The Prodigies War

Chapter 1916: The Ancient Treasure in the Bronze Box

On the Grand Universe Ark.

A wave of exhaustion washed over Lin Xun as he took out a pile of tonics and began to consume them.

He had given his all in the previous fight and while he managed to kill six quasi-Emperors without injury, he had also used up a tremendous amount of energy.

Time Stopping was especially taxing and had drained nearly half of his reserves in an instant!

On the other hand, the battle also made Lin Xun realize that he no longer needed to be overly afraid of quasi-Emperors.

Of course, Lin Xun also understood that as existences that stood above all Saints, quasi-Emperors wielded overwhelming power that shouldn’t be underestimated.

Although he had yet to encounter any formidable quasi-Emperors to date, there were most certainly powerhouses among them.

For instance, a supreme quasi-Emperor!

"When I reach the advanced supreme Saint-King Stage and master the perfect Great Dao Field, perhaps I’ll no longer need to fear a supreme quasi-Emperor…"

The pursuit of the dao was often filled with danger and unpredictability. Moreover, as the number one world of the Ancient Nebula Road, there were definitely numerous incredibly powerful and talented cultivators in the Great Primordial Chaos World.

Hence, Lin Xun didn’t believe he was truly invincible among his peers.

Simply put, one should never be overly arrogant nor undervalue oneself in the path of cultivation. Instead, it was most important to remain steadfast and true to one’s heart.

Half a day later, Fierce Wind City.

Lin Xun quietly slipped into the city. In his hand was a crystalline jade token surrounded by purple mist and inscribed with the words ‘Fog Obscured.’

With the help of the token, Lin Xun soon found the entrance to the city’s underground black market.

The entrance was located in a room inside a weapon refining shop.

It felt like entering another world, a world that was gray and gloomy with people hurrying about yet without the lively bustle of the outside world.

Lin Xun wasn’t surprised by the strange scene. When a Fog Obscured Alms attendant approached, he handed over the jade token that Qing Ying had given him.

To this day, Lin Xun still felt amazed when he recalled the mysterious black-haired woman in her graceful green dress and with her blood-red umbrella.

"Sir, this way please."

The attendant’s expression changed at the sight of the token and he displayed a look of sincere respect and obedience.

In a hall specially prepared only for VIPs, Lin Xun stated his purpose, "I want to dispose of some treasures."

With a wave of his sleeve, a pile of loot emerged. They were piled up in a small mountain, filling the entire place with their dazzling radiance.

These were the spoils that he had obtained after leaving Qing State.

The treasures of the six quasi-Emperors were also among them.

Of course, those he deemed useful to his cultivation naturally weren’t included. The items he wished to let go off were those that he had no use for.

Two Saints, a white-robed elder and a gray-robed man, were in charge of appraising the treasures. The sight caused their breathing to become heavy and it took quite some time before they finally returned to their senses.

Their gazes became increasingly respectful when they looked at Lin Xun again.

This VIP must be a bigshot!

Next, they quickly started their work. After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, they finished appraising all of the treasures.

Thirty-one million dao crystals!

That was the total evaluated price. Moreover, due to the jade token, the price was only ten percent lower than the market price in the outside world.

The white-robed elder cautiously said, "Sir, Fierce Wind City’s underground black market can’t gather that many dao crystals on such short notice. Could you give us some time to gather the dao crystals before proceeding with the purchase?"

Lin Xun frowned. "I'm pressed for time, I'm afraid I can't wait."

He wasn’t worried that they would misappropriate the treasures. After all, he had nothing to fear since he not only had the jade token but also his cultivation to back him up.

"This..."

The two Saints were put in a tough spot.

After a while, the gray-robed man suddenly said, "Sir, we received a bunch of treasures of mysterious origin yesterday. If you’re interested, we could use them to make up for some of the dao crystals."

Lin Xun grunted softly in assent but he wasn’t actually interested. However, he also knew that it was unreasonable of him to make them cough up so many dao crystals on such short notice.

After a brief contemplation, he said, "Show them to me."

The gray-robed man hurriedly left and soon returned with a large bronze box.

The bronze box was half a person long and two feet wide. Its mottled and rusted surface made it look ancient and it was covered in layers of black runes.

Lin Xun could tell at a glance that these were seals and they were very old seals indeed.

After putting the bronze box down, the gray-robed man took out a talisman key and inserted it into the center of the rune array at the front of the box.

The large bronze box slowly opened amidst a mix of rumbling and creaking.

Its insides were quickly reflected in Lin Xun’s eyes.

A fist-sized bronze seal, a half-foot-tall apricot-yellow flag, a palmful of grayish soil, and a piece of rotten spirit wood.

