Stellar Transformations Book 11 Chapter 31: Contending in Secret (translated by RWX)
He wore violet battle-armor covered with complicated patterns which emanated an awe-inspiring aura. Clearly, this was a very powerful set of battle-armor. He had a pair of deep, energetic, tiger-like eyes which seemed to flash with lightning. His massive, broad chest gave a sturdy, indomitable feeling.
That familiar aura. That familiar appearance. That familiar laugh.
Man Qian!
It was the Man Qian whom Qin Yu and his two brothers had met at that restaurant!
“I had the feeling back then that this Man Qian was an expert. I thought he was perhaps one of the Demon experts from the Wilderness. Who would’ve thought that he was actually the Emissary of the Demon Realm?” Qin Yu inwardly let out a sigh of praise. “The ancients said that a man can be judged by his clothes. Now that Man Qian is dressed in such a dominating set of battle-armor, he clearly radiates a totally different aura.
Qin Yu stood behind the Sword Immortal Lan Feng and Zong Jue, looking at the distant Man Qian.
Behind Man Qian was a thin man dressed in black battle-armor. This was the Ruler of the Wilderness – Yu Liang. By Yu Liang’s side, there were the three other great Demons of the Wilderness: Kong Cao, Xing Shou, and Wu Shan. By now, all four of these major experts possessed the exquisite treasures that had come from the Demon Realm.
“Hua Yan, since Sovereign Yu of the Immortal Realm has sent you here, it seems you are currently enjoy Sovereign Yu’s favor.” Man Qian smiled as he spoke.
Sword Immortal Hua Yan laughed. “For Sovereign Yu to select me out of the other Golden Immortals of the first level and send me here alone is a symbol of his recognition of my ability. I naturally can’t make Sovereign Yu appear weak, nor will I make Sovereign Yu disappointed.”
Hua Yan didn’t back down one bit in terms of attitude.
“But I am I quite surprised. I don’t know what that the Emperor of the Demon Realm who sent you was thinking. I really don’t know what would happen if you were to lose your little life in the Ni Yang Realm. What a huge upheaval there would be in the Beast clan!” Hua Yan sighed.
Man Qian pursed his lips slightly. “That’s not for you to worry about.”
“I’m not worried.” Hua Yan continued. “I imagine, Man Qian, that you also know that Ni Yang Realm was the old lair of Immortal Emperor Ni Yang. Immortal Emperor Ni Yang! I imagine that you should know about the past legends of Immortal Emperor Ni Yang, right? If one aren’t careful while in his old lair, one would definitely die, even if one was a Mystic Immortal.
Behind, Qin Yu’s eyelids twitched.
Even Mystic Immortals would definitely die?
This Ni Yang Realm was indeed a placed filled with countless dangers. It seems the decision I made in the past was correct.
Although Qin Yu had the map for heading towards the Ni Yang Realm, he had never gone inside. The reason was…if he and his two brothers headed there alone, Qin Yu simply didn’t have the confidence to deal with the many dangers hidden within the Ni Yang Realm. He might even harm his brothers by accident.
If he headed there alongside the various Emissaries…most likely those Emissaries had prepared various secret treasures to deal with all sorts of contingencies. It would be much safer following them in.
“Of course I know how dangerous the Ni Yang Realm is. But haven’t you heard the saying that danger and opportunity are present at the same time?” In Man Qian’s eyes flashed a hint of wisdom and intelligence. “You should know about the treasures within the Ni Yang Realm. If it weren’t for the fact that these treasures made even Sovereign Yu go wild with desire, why would he have spent so much effort to open a corridor between the two universes?”
Hua Yan smiled. “Likewise, likewise.”
Hua Yan’s meaning was quite obvious. Doesn’t the Demon Emperor of your Demon Realm also covet those treasures?
Qin Yu was carefully listening to these two people talk to each other.
