Chapter 328

Chapter 328: Blazing Dragon Cannon

The next day, Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun met to attend the auction together. Upon seeing Fang Lie, Mo Lanyun’s face turned red, showing a shy expression.

Fang Lie was entirely confused and did not understand what was going on with Mo Lanyun.

So, they entered the auction venue amidst a rather ambiguous atmosphere.

This auction was arranged on a beautiful lake, surrounded by dozens of giant lotus leaves encircling a beautiful lotus flower platform.

Each lotus leaf was about ten feet wide, allocated to the major powers present. Each sect could have only one leaf, representing their identity.

The lotus flower, measuring a hundred feet square and bearing a seed pod, served as the display platform for the auction.

Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun arrived at the platform belonging to the Mo Sect, which was already set up with jade tables, chairs, and exquisite snacks and immortal fruits, enough for ten people. The other leaves did not have as many refreshments, clearly arranged to accommodate Fang Lie’s numerous companions.

Of course, others could also bring more people if they wanted, as long as they did not exceed the carrying capacity of one lotus leaf.

Not many forces qualified to have a lotus leaf here, mainly comprising the eight righteous sects, the ten demonic sects, the Overseas Three Immortal Mountains, and several neutral Fang Sects.

To prevent conflict between good and evil, the Fang Sect people were positioned on both sides, reflecting the strong desire of the Penglai Sword Sect for harmony and prosperity.

No one questioned this arrangement; after all, they were here to buy things, not to fight. Moreover, during the bidding, they could still cause trouble for each other, thus sparking some conflicts.

As time passed, nearly everyone had arrived. Scanning the entire venue, only three lotus leaves remained unattended, clearly indicating their owners could not attend.

Initially, Fang Lie was unaware of what was happening, but he soon noticed that the other attendees were looking at him with strange gazes, particularly at the empty lotus leaves, making him feel something was off.

Fang Lie then asked Mi Qing, "What’s going on? Why do these scoundrels look at me oddly? It seems to be related to those three vacant spots?"

"Young Master, don’t you know? Those three vacant spots were made because of you!" Mi Qing replied with an unusual expression, "You didn’t forget so soon, did you?"

"Made by me?" Fang Lie was taken aback but soon realized, astonished, "Could it be that they are the positions for East Kunlun, West Kunlun, and the White Bone Sect?"

"Absolutely!" Mi Qing laughed, "True Young Master, Bailongzi died on the spot, and Young Taoist Ming Yue got into big trouble and was sent back to his sect for trial; all thanks to you, three spots opened up!"

"Hehe~" Fang Lie awkwardly smiled and fell silent.

He did not want to cause trouble for others, but those fools found their own demise, which frustrated him. He felt like the real victim; why did he seem like the bully in everyone else’s eyes?

Fang Lie felt quite disheartened, while Mo Lanyun, hearing this, couldn’t stop giggling, leaving Fang Lie even more speechless.

Just then, Immortal Fire Cloud, who was in charge of the Grand Banquet by the Sea and Sky, appeared. He approached the lotus seed pod and cheerfully said, "Everyone, first of all, I represent the Penglai Sword Sect in welcoming you all for gracing this grand banquet. Although there were some minor hiccups in the past few days, overall, it’s still quite good, right?"

Saying this, he playfully glanced at Fang Lie.

"Haha!" The crowd instantly got the joke and burst into laughter.

Fang Lie rolled his eyes in annoyance and chose not to respond further.

Immortal Fire Cloud, not minding, waved his hand to quiet everyone and then said with a smile, "Alright, everyone isn’t here to see this old man, so let’s skip the small talk and officially start the auction. First up is our opening item, the Penglai Immortal Liquid!"

With that, Immortal Fire Cloud took out a jade bottle and announced, "As usual, the starting bid is ten thousand small spirit pearls!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Lie scoffed, internally cursing, ‘He diluted it with a thousand times more water and still sells it at a high price. That’s outrageous!’

However, while Fang Lie understood the truth, the others were either unaware or didn’t care, still excitedly calling out prices.

"Fifteen thousand!"

"Twenty thousand!"

"Thirty thousand~"

"Fifty thousand~"

Soon, a fool shouted for one hundred thousand small spirit pearls. It was only at this point that the bidding voice became sparse, but the remaining people were all truly strong individuals, almost all eager to win their bids.

After a fierce competition, it was finally claimed by a member of the demonic sect for one hundred eighty thousand small spirit pearls.

Fang Lie couldn’t help but exclaim, "Have these people gone mad? It’s just a diluted broken toy, is it really worth this craziness?"

"Hehe~" Mo Lanyun smiled and explained, "Senior brother, you may not know, the spiritual energy from heaven and earth and spirit pills that enhance divine sense are extremely rare, and the Penglai Immortal Liquid is the best among them, with almost no side effects. Plus, it can only be bought here, so it’s normal for the price to be a bit high."

"That’s nonsense; clearly, you and I both got it! This stuff isn’t that precious!" Fang Lie retorted.

