Chapter 602: Fantasy Star Ocean
Once the price reached three million five hundred thousand purple coins, even more members of the audience gave up bidding. Even the other bidders who were still attempting to purchase the heavenly resource began to balk at the price, and started to have second doubts. Ten thousand year old heavenly resources were rare, but they appeared once every year in Mercenary City. If the bidders didn’t purchase one this year, there was always next year.
“Three million six hundred thousand.” For a while, the auction house was silent before another voice finally called out.
“Four million.” Jian Chen immediately gave an even higher bid. While it looked as if he was calm inside, his heart was starting to ache somewhat. Four million purple coins was more than enough to buy a hundred thousand year old heavenly resources.
“Brother, you must be very adamant on taking that Geofruit. Haha, I am Hu Xiaotian, what might your name be, brother?” The middle-aged man next to Jian Chen asked.
Jian Chen turned to study Hu Xiaotian. Seeing how earnest and honest the man looked, Jian Chen decided the man was not someone who would act kind in order to gain someone’s trust for their own benefit. “This one is called Jian Chen.” He smiled.
“Jian Chen! The very same one known as the number one mercenary in the Gathering of the Mercenaries and known as the King of Mercenaries, that same Jian Chen?” Hu Xiaotian exclaimed in surprise.
“I am he!” Jian Chen answered.
Hu Xiaotian was clearly startled by this announcement, but he quickly regained his wits and cupped his hands in salute. “So you were Jian Chen, the King of Mercenaries. It is nice to meet you. What a pity. I was preoccupied when the Gathering of Mercenaries happened and was unable to watch the battles. Otherwise, I would definitely have watched your match.”
After that, Jian Chen and Hu Xiaotian spent the rest of the auction chatting and bidding. In the end, Jian Chen managed to buy the Geofruit at the high price of four million eight hundred thousand purple coins.
While their conversation was happening, everyone in the auction house turned to look at the corner Jian Chen was in. They were all curious to know which grand family this person came from.
On the third floor of the auction house, a white-robed elder slowly creased his eyebrows as he sank deep into thought.
“Strange, why does the voice of the one bidding for the Geofruit sound so familiar?” The elder muttered. Then, a second later, a brilliant gleam of light flashed across his previously dull eyes as he gave a small shout, “Jian Chen! That’s Jian Chen’s voice! But how? Did he survive?”
Now that he had surmised that the bidder had been Jian Chen, the elder got out from his seat and hurried on over to the stairwell. Walking down to the first level, his eyes moved through the dark auction house as he looked for the corner where Jian Chen sat.
Upon seeing Jian Chen, the elder began to tremble as a vicious smile seized his face. “It’s him! It’s really him! I didn’t think that he had survived, but the Seal of Treasure Mountain must still be on him.”
Feeling the sharp glare of the elder, Jian Chen instinctively turned to look at the source of the stare. When Jian Chen saw the elder, he felt startled, but then a meaningful smile appeared on his face. He stood up from his chair and strode over to where the elder was.
With a swagger to his step and a smile, Jian Chen greeted the elder. “If this one’s memory is correct, then you must be the third elder of the Shi family. I didn’t believe we’d meet each other here, how coincidental.”
This elder had been the elder of the Shi family with the wind affinity. Back when Jian Chen had practically been chased to the end of the earth, the feeling of hopelessness caused by this elder had left Jian Chen with an unforgettable memory of him.
“So you really are Jian Chen!” With that confirmation, the third elder was now completely convinced that this youth in front of him was the very same Jian Chen that had stolen the Seal of Treasure Mountain.
Now that he knew Jian Chen was alive, the man couldn’t help but feel excited. Ever since Jian Chen’s supposed death, they had never once stopped searching for the Ruler Armament. They had spent tons of energy in order to use several secret methods to find the location of the Ruler Armament, but to no avail. They had come out for the worse after each attempt.
However, on a random trip to the annual auction, he had come across the culprit who had stolen the Ruler Armament. This accidental meeting rekindled the elder’s hope and glee.
“Jian Chen, you are a resilient one. You’re still alive even after receiving such heavy injuries.” The elder sneered.
Laughing in return, Jian Chen replied, “Perhaps King Yanluo himself was unwilling to give me shelter, so I escaped death.”
“Hmph, it was a mistake on our end to not dispose of your body. If we had, you would not be able to live as happily as you do now. Jian Chen, I don’t wish to mince words with you. Since the Jiede clan isn’t here, you may as well come back to my Shi family and return the Seal of Treasure Mountain. We will keep silent about your survival if you come with us.” The elder suggested.
