Chapter 5: Fragment From Bloodline

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Fragment From Bloodline

For an hour, Ye Xuan studied the Blazing Flame Sword scroll. Eventually, a burst of qi erupted from his body, and the scroll crumbled into dust as its essence was completely absorbed into him.

Qingyu turned around when she sensed the wave of spiritual qi and saw Ye Xuan slowly open his eyes.

The man stood up and took a few steps forward, feeling as though his strength had increased. He drew his sword and held it in front of his face.

He gripped it tightly and ran his hand along the blade while activating the skill.

In an instant, the blade lit up and was engulfed in bright flames. Ye Xuan looked impressed. He was happy to have gained another battle technique.

"Isn’t this great? This is the first battle technique I have that has an elemental attribute."

Qingyu responded with a nod before jumping onto Ye Xuan’s shoulder and wrapping her tail around his neck again.

He deactivated the skill and sheathed his sword. He looked at Qingyu and motioned for her to leave with him.

One technique was not enough. He planned to use his time to search for more battle techniques.

Ye Xuan walked out of his room at the inn and arrived on the city’s main street. He looked around, paying attention to every shop he passed.

His attention was caught when a woman in a black robe approached him. She handed Ye Xuan a piece of paper.

"The auction at Yue Pagoda will begin soon. Come and take a look. We have many valuable items up for auction."

Ye Xuan stopped and looked at the paper in his hand.

Yue Pagoda. Auction. Valuable items.

Ye Xuan became interested in going there to take a look. Perhaps there would be an interesting item or battle technique he could buy.

"There’s no harm in taking a look," Ye Xuan said.

Qingyu did not respond. She simply remained silent and hissed like an ordinary snake.

Ye Xuan set off toward Yue Pagoda, whose location was clearly visible from where he stood.

The building was quite tall and luxurious. It might even have been the tallest building in the city.

He was not the only one heading there. Other cultivators were also walking in the same direction, wearing robes of different colors.

Their cultivation levels could not be determined just by looking at them.

Ye Xuan arrived and walked inside without hesitation. His eyes swept across the first floor of the pagoda, which was crowded with cultivators, especially around the auction hall.

"Can I participate in the auction?"

"Of course, Daoist," the female staff member replied. "However, the VIP seats are already full. Only regular seats are available."

"There is a fee of ten spirit stones to participate."

Ye Xuan took out his money pouch and handed over the spirit stones. In return, he received a wooden token marked with the number 43.

The female staff member pointed toward the auction hall, inviting Ye Xuan to take one of the empty seats.

His eyes moved from side to side as he observed the other cultivators participating in the auction.

Ye Xuan tried to remain calm and avoid drawing attention to himself. His expectations were not particularly high.

If there was something interesting, he would compete for it. If not, he would remain silent.

But one thing was certain: he could not offend the people sitting in the VIP section.

They were monsters with extremely high cultivation levels who could kill him with a single attack. For someone like Ye Xuan, staying unnoticed meant staying alive.

"Thank you to all the Daoists who have come to the Yue Family’s humble auction. On behalf of the Yue Family, I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to attend."

"There will be two auction sessions in total. The first will be the public auction, while the second will be the main auction."

"The rules are very simple. Raise your number plate and place your bid. Whoever offers the highest price will take the item home."

"However, regular participants are not allowed to participate in the main auction."

"I hope everyone understands the rules."

"Without further delay, let us begin the auction. Auctioneer Yue Xia, please come to the stage."

Not long after, a beautiful, elegant, and attractive woman walked onto the stage through the red curtains. She greeted everyone with a warm smile and an enchanting presence.

She was followed by twenty-seven servants, each carrying a wooden chest.

Yue Xia explained that the public auction would feature twenty-seven items, including weapons, battle techniques, pills, pill recipes, artifacts, and other valuable items.

"It seems all of you understand the rules. In that case, let us begin the first session of the auction—the public auction!"

The first female servant stepped forward and opened her chest. Inside was a blue-colored scroll containing a Spirit-grade battle technique.

"A water-element battle technique called Qi-Breaking Wave. It is said to have originated from a famous water-element sect throughout the Xiao Empire. It can be used for both offense and defense, making it a highly versatile technique."

"We will begin the bidding at twenty spirit stones."

When Yue Xia announced the starting price, several cultivators in the regular section raised their hands and showed their number plates before placing their bids.

Ye Xuan watched as the cultivators fiercely competed for the battle technique. He was worried that if he joined the competition, he might attract unwanted attention.

Besides, it was a Spirit-grade water-element technique. It was indeed valuable, but perhaps he could worry about it later.

With Ye Xuan’s current cultivation level, it was impossible for him to comprehend such a technique.

After several rounds of bidding, one of the cultivators won the technique.

Yue Xia moved on to the second item, and the cultivators began competing again.

Ye Xuan’s attention shifted toward the second floor, where the VIP section was located.

