Against the Gods

“Twelve million!”

“Fifteen million! I hail from Wind Bend Alliance of the northern region and I am sure that everyone here has heard of our proud achievements. I will benefit greatly if I can obtain this woman, so please give her to me!”

“Heh, Wind Bend Alliance is not the only place in the Darkya Realm with those who cultivate the wind profound arts. This is the Black Feather Merchant Guild and status and favors have never mattered in this place! The one thing that does matter, is wealth! Twenty million!”

In the blink of an eye and just between several people, the bid price had reached twenty million purple profound stones. The skyrocketing price surprised many people and caused them to sit back down reluctantly.

“Twenty three million!”

“Twenty five million!”

Yun Che’s eyebrows hadn’t loosened all this time. When he scanned around once with his consciousness, he noticed that no one was astonished by the appearance of this “merchandise” at all. They were obviously very used to this sight.

This underground merchant guild was far dirtier than he had initially imagined.

That woman with the Wind Yin Body was supposed to be the first miss of a sect but not only was her sect eliminated in a single night, she was even locked inside a cage and auctioned on stage like a merchandise. Pitiful couldn’t begin to describe her situation. If this had happened in his lower realm, he wouldn’t have stood by and done nothing. But here at this place, he wasn’t so foolish that he would interfere with this bid.

At the end of the bid, the woman was ultimately sold for the price of forty three million purple profound stones. She was ultimately won by a young man seated in the frontmost row.

After the young man went forward and paid a total of forty three million purple profound stones, her personally unlocked the profound formation and pulled the woman into his arms. Then, they both returned to his seat.

For that pitiful woman, this moment was the turning point of her life. Deeply sympathizing with her predicament, Yun Che could only pray that her buyer was a good man who would end her cruel fate here and now. Otherwise, it would simply be a change of hells.

“Congratulations, sir.” Ji Ruyan smiled attractively at the young man and said, “I am sure that your cultivation will improve by leaps and bounds now that you’ve acquired this beautiful lady. I don’t understand dual cultivation but I have heard that the essence of dual cultivation lies not only in the merging of yin and yang but also two hearts. Such a union will often produce unimaginably wondrous results. That is why you should treat her well, sir. Otherwise, you would be wasting her Wind Yin Body a little.”

“Of course,” said the latter while smiling slightly.

Yun Che cast a long gaze at Ji Ruyan. He could see that she had spoken this from the bottom of her heart and he also noticed a flash of pity when she had cast a look at the woman… at least she still had some conscience in her.

“Now then, the next thing in the line is…”

“Miss Ruyan!”

Suddenly, a shout cut off Ji Ruyan before she could finish and a tall and brawny man abruptly stood up from the center of the seats. He hadn’t disguised his face or his attire. He wore the mark of his sect—a black tercel with an angry, proud eye—boldly on his clothes and his eyes shone with intimidating sharpness.

His life force betrayed his incredibly young age but the profound energy aura flowing around his body was unusually rich. He was a cultivator at the peak of the Divine Soul Realm and he could be a mere inch away from reaching the Divine Tribulation Realm.

His sudden cry and motion attracted everyone’s attention and everyone in the stone chamber fell silent. There were a lot of people who were looking at him with differing levels of respect and it was obvious that this man’s background was extraordinary.

“He is Ying Yushan, he youngest grandson of Black Tercel Island’s island master and his sect is the third greatest in the Darkya Realm,” a person muttered softly next to Yun Che. “It’s also said that his talent is the best among his siblings and he may very well succeed the island master in the future.”

“Sir Ying!” Ji Ruyan smiled. “May I have your instructions, please?”

“I dare not instruct you, Miss Ji. However…” Ying Yushan’s voice was indifferent but his behavior betrayed an air of sharp arrogance, “Considering that it is an invitation from the great Black Feather Merchant Guild itself, I thought that you must have an incredible merchandise that could wow us all. In order to see it with my own eyes, I have travelled tens of thousands of kilometers personally to attend this auction but… although the merchandise you’ve shown us so far haven’t been useless trash, I must say that they have not pleasantly surprised me in the least either.”

Ying Yushan lifted his head proudly and said, “The Profound God Convention will be held in another two years and I am but one inch away from qualifying for this grand event. Therefore, I cannot afford to waste even minutes on unnecessary things during these two years. If you really do have something worthwhile to show us, then please do it now. You are the great Black Feather Merchant Guild, aren’t you? Don’t you think that it is unbecoming for the likes of you to keep your customers on tenterhooks? If this is all you have to offer us, then I really must leave for more important matters!”

Ying Yushan’s words caused many people to shoot him a sideway glance. Those who hadn’t yet reached a hundred years old especially showed great jealousy and envy. Considering Ying Yushan’s age and peak Divine Soul Realm cultivation, it was extremely likely for him to become qualified for the Profound God Convention before two years were over.

Even better, there couldn’t be more than one hundred people in the Darkya Realm who could qualify for in the Profound God Convention!

Ji Ruyan giggled with eyebrows that spread open like blooming peach blossom. “You truly deserve your reputation, Sir Ying. I didn’t think that you were qualified for the Profound God Convention. Haah, I can die without regrets if I can visit the Eternal Heaven God Realm even once, much less participating in the Profound God Convention.”

“Hmph! This is nothing.” Ying Yushan sounded indifferent but he couldn’t help but beam proudly. “I am only interested to know what the pleasant surprise your guild has prepared for us is, Miss Ji. If your so-called pleasant surprise is that woman with a Wind Yin Body, then I must say that I am very disappointed in the Black Feather Merchant Guild.”

Ji Ruyan giggled again and said softly, “You are all the most important and respected guests of our merchant guild and I dare not disappoint any one of you, even if the heavens were to give me its own courage. I was going to reveal this pleasant surprise at the end of this auction but since Sir Ying is in a hurry, I shall obey your demands obediently, of course.”

