Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

In her hand was a thin book. When it appeared, the whole crowd went silent for a moment before exploding into startled cries.

Most of the people present all knew that every three years, the Huayun Pavilion would always have a Battle Skill as their final auction item. Counting the time, this was precisely the third year.

If it was just an ordinary Battle Skill, it wouldn’t have attracted so many startled cries. However, it was no ordinary Battle Skill. It was an Earth class Battle Skill!

Earth class Battle Skills only existed in legends. They could only be found within the hands of sects that were isolated from the secular world.^[1]

It was rumored that the Phoenix Cry Empire’s most precious treasure was just a portion of an Earth class Battle Skill. And only the imperial disciples could learn it.

Thus, for most people, Earth class Battle Skills were things they had only ever heard of in legends. Now that they could personally see it, although they knew such a thing would not be obtained by them, it still was something that caused their hearts to jump wildly.

“Earth class Battle Skill – Three Style Parting Wind. Starting bid of twenty million.”

An Earth class Battle Skill did not require much introduction. Just the ‘Earth class’ introduction was enough. 

“Thirty million!”

Xia Changfeng’s bid came from his private room. That was the first time Xia Changfeng had participated in the competition since the golden armor.

Furthermore, he immediately increased the price by ten million. That kind of money spending style was quite shocking.

Although Long Chen was attracted to that Battle Skill, he knew that it was impossible for him to obtain it. Xia Changfeng’s thirty million bid was nothing. It was just the beginning.

“Fifty million!”

An aged voice came from inside another private room. The guest in that room had never revealed himself to the crowd so no one knew who was inside.

Long Chen realized that the old man had probably come here expressly for that Battle Skill. Perhaps, now was the time for all the hidden tigers participating in the auction to reveal themselves and compete.

“Sixty million!”

This time, the voice was extremely sharp and uncomfortable to listen to, like the sound of metal scraping against metal. It came from a bearded, middle-aged man in the corner of the crowd.

“Eighty million!”

This time, it was the soft feminine voice of Marquis Ying.

Now the crowd was extremely quiet. Other than Xia Changfeng, the mysterious elder, the bearded man, and Marquis Ying, no one else had enough money to compete against such a high price.

“One hundred million!”

Xia Changfeng took a deep breath and shouted out this price. 

Long Chen sighed in admiration. The Huayun Pavilion truly had a shocking amount of wealth. Just a copied, handwritten Earth class Battle Skill could be sold for over a hundred million.

What was even more shocking to think about was that they could copy it countless times and auction it over and over at different places. As for the people who managed to obtain it in the end, they would all hide it away deeply so no one else could take it from them. Maybe they would even kill anyone who knew about it.

This caused Long Chen to become more and more interested in the identity of the secret support of the Huayun Pavilion. Whatever the origin of that support was, it even allowed them to take out such a precious item without being afraid of others attacking in greed.

Xia Changfeng’s hundred million bid might be shocking, but it was immediately followed up.

“110,000,000!”

This time, it was the mysterious elder in the private room. Considering that he had refused to show himself up until this point, it seemed he would not easily give up on obtaining this Battle Skill.

“130,000,000!”

That bearded man was also unwilling to appear weak. Considering the current point in the auction, only bids by increments of ten million were worth anything.

The rest of the crowd was completely silent. Only the astronomical bids continued to ring throughout the room.

“150,000,000!”

“160,000,000!”

“180,000,000!”

Such high numbers actually tested a person’s mental fortitude. Although it wasn’t their money, when fatty Yu and the others heard them, it made it hard for them to breath.

Sweat was dripping of Xia Changfeng’s forehead. He had managed to learn from a secret backchannel that the auction this time would have an Earth class Battle Skill.

Thus, he had brought all the money he had to increase his credit limit. But in total, he only had two hundred million. Since the price was already at one hundred eighty million, it seemed that his two hundred million wouldn’t be enough.

“Baichi, how much more credit do you have?” He asked of Xia Baichi.

Looking at her crystal card, she replied, “I still have three hundred sixty million.”

Xia Changfeng was overjoyed. “Good sister, your brother’s money won’t be enough soon. Lend me some money and I’ll return it when we get back to the Grand Xia.”

Xia Baichi hesitated for a moment before saying, “I can lend it to you, but you must hand over Long Chen’s head to me within a short time.”

Xia Changfeng immediately felt awkward. Chu Yang was right there! To talk about murder in front of the crown prince was definitely excessive.

“Baichi, we’ll talk about this when we get back.”

“No, if you don’t promise me, then I won’t lend you any money.” Xia Baichi coldly snorted. She didn’t give her older brother any face.

Chu Yang smiled slightly. “This Long Chen is dislikable, and in this case, you’ll be my younger sister’s husband soon, so I won’t hear anything you’re saying now.”

Hearing Chu Yang say such a thing, Xia Changfeng became much more at ease and he cupped his fists at Chu Yang. “Many thanks, future brother-in-law.”