Four dull-looking treasures that appeared void of spirituality lay there like a pile of scrap metal.

At closer inspection, however, one would discover that each treasure gave off a timeless aura!

"Sir, these four treasures along with the box were left here by a guest last night. According to him, these treasures originate from the primeval era and each one possesses earth-shaking power."

The gray-robed man continued in a low voice, "After appraising them, we managed to confirm that they were indeed from the primeval era. However, it’s hard to say whether they do possess earth-shaking powers..."

The white-robed old man added, "While the treasures might seem to lack spirituality and look like a pile of trash, they’re actually very extraordinary."

He pointed at the fist-sized bronze seal and said, "Take this treasure for example. It has no energy fluctuations, no spirituality, and no dao runes. However, it weighs 180,000 catties and wasn’t damaged in the slightest even after being smashed with a Saint treasure.

"This half-foot-tall apricot-yellow flag is even more peculiar. The materials used in its flag pole and to refine it have never been seen or heard of before. We even asked several veteran treasure appraisers for their opinion, but they were unable to identify what kind of divine materials it's made of.

"Unlike the bronze seal, this apricot-yellow flag feels as light as a feather and you can hardly feel its weight when you hold it. Yet, it appears to be indestructible. We tried to tear it apart with the power of the Saint Stage but we were unable to damage it in the slightest.

"The origins of the soil and the rotten spirit wood are also completely unknown."

With that, the two of them gazed at Lin Xun in unison and were secretly excited to see that he was looking at the treasures with interest.

There's hope!

After studying them for a while, Lin Xun asked, "Who sold you these treasures?"

The gray-robed man answered, "He was an unfortunate man who said his family had fallen on hard times. He had no choice but to sell these heirlooms to scrounge up enough funds for his child to join a sect for cultivation.

"What's funny is that he claimed his ancestor entered the Kunlun Dominion in the primeval era and these treasures were brought out from the Kunlun Dominion."

The white-robed elder sneered and said, "We were quite skeptical and asked many treasure appraisers for their opinions. In the end, we came to the conclusion that even if these treasures are from the Kunlun Dominion, they’re no earth-shaking treasures."

Lin Xun's black eyes flickered as he chuckled. "So you're planning to sell me these not very earth-shaking treasures?"

The two Saints were taken aback and soon grew anxious.

"Sir, although they might not be very special, these treasures are still from the primeval era and their value is difficult to estimate."

"Yes, we originally planned to take these treasures to the Fog Obscured Alms bigwigs to be appraised, but we’ll be happy to sell them to you if you’re interested."

They had only introduced the treasures in such a manner in order to raise their price.

Lin Xun naturally understood this.

He pondered for a while before he asked, "How many dao crystals do you want for these treasures?"

The two Saints looked at each other and answered together, "Nine million dao crystals."

Lin Xun shook his head. "Too expensive."

The two Saints hastily explained, "Sir, although these treasures may look unremarkable, they definitely have astonishing origins. This might be a good bargain for you and it’s not an unreasonable price.

"To be frank, we had to make many offers yesterday and finally managed to secure them from the customer at 8.6 million dao crystals. He wouldn’t compromise even if it was a single dao crystal less."

Since they had bought the treasures for 8.6 million dao crystals and wanted to sell them to Lin Xun for 9 million dao crystals, it was already considered a very fair price for the underground black market standards.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xun nodded and agreed to their price.

The two Saints immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "With that, we should have enough to pay you."

The two of them took out 22 million dao crystals, put them into a storage bag, and handed it to Lin Xun along with the bronze box.

Lin Xun kept everything with a wave of his sleeve and decided to leave.

When he walked out of the hall, however, he saw a thin middle-aged man rushing towards him.

Upon seeing the two Saints who were sending Lin Xun off, the thin middle-aged man shouted, "Sirs, could I buy back the heirlooms I sold yesterday?"

Lin Xun immediately stopped and observed the man. He had a scraggly beard, a pale complexion, and looked very much unkempt.

Although his cultivation had reached the Saint Stage, he could only be regarded as a False Saint.

"Apologies, the treasures have already been sold and it's impossible to buy them back."

The white-robed elder’s expression grew frosty.

The thin middle-aged man anxiously said, "I'm willing to pay a higher price as long as I can buy them back!"

The white-robed elder unhappily said, "Ridiculous, what do you take our Fog Obscured Alms as? Once the deal was completed, those treasures were no longer yours. Moreover, we’ve already sold the treasures so how can we let you buy them back?"

Lin Xun realized that the bronze box was likely sold to Fog Obscured Alms yesterday by this very middle-aged man.

"Friends, can’t you do us a favor?"