Desolate Era

by RWX

  The white-robed Daolord Thousand Shadows smiled. “Just keep watching, big brother. You know the rules! No leaks are permitted regarding the treasures for sale during any treasure auction.”

  “Fine, let’s see what this treasure is.” Daolord Dracogod smiled as well.

  Daolord Badlands and his wife watched curiously as well.

  “Armor as precious as this is rarely seen during the various treasure auctions that have been held in these territories during recent chaos cycles. For me, at least, this is the first time I’m seeing such a precious treasure appear in an auction that I’m officiating over.” The words of the silver-eyed woman caused the cultivators present to feel even more intrigued. What was so rare and special about this armor?

  “I imagine some of you have heard of this type of armor, but few of you have ever seen it.”

  The silver-eyed woman waved her crystalline arm, causing a tiny suit of armor to appear in her palm. As the suit of armor floated into the air, it quickly expanded in size. The armor looked quite ordinary, but it was covered by a layer of icy frost.

  “This suit of armor is known as the Frosthorn Robe.” The silver-eyed woman laughed. “It is suitable for cultivators skilled in the Dao of Water. It admittedly looks quite ordinary, and it is nothing more than a suit of top-grade Dao armor.”

  “But…it has the ‘reflect damage’ property.”

  “Any attacks, close range or longe range, that land on this suit of armor will result in an equal amount of damage being reflected onto the attacker.”

  As soon as her words came out, the entire hall exploded into a shocked clamor.

  “An equal amount of damage reflected!?” All of the cultivators were stunned. So if an enemy launched a full-force attack against you, your armor would automatically cause them to suffer an attack of the exact same level of power? How would you even try to fight against someone with this armor in close combat?

  “With armor like this, World Gods that are skilled in close combat can even fight back against experts at a higher level of power.”

  “This is crazy.”

  World Gods generally all had incredibly tough bodies as well as top-grade Dao armors protecting them. Generally speaking, even World-level opponents who were one or two classes of power above them in strength would find it difficult to annihilate them in one blow. If their opponent was not only unable to slay them in one blow but would also suffer damage reflection…even foes stronger than the armor-bearers would find actually fighting them to be a painful experience.

  Ning began to grow excited as well. This was definitely a set of armor that was perfect for anyone who specialized in close combat. Ning’s own body was very tough, especially when reinforced by the azureflower mist energy. Once he became a World God, he would become even more formidable in this regard! Him acquiring this set of armor would be like a tiger being given wings.

  “Aquaflect?” The Daolords on the top floor, however, were all puzzled.

  “So it’s just water-element damage reflection.” Daolord Dracogod frowned. “Although aquaflect armor is fairly rare, there’s one or two for sale in every treasure auction. Daolord Thousand Shadows, your subordinate is bragging a bit too much. Why did she say that this item is something that is all but unmatched in value in treasure auctions hosted during recent chaos cycles? She even claimed that this was the first time she ever encountered such an item while hosting an auction. Is this her first time being the auction mistress?”

  “Aquaflect?”

  Azuresky, Waterwind, and the Badlands couple were all puzzled as well. While the World Gods were all excited, this item wasn’t that exciting to Daolords like them.

  “She’s hosted at least a hundred treasure auctions.” Daolord Thousand Shadows gave Daolord Dracogod a cold sideways glance. “If you aren’t impressed, don’t bid on it.”

  “Don’t bid on it?” Daolord Dracogod was stunned. What was that supposed to mean? Was there something about this suit of armor that would attract his interest? Was this a joke? He was a venerable Daolord; all his items were of the Eternal level!

  “The divine seals embedded into this armor are incomparably profound,” the silver-eyed woman said in a loud voice. “It contains seven layers of seals. World-level cultivators with complete mastery over water might be able to completely bind all seven seals…and if they do so, when they put on these robes they will be able to generate a Frosthorn Domain.”

  “The Frosthorn Domain will span up to ten thousand kilometers.”

  “Any attacks launched within this domain will result in full-force damage reflection.”

