Chapter 261: Grave’s Auction
The bids from the buyers and the auction house’s desired price was too far apart. After the unsuccessful call for the lowest possible price, the auction house was no longer willing to cut the sum.
“In that case, open the tomb then.” The Ice Feather Palace’s descendant, Bing Yuxia, said: “It is just a waste of time with everyone being long-winded like this. If the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion is so sure of this tomb, then I’m sure there are great items inside.”
“That’s right, hurry up and open the tomb. If there are good stuff, then everyone will compete for them.” Many buyers couldn’t wait any longer so they started to shout out.
Sikong Toutian kept a low profile while standing next to Li Qiye, then he quietly inquired: “What does Brother think about this particular tomb?”
Li Qiye glanced at him and answered with a question: “What do you think about this tomb? I heard you robbed quite a few graves so your insight should not be too bad.”
After arriving at the scene, although Sikong Toutian maintained a low profile, the reality was that his eyes were still continuously sweeping everywhere.
“Brother is messing with me. I simply picked up a few pieces of trash, how could I dare to rob graves?” Sikong Toutian wryly smiled, but under Li Qiye’s glare, he didn’t dare to be stubborn so he had to continue: “This tomb is a bit poor; it’s only a Legendary Alchemist after all. Especially when he came from an alchemist clan; there will not be too many valuable things buried with him because he most likely left them behind for his descendants. The only shining light is the ancient medicines... How should I say this, this tomb is a bit different. With my experience in traveling underground, this tomb is a bit strange. I’m looking at the geography and feng shui of this tomb; it is burying the yin and carrying the yang — a bit unconventional. If it is only a Legendary Alchemist’s tomb, it is not worth a few hundred thousand Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades, even it the jades are of the lowest level!”
This guy had always said that he was only picking up trash to avoid the grave robbing matter. In reality, however, this guy was a professional when it came to this matter.
Li Qiye gave him a look and smiled without saying anything. This brat truly had some abilities.
“Does Brother have any good input?” Sikong Toutian didn’t give up and kept on asking. He felt that Li Qiye had a unique perspective regarding this tomb. Ever since his arrival, he had been watching this entire valley.
“You will see.” Li Qiye only smiled and didn’t answer Sikong Toutian. However, he recognized Sikong Toutian’s outlook. This tomb buried the yin and carried the yang — it was indeed a bit unconventional.
At the same time, there was one thing that Sikong Toutian was left unaware to. This was an extremely ancient matter. In fact, Li Qiye himself didn’t personally experience such a thing. It was merely a rumor during that era, and no one knew whether it was true or false.
“Good, since there is no buyer that’s willing to pay the high price, the tomb will be opened right now.” In the end, the auctioneer of the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion declared.
After the confirmation, the grand characters from the pavilion used an amazing method to open the dome of this tomb. In just a second, the inside of the tomb was exposed before everyone in full view.
At this time, the auctioneer went inside the tomb while the grand characters blocked it once again. He began to look at the treasures in order to identify them. Even though everyone could see everything inside the tomb through the exposed dome, the tomb itself was sealed so no one outside could hear the appraisal from the auctioneer as he evaluated each of the items!
Everyone could see a coffin in the middle of the tomb. It was completely black as if it was made from Gloomy Divine Wood.
Outside of the coffin in the middle of the tomb, there were many bottles and jars laying around everywhere. In addition, medicinal racks were present as well. Whether it was because of rotten wood or some other unknown reasons, these racks already collapsed to the floor. There were a few bottles and treasure boxes scattered on the ground along with a few decayed wooden boxes.
By now, the appraiser had already evaluated all the items. Even though there were many bottles inside the tomb, the appraiser’s ability was of the finest level so their speed was quite swift.
At this time, the buyers in the valley were holding their breaths while gazing intensely at all the items in the tomb as well the appraiser, hoping to see a few clues.
In the end, it was a test for the experience and insight of the buyers. Sometimes, an experienced buyer would still be able to pick up some good deals!
“It is indeed a tomb of an alchemist. Just like what everyone thought, only ancient medicines were buried. There are no Life Treasures nor manuals.” A buyer murmured after seeing that all the buried items inside the tomb were medicinal bottles.
Another experienced buyer sighed in relief and commented: “Fortunately, I didn’t buy the entire tomb; otherwise, it would have been a big loss.”
Of course, the buyers who came for ancient medicines were happy and hoped to be able to buy their needed drugs.
Many people began to speculate after seeing all these bottles on the floor. This was a Legendary Alchemist, so his buried items should not be too bad.
“Hopefully, there will be one or two supreme immortal medicines.” A person was quite excited and exclaimed.
Many alchemists had a habit of burying a few spirit medicines and immortal grass along with them when they died. Even a weak alchemist would also do the same. It would be a waste of being a prestigious alchemist if they didn’t have one or two precious materials buried along with them. [1. I’m sure immortal grass and spirit medicines here are more like adjectives and not literal in this case.]
“Okay, we will begin the grave auction in the order that the items were appraised, not by the price.” The auctioneer declared the rules to everyone.
