Chapter Nineteen: The Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill

Back in the Tracewind Ruins, from the three World-level corpses Ji Ning had also obtained some chaos nectar and chaos crystals, so he still had about fifty cubic meters now. But such a small amount couldn't buy any truly outrageous treasures. It was better to keep it on hand, since in a critical moment once severely wounded, chaos nectar could be used to save his life! It placed no burden on the body and healed very quickly.

Only some strange poisons of the chaos, or curses of certain mighty cultivators, or the collapse of the true spirit... matters involving the true spirit were hard for chaos nectar to treat, but it could heal almost all other injuries.

“Everyone, this treasure-gathering meeting has nine treasures remaining.”

On the ninth day of the treasure-gathering meeting, the atmosphere was clearly feverish, because several treasures worth over a thousand cubic meters had already appeared, and more than half of them had no buyers. Too expensive! Only those who truly needed them would buy.

“The first of these last nine is an Eternal Divine Weapon, an axe-type divine weapon, suitable for cultivators who comprehend the Dao of Earth... This divine weapon has immense power, and the strength of its divine weapon source is enough to be considered top-grade.” The silver-eyed woman's palm floated a small black axe. The small axe quickly flew up into the air, radiating a surging pressure that filled the entire hall, making every cultivator feel the strain.

“The Eternal Divine Weapon ‘Triple Annihilation Axe,’ starting price fifty thousand cubic meters, bidding begins!”

…

All the cultivators fell silent, including those on the top floor like Lord Mo and the others.

And so...

No one bid.

It wasn't that this treasure was bad, but that it was too expensive! It was beyond the means of World-level cultivators, and moreover, for World-level cultivators, they simply didn't need such an extremely top-grade Eternal Divine Weapon, because it was too top-grade for them to unleash sufficient power. For a World-level cultivator to fully unleash the power of an Eternal Divine Weapon was nearly impossible.

Thus, even very powerful World-level cultivators would rather use a low-grade Eternal Divine Weapon; only the power they could actually bring out counted as real power! If they couldn't bring it out, what use was strength?

“The last nine, the second...” The silver-eyed woman was not surprised.

At every treasure-gathering meeting, the last nine treasures were truly good treasures, each worth at least ten thousand cubic meters, so most of them had no bidders.

…

Of the last nine, the fifth and sixth had bidders, but they came from the top floor.

The fifth was a drop of blood, as large as a head, glowing with cyan light, its pressure spreading. The silver-eyed woman merely introduced it as the essence blood of a ‘Chaos Divine Beast,’ without going into detail. It was finally bought by Daoist Waterwind for eighty-three thousand cubic meters!

The sixth was a stone statue. The silver-eyed woman's introduction was even more sparse: “This stone statue contains boundless mystery. Starting price eighty thousand cubic meters, bidding begins.” It was bought by Daoist Heavenazure at the starting price.

The seventh... no bids.

The eighth... still no bids.

“Alright, now we come to the last treasure of this treasure-gathering meeting.” As the silver-eyed woman finished speaking, the atmosphere in the great hall changed, becoming as if frozen.

All the cultivators' eyes lit up, and they even held their breath.

“Could it really be...”

Su Youji and the Wild Dog Ancestral God also stared intently below, and Ji Ning watched as well.

“I will not disappoint you all.” The silver-eyed woman smiled. “The last treasure of this treasure-gathering meeting is none other than the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill!”

“It really is the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill.” In a room on the second floor, a white-haired woman's gaze was terrifyingly sharp.

“What a coincidence. I just gathered enough chaos nectar, and on my first treasure-gathering meeting I encounter the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill. I must get it.” In another room on the second floor, a handsome man in a fiery red robe also had burning and frenzied eyes.

“I hope no one competes with me, I hope no one competes with me. It must be mine, it must be mine.” In a room on the second floor, a young man with disheveled hair muttered to himself, his eyes also full of madness.

…

“The Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill.” The silver-eyed woman smiled, her gaze sweeping across the entire hall. “I believe most of you know its effects. As per the rules, I will say it again: any World-level cultivator who has reached perfection can take the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill... This pill will guide the cultivator to comprehend his own Dao, break through the bottleneck, and step into the Daolord of Life and Death realm.”

“What? It lets a World-level cultivator become a Daolord of Life and Death?”

“A single pill?”

“Cultivation is so difficult; how can a pill be so heaven-defying?” Some who heard of the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill for the first time, especially some Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals, were astonished.

On the third floor, Ji Ning, Su Youji, and the Wild Dog Ancestral God also watched below in amazement. They had learned about the treasure-gathering meeting at the Mo Court and knew that the final grand treasure had a very small chance of being the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill! Of course, most of the time it wasn't. Out of hundreds or thousands of treasure-gathering meetings, one might encounter the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill once.

