Chapter 602: Fantasy Star Ocean

When the price had gone to three million five hundred thousand purple coins, even more bidders had gave up on bidding. Even the other bidders who were still bidding had begun to balk about the price and started to have second doubts. Ten thousand year old heavenly resources were rare, but they appeared once every year in Mercenary City. If they didn’t get this one this year, there was always next time.

“Three million six hundred thousand.” For a while, the auction house was silent before another voice finally called out.

“Four million.” Jian Chen immediately gave an even higher bid. While it looked as if he was calm inside, his heart was starting to ache somewhat. Four million purple coins was more than enough to buy a hundred thousand year old heavenly resources.

“Brother, you must be very adamant on taking that Geofruit. Haha, I am Hu Xiaotian, what might be your name, brother?” The middle-aged man next to Jian Chen asked.

Jian Chen turned to look at Hu Xiaotian to study the man. Seeing how earnest and honest the man looked, Jian Chen had decided the man to not be one to act kind in order to gain trust for their own benefit. “This one is called Jian Chen.” He smiled.

“Jian Chen! The very same one known as the number one in the Gathering of the Mercenaries and known as the King of Mercenaries, that same Jian Chen?” Hu Xiaotian exclaimed in surprise.

“I am he!” Jian Chen spoke.

Hu Xiaotian had been clearly startled by this announcement, but he had quickly regained his wits and cupped his hands in salute. “So you were Jian Chen, the King of Mercenaries. It is nice to meet you. What pity it was that I was preoccupied when the Gathering of Mercenaries happened and was unable to watch the battles. Otherwise, I would definitely have watched your match.”

Afterwards, Jian Chen and Hu Xiaotian had spent the rest of the time chatting and bidding. And in the end, Jian Chen had managed to bid a high price of four million eight hundred thousand purple coins to win the Geofruit.

Whilst their conversation was going on, the eyes of the entire auction house had turned to look at the corner Jian Chen was in. Each one of them were curious on just which grand family had a son like this.

On the third floor of the auction house, a white-robed elder slowly creased his eyebrows as he went into deep thought.

“Strange, why does the voice of the one bidding for the Geofruit sound so familiar?” The elder muttered. Then, a second later, a brilliant gleam of light flashed across his previously dull eyes as he gave a small shout, “Jian Chen! That’s Jian Chen’s voice! But how? Did he not survive?”

Now that he had surmised that the bidder had been Jian Chen, the elder got out from his seat and hurried on over to the stairwell. Walking down to the first level, his eyes stared brightly through the dark auction house as he looked for the corner where Jian Chen would be.

Upon seeing Jian Chen, the elder began to tremble as a vicious smile seized his face. “It’s him! It’s really him! I didn’t think that he had survived, but the Seal of Treasure Mountain must still be on him.”

Feeling the sharp glare of the elder, Jian Chen had instinctively turned to look at the source of the stare. When he saw the elder, Jian Chen had been startled as well. But then a meaningful smile appeared on his face as he stood up from his chair as well and strode over to where the elder was.

It was with a swagger to his step that Jian Chen greeted the elder with a smile. “If this one’s memory is correct, then you must be the third elder of the Shi family. I didn’t believe we’d meet each other here, how coincidental.”

This elder had been an elder of the Shi family with the wind affinity. Back when Jian Chen had been chased to practically the ends of the earth, this feeling of hopelessness caused by the elder had given Jian Chen an unforgettable memory of him.

“So you really are Jian Chen!” With that confirmation, the third elder was now completely convinced that this youth in front of him was the very same Jian Chen that had the Seal of Treasure Mountain on him.

But then now that he knew Jian Chen was alive, the man couldn’t help but feel excited. Ever since Jian Chen’s supposed death, they had never once stopped searching for the Ruler Armament. They had even spent countless of energy in order to use several secret methods to find the location of the Ruler Armament, but to no avail. And even worse, they had came out for the worse after it.

But then out of nowhere, he came across the culprit who had stolen the Ruler Armament on a random trip to the annual auction house. This accidental meeting had given the elder a rekindled hope and glee.

“Jian Chen, you are a resilient one. Even with such heavy injuries, you’re still alive.” The elder sneered.

Laughing in return, Jian Chen replied, “Perhaps King Yanluo himself was unwilling to give me shelter, so I escaped death.”

“Hmph, it was a mistake on our ends I suppose to not dispose of your body. If we had, you would not be able to live as happily as you do now. Jian Chen, I don’t wish to mince words with you. Since the Jiede clan isn’t here, you may as well come back to my Shi family and return the Seal of Treasure Mountain. We will keep silent about your survival if you come with us.” The elder spoke.

