Chapter 193: An Ambush

"One purple Talisman-Dollar!"

The frail Elder beside Bai Zhen and the short and fat Elder, who trained in the Grand Moon Sword, directly raised the bid.

The bid was raised by a huge amount as well.

One purple Talisman-Dollar was equal to one hundred red Talisman-Dollars!

Mount Shu Sword Sect was the holy ground of the art of swordplay, and they did not know much about talismans, yet this did not stop them from hoarding and storing large amounts of talismans.

It could also be said that of all the people at the auction, besides the organizers from the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade, the families of the Mount Shu Sword Sect had the most solid financial backgrounds.

"Do you really desire this Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower? If not, do not compete with the Mount Shu Sword Sect. Even if I provide you with support, our combined wealth will still not be enough." Miao Shihao transmitted with voice-projection, "There must be better items yet to come."

Lin Feng's Avatar of Ares sat upright in its chair and wore a blank expression. It was just staring at the Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower beside Song Fu, in the middle of the void.

Xiao Yan turned his head and asked, "Master?"

Avatar of Ares laughed and said, "As you wish."

Xiao Yan nodded and rubbed his palms together in excitement and declared his next bid immediately. "110 red Talisman-Dollars!"

"One hundred and fifty red Talisman-Dollars! You wish to compete with Mount Shu's finances? Dream on!" Bai Zhen sneered as he raised the bid without hesitation.

Everybody understood from his bid that Bai Zhen was deliberately trying to cause Lin Feng trouble.

Within the holy abode, uncountable psychic senses were instantly intertwined as they interacted and everybody shared their opinions.

One middle-aged cultivator was shocked. "Who is Mount Shu Sword Sect trying to cause trouble for? Is it the Great Void Sect?"

An elderly voice drifted from a rock not far from him and said, "Don't you know what happened at Shazhou three days ago?"

"Oh, it's you Elder Fei. I'm not sure as I've just arrived at Shazhou today."

Elder Fei understood. "I guess I can't blame you then. Let me tell you the story. A powerful individual that called himself the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders and his disciples appeared 3 days ago and humiliated the Mount Shu Sword Sect!"

The middle-aged cultivator was astonished, "Oh? Since the destruction of the Great Thunderclap Temple, in the human world of cultivation, besides the Great Void Sect and the Great Zhou Empire, there's someone else trying to compete with Mount Shu Sword Sect?"

A female voice cut into the conversation, "You don't say. The Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders does have some tricks up his sleeve. He trapped Mount Shu's four big sword cultivator elders of the Aurous Core stage with a wave of his hand, and subsequently relegated them to the foundation establishment stage before sending on of his own disciples in foundation establishment stage to challenge them."

The middle-aged cultivator muttered under his breath. "Even if they were both in the foundation establishment stage, surely Mount Shu Sword Sect will still come out on top? If we are talking about single combat and killing potential, even the Great Void Sect is not as good as Mount Shu."

The lady laughed lightly and replied, "Everybody thought the same. However, the disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders defeated the Shaoshang Sword Elder in one move."

"Just saying, even though the Mount Shu elders had their mastery relegated, their powers were still at the peak of the foundation establishment stage. The disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders was only in the middle of the stage."

The middle-aged cultivator was speechless. He wanted to say something a clever retort but he realized that many psychic senses were transmitting the same information all around.

If there were so many witnesses, surely it was not a fabrication.

"So strong..." The middle-aged cultivator mumbled to himself. "That means the person competing with Mount Shu must be the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders?"

Elder Fei's voice once again drifted back, "It should be right. That day, the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders was together with Mirror Master Miao Shihao. His participation in today's auction should also be by Master Miao's introduction."

"But I saw the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders enter with Master Yang of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect." A voice retorted.

Elder Fei was a little shocked. "Then I'm not sure. But it seems like there's no one else besides him in Shazhou with such enmity incurred from Mount Shu."

