Chapter 0782: An acquaintance presides over the auction

Ning Cheng didn’t stay in Striking Order Starry Sky for long and returned to Jiangzhou Star. Jiangzhou Star had Cang Caihe presiding over everything, so no one would dare to pick a fight for now. Ning Ruolan had also decided to go into secluded cultivation for three years, as her cultivation had already reached the late-stage Celestial Shatterer Realm. She wanted to advance to the Celestial Gatherer Realm during this seclusion.

As for Warren and Yue Wanxue, both had already stepped into the Heaven Seated Realm with the help of Ning Cheng’s pills. Their addition took the strength of Jiangzhou Star one step further. As for Yu Clan, they quickly moved everyone to Mysterious Yellow Celestial River’s Fighting Pit Star and began rebuilding it from the ground up.

Ning Ruoqing was the only one who didn’t come out. Still, Ning Cheng could feel that Ning Ruoqing had entered a deep secluded cultivation session and did not want to disturb her. Therefore, after taking care of a few matters and once again handing over things to Cang Caihe, Ning Cheng immediately headed towards Devil Domain Grand Starry Sky.

He could never give up on the Starry Sky Radish Grass. Moreover, if Duan Gantai obtained the Radish Grass, it wouldn’t matter whether Duan Gantai found someone to refine the Eternal Emperor Continuance Pill. It would only end up bad for him.

……

Silent Bubble Starland, just like Culmination Grand Starry Sky’s Culmination Starland, was the premier starland within the Devil Domain. Moreover, this starland also contained the largest starry sky city within the Devil Domain Grand Starry Sky, the Returning Capital Starry Sky City. Therefore, Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce, as the premier Chamber of Commerce in the Devil Domain Grand Starry, also had its headquarters situated in Silent Bubble Starland’s Returning Capital Starry Sky City.

This time, the auction hosted by Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce had exceeded all the events it had hosted previously. Even if it did not advertise all the top-grade treasures for the auction, just a few listed and publicised treasures would turn most of the people crazy. With so many ‘known’ treasures appearing, it naturally attracted many powerhouses, who flocked to the city like a gathering of clouds during a thunderstorm.

Fortunately, Ning Cheng managed to reach the Returning Capital Starry Sky City a few days before the auction started. However, by the time he arrived, the Returning Capital Starry Sky City had already begun to overflow with people. Even finding a small rest stop proved difficult. Ning Cheng enjoyed some fame and reputation within Striking Order Starry Sky and even in the Culmination Starland. But not many people knew about Ning Cheng in Silent Bubble Starland.

Finally, Ning Cheng had to spend a few thousand Perpetual Moon Pills to find a place to rest in a small rest stop in a remote corner.

……

Half a month later, the Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce officially declared the start of the grand auction. The chamber of commerce used that half a month to make the necessary arrangements due to the rapid influx of a large number of powerhouses and also inventory.

Regardless, Ning Cheng casually followed the crowd and strolled into the large auction venue. Immediately after entering, the jade card in his hand glowed with some words, Row 39, Seat 137.

Sure enough, as Suo Zihui mentioned, it was only an ordinary entrance jade card. The location wasn’t anything special and wasn’t even near to the front row.

But looking at the large venue, Ning Cheng felt that the position wasn’t too bad. Although the 39th row wasn’t the same as the 1st row, many cultivators considered the 39th row as a very suitable location.

After Ning Cheng sat down, he let his spiritual consciousness out freely. The auction venue was in the shape of colosseum with a large stage placed in the middle and covered with top-grade starry sky array formations and restrictions. Glancing at the private booths situated in the front row, Ning Cheng sensed several relatively powerful auras. From this, he understood that these booths had some compelling characters.

Ning Cheng already had a bad relationship with Devil Domain Grand Starry Sky’s Qiao Jierui. But since Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce operated and established such a huge base within the Devil Domain. Ning Cheng wouldn’t believe that its leader Yi Cang had nothing to do with Qiao Jierui. In any case, he didn’t come here to pick a fight with Qiao Jierui but to just bid for the Radish Grass.

Of course, if something that interested him appeared, he naturally wouldn’t give up on it.

After half an hour, the noisy scene within the venue finally subsided. With almost everyone holding the invitation jade cards inside the site, the chamber of commerce slowly closed the doors to mark the start of the auction.

Ning Cheng had already noticed Duan Gantai sitting in a row behind him, not too far away from his seat. He also believed that Duan Gantai had already taken note of him. As for the powerhouses in the booths in front, Ning Cheng didn’t peek at them with his spiritual consciousness. In any case, they were most likely Sect Masters of some big sects or Starry Sky Emperors.

An old-looking gentleman with a long beard slowly walked onto the auction stage and lightly cupped his fists towards everyone. “As Deacon Youcheng of Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce, I thank all the friends here for participating in my Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce’s auction. I believe everyone here has already heard about a few things appearing in today’s auction. But let me tell this before the auction officially starts. You’ll find many more items previously unlisted. I’m sure that this auction will bring you enough surprise and excitement for everyone here.”

Youcheng’s words immediately caused some restlessness in the crowd, showing that many people, just like Ning Cheng, came with a purpose. Ning Cheng breathed in a sigh of relief. If he hadn’t extorted Duan Gantai for 20 Starry Sky Spiritual Veins, he most likely wouldn’t have the capital necessary to bid in this place.