“The legends of Immortal Emperor Ni Yang? A treasure which would make Sovereign Yu and the other major figures of three different Realms go wild?” Qin Yu, hearing these things, had his own hypotheses. “In the higher Realms, this Immortal Emperor Ni Yang must have had an incredibly good stroke of fortune, resulting in him obtaining an ultimate treasure which even the Immortal Emperors, Demon Emperors, and Devil Emperors are willing to go wild over.”
Although Immortal Emperor Ni Yang himself had died, how could he have been willing to hand his treasures so casually over to others?
Even those three ‘Heaven-Sundering Diagrams’ had been hidden within the Nine Immortals Sword Mansion, and had been guarded by many dangers.
Then…what of the Ni Yang Realm?
“Who is this?” Man Qian suddenly saw the Sword Immortal Lan Feng. He had a puzzled look on his face.
Although Man Qian seemed confused, in his heart, he was deeply astonished, because…he couldn’t sense the power of this mysterious Sword Immortal in front of him at all. It must be understood that Man Qian was a super divine beast, and he had some particular techniques for investigating a person’s power.
The Sword Immortal Hua Yan made the introductions. “Man Qian, this person is the seller in this auction: Sword Immortal Lan Feng. The Heaven-Sundering Diagram is his. Brother Lan Feng’s power is simply incredible; even I don’t have any confidence in dealing with Brother Lan Feng. But Brother Man Qian, your own power is surpassingly great as well. Do you think you would be confident in overcoming Brother Lan Feng?”
From behind, Qin Yu frowned.
Wasn’t Hua Yan deliberately trying to instigate something between Lan Feng and Man Qian?
Lan Feng glanced at Hua Yan, then laughed. “Although I have some interest in the Ni Yang Realm, my interest isn’t too great, otherwise…I wouldn’t sell off the Heaven-Sundering Diagram. After entering the Ni Yang Realm, it will be up to all of you to fight over the treasures within. As for Brother Man Qian, Brother Man Qian’s power is surpassingly great. I admit that I am inferior to him.”
“Brother Lan Feng, you are being modest.” Man Qian smiled.
Although Man Qian, relying on the fact that he was a super divine beast, was even able to defeat a Golden Sword Immortal of the second level, he didn’t have any confidence in dealing with this Lan Feng, whom he couldn’t sense anything about at all.
“Everyone let’s go inside the rooms first, then continue our conversation within.” Zong Jue spoke.
Man Qian glanced at Zong Jue, and his eyes couldn’t help but light up. “Oh. You must be Zong Jue. So your surname is Zong as well.”
“Brother Qin Yu.”
Man Qian suddenly saw Qin Yu and the other two who were standing behind Zong Jue. He immediately began to laugh. “Qin Yu, Hou Fei, and Hei Yu. Haha…I didn’t expect that after saying our farewells at the restaurant in the Qianlong continent, we would meet again here. Back then, I had the sense that you three weren’t ordinary people. Who would’ve thought we’d meet here today?”
Qin Yu and the other two laughed, nodded, and greeted him as well.
“Brother Man Qian, you know my martial-nephew? Haha…Brother Man Qian, you need to build a good relationship with my martial-nephew. The auction for the Heaven-Sundering Diagram which is about to occur will be officiated over by my martial-nephew. He can sell the Heaven-Sundering Diagram to whoever he wants. I’ve already given all the authority on this matter to my martial-nephew.” Sword Immortal Lan Feng laughed.
Man Qian’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, Brother Lan Feng, are you saying…that if Qin Yu so chooses, he can even sell the Heaven-Sundering Diagram to someone whose bid of top grade elemental holy ore isn’t the highest?” Man Qian asked.
“Right.” Lan Feng nodded.
The faces of Hua Yan and the others instantly changed.
Qin Yu laughed, “Martial-uncle Lan Feng, you’ve given me the responsibility of managing this auction to me. How can I be so casual about it? Since it is an auction, I’ll give the diagram to be the person who offers the greatest number of top grade elemental holy ores. No matter what, I can’t so casually abuse my power.”