"Maybe people of Mount Shu just want the Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower for themselves?"

Elder Fei nodded and said, "That is indeed a possibility. Let's just watch on in silence."

Atop the seat of the Mount Shu Sword Sect, the Shaoyang Sword cultivator elder frowned. "Paying large amounts of money just for the sake of a grudge isn't quite appropriate, is it?"

Bai Zhen laughed and said, "This is the idea. But do not worry, we actually do need the Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower."

"Fourth Senior Uncle is cultivating an authentic skill called the Flying Sword of Thunder and Fire and has fallen into a bottleneck. He needs the support of a high-quality spiritual fire."

The short and fat elder nodded and said, "It would be nice if we had the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires, but in the end, it's not just something we come across. The Scarlet Thunderous Fire is one of the strongest spiritual fires after the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires and bears the power of Thunder by nature. Surely this will appease Fourth Senior Uncle."

The tall Elder seemed convinced. "That's good then."

Lin Feng's Avatar of Ares was also communicating with Miao Shihao on this side. "What do you think is the highest price that we can call on this Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower?"

"It should not exceed five purple Talisman-Dollars. Anything above that is just pure grudge," Miao Shihao responded without much thought.

The Avatar of Ares nodded as Xiao Yan raised the bid once again. "Two purple Talisman-Dollars."

The holy abode erupted with excitement as the rate of bidding seemed to suggest both parties might actually fight with each other to the end.

Before Xiao Yan finished his sentence, Mount Shu declared their next bid without hesitation. "Three purple Talisman-Dollars!"

The auction fell silent. It was not until Song Fu was getting ready to declare Mount Shu as the winner of the bid for Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower did Xiao Yan declare with his clear voice,

"Three hundred and fifty red Talisman-Dollars."

Over at Mount Shu's side, Bai Zhen and company glanced at each other as the most senior Elder gradually said, "Destroy him."

Bai Zhen nodded his head and raised the bid at once. "Five purple Talisman-Dollars!"

The audience of the auction erupted in an uproar once again. Mount Shu's pattern of raising the bid was way too overbearing.

"Master, what do you think Mount Shu's reaction will be if I raise the price to five hundred and one red Talisman-Dollars?" Xiao Yan's eyes sparkled as he looked towards the seat of the Mount Shu Sword Sect.

The Avatar of Ares was noncommittal. "Let's give it up. This is but a warm-up, raising the bid further is not the way."

Xiao Yan nodded his head and stopped raising the bid.

It was as Miao Shihao predicted. Five purple Talisman-Dollars was about the upper limit of the Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower's price. Any upward movement in the price could only be resolved by hostile bidding between the two parties.

Nobody else in the holy abode declared a higher bid as Xiao Yan gave up. This Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower was finally sold to the Mount Shu Sword Sect for five purple Talisman-Dollars.

Some of the others felt it was a bit anti-climatic as they thought this Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower's bidding was going to rise to an outrageous price.

However, the next item up for auction quickly attracted everyone's attention.

A small jade letter drifted in front of Song Fu. Everybody at the auction who recognized good products could tell this was a Jade Letter of Teaching; it was meant to record mantras.

Lin Feng's pupils contracted. His consciousness had not yet scanned the jade letter and could already feel the heavy and ripe energy flowing from it.

Naturally, this was not the aura of the jade letter itself but came from the mantra recorded on it and all its concepts of power.

Song Fu introduced the item. "Upon this jade letter is the record of an Earth-type mantra, named the Book of Nations. Even though there are some defects, the level is extremely high. The starting price is thirty red Talisman-Dollars, and every raise has to be at least one red Talisman-Dollar."

There was a disturbance in the holy abode. Thoughts flashed across Lin Feng's mind as he captured the waves of psychic senses passing around. "The Book of Nations... The full name should be the Heavenly Book of Nations Mantra. This mantra recorded the true meaning of the world and is an Earth-type mantra of the highest level, higher than even the Earth Tripitaka of the Great Thunderclap Temple... Sadly it is but an incomplete article..."

