The Desolate Era (Web Novel)

Right at this moment, someone suddenly knocked at the door. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, might I come in?”

“Eh?” Yu Qi frowned. This voice was quite familiar.

The door swung open.

A short, chubby old man walked in, also dressed in violet. The man looked towards Ning and bowed. “Hawkart greets you, fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” He smiled casually towards Yu Qi. “Yu Qi, you came quite quickly.”

“Fellow Daoist Hawkart, you actually discovered fellow Daoist Ji Ning so quickly. I’m quite surprised.” Yu Qi let out a cold snort. Both of them were responsible for dealing in the treasure trade. Everyone loved treasures, especially rare ones. When absolutely unique, one-of-a-kind treasures were discovered, the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain would go and collect them and offer them only to the imperial clan, not selling them to outsiders. That was why some of the major clans and sects, in order to avoid certain precious treasures from being completely monopolized by the imperial clan, would also collect many treasures and keep them internally.

For example, the Northmont clan of Stillwater had the ‘Carefree Caverns’, which was secretly collecting precious items as well. And in turn, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain had a number of people who were responsible for befriending experts and acquiring treasures from them.

“I didn’t ‘discover’ fellow Daoist Ji Ning; it was he who declared his interest in selling treasures, which is why I learned of this,” the violet-robed elder laughed.

Yu Qi was startled.

Ning, seated there, said calmly, “I came to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain this time for the purpose of selling treasures. Thus, I had already instructed the attendant to make it known. I imagine that fellow Daoist Hawkart was notified by the attendant.”

Yu Qi now understood. The short elder said proactively, “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, if you sell your treasures to me, I will definitely give you a price that satisfies you.”

“I don’t really care who I sell them to. To me, this is but a small matter.” Ning looked at the two. After entering into a feud with the Youngflame clan, Ning’s Dao-heart had improved considerably, and the two in front of him weren’t able to entice him at all. “I know quite well that the most common treasures are always purchased at 60% of actual value by the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.”

Yu Qi and the short elder both nodded.

“Come, let’s go to a larger location.” Ning rose to his feet. “As for who I will sell the treasures to, we can discuss that in a bit.”

“This way, please.” “After you.” Yu Qi and the short elder both responded with warmth.

Moments later, they arrived within a large garden, where only maidservants were present.

“All of you, leave.”

Yu Qi and the short elder were both dressed in violet robes. Upon their entrance, the maidservants immediately left obediently.

“Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, how about this garden? Large enough?” Yu Qi glanced at the surrounding area. “Generally speaking, when Loose Immortals trade with us, they’ll come to this type of location.”

Ning swept the area with his gaze. In the center of the garden, there was a gazebo, next to which was nearly a three hundred meter region of polished stone, surrounded by precious flowers of all types.

“It’ll work.” Ning nodded, then waved his hand. Instantly, an awe-inspiringly massive pile of magic treasures appeared on the ground. There were more than a hundred thousand Mortal-ranked, ten thousand Earth-ranked, and a hundred-plus Heaven-ranked. “First calculate as to roughly how much these treasures are worth.”

“Whoah.”

Yu Qi and the short elder both took deep breaths. This many treasures?

“This is just a portion,” Ning said calmly. “I’ll sell them to whoever gives me the best price. Oh, right; if I recall correctly, as long as the value of a business deal reaches two hundred and fifty thousand kilograms of liquefied elemental essence, one can receive a ‘Xia’ insignia, right?”

“Right.” Yu Qi and the short elder didn’t hesitate at all. “Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, don’t worry at all; we will definitely give you a ‘Xia’ insignia.” Just by a quick visual appraisal, they could tell that the treasures in front of them definitely exceeded the necessary value.

Ning, Uncle White, and Little Qing sat down within the gazebo, leisurely sipping wine and laughing.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh. The magic treasures were quickly divided by type. Yu Qi and the short elder both carefully assessed every single magic treasure. Since the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain employed them to deal in treasures, they were clearly no ordinary Wanxiang Adepts. Each of them had memorized the prices of hundreds of millions of types of magic treasures and items, as well as the details regarding them. Their memories, naturally, were unfathomably superior to the memories of ordinary mortals.

Still, it took them a full hour before they finally came to a halt.

“The Mortal-ranked treasures would round up to be 40,600 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. The Earth-ranked treasures are approximately 252,500 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence. As for the Heaven-ranked, the highest price I can give is roughly 560,000 kilograms,” Yu Qi said. “A final price of 853,100 kilograms for everything.”

“I can give you 855,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence,” the short elder said.

“Me too,” Yu Qi said hurriedly.

Ning chuckled. “Any higher prices?”

Yu Qi and the short elder exchanged glances, secretly feeling hateful towards each other. Ning just laughed. Actually, most of these were mass produced magic treasures, and so the price that could be offered for them was set in stone. Those hundred or so Heaven-ranked treasures, however, did include a few that should have been personally produced by an Immortal, and thus were priced differently and with some fluctuation. Still, the overall price wouldn’t change much.

“So that’s the price for the treasures, eh?” Ning waved his hand again. “I have quite a few more treasures here as well. Give me a calculation and an offer; the magic treasures and these curios will go to the high bidder.”

The ground was instantly filled with a huge amount of Immortal grass, spirit-pills, protective curios, and other such items. These protective items were useful for Youngflame Nong, but with Ning now having a Primaltwin, Ning’s combat power was now comparable to a Loose Immortals, and so the treasures were useless to him.

“Eh?” Yu Qi and the short elder’s syees lit up. Immortal grass, spirit-pills, and protective curios?