“Good.” Man Qian slapped Qin Yu on the shoulders. “Well spoken. Later on, whoever offers the greatest amount of top grade elemental holy ore will be the person who gets the Heaven-Sundering Diagram.”
Hua Yan let out a secret sigh of relief.
In the coming days, the Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun also led his forces to Snow Fish Island. The Dragon Clan’s forces were the last to arrive.
In the southern residences.
“Scram! This place is for the Dragon Clan to stay him. How dare you loose devils occupy our turf? Do you want to die?”
A furious roar, followed by several bodies being thrown out like sandbags.
A massive, powerful man strode out, staring coldly at the dozens of people on the loose devil’s side.
The southern residences were divided into four lesser districts which belonged to the loose immortals, the loose devils, the demons of the Wilderness, and the Dragon Clan. Every district had enough space for fifty or sixty people to live in, but the problem was, each of the major powers had brought at least several hundred people.
There was only so much space. How could they all fit?
The loose immortals abided by the rules, at least, and they only lived in their designated district. The loose immortals who had no place to stay had to erect their own little residences.
As for the demons of the Wilderness, they were extremely arrogant, and they took over two of the four districts.
What’s more, this action was met with Man Qian’s approval. The domineering, overbearing Man Qian. As soon as the Blood Devil arrived and saw him, he felt a headache coming. He didn’t want to fight against Man Qian head on, and so he had the experts under his control live in the last district.
There were four districts in the southern residences. One belonged to the loose immortals. Two belonged to the demons of the Wilderness. The last one was the Blood Devil’s.
Once the Dragon Clan had arrived, they didn’t have a place to stay!
How could the Dragon Clan not be angered?
The super experts of the Dragon Clan of the 10th and 11th tribulations immediately joined forces and threw out the experts of the loose devils. It must be understood that the super experts of the loose devils’ side were staying along with the Blood Devil in the central residences. The strongest of those who stayed in the southern residences were only of the 10th tribulation.
Naturally, the loose devils were easily trampled.
In the central residences. Everyone here was a super expert, and the leaders of their respective sides.
The loose devils had the Blood Devil and the others. The loose immortals had Hua Yan and the others. The demons of the Wilderness has Man Qian and the others. The Dragon Clan had their numerous experts. And then of course, there was the host, Zong Jue, Lan Feng, Qin Yu, and the others. The most spacious area, the central residences, was actually the least populated one.
In the courtyard where Lan Feng was residing.
“Brother Lan Feng. They are fighting over there, they are fighting, haha…” Zong Jue walked in. “My young friend Qin Yu, haha, I have to tell you this joke.”
Qin Yu and Lan Feng glanced at each other, then Lan Feng spoke. “Brother Zong, go on, tell us this joke.”
Zong Jue nodded. “Do you still remember? At first, we had only arranged for the forces of the various sides to stay in the southern residences, while dividing it into four districts. Right now, the loose immortals have one district, the demons of the Wilderness have two districts, and the loose devils took over one district. But when the forces of the Dragon Clan came, then physically threw out the loose devils.”
“Threw them out?” Qin Yu stared.
Zong Jue began to laugh. “Right. Right now, the Emissary of the Dragon Clan, and the leader of the Dragon Clan, Fang Tian, along with the Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun are all in the central courtyard. It seems they are fighting over the matter of who gets to stay where. Nobody is willing to back down.”
“The auction hasn’t even begun, but they’ve already started to fight.” Qin Yu laughed.
Zong Jue nodded. “Actually, none of them really care about who lives where, but…they want to make a display of power to cow the other party. Otherwise, Man Qian wouldn’t have been so overbearing as to allow the demons of the Wilderness to take over two districts.”
They were fighting over face.
All of the Emissaries represented major figures within their respective Realms. If they were soft and weak, wouldn’t that mean they were losing face for their powerful backers?
