Naturally, that spiritual item was a couple’s item – in this case a lover’s lock in the form of a bracelet chain. It was both simple and stylish, and wouldn’t look out of place if a man were to wear it. Additionally, from the radiant glow it emitted, it was obviously an item of good quality.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this pair of top-grade spiritual artifacts is known by the title A fated marriage cannot be broken by the distance of a thousand miles. As you can see, it was made for a pair of lovers to wear. In addition to standard attack and defense capabilities, this pair of bracelets allows the wearers to know their counterpart’s precise location and state of health at all times no matter the distance nor how many barriers separate them. Besides that, once worn, this device cannot be removed by force.” The seductive movement of her red lips during her speech enchanted many of the men in the room.
The woman’s eyes flashed with a hint of pride. Seeing the growing excitement of the audience, she continued with a smile, “If you already have a Dao companion, you won’t want to miss out on this pair of artifacts. The bidding begins at 500 top quality lingshi, and each increase can be no less than 50 lingshi. Let’s get started!”
“Five hundred and fifty.”
“Six hundred.”
“Six hundred and fifty.”
Voices called out ever increasing bids. The competition for this lot was fiercer than the previous. Who among them didn’t want a tangible symbol to show proof of their affection?
“One thousand.” Gu Feng casually called out. The voice that emerged from their room was processed to prevent others from guessing the identity of the bidder. All of a sudden the price jumped by several hundred.
“One thousand and one hundred.” Bids rolled in as the auction picked up pace.
“One thousand and two hundred.”
“One thousand and three hundred.”
At this price, the competition was basically only between the VIPs, with several of them continually pushing up the price.
“Two thousand.” Gu Feng spoke once more, hiking the price up by a few hundred in one go for a second time.
This time no one challenged him. Clearly they all thought that spending this much on a trifle to amuse one’s lover was too much. Gu Feng disagreed. Danger could be lurking in any corner of the Hundred Flowers Festival, and with an item that would allow him to monitor his companion’s health and whereabouts at every moment, his heart could finally be at ease.
“Since nobody else has spoken, this lot now belongs to that guest in the VIP room.” Nobody objected, and the black clad auctioneer tapped the auction desk with her little hammer, signaling the bidding on the lot had closed.
Soon, a waiter came by with the pair of items, and after Gu Feng paid him, he handed them over. Gu Feng presented one of the pair to Su Mujin.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Gu Xiong, listen to me and don’t make things difficult for yourself. Who can guarantee that one’s heart will remain unchanged during one’s lifetime? When the time comes that you each have a new lover? Won’t it be awkward to still have to wear this reminder?” Wu Ying scoffed. He didn’t believe that two people could remain true to one another, but inexplicably he hoped that Su Mujin would nod his head.
“Yes, I’m willing.” Thousands of words gathered in his mind, yet all that made it out of his mouth were those four syllables. Even though the two of them hadn’t mentioned a word about love, an oath was still an oath.
Gu Feng smiled, and his heart was full of blooming flowers, so beautiful and sweet! He grasped his companion’s hand and slowly and earnestly fastened the chain about his wrist, treating the affair as though it were a very serious ceremony. In return, Su Mujin followed suit.
The bracelets looked like ordinary jewelry, as though one careless swing of the arm could throw them off. At the moment they were worn, however, the couple could sense a connection that tugged on their hearts, like a thread connecting their hearts to one another. No matter where they might be, they could follow this thread to find their lover.
Wu Ying’s gaze flickered, and his ever present smile disappeared. He seemed lost in thought as he glanced at the pair, then lowered his head to ponder. Lifting his head once more, his trademark smile was once again plastered on his face, but his eyes held no warmth.
“The item below is the highlight of this auction!” While hyping it up, the auctioneer took out a silver tray, covered in a red cloth. The obscured item appeared to be an orb of some sort, going by its shape.
The crowd straightened up in their seats. Seeing that she had caught their attention, the auctioneer lifted the red cloth and explained, “This item is called . . . . . . the Life Exchange Pearl. As long as it’s worn on one’s person, no matter the situation, one can be revived with no side effects, and one’s cultivation level will not be impacted.
As soon as the three words ‘Life Exchange Pearl’ were uttered, the auction house fell deadly silent.
Once this item appeared on the auction stage, all the previous items paled in comparison. Cultivation was a path that already went against the natural cycle of life, and that path was filled with peril. One could amass countless treasures and cultivate to the peak, but if one died, at the best, someone might take over your body, and at the worst, you might lose your soul as well. This pearl offered the chance to take fate into your own hands. Who wouldn’t want it?
A moment later, everyone shook themselves awake from their stupor, their eyes burning with fiery passion as they stared at the treasure sitting on the stage. Even that gorgeous black clad woman on the stage seemed to have been forgotten.
“Gege, I want it.”
“Of course, I’ll get it.” Gu Feng’s gaze was a bit intense. He faintly felt that it seemed he had overlooked something, and it made him feel a bit restless.
