Ascension of the Immortal Asura

"What! Thirty Billion!" John wanted to almost yell as he heard this, but managed to hush his voice at the last second.

"Are you surprised?" Caz asked with a sly smile on his face.

"Of course I'm surprised! How did you manage to get this many spirit crystals so fast?" John asked, as it was impossible for even someone like Caz to get this much money.

Caz had earlier estimated that Xanders spirit crystal worth was several billion, and based on their rivalry, Caz was most likely worth even less than Xander. For him to obtain thirty billion spirit crystals was a staggering sum.

"Like I said, I stepped through many, many hoops," Caz replied, the sly smile continuing to linger on his face. "But let's just say that I bet my entire life to obtain this, with your 'item' as the cornerstone for the gamble."

John stared at Caz for a short while, unsure of what to say. He could tell that this gamble of Caz was a make-or-break moment in his life, and if it failed, his life was most likely basically over. While his twelve hundred tea leaves were expected to sell for an amount that easily covered this, nothing was assured in life, especially when it came to something like trade.

"Thank you," John thanked Caz in the end, as it was the only thing he could say.

"I should be the one thanking you. Without you, my ascension to the top of my Mystic Trade Hall would never be possible, but now it's very much within my grasp," Caz replied sincerely.

"Well then, to you climbing to the top of your sect, and to me making mountains of spirit crystals," John toasted a cup of wine to Caz, who returned the toast with an equally large smile on his face.

…

"What's got those two in such good spirits?" Vivian grumbled coldly as she saw John and Caz laughing and drinking merrily.

She had managed to mercilessly outbid him on every single item John had bid on thus far, and had been hoping to see his mood sink into the depths of despair. However, that had not yet happened yet, and the only one feeling negative emotions at the moment was Vivian herself.

"Maybe he's completely given up on bidding against you, and has decided to get drunk to the point of stupidity," Xander mused, although he didn't really believe his words which were mostly meant to comfort his VIP guest.

"Tch, that's not good enough. I want to see his expression become one of misery, not drunken joy," Vivian clicked her tongue in frustration. "Can't you use your status as the top disciple of your trade hall to kick them out or something? I don't want to see his face anymore," Vivian asked Xander.

"Unfortunately not," Xander shook his head as if he wanted to, but was disappointed in his powerlessness to do so. "The auction house is a free entity jointly owned by the Five Powers, and no one person has the power to make anyone else leave unless they break the rules of the auction."

"Tch, a pity," Vivian clicked her tongue in frustration. "Then I guess I'll just continue to do what I've been doing, and crush him financially until he leaves himself with nothing obtained."

…

"So how does it feel to be richer than I have ever been in my life?" Caz asked John while shaking his head at himself in joking jest. "I'm the one who focuses on trade, and yet you've blown me away. Life truly isn't fair," he said, obviously joking with John.

"It feels pretty good," John said while elbowing Caz lightly, playing along with the joke.

"Well, I can't be too displeased either. Your 'item' is beyond anything this continent has ever seen, and just by being a part of it, I'll make more spirit crystals than I ever could have imagined. So in the end, we both benefit from this transaction," Caz said before taking another sip of wine.

"At this rate, within ten years years, you'll become one of the richest cultivators in the world," Caz continued after finishing his wine, "and I'll be right behind you. The future looks quite bright," he smiled.

John smiled back at Caz's hopeful outlook on the future, although he knew it wouldn't be so bright and cheery for long. A thought came to him as he took a sip of wine and placed his cup on the table before him.

"I have a question though, about our transactions. How likely is it that someone finds out about me as the source?" John asked curiously.

"You won't have to worry about that," Caz eased John's concerns. "We have a system in place that if one obtains a trading opportunity of high enough value, they can seek an audience with the Trade Master himself, who you can think of as a sect leader. If he finds the trade interesting enough, he will personally assist with it. He also sends a trade hall wide message to every member that the item is now protected under his guidance, and so no one will try to do anything funny when it comes to your item.

