Chapter 35: Barter

The treasure competition continued. To attract Dao Lords, some extremely rare treasures would appear at the competition. Normally, these treasures were priceless when sold to outsiders and could only be obtained through barter with 'oddities.' But at the treasure competition, they had a price, albeit a very high one.

"Tsk, tsk..." Ji Ning watched and smiled. "The power of magic treasures has its limits after all."

If there were some heaven-defying treasures, a one-step Dao Lord could even deal with a four-step Dao Lord.

However, the power of magic treasures ultimately had limits. Those that could match a four-step Dao Lord generally cost over ten million cubes. The higher the power, the steeper the price.

Ji Ning saw the most extravagant and crazy treasure, also the most expensive—a formation called 'Realm of Blades.' With this formation, one could instantly spread it over a hundred million li, and within it, countless blade lights surged with immense power. An ordinary four-step Dao Lord would likely be killed instantly, and even those who survived could be suppressed and bound. Ji Ning estimated it was no less than his own Ninefold Divine Thunder.

The base price for this formation treasure was eighty million cubes, and it was eventually bought for nearly one hundred twenty million cubes.

"These treasures are all external forces," Danbao nodded beside him. "Whether it's artifact refining or alchemy, there are limits. The treasure we saw earlier in the Feiyu Tower that could match the power of an Eternal Emperor would never appear at a treasure competition; it would always be bartered."

Ji Ning nodded.

Magic treasures could be used repeatedly over time. Dao talismans, on the other hand, were consumed in a single use, releasing their inherent power. They were much simpler to make than treasures. For example, Ji Ning's Sword Dao Dominator talisman and the Great Dominator's Time Disk were both one-time use.

...

A few days into the treasure competition, another highlight item appeared. A treasure competition usually had about ten highlight treasures.

"Fellow Daoists."

The old man on the stage announced loudly, "This treasure is a precious artifact refined by our Dao Alliance's 'Emperor Qianbu.'"

The many Dao Lords below were all intrigued, and Ji Ning in his quiet room also brightened, looking down. Emperor Qianbu was one of the top three artifact-refining grandmasters in the endless territories.

"Whoosh." In the old man's hand floated a palm-sized black flying boat. Though small, it naturally exuded a heart-stopping sharpness, making it clear it was fast.

"This is a flying boat treasure, adept at flight and escape. It was just recently refined by the Emperor, and even its name hasn't been decided. Whoever buys it can name it," the old man said with a smile. The Dao Lords below didn't care about the name; what mattered was its power.

"This treasure can reach a speed of a hundred times the Heavenly Dao limit," the old man said lightly, ignoring the fervor of the Dao Lords below, and added, "Base price: sixty million cubes."

"Sixty-one million cubes." A deep voice immediately came from a quiet room.

"Sixty-five million cubes." Among the Dao Lords seated below, a golden-robed alien in a corner said calmly.

"Sixty-eight million cubes."

This was, after all, one of the eight sacred cities, with many Dao Lords.

Flying boat treasures were always expensive. Ten times light speed generally cost over ten million cubes, and a hundred times light speed was usually bartered. Although several artifact-refining grandmasters in the endless territories could refine flying boats at a hundred times light speed, it was extremely difficult, and powerful Dao Lords pursued them fervently because a hundred times light speed was extremely rare—even most Eternal Emperors weren't that fast.

"Hm?" Ji Ning in the quiet room suddenly stood up.

"Master?" Danbao and Youji looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning walked to the door of the quiet room and opened it. Outside stood the alien maidservant who had been waiting for summons.

"Senior." Though she had waited over a month, the alien maidservant remained respectful.

"I want to barter for the flying boat currently being auctioned," Ji Ning said.

The alien maidservant was startled.

That was one of the ten highlight treasures of this competition. She quickly said, "I've already sent a message; a Dao Lord will be here soon."

Whoosh.

As soon as she spoke, a figure materialized before Ji Ning—the silver-robed Dao Lord who had traded with him before.

"Fellow Daoist, you truly have a big hand," the silver-robed Dao Lord said with a smile. He looked at the white-robed youth before him, astonished. He appeared to be just a two-step Dao Lord, yet he had killed three-step Dao Lords like ants. He had already traded over forty million cubes, and now he wanted the flying boat?

"Let's talk inside," Ji Ning said.

"Wait outside," the silver-robed Dao Lord instructed the maidservant, then entered with Ji Ning, closing the door.

Inside the quiet room.

The silver-robed Dao Lord walked to the window, looked down, and said with a smile, "That's a flying boat at a hundred times the Heavenly Dao limit—the limit for flying boats. It's usually bartered. Even if sold at auction, as you see, it's already over seventy million cubes. I estimate it will end up at least ninety million. Either way, Feiyu Tower can't do a losing deal."

