As time passed, the price of this stele had increased by 100,000 mid-grade Spirit Stones in just a short time which took someone to drink a cup of tea [1]. This was a price far beyond anyone’s imagination! It had to be known that even if the Five Great Clans of Great Zhou wanted to take out so many mid-grade Spirit Stones in one go, it would still be rather difficult. And similar to Rong Tian, Ning Yu and the others who bid at the beginning, they all closed their mouths with black faces at the moment, because, after the price soared to this point, they had all lost the right to compete for it!
“110,000 Spirit Stones!” At this moment, the corners of Song Shaochen’s eyes were twitching slightly. Minute gritting of teeth could be heard when he called out the price.
Opposite to him, Ouyang Zhuo’s expression was extremely ugly. His cold gaze landed on Song Shaochen. After a long time, he sneered and said, “Young Master Song sure is magnanimous. It seems that you’ve prepared well!”
“I dare not compare myself to your Ouyang Clan.” Song Shaochen’s eyes flashed, and he sneered.
“Why bother?! This time, our Ouyang Clan is determined to obtain the Stele. If your Song Clan insists on fighting for it, then our Ouyang Clan will accompany you to the end!” After Ouyang Zhuo sneered, he suddenly waved his hand and shouted, “120,000!”
“You definitely don’t have to shout out such a small price. Even if you don’t feel embarrassed, I feel ashamed for you!” Song Shaochen sneered, then dusted his hands and coldly said: “I bid 150,000. If you have the ability to increase the price, then the item is yours!”
The corners of Ouyang Zhuo’s eyes twitched as his face trembled. Although their Ouyang Clan was well-prepared, they only had 150,000 mid-grade Spirit Stones. Furthermore, for the sake of these mid-grade Spirit Stones, the Ouyang Clan had basically emptied their entire assets. And at this moment, this Song Shaochen just so happened to grab onto his Lifeline. How could it not cause the killing intent in his eyes to wreak havoc?
The price made all the other people in the Auction House breath out cold air. If they could enter the Innate Temple’s Ruins, they would certainly receive something. However, how come if the harvest did not reach such a level?
For the Song Clan to be willing to bet such a high price on something that they didn’t know how to use for the time being, it could only be said that the Song Clan was wealthy.
“Song Shaochen is quite willing. This time, the Song Clan has really paid a huge price.” Su Yu stared in front of her as a trace of astonishment flashed across her eyes. She never expected that this competition would reach such extents.
Ye Zhong smiled but did not say anything. The Stele had fallen into the hands of the Song Clan, but it was hard to say if they could keep it safe. Other than that, even if the Song Clan could keep the Stele, as for whether they could figure out what this thing was used for, which was something no one could say! One bad thing was that the Song Clan was going to lose everything this time, so it was better not to make a verdict on anything at this point in time.
“Hehehe, Young Master Song is really bold, so this Stele is won by your Song Clan, Young Master Song please bring the Spirit Stones and go backstage to exchange your lot! And this is the end of today’s auction, everyone, please!” On the auction stand, the old man saw that there was no one left to raise the price, and now he just waved his hand and put the Stele away. And then he was just beaming and retreating towards the backstage.
“Junior Brother is truly determined to get it. However, if you need any help, feel free to say it. No matter what, we are brothers from the same sect!” Rong Tian stood up and suddenly smiled at Song Shaochen.
“If there is a need, I will definitely speak to you.” Song Shaochen replied indifferently.
Hearing that, Rong Tian looked meaningfully at Song Shaochen before clapping his hands and leaving.
As for Ouyang Zhuo, he stared at Song Shaochen for a moment before shaking his head and slowly walking away. However, the expression on his face made it clear to everyone that he would not let the matter rest.
After the two of them left, Song Shaochen looked at the direction they left with a dark expression. However, after a long time, he waved his hand and led the people around him to the auction backstage.
“This Song Shaochen and Rong Tian seem to be very incompatible.?” Ye Zhong looked at the tit-for-tat scene and frowned.
“Indeed, they are incompatible. In our Xingxiang Sect’s Inner Ranking List, Rong Tian is ranked 17th, while Song Shaochen is ranked 18th. In this past half year, Song Shaochen has challenged Rong Tian three times, but failed all three times.” Su Yu explained.
“Ranking List?” Hearing this, Ye Zhong nodded his head, but he was also slightly surprised in his heart. It seemed like the Inner Sect of the Xingxiang Sect was not that simple. A Fifth Layer of Body Tempering high-ranked expert [2] like Rong Tian was actually only ranked 17th.
“However, Song Shaochen could be considered to be powerful. With his Fourth Layer of Body Tempering strength, he actually dared to challenge Rong Tian, who was at the Fifth Layer of Body Tempering.”