“Man Qian really is overbearing, for his one side to take over two districts. However, he has the power to be overbearing.” Lan Feng laughed calmly. “Brother Zong, as the host, I can’t just watch as they continue to cause a ruckus like this. If they truly begin to fight, that would be terrible.”
“BANG!”
A heaven-shaking explosion!
Qin Yu, Lan Feng, and Zong Jue were all startled.
“Haha, too late. They are already fighting.” Zong Jue began to roar in laughter.
Qin Yu made a sweep with his holy sense, then began to laugh. “What a good fight. Virtually half of the southern residences have been destroyed and are now unlivable. Maybe it’s for the better. Nobody has a place to stay now. They can all just go build their own houses on the snowy ground outside.”
“Haha, wonderful, now nobody has a place to stay. Wu Kong Xue, arrange for those people to build a new residence in the southern area.” Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun laughed loudly as he spoke.
Half of the southern residences had been destroyed by now, and that disaster area was no longer suitable for anyone to live in. Although this was the result of the battle between the Emissary of the Dragon Clan and the Emissary of the Devil Realm, it must be said that these two Emissaries actually did this on purpose.
After all, if they kept on arguing, it would be to nobody’s benefit.
The Emissary of the Dragon Clan, Ao Feng, and the leader of the Dragon Clan, Fang Tian, glanced at each other. They let out a calm laugh, then moved away.
Even before the auction began, nonstop friction had begun to occur between the four powers at Snow Fish Island. At the same time, the Emissaries of the Immortal Realm, Devil Realm, Demon Realm, and Dragon Clan were all engaging in constant, secret discussions. After all, the four of them had the most top grade elemental holy ore.
The central residences. The Dragon Clan’s district.
“Brother Ao Feng, can we have a chat?”
Sword Immortal Hua Yan stood outside the residence of Ao Feng, smiling calmly. Ao Feng was the Emissary of the Dragon Clan.
Just at this time, Ao Feng’s gate opened, and the gold dragon elder, Ao Yan, walked out with a smile. “Senior Hua Yan, our lord has instructed us early on that he is not seeing guests.”
Hua Yan frowned.
“Brother Ao Feng, your Dragon Clan already has a piece of the Heaven-Sundering Diagram. You wouldn’t be desirous of the one being auctioned off as well, would you?” Hua Yan asked rebukingly.
There was still no sound from Ao Feng’s residence.
But the gold dragon elder, Ao Yan, smiled. “Senior Hua Yan, our lord has once said, isn’t it better to have more pieces of the Heaven-Sundering Diagram? If we have an extra copy, that means others will be unable to enter. The fewer people that enter, the fewer people who will be able to compete for the treasures.”
“Haha, Senior Hua Yan, take care! This junior won’t send you off.” Ao Yan put on a very polite appearance, and as he spoke, the gold dragon elder actually shut the door.
Staring at the closed door, a cold aura appeared on Hua Yan’s face.
“Hmph.” A cold snort, and then Hua Yan turned and left.
But at that moment, within the main hall in Ao Feng’s residence…
Ao Feng and Man Qian were seated facing each other.
“Brother Man Qian, come, cheers!” Ao Feng raised his cup.
Man Qian smiled as he raised his own cup. “Brother Ao Feng, you really are a good fellow. Now that Hua Yan has already left, Brother Ao Feng, why don’t you go ahead and tell me how many of those top grade elemental holy ores you would be able to lend me? Or perhaps we can say, how many I can trade for?”
“Oh, that’s easy, that’s easy. Let’s drink first.” Ao Feng was all smiles.
No matter what agreements each side secretly made before the auction, on the day of the auction itself, each side still had to actually be able to produce the top grade elemental holy ores.
After all, the overseer of this event, Qin Yu, had said early on: “No matter what, I will definitely be impartial. Whoever offers the most top grade elemental holy ores is the person who will gain the Heaven-Sundering Diagram!”
The very last day of this year would be the day that the Heaven-Sundering Diagram would be auctioned off. The day which each of the sides had been eagerly awaiting was finally arriving.