Chapter 837: Played in the Palm of the Hand
I should have known that this fellow would not be so kind as to lure away the Black Flame Sovereign Snake. He clearly wanted our two races to fight, and then he would take advantage of it in the end.
Or perhaps, from the very start, Xiao Chen had not believed Qing Cheng’s promise and already made up his mind to do something like this.
Qing Cheng said in a cold voice, “Young Master Xiao, I did not expect that you would go back on your word like this, that you are someone who would betray others in the blink of an eye.”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and replied to her, “Miss Qing Cheng, you know very clearly for whom you kept back the Black Soul Reaper and the White Soul Reaper Yin Soldiers to deal with. Those with a clear conscience do not conspire in secret. I do not need to justify anything here. I, Xiao Chen, never claimed to be some gentleman anyway.
“If I had really helped you deal with these people, would you have let me go? I’m not a three-year-old kid. There is no need to argue over who is at fault. What matters now is that everything is in my control.
“Whether you admit to it or not, the Departed Spirit Fruit that can help you quickly advance is now in my, Xiao Chen’s, hand.”
Between the two races, there were at least two hundred Martial Sages wielding all sorts of Demonic Corpses or Yin Soldiers in even larger numbers. If they all attacked together, even a Superior Grade Martial Sage would not dare run too rampant.
A cool breeze blew, and Xiao Chen’s white robes and hair fluttered. As he stood on the puppet snake’s head and looked at the horde of experts, he did not show any fear. Instead, calm suffused his countenance.
“What is the point of speaking so much nonsense with him? Just attack together and kill him. Does he think that he is incredible for being the Azure Emperor’s descendant?” someone shouted angrily.
Many people responded. Demonic Corpses howled and Yin Soldiers shrieked. In that instant, the atmosphere changed completely, and dust flew all over the place.
“Let’s see who dares to take a step forward!” Xiao Chen said calmly and unhurriedly. Then, electric light surged in his hand, poised to destroy both of the Departed Spirit Fruits he held.
“Stop!”
“No one move!”
w.a.n.g Can and Qing Cheng both shouted orders, halting all their subordinates.
Departed Spirit Flowers were hard to find outside, appearing only in an underground forbidden land, a place that even Martial Emperors did not dare to explore.
Just the Departed Spirit Flower was already very valuable. The fruits were priceless. Inferior Grade Martial Sage was also the cultivation realm where one could make the best use of the Departed Spirit Fruit.
Without such a value, the Corpse Race and Ghost Race would not have brought out all their trump cards and fought a great war before they arrived at the Treasure Hall.
Wei Hua, who had been silent all the while, asked, “What do you want? Just say it directly.”
Xiao Chen smiled gently and replied, “It looks like there are some smart people here. Since you all want the Departed Spirit Fruit, naturally, I can’t just give it away. Bid for it. Whoever can offer the highest amount of Astral Coins wins it.
“Of course, I am willing to accept Spirit Vein’s origins, Sage Grade Secret Treasures, secret manuals, and Medicinal Pills. As long as it is a treasure, I’ll accept it. I am very open-minded.”
When the cultivators present heard this, their expressions all changed. They even wondered if they heard wrong. Despite being surrounded by more than two hundred Inferior Grade Martial Sages, this fellow, who could die at any time, actually commenced an auction so boldly.
w.a.n.g Can ruthlessly waved him off and smiled coldly. “What qualifies you to auction it off here? Do you really take us to be fat lambs ready for you to slaughter? Worst case is that we give up on this Departed Spirit Fruit.”
“You don’t want it?”
Xiao Chen’s lips curled up. Then he tossed up a Departed Spirit Fruit and sent out a strand of purple saber Qi from his finger. “Bang!” The saber Qi shattered this Departed Spirit Fruit into bits.
Black Death Energy instantly surged out, forming an extensive dense cloud spreading everywhere.
The originally nebulous Death Energy transformed into thick, dark clouds now. Even after expanding for a kilometer, it did not show any signs of scattering.
“Ka ca!” Many Corpse Race and Ghost Race cultivators suffered heartbreak at the shattering of the Departed Spirit Fruit.
That is a Departed Spirit Fruit! Not a rock! It is worth cities and possibly even more than that. How could you just destroy it without even blinking?
“You…! You…!”
w.a.n.g Can gaped. He was dumbfounded and could not say anything for a long while.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, “Brother w.a.n.g Can, didn’t you say that you don’t want it? Why are you so agitated?!”
Screw your grandfather! I was just saying it. Those were just words. d.a.m.n it! You really went and destroyed it and now have the gall to ask me why I am so agitated?
w.a.n.g Can could not help cursing in his heart. However, he did not dare to speak anymore. He feared that if he upset Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen might even destroy the last Departed Spirit Fruit.
A murderous intent flashed in Wei Hua’s eyes. He lowered his head and transmitted his voice to someone. After that, without changing his expression, he stepped forward and said, “I can offer one hundred thousand Black Astral Coins and five Rank 3 Spirit Veins. That should be a fair price to you.”
Seeing that Xiao Chen now had full control over the situation, no matter how unwilling she was, Qing Cheng still had to accept this reality. She clenched her teeth and said, “I offer one hundred thousand Black Astral Coins as well and, in addition, ten Rank 3 Spirit Veins.”
“Two hundred thousand Black Astral Coins plus fifteen Rank 3 Spirit Veins.” Wei Hua did not hesitate to increase his bid, evidently determined to obtain the Departed Spirit Fruit.
When the two groups first arrived, they had to have collected some Spirit Veins as they searched for Departed Spirit Flowers.