It was actually thanks to you and your item that I was able to meet the Trade Master for the very first time, and he was just as excited about this opportunity as I was. Since he took interest in it, the only ones who know about it are you, me, and him. In fact, he didn't even inquire into who my source was, so I'm the only one who one hundred percent knows that you're the source," Caz explained to John, who nodded his head in satisfaction at Caz's explanation.

"However, the same can't be said for different powers, so be careful not to leak yourself as the source. If another sect or trade hall targets you, there's not much I can do about that," Caz warned John, who nodded his head in understanding.

"So what are you going to do now? Are you still going to play your game with Vivian?" Caz asked curiously. "You're probably richer than her now, so you don't need to do that anymore."

"I'll play with her for a bit longer," John said with a sly smile on his face, "otherwise she'll just jack up the prices on the things I want to bid on ceaselessly. I'll let her win and win until I find an item I absolutely must have, at which point I'll crush her without mercy. At that time she'll realize that I've just been toying with her up to that point, and either she'll go mad and waste all her money trying to beat me in future bids, or she'll become more wary and stay away. Either way, by the time the good items start appearing, she should no longer be a nuisance," John explained to Caz, who nodded his head in approval.

"Great plan," Caz replied before laughing, as he was looking forward to the spectacle to come.

…

The auction continued ceaselessly, selling rare item after rare item, each more valuable than the last. At the same time, more and more big spenders started to get into the action, making the auction much more lively and exciting.

As he said he would do, John continued to bid on items that interested him, which were all snatched away by Vivian.

"You've already spent six billion spirit crystals. Are you sure you want to keep this up? What if you don't have enough to buy something you want later on?" Xander spoke up, giving words of warning to Vivian.

"Tch, you worry too much," Vivian replied dismissively. "There's very little I want in this world that I don't already have, and at the moment, I want to crush that brat. Nothing else matters."

"What if he's playing you?" Xander asked. "He could just be placing bids on things he doesn't really want, just to force you to spend all your spirit crystals."

"Hmph, you think too highly of him. His bids have reached several hundred million already, which should be a large portion of what he's worth. If I happened to let a single bid go his way, he would most likely run out of spirit crystals. I highly doubt he's bidding on things he doesn't want," she once again dismissed Xanders words of warning.

Xander remained silent, but his gaze locked onto John and Caz, who seemed to still be in good spirits, completely the opposite of what one would expect having been thoroughly trashed thus far in the bids.

"Maybe you're right," Xander eventually agreed, and a scowl appeared on his face as he stared at Caz, "Caz is far too honest for him to do something like that, and his friend is most likely the same. It makes me sick that he thinks he can climb the trading world with such a naive outlook on things."

…

John and Caz continued to eat, drink, and occasionally bid as the auction continued. While talking and laughing with Caz, John suddenly felt something, and sat upright, staring straight at the stage. The previous item had been bid on and taken away, while a new item was rising up from beneath the stage.

The stage started to glow brightly as the item appeared, flickering brightly. A powerful aura emanated from the item, which would have destroyed the entire auction theater if not for the powerful formation barrier wrapped around the item, containing its power.

"For our next item, we have a Nine-Convergence Lightning Essence Core, found at the convergence of nine different lightning essence veins. I'm sure everyone is familiar with one, two and even three convergence essence cores, but never have we seen a nine-convergence essence core of any element before. Bidding will start at one hundred million spirit crystals!" the auctioneer exclaimed, while excited eyes were glued to the item with eager desire.

"I want that," John said softly, his gaze glued to the item.

His Lightning Dao had stalled as of late, partially due to his meditation being interrupted, but also because he didn't have any powerful lightning sources to draw inspiration from. His Lightning Dao had been his most profound Dao by far for the longest time, but had fallen behind his Dao of Power due to stagnation.

'With this lightning core, I could reach the Dao Expert stage for the Lightning Dao in no time, and expand further on it, increasing my power even further. I must have this item!'