  “The Frosthorn Robes have a reserve price of five thousand cubes of chaos nectar.” The silver-eyed woman smiled. “Let the bidding begin!”

  Everyone in the great hall was silent.

  Five thousand?

  Was this a joke?

  “Why the hell is it so expensive?” Ning had been debating buying the treasure, but he was instantly stupefied by the price. Five thousand cubes? He didn’t even have close to that much! And, based on what he knew, ten thousand cubes was enough to purchase an Eternal weapon!

  For even the reserve price to be so high meant that this treasure was just as valuable as an Eternal weapon.

  “Why the hell is it so expensive?”

  “I saw a suit of aquaflect armor during the last treasure auction as well. It wasn’t nearly this expensive.”

  “This is ridiculous.”

  “Even Elder God Formations start off with a reserve price of around 150 cubes during these auctions.”

  The tens of thousands of cultivators in the hall were all silent for a moment. Then, they started to stealthily discuss this matter amongst themselves. It must be understood that ordinary top-grade Dao weapons were only worth a few dozen cubes at most! This was the price which Ning had been given for the warblade he had sold off. The Eversnow Banner held nine sinfiends within it, which was why it went for one or two hundred cubes of chaos nectar. Even complete sets of top-grade Dao weapons would generally go for a few hundred cubes at most.

  Five thousand cubes?

  This was a price that would render 99% of World-level experts completely speechless.

  “Ten thousand cubes!”

  “Twelve thousand cubes!”

  “Daolord Dracogod, I thought you weren’t impressed with it? Fifteen thousand cubes!”

  A rapid-fire series of bids began to ring out from the top floor of the auction hall. Everyone, Ning included, felt an enormous sense of pressure pushing down upon them.

  There were quite a few terrifyingly powerful World Gods here, including some who were stronger than even World God Northrest. This was a gathering of the majority of the World-level experts from all the nearby territories, after all. Some of them were able to afford this price, but…was it really worth it? For just a top-grade set of Dao armor?

  The top floor.

  “Daolord Thousand Shadows, your insights into the element of water aren’t as profound as mine. Stop fighting with me over this.” Daolord Dracogod chuckled, then called out once more, “Eighteen thousand cubes.”

  “Dracogod, you brat.” Waterwind spoke out, causing Daolord Dracogod’s face to turn dark. However, Waterwind was unquestionably more powerful than him. “Stop fighting with my little sister Thousand Shadows. Although this set of top-grade Dao armor has seven seals within it, didn’t you hear that only World-level cultivators who have reached the level of full mastery over the Dao of Water are able to bind all seven seals? My little sister is definitely capable of that.”

  “If I wasn’t bound by the rules of our organization, I would’ve taken this treasure away long ago. There’s no way I would’ve let it show up on the floor of the auction hall.” Daolord Thousand Shadows glanced at Daolord Dracogod. Although she was in charge of this expedition, she didn’t dare to violate any of the rules. No information regarding the treasures was to be leaked, and all treasures had to be bid in a fair fashion during the actual auction itse
lf.

  This was a rule that had existed for countless chaos cycles.

  “Twenty thousand cubes.” Daolord Thousand Shadows raised the price again.

  “Twenty-one thousand cubes.” Daolord Dracogod immediately countered.

  “Sorry, Yan’er. Nothing I can do.” Daolord Badlands looked at his wife.

  “Forget it. I rarely go out into battle anyhow.” His beautiful wife laughed.

  “Frosthorn Domain…who the hell managed to create something like this?” Daolord Badlands let out a sigh. “So long as you are in the range of this domain, each time you launch an attack you’ll immediately suffer from damage reflection. It’ll only end when you stop trying to attack! Even though this domain will have less of an impact on a powerful Daolord, he’ll still see his strength whittled away by more than half as his attacks travel through it.”

  Once the Frosthorn Domain appeared, it would initiate a series of counter-attacks. Daolords could use the power of the counter-attacks to whittle away at the strength of the enemy’s blows. This effect alone ensured that the item would be a valuable one.

  “Thirty-eight thousand cubes.”

