Chapter 258: Sima Longyun
Sikong Toutian couldn’t help but to scratch his head and ponder for a bit. After a while, he finally clapped his hands together and exclaimed: “Yes, I’ve got it. There is a grave auction outside of the city at the Forgotten Wasteland. This grave contains an alchemist who was amazing when he was still alive, and he probably buried many ancient herbs with him. The grave auction will happen not long from now and many people will come. You guys can also go, maybe there will be a Rotten Underworld Bean there.”
“Grave auction?” Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and nodded afterwards to say: “Come, take me there to check it out!”
Sikong Toutian was not quite willing in his heart. He wished to be as far away as possible from this G.o.d of death before him, but once he was gazed at by Li Qiye’s eyes, he became frightened and didn’t dare to say anything else. He immediately led the way for Li Qiye’s group.
“Another grave auction? I wonder if there will be anything good. Sometimes it is too hard to get anything at a grave auction!” As Sikong Toutian was leading the way, Chi Xiaodao couldn’t help but murmur.
The grave auction was a very popular type of auction at the Eastern Hundred Cities. In fact, the entire Mortal Emperor World also had grave auctions, but it was not as common compared to the Eastern Hundred Cities.
The reason why it was popular was very simple. As the base of the human race and an existence that was able to be traced back to the ancient times, there were many ancient burials under the city. Who knew how many invincible characters were buried below its earth.
The grave auction was really just a regular auction. The auction organizer would ask the owners of the mountain peaks or territories to buy the graves. Once the organizer managed to buy the graves, there would be two approaches. The first was simply to auction the entire grave to someone, the second was to open the grave and take the items out to have auctions right on the spot. After the auctions were over, the corpses without any value would be returned to the previous grave’s owner.
Outside of satisfying those who wanted to find rare and new items, this type of auction also attracted those who wanted to make some profit. Of course, a grave auction and grave robbing only had a thin line of distinction. If it was a grave without an owner, there will be those who will open the graves to steal the treasures and then begin the auction.
In fact, for the organizers dealing with grave auctions, they needed sufficient power to carry out such a task. In the end, valuable graves, especially those of extremely powerful characters, carried mortal dangers. Some were even impenetrable and could not be opened! This was why any auction organizers who dared to do grave auctions were quite formidable.
Without a doubt, the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion was an extremely powerful auction site. It was not only powerful but also extremely ancient. Its origin even went back to the Desolate Expansion Era, or it could even be older. Legend has it that back at their peak, their auction houses spread out all across the Nine Worlds. Today, the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion was number one throughout the Eastern Hundred Cities.
Even though the Forgotten Wasteland was described by Sikong Toutian as outside of the city, it was in fact almost ten thousand miles away! This was a vast wilderness with weeds and wild gra.s.s everywhere and also a pervasive trace of human presence.
However, the place where the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion was conducting its grave auction was a small green and luscious valley. It was completely different from this wasteland.
So when everyone stepped in this small valley, the first thing they felt was a green freshness of life so they couldn’t help but nod in approval: “It seems like this area is indeed a bit extraordinary! I can easily tell that this is the resting place of an alchemist. A truly powerful alchemist is able to give birth to a myriad of existences so even after death, this many ancient herbs and vines will become his friend.”
In fact, after receiving an invitation from the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion, many cultivators traveled the far distance, including Named Heroes and Royal n.o.bles from the great powers.
Many cultivators were very interested about grave auctions since they all held the intention of profiting from such an endeavor. An ordinary auction house would have underwent heavy selections so there was a very unlikely chance for profit.
However, a grave auction was different. Even if the appraiser had keen eyes, there would still be times when they are wrong. In the end, there will always be errors at these moments.
Before the auction began, the small valley was filled with people. Vagrant cultivators and experts from the great powers kept on coming. Even if the vagrant cultivators didn’t have the power to bid, they still wanted to watch the fun and increase their knowledge.
“I heard that this grave belongs to someone who was a Legendary Alchemist when he was alive. This valley used to be the property of an alchemy clan, but unfortunately, it has completely fallen. The descendants of this clan were no longer able to cultivate so the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion was able to buy it with a relatively low price.” Before the auction began, many people were discussing this matter.
“It is not certain whether we can unearth any astonis.h.i.+ng artifacts from this grave or not. The biggest gamble is whether we can find any ancient medicines from it. In the end, ancient medicines are quite rare nowadays.” A cultivator with some great background also talked about this matter.
Another one opened their mouth and added: “I heard that the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion didn’t invite the sect masters and royal lords. There is only one explanation — the value of this grave is quite limited.”
“It is really hard to find a good grave right now at the Eastern Hundred Cities. However, even if people can find a good one, they wouldn’t be able to open it for it would be too powerful. Didn’t the Inheritance Ancient Pavilion buy a tomb last year? They attacked for nine whole months and it was all for naught. I heard that many experts were killed; they only entered and didn’t leave. In the end, they couldn’t do anything else besides giving it back to the family. That time, the pavilion only lost money and even got sick from it.” An older cultivator commented. [1. The last one is a proverb but I think the meaning is clear enough to leave it in.]