At this time, the first medicinal bottle was brought up. This was an item where the value could be accurately determined.
The auctioneer opened the bottle and a sour, rotten fruit flavor immediately lingered in the air. It carried a bit of a tangy stench along with a faint treasure sandalwood smell. This strand of sandalwood essence immediately livened the spirits of others.
“This is a bottle of Natural Dan Fruit. After our pavilion’s examination, this Natural Dan Fruit has 700,000 years of medicinal spirit, and it has been sealed inside this bottle for more than 1,000,000 years. Everyone should know that a 700,000 year Natural Dan Fruit is quite precious; it could even be considered an ancient medicine. I don’t need to say more about its value. This Natural Dan Fruit will start with 5,000 Ancient Saint Refined Jades, and they have to be of the Grand Saint level.” The auctioneer spoke to all the potential buyers.
Refined Jades of the same realm also had different levels. For example, Refined Jades meant for Ancient Saints were called Ancient Saint Refined Jades, but when it was made from the purest world’s essence within this realm, then it will be classified as Grand Saint Refined Jades!
“So it really is a Natural Dan Fruit.” At this moment, everyone stared at the treasure fruit inside the bottle. Ordinary longevity medicines and this Natural Dan Fruit were a bit different. The fruit had been sealed underground for too long, and it had turned into a dark reddish brown. This was the sign of an ancient medicine absorbing the yin essence of the underworld! [2. Earth Yin would be the literal translation here, but yin essence of the underworld seems to be more clear.]
“I bid 5,000 Ancient Saint Refined Jades!” A Royal Noble of the previous generation immediately declared.
“I bid 6,000.” A different sect master immediately shouted.
There were many people who competed; another royal lord quickly bidded: “10,000.”
A Natural Dan Fruit was one of the most important side ingredients for refining Longevity Medicines. Having a 700,000 year old medicinal spirit meant that it could be used to create a True Medicine. This level of medicine was loved the most by Royal Nobles and Enlightened Beings, especially the older ones; thus, it was quite sought after by the experts of the previous generations, resulting in its rarity.
The Royal Nobles and Enlightened Beings of the last generation whom had some formidable backgrounds had most likely used a lot of ordinary Longevity Medicines; maybe it was not their first time trying to extend their lifespan.
To them, even True Longevity Medicines became much less effective due to the tolerance they built up. At this point, no matter how many Longevity Medicines they used, they would not be able to prolong their life for much longer.
Because of this resistance, ancient medicines became their aspiration and goal.
Since they have not used Longevity Medicines made from ancient medicines before, their resistance to it was quite little and the effect would be quite great. Because of this, this Natural Dan Fruit buried for a million years became quite a hot item.
Ultimately, this bottle of Natural Dan Fruit was sold for a price as high as the sky. At 80,000 Ancient Saint Refined Jades, this price was much higher than the initial starting price of 5,000. Moreover, only the old Royal Nobles and Ancient Saints with a little bit of life remaining bidded for it. Naturally, they were willing to pay a high price to buy an item that could increase their lifespan.
“The second item for auction; this is the Profound Vessel Wood.” The second item being brought up was a piece of treasure wood. It was stored in a jar. The moment this jar was opened, a wooden fragrance caused everyone to be intoxicated; it was quite a marvelous scene.
“The value of the Profound Vessel Wood goes without saying.” The auctioneer continued: “Each expert will eventually undergo a Fate Calamity. If they have a piece of Profound Vessel Wood on their body at the moment of their Fate Calamity, I trust that their True Fate will never become lost. This Profound Vessel Wood had been buried for millions of years and its wooden fragrance had been coagulating for just as many years, making it even more powerful. This piece of Profound Vessel Wood will start at 100,000 Enlightened Being Refined Jades.” [3. Raw here is 100 + 1,000 + 10,000 years, so its one billion years in actual text, but this is just an adjective for a very long time, so I chose millions to fit the context better.]
A furor broke out after people heard that it was a piece of Profound Vessel Wood. The people of the younger generation with high aptitudes were especially excited as their hearts started to beat faster.
Cultivators who wanted to reach the apex would always meet two deadly obstacles. If they couldn’t rise above these two deadly dao obstacles, then they would die with their dao lost and become mere puffs of smoke in the sky.
These two dao obstacles were Fate Calamity and Life Reduction! There was a phrase circulating amongst cultivators — A Fate Calamity was the devil of the mind and the Life Reduction was the withering of the heavens!
A Fate Calamity was a disastrous tribulation of the True Fate. Any cultivator at the grand achievement Mysterious Fate realm or peak Royal Noble must face their Fate Calamity. If they could not break through their True Fate’s tribulation at this level, then they will become nothing!
This was a great disaster to all cultivators. It was extremely difficult to surpass and once they failed, then all of their effort throughout their life would go down the drain. [4. The original phrase for “go down the drain” is — water flowing to the east. Its meaning is everything was for naught. Its origin is from Dream of the Red Chamber.]