Not a single one of them was willing to participate in the public auction. To them, the items being sold were nothing more than trash.

I’m sure they came here just to target the items in the main auction.

As time passed, Yue Xia opened the twenty-third wooden chest.

She took out a piece of stone that looked mossy, rusty, and cracked.

The cultivators burst into laughter when they saw the item.

"Haha! What the hell is that? Are they really auctioning off a moss-covered rock?"

"Is there really nothing better than a mossy rock? Did they dig this thing out of a river?"

"I’m not wasting my money on some worthless piece of junk like that."

Ye Xuan looked at the stone and smiled faintly. He agreed with them. The stone looked completely unimpressive. It did not even give off the slightest trace of spiritual qi.

I definitely don’t want to buy that. Hopefully, the next item will be better and actually catch my attention.

Yue Xia began explaining why the item had been placed in the auction.

"We discovered this stone in an ancient ruin, right beside an ancient altar. We tried several times to activate the spiritual qi within the item, but it showed no significant reaction."

"We decided to put it up for auction because we believe this item may be valuable to someone in the future."

The participants began murmuring among themselves.

After hearing that explanation, they doubted the stone even more.

In their eyes, if the Yue Family did not even know what the stone was, how could they know whether it was useful or not?

"We will begin the bidding at ten spirit stones."

The moment Ye Xuan heard the starting price, Qingyu suddenly bit him, causing him to wince in pain and surprise.

"Ah!"

"What are you doing?"

Qingyu pointed toward the front while continuously hissing. Her behavior became strange as she stared at the stone.

However, Ye Xuan still could not understand what his white snake was trying to tell him.

"You want that? It’s useless," Ye Xuan whispered.

The snake bit him again, this time biting his neck. Ye Xuan had no choice.

He raised his hand and grabbed his number plate before calling out his bid.

"I bid ten spirit stones."

"All right. Participant number 43 has bid ten spirit stones," Yue Xia announced.

The surrounding cultivators immediately turned toward him in surprise. Quite a few of them laughed and called Ye Xuan an idiot.

"Hahaha! A Qi Gathering cultivator buying a piece of trash. That makes sense."

"You’ll have to be incredibly lucky to receive the heavens’ blessing and find that worthless stone useful."

"Congratulations, Junior. You got the item without any competition."

Ye Xuan simply gave them a faint smile.

What they said was true. There had been no competition at all. He had obtained the stone effortlessly.

The countdown ended, and Ye Xuan won the item.

He was instructed to go to the administration desk after the auction to exchange his payment for the item.

He returned to his seat, while the other cultivators turned their attention back to the stage and continued watching the public auction.

What am I doing? Everyone is laughing at me for buying a moss-covered river rock.

Ye Xuan glanced at Qingyu beside him. Her attitude had begun to calm down, and she was no longer acting aggressively like before.

At least she stopped biting me.

The auction continued until it finally ended. It took three hours to complete the entire event.

Ye Xuan, however, had only obtained the moss-covered stone. Nothing else had caught his attention.

It was not because the other items were bad. Most of the items in the main auction were pill recipes and artifacts, while the battle techniques were only Spirit-grade. There were no Mortal-grade techniques.

Following the instructions, Ye Xuan went to the administration desk and paid for his item.

He received a wooden chest containing the stone, placed it inside his bag of holding, and left the auction without any significant gains.

It looks like I should just buy battle techniques directly from a shop. Buying unidentified items at auctions isn’t worth the risk.

He returned to his room at the inn and took out the wooden chest.

Ye Xuan took out the stone and handed it to Qingyu.

Maybe the snake needs a toy to keep herself from getting bored.

"Here," Ye Xuan said. "You can play with that stone as much as you want."

Qingyu jumped onto the bed and landed right in front of the moss-covered stone.

As Ye Xuan watched, his eyes widened.

A red rune appeared in front of Qingyu’s forehead, just like when she had activated something at the bottom of the abyssal pool.

"W-Wait... what are you—"

THUMP!

A burst of red qi energy exploded from the area.

The moss-covered stone transformed into a stone fragment that radiated a red aura with sparks of lightning flickering around it.

"W-What is that...? Is that an ancient treasure?!" Ye Xuan exclaimed in shock.

[Congratulations! You have given an item to your partner.]

[Item given: 1x Fragment of the Ancestral of the Seven Colored Lightning]

[Item returned: 100x Heavenly Lightning Essence]

[Multiplication Level: 1]

[Affection: 75/1000] [+25]

[Daily use of Infinite Return exhausted: 1/3]

Ye Xuan was completely stunned.

The moss-covered stone that everyone had called worthless trash was actually a fragment of the Ancestral of the Seven Colore Lightning-Flame.

If the VIPs didn’t notice it... how did Qingyu know?

Could this fragment be connected to Qingyu’s mysterious bloodline?

If so... who exactly is Ling Qingyu?