Familiar Treasure

Ning'Er saw Linjian's triumphant face as he won the beautiful ring and couldn't help but secretly giggle to herself. She had missed their daily conversations while she was back at her grandfather's village and wondered how his recovery was going. She noticed that he had used black eye patch over his injury, and decided she liked that it gave him a sort of fierce resoluteness which he had lacked when she had first met him.

The auction continued with a series of soul enhancing and body enhancing pills and elixirs but this did not interest Ning'Er because none of Nie Li's previous recipes had made its way to the Alchemist Association yet, therefore the quality of these cultivation resources were still at a very poor level.

She sat up in interest when the next section of the auction involved rare and precious materials for creating equipment but realised that she did not have to bid on any of them in particular because Wang Shu took the initiative to utilise the funds from the Guild of Inscriptionists to purchase those that would be useful to craft weapons and items, which could then be inscribed on.

He spent an astounding ten million demon spirit coins to purchase a whole stock of materials and murmurs spread throughout the auction as they realised once again that the Guild of Inscriptionists had entered into a new era of financial prosperity and influence. With so many new streams of income from their invaluable talismans and inscribed equipment, all the important families in Glory City were clamouring for these products to dramatically increase their clans' battle power.

The auction took a short break as another group of around 20 people walked in. Ning'Er's breath caught in her throat as she saw the influential characters who came in to take their places at their respective VIP booths. They were all from the noble and powerful families of Glory City, either one of their important elders or the clan heads themselves! She even saw Ye Shuo with a small group of representatives from the Snow Wind Family.

These individuals had obviously not been interested in the items in the first half of the auction and only arrived at a specified time when the most precious artifacts would be presented for bidding.

The alluring auctioneer walked back to the podium with even more accentuated sways of her hips than in the beginning, before turning around with a soft, seductive voice that made every individual in the room feel like she were speaking directly into their ears.

"Thank you for your patience. We will now be beginning the second half of the auction and this year we have treasures that we haven't seen the likes of before in this era. For those of you who attended the exhibition hosted by the prestigious Guild of Inscriptionists, you would have realised that they have managed to create some equipment of wonderful abilities."

A display case was brought out with the Unity Sword glimmering within, and its deadly edge could be sensed even from a distance. The heartbeats of the representatives of the important families sped up as they visualised what it could mean for their clans if this artifact could be part of their collection.

"The Unity Sword." She paused. "We had several renowned sword masters test its effects and the synergy that this sword gives with an appropriate user is unbelievable. The initial tests have verified that a sword specialist can bring out at least 30 percent more battle power through the powerful connection that is built with the sword, allowing you to use it as though it were your own arm. This increase in power will only increase as the user grows more familiar with the sword connection and the sensation of integrating it with your nervous system. The bidding will start at…five million demon spirit coins."

30 percent! That was an unprecedented increase in strength! Imagine if a clan's top Black Gold ranked fighter used this item! Who could match up?

The bidding began to start with high intensity as excited eyes hungrily eyed the powerful weapon.

"Six million demon spirit coins!"

"Seven million!"

Very quickly, it went all the way up to twenty million demon spirit coins before the bidding began slowing down. For an item that could have such effects and could become a clan's definitive treasure, this was still an acceptable price but few families had the expendable funds to compete at this level. They still needed to think about the cost of maintaining their daily operations.

It became clear as time went on that the Divine Family was completely set on acquiring this item. Linjian had communicated to his father earlier on and received the permission to do whatever it took to acquire it, seeing as he had already experienced its miraculous effects before. He finally won the final bid at the astounding amount of twenty four million demon spirit coins!

Wang Shu's eyes glittered in joy at the funds that would flow into his guild, but even more so, at the prestige this would bring when news of this auction got out. Twenty four million! That must be a new record for a weapon!

The second item brought out was Ocean's Ripple. Premium defensive items were always greatly desired especially for geniuses of the younger generation who were still too weak but who were expected to surpass the older generation in time to come. Equipment that could save lives was completely priceless!

As the Divine Family had already utilised a large part of their funds on the Unity Sword, the bidding for this item ended up being between the other two major families. In the end, the Sacred Family won the final bid at thirty million demon spirit coins, showing that in the end, defensive items still held more significance than offensive ones. Ning'Er wondered if Ye Shuo knew that Ziyun already possessed this item and merely wanted to drain as much funds from the Sacred Family as possible.

Without the other two major families to compete for the final item, the Snow Wind Family won the bid for Black Death relatively easily at a final price of eighteen million demon spirit coins. Ye Shuo's eyes gleamed in elation because this weapon would be able to be put to best use in the mysterious group that he headed for the City Lord responsible for the more unsavoury aspects of missions, such as assassinations. In the hands of an accomplished assassin, possessing this dagger would be absolutely terrifying!