“Okay, Baichi, I promise you. Give me your crystal card.”

Only then did she hand him her crystal card. Drawing a line over his crystal card, Xia Baichi’s credit limit was transferred over to his card. Now he had a credit of over five hundred million.

“300,000,000!”

Seeing that the price was continuing to climb, Xia Changfeng directly raised the price greatly in order to display that it was a must-have item for him and hopefully, intimidating his competitors away.

The others became somewhat taciturn after that high price. Although an Earth class Battle Skill was extremely rare, it still was something buyable with money.

Furthermore, the price for one was much lower than three hundred million. After all, most Earth class Battle Skills that were sold were all secondhand copies.

This Earth class Battle Skill auctioned by the Huayun Pavilion was one that didn’t exist in this region. That was why its price was so high.

But the price of three hundred million truly was intimidating. After all, if you had enough gold, you could travel to somewhere far away and then, you would be able to buy Earth class Battle Skills for a much lower price.

Now, the mysterious elder, the bearded man, and Marquis Ying were all hesitating.

“Prince Xia Changfeng bids three hundred million. Are there any higher bids? Three hundred million going once, three hundred million going twice-“ Yao Niqian’s voice was a bit excited as she started to count time.

The profit from this auction had already surpassed her expectations. That was especially the case for this Earth class Battle Skill. The three hundred million bid was extremely exciting for her.

Three hundred million should be the ceiling price for this Battle Skill; thus, she decided to start counting down.

“400,000,000.”

What no one expected was for a lazy voice to suddenly ring out.

That voice was extremely young. It was Long Chen’s voice! The entire crowd was stupefied, and even Yao Niqian was shocked.

She had yet to even react when a small earring on her ear shook slightly. She immediately recovered and smiled.

“That bastard.” Xia Changfeng flew into rage. Just as he had been about to obtain the Earth class Battle Skill, Long Chen suddenly interfered.

“Long Chen, I don’t believe a bastard like you has that much money. You’re just looking for trouble!” shouted Xia Changfeng angrily.

“Idiot, if I didn’t have enough money, would I bid? Don’t forget, this master is a Pill Apprentice,” replied Long Chen.

In reality, Long Chen had constantly been using his divine sense to keep track of his surroundings. Their two private rooms were only a few dozen meters away from each other. Although there was no way to hear what they were saying, by examining their lips, he was able to figure out the approximate details of what they were discussing.

Seeing Xia Changfeng treat this Earth class Battle Skill as a must-have item, he had decided to shout out a higher bid.

Although he appeared at ease on the outside, inside, he was still extremely nervous. If he scared Xia Changfeng off, then it would be him who had to pay the final bill.

Four hundred million was something that an ordinary Pill Apprentice wouldn’t be able to pay back even if they spent their entire life refining. But recalling how Xia Baichi had interfered with him and made him pay twenty million to obtain the Starfusing Grass, it would be depressing for him to let that go without revenge.

“Five hundred million! If you have the guts, then try to bid again!” roared Xia Changfeng angrily. He was about to go mad with rage; he had no idea how Long Chen had obtained so much money.

But according to the Huayun Pavilion’s rules, if someone shouted out a bid higher than their crystal card’s limit, they would be viewed as a troublemaker and be expelled from the auction.

Seeing that nothing happened after Long Chen had made his bid, his only conclusion was that Long Chen really did have that much money.

Xia Changfeng’s angry roar echoed throughout the room like a beast’s howl, shaking people’s eardrums.

“Don’t be so excited. I only had a little left on my card. If you had just added ten thousand then you would have won. I rarely admire someone, but I definitely admire prince Xia Changfeng. To use a hundred million as just ten thousand, you really are amazing.”

Long Chen’s voice was filled with admiration. But in Xia Changfeng’s ears, it turned into the most malicious taunt.

“You!”

Xia Changfeng suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood due to this intense anger. Startled cries came from his private room.

The crowd’s expression was somewhat strange now. For a moment, no one knew whether Long Chen had been speaking the truth or whether he had been deliberately provoking Xia Changfeng.

“Since no one else is bidding, congratulations prince Xia Changfeng, the Earth class Battle Skill is yours.” Yao Niqian skipped right past counting down because she was certain no one would be as foolish as Xia Changfeng.

Seeing that the Earth class Battle Skill had already been auctioned off, everyone started to get up and prepare to leave. But just at this moment, Yao Niqian’s charming laughter rang out.

“In the past, the auction would end with the Earth class Battle Skill, but this year we have an even more unusual item for the end.”

Everyone was shocked. What could be more precious than an Earth class Battle Skill? They all hastily sat back down and stared closely at the stage.

Long Chen smiled. Hehe, a good show was about to start.

^[1] As stated before, Battle Skills are split between Mortal, Earth, and Heaven. And readers should consider the ‘secular world’ to be the opposite of the cultivation world. Technically, this place is the ‘secular world’ since there are no cultivation sects.

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