It seemed like soul jade rough stones had not been completely mined out. There were still some left behind, just lesser in number. Many of them were associated with the likes of black jadeite.
No matter what, Ye Chen had to obtain this piece of soul jade even if it meant spending some money! He had to seize this opportunity!
Just as Ye Chen was thinking, he suddenly felt a strong Psyche that was also inspecting this rough stone! It shook slightly upon discovering Ye Chen and Ye Chen hurriedly recalled his Astral Body. That Psyche also quickly returned.
Heavens, it was a Daemon King! This time, it was not a Daemon King like Zhu Gonggong but a powerful Celestial Beast Daemon King!
How could a Celestial Beast Daemon King appear here?
Ye Chen was shocked. Fortunately, although the two sides had contact, neither Ye Chen nor the Celestial Beast Daemon King tried tracking each other, so they did not know where the other was.
It was not a pure coincidence that Ye Chen met a Daemon King here. In human auctions, there were often some Daemon Kings who participated and bought some treasures. The chances for an ordinary person to encounter a Daemon King was very small because even if a Daemon King stood beside you, you would think that he was an ordinary person. They had completely assimilated into human society and would not be easily detected. Only after cultivating an Astral Body would one be able to find out where they were!
Ye Chen felt that the trace of Psyche was also peering at him. He could only pretend to be calm and checked the black jadeite rough stone before retracting his Astral Body.
The Psyche did not follow him. Ye Chen could feel that this Daemon King was not very hostile to him. After some consideration, he realized that the Celestial Beast Daemon King must have thought that he was a Celestial Beast Daemon King as well, and was also a peak existence. Hence, that Celestial Beast Daemon King had no reason to provoke him.
Ye Chen sighed in relief. As long as a conflict did not occur with the Celestial Beast Daemon King, there would be no problem. However, he could not stay at Jadeite City for a long time. If he was exposed as a fake Daemon King, that Daemon King would easily crush him with just his fingers!
That Daemon King must have already discovered this soul jade. Would Ye Chen decide to buy it?
In that case, Ye Chen would not fight for the soul jade with the Celestial Beast Daemon King. It would be troublesome if a conflict occurred. Under such circumstances, Ye Chen was quite cautious and rational.
In the hall downstairs, the price had increased one after another, and the bid was soon raised to more than seven thousand Chi-amassing Pills.
Ye Chen realized the ones who were bidding were ordinary people and wondered where the Celestial Beast Daemon King was sitting. After some thoughts, a Daemon King should not find it difficult to obtain a Tiandu Chamber of Commerce dark-gold nameplate, so he should be sitting in one of the Honored Rooms.
“Eight thousand Chi-amassing Pills!” Honored Room Three raised the bid.
Could it be that the Celestial Beast Daemon King was in Honored Room Three?
“Eight thousand three hundred Chi-amassing Pills.” Someone raised in the hall below.
“Eight thousand five hundred Chi-amassing Pills.” Honored Room Three continued to raise the bid.
Ye Chen was confused. Since the other party had already discovered the soul jade, why was he raising by one or two hundred Chi-amassing Pills each time? With his identity as a Celestial Beast Daemon King, why would he care about that little amount of Chi-amassing Pills? Would it not be better to just buy it directly with ten thousand Chi-amassing Pills?
Ye Chen was very curious about the identity of the person in Honored Room Three. Curiosity killed the cat but Ye Chen could not help it at all and extended his Astral Body toward Honored Room Three. It should be fine if he just took a peek. The other party would most likely not track him down.
At the side, Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu did not know that so many things were happening in such a short time. They did not have any interest in the black jadeite rough stone below and focused on the atlases. Little Wingsy and Little Squido played wildly without care, and only Little Tanuki’s eyes showed a trace of worry.
Ye Chen’s Astral Body had arrived outside Honored Room Three but he could not see the situation in it. Through his Astral Body’s eyes, Honored Room Three was like a dark and sealed cage which hid something terrifying inside.
It was not good to be too timid. Fear would damage one’s heart. Ye Chen took a deep breath and his Astral Body entered Honored Room Three. Soon, he realized that Honored Room Three was empty except for a person sitting in the chair in the middle.
This person was very familiar to Ye Chen. It was his granduncle, Ye Changxuan!
Ye Chen’s Astral Body swept across his granduncle. It was his granduncle indeed! Why did he come to Jadeite City?
What a huge gaff. Ye Chen thought that his granduncle in this Honored Room Three was a Celestial Beast Daemon King. Thinking about it, it was very normal that Ye Changxuan would be here. The Ye Clan had established a cooperative relationship with the Tiandu Chamber of Commerce. The Ye Clan had an abundance of Chi-amassing Pills and Chi Deposition Pills, but lacked items that could improve their strength such as spirit artifacts. The Ye Clan was still too fragile!
