"Are you sure this was the correct move?"
Dian Mo's voice resounded in Cao Yun's mind. Even now, it was very faint and weak. If someone else had heard this voice, they would have never believed that it used to be a spirit created by Demon God Da Mo.
"Why are you deliberately seeking conflict with that woman? Aren't you letting your emotions take over?"
To be fair, Cao Yun also wondered the same thing from time to time. Since he was practicing the blood cultivation of asura, losing control of his emotions was a real threat. But, although he had to admit that his emotions were of course influencing him, his actions were still rational. At the very least, they appeared rational to him knowing what he knew. Everything made sense when he was looking at the bigger picture. Obviously there was danger in his plan, but what he wanted to accomplish in as little time as possible could not be risk-free. And right now, antagonizing this Weiji Nian was the least risky thing he had in mind.
"This woman's husband is working for City Lord Sihe. Although she repulses me, I didn't choose to insult her just to vent my anger. I can already see it in several people among the crowd. Rumors of my falling out with City Lord Sihe will spread like wildfire without having to do anything about it. When I approach Boss Gui later on, this will be important. Besides, as soon as I am working under Boss Gui, killing me openly will be even more difficult. Of course, if they learn that I am no Accomplished Demon, this would be a different matter completely."
"Boy, as much as you argue about it, I can feel your Po acting up. You should be extremely careful. After all, we don't even know who invented 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks'. And we don't know if anyone has ever reached the pinnacle with it. Besides, you're also using blood and Qi cultivation systems at the same time. I'm not saying that it's wrong, but this is uncharted territory."
"You're afraid I'll develop an inner demon?"
"I'm afraid you'll become one..."
Dian Mo's last words shook the young human a bit. But he had taken upon himself to check his own mind and soul frequently. He was no monk or saint who wasn't affected by neither this material world nor his own emotions. However, he knew that he was no beast either. Besides, the mere fact that he was careful about such things proved to him at the very least that he was not going down the wrong path. Still, he listened to Dian Mo's advice. After all, he was