Scourge Messenger

Chapter 426 Let's offer tribute!
Those who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage in the hall were so envious of this scene that they almost cried.

The Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiends, the masters are proficient in them, and even the Foundation Establishment Pills will be provided unconditionally!

Even a dog could be trained to the Foundation Establishment stage!

Everyone who wants to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage has to go through a lot of hardship. How come you can live a peaceful life without any effort? Even a descendant of an immortal lord would probably only receive this kind of treatment.

"stop."

The emcee raised her hand, and the entire auction hall fell silent instantly. It wasn't that she had such a strong appeal, but rather that Jubaoge had silenced everyone.

"It seems you are indeed very sincere," the emcee said calmly. "Don't worry, you will soon have your chance to show your sincerity. Now, let's officially begin the auction."

"The first step is registering the auction items."

Five huge curtains descended on either side of the hall, with projected text on them—lists of orders awaiting trade.

"In addition to the Guild Establishment Token, this auction will also feature nine other high-value items, the value of which will be determined by the Treasure Pavilion. If any guests have items they wish to auction, please upload your listings within one minute. Please note that all transactions are subject to a tax of one True Spirit Jade or 10% of the Spirit Jade transaction amount."

“Even if your listing is not selected as one of the nine items, it will still be valid. Interested buyers can simply hold down the token and say the word to complete the transaction; if they want to discuss the details of the transaction, they can also communicate with the seller through the token.”

"The countdown has begun. The selection of items will officially begin in sixty seconds. You may speak now."

One minute, sixty seconds... Many people's hearts skipped a beat. The time units used by the emcee were very unfamiliar. This might be a good clue.

"Eternal Heaven, Imperial Court, Fire Worship Cult, Dragon Poetry Clan, I have fully understood your sincerity. Now I give you a chance to demonstrate it." The master of ceremonies pressed the token, and countless orders appeared in the curtain with a clatter: "I just registered one hundred orders, all of which are using my own [Wish Coupons] to exchange for the resources I currently need."

"Now, you can sponsor me and fulfill my wish," the master of ceremonies said. "Of course, I won't take your things for nothing. The faction that sponsors me the most before the end of this auction, I promise to personally visit you within a month and stay at your headquarters for a while to help you sell your resources."

"As for other forces that don't provide enough funding, your funding won't be wasted, but you'll have to wait until my next trip around the world to visit them."

The auction hall fell silent as everyone shared the same thought: Could she be lying?
Even if she achieves Foundation Establishment after this auction, even if she immediately reaches the sixth level, all the major powers still have seventh-level Immortal Lords stationed there, and not just one or two. Staying in someone else's stronghold for a year is practically walking into a trap. And to travel the world for another year, even stepping outside the stronghold would be considered a sign of an incompetent Immortal Lord.

However, when they looked at the list of names on the curtain, everyone from fourth to seventh rank couldn't hold back anymore.

The orders from one to ten all require '500 [Wish Coupons]' to exchange for 'a little bit of gold';
The orders placed between the eleventh and twentieth tiers all require 'one hundred [Wish Tickets]' to exchange for 'sixth-tier legendary tokens';
The orders placed between the 21st and 30th are all for exchanging '70 [Wish Tickets]' for '5th Reincarnation Legendary Tokens';
……

Orders placed between the 71st and 80th require two [Wish Coupons] to be exchanged for a [Foundation Building Pill].
Orders placed from level 81 to 90 all require 'one Wish Coupon' to exchange for '10,000 True Spirit Jade'.

For orders between 91 and 100, each order is exchanged for 'ten Heavenly Gang or Earthly Fiend' tokens' using 'one Wish Coupon'.

Dean Kagetsu of the Imperial Courtyard twitched at the corner of his mouth.

The mountain lord of Changshengtian trembled.

Tong Moli of the Zoroastrian sect sighed.

The Golden Crow Immortal Lord of the Dragon Poetry Clan was both amused and exasperated.

They're powerful figures, not suckling pigs. What's the difference between this kind of order and slaughtering them? Oh, there is a difference, after all, pigs can at least squeal a couple of times when they're being slaughtered, while they have to greet you with smiles even when they're bleeding profusely!

But they couldn't just not buy anything; they had to get some "wish coupons." Even though they thought there was a high chance the other party wouldn't keep their promise, what if they were lucky? What if the other party was really that naive? If they missed this opportunity, they'd regret it for the rest of their lives.

Moreover, you can't buy too little. The other party must be quite vengeful to come up with such a greedy idea. The forces that donate the least will definitely be blacklisted by her, just like Whale Scatterers!
The Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Dong Shou Zhenren, were all dumbfounded as they watched this scene.

Having a treasure pavilion is truly remarkable.

Without contributing anything, powerful organizations rushed to throw money at them, even worrying that they wouldn't be as generous as others.

Damn, I'm so envious!

In an inconspicuous corner of the hall, the four members of the Thieves' House silently watched this scene. They didn't speak a word, because they feared their conversation would be overheard; even if they had a lot to say, they could only express it through physical gestures. Indeed, Yan Qing and the other three were in the audience. On stage, serving as the auctioneer, was his personal merchant, Jiang Shi. Before the auction, Yan Qing had shared the Four Symbols of Natural Disasters with Jiang Shi, establishing a mental connection and thus remotely controlling her actions to some extent.

Their real bodies were in Shang Xinlei's room at the Thief's House, sitting on the bed and logging into the Treasure Pavilion together.

