Firmament Sword

"Second…" Xu Luo said, a slight smile playing on his lips as he looked at Shopkeeper Zhao. "There might be something at the auction later that catches our eye, but the money we have on us… might not be enough."

Shopkeeper Zhao immediately felt a headache coming on. Although he was the Chief Shopkeeper of the Baihua Auction House and wielded considerable authority, he wasn't the owner. After years of running the business, he knew better than anyone the value of the treasures that appeared at his auctions.

He had braced himself to be extorted, but he was still taken aback. He looked at Xu Luo with a troubled expression. "Sir… this humble one may be the Chief Shopkeeper, but I'm not the owner. I can't just pull out a large sum of money…"

Monkey snorted. "If Shopkeeper Zhao can't come up with the money, then let's just forget it. Brother, we should just go. I'm very dissatisfied with this auction house!"

After transforming into a human, Monkey's manner of speaking had changed; his mind had grown quite meticulous.

"Alright, I can agree to this. I have the authority to cover you for up to ten thousand Immortal Spirit Stones!" Shopkeeper Zhao was not an indecisive man and agreed on the spot. In his heart, however, he was already deeply displeased with these two mysterious figures.

'But… I'll get through this first. There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with other things later!'

Monkey sat down resentfully, grumbling with a snort, "So stingy. Ten thousand Immortal Spirit Stones… what can that even buy?"

Shopkeeper Zhao nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. He felt that if he stayed here any longer, he would surely die of anger.

After Shopkeeper Zhao left, Xu Luo sent a telepathic message to Monkey: "'He's angry.'"

"'I know,'" Monkey messaged back. "'I *wanted* him to be angry. I'm angry too! The auction house was clearly in the wrong first. We're just teaching them a lesson. If they don't learn from it, I'll make them regret it for the rest of their lives!'"

Xu Luo smiled faintly. He didn't think much of the Baihua Auction House either. After all, both he and Monkey were destined not to stay here for long.

Once they accomplished their goal, they would leave immediately.

By the time Shopkeeper Zhao felt vengeful and came looking for them, the two of them would be long gone.

Just then, a low murmur of surprise rippled through the auction floor below. Xu Luo and Monkey immediately fell silent, their gazes shifting to the middle-aged Auctioneer.

"This Talisman is over seven thousand years old! As we all know, only the truly powerful can create a Talisman, and each one possesses a unique effect. Typically, the older a Talisman gets, the weaker it becomes… But for the one in my hand, I can tell you with full confidence that in over seven thousand years, this Talisman has not lost a single shred of its energy!"

Another wave of astonished gasps swept through the first-floor auction hall.

"My god, seven thousand years… and it hasn't lost any energy? That's impossible, isn't it?"

"Exactly, it's incredible! Normally, a few hundred years is enough for even a very powerful Talisman to lose all its energy. Seven thousand years… can this be real?"

"We don't even know its specific effect yet. If it's an attack-type Talisman, it'll be worth a fortune!"

"Even if it isn't for attacking… a defensive one would be great too! A powerful defensive Talisman could save your life in a crucial moment!"

A fervent buzz of discussion immediately filled the first-floor auction hall.

Even in the private rooms on the second floor, many eyes were now fixed on the Auctioneer's hands.

The middle-aged Auctioneer's voice was clear and full of passion. He held up a palm-sized, earth-yellow object, his face flush with excitement as he described it.

"Seven thousand years! While that may not seem like much to the many masters present here, for most people in this world, seven thousand years… is long enough for oceans to turn into mulberry fields!"

"Alright, I'm sure all our esteemed guests are curious about this Talisman's properties. I, Lu Ping, won't waste any more of your time. I'll tell you straight: this Talisman is for attacking! And what's more…"

The crowd, on the verge of crying out, instantly fell silent, their eyes glued to the middle-aged Auctioneer, Lu Ping, on the stage, their faces taut with tension.

Lu Ping didn't keep them in suspense. He declared loudly, "And what's more… after being studied by numerous powerful experts, it has been unanimously determined that the attack stored within this Talisman is comparable to a full-powered strike from a Great Saint!"

BOOM!

The entire auction house erupted!

Everyone was stunned. They stared wide-eyed, their mouths hanging open in disbelief.

Even though the Auctioneer had already stated that the Talisman hadn't lost a shred of energy over seven millennia, people still couldn't fathom it. That a Talisman with seven thousand years of history… could actually store a full-powered strike from a Great Saint Realm expert!

This was the ultimate weapon for a sneak attack!

Imagine two experts in the Saint Realm locked in a fierce battle. Suddenly, one of them throws out a Talisman that unleashes the strike of a Great Saint. What chance would their opponent have?

They'd be lucky if they weren't blasted to smithereens, a true blessing from their ancestors!

Even a mighty expert in the Great Saint Realm wouldn't mind having a few more of these on hand!

Even the most powerful Martial Artist has moments of exhaustion. To have something like this in reserve could play an unimaginably huge role at a critical moment!