Ye Changxuan was looking at the atlases and muttering to himself, “These Tier Two and Tier Three spirit artifacts aren’t bad. I can also compete for Tier Four spirit artifacts. These martial arts techniques are good. Maybe I should buy some thunder-type martial arts techniques back to study? Maybe we can create martial arts techniques suitable for clan cultivation!”
After arriving here, Ye Changxuan had already won many items. He had also taken a fancy to some items and was ready to bid for them at the auction tomorrow.
Looking at the auction hall, Ye Changxuan murmured, “This black jadeite rough stone is too expensive. Although it’s helpful for cultivation, it’s better to buy a piece of black jadeite at that price rather than that rough stone. It’ll be too unfortunate if it turns out to be gravel instead of black jadeite.”
Although the Ye Clan was rich now, Ye Changxuan did not waste money and carefully evaluate the value of the black jadeite rough stone. What he did not know was that there was a soul jade hidden in the black jadeite rough stone. Even a tiny piece was invaluable!
The price slowly increased to twelve thousand Chi-amassing Pills, which was offered by a person in a third-class private room below. Ye Changxuan no longer raised the bid after hearing this price.
Ye Chen’s Astral Body swept over that private room and found that it belonged to a Heavenly Venerable One. He wondered why that Celestial Beast Daemon King had not increased the price. Could it be that the other party was willing to give him the black jadeite rough stone?
“Twelve thousand Chi-amassing Pills, going once. Twelve thousand Chi-amassing Pills, going twice…” the auctioneer said, but suddenly stopped and looked at the Honored Rooms. He said loudly, “Honored Room Five, thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills!”
Honored Room Five was the private room Ye Chen was in. No matter what, he could not let this soul jade hall into the hands of an unknown Heavenly Venerable One. He raised the bid first. If that Celestial Beast Daemon King wanted to make a move, Ye Chen would leave it to him.
Thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills? That was madness! The people in the hall hissed in a cold breath. Even if the rough stone did end up being black jadeite, with thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills, it would be better to just buy a piece of black jadeite! Rich people really were crazy!
The reason why Ye Chen suddenly offered thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills was to test whether the Celestial Beast Daemon King wanted to make a move. Ordinary people did not know that there was a piece of soul jade inside the black jadeite rough stone, and there were no other Celestial Beasts around. If someone else continued to increase the price after Ye Chen had raised it to thirty thousand, that person must be the Celestial Beast Daemon King!
“Thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills, going once. Thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills, going twice. Thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills, going thrice!” The auctioneer swung down his hammer. “Sold!”
In the end, that Celestial Beast Daemon King did not compete with Ye Chen!
Ye Chen’s heart fell, but at the same time, he was also puzzled. Since the Celestial Beast Daemon King had found the soul jade, why did he not do anything? Was it because the soul jade was not worthy to him? That was not right either. Soul jades should be treasures for Daemon Kings. Perhaps it was not that valuable but twenty to thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills was considered cheap!
Could it be that the Celestial Beast Daemon King had the same thoughts as Ye Chen that there was no need to provoke a combatant of an equal level just for a piece of soul jade?
Ye Chen could not come to a solution and could only drop it. At this point, Ye Chen could not be too timid, otherwise, the other party would think that he was easy to bully. Even if he was not a real Daemon King, he had to pretend to be one!
‘Let’s see if there are any other items worth my attention in this auction.’
After a period, Ye Chen no longer noticed the Daemon King’s Psyche. It was as if the Celestial Beast Daemon King had disappeared without a trace. The doubts in Ye Chen’s heart thickened. ‘Forget it. We’ll go step by step.’
‘Maybe I should meet my granduncle?’ After thinking this, Ye Chen immediately dismissed the idea. If he went to see his granduncle while being watched by the Celestial Beast Daemon King, it would only bring danger and trouble to his granduncle. He better refrain from doing so.
The auction continued and dozens of items were sold but none caught Ye Chen’s eyes. An attendant then sent the black jadeite rough stone to Ye Chen and he paid thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills.
“Ye Chen, I’m afraid you’ve suffered a loss by buying this black jadeite rough stone,” Great Emperor Mingwu lamented. “Even if this black jadeite rough stone really turns out to be jadeite, it’s not worth thirty thousand Chi-amassing Pills. At that price, it’ll be better to buy a piece of black jadeite directly.”
Ye Chen knew that Great Emperor Mingwu was only reminding him out of kindness and smiled. “I have my reasons for buying this black jadeite rough stone.”
“Oh.” Great Emperor Mingwu nodded. In that case, he would not say any more.
Ye Chen put the black jadeite rough stone into the armguard space. When he took out the soul jade, it would be a good idea to make a pendant for Little Tanuki.
An hour or so had passed and everyone had some food. Of course, the food and pastries served to guests in an Honored Room were delicious. Little Wingsy certainly ate his fill.
“The following item has an unknown origin. Everyone will have to depend on their own eyes.” The auctioneer’s voice caught Ye Chen’s attention. An item with unknown origin? Ye Chen loved such items the most.