Martial Peak

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

“Golden Thunder Vein Lion!” Demon Blood Temple’s Elder Jin Shi exclaimed with a hint of fear in his voice.

Many of the masters in the other private rooms also frowned, seemingly quite wary of this Golden Thunder Vein Lion.

“Qing’er, where does this Senior Feng come from? What kind of Monster Beast is that Golden Thunder Vein Lion?” Yang Kai turned to the young girl standing nearby and asked.

Qing’er smiled and replied softly, “Senior, this Senior Feng is an Elder of Myriad Beast Mountain and that Golden Thunder Vein Lion is her Companion Monster Beast which is connected to Senior Feng’s life. It is said that this Golden Thunder Vein Lion is a variant of a powerful ancient species and is currently a Ninth-Order Monster Beast. In terms of strength, it is probably equivalent to a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm Master. Senior Feng has apparently just recently broken through to the Third-Order Origin Realm, but if she works together with her Companion Monster Beast, the two should be able to display strength equal to an established Third-Order Origin Realm master.”

“Myriad Beast Mountain?” Yang Kai raised his brow. He had long heard about this great force which was capable of taming and controlling Monster Beasts. Yang Kai had also briefly encountered a group of Myriad Beast Mountain disciples in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. This Sect seemed to be situated close to Coloured Glass Sect and there was clearly some friction between the two forces.

As for the Companion Monster Beasts that Qing’er spoke of, Yang Kai had also heard about them. Myriad Beast Mountain cultivators cultivated somewhat differently from other cultivators. Every Myriad Beast Mountain disciple had their own Companion Monster Beast and their strength would improve together with the said Monster Beast’s. If their Companion Monster Beast broke through, it would be of great assistance to their cultivation as well, possibly even providing an opportunity to break through their own bottlenecks.

According to Qing’er, this Old Woman Feng had just reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, but if her Golden Thunder Vein Lion was able to obtain this Profound Gold, it was very likely that the pair’s strength would increase dramatically.

Once her Companion Monster Beast broke through as well, if they worked together, they would be able to overpower most lone Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.

Thinking of this, Yang Kai immediately understood why this Old Woman Feng was competing with Jin Shi for the Profound Gold. At the same time, Yang Kai felt a slight headache coming on. Whether it was Old Woman Feng or Jin Shi, both had great need of this Profound Gold, so they were unlikely to give it up. The only way Yang Kai could obtain it now was through outbidding them.

“Little brat Ren, does your Treasure Trove Pavilion not only gather treasures from around the world but information as well?” Old Woman Feng’s voice was mixed with a trace of annoyance, obviously because Ren Tian Rui had exposed her reason for wanting this Profound Gold.

Ren Tian Rui, who was standing atop the high platform, laughed lightly but didn’t dare respond.

“Hmph, even so, this old master won’t easily give up. Your little beast may need this Profound Gold, but this old master needs it more, 42 million!”

Old Woman Feng hadn’t had time to raise its price yet when all of a sudden a melodious giggle, full of seductive flavour, rang out from a nearby private room, “This Junior would also like to join the fun, 43 million!”

Yang Kai was startled and the corner of his mouth curled upwards slightly, revealing a strange smile.

It was a natural reaction though as the one who just bid was none other than Yin Su Die of Coloured Glass Sect! It wasn’t surprising that she was here; after all, Dai Yuan had told Yang Kai the last time she came to Dragon Cave Mountain that Yin Su Die was leading the team Coloured Glass Sect had sent to monitor the Emperor Garden.

However, her daring to bid now should be on instructions from the Elders of her Sect. Coloured Glass Sect and Myriad Beast Mountain had always been incompatible with one another, so naturally, they weren’t just going to stand by and watch Old Woman Feng obtain this Profound Gold which would allow her strength to soar.

This was a great opportunity!

Yang Kai was still thinking about how to enter this bidding war without being too noticeable, now Yin Su Die calling out this price had given him his chance. Not hesitating, Yang Kai quickly followed up, “50 million!”

A burst of noise immediately spread throughout the auction hall while, in private room B-13, Qing’er’s beautiful eyes opened wide as she stared at Yang Kai in shock. It seemed she had not thought Yang Kai possessed such great wealth.

Two new voices suddenly joining this auction caused the already tense atmosphere to become even more treacherous.

“Good good good!” Old Woman Feng ground her teeth and coldly snorted, “Truly interesting, it seems many stray cats and dogs dare to fight for this old woman’s thing, are you not afraid of paying out money but failing to receive anything in the end?”

The implied threat in her tone was so apparent that Ren Tian Rui, who was standing atop the high platform, immediately narrowed his eyes coldly.

Treasure Trove Pavilion had held many auctions in the past, and although masters from various forces would always furiously compete for items, even coming to blows once the auction was over, sometimes resulting in deaths, no one had ever dared utter blatant threats while still inside the hall.

After all, such a statement was showing naked disdain for Treasure Trove Pavilion’s authority and credibility. As such, Ren Tian Rui sullenly called out, “Senior Feng, I only want to hear such words spoken once in my Treasure Trove Pavilion, if it happens again, Myriad Beast Mountain will be forever banned from attending our auctions. Please consider carefully!”

Although Ren Tian Rui’s cultivation wasn’t high, he was representing Treasure Trove Pavilion at the moment, so his words naturally carried weight.