The private room belonging to the Celestial Brilliance delegation was in the center of the second floor, directly facing the auction stage.

Inside the private room, the eyes of the Advanced Disciple from Celestial Brilliance gleamed. He stared at the earth-yellow Talisman in the Auctioneer's hand and murmured, "That thing… will be very useful for what I have planned. Therefore… I'll take it!"

The others in the room all smiled and nodded. In their view, there was almost nothing their young master desired that he couldn't obtain.

Especially in a place like Baihua City, who… was qualified to compete with him?

The two women from Piaomiao Palace next door had the ability and the qualifications, but… of those two, the younger one was a noble lady of Celestial Brilliance, and the older one was a noble lady who had married out from Celestial Brilliance.

An offensive item like this probably wasn't what they were after anyway.

'At worst, I just won't compete with them for the Nether Flower Seed later!'

Such was the confidence of a Celestial Brilliance disciple!

In the eyes of Celestial Brilliance disciples, there was only one sect in all of Xi Hezhou: Celestial Brilliance!

In the neighboring private room for Piaomiao Palace, the young woman Xie Yudie watched the spittle-flying middle-aged Auctioneer on stage with a distinct lack of interest. "Are things for fighting and killing really so appealing?" she said faintly. "How boring. One would be better off spending that time raising flowers and cultivating one's character."

The red-dressed young woman at her side, Xie Yurou, retorted, "How is it useless? You know what kind of place the Divine Domain is. It's a world of bloody conflict. Having a treasure like this for self-defense couldn't be better!"

"You… all you think about all day is fighting and killing." Xie Yudie sighed, looking at her younger sister with a fond, indulgent gaze.

Xie Yurou shifted in her seat and pouted. "Sis, I'm not trying to criticize you, but are you just going to let your husband get away with this? Just look! Ever since you married into Piaomiao Palace, his heir and eldest son has despised you. He's on guard against you day and night, treating you like a thief. Meanwhile, your husband doesn't say a word. He's out there keeping other women, and his bastard child is already that old!"

"Yu Rou… you're a young woman. How can you say such awful things?" Xie Yudie's exquisitely beautiful face clouded over, her delicate brows knitting together.

"What do you mean 'awful'? I refuse to believe you haven't heard about what happened recently! My dear brother-in-law really dotes on his son, doesn't he? He knew your constitution is… yet he couldn't bear to let you use the Immortal Cold Jade Vehicle. Instead, he gave it to that bastard!" Xie Yurou fumed. "What's even worse, he dared to describe you—his sister who never asks for anything—as a fearsome tigress! How could he do that?"

"Perhaps… it's because I was just like you back then. So, without anyone needing to say a thing, that image of me has already taken deep root in people's minds," Xie Yudie said with a faint smile, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes.

Marrying the Piaomiao Palace Master had been a political alliance, but back then, she had also genuinely loved him. She had seen him as the great hero of her dreams.

The reality, however… had been a bitter disappointment. The Piaomiao Palace Master… was still that great hero, but she had not found the life she once imagined.

As thoughts swirled in her mind, Xie Yudie looked at her sister and suddenly said, "Yu Rou, if one day you meet a man you like, you must look at him clearly. If he is a hero… you must never be with him."

"Huh? Why? But sister, I thought you loved great heroes the most?" Xie Yurou asked, taken aback.

Xie Yudie replied softly, "Because in a hero's eyes, there are only his friends and his cause… there is no room for family."

A flicker of confusion crossed Xie Yurou's eyes. She shook her head. "I don't want to think about all that. I'm too young to be talking about such things!"

Then, with a charming smile, she steered the conversation back. "Sis… I want to buy this Talisman, but I don't have any money!"

Xie Yudie sighed, a look of resignation on her face. "I'll do what I can."

"You're the best, sis!" Xie Yurou was so excited she almost jumped for joy, but she managed to restrain herself, fearing another lecture.

In Xu Luo and Monkey's private room, Monkey was scratching his ears and scratching his cheeks. "This is great stuff!" he said to Xu Luo. "We have to get it! We absolutely have to get it!"

"A full-powered strike from a Great Saint… but this thing's a one-time-use consumable!" Xu Luo acknowledged the Talisman was a good item, but the thought of it being gone after a single use made him feel that spending a fortune on it… would be a bit of a waste.

"What do you know? My uncle's a Talisman Master! If we get our hands on this and show it to him later, he can definitely replicate it!" Monkey said, rubbing his hands together. "So no matter what, we have to win it!"

"Your uncle… is a Talisman Master?" Xu Luo looked at Monkey, surprised. This was certainly not what he had expected.

"What's with that look?" Monkey rolled his eyes at Xu Luo's shocked and skeptical expression. "My uncle… he's a master of all trades! Way better than you!"

Just then, the middle-aged Auctioneer, Lu Ping, announced from the stage, "This Top-Grade Attack Talisman has a starting bid of one thousand… Upper-grade Immortal Spirit Stones!"

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