There was some degree of fluctuation in the price of treasures that couldn’t be mass-produced. They would be able to make the most profit from these items. As for those magic treasures…although there was a high number of them, there was very little margin to be made.

“What a fellow. He really did take out all of Youngflame Nong’s treasures,” Yu Qi murmured to himself.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen so many nice items,” the short elder said, his eyes shining as well.

The two rapidly began to calculate while pondering internally as well.

“The magic treasures, combined with these various other treasures…I can offer you 1,300,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence!” Yu Qi gritted his teeth, then made the offer. “If this old fellow gives a higher price, then I’ll bow out.”

The short elder was stunned. He stared at Yu Qi in amazement. “Are you mad?”

Ning was completely amazed as well. Ning had actually already had an estimate in mind regarding the value of the medicinal items and magic treasures he had taken from the Witchriver Immortal Estate.

“Can you beat that offer?” Yu Qi stared at the short elder, savagery in his eyes.

“Eh, I’m too old for this.” The short elder shook his head and sighed. “I don’t dare act as crazily as you. Fellow Daoist Ji Ning, I bid you farewell. Yu Qi, the end of my life will be coming soon. Let me offer you a few words of advice; don’t be too crazy. If you wager too heavily, you might end up losing yourself.” The short elder turned his head and left.

Ning looked at Yu Qi. “1,300,000 kilograms of liquefied elemental essence?”

“Right.” Yu Qi nodded.

“Fine.” Ning laughed. He couldn’t be bothered with the interactions between the two; what mattered was getting the liquefied elemental essence into his hands.

Moments later, the two carried out their trade. The treasures went to Yu Qi, while Ning acquired the 1,300,000 kilograms, as well as a Xia insignia. This represented that Ning was like most Loose Immortals, qualified to purchase magic treasures at a 40% discount.

“Fellow Daoist Ji Ning.” After having completed the transaction, Yu Qi’s face was ruddy with excitement. “It’s almost night. At nightfall, the monthly Treasure Auction will begin.”

“Treasure Auction?” Ning nodded, but didn’t look too interested.

“This is the Treasure Auction of the main headquarters of the Heavenly Treasures Mountain. The major powers of this world, and in fact many lone wanderer Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals will deliver their treasures to this Treasure Auction,” Yu Qi said. “In fact, even Immortal-ranked magic treasures might appear, along with many other hard-to-purchase items. If you have time, you should make an appearance at the Treasure Auction.”

Ning was intrigued. It was worth a visit; perhaps he might find essence extracts of the Five Elements. He immediately said, “Will members of the Youngflame clan participate?”

“The Youngflame clan? That’s a major clan; they will definitely send someone to participate in the monthly auction,” Yu Qi said.

“Good. Tonight, I’ll pay a visit.” Ning nodded.

The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. Within King Yan’s estate.

Anyone conferred the title of ‘King’ was definitely someone who had an extremely high status within the imperial Xiamang clan. After all, the Xiamang clan had existed for countless years; as the chief of this major world, they had countless offspring, but extremely few who would receive the title of ‘King’.

“Princess, Princess!” An armored female soldier charged towards a residence.

“You can come up.”

There were two stories to this residence. On the second floor, a green-robed woman was seated, against the railing, staring at the garden below. The garden was filled with some stones, sand, and even had a small lake; it looked just like a little beach.

“Princess.” The female soldier fell to one knee.

The green-robed woman seemed a bit fragile and weak, but the look in her eyes caused the female soldier to feel dread. The green-robed woman said calmly, “Speak. What is it.”

“A report from the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” the female soldier said.

“The Heavenly Treasures Mountain?” The green-robed woman was startled, then immediately said, “Hand it over.”

“Alright.” The armored female soldier immediately offered the report over.

The green-robed woman accepted it, then opened it. Upon seeing the details regarding Ji Ning within the scroll, she couldn’t help but tremble, then murmur to herself, “Ji Ning? Came to the imperial capital of the Grand Xia? Is at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain?”

Plop.

A single tear suddenly fell down onto the scroll.

Only now did the green-robed woman suddenly seem to come to her senses.

“Hahahahaha…” The green-robed woman suddenly began to laugh. She immediately rose to her feet, then shouted, “Transmit my orders. The Golden Imperials are to prepare to accompany me to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain.”

“You are summoning the Golden Imperials?” The armored female soldier was stunned.

“Why haven’t you gone yet?!” The green-robed woman snapped at her.

“Right away.” The armored female soldier didn’t dare to hesitate; she immediately departed.

As for the grene-robed woman, she excitedly paced back and forth within the residence, her body trembling slightly as she murmured to herself, “The only child left behind by Aunt…my little cousin, my one and only little cousin…you’ve finally arrived. I, your big sister, am finally going to see you. Finally. I definitely won’t let the Youngflame clan harm a hair on your head. Definitely not!”

“Princess.” The voice of a female soldier, calling from outside.

The green-robed woman turned her head, and then her body flickered as she flew out gracefully.

Soon, a carriage that was completely wreathed in golden flames and which was pulled by two enormous azure phoenixes flew out. In front and behind the carriage was a crowd of Golden Imperials, all of whom had heroic, vigorous auras and who seemed to move as one. Clouds naturally manifested in the area around them, and the Golden Imperials all flew forward, striding on the clouds.

“Azure phoenixes, to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain,” the green-robed woman said, seated within the carriage.

“Yes, Princess.” One of the azure phoenixes spoke out in the human tongue. Immediately afterwards, the two phoenixes began to pull the carriage forward. Escorted by the Golden Imperials, they immediately flew towards the main Heavenly Treasures Mountain.