Still smiling, Jian Chen stared playfully at the man, “Third elder, you should go back. I have yet some things to buy so I won’t have time to accompany you.” And with that, Jian Chen turned around to return to his seat.

Glaring daggers at the back of Jian Chen, the third elder clenched his fist tightly in anger. If it were not the fact that they were in Mercenary City, he would have attacked Jian Chen a long time ago without giving him the chance to escape.

“Jian Chen, I’ll see to it that you won’t escape this time.” The man laughed coldly to himself as he left the auction house. He was no longer in the mood to continue with the bidding.

“Brother Jian Chen, I can see that old man was giving you a fishy stare. Was there a problem between the two of you in the past?” As soon as Jian Chen sat back down, Hu Xiaotian had spoken to him.

Not caring to hide the truth, Jian Chen nodded, “Correct, he is an enemy of mine.”

“Brother Jian Chen, you should be careful then. That old man is a Heaven Saint Master, that is an entity that an Earth Saint Master can’t hope to contend with.” Hu Xiaotian spoke seriously.

“Thank you for your concerns, this one will be cautious then.” Jian Chen smiled. Because he had hidden his strength, Hu Xiaotian was unable to see just how strong he was.

“But brother Jian Chen, you shouldn’t worry too much. If you ever come across an enemy, then you only just need to run to Mercenary City. Not a single person would dare to act out in Mercenary City, even Heaven Saint Masters are no exception to this. It’s hard to come across a Saint Ruler as an enemy as well, but even they won’t cause strife in the city.” Hu Xiaotian spoke.

Jian Chen’s heart had skipped a beat when he heard that. “Even Saint Rulers wouldn’t dare fight? Is Mercenary City truly that terrifying?”

“Far more than you could possibly believe!” Hu Xiaotian’s face had taken on a serious tone. Holding a hand out to point at the sky, he spoke, “Little brother, you’ve seen the barrier of Mercenary City for yourself I’m sure. Let me tell you, this barrier has existed for countless of years already from when Mo Tianyun himself placed the barrier down. Protecting Mercenary City through the ages in silence, it has struck down any single person that dared to fight or injure another within its boundaries. The more offensive offenders had been killed. That is how terrifying it is.”

“I see!” Jian Chen remarked.

And so the auction had gone on for another hour with plenty of strange but rare goods were bought.

Some time after, the auctioneer had soon brought out a small glass bottle that was about the size of one’s fist. Inside, there was a small and faint glow that seemed to resemble the dazzling light of a star.

If one were to look carefully, then they would be able to see that within this bottle, there were a multitude of small particles of sand moving about just slightly. Each particle had let out a light that resembled starlight itself. And from afar, it looked as if the bottle contained the starry skies from up above, each light resembling an individual star from the universe.

Holding the bottle up above her head for everyone to see, the auctioneer started, “Audience, please allow me to introduce our next treasure to be sold. The item I hold in my hand will most likely be a first for everyone to see here. That is because this item is from one of the death zones of the Tian Yuan Continent--Fantasy Star Ocean.”

“What? Fantasy Star Ocean? I’ve heard that aside from the Death’s Nest, Fantasy Star Ocean is the most terrifying death zone! Even Cross Mountains isn’t as terrifying compared to it. A Heaven Saint Master stands no chance there, and even a Saint Ruler would find their deaths at hand there.”

“Who would have known that this would be an object from such a place? It has to be something that some Saint Ruler brought back with him.”

“But what use is there for it? If it’s from Fantasy Star Ocean, then there has to be some sort of use for it.”

　　……

Like the rock that would cause a thousand ripples in a pond, the entire audience had begun to buzz with noise the moment they heard where the item came from. Each one of them were extremely interested in what the auctioneer was holding and begun to take curiosity in the bottle.

Looking seriously at the bottle himself, Jian Chen knew that this was the item that the two spirits had told him about. It was one of the extremely high quality materials, stardust.

“This is stardust! But it’s only a small amount. If we wish to forge the Azulet swords, then we’d need at least several kilogram worth of stardust.” Ziying spoke with disappointment within Jian Chen’s mind.

But those words had done no small amount of shock to Jian Chen who remarked, “What? Forging the Azulet swords would require that much stardust?”

“Yes, the more stardust, the better until we hit the limit itself. The amount of stardust here might be small, but it is good to hear that this Fantasy Star Ocean has plenty more of it. Master, you must go to that place and gather even more of it.” Ziying spoke.

Jian Chen couldn’t help but feel a grimace overcome his face. He hadn’t known how dangerous this Fantasy Star Ocean was before, but just hearing the others talk about it had given him a preliminary idea on the dangers.

A Heaven Saint Master was destined to die if they entered, and even a Saint Ruler would most likely fall to their death. That much was enough to tell him that he wouldn’t even be able to take a step there.

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