Old Woman Feng also seemed to realize that her words had been out of line and let out a peal of hoarse laughter, “Little brat Ren, there’s no need to get so worked up. This old woman was just making a joke, of course. This matter will be settled through bidding.”

“I see,” Ren Tian Rui suddenly smiled happily, fanning himself lightly as he nodded, “It seems this Junior became overanxious, please forgive me for speaking out of turn, Senior Feng. Good, for this Profound Gold, does Senior Jin wish to enter a new bid?”

“Naturally, 51 million!”

“60 million!” Yang Kai didn’t hesitate, immediately entering this price without even raising his brow. To him, the biggest purpose of this trip was to obtain this piece of Profound Gold, so he was naturally not going to back down. Even if he had to spend all his fortune, he would acquire it. At this point, there were still a number of people competing for this Profound Gold, so Yang Kai felt he had to display some financial prowess and determination by sharply raising the price in order to deter others.

The private room belonging to Myriad Beast Mountain suddenly fell silent. It seemed that this price had exceeded Old Woman Feng’s bottom line. This Profound Gold was indeed valuable, but apparently not more than 60 million Saint Crystals.

On the contrary, Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple said after a moment of hesitation, “60.1 million! If you can offer a higher price, this old master will withdraw.”

60 million Saint Crystals had obviously also exceeded Jin Shi’s bottom line.

Inside private room B-13, Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and shouted,”60.2 million!”

He only added 100,000, which was the minimum up-bid.

“Good, good, good!” Jin Shi said good three times in succession, with everyone able to hear the dark emotion in his voice. However, he really didn’t increase the price further, allowing Yang Kai to relax as this Profound Gold was now in all likelihood his.

Treasure Trove Pavilion was obviously very satisfied with such a price and with a big happy smile on his face, Ren Tian Rui looked up to private room B-13 and said, “Is there any higher bid? If not, this Ren will begin the countdown. Good, 60.2 million once, 60.2 million twice…”

“61 million!” Just as Yang Kai was full of confidence and was preparing to have Qing’er receive the Profound Gold, a new voice suddenly called out from inside the hall.

Yang Kai was startled, but as he traced the voice back to its source, he couldn’t help clenching his teeth.

Because he found that the one who had suddenly raised the price at the last moment was none other than Flowing Cloud Valley’s Lu Ye!

Lu Ye had completely exposed himself to the limelight during this auction by bidding numerous times on various treasures, spending tens of millions of Saint Crystals.

This was completely unheard of for a small cultivator from a small Sect, and many people were now secretly paying attention to him. However, instead of knowing when to conceal his abilities and wealth, Lu Ye had actually swaggered out at the last moment and drawn everyone’s attention back onto himself.

However, since the price had been refreshed, Yang Kai, of course, refused to show any weakness, gritting his teeth and immediately going all in, “70 million!”

Ren Tian Rui raised his brow atop the high platform as he turned his attention to Lu Ye, seemingly expecting him to bid again, but to his disappointment, Lu Ye only offered a single bid after which he stayed silent, shooting a meaningful grin up towards Yang Kai, one filled with pride and sarcasm.

[Fuck!] Yang Kai cursed to himself as his face sank, understanding that he had been badly cheated.

If he hadn’t bid just now, it would surely have caused great trouble for Lu Ye because he absolutely didn’t have enough Saint Crystals on him anymore to pay up. Lu Ye had only called out a new price to coax Yang Kai into up-bidding him, and in a moment of carelessness, Yang Kai had fallen into this pit.

Understanding this, Yang Kai’s mood plummeted as he felt like he had just been forced to swallow a fly.

Yang Kai wasn’t too distressed over the extra Saint Crystals he was forced to pay, but rather that he had missed an opportunity to cause trouble for Lu Ye. Treasure Trove Pavilion had its own rules. If a cultivator didn’t have enough Saint Crystals but still bid with malicious intentions, they would surely pursue and kill this agitator after the auction ended!

This was a Heaven-sent opportunity Yang Kai had just missed, so his face was naturally quite ugly.

But soon, a smile returned to his face as he calmed himself. If you often walk next to the river, how can you not wet your shoes? There was nothing to do but continue walking and see what the future had in store!

After the price of 70 million Saint Crystals was called, no one made another bid, Ren Tian Rui happily completed his three-count and announced at last that this piece of Profound Gold belonged to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai took out a Space Ring and handed it to Qing’er, ordering her to retrieve his winnings from Treasure Trove Pavilion, an order she carried out swiftly.

At this moment, another item was brought up to auction, a Ninth-Order Monster Beast egg, and like Old Woman Feng’s Golden Thunder Vein Lion, it too traced its lineage to a powerful ancient Monster Beast. Although not as powerful as the Golden Thunder Vein Lion, it was still quite precious.

Such a good thing naturally caused many people to furiously bid for it, especially Myriad Beast Mountain which truly spared no effort.

After all, this was a Ninth-Order Monster Beast’s egg. As long as it was properly cultivated, it would be akin to one day adding another Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master to a Sect.

This beast egg was eventually snatched by Myriad Beast Mountain for the not high but not low price of 36 million. Several other finale items were brought up one after another following this beast egg and each one was sold for several times its initial price, causing the cultivators sitting in the main hall to be struck speechless.