“Guests, bidding starts at 5000 top grade lingshi, and each increase must be no less than 500 lingshi.” The auctioneer gave a seductive smile.
Once the price was announced, the auction hall grew quiet. Even an ordinary nascent soul cultivator’s entire net worth was no greater than that. But the silence didn’t persist too long, as there were always those with money to spend.
“Five thousand and five hundred.”
“Six thousand.”
……
“Ten thousand.”
The price steadily climbed, quickly surpassing 10,000 lingshi. At that point, only the richest few of the guests were able to keep bidding.
“Twelve thousand.” Gu Feng said casually. Although he had obtained plenty of treasures from the Spiritual Ruins, he still wanted to bid on this.
When Gu Feng cast his bid, the other VIPs wanted to smash the table. For a moment, nobody dared to raise the price.
“Twelve thousand and five hundred.” Even though the voice had been altered, the slight tremor was still audible. The person was clearly nervous, clearly bidding his entire fortune on this item.
“Thirteen thousand.” Gu Feng calmly called out, and a commotion broke out among the audience in horror of this sky-high bid.
In one of the VIP rooms, a man in the late stage of nascent soul cultivation ground his teeth in frustration. His expression was distorted as he called over a waiter and whispered some instructions into his ear
“Congratulations to the honored guest who successfully won this item. That concludes this auction. Thank you to everyone for your support.” Following her announcement, the crowd began to file out of the auction hall, bringing the event to a successful close.
As soon as he exited the auction hall, Gu Feng sensed that something wasn’t right. He could feel he was being maliciously stared at by several people, and could sense the iciness of their killing intent. He swept the area with his spiritual consciousness, and discovered several men in the late stage of nascent soul cultivation. From their attire, they appeared to be Sword Pavillion disciples.
“Xiao Jin, let’s go this way where there are fewer people.” Gu Feng transmitted.
Su Mujin swept his eyes vaguely over the crowd and replied, “Understood, Gege.”
The pair walked through the lively streets, winding down narrow paths until they reached an open space that was deserted. Gu Feng strolled along leisurely before finally coming to a halt and calling out, “Show yourselves! How long do you plan to follow me?”
A cold breeze blew, causing the green grass to sway. The pair stood in the middle of the clearing surrounded by an oppressive atmosphere.
Several people attacked them as quick as a gust of wind. At first they didn’t bother with subtlety, but remembering their identity as members of a celestial sect, they then obscured their faces.
One delivered an ultimatum in a hoarse voice, saying, “If you want to keep living, surrender the Life Exchange Pearl or else this day next year will be the day you die.”
But the gap in cultivation levels became apparent. How could these attackers be Gu Feng and Su Mujin’s opponents? When it soon turned into a one-sided battle with the attackers on the losing side, one of them gritted his teeth and took out a black orb that had a menacing air about it.
Danger! That was Gu Feng’s instinctive response. He subconsciously used the Swallowing Spirit Palm on the attackers. In one fell swoop, the three nascent soul cultivator’s cultivation bases were swallowed up. The boost of spiritual energy nearly caused Gu Feng to blow up. Immediately, he began to circulate the energy through his body according to his cultivation method. As he started to break through to the demigod stage, the spiritual energy in the environment rushed toward him.
Seeing this, Su Mujin wrapped the clearing with a layer of protection. After disposing of the corpses, he guarded Gu Feng.
The ordeal continued for three days and three nights before Gu Feng finally reached the demigod stage, and he felt a bit of excitement. Not only was he more confident in his ability to compete during the festival, but more importantly, don’t I now have the upper hand in terms of cultivation? In that case, perhaps I can . . . . . .
“Gege, come quickly! I found something odd in these people’s storage rings. You should take a look.” Su Mujin had completely missed Gu Feng’s careful thoughts as he concentrated on sorting through the black orbs and name registers, and such within.
Gu Feng took it. The register listed the names of cultivators who were under 100 years old and had reached the Demigod stage of cultivation. It contained a detailed description of their appearances and their type of cultivation. Seeing this, combined with the factors of the black orbs, and the Sword Pavillion disciples, Gu Feng had a sudden disheartening intuition.
“Is there only one copy of this register?” If there was only one copy, it could still be said to be a coincidence.
Su Mujin shook his head and said, “No, everyone has the same register in their storage rings.”
“Hand me their storage rings,” Gu Feng said with a somewhat heavy expression.
“What’s wrong?” Su Mujin dubiously handed the storage rings to Gu Feng.
Gu Feng rummaged through the storage rings for a very long time, finally producing a jade slip. The jade slip had to be read using spirit, and generally was used to record things of utmost secrecy and importance.
This jade slip was encrypted and required a lot of effort to break the code. After deciphering it, Gu Feng read the information stored within, and his expression immediately grew grave. This is truly horrible news!
Thank you for translating!
<3
thank you for your hard work!!!!!!!!🤍🤍🤍
Thank you for the translation!