It had to be said that Chen Wentian's badge was special and entirely different from the ones given to the other auction attendees. Not everyone could get an audience with the Auction Master, a venerable Spirit Emperor, especially not a random Spirit Lord. But he was able to because he already had a unique status in the Golden Basin Auction House. It was all due to an incident that took place two weeks ago…
---
Chen Wentian stood in an underground chamber, dug out of the earth, just one meter below the surface. He was utilizing the soul and body of Red Sun Captain Wang Landi, a senior member of the Red Sun Gang. He was currently participating in an ambush. It was part of a plan he had concocted as soon as he had stepped foot onto the Martial Brilliance Continent.
The Red Sun Gang was a rogue entity, an immortal gang that roamed the land without regard laws of the land or human decency. They robbed, pillaged, and raped everywhere they went. They were led by the two bald fiends known as Immortal Red Dusk Wang Yipo and Immortal Red Dawn Wang Yibo.
These two had insatiable greed for women and wealth. It was this greed that Chen Wentian took advantage of to encourage them to commit to a risky ambush. Their target was an agent of the Golden Basin Auction House while that person was out in the provinces conducting business. Since the Grand Annual Auction was just around the corner, that agent was bound to be carrying a sizable amount of loot that would soon be sold.
Thus, the two immortals of Red Sun Gang and twenty of their strongest mortal fighters were currently hiding underground around a certain local immortal sect that the agent was scheduled to visit.
While Chen Wentian was minding his business, waiting for the time to pass by, an immortal aura swept over him.
"Wang Landi, is it time yet?" Immortal Red Dawn Wang Yibo said. "I'm bored out of my mind. I knew I should have brought a few women here."
This earned him a slap across the back of the head from his brother.
"Idiot, who's going to look after them when we get into a fight." Immortal Red Dusk Wang Yipo said, "Can't you keep it in your pants for a few hours? You should learn from your older brother; you can savor a woman's beauty without ruining them immediately. Let them serve you wine, dance for you, and build some intimacy with them first. Then, when you finally pluck their fruit, it will taste many times better."
"Haha, don't spout excuses just because you have difficulty getting it up. What bullshit. The best way to savor a beauty is by spreading their legs! And, when did you become my older brother?"
"You! I was born one minute before you!"
"Says who!"
"Mama told me before she passed!"
"Liar! She said that to me!"
Chen Wentian coughed lightly. The underground hiding hole was already small. It wouldn't be able to withstand two immortals brawling.
"What?"
"What!"
Both immortals turned to Chen Wentian with fire in their eyes.
"My lords," Chen Wentian said, unfazed by their pressure, "I received a signal from my spy within the sect, the agent has arrived. Give it a few more minutes and we should get into position."
The immortal sect the auction house agent was visiting was known as the Mount Brilliance School. It was located at the foot of a stratovolcano that was its namesake. This lonely volcanic mountain jutted out from the surrounding countryside like a sore thumb. Its peak stood tall amongst the clouds, clad in thick glaciers year-round.
The school had no specific specialty. Some practiced flame arts and some practiced sword arts. Others focused on ice arts or even the cultivation of herbs and flowers. There was nothing here that would draw an agent from such a prestigious power as the Golden Basin Auction House, except for a rare and heavenly treasure.
Chen Wentian had discovered this bit of information by accident. Wang Landi, the living soul he had taken over, was a trickster and spy by trade. He had already been working on infiltrating the Golden Basin Auction House when Chen Wentian took over which had saved him a lot of time and effort.
With Chen Wentian's abilities and Wang Landi's established contacts, aliases, and assets, it was possible to intercept a small number of messages between various departments of the auction house. This led him to the Mount Brilliance School which had requested an audience with an agent to sell a wildly expensive and also particularly sensitive item. This item also could not be easily transported which is why the agent had to come in person to take a look.
And since Chen Wentian was now involved, it was relatively easy for him to take over another living soul within the school who was a senior disciple…
---
Chen Wentian looked up at the sky as a gentle wave of immortal energy swept down.
