The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

Shiiiii!

The sounds of bells and drums echoed throughout the huge auction house. Many people sat up in an instant, straightening their bodies as they directed excited expressions towards the auction stage. They knew the sign — the auction was starting soon.

Numerous adventure teams had gathered in White Dragon Hillock. Each day, they hunted ferocious Spiritual Beasts, while also searching for Spiritual Treasuries. Once the harvest passed inspection, most of it ended up at the auction house. All the good stuff within a thousand miles of White Dragon Hillock ended up at this particular one.

Many people had come here for that. After all, a High Rank Spiritual Artifact could save a life in desperate fights. To many of the smaller adventure teams, it was absolutely crucial. In the end, life is the most important.

When Su Xuan and the rest heard the sound, they also focused their attention. Especially Mu Chen, who’d noticed the strange air between the three major forces; he paid extra attention.

Watched by a hall full of eyes, a fat middle-aged man slowly walked onto the spacious auction stage with a face full of smiles. He cupped his hands towards the crowd and said, “Haha. Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Bi Sheng, Chief Auctioneer of the Nine Xia Merchants’ White Dragon City auction house. First, allow me to thank everyone on behalf of the Nine Xia Merchants for attending this event.”

“So, the auction house here is managed by the Nine Xia Merchants.” Su Xuan said softly as she heard the name.

“The Nine Xia Merchants are famous in the Northern Heavens Continent?” Mu Chen asked in a low voice.

Su Xuan lightly smiled. “The Nine Xia Merchants are one of the three largest mercantile groups in the Northern Heavens Continent. What do you think? They possess powerful strength. Although the overlord of White Dragon Hillock is only really a local overlord — he can’t hold a candle to the Nine Xia Merchants.”

Mu Chen understood that. No wonder the Young City Lord of White Dragon City was keeping to himself over there.

At least the auctioneer named Bi Sheng didn’t get too long-winded with this speech. He made a quick transition and moved over to the main topic. With a wave of his hand, a sword case appeared onstage.

The sword case opened, revealing a three-foot-long green blade, rippling with a dense green luster. As the green energy poured out, it showed the image of a large green eagle on the blade. The eagle flapped its wings, creating wind blades, engulfing everything. Sonic booms sounded so loudly, it seemed as if the air had cracked.

This clearly wasn’t a Low Rank Spiritual Artifact; there was even a Spiritual Beast’s Soul Essence sealed within the sword. It wouldn’t be weak.

“Haha. Ladies and Gentlemen’s, this is the Azure Eagle Sword. It’s a Middle Rank Spiritual Artifact. Sealed inside is the Soul Essence of an Azure Light Eagle, with strength comparable to a Heavenly Fusion Stage. As everyone knows, the Azure Light Eagle is known for its speed. At its fastest, even a Heavenly Transform Stage expert would have a hard time hunting it. It has now been refined into this sword, enhancing its power by several folds. If there’s any friend here today who’s an expert with swords, don’t miss out on this opportunity!” Bi Sheng said with his eyes narrowing as he smiled.

“The starting bid for this sword is 150,000 Spirit Coins.”

The auction hall was briefly silent by such an expensive price. However, the lull was soon broken with all sorts of voices. A Middle Rank Spiritual Artifact with the Soul Essence of an Azure Light Eagle was indeed worthy of such a price.

Mu Chen looked around the auction house, hearing all the yelling. He couldn’t help making a bitter smile for a brief moment. When he left the Northern Spiritual Realm, Mu Feng had prepared 150,000 Spirit Coins for him. That was already a decent sum for the Mu Territory. But here, it was the lowest starting price for a Middle Rank Spiritual Artifact.

The yelling continued around the auction house for several minutes, before slowly dying down. In the end, the “Azure Eagle Sword” was sold for 190,000 Spirit Coins to a skinny middle-aged man.

Once the “Azure Eagle Sword” had been sold, the atmosphere in the auction house gradually rose. The auctioneer Bi Sheng was clearly experienced with these sort of auctions. Next came a series of decent quality items. Most were Spiritual Arts, all of those were High Rank Spiritual Tiers. Each priced over a million.

Spiritual Arts were rather good treasures to many people of this area; however, Mu Chen, Su Xuan, and the others who’d come from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy would find them ordinary. Especially Mu Chen, who’d had a glimpse of the Spiritual Arts Hall’s vast collection. It was harder for him to see much more value in these things.

“There’s nothing good.” Su Ling’er muttered. She clearly wasn’t very satisfied with the quality of the auctions.

“Let’s wait a little longer. The good things are usually towards the end.” Su Xuan lightly smiled. She wasn’t impatient.

Mu Chen also nodded. He’d noticed that the members of the three major forces were still quietly seated. Even up until now, none of them had made a move. They were obviously still waiting for the better pieces to appear.

