Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1215 - Auction
Chapter 1215 – Auction
Shock rippled across Liu Wuxie’s face and through the entire crowd. Many disciples had seen him wield the Heavenly Dragon Seal to suppress Tie Niu, yet Elder Long summoned it with effortless ease, as though it had always belonged to him.
“My ancestor forged this,” Elder Long declared after carefully examining the artifact. “There should also exist a Dragon Clan Scepter.”
His voice was steady, but the revelation struck like thunder. However, Gu Yu had long since seized the paired scepter.
Liu Wuxie’s heart pounded. He recalled the Blood Sea Abyssal Island, when fifty men hunted him and Gu Yu before they discovered the two treasures. He had never imagined Elder Long’s ancestors created them. Yet it made sense; the dragon clan had fought in that ancient war that sundered the True Martial Continent. A branch of them vanished in the chaos.
“Tell me how you obtained this Heavenly Dragon Seal,” Elder Long demanded, handing the seal back. He did not attempt to claim it. The dragon clan’s will had already acknowledged Liu Wuxie, and in battle, the seal would still answer only to him. Still, Elder Long had noticed something extraordinary. Someone had once damaged the seal, yet a master using dragon-clan blacksmithing methods restored it, techniques even Elder Long could not perform.
He marveled. How could someone at the Transcendent Realm possess such mastery? At its prime, the seal had been far greater. What Liu Wuxie held now was only a fragment of its original might.
“I cannot tell you that,” Liu Wuxie replied. He knew little of Elder Long and trusted him even less. This man’s True Dragon Physique was infinitely stronger than his own, and enemies already lurked within the sect seeking his life. Secrets tied to the True Martial Continent could not be spoken aloud, not here, not before so many eyes.
“The Heavenly Dragon Seal has been missing for countless years. It does not belong to Indigo Bamboo Star. Who are you, and why have you come here?” Elder Long pressed. His gaze bore through Liu Wuxie, but his knowledge seemed to stop at the seal.
“That does not conflict with my joining the Heavenly Dragon Sect, does it?” Liu Wuxie answered calmly. The sect barred no cultivator from other astral domains.
“Indeed. But the Heavenly Dragon Seal was forged by my ancestor. Since it chose you, I am entitled to know its full story,” Elder Long said. He did not use his authority or rank to force an answer from Liu Wuxie.
“I have difficulties that I cannot reveal for now,” Liu Wuxie said, bowing with sincerity. “Please forgive me, senior. I promise I will tell you everything when the time comes.”
Elder Long, a Void Realm cultivator, saw truth in Liu Wuxie’s eyes. A liar would have spun falsehoods. Liu Wuxie’s refusal, steady and burdened, showed genuine struggle.
“Very well. I will seek you out again,” Elder Long said. Cold though his bearing remained, he was no fool. He had stormed Avatar Star, demanded answers, and found a youth who guarded himself carefully. That caution was expected.
Liu Wuxie’s brows eased. Not everyone in the Heavenly Dragon Sect was blinded by malice.
Elder Long’s arrival marked the end of the wilderness training. No elder dared to mention confiscating Wisdom Stones again. The elders announced the rankings: Liu Wuxie first, He Yingwu second, Mu Heng third. Shen Yue fell beyond the two-thousandth mark, humiliating for a third-level Origin Conversion Realm genius and a planet lord’s daughter.
Elder Long’s eyes lingered on Liu Wuxie, curiosity deepening.
“Wuxie, we will issue rewards once we return to the sect, likely within a day or two,” Elder Ding said, finally at ease under Elder Long’s protection. For the time being, they did not have to worry about the other institutes’ revenge.
“Thank you, Elder Ding,” Liu Wuxie replied with a bow. Without Ding Yi’s support earlier, Xiao Li might have dragged him down. Elder Ding nodded, approving of Liu Wuxie even more.
The group headed to the teleportation array. None dared provoke trouble while Elder Long was present.
“Elder Ding,” Liu Wuxie asked quietly, “do you know anyone named Ling Qiong in the sect?” Someone had tried to kill him, and he needed the truth.
“There is no disciple by that name,” Elder Ding said after a pause, though unease flickered in his eyes. “But I know of the Ling Qiong Clan.”