Xiao Chen did not say anything as he looked at Qing Cheng. His meaning was clear: If you do not raise the bid, this Departed Spirit Fruit will become the other party’s.
How hateful! Now, Qing Cheng gnashed her teeth; she felt so many regrets in her heart.
Originally, she had thought that with so many of her race here and some other trump cards, she could deal with Xiao Chen easily. That was why she had sought him out for cooperation. After the trouble was over, she would make him spit out all the benefits he had gained and then some. She had not expected a situation like this to develop.
Just what kind of person had she approached? Everything seemed fine at first, but then this person laid out such a big trap.
However, at this moment, Qing Cheng had to raise her bid. After putting in so much effort and losing so many men before reaching the Treasury Hall, if she did not obtain the Departed Spirit Fruit, she would suffer a great loss.
“Two hundred thousand Black Astral Coins, fifteen Rank 3 Spirit Veins, plus a Sage Grade Essence Expanding Pill that you humans use.”
The two took part in a fierce bidding war, both refusing to give in. Xiao Chen smiled gently as he watched the two vie with each other. The more they fought, the better it was for him.
Finally, Wei Hua steeled himself and placed a bid that Qing Cheng could not possibly match.
“Five hundred thousand Black Astral Coins, twenty Rank 3 Spirit Veins, one Sage Grade inner vest, and one Sage Grade Essence Expanding Pill.”
His bid made Qing Cheng’s expression change. After hesitating for a long time, she did not follow up with a counteroffer. Such a price already exceeded the value of the Departed Spirit Fruit; it was simply not worth it.
This bid was about equal to half of her entire wealth. She did not know what Wei Hua’s intention was in bidding that much.
When Wei Hua saw Qing Cheng remaining silent, he smiled and said, “Young Master Xiao Chen, how is the price? You can give me the Departed Spirit Fruit now, right?”
“Haha! Naturally, I am very satisfied with such a price. As to whether we can close the deal now, we will have to wait for a while.”
Xiao Chen’s smile faded, and at the end of his words, a cold expression appeared. With a flip of his hand, he placed the Departed Spirit Fruit into the Universe Ring and instantly turned around.
Myriad Heaven Divine Fist, Deities Descending, tenfold combat prowess!
A divine light descended from the sky and entered Xiao Chen’s body. His aura rose infinitely, and a resplendent light appeared on his fist, looking like the dazzling sun.
“Bang!”
Xiao Chen punched and immediately clashed with Kui Dou’s full-power strike. While the bidding was going on, this Kui Dou had secretly moved behind him.
When Wei Hua revealed the final price, Kui Dou thought that Xiao Chen would let down his guard, so he immediately mounted a sneak attack.
However, Kui Dou did not know that Xiao Chen used his Spiritual Sense to monitor the actions of everyone here with his mind. Not only had Xiao Chen noticed him long ago, but he had even detected the secret plot between him and Wei Hua and had been waiting for this attack all along.
Thunder roared and resounded everywhere, rendering several people temporarily deaf.
The moment the two fists clashed, Kui Dou was immediately at a great disadvantage. For the sake of maintaining the highest speed possible, he could use only sixty percent of his Vital Qi.
However, Xiao Chen had been storing up energy for this move all this time. The Myriad Heaven Divine Fist not only combined Vital Qi, Mental Energy, and the Heavenly Sage Laws, but it even increased the might of the combination tenfold.
Kui Dou vomited a mouthful of blood, and the bones in his right arm shattered into small pieces. That limb would be crippled for some time.
Then, he went flying back like a released arrow and created a deep pit when he crash-landed, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
When the tenfold combat prowess disappeared, that infinite aura of Xiao Chen’s also vanished. His white robes fluttered. Aside from a particular sharpness, he did not look special.
After that, he shook his arm surrept.i.tiously. It felt slightly sore, which astonished him. Cultivators who purely tempered the body were truly horrifying.
Even just sixty percent of Kui Dou’s strength was very terrifying already. If it were another person standing here, that person would have gotten reduced to meat paste.
However, Kui Dou met with Xiao Chen—moreover, a fully prepared Xiao Chen. He could only blame his bad luck.
Ignoring the shocked crowd, Xiao Chen put away the puppet snake. Then he pushed off the ground and performed a somersault in the air. After he left the encirclement of the two races, he landed firmly on the ground.
“Come over and complete the deal!” Xiao Chen said calmly.
Wei Hua looked at Kui Dou, who was sunk in the deep pit and miserably trying to get up. The corners of his lips could not help but twitch as he quietly flew over to Xiao Chen.
The two stood across each other and placed the agreed items into a spatial ring before each other’s eyes.
Then, the two pushed the spatial rings forward, each controlling their rings to move forward slowly to the other party.
The cultivators of the two races stood in one row. Their eyes radiated a strong murderous intent. Clearly, they were eager to attack.
When the two spatial rings crossed each other, both of them immediately pulled over the other party’s spatial ring.
“Kill him!”
Wei Hua did not even bother checking for the Departed Spirit Fruit in the ring. He quickly moved back and shouted orders.
The Ghost Race and Corpse Race cultivators were all fuming already, not needing Wei Hua to say anything. The instant he retreated, attacks covered the sky and rained down on Xiao Chen.
“Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram!”
Xiao Chen had prepared for this long ago. He gently pushed off the ground and flew backwards. Then, two lights flashed in his eyes.
The Purple Thunder True Fire and the Lunar True Flame chased each other, forming a beautiful flame diagram. Yinyang, four divisions, the eight trigrams, and other scenes appeared around the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram, blocking all the attacks.
“Boom!” The Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram only lasted for a moment. However, Xiao Chen could do a lot with this moment.