  “Forty thousand cubes.”

  Daolord Dracogod and Daolord Thousand Shadows were completely at odds now. As Samsara Daolords, these two were neither particularly weak nor particularly strong. This was why they both desperately needed treasures like this one! As for the likes of Daolord Badlands, Azuresky, or Waterwind, any foes that might prove to be a threat to them wouldn’t be threatened by a mere Frosthorn Domain.

  “Fifty thousand cubes.” Daolord Thousand Shadows made yet another bid.

  “Damn.” Daolord Dracogod’s face was ashen. He had originally planned to just watch the treasure auction and see if he could pick up something cheap, and so he hadn’t prepared a particularly large amount of chaos nectar. However, Daolord Thousand Shadows had been in charge of escorting this mission! Although she couldn’t tell others about the treasures under her protection, she herself knew that this suit of armor was within it. Thus, she had prepared more than enough chaos nectar.

  In truth, she wasn’t really getting much of a bargain, as this was the ‘standard’ price for an item of this nature. However, as the silver-eyed auction mistress had said…this type of armor was rarely available for sale! It truly was incredibly rare! It was a fairly cheap yet extremely effective item for Daolords, perfect for Daolords of average strength such as the two of them.

  In the end, the Frosthorn Robe was sold for fifty thousand cubes of chaos nectar. The many cultivators present were all stunned by this price, especially the Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals.

  Six more hours passed.

  “This treasure is another set of armor. It is known as the Primalwater Armor, and it also has the aquaflect property.” The silver-eyed woman continued, “However, this set of armor only has three seals inside of it, and so it will only generate the damage reflection property when an attack actually lands upon it. It won’t generate a domain like the Frosthorn Domain we previously discussed.”

  As she spoke, she waved her hand and caused a suit of armor to fly out of her palm. This armor was silvery-white and looked a bit more beautiful than the Frosthorn Robe.

  The suit of armor flew into the air, expanding as it flew upwards. It immediately attracted the attention of many cultivators, Ning included.

  “The Primalwater Armor’s reserve price is two hundred cubes of chaos nectar. Let the bidding begin!” The silver-eyed woman said.

  Ning let out a sigh of relief.

  This was a more ‘normal’ price!

  * * *

  Book 25, Chapter 18 - Completely Broke

  As soon as the silver-eyed woman stopped talking, the cultivators in the hall all began to call out, especially the World Gods. “Two hundred and twenty cubes!”

  “Two hundred thirty.”

  “Two hundred forty!”

  The price rapidly began to rise.

  As for Ji Ning, he watched silently from the third floor even though he also desired this item quite badly. There were a number of World Gods in the great hall who were interested but were in no rush to make a bid. Most of the initial bidders were just trying to see if they could pick it up on the cheap, as most ‘normal’ top-grade Dao armors would go for at least three hundred cubes.

  Top-grade Dao armor with the aquaflect property would naturally be worth much more.

  “Three hundred twenty.”

  “Five hundred!” Suddenly, a deep voice rang out. It came from a muscular alien World God whose entire body was covered with fiery red scales, and with his growling bid the price instantly rocketed up to five hundred cubes.

  The hall grew much quieter.

  There were ‘customary’ prices for most magic treasures. Ordinary top-grade Dao armor would go for around three hundred cubes, while something like this Primalwater Armor would go for around six hundred cubes or so.

  “Five hundred and ten.”

  “The disciples of the Badlands Court are truly impressive.” Many cultivators turned to look at the third floor. During this auction, many of the disciples of the Badlands Court remained silent until they chose to make a bid, at which point they would stun everyone present. This was their territory, after all, and everyone would look at them when they bid from the third floor. They generally wanted to ensure that they would gain face from their bids.

  “Six hundred cubes!” A World God seated in the great hall whose entire body was covered by a gray robe suddenly spoke out in an icy voice.

  “Six hundred and ten cubes,” the fire-scaled alien World God snarled.

  “Six hundred and twenty cubes,” the gray-robed World God bid.

  The alien World God hesitated, not sure if he should continue.

