Chapter 37:
Spirit Discipline
EARLIER, when he’d purchased the Xuanyuan Iron and luminous stones, he’d spent a total of nineteen thousand high-grade spiritual stones. Then, he’d spent another six thousand on the set of gems. That was already half of the fifty thousand his master had given him gone.
Holding the Ninesouls Crystal in his hand, though, Mo Tianliao didn’t regret his bid. An ordinary high-quality crystal like the Rubysmelt Crystal, which could be used to craft treasure and spiritual artifacts, cost around one to two hundred high-grade spiritual stones. A set of seven selling for two thousand was considered expensive, and he must have looked like a fool to the others for paying six thousand for it. But they weren’t aware that this Ninesouls Crystal was even more precious than the Meteorfall Stone.
Soul artifacts were items that could contain either ordinary souls or divine souls. The Souleater Banner that the Kugu Patriarch had begged him to craft was one such soul artifact. A Ninesouls Crystal the size of a fingernail could hold tens of thousands of souls, and it could be forged into a Souleater Banner—a partially celestial artifact. With this fist-sized Ninesouls Crystal, he could even craft something to nurture the divine soul.
“A Meteorfall Stone!” someone below exclaimed in recognition.
Meteorfall Stone was a top-tier crafting material. It had no specific elemental attribute, so spiritual treasures crafted with it could be used by anyone with no issue whatsoever. More importantly, it could accommodate an almost limitless amount of personal power.
Master cultivators above the soul transformation stages rarely used spiritual artifacts because ordinary spiritual artifacts couldn’t withstand their immense spiritual energy. Even if they struck with full force, the spiritual power unleashed would be halved, so they might as well deal a direct blow themselves.
“Looks like our fellow cultivator here has recognized it.” The auctioneer stood behind the tray to give the audience a clearer look. “This Meteorfall Stone can forge superior-grade spiritual artifacts and even semi-celestial artifacts. It is a top-tier artifact-forging material suitable for soul transformation masters. There aren’t many of them in existence in Taixuan. They are truly rare and hard to come by.”
Unlike his earlier fast-paced speech meant to whip up excitement among the crowd, his voice this time was slow and unhurried, as if no amount of praise could capture just how precious this Meteorfall Stone was.
It wasn’t just artificers seeking forging materials. If a cultivator wanted to ask a high-level artificer to craft a spiritual treasure for them, offering them rare materials was far more effective than giving them spiritual stones. After all, even the most skilled artificers couldn’t craft an artifact without quality materials, no matter how much you paid them.
“The opening bid is twenty thousand high-grade spiritual stones!” The auctioneer went straight to the starting bid without further ado.
None of the foundation establishment cultivators in the hall spoke up. Twenty thousand high-grade spiritual stones equaled two million low-grade spiritual stones. Even if they came from a privileged background, this was far beyond their means.
That left only the silent bids through the cultivators’ divine senses in the higher floors.
Mo Tianliao stared at the crystal orb as he listened to the auctioneer’s announcements of the bids, which quickly soared to twenty-three thousand before tapering off to an increment of a hundred at a time. Even so, the bids kept coming in. Mo Tianliao looked at the pitiful twenty-five thousand left in his inventory pouch and broke into a sweat. He could only hope there were no wealthy bidders among the audience today.
But apparently, he was out of luck. Just as Mo Tianliao offered twenty-four thousand nine hundred, someone countered with twenty-six thousand.
“Shizun…” Left with no choice, Mo Tianliao turned to his cat for money.
“You were the one who asked for fifty thousand.” Qingtong looked at him calmly and sipped his tea. He had always disapproved of Mo Tianliao’s weakness in the face of quality material. He’d often been so obsessed with crafting artifacts that he’d forgotten to grill fish for him, instead leaving the job to those ugly hags in his demon palace. Truly unforgivable!
“But this was really unexpected…” Mo Tianliao shamelessly tugged on his master’s sleeve.
Qingtong pulled his sleeve away. “No money,” he said coldly.
Mo Tianliao sighed. Seeing his master closing his eyes and ignoring him, Mo Tianliao had to reluctantly withdraw his hand from the bidding orb. He’d have no choice but to substitute it with other materials. He hoped nothing would go wrong. Thinking about what lay ahead made his head ache.
The auctioneer continued to call out the bids. “Twenty-eight thousand and three hundred high-grade spiritual stones!”
Menghu couldn’t bear seeing his junior looking so pitiful. He moved over to him. “I still have two thousand five hundred left. Would that be enough?”
Mo Tianliao looked up at his simple and honest senior. He felt like patting him on the head.
“Thirty thousand!” the auctioneer suddenly shouted. “A senior has bid thirty thousand high-grade spiritual stones. Does anyone wish to make a higher offer?”