From the moment Jiang Shi clashed with Jing Sanren, Shang Xinlei on the left couldn't help but hug Yan Qing's hand, her little bottom pressed tightly against Yan Qing's thigh; when Jiang Shi was invited by the four major forces, Yao Shiyuan excitedly leaned towards Yan Qing, her breasts squeezing against his arm, creating a very elastic curve; when Jiang Shi announced one hundred [Wish Orders], Ying Rushi behind him gasped, lightly stepping on Yan Qing's bottom with her bare feet, otherwise she couldn't vent her excited feelings.

The Northern Eternal Heaven, the Eastern Sea Imperial Court, the Southern Yue Fire Worship Cult, and the Western Xia Dragon Poetry—these four major forces are undoubtedly behemoths that are unmatched by them. They have countless Foundation Establishment cultivators and Immortal Lords in charge. If it weren't for the mortal barrier in the Central Plains, it would have long become a chaotic battleground for the four major forces!
Yet these four forces, which could easily crush them, are now willingly sending them money, tokens, and gifts from the Heavenly and Earthly Fiends!
The thieving women were quite audacious and worldly-wise, but what they were witnessing was still far beyond their comprehension. They had seen this kind of opportunistic behavior before, but it was usually the superiors who bullied the inferiors, the strong taking advantage of their position to squeeze every last drop of value from the weak. They had never seen the weak turn the tables and exploit the strong.
But Yan Qing not only dared to do it, he succeeded!

A snake swallows an elephant, a fish swallows a whale!
And this is just the foreplay; they haven't even started auctioning the guild-building token yet!

Watching the orders being completed one by one on the curtain, Shang Xinlei pinched Yan Qing's thigh hard, Yao Shiyuan's body was so limp she almost clung to him, and Ying Rushi's toes were practically crawling up to Yan Qing's back. This experience of fooling the strong was just too exciting; they felt like they were being electrocuted, trembling from their toes to the tips of their hair, but they couldn't speak, so they could only torment Yan Qing.

Although being surrounded by beautiful girls felt great, Yan Qing was completely focused on directing Jiang Shi and dared not relax for a moment.

"I'll be there in one minute."

Jiang Shi raised his hand, and the hall fell silent again. "Jubaoge has selected nine other items for auction, listed from lowest to highest value. We will now auction the first treasure."

A projection of an orange-flaming longsword appeared on the stage. "The fifth-rank legendary token, the Heaven-Asking Blade, starts at 100,000 True Spirit Jade and a fifth-rank rare defensive token. Taxes and fees are to be borne by the buyer."

"Wei Que!!" someone suddenly roared from the crowd, "So you really are here! Do you dare stand in front of me?! How dare you even sell this token!"

"Why wouldn't I dare? These are my spoils of war, why can't I sell them?"

The man glared angrily: "We kindly invited you to explore the secret realm together, but when you saw the legendary item in the treasure chest, you harbored malicious intentions and betrayed my brother. How could you sell such stolen goods?"

"You brothers were the ones who tried to harm me, but I saw through their scheme and killed them instead. How dare you accuse me of being the guilty party?"

"you--"

"Shut up," Jiang Shi said calmly.

The two who were arguing were speechless for a moment. Jiang Shi continued, "The auction will begin. Those who are interested can enter their bids using their tokens, and I will read them out."

"One hundred and thirty thousand."

"155,000."

The price of this fifth-tier legendary item quickly rose to 300,000 spirit jades. The seller, Wei Que, was overjoyed even though he couldn't speak. He hadn't expected the price to go so high before he sold it. In the end, the item was sold for 323,000 true spirit jades plus a rare defensive token.

"The second item, a legendary five-turn item..."

Just then, a young Foundation Establishment cultivator in the crowd paused slightly, because the token indicated that his order, "[Recruit Gathering Stones in exchange for 10,000 True Spirit Jade]", had been completed.

Someone actually bought this stone?
This stone was dropped from a treasure chest in a secret realm by his grandfather, who was a young Foundation Establishment cultivator. Three generations of people had studied it for hundreds of years without figuring out its properties. If it weren't indestructible, he would have even suspected that his grandfather had tricked him. He had just put the stone up there on a whim and never expected it to be bought.

He set the price at 10,000 True Spirit Jade, hoping for a one in ten thousand chance of finding a curious sucker. He had already planned that if anyone bargained, he would agree immediately if the price exceeded 1,000 True Spirit Jade to avoid the other party going back on their word.

But the other party actually bought it for 10,000 True Spirit Jade without even blinking?
Could it be that I sold it too cheaply? Does this stone hold a secret I don't know about?

Furthermore, why does Jubaoge call this stone the "Stone of Gathering and Uniting"?
He should have been happy to have ripped off a stranger, but instead, he felt a deep sense of loss. His family had produced three Foundation Establishment cultivators in five hundred years, and had conquered fourth-tier secret realms thousands of times, yet they had only obtained this kind of stone once. It was incredibly rare, perhaps even on par with a guild-establishment token… and yet he had sold it like that!
If someone in real life offered him 10,000 True Spirit Jade to buy this stone, he definitely wouldn't sell it. He would either offer 100,000 to test the waters or ask the other party to reveal the secret of the stone. After all, he could earn back 10,000 True Spirit Jade in a year, so why would he sell his opportunity for such a small amount of money?
But now he can't even back out, because he doesn't even know who the buyer is!

It's something to be happy about when you earn money yourself, but the thought that a stranger could get the same opportunity to become rich and successful at such a low price is really heartbreaking.

On the other hand, Yan Qing never expected that she could find a bargain on this trip.

The second Recruitment Stone is in hand!
(End of this chapter)