Ji Ning nodded.

He also believed the final price would be no less than ninety million cubes.

"I know Feiyu Tower has more than one flying boat at a hundred times the Heavenly Dao limit," Ji Ning said. "I want to barter."

"Barter?" The silver-robed Dao Lord's eyes lit up. He liked barter. Flying boats were usually sold by barter because the rarer the oddity, the more miraculous its powers.

"Ordinary oddities won't do," the silver-robed Dao Lord said softly.

"You'll see."

Ji Ning said.

He turned his hand over, and in his palm appeared a golden bead with a constantly flowing surface.

"Ten Thousand Treasures Golden Essence?" The silver-robed Dao Lord's eyes lit up. This was the core material for refining four-step puppets, rare and hard to come by.

"A single Ten Thousand Treasures Golden Essence isn't enough," the silver-robed Dao Lord shook his head.

Ji Ning turned his hand again, producing a small light green jade bottle. From the bottle's mouth flew a blood-red fruit that seemed to drip blood, hovering in midair.

"This, this is..." The silver-robed Dao Lord looked, then his expression changed. "Sacred Blood Fruit? Heavenly Crystal Sacred Blood Fruit?" This was even rarer, as Sacred Blood Fruit trees were usually controlled by the most ancient and powerful beings. Even Dominators would fight over them. The fruits from such trees were held by those ancient powers. Although various factions would buy each fruit for over twenty million cubes, those ancient powers didn't care about that amount of chaos liquid; they usually bartered.

"Together, they still fall short," the silver-robed Dao Lord said, looking at Ji Ning.

"A Ten Thousand Treasures Golden Essence and a Heavenly Crystal Sacred Blood Fruit, if put up for auction, I'd guess the starting price could be set at sixty million cubes," Ji Ning said. "What do you think the final price would be?"

The silver-robed Dao Lord was taken aback.

"Flying boats at a hundred times the Heavenly Dao limit, though rare, are sold by many," Ji Ning said. "If not, I'll go to another establishment."

"You, you really..." The silver-robed Dao Lord smiled helplessly. The Ten Thousand Treasures Golden Essence and Heavenly Crystal Sacred Blood Fruit were indeed very attractive to him, but the hundred-times-light-speed flying boat was also extremely precious. Their values were about the same.

"Alright, Feiyu Tower will trade with you," the silver-robed Dao Lord nodded, then looked down.

Below, the bidding had risen to ninety million cubes, but it was clearly slowing.

"Ninety-five million cubes," the silver-robed Dao Lord called out.

"Ninety-five million five hundred thousand cubes," another Dao Lord gritted out.

"Ninety-eight million cubes," the silver-robed Dao Lord raised the price again without wasting words.

Ji Ning, Su Youji, and Danbao were somewhat surprised.

The silver-robed Dao Lord looked at them and said with a smile, "It's normal to buy one's own goods. If the highlight treasures don't fetch a high enough price, sometimes we buy them back ourselves."

Ji Ning and the others chuckled. Feiyu Tower, in this magic treasure business, really didn't want to take a loss.

In fact, for a behemoth like Tianmu Sect within the Dao Alliance, chaos liquid wasn't that valuable. Rare cosmic oddities like Ten Thousand Treasures Golden Essence and Heavenly Crystal Sacred Blood Fruit were what they sought. The Golden Essence was less attractive; the Sacred Blood Fruit was the key to the silver-robed Dao Lord agreeing to this trade.

Because Tianmu Sect needed the Heavenly Crystal Sacred Blood Fruit to refine pills with other oddities.

In the end, the flying boat was sold for ninety-eight million cubes.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Golden Essence and Heavenly Crystal Sacred Blood Fruit went to the silver-robed Dao Lord.

The flying boat went to Ji Ning.

"If you have any oddities, feel free to come to Feiyu Tower," the silver-robed Dao Lord said with a smile. "We have rare treasures, even Dao talismans refined at great cost by powerful Emperors, all available for barter."

"Certainly," Ji Ning nodded, holding the flying boat and nodding inwardly.

Relying solely on the Nine Great Secret Arts against Dao Lord Kongsa gave him no confidence at all, since the other could transform into darkness and was nearly immortal.

But with the flying boat, at least he could leave whenever he wanted.

Though the Ten Thousand Treasures Golden Essence and Heavenly Crystal Sacred Blood Fruit were important, one was a refining material and the other an alchemy material. Ji Ning knew nothing about artifact refining and hadn't delved into alchemy. Even Dao Lord Wanshen might not be qualified to use the Sacred Blood Fruit for alchemy.

...