“Rong Tian is amazingly talented and strong, but Song Shaochen was born into one of the Five Great Clans of the Song Clan. The clan’s cultivation resources were basically in the palm of his hand, so not only was his Spiritual Secret Art of Body Tempering stronger than what Rong Tian had cultivated, but he was also said to have two low-grade Spirit Vessels on hand that are unusually powerful.” Su Yu explained.
Hearing this, Ye Zhong nodded his head. Spirit Vessels were divided into high, middle, and low grade, and even low-grade Spirit Vessels had great power. Since this Song Shaochen had this kind of trump card, it was no wonder that he dared to challenge Rong Tian.
“Speaking of which, Senior Sister Su Yu, since you’re cultivating the Body Tempering Secret Art of Xingxiang Sect – the Astral Body. I wonder what rank you’re on the Inner Ranking List?” Ye Zhong suddenly looked at Su Yu and asked curiously.
“I can barely make it past 20th.” Su Yu smiled indifferently. It was obvious that she didn’t care too much about this ranking.
“Alright, let’s go. We’ve already figured out the origins of this map. After resting for a day, we should hurry up and leave. Otherwise, we won’t even be able to drink the soup, much less eat the meat.”
Ye Zhong nodded his head. After this auction, many people would probably have already left and followed the map. Those with more patience would probably wait for the Song Clan’s response. After all, it was basically certain that the Innate Temple’s Ruins would appear in the future.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Qingshan Town, Mo’s Manor House.
As the number one faction in Qingshan Town, the manor did not show any signs of leakage from the outside. However, if one were to enter inside, the simple and elegant decorations allowed one to understand that the Mo Clan should not be as simple as a town ruler. There might be something about the Mo Clan’s background and inheritance.
At this moment, in a secret chamber of Mo Clan Manor, a man in black and mysterious clothes, who appeared to be in his twenties, was casually sitting on a chair made of purple Nanmu wood [3]. In his hand were two bone balls made from the polished bones of monster beasts, which were now spinning under the gentle squeezing of the fingers of his right hand. [4]
Under the harsh sound of bone clattering, one could clearly see that the five fingers of this man’s hand were sparkling and translucent. There was a faint jade-like colored halo appearing on them, giving them an extremely extraordinary appearance.
“Are you saying that the Stele ended up in the hands of the Song Clan?”After a long period of silence, this man suddenly raised his head and looked at the skinny old man in front of him as he spoke. The old man was the person who led the auction.
“Indeed! Young Lord!” The old man smiled sinisterly, “Moreover, the information that we have to spread out, we have already spread it. I’m afraid that many people are already restless and impatient to find the Innate Temple!”
“Very good!” The man who was called Young Lord grinned, and with a strange expression he said, “Do these people really think that the Innate Temple is that easy to enter? In the past, my Mo Clan’s ancestor, as an Outer Elder of the Innate Temple, could only have entered inside a few times. Moreover, since the events of the past, the Innate Temple has not opened for a thousand years. Now that the Temple has been opened, it is naturally good to have these fools to scout the way for us.”
“Young Lord is truly wise. After sensing that the Innate Temple was about to open, you’ve immediately spreaded out the temple entrance maps in our hands. Otherwise, how would we be able to find so many cannon fodders to help us scout the place?” The old man laughed sinisterly.
“That’s not true. There are some difficult people to deal with within these so-called cannon fodder. However, it’s not a big deal. For this, our Mo Clan has been preparing for many years! After protecting the Innate Temple for so many years, that Innate Temple inheritance should belong to our Mo Clan! Hmph.” The man snorted. “Send someone to monitor the movements of those troublesome fellows. If there is any movement, they must be reported back as soon as possible. This cannot be wrong.”
“Yes! This old servant knows.” The skinny old man said in a deep voice.
“One more thing, those people at the city gate who have been taken down. Has the matter been investigated?” The man seemed to have thought of something else as he slightly frowned.
“We don’t have any leads on this yet. It’s as if they’ve disappeared the moment they enter the city……” The old man hesitated for a moment before softly speaking.
“Be careful, even though I have never seen him attack before, I can tell that the wounds on the dead are clean and tidy. The person who did it might be the biggest obstacle in our Mo Clan’s plans, so we must figure out his identity.” The man pondered for a moment before slowly speaking. At this moment, his tone was no longer as relaxed as before. It was evident that after personally inspecting the wounds of the dead, he was extremely afraid of the identity of the person who attacked them that day.
“Also, pay more attention to those guys from the Xingxiang Sect. These guys are even more troublesome than those people from the major sects and clans……”
TL note(s):
[1] “the time it took to drink a cup of tea” referring to the time it takes to make a cup of tea and drink it or a time span of about 10-15 minutes.
[2] Updating translation: this “high-ranked expert” is the same as “senior expert” — that was previously used in the old chapters.
[3] 楠木 (nánmù) is cedar or redwood that is unique to China and South Asia — more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanmu.
[4] The bone balls here should be something like baoding balls (meditation balls) but were made of solid bone — more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baoding_balls.