“Thirty thousand, going twice!”
“Thirty thousand, sold!”
Mo Tianliao watched helplessly and regretfully as the glittering Meteorfall Stone was placed in a dark jade box and removed from the stage. Even in his previous life, a Meteorfall Stone wasn’t something he could just buy whenever he wanted.
“Senior, your item is here,” the attendant outside the door said. Menghu jumped up to open the door.
Stunned, Mo Tianliao turned to look at his master, who was idly tracing the crystal orb with those slender, fair fingers of his, leaving a scratch across the smooth surface from one protruding claw. Menghu grinned as he carried the dark jade box in and held it out to their master.
Without even looking at it, Qingtong tossed over an inventory pouch.
The attendant quickly did a count and broke into a sweat. “Uh, there are only five thousand high-grade spiritual stones here.”
With a slight lift of his fine-boned chin, Qingtong pointed at the still-stunned Mo Tianliao. Mo Tianliao snapped out of his daze and quickly took out his twenty-five thousand to pay the balance.
Holding the dark jade box with both hands, Mo Tianliao blinked. Slowly, his lips spread into a wide grin. “Sh-Shizun…” He scooted over, only for that jade-like hand to shove his face away.
Mo Tianliao played along and plopped down on the floor, happily examining the Meteorfall Stone in the box. It was even larger than he’d expected; he could make many artifacts with this.
The second-to-last treasure was a superior-grade spiritual artifact. Mo Tianliao and Qingtong weren’t all that interested in it; Menghu seemed keen, but he was unfortunately low on cash, so he turned back into a tiger to warm his master’s feet. Mo Tianliao was planning to leave early when a commotion broke out in the hall.
Iron chains clattered as a beautiful girl was led onto the stage—the final treasure. Her limbs were shackled, and she stumbled unsteadily as if she had been drugged with something to suppress her cultivation.
The foundation establishment cultivators in the hall began buzzing with discussion. Someone indignantly sprang to his feet and shouted, “We’re orthodox cultivators here. How can we trade vessels like unorthodox cultivators do?!”
“Exactly!” The crowd felt a pang of sympathy on seeing the frail girl’s despairing expression.
“Please calm down, ladies and gentlemen. The Six Harmonies Auction House would never sell vessels,” the unfazed auctioneer said. “This girl isn’t meant for dual cultivation practice.”
His words piqued the audience’s curiosity, and the shouting dropped to a murmur as the auctioneer took his time taking out an object that looked like an unremarkable ox-horn bugle.
The Spirit-Disciplining Horn! Mo Tianliao’s pupils contracted. Before he could react, the auctioneer blew the horn. Rather than a sound, this horn emitted a sort of soul force that could interfere with the divine soul. It had little effect on cultivators with weak divine souls, but it was a different story for spirit beasts whose divine souls were a hundred times more sensitive than humans’. Cultivators usually used it to discipline disobedient soul beasts that had taken on human form.
The girl on the stage screamed and fell to her knees, instantly transforming into a white fox.
The entire hall went wild—this was an evolved spirit beast! A legendary spirit beast that had cultivated into human form by itself!
Too preoccupied to bother with what was happening, Mo Tianliao sprang to the couch and caught a pale-looking Qingtong in his arms. Menghu shifted back to human form and ran over, rubbing his throbbing temples. “Let’s get out of here now.”
The little fox had probably only evolved recently, so she couldn’t withstand the effect of the horn. While Menghu felt uncomfortable, he could still endure it. Qingtong, however, was different.
“Urgh…” Qingtong leaned against Mo Tianliao’s chest, his lips pursed into a thin line, his body trembling uncontrollably. The assault to his already damaged divine soul felt exactly like a wound being ripped open. The pain was excruciating. “Quick… Go now… I…can’t hold on much…longer…”
Mo Tianliao scooped his master up wordlessly and left the room.
“Leaving already?” The attendant outside the door was surprised. An evolved spirit beast was so incredibly precious and valuable that the auction house had planned to hold off on selling it if they couldn’t receive a satisfactory bid. This sole guest on the fourth floor was the most likely one to be able to afford it. How could they let them leave now?
“You blind fool!” Mo Tianliao hissed, carrying the apparently sleeping man in his arms. “We’re both dead meat if you wake my master up!”
The attendant immediately shut up.
With steady steps, Mo Tianliao walked out of the auction house, summoned his flying sword, and instantly departed.
✦ ✦ ✦
MINI EXTRA
Woodworker: Does it hurt?
Shizun: Yeah, do you have a way to alleviate it?
Woodworker: Pain, pain, go away~ Come again another day~
Shizun: Scram!