Scourge Messenger

Chapter 420 Auction!
"According to the Thieves' Guild, there are no more treasures in the Central Plains that can serve as our mission targets."

The pharmacist looked at Ying Rushi and Shang Xinlei and said, "The three of us represent all the knowledge and experience of the Central Plains. If there are treasures that even we don't know about, they must be hidden very well, and we have no way of knowing about them."

“The four desolate outer regions.” Ying Rushi slowly uttered a single word.

Shang Xinlei objected: "Not necessarily. Although we are all from aristocratic families, we have only been in the mortal circle before. Once we interact with other Foundation Establishment cultivators, we will definitely be able to learn more about things that are unknown to others, and maybe we will find a target that meets the standards of a family of thieves."

The pharmacist nodded in agreement with her view: "Red Serpent is right. Fortunately, we didn't announce our crime this time. Even if we reveal our identity as Foundation Establishment cultivators, no one will associate us with thieves. However, we still need White Fox's help to cover up our information."

“No problem,” Ying said. “I was going to suppress the news of the deaths of two of the three Heavenly Ones of Qi. You should not tell anyone either, otherwise the loss of three Foundation Establishment cultivators might cause trouble in Zhou and Liang.”

"I might be in a bit of trouble here." Shang Xinlei scratched her head: "I've only just reached the third level with my family, and I usually only do second-level dungeons. Now I'm suddenly at the fourth level. If I tell them I didn't have any luck and cultivated up on my own, they'll definitely think I'm treating them like idiots..."

“Besides joining the Foundation Establishment circle, traveling to the outer realms must also be on our agenda. Even if we do find our target in the Central Plains, we definitely won’t be so lucky next time, or the time after that.” The Pharmacist sighed deeply: “Unless we are determined to abandon the Thieves’ Family, we will eventually have to go to the outer realms where Foundation Establishment cultivators are as numerous as clouds and Immortal Lords tread upon dust.”

The four desolate outer regions are both unfamiliar and familiar to the people of the Central Plains. They are unfamiliar because these places are outside the Central Plains, but familiar because they have some connection with the outer regions. The Ying family and the Yaoshi family are both powerful tribal families that crossed the northern border to the Central Plains during the Da Xuan era. The Liang Kingdom and Nan Yue had a prosperous trade, and Shang Xuanwen had traveled to Nan Yue for several years when he was young.

If they weren't from a family of thieves, Yao Shiyuan, Ying Rushi, and even Shang Xinlei would most likely have traveled to the outer realms. The outer realms offer many opportunities and powerful forces, far more capable of stimulating the potential of messengers than the stagnant Central Plains. However, as they become or are about to become Foundation Establishment cultivators, their thoughts change.

As is widely known, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the outer regions far exceeds that in the Central Plains. Even in the "Biography of the Primordial Daoist Venerable," the first chapter describes the Central Plains as invincible, while the next chapter depicts enemies from the outer regions—perhaps this story is false, but the fact that the Central Plains is weaker than the outer regions is something even the author knew.

These four Foundation Establishment cultivators are undoubtedly among the strongest forces in the Central Plains. If no one can decipher the [Epitaph], then the "one of" can even be removed. They can roam freely and oppressively in the Central Plains, and are in a period of rapid growth in strength, so why would they go to the outer regions to seek trouble?

Even if they were to seek opportunities, it would only be something they needed to consider when their strength reached a bottleneck.

Why is it called a comfort zone? Because it's very comfortable inside. For them, the Central Plains is their comfort zone.

"You don't need to worry about this."

Yan Qing toyed with the summoning stone, tilted his head, and his four earrings dangled in the light: "I also happen to have something to send people to the outer realms, so I'll take charge."

"Then it's up to you." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Finding the target was the most urgent matter. They all knew that Yan Qing either didn't speak up, or if he did, he would definitely do it. This was the reputation Yan Qing had built from the very first case. From Anguo Temple to Nevernight City, he had fulfilled every promise he made. They had no reason not to believe him.

Next came the distribution of rewards. The True Martial Foundation Building Pill was given to the pharmacist, the Mountain and River Foundation Building Pill to Shang Xinlei, and the Guild Building Token, the Recruitment Stone, and the Wonderful Brush were all Yan Qing's own.