“The value of this alchemy grave is ordinary. No grand character came this time!” In the valley, many cultivators formed their own groups and started to converse before the start of the auction.
“Sima Longyun of the Furious Immortal Saint Country came!” A cultivator lifted his head and pointed at a young expert from far away while speaking with a person next to him.
It was a spirited young man who wore a set of golden armor while suppressing his battle intent. His aura was like a bull that was capable of crumbling the mountains and rivers with one stomp. A dominating aura exuded from his body. Plus, his entire set of golden armor made him look like the son of a G.o.d!
“Virtuous Disciple Sima of the Furious Immortal Saint Country!”
Even cultivators from the previous generations were surprised after seeing this young man. At this time, many cultivators — including Royal n.o.bles from the great powers — all came to greet this young man one after another.
This young man was quite proud of his popularity. It was as if he was basked in suns.h.i.+ne. His elegant appearance was what other people would refer to as a dragon amongst men.
Many people shuddered when the Furious Immortal Saint Country was brought up. It was definitely part of the grand countries in the Eastern Hundred Cities with a very old legacy. Even though an Immortal Emperor never came from it, its progenitor was a grand completion Immortal Physique and was invincible in this world. One could even say that he was comparable to an Immortal Emperor. [2. Because of the Saint prefix, I don’t know whether it is a Kingdom or a Country. However, it is definitely not an Ancient Kingdom. I chose Country because it didn’t even have an Immortal Emperor.]
It was one of the few countries within the entire Mortal Emperor World that had an Immortal Physique Law. That year, its progenitor was a grand completion Furious Immortal Tyrannical Physique, one of the twelve Immortal Physiques! He created a supreme Immortal Physique Law named “Lower Tyrannical Immortal Physique Law”! [3. The word lower here has a lot of different meanings, but usually it is a part of two — upper and lower. Down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (weak etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down. These were all the possible choices, but I went with lower in case there is an upper version later and it sounds better than the others.]
Because of this Immortal Physique Law, the Furious Immortal Saint Country was able to create a foundation that has stood strong to this day.
“I never thought that this ordinary grave auction would be able to draw Good Nephew Sima!” [4. Good nephew here is an address used for flattering.]
Many cultivators went to greet Sima Longyun, including the older ones. Even the Royal n.o.bles from the great sects were willing to become acquainted with him.
At this place, Sima Longyun could be described as a fish meeting the water and was extremely welcomed. He was also very flushed with success, so he smilingly answered: “I heard that the owner of this grave is an amazing alchemist so I hope to find ancient medicines in his grave. My Golden Savage Bull Physique is complete so my seniors found an ancient dan recipe for me to create a physique paste. However, it does need a few ancient herbs so I wanted to see if I can find them here. If I’m successful, then not long in the future, it will not be a problem for me to step into the Tyrannical Saint Physique.”
Everyone knew Sima Longyun was bragging! However, there was no other way; this guy truly had the ability to brag, so after hearing his words, even Royal n.o.bles from the previous generation quickly congratulated him. Meanwhile, Sima Longyun was enjoying this vanity of being the moon surrounded by the stars.
Although Sima Longyun was showing off, he really was a person with some capabilities. He came from the Furious Immortal Saint Country and was a natural born Golden Savage Bull Physique.
One had to know that the Golden Savage Bull Physique was a Xiantian Physique that belonged to the Furious Immortal Tyrannical Physique’s family! It was also one of the forty-eight Xiantian Physiques.
Most importantly, the Saint Country also had the supreme Furious Immortal Tyrannical Physique Law and, with Sima Longyun’s conditions, there was a chance that he might be able to be valued by the elders of the country and be able to cultivate the supreme Immortal Physique Law. Therefore, one could say that Sima Lonygun’s future potential was limitless!
“This time, if there are any ancient herbs that are appropriate for my ancient dan recipe, then no matter the price, I must have them!” Sima Longyun released such a statement in front of everyone. This was not only a warning against those who wanted to compete against him for ancient medicines, but also to show off that he was from the Saint Country, a genius Royal n.o.ble, and that he never lacked money; smart people shouldn’t compete against him!
“Brother Sima is the talented pillar of the Saint Country; if there are really any ancient herbs in this grave that Brother Sima needs, I trust that everyone will leave it for you. Who would be dumb enough to compete with Brother Sima, right? Isn’t that the same as not giving the Furious Immortal Saint Country any face?” A few disciples from other sects were flattering Sima Longyun by his side.
Regarding Sima Longyun’s arrogant att.i.tude, many people were actually quite annoyed. However, what else could they do? The guy really had the capital to be c.o.c.ky, and the Saint Country was not something that could be messed with by just anyone!