"Your acquisition was an accident. Since the Penglai Sword Sect started hosting the Grand Banquet by the Sea and Sky, it’s rare to see them harm guests in a thousand years. One, they are in the wrong, and two, they wanted to appease senior brother and protect their reputation, so they would make such an effort," Mo Lanyun laughed. "As for me, my grandfather personally intervened, trading valuable items that the Penglai Sword Sect desperately needed to get the original Penglai Immortal Liquid. It required a lot of favors from several semi-immortals, so it’s truly hard-earned!"

"I see~" Fang Lie nodded and then smiled. "Anyway, this is just a marketing tactic from the Penglai Sword Sect. I can only say that these unscrupulous merchants are too cunning!"

"I also feel a bit of a loss, but there’s nothing we can do. After all, this item is only available from the Penglai Sword Sect!" Mo Lanyun said helplessly. "This is the advantage of a monopoly!"

Fang Lie nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Immortal Fire Cloud had completed the handover and officially began the auction for the next treasure.

He slowly took out a jade box and pulled out a large blue flower. The moment this item appeared, everyone felt a cool breeze coming towards them.

"This is at least a three-thousand-year medicinal potency Clear Heart Flower!" a well-informed Daoist immediately exclaimed.

"Hehe, this Dao friend has good eyesight!" Immortal Fire Cloud laughed. "This is one of the main materials for refining Ice Heart Pills. That item can help cultivators withstand heart demons during tribulations. I won’t elaborate on its importance, starting price is one hundred thousand small spirit pearls!"

After reaching the ninth transformation of the Nascent Soul, a cultivator must endure the three major tribulations of wind, fire, and thunder, with each tribulation being a test. Each not only includes wind, fire, and thunder but also intertwines with heart demons. The heart demons are the most terrifying, mysterious, and difficult to defend against.

Out of ten cultivators who died during tribulations, more than eight were killed by heart demons. However, having an Ice Heart Pill could suppress the heart demons’ outbreak by more than half, greatly increasing the chances of surviving the tribulation.

Yet, although the Clear Heart Flower is common, the kind that can be used to refine high-level Ice Heart Pills requires at least ten thousand years of perfect timing to grow. Such high-grade Clear Heart Flowers are incredibly rare.

Therefore, this item is very attractive to those about to face the Fire Tribulation, and once it appears, it will immediately trigger a bidding war.

And indeed, as things developed, as soon as Immortal Fire Cloud finished speaking, a crowd began to crazily shout out bids. In just a few breaths, the price skyrocketed to five hundred thousand small spirit pearls.

Even Mo Lanyun was eager to try, seizing a moment of quiet to shout out a hefty bid, although she was quickly surpassed, she didn’t feel discouraged at all; instead, she was full of fighting spirit and wanted to continue competing.

But Fang Lie pulled her back and transmitted, "Stop competing; this thing is just trash to me. Later, senior brother will give you a bottle of Clear Heart Flower spirit liquid, which is guaranteed to be no less potent than that item!"

Upon hearing this, Mo Lanyun was instantly overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Thank you, senior brother! I almost forgot. Such commonly found spirit herbs are nothing to you. With Nirvana fire as inherited true fire, it’s really too convenient. I envy you so much!"

"Tch~" Fang Lie scoffed, curling his lip. "With just this little ability, if it comes to a real fight, it won’t hold up. Last time you simply slapped me, and I ended up as clear water; I should be the one envying you!"

"Ah~" Mo Lanyun’s face turned red at his words, embarrassed as she said, "Last time, that was just an accident! Senior brother don’t take it to heart."

"Hehe, don’t worry, I’m not that petty~" Fang Lie smiled lightly, recalling the flirtatious scene from that day, and unthinkingly said, "Actually, when you think about it, I still profited!"

Mo Lanyun’s face flushed intensely, and she stamped her foot in anger, saying, "Senior brother is so bad!"

To Aunt Qing and the others, this sounded undeniably like a couple flirting with each other.

Thus, a few of them looked at them with strange eyes, making both Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun feel quite embarrassed.

Fortunately, at that moment, the Clear Heart Flower had been sold out. After the handover, Immortal Fire Cloud’s expression suddenly became exceptionally serious. He then said in a deep voice, "Everyone, the next treasure has an extraordinary origin. It is the life-bound treasure of a young genius from over a decade ago. After he died, this item went missing, but today, it has reappeared. I am honored to introduce it to everyone—the Blazing Dragon Cannon!"

With that, Immortal Fire Cloud waved his hand, and a dragon-headed Mechanical Cannon, one zhang long and one foot thick, appeared before the crowd.

The entire cannon was fire-red, with a fierce dragon head at the front and a dragon tail with a handle at the back. The cannon barrel was adorned with triangular dragon scales, and four dragon claws extended out, forming the cannon’s base.

With its emergence, a powerful aura of might and invincibility filled the air, affecting everyone around!

At the first sight of this cannon, tears filled Fang Lie’s fierce eyes instantly!

This cannon was Fang Lie’s father, Fang Gang’s life-bound treasure, and also a family heirloom of the Fang Family, which had gone missing when Fang Gang died in battle.