LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 631: Auction
"Your ranking on the Reputation List has been surpassed!"
"..."
Ji Xingyue's brows furrowed tightly, he said nothing, and opened the Reputation List directly.
Upon opening the list, a strange name occupied the top spot, far ahead, creating a huge gap between him in second place.
"Xu Yang?"
Ji Xingyue's brows furrowed even tighter, uncertain, "Who is this person, what's his background!"
His words were filled with intrigue and his composure slightly slipped, no longer as collected as before.
But of course, the position of the Second Order's leader had taken him a long time to ascend to, and it hadn't been easy.
For the sake of the top spot reward, to increase his own Talents, he had even delayed his ascension, spending ten years, voluntarily lagging behind others, waiting out an opponent too fearsome to contend with. Only then, upon the debut of the new list, had he risen to the top.
Now, after one retreat, his rank was surpassed, a plummeting kind of surpassing at that.
How could this be?
Could there be another freak like the top-ranked in the last round?
But this name, he had never heard of it before, and it definitely wasn't on any previous Second Order lists.
Could it be a newly risen Lord?
That was even more impossible. The safety period had just passed; how could a new rise Lord have the opportunity to develop and surpass him to become the leader? Even the freak from before wasn't this against the heavens.
Ji Xingyue's brow furrowed tightly, utterly baffled.
The young man who had come to bring the news simply said, "He is a newly risen Lord..."
"Impossible!"
Before the words had finished, they were cut off as Ji Xingyue voiced gravely, "The safety period for a newly risen Lord has just passed, there has been no chance for development yet. Even if his accumulation in the First Order was profound and his potentiality immense, at most he could rush to the hundreds or thousands, how could he surpass me?"
"Don't rush, Brother, listen to me."
The young man shook his head and said gravely, "This person is indeed a newly risen Lord, from the Heaven-Connecting Academy. An orphan with no family, but after entering the Sky-reaching Tower, he rose swiftly to the top, securing the position of First Order Dual Crown, and even broke with the Heaven-Connecting Academy..."
The young man's words made Ji Xingyue's frown tighten even more, feeling more puzzled the more he heard.
An orphan with neither parents nor family, had obtained the position of First Order Dual Crown and even broke with the Heaven-Connecting Academy that had fostered him?
How did all of this fit together, where was the logic in that!
But after all, Ji Xingyue was Ji Xingyue, and he quickly cleared up his thoughts, "Are you saying that this person achieved such feats solely through his own efforts, without any backing, and moreover has been targeted by the Heaven-Connecting Academy?"
The young man nodded, "Exactly!"
"That's still not right!"
Ji Xingyue's frown deepened, "Even if he had the talent of an Immortal Spirit and was granted various opportunities, he couldn't possibly have surpassed me just by ascending and reached the top of the Second Order."
"That's exactly why I've come to find you, Brother," the young man said with a bitter smile, "This orphan, despite his upbringing by the Heaven-Connecting Academy, which he has since rejected, was not tolerated by the Zhou Clan. As soon as the safety period ended, they sent Zhou Tianqi to attack him, and also recruited helpers like Ning Bozhong and Tantai Qin, but..."
"What happened?"
Ji Xingyue demanded sternly, a bad premonition already surfacing in his heart.
"They lost their women and their troops!"
The young man said with a wry smile, "Including Zhou Tianqi and the others, ten Lords all fell and none escaped, leading to his meteoric rise to power, seizing decisive victory in a single battle."
"..."
Ji Xingyue fell silent for a while, then shook his head, 'Still, that's not right, even if he caught Zhou Tianqi and the others in a single stroke, the gap between us couldn't be so wide, unless...'
His speech hanging in the air, he paused, his eyes suddenly narrowing with suspicion as he looked towards the young man.
"Exactly!"
Responding to his gaze, the young man nodded with a bitter smile, "He captured Zhou Tianqi and the others, not only taking their weapons, equipment, troop Heroes, and Territory Resources but also demanded a surprisingly large ransom from powers like the Heaven-connecting Immortal Palace, Netherworld Tao Mansion, and Kunlun Immortal Realm!"
"..."
Upon hearing these words, Ji Xingyue lapsed into silence again, speaking only after a long time, "So you've come here to warn me not to provoke him?"
The young man showed a wry smile, saying tactfully, "Not only is this person treacherous and mad, he's outrageously bold and acts without any restraint. Brother, you are the pride of our Ji Family, a True Immortal Seed; how can you afford to risk such a collision with such a brute?"
"Hmph!"
Ji Xingyue snorted coldly, noncommittally, "After taking such a loss, facing such embarrassment, and creating such enmity, those people are willing to swallow their pride, to nurse a tiger, as it were."
The young man shook his head, "Neither Heaven-connecting Immortal Palace nor the Zhou Clan is willing to put up with that, but the Netherworld Tao Mansion and Kunlun Immortal Realm seem to be inclined to be patient, even seeking to make peace, willing to turn a fight into a feast."
"It seems even the Heaven-connecting Immortal Palace can do nothing about him, while the Netherworld Tao Mansion and Kunlun Immortal Realm believe he holds extraordinary potential, and they prefer not to make such a formidable enemy."
Ji Xingyue could detect the implication in his words, his expression darkened, and he couldn't help sighing, "An unexpected development, blocking my path, could it be that Heavenly Destiny is truly not with me?"
"It is but a momentary win or loss, Brother, do not take it so to heart."