“Haha, the next item for auction is a little special. A team adventuring in the White Dragon Hillock managed to find it by sheer luck. By our appraisals, it should be an item left behind by a High Rank Spiritual Array Master.”

On the stage, Bi Sheng’s pair of hands carefully held up a jade box, the middle of which was decorated with a metal spheres. However, what confused everyone was the fact that none of them could sense any powerful Spiritual Energy rippling from it.

“Haha. Everyone, please don’t underestimate this. If we’ve appraised correctly, then these should be “Spiritual Array Seed” that only powerful Spiritual Array Masters can create.”

Bi Sheng narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Only Spiritual Array Masters with extraordinary abilities can carve such complex and frightening Spiritual Arrays onto this small metal spheres. When facing opponents, all they have to do is throw this “Spiritual Array Seed”, which will instantly form Spiritual Arrays. It’s really mysterious and unusual.”

From one of the front seats, the Earthen Way Sect’s skinny old man glanced at the rusty metal balls and sneered. “Hehe. Hey Fat Bi, it’s true that these ‘Spiritual Array Seed’ must be created by High Rank Spiritual Array Masters. But you’ll still have to check the level of the Spiritual Arrays carved on these ‘Spiritual Array Seed’. If they turn out to be only Rank 1 or 2 Spiritual Arrays, then, what’s the point?”

“You’ll also need a special method to activate them. Even if you have a ‘Spiritual Array Seed’, you won’t be able to activate it if you aren’t familiar with it.”

Everyone in the auction house nodded as they listened. Bi Sheng had been vague on purpose; he was clearly digging a hole and hoping that people would jump in.

“Haha, Brother Tu truly has a vicious foresight. No wonder you’re an Elder of the Earthen Way Sect.” Even though he’d been exposed, Bi Sheng wasn’t enraged at all. Instead, he nodded and smiled. “These ‘Spiritual Array Seed’ are rather ancient. We invited a Rank 3 Spiritual Array Master to study them, but even he couldn’t understand them. The only thing he said was that these Spiritual Arrays definitely surpassed his rank. It’s true that they’ll only serve the purpose of being decorations; but, of course, to some people, they could also be a formidable treasure.”

“Let’s not say any more. The starting price for this “Spiritual Array Seed” is 30,000.”

“Hissss.”

As Bi Sheng’s words landed, the auction crowd hissed. This guy hadn’t even clearly stated the rank of the Spiritual Arrays carved on these “Spiritual Array Seed” and was daring to ask for 30,000 for just one seed.

However, there was quite a number of Spiritual Array Masters among the auction crowd who were rather interested in it and started bidding. But once the price had reached 50,000, the voices quieted down.

“Haha, this friend over here has offered a price of 50,000. Is there anyone who is willing to go even higher?” Bi Sheng smiled.

Mu Chen stared at this particular “Spiritual Array Seed” and his eyes narrowed as a strange light flashed through his eyes. He’d already entered the Heart Array State to observe the “Spiritual Array Seed”. The complicated patterns clearly surpassed the category of Rank 3. According to Mu Chen’s speculations, the Spiritual Array carved on this “Spiritual Array Seed” might be compatible to a portion of his “Butchering Demonic Lotus Spiritual Array”.

This really was some good stuff.

A thought flashed over Mu Chen’s heart and he lightly smiled. “60,000.”

The sudden sound in the quiet auction house attracted quite a bit of attention. So much so that even the members of the three major forces also turned their heads in his direction.

Even the white-clothed youth, with two beautiful girls hugging him, also lazily glanced at Mu Chen. Then his eyes focused. A blaze was lit within his eyes.

“Premium qualities.” His eyes were fiery as he looked at Su Xuan, Su Ling’er, and Li Qing sitting next to Mu Chen. His heart pounded. Compared to the two girls in his embrace, those three were on another level.

“Since when did our White Dragon City have such premium qualities?” That white-clothed youth let go of the two girls in his embrace and licked his lips. His eyes were filled with unconcealed lust for the three girls.

“What are you staring at? You don’t want your eyes anymore?!” Su Ling’er was the first to sense the white-clothed youth’s covetous gaze. Her face turned cold as she coldly growled. Her personality was violent to begin with; back in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, she was already so hard to deal with. Now, upon seeing the gaze coming from this white-clothed youth, she was even more furious. Being frank and outspoken, she naturally didn’t give him any face.

Su Xuan also glanced at the youth with indifference. However, she did not speak. Meanwhile, the loathing in Li Qing’s eyes was unconcealed as she glared back at him, it was so hard that you could sense the bloodthirst.

“Haha, a little chili pepper with just enough spice. I like it.”

Even though Su Ling’er had shouted at him, he wasn’t angered. Instead, he licked his lips and lazily waved his hand. “100,000 Spirit Coins. I, the Young Master, want that Spiritual Array Seed.”