Moreover, Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce had a well-deserved strength and reputation. Deacon Youcheng was only a deacon, yet his power had reached the early-stage Eternal Realm. No wonder this chamber of commerce could become the premier chamber of commerce within Devil Domain Grand Starry Sky.

Waiting for the restlessness to calm down a bit, Youcheng continued, “As we have a lot of things to auction, I won’t take up any more of your time. Please welcome my Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce’s third deputy-lord, Shui Wuchang to host this auction.”

Shui Wuchang? Ning Cheng had just heard of this name when a beautiful woman in a red-coloured robe walked onto the stage.

It truly was the Shui Wuchang he knew. Ning Cheng didn’t find it strange that Shui Wuchang had advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm. After all, Duan Gantai had given Shui Wuchang a Celestial River Essence Qi King Pill. But what Ning Cheng felt a little surprised was that Shui Wuchang left Moyi City’s Shui Clan and came to the Devil Domain. She even became the third deputy lord of Ash Pagoda Chamber of Commerce. Wasn’t this sort of change a bit too abrupt?

Ning Cheng suddenly thought of the Perpetual Moon Time Key he prepared for the auction. He had taken Shui Wuchang’s Perpetual Moon Time Key back then. And now he used the same Perpetual Moon Time Key as one of the items in the auction presided over by Shui Wuchang. I wonder what she would think of it once it appeared?

Despite this, Ning Cheng didn’t find anything wrong with it. He took away Shui Wuchang’s Perpetual Moon Time Key mainly because Shui Wuchang wanted to use him against Duan Gantai. Moreover, she even wanted to take his life. Since this woman aimed for his life, he decided to take away her Perpetual Moon Time Key.

In any case, Duan Gantai was the main culprit in Shui Wuchang’s eyes, so he also wondered what Duan Gantai would do about it later.

Shui Wuchang stood over the stage and first bowed towards everyone before showing a charming smile. “Without wasting any more time, I will preside over today’s auction. We will not accept any celestial coins, only Perpetual Moon Pills, Permanent Essence Pills and Starry Sky Spiritual Veins. Our first item today is a drop of Single Essence Heavy Water. However, it’s not a complete drop of Single Essence Heavy Water, more like slightly more than half a drop….”

The first item for auction was the Single Essence Heavy Water, which immediately excited and confused many people in the audience. Who here didn’t know the value of Single Essence Heavy Water? Even if one did not use it as supplementary material in crafting a weapon, one could still refine into a powerful treasure.

Ning Cheng only knew that Qiao Jierui obtained a full drop of Single Essence Heavy Water. But since only half a drop appeared here, then most likely the other half went to Chuan Xinlou.

“This drop of Single Essence Heavy Water has a base price of 50 million Perpetual Moon Pills, and each price increase must not be less than 1 million. The bidding starts now.” Shui Wuchang spoke with a soft voice that created a deep impression in everyone’s mind. Moreover, since the very first item was the Single Essence Heavy Water, it immediately drew the enthusiasm of all the cultivators within the auction hall.

Fifty million Perpetual Moon Pills, a sum that ordinary cultivators couldn’t even dream of earning in their entire life, yet it was the starting price for this item. However, everyone here knew that the Single Essence Heavy Water, even half a drop, commanded a price much more than 50 million Perpetual Moon Pills.

On the bid-registering screen, prices continued to change quickly, showing only the highest current bid.

“60 million Perpetual Moon Pills.”

“70 million….”

……

“130 million….”

The price of Single Essence Heavy Water quickly reached 130 million Perpetual Moon Pills. Seeing this, Ning Cheng sighed. Looks like Duan Gantai and he weren’t the only ‘rich’ cultivators here. Within the vast starry skies, no one could say for sure about how the many heaven-sent opportunities a cultivator would encounter anyway.

Although Ning Cheng currently had more than a billion Perpetual Moon Pills, he did not intend to bid on this item. He wanted to use this wealth for the development of the Mysterious Yellow Sect. Besides, he didn’t care about this half a drop of Single Essence Heavy Water.

“2 million Permanent Essence Pills.” An abrupt offer suddenly knocked away the current price reported in Perpetual Moon Pills. Seeing this offer, everyone turned silent for a moment.

One Permanent Essence Pill theoretically equated to one hundred Perpetual Moon Pills. But only a few people would use Permanent Essence Pills in place of Perpetual Moon Pills. Permanent Essence Pills had a much higher value compared to Perpetual Moon Pills for cultivators. Not only did it contain pure and dense Starry Sky Essence Spirit Qi, but it also contained vague Dao Charm auras.

Moreover, one would have a much easier time in cultivating using Permanent Essence Pills compared to Perpetual Moon Pills. In any case, everyone knew that the higher one’s cultivation, the lower the effect of Perpetual Moon Pills. Only Permanent Essence Pills would show better results at that point.

In the end, no one decided to contest against the offer of 2 million Permanent Essence Pills for half a drop of Single Essence Heavy Water.

Shui Wuchang’s gaze suddenly fell on Ning Cheng, but she quickly looked away and continued with the auction. “Congratulations to the friend in booth 394 for obtaining the Single Essence Heavy Water and also for offering a bid that no one could match. For the next item, I will say that as long as one is a starry sky cultivator, no one would not want to get their hands on it. If it weren’t for the repeated instructions from the person who sent this item to the auction house, we most likely would have used this treasure as our final piece for today.”

The cultivators seated in the hall felt intrigued by Shui Wuchang’s words. One could say that except for Ning Cheng, everyone wanted to know about this item. What was this item that even the auction house deemed as their final closing treasure?