“Are they in the Heavenly Dragon Sect?” Liu Wuxie pressed. His failure to kill Ling Qiong still weighed on him. He suspected Ling Qiong had returned to the astral domain, pulling strings from the shadows. The Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy, Dragon Emperor Academy, Black Plume Pavilion, and Han Clan all tied into the sect. Spirit Jade Pavilion and Black Plume Pavilion were one, under Ling Qiong.
“That is a long story,” Elder Ding muttered, glancing around. “The Ling Qiong Clan is unusual.”
A bold thought stirred in Liu Wuxie’s heart. Perhaps ‘Ling Qiong’ was a title, not a name. Elder Ding offered nothing more, and Liu Wuxie let it rest, for now. He could find an opportunity to visit Elder Ding when they returned to the Heavenly Dragon Sect and ask about it then.
When they reached the teleportation array, the Heavenly Martial Institute departed first. As soon as they emerged from the other side, disciples of the Heavenly Martial Institute began to converge from all sides. Liu Wuxie already knew what they sought.
“I will auction five Wisdom Stones tomorrow,” he declared. “They will go to the highest bidders.”
Wisdom Stones remained essential. Each breakthrough demanded them, but if he hoarded them all, disciples would hound him daily. Better to release a few, gather astral stones, and buy peace.
Upon hearing that Liu Wuxie planned to auction Wisdom Stones, cheers rang out among the wealthy, while those with shallow resources could only gnash their teeth. He deliberately set the auction for the next day, giving everyone time to raise funds.
He scheduled the auction for the following day and gave everyone time to gather astral stones. At first, he hadn’t intended to sell any Wisdom Stones at all. But the rewards from the wilderness training would soon surge his cultivation forward, and for that, astral stones were indispensable.
He had already consumed the spoils he plundered during training to fuel his breakthrough. Each new level demanded a terrifying amount of resources. The desolate world within him needed constant nourishment, and he could faintly sense the looming presence of the divine race. Time pressed down on him like a blade, and he had no choice but to raise his strength as quickly as possible. Five Wisdom Stones were all he could spare.
The moment news of the auction spread, the disciples of the War Dragon Institute and the Dharma Institute went into a frenzy. They rushed to borrow astral stones from family and friends, determined to secure at least one.
“Wuxie, aren’t you afraid five Wisdom Stones won’t be enough to satisfy them?” He Yingwu asked with concern.
“That’s the point,” Liu Wuxie replied, a devilish smile tugging at his lips. “Let them fight each other for it. The more chaos, the better. Since they wanted me dead, I’ll turn them against one another.”
He had two clear goals: to gather resources for his next breakthrough and to pit the rival institutes against each other.
He Yingwu’s eyelids twitched. He could only pity the disciples who would soon be tearing at each other’s throats.
In just one day, word of the auction spread beyond the new disciples. Even veteran disciples caught wind of it and rushed over, eager to vie for the Wisdom Stones.
That evening, Liu Wuxie returned to his courtyard and immersed himself in cultivation. Once he collected his rewards, he intended to push his cultivation further before visiting the Book Collection Pavilion, and afterward, the Primordial Pagoda to temper himself.
They chose the martial field as the auction site, but it could barely hold a few thousand people. By dawn, four to five thousand disciples had already crammed into the grounds, many of them veterans. They formed ring after ring around the field, their eyes glittering with greed.
“Who is this Liu Wuxie? Isn’t he afraid someone will rob him in public?” the veteran disciples whispered among themselves. They knew little of him, but the fact that he could take out five Wisdom Stones for auction was no trivial matter.
Amid the murmurs, Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu pushed through the crowd and reached the center, where a platform had been prepared in advance.
Every new disciple was present. Even Mu Heng concealed himself in the crowd, eager to see what Liu Wuxie planned.
“Third-level Transcendent Realm?” The veterans’ eyes narrowed when they probed Liu Wuxie’s cultivation. At such a level, he was near the bottom of the outer sect. To auction Wisdom Stones so openly seemed like courting death.
Hands rubbed together in anticipation. More than a few had already resolved to seize the stones by force.
“Liu Wuxie, hand over the five Wisdom Stones, and I’ll spare your life,” a first-level Origin Conversion Realm disciple declared as he strode onto the platform.
The veterans had come expecting an inner disciple to preside over the auction. Instead, they found a youth whose cultivation was far beneath their own. Their greed swelled, and restraint vanished.