No one objected, and Ying Rushi, who returned empty-handed, was even a little embarrassed. Besides the Heavenly Fiends and Foundation Establishment Pill, her Heaven-Slaying Sword had been upgraded to a fourth-tier legendary level, and if she hadn't fused with the Glazed Dream Pearl, the mission wouldn't have nearly failed… She felt she had taken too much advantage of them, and more importantly, she wanted to take an even bigger advantage in the future.

I should make it up to them properly in the future; that's what I should think.

Although they were very hungry, they first visited the Thieves' House's new facility: the Thieves' Museum. The museum looked like a single room from the outside, but it was much larger than the entire Thieves' House. At a glance, there were at least thousands of pedestals, but they were all empty, waiting for the thieves to display their wares.

There's a large box near the entrance with a sign and a list on it. The sign reads: "Please put your loot into the collection box. Rewards will be automatically drawn after you put it in. Items not obtained during the quest will not be included in the Thieves' Museum's catalog."

Yan Qing thought for a moment and threw Ying Le's sword, "Sorrowful Silk Sword," into the box. Immediately, a barrier rose from the pedestal not far away, and "Sorrowful Silk Sword" floated in mid-air. At the same time, a ball of orange light appeared on the collection box and was injected into Yan Qing's body.

A line appeared on the list next to the sign: "Sorrowful Silk Sword, reward 1 point of health".

what! ?

As Ying Le's personal sword, the "Sorrowful Silk Sword" is only a fourth-rank rare weapon, but its power is quite good. It is at least better than the Thunder Cutter Knife, and it can easily sell for seven or eight hundred spirit coins.

Which is more important, seven or eight hundred spirit essences or one point of qi and blood?

For Yan Qing, attributes were undoubtedly more important. He didn't lack spiritual energy, but he lacked the means to increase his attributes. As far as he knew, apart from a very few rare and precious treasures, even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't increase their attributes through consuming elixirs or other unorthodox methods.

The appearance of the Thieves' Museum can undoubtedly make up for the gap between him and other perfect Dao Foundations!
He immediately realized: "Give all the spoils to Black Wolf and Red Serpent!"

The pharmacist and the merchant, who hadn't even reached the fourth level of advancement yet, would benefit even more from their attribute increases! They also realized what a great opportunity this was and accepted the kindness without any hesitation.

When Shang Xinlei took out Duan Xiaoxian's Contradiction Sword and Hulü Guang's Twin Greatswords, everyone was stunned. Even more astonishing was that the museum had also collected them, and restored them to their original, un-refined state!
"Luckily I brought it back!" Shang Xinlei said triumphantly, "Otherwise, I would have lost so much of my vital energy and spirit!"

"What did you originally intend to do with it?" the pharmacist asked curiously.

"Just keep it as a trophy," Shang Xinlei said casually. "That way I can brag to my kids about how many powerful enemies I've defeated."

The pharmacist and Ying Rushi's hearts stirred, and their gazes toward the Thieves' Museum underwent a slight change.

However, not all spoils of war increase attributes. Some tokens only increased their realm experience, and Ying Le and the others' defensive tokens were of such high quality that they decided to keep them for themselves. In the end, Yao Shiyuan and Shang Xinlei gained a total of 13 attribute points. Although it wasn't much, the benefits far exceeded those from the spoils of war.

Yan Qing walked to the pedestal of the "Sorrowful Silk Sword" and found a small plaque underneath that read "Obtained by the thief White Fox after beheading Emperor Ying Le".

“Once we fill all these pedestals,” Shang Xinlei said with a longing look, “we should have become the most important people in heaven and earth, right?”

Everyone was getting excited by her. This wasn't a game. The loot filled thousands of pedestals. It was hard to say who the number one big shot in the world was, but the number one serial killer was definitely a given.

“If you get ten loot items at once, you’d still have to do a hundred missions,” the Pharmacist said.

“There’s at least a month between missions, so a hundred missions would take a hundred months, and possibly even longer,” Ying said. “It’ll take at least ten years.” “Ten years from now, will we still be thieves? Will we still be doing missions together?” Shang Xinlei asked.

"Of course, you'll be my cook for the rest of your life." Yan Qing poked her cheek. "I'm hungry."

……

...

Lunch was hot pot. Shang Xinlei had prepared a whole sheep and a cow in Jiangnan City. When the hanging dragon was served, the meat was still jumping around.