"The Heavenly Book of Nations..." Lin Feng deliberated in his head. As he was doing so, the price of the Book of Nations had already risen to ninety red Talisman-Dollars.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and raised the price himself. "One purple Talisman-Dollar."

The auction quietened down slightly as he opened his mouth.

Over at the side of the Mount Shu Sword Sect, Bai Zhen sneered and said, "Going into battle by yourself?"

"This mantra is useless to us." "Even so, we can't just let him take it like that." "That is the idea."

Once the price rose to one hundred and seventy red Talisman-Dollars, all of Lin Feng's competitors withdrew. Even though the Book of Nations was great, it was ultimately an incomplete mantra and caused its price to plummet by more than ten times of the original value.

"Two purple Talisman-Dollars." At this moment, Bai Zhen finally stepped in. His first bid was already a raise to two purple Talisman-Dollars, which was also equivalent to two hundred red Talisman-Dollars.

Lin Feng's expression remained unchanged. "Two hundred and ten red Talisman-Dollars."

People of the Mount Shu Sword Sect had yet to raise the bid when a cold and elderly voice interrupted the scene. "Two hundred and forty red Talisman-Dollars."

The audience broke out into a commotion as they did not expect a third party to enter the picture with such force.

The third party was quickly recognized by bystanders. "That is the seat of the Yu Family."

The bidder was indeed Yu Wanfeng. He laughed coldly as he cast his view towards Lin Feng's seat. "I will teach you a lesson today for being so arrogant."

Lin Feng's expression once again remained unchanged as he calmly raised the price again. "Two hundred and sixty red Talisman-Dollars."

Bai Zhen and company no longer continued their bidding. They were all sadistically watching Yu Wanfeng carry their mantle to raise the price repeatedly.

"Wherever you have come from, lowly independent cultivator, I will have you know today that the world is big indeed!" The short and fat elder chortled. "We're not the only ones who want to flatten you today!"

The price of this incomplete mantra had already risen to five hundred and fifty red Talisman-Dollars and was way over the value of the item. At the same time, it was the highest price in the auction.

Lin Feng rapped his fingers against the short table beside him, and said after some deliberation, "Five hundred and sixty red Talisman-Dollars."

Yu Wanfeng replied without hesitation, "Five hundred and seventy red Talisman-Dollars."

Lin Feng paused and replied slowly, "Six purple Talisman-Dollars."

Once this price was declared Yu Wanfeng knew that this was Lin Feng's last bid. If he raised the price any further, Lin Feng was bound to give up.

As a Grandmaster of the nascent soul stage, six purple Talisman-Dollars were nothing much to him. Furthermore, he had the backing of the Yu Family's finances.

However, Yu Wanfeng had no interest in the Book of Nations. He wanted to raise the price just to spite Lin Feng.

He had already received insider information from the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade that there would later be an item that he greatly desired, thus he had to reserve his finances.

He already achieved his goal of bleeding Lin Feng for such a great amount.

From his estimations, the value of this incomplete Book of Nations was only three purple Talisman-Dollars and he had raised it a hundred percent.

Lin Feng would have bled even more if he had not given up on the Red-Jewelled Thunderflash Tower.

Yu Wanfeng was elated. "The Mount Shu Sword Sect and I have our sights set on you. Don't expect an easy day ahead!"

The final price of the Book of Nations was six purple talismans-dollars, which was also equivalent to six hundred red Talisman-Dollars.

Yang Tonghui of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect voice-projected to Lin Feng, "If Master Lin wants something else in the future, the Heavenly Master Sword Sect can loan out some Talisman-Dollars to you."

"There is no need." Lin Feng smiled. Beside him, Xiao Yan hesitated before asking, "Master, surely six purple Talisman-Dollars for that mantra is a bit..."

Lin Feng cut him off as he said, "There is no harm as I'm not using my own money."

The auction resumed as he spoke.