually. “I have no intention of forcibly seizing things, nor am I unable to afford a few dozen or hundred high-grade spirit stones. Why not give it a try?”

Compared to those paying attention to him, more people were staring at the second auction item that had automatically appeared on the stage.

“Could this be… the Qingguang Sword!” someone exclaimed in surprise.

Others questioned. “That shouldn’t be… such a precious treasure, how could it easily end up at an auction?”

“This poor Daoist also thinks it doesn’t look like it…” Still others’ minds raced, firmly denying it on one hand while instructing their sect members and disciples to bid on the other.

For a time, the venue descended into chaos, with petty schemes emerging one after another. There were quite a few who stood up to argue and curse. On the contrary, in the several rooms above, aside from the person who initially took away a thousand-year Dragon Blood Ginseng for two hundred high-grade spirit stones, no one else spoke up to participate in the competition.

“Truly… wealth moves people’s hearts.”

Zhou Rui couldn’t help but feel the heat of desire. Hearing this, he glanced sideways and mocked. “Daojun is so righteous. You possess a divine sword, so naturally you look down on such ‘scrap metal.'”

Yin Lang glanced at him, his eyes hidden in darkness making the depths unclear. One could only hear a faint laugh.

The fragrance in the venue grew heavier.

As increasingly precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures appeared one after another, the deterrent power of that initial lightning had infinitely weakened. Many with restless intentions lurked in the darkness.

Finally, greed overcame fear. After a bidder gritted his teeth and spent a fortune to obtain an urgently needed heavenly material and earthly treasure, a figure suddenly flashed from the darkness and pounced directly at the grinning Daoist who had just descended from the stage.

He laughed viciously. “They only said not to steal things from the stage. Since this item already belongs to you, then present it to this old man!”

This person’s cultivation was clearly far superior to the Daoist’s. In the blink of an eye, he was already close.

No one intervened. They all coldly observed this person’s fate to deduce the rules of this strange auction.

If stealing was possible…

Who would have expected that before the lightning fell, a light snort came from one of the rooms. An invisible hand in the air, with the force of ten thousand jun, grabbed the sneak attacker’s neck and heavily smashed him to the ground. Instantly, blood flowed from all seven orifices, and all life was extinguished.

“Steal? Even this Venerable bought things properly with spirit stones according to the rules. What kind of nobody are you to be even more arrogant than this Venerable?”

Though this person had not revealed his identity, given his self-address and the fact that he’d bought something so far, there was only one candidate.

No one else in the other rooms spoke up either, apparently all accepting this rule by default.

The auction had barely started, and there were already two corpses lying on the ground. For a time, those with restless intentions were all intimidated into behaving themselves, properly bidding with spirit stones.

Someone in the room next to the one who bought the Dragon Blood Ginseng transmitted with a grin. “Yo, Second Venerable, you have quite the temper. How come I never noticed you were someone who cared so much about rules?”

Silence next door.

After a long while, a male voice replied through gritted teeth. “It wasn’t me.”

“Huh?” The questioner was clearly shocked too, but quickly reacted and laughed through the voice transmission. “Looks like you’ve been in seclusion so long that the younger generation of Lantian have forgotten the Second Venerable’s prestige! Looking at how exasperated you are, you didn’t even catch their tail, did you?”

The Second Venerable, whose sore spot had been stepped on, laughed in extreme anger. “This Venerable didn’t catch that sneaky bastard, but dealing with you still won’t take too much effort.”

“……”

“Seriously though, that person who just imitated you has cultivation at the Tribulation stage or not far from it. I think the first person to bid has the greatest suspicion.”

“You think I need you to tell me that?” The Second Venerable snorted coldly again. “Though I didn’t have time to lock onto him with my soul, I remember the location clearly. Once this matter is concluded, that little bastard will have hell to pay!”

One precious item after another was continuously brought up, and the bidding below became even more heated.

Some briefly wondered what kind of divine personage could produce so many treasures at once, and even put these priceless treasures up for auction without setting minimum prices. But such doubts were forgotten amid the rising competitive atmosphere, as they were too busy dazzled by the endless stream of treasures.

The Second Venerable muttered, “Why does this Venerable feel like these things look familiar… as if I’ve seen them somewhere long ago.”

“To be honest, I have the same feeling, but I just can’t remember where.” The person next door stared at the platform, lost in thought.

The young man who initially competed with Zhou Rui and the Second Venerable for the Dragon Blood Ginseng also fell into confusion. “They really do look familiar…”

“This poor monk also…”

The various Mahayana and Tribulation stage experts hidden in the darkness all fell into the same bewilderment.

These things… where on earth have I seen them?

All the great powers fell into contemplation.

The great powers’ contemplation didn’t prevent the auction from progressing. One after another, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, divine weapons and artifacts were auctioned off. The atmosphere never hit a low point until another auction item appeared.

A yellowed scroll slowly stood upright, unfurling gradually under everyone’s gaze. On the fragile yellowed paper appeared nodes one after another, then countless lines extended, finally forming a dazzlingly complex map.

Without needing any introduction, a voice sounded in everyone’s hearts.

This was the finale auction item, the thing that could gather together all the power of the entire Lantian Realm——

Daoist Tianxuan’s treasure trove!