But this was also almost the only chance for World-level cultivators to buy the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill. Normally, it wasn't available for purchase. It only appeared at treasure-gathering meetings!

This was also one reason why many World-level cultivators, upon hearing of a treasure-gathering meeting in a nearby region, would immediately rush over.

The Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill: a World-level cultivator at perfection who takes it has over a ninety-nine percent chance of stepping into the Daolord of Life and Death realm, nearly a hundred percent certainty.

“Such a pill exists. When I first heard of it, I couldn't believe it.” Ji Ning murmured to himself.

“The endless chaos is full of infinite possibilities.” Su Youji was also unusually quiet.

“A pill like this is enough to drive countless World-level cultivators mad.” The Wild Dog Ancestral God muttered.

Ji Ning nodded slightly.

…

On the top floor, Heavenazure, Waterwind, Dragon God Daolord, Thousand Shadows Daolord, and Lord Mo and his wife were somewhat emotional.

“The Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill. I wonder what that Emperor means. He's good at alchemy, but he often refines the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill.” Heavenazure shook his head with a smile. “The Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill completely harms them. By relying on a pill to step into the Life and Death realm, they are almost always trapped forever at the first step of a Daolord. Even if they have extraordinary luck, they can at most reach the second step, and that's the limit. A Daolord of Life and Death faces life and death at every step. Such weak Daolords have no hope. If they keep a low profile, it's fine; otherwise...”

“I've never seen anyone who used the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill and still reached the second step.” Waterwind also said.

“You two,” Lord Mo laughed. “You disdain it and don't care, but the vast majority of World-level cultivators have no hope of stepping into the ‘Daolord of Life and Death’ realm. They don't care how far they can go in the ‘Daolord of Life and Death’ realm. As long as they become a Daolord, that's enough for them.”

…

The silver-eyed woman continued, “I remind you again: the drawback of the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill is that after using it to step into the Daolord of Life and Death realm, it becomes very, very difficult to advance further.”

Drawback?

Who cared? Without the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill, they couldn't even enter the Daolord of Life and Death realm.

“Starting price one hundred thousand cubic meters of chaos nectar, bidding begins.” The silver-eyed woman announced.

“One hundred thousand cubic meters!” Immediately a hoarse voice came from a room on the second floor.

“One hundred one thousand cubic meters!” A cold voice came from another room.

“No... no...” In a room on the second floor, an old man with triangular eyes in a gray robe was full of unwillingness. His chaos nectar was not much; after scraping together one hundred thousand cubic meters, he went to treasure-gathering meetings one after another, attending every meeting in the surrounding regions. So far, he had only encountered the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill three times. He had bid the starting price of one hundred thousand cubic meters, hoping no one would compete with him.

Unfortunately, those who wanted the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill were extremely well-informed. Whenever a treasure-gathering meeting was held in dozens of surrounding regions, they would immediately rush over.

This was also the reason why the news of the treasure-gathering meeting was announced ninety-nine years in advance.

The price kept rising.

“One hundred fifty thousand cubic meters.”

…

Every time the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill was auctioned, the bidding was frenzied. For reference, an Eternal Divine Weapon was generally worth about ten thousand cubic meters, a good one several tens of thousands, and a top-grade one around one hundred thousand. Among World-level cultivators, some extremely powerful ones indeed could have one or two Eternal Divine Weapons, all for the sake of the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill!

Ji Ning listened with emotion. It was only when truly desperate that one would become so frenzied.

For example, Black Lotus God-Emperor also had an Eternal Divine Weapon, but it was low-grade, worth only about ten to twenty thousand cubic meters. He had no hope at all of obtaining the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill. The bidding for the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill generally exceeded one hundred sixty thousand cubic meters.

“One hundred sixty-eight thousand cubic meters. Any higher?” The silver-eyed woman spoke. “The Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill, trea... sure... gath... ering... ends!”

She said the last four words very slowly, looking around.

Because the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill was the only treasure not brought out for the cultivators to see.

“Hahaha... it's mine, it's mine, hahaha...” Mad laughter came from the second floor. Those bidding for the Heaven-Stealing Life-Death Pill were all on the second floor, each hiding their identity.

“Finally got it.” The handsome man in the fiery red robe was full of excitement. “I'll cultivate right here in Yibo City and become a Daolord of Life and Death. Mm, I still have over ten thousand cubic meters of chaos nectar left, enough to buy a weaker Eternal Divine Weapon.”