After the excitement from these three treasures died down, the auctioneer's voice rang out again. "We have a treat for our guests today. The Hong Yue Family has obtained an unrivalled treasure from the depths of the Dark Ruins, which we will also be auctioning today. The level of this auction is definitely a unique one, which will not come around again anytime soon!"

Ning'Er had been to the Dark Ruins in her previous life's adventures with Nie Li. It was a place where only Black Gold ranked experts would dare to even consider going to because it was filled with extremely formidable demon beasts. Going there unprepared would result in inevitable death because, on top of demon beasts, the Dark Ruins were also filled with nightmare demon spirits which specialised in attacking the soul instead of the fleshly body. Unless you had a way to defend against mental and soul attacks, you would be defeated before you even realised what had happened!

Ning'Er sat up in anticipation wondering what would be brought out as the final item of the auction. What could warrant the most important position of the event, with even more significance attached than the three pieces of equipment from the Guild of Inscriptionists? The entire crowd in the room froze in suspense.

"Please be patient for a moment," the auctioneer said with an enigmatic smile. "The incredible treasure is on its way to be unveiled!"

Two beautiful ladies carried a tray as they walked up to the stage with an item on top. The item was covered by a luxurious purple cloth, adding to the impression of the value of the treasure.

"What exactly is that thing?"

"Let us see already…"

"I can't wait!"

At this moment, the auctioneer had a charming smile on her face as she lightly pulled the purple cloth away. A strange jade black pot made from an unknown material was revealed to everyone's eyes. It was sparking and translucent with a gem-like shine on it, and a rich soul aura began spreading around the room.

Ning'Er was completely stunned and speechless as she looked upon this item. Even if no one in the room may have known its uses, she had seen Nie Li use it many times. He had even explained it to her and allowed her to test it out herself before. She had never bothered to ask him where he got it because it hadn't come up in discussion but now she realised where he had chanced upon it.

The Nightmare Demon Pot!

She anxiously waited for the final auction to start. She needed to get this item no matter the cost! She impatiently listened to the auctioneer's next words.

"The pot radiates an aura that strengthens demon spirits and if someone trains a demon spirit around it, it can greatly strengthen the aura of the demon spirits. We all know that the strongest experts in Glory City are demon spiritualists. How much of an advantage would your clan have if you could ensure that your demon spirits were more powerful than others?"

She left that question hanging in the air for awhile. The anticipation continued to grow in the room. A weapon could increase one warrior's battle power but this item could conceivably increase the strength of a clan as a whole!

"The starting bid for this final item is twenty million demon spirits!"

The Hong Yue Family's Patriarch obviously didn't know the Nightmare Demon Pot's true usage and therefore the bidding only started at this price. However, pricing it at this level effectively only allowed the three major families or the six other primary noble families a chance at obtaining it, or the richest organisations involved in the marketplaces of Glory City.

The nine families began their bidding although it did not proceed at a fast, intense pace because of the incredible sums of demon spirit coins that the bids were progressing to.

"Thirty million demon spirit coins!"

"Thirty five million!"

"Forty million!"

As the bids increased, Ning'Er realised that she would draw too much attention to herself to bid for the Winged Dragon Family. She quickly sent a servant down to Wang Shu with an urgent note reading, 'Wang Shu, this is Ning'Er. I need to obtain this item no matter what but I can't draw so much attention to myself. Please help me win the bid. In addition to my share of the items we sold just now, I have over 140 million demon spirit coins. You can use it all up if needed!"

The Guild of Inscriptions quickly entered into the bidding war.

"Sixty million demon spirit coins." Wang Shu exclaimed proudly, with his chin lifted high.

The crowd was stunned at the turn of events.

"He suddenly raised it by such a big amount. This Guild of Inscriptions is really letting everyone know that they're ready to dominate!"

"What a crazy spending power…but why does Wang Shu want something to do with demon spirits when his guild doesn't specialise in this area?"

Until this point, the latest bid had been from the largest seller of demon spirits in Glory City. Of course it made sense for this organisation to be able to upgrade their products with the aura of the mysterious pot. But at sixty million demon spirit coins, the owner of this organisation sat back in obvious anger, unwilling to continue the bidding.

Just when everyone expected Wang Shu to win the bid, a sagely voice spoke up from the booth of the Sacred Family.

"Seventy million demon spirit coins."

Everyone looked up to see a man in a grey robe, with his face completely covered by the hood.

"Eighty million!" Wang Shu countered.

"Ninety million," came the calm voice from the man.

This continued until the man eventually gave up at hearing Wang Shu's final bid at one hundred and twenty million demon spirit coins! Ning'Er had won the invaluable artifact which would definitely help her raise her strength and those around her dramatically in the future.

She looked up towards the Sacred Family's booth in suspicion, knowing that this family should not have this level of funds to use on an item of which they wouldn't have understood its uses. She wondered if the mysterious man in the grey robe was from the Dark Guild, and this intuition only continued to grow stronger and more worrying as she pondered it in her mind.