"Master, our honored guest has finally arrived."
He was within the living soul of Huang Ducai, an unremarkable man in his late forties. His master was Immortal Bleeding Fist Luo Ye, the sect master of the Mount Brilliance School, who was already over two hundred years old.
"Hoh… finally." The elderly sect master beside him answered, his voice wispy like the wind. "Our Mount Brilliance School will finally have a chance to shine across the continent!"
A few moments later, a figure in ostentatious golden robes landed before them with a small gust of wind. The immortal was relatively youthful, with a face that was around the same age Huang Ducai. Yet one was a powerful immortal agent of the Golden Basin Auction House while the other was a useless disciple of an insignificant sect.
"Welcome to the Mount Brilliance School, I am Immortal Bleeding Fist Luo Ye." The elder immortal said with a bow. His lips quivered slightly and his eyes wavered, not daring to look up. The difference between the two immortals was far beyond their comparable cultivation.
"Lord Luo is too courteous. How can I as a junior receive such a bow from a senior such as yourself?" The other immortal said with a chuckle and helped Luo Ye up, "I am Immortal Soaring Mist Xu Kaicheng, buying agent for the Golden Basin Auction House."
"Well met. Well met." Luo Ye mumbled. He gestured to the people behind him, "These are my senior disciples."
"Greetings, Lord Xu!"
"Greetings, Lord Xu!"
Xu Kaicheng barely glanced at them, still focused on Luo Ye with an air of anticipation.
Luo Ye led his guest inside the sect building and into a secluded sitting room. They fumbled through some more formalities and barely got through pouring the tea before Xu Kaicheng finally lost his patience.
"Senior Luo, how about we get to business first? If what you having is truly amazing as you claim, there will be plenty of time for tea and banquets after, I promise."
"Hoh… an energetic youth, alright. Where to begin…" Luo Ye mumbled as he retold the tale.
The Mount Brilliance School was situated at the foot of their namesake, Mount Brilliance. It was an immortal mountain that contained several profound and immortal sources of spiritual energy. The magma chamber of the volcano was a source of fire-attribute spiritual energy. The thick arctic glaciers that covered most of the peak were a source of ice-attribute spiritual energy. As a result, the land around it was teeming with life and an excellent place for ordinary cultivators.
Although it was an immortal mountain, nothing remarkable happened in the one-hundred-year history of the Mount Brilliance School. Immortal Bleeding Fist Luo Ye had high hopes for the place when he first arrived but he found nothing of interest around the mountain. Mount Brilliance was supposed to be a volcano but it never erupted once in all the times he had resided next to it.
That all changed a few months ago. The mountain rumbled for several days straight and spewed out black smoke. There was no catastrophic eruption but the disciples had found something. A crack had formed in the glacier, leading them down into the bowls of the mountain for the first time. There, they found a small shrub with a solitary flower bulb that was beginning to bloom.
"What?" Xu Kaicheng shouted, leaping to his feet.
Spiritual energy billowed from his body in great waves. His eyes flashed with excitement.
"A flower! Was it pink? How many petals did it have? Has it bloomed already?" He blurted.
Luo Ye was taken aback for a second but quickly recovered, "Yes, it was pink, with seven petals. It still has not fully bloomed though it is getting close. It is about the size of my palm. Lord Xu, do you happen to know of this flower?"
Xu Kaicheng breathed heavily for a while before bursting out in laughter, "Hahaha! It's a Frostfire Flower! A Frostfire Flower, I'm sure of it! It only grows in areas with a perfect harmony of ice and fire spiritual energies. I thought all wild Frostfire Flowers had been eradicated by the Frostfire Nation but it seems they actually missed one! Hahaha! Lord Luo, you and I are going to be very rich people soon!"
"Really…"
Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions struck without warning.
"We're under attack!"
"Help!"
Screams rang out all over the sect.
---
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