  “Six hundred and ninety cubes!” Ning made yet another bid.

  This bid caused two other hesitating cultivators to fall silent. Ning’s bid had caused them to both change their minds. Although Primalwater Armor was rare, one or two would appear during each treasure auction, and they’d generally go for around six hundred cubes. Sometimes the price would a bit higher; other times, the price would be a bit lower. Six hundred and ninety cubes was fairly high.

  “Forget it. Later I’ll go back and buy some World-level golems that can be used in a formation. They’ll cost the same amount and will be a bit more useful to me than this armor.”

  “Forget it.”

  Quite a few World Gods began to talk themselves down from joining the bidding. This was an enormous sum of money, after all. The combined treasures which Ning had initially acquired from Immortal Origination and Immortal Bloodpool in the Windsource Ruins weren’t worth as much as this single suit of armor. The only reason why Ning was able to afford it was because World God Cavecry had left behind some nice treasures as well.

  “Six hundred and ninety cubes. Any higher bids?” The silver-eyed woman spoke out as the suit of armor began to descend towards her palm. Finally, it came to a rest. “This suit of Primalwater Armor has been sold. The bidding is over.”

  “Whew.” Ning let out a sigh of relief, sitting down and picking up a glass of wine. He took a small sip of it. Just now, he had been so nervous that he had jumped to his feet. He knew very well that the only reason why he had so much chaos nectar was thanks to Daolord Solesky. If it wasn’t for him, who knew how long it would’ve taken for Ning to acquire so much wealth?

  “Congratulations, Master.” Elder God Wilddog spoke out.

  “I imagine there aren’t many World Gods who can afford a treasure like this,” Su Youji said.

  Ning chuckled.

  Strictly speaking, for now, this suit of armor wouldn’t be as helpful to him as seven hundred cubes worth of bugbeasts or golems. For example, Ning could’ve purchased thirty-six sinfiends like the ones he had sold off! Generally speaking, most World-level experts would purchase quite a few bugbeasts or sets of golems.

  Golems were magic treasures that could be deployed in formatio
ns, after all. An entire set of five or six golems in a formation would prove to be extraordinarily powerful.

  “Fellow Daoist.” A soft voice rang out from outside.

  “Come in,” Ning said.

  Creeeeak. The door swung open and a woman walked in holding the suit of armor. Smiling, she said, “Primalwater Armor, six hundred and ninety cubes.”

  “Right.” Ning tossed out a storage treasure.

  The woman accepted it, glanced at it, then placed the suit of armor on the table and departed.

  Ning reached out to gently stroke the suit of silver armor, filling it with his divine power. He was able to bind it quite easily. Whoosh. The armor instantly appeared over his body, while the set of high-grade Dao armor Ning had previously been wearing was put away.

  “I have Violetjewel as my weapon and the Primalwater Armor as my armor. For agility and evasion, I have the Thunderlight Wings.” Ning nodded slowly to himself. “Given my sword-arts have improved during this period of time I spent at the Badlands Court…I’ll wager only master-class World Gods are capable of suppressing me in might.”

  Ning had already used up nearly half of his chaos nectar. He was in no rush to make any further bids.

  The treasure auction continued to proceed day by day, and many new marvelous items appeared. Ning’s horizons were truly broadened. Only now did he understand how many treasures the Endless Territories possessed! The World-level experts he had previously encountered, such as God Emperor Blacklotus, were actually nothing more than failures. Truly powerful cultivators would be able to wield their treasures to absolutely devastating effect.

  On the seventh day of the treasure auction, Ning purchased yet another treasure. A Pentabolt Gourd!

  The Pentabolt Gourd was filled with five different types of divine chaos lightning. In truth, a single one of those five types of lightning was enough to utterly devastate anyone below the World level of power, but against World Gods and Chaos Immortals it wouldn’t be of much use. The Pentabolt Gourd, however, mixed all five types of chaos lightning together. It was enough to threaten the lives of weaker World-level experts, and even powerful ones would be entangled and ensnared by them.