Still smiling, Jian Chen playfully glared at the man, “Third elder, you should go back. I have some things to buy yet, so I won’t have time to accompany you.” After that reply, Jian Chen turned around to return to his seat.
Glaring daggers at the back of Jian Chen, the third elder tightly clenched his fist in anger. If it were not the fact that they were in Mercenary City, he would have attacked Jian Chen a long time ago without giving him the chance to escape.
“Jian Chen, I’ll see to it that you won’t escape this time.” The man laughed coldly to himself as he left the auction house. He was no longer in the mood to continue bidding.
“Brother Jian Chen, I can see that old man was giving you a fishy stare. Was there a problem between the two of you in the past?” As soon as Jian Chen sat back down, Hu Xiaotian asked him a question.
Not caring to hide the truth, Jian Chen nodded, “Correct, he is an enemy of mine.”
“Brother Jian Chen, you should be careful then. That old man is a Heaven Saint Master, that is an entity that an Earth Saint Master can’t hope to contend with.” Hu Xiaotian responded in a serious manner.
“Thank you for your concern. This one will be cautious.” Jian Chen smiled. Hu Xiaotian was unable to see just how strong Jian Chen was since he had hidden his strength.
“But brother Jian Chen, you shouldn’t worry too much. If you ever come across an enemy, then you just need to run to Mercenary City. Not a single person would dare to act out in Mercenary City, even Heaven Saint Masters are not exceptions to this. It’s hard to come across a Saint Ruler as an enemy as well, but even they won’t cause strife in the city.” Hu Xiaotian explained.
Jian Chen’s heart had skipped a beat when he heard that. “Even Saint Rulers wouldn’t dare fight? Is Mercenary City truly that terrifying?”
“Far more than you could possibly believe!” Hu Xiaotian’s face changed to a serious expression. Holding a hand out to point at the sky, he said, “Little brother, you’ve seen the barrier of Mercenary City for yourself I’m sure. Let me tell you, this barrier has existed for countless of years from when Mo Tianyun himself placed the barrier down. Protecting Mercenary City through the ages in silence, it has struck down anybody that dared to fight or injure another within its boundaries. The more offensive offenders have been killed. That is how terrifying it is.”
“I see!” Jian Chen remarked.
The auction continued on for another hour as plenty of strange but rare goods were bought.
Some time later, the auctioneer brought out a small glass bottle that was about the size of one’s fist. Inside, there was a small, faint glow that seemed to resemble the dazzling light of a star.
If one were to look carefully, one would be able to see that there were a multitude of small particles of sand slightly moving around in the bottle. Each particle let out a light that resembled starlight itself, and from afar, it looked as if the bottle contained the starry sky, each light resembling an individual star from the universe.
Holding the bottle up above her head for everyone to see, the auctioneer started with, “Audience, please allow me to introduce our next treasure to be sold. The item I hold in my hand will most likely be a first for everyone to see here. That is because this item is from one of the death zones of the Tian Yuan Continent — Fantasy Star Ocean.”
“What? Fantasy Star Ocean? I’ve heard that, aside from Death’s Nest, the Fantasy Star Ocean is the most terrifying death zone! Even Cross Mountains aren’t even terrifying compared to it. A Heaven Saint Master stands no chance there; even a Saint Ruler would find their death at hand there.”
“Who would have known that this would be an object from such a place? It has to be something that a Saint Ruler brought back.”
“But what use is there for it? If it’s from Fantasy Star Ocean, then there has to be some sort of use for it.”
……
Like the rock that caused a thousand ripples in a pond, the entire audience buzzed with noise the moment they heard where the item came from. They were all extremely interested in what the auctioneer was holding, and were curious about the bottle.
Looking carefully at the bottle, Jian Chen knew that this was the item that the two spirits had told him about. It was one of the extremely high quality materials, stardust.
“This is stardust! But it’s only a small amount. If we wish to forge the Azulet swords, then we’d need at least several kilogram worth of stardust.” Ziying spoke with disappointment in Jian Chen’s mind.
Those words caused no small amount of shock to Jian Chen, who remarked, “What? Forging the Azulet swords requires that much stardust?”
“Yes, the more stardust, the better until we hit the limit itself. The amount of stardust here might be small, but it is good to hear that this Fantasy Star Ocean has plenty more of it. Master, you must go to that place and gather even more stardust.” Ziying spoke.
Jian Chen couldn’t help but feel a grimace overcome his face. He hadn’t known how dangerous this Fantasy Star Ocean was before, but hearing others talk about it had given him a preliminary idea of the dangers.
A Heaven Saint Master was destined to die if they entered, and even a Saint Ruler would most likely fall to their death. That much was enough to tell him that he wouldn’t even be able to take a step there.