After they had almost finished eating, Yan Qing took out the Guild Establishment Token and asked, "The Guild Establishment Token is useless to us. What do you think we should exchange it for?"

"Four-turn legendary flying ring!" Shang Xinlei said without hesitation.

"Let's go with the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends," Ying said. "We should also consider refining our tokens. Refining a token requires at least five specific Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends. With four of us, eight tokens, and forty Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends, it would probably take us several years to collect them all on our own."

“I have the Dragon-Snake Seven Kills, and the White Fox has the Heaven-Slaying Sword, but neither the Red Serpent nor you have fourth-tier weapons yet.” The Pharmacist slowly sipped his wine, a faint blush rising on his cheeks. “Let’s exchange for two fourth-tier rare weapons to improve our combat power.”

“Actually, we can have them all.” Yan Qing had a sudden idea: “First, ask for an exorbitant price, and then slowly lower it until someone is willing to buy it.”

Without hesitation, Yan Qing returned to his room, turned on the game console, handed the guild creation token to Jiang Shi, and then listed it on the Treasure Pavilion.

"Dear messenger, shall we list the guild creation token? The price range is ???, and the tax is 30% of the transaction amount."

"Given its immeasurable value, Jubaoge recommends that you choose either the bidding mode or the auction mode."

Auction Mode: Jubaoge will send invitations to all holders of Treasure Hunting Tokens for the 'Guild Establishment Token Auction'. The auction will be hosted by Jubaoge, and all messengers will enter the auction venue through divine sense.

Everyone can trade freely at the auction. Each transaction requires a minimum tax of 1 True Spirit Jade or 10% of the Spirit Jade transaction amount. 1% of the tax will be your reward for initiating the auction.

Yan Qing blinked and clicked on "Auction Mode".

Please select the auction date.

Yan Qing thought for a moment and decided to give everyone some time to raise the money tomorrow at noon.

Please confirm the invitation list:
Assets: Unlimited / 100,000 True Spirit Jade / 1 Million True Spirit Jade / 10 Million True Spirit Jade;
Levels: Unlimited/First Rebirth/Second Rebirth/Third Rebirth/Fourth Rebirth/Fifth Rebirth/Sixth Rebirth/Seventh Rebirth/Eighth Rebirth/Ninth Rebirth;

Identity: Unrestricted / Team Member / Guild Member / Gang Member;

... "

Apart from the requirement that one's strength be at least at the fourth level, there are no other restrictions. Since the guild creation tokens are being auctioned, the more people who come, the better.

Please select auction mode: Anonymous/Real Person Attendance

Yan Qing pondered for a moment and decided to attend discreetly. He wasn't afraid of attending in person, but others were. Some would definitely give up participating in such an event because of the requirement to attend in person, and concealing his identity would eliminate their worries. Even if these people didn't buy the guild-building tokens, the taxes generated from their transactions at the auction would still earn Yan Qing a considerable amount.

Soon, a black and gold invitation appeared in Jiang Shi's hand.

Invitation to the Auction of the "Founding Order"

Organized by: Jubaoge

Time: Noon, May 10th

"Skill requirement: Fourth job advancement or above"

Attendance method: Concealing identity

Trading method: Free trade

"Effect: To participate in the auction, please activate your invitation at noon on May 10th. Your divine sense will then be linked to the Treasure Pavilion. Each invitation can accommodate a maximum of five people. Before entering, please store your assets in your storage ring or inventory, otherwise they will be unusable at the auction. The Treasure Pavilion warmly welcomes all distinguished guests."

Yan Qing took the black gold invitation and thought it was quite interesting. He took it out to share with the thieving women, and the hall immediately fell silent.

"You mean, as long as this invitation is activated, I can go to the Treasure Pavilion to participate in the auction?" the Pharmacist asked.

"Hmm." Yan Qing took a bite of the hot brisket mixed with sesame sauce: "There should be quite a few people coming, right? I just wonder how many of them know the value of the guild creation token."

“Yan Qing,” Ying Rushi said, “Even if I don’t know the value of the guild creation token, and even if I don’t plan to trade it at the auction, I definitely want to see the world just by going to the legendary Treasure Pavilion.”

Yan Qing was taken aback, realizing that he... might have started an unprecedented event.

(End of this chapter)