When she was done speaking, she slowly raised her hands and clapped softly four times.

Rrrrmb...

A soft rumble later, another stone platform rose up from the ground next to Ji Ruyan. An identical sealing profound formation was present above the platform.

Everyone’s gazes were trained on the stone platform. They were all waiting expectantly for the pleasant surprise.

Obviously, the merchandise was yet another living being. Ji Ruyan kept quiet as a mysterious smile dressed her face. She tapped at the profound formation lightly with her finger and the profound light disappeared instantly to reveal half translucent screens and a...

…child, curling like a ball in a corner of the cage!?

Yun Che could only see one side of his face. The boy was probably just around 10 years old and his physical features were extremely distinctive. He had a head of green hair and skin that glowed a healthy white.

These two features caused Yun Che’s eyes to freeze for a second… because they matched the recorded description of a wood spirit perfectly!

Could this child be a wood spirit!?

When the profound light had dissipated entirely, the young boy subconsciously turned a little towards the crowd. His exposed ears were rather sharp and the color of his pupils were also green in color!

These features all matched the description of a wood spirit!

When the wood spirit boy saw the terrifying gazes trained onto him, he clenched his teeth and shook like a leaf. His eyes, that looked like green crystal, bore deep fear in them but not a single tear could be found inside them… there was obviously deep hatred besides his fear too.

He didn’t think… that the special Wood Spirit Orb Mister Ji mentioned would be a living wood spirit!

“A wood spirit!? Hah!” Ying Yushan let out an indifferent laugh. “It is true that wood spirits are declining in numbers and it is even rarer to find one that’s been captured alive but wood spirits can still be bought in many places as long as one has enough profound stones! In fact, people with Wind Yin Body are even rarer than wood spirits! Are you trying to play a game with us, Miss Ruyan?”

Yun Che frowned hard and he clenched his hands into fists. He needed a Wood Spirit Orb and if the item on stage was just a Wood Spirit Orb, he would buy it no matter what the price. But the merchandise on display was a living wood spirit and a child at that. If he wished to obtain a Wood Spirit Orb, he would have to kill the boy...

“Don’t be so hasty, Sir Ying. If he was really just a normal wood spirit, I could not possibly bear to invite all of you here.”

Her long legs brought her next to the profound formation trapping the wood spirit boy and she tapped a delicate finger into profound formation. She said smilingly, “Please look closely, everyone.”

A weak wisp of profound energy flew out of Ji Ruyan’s fingertip and touched the wood spirit boy between the brows. The wood spirit boy shuddered all over but he stayed completely silent. Suddenly, a green, glowing mark slowly appeared above his glabella.

WAAAH———

The moment the green, glowing mark appeared, the stone chamber erupted into a clamor of exclamations as if a bomb had been detonated. Everyone except Yun Che had jumped to their feet and even the arrogant-looking Ying Yushan was losing his cool rapidly while staring blankly at the mark.

“He’s… a royal member of the wood spirit race!” Ying Yushan lost control of himself and shouted!

Yun Che, “???”

“That’s right. As you can all see, this boy is no normal wood spirit. He is… a royal wood spirit!”

Ji Ruyan moved her finger away but the mark on his glabella didn’t dissipate for a long time, “I dare say that everyone present has seen this mark before but I’m sure that this is the first time you all have set eyes on a royal wood spirit. After all, the last royal to appear was more than two thousand years ago.”

“Didn’t they say… that all royal members of the wood spirit race… have perished? Is… is this actually real?” Ying Yushan’s voice was filled with unimaginable excitement.

“They have vanished for more than two thousand years, so it is only natural that they were thought to be extinct. Even I thought that they were extinct until the day I found him.”

The stone chamber instantly turned so silent that one could hear a pin drop. The only noise that was present was an incessant stream of gulps. Everyone was certain that the Black Feather Merchant Guild wouldn’t disappoint them—they wouldn’t have travelled over tens of thousands of kilometers to attend this trade fair otherwise—but no one could’ve imagined that the pleasant surprise this time could be this big.

It was because that a normal wood spirit and royalty were at completely different levels.

This captured royal wood spirit would absolutely cause huge waves, even in the upper star realms.

“A royal wood spirit possesses the world’s most refined power of nature. Although this royal wood spirit hasn’t become a full adult, I am sure that you are all aware of his vast variety of ‘uses’. Still, allow me to refresh all of your memories.”

“If you have a royal wood spirit by your side, you will be able to nurture all kinds of extraordinary flora and spirit herbs no matter how stringent their requirement to grow is. Moreover, their growth speed will be at least ten times normal! Of course, it is incredibly risky to keep a living wood spirit in your residence and I am sure that most of you aren’t willing to take such a risk. In that case, his Wood Spirit Orb is still pretty incredible.”

“The Wood Spirit Orb of a royal wood spirit is absolutely superior to a normal Wood Spirit Orb. Even if he were to commit suicide and destroy his own spirit orb, even if eighty percent of the spirit energy inside the orb was lost, as long as we can extract it within a hundred breaths’ time, it is still better than a perfectly intact normal Wood Spirit Orb… This is a top grade treasure that you cannot obtain no matter how many profound stones you may possess!”

Yun Che’s expression changed greatly when he heard this.

He needed a Wood Spirit Orb that had at least seventy percent of spirit energy left but this kind of Wood Spirit Orb was so rare that it was nearly impossible to find.

But if he were to take the boy’s Wood Spirit Orb… even if he were to take it by force and even if the boy managed to commit suicide before he managed to extract it, the spirit energy contained inside the orb was still better than a perfectly intact normal Wood Spirit Orb!! He was completely qualified… no, overqualified for his needs!