Seeing him looking so disheartened, the young man also felt helpless, only managing to offer a word of comfort.
"It's all in the hands of fate, fate!"
"Fine then!"
Ji Xingyue shook his head, the gloom dissipating, returning to calm, "What else?"
"This..."
The young man hesitated for a moment, "He also held an auction, putting up the spoils of this battle, items useless to him, among which was a Mythical Hero. Forces from all sides flocked to it, Zhou Tianqi, Ning Bozhong, Tantai Qin, all rushed to redeem it."
"This man... truly has guts that reach the heavens!"
Ji Xingyue, upon hearing this, was rendered speechless for a while before finally exclaiming, "But he indeed has the guts that reach the heavens."
The young man gave a bitter smile, unable to agree, and could only change the subject, "Should brother go join the excitement? Our clan is also interested in competing for that Mythical Hero."
Ji Xingyue pondered for a moment and eventually nodded, "Fine, let's go see who exactly is this divine presence."
...
Sky-reaching Tower, Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion, swarming with people, quite the bustling scene.
"Wow!"
"So many people?"
"Wasn't this supposed to be a small auction?"
"Nonsense, with a Mythical Hero up for auction, how small can it get?"
"This Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion has only opened for a short time, and they're already auctioning a Mythical Hero?"
"Mythical Hero, not using it themselves, where does the auction come from? Does he not lack heroes, or is he lacking brains?"
"It's said that there's a clash in civilization attributes, hard to control, so they can only auction it off."
"Damn, a Mythical Hero. I don't even have a Legend yet, and this one who just advanced already has a Mythical Hero to auction. It looks like we really must throw things away when comparing goods, and die of envy when comparing people."
"Damn it, this accursed Sky-reaching Tower has no sense of balance, always creating monsters, how are we regular people supposed to live?"
"That's right, can you believe it? Less than half a month out of the safety period, he's already topped the Second Rank list, and looks set to become a Dual Crown King. What will happen if this continues?"
Rumors and discussions abound.
The crowd surged, hesitant to move forward, with only a few entering the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion, while most lingered outside, and others emerged from the pavilion doors, faces grimy and sullen.
"A den of thieves, that's what it is!"
"A Second Rank Lord daring to deal in these?"
"What crap about Ten Thousand Dao Points, I'm not falling for your scams!"
"I'm leaving, it's a sham, hanging a sheep's head but selling dog meat. What Mythical Hero, it's just a scam to take your money."
Some Lords emerged grubby-faced from within the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion, and others were so enraged they started shouting insults, leaving newcomers baffled.
"What's going on?"
"What else could it be? Just by listening, you can tell it's that personal currency scheme again!"
"I've heard this auction of Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion doesn't accept Heaven-Connecting Coins or Spirit Stones for direct auction; you must use their so-called Ten Thousand Dao Points."
"Where do these Ten Thousand Dao Points come from?"
"Do I even need to say? It's obviously traded with Heaven-Connecting Coins, various resources, weapons, troop types, heroes, strange treasures, and exchanging with their Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion."
"Isn't that just doing something superfluous, like taking off your pants to fart?"
"You don't understand; on the surface, it seems superfluous, but in reality, it's about controlling the pricing and trading rights, and strengthening their own economic circulation."
"With the exchange of Ten Thousand Dao Points and Heaven-Connecting Coins, profits are made both ways. Even if the items on auction are sold at fair prices, they stand to make a fortune with this trick."
"Otherwise, why do you think the major forces are all creating private currencies, rather than using Heaven-Connecting Coins? Because the benefits are too big, too big, and it also strengthens their own influence, forming systems that interlock and interact."
"Usually, however, it's the major powers that do this, with at least one Ninth Order Immortal God Lord as a guarantee. What does this Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion have?"
"A late-blooming Second Rank Lord who just got a bit of luck, dominates the Same-tier without rivals, and dares to take such a step?"
"A Second Rank Lord, not only without the backing of a power but also having made a life-and-death enemy of the Heaven-connecting Immortal Palace, might just be wiped out any day now, and who then will pay for this crap Ten Thousand Dao Points?"
"If it weren't for the Mythical Hero on the banner, who would attend an auction held by a Second Rank Lord? And yet, he dares to put on airs!"
Some are inflamed with righteous indignation.
Yet there are also those who disagree and even retort.
"You can't say that; the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion just announced publicly that Ten Thousand Dao Points can be freely exchanged. If you think you're at a loss or there's a risk, just exchange them back after the auction."
"That's right, exchange some to join the fun, then change it back after the rankings are over, the ratio won't change, what's there to lose?"
"The Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion also said just now that for this initial release of Ten Thousand Dao Points, there are certain exchange incentives, and over time, they will gradually raise the threshold for exchanging and the exchange rate. Miss this chance and there won't be another shop later."
"Heh, you believe what he says? I say that I will one day dominate the Sky-reaching Tower!"
"No matter what, if you exchange now, you don't lose anything; we can discuss the rest after the auction is over."
"Look, even people from the Heaven-Connecting Academy have come. Earlier there were also forces like the Netherworld Tao Mansion and Kunlun Immortal Realm, the Immortal God-level powers. They're not afraid, so what are you afraid of?"
The crowd buzzed with debate, revealing key information, and heated arguments ensued.
But no matter what, it didn't affect the convening of the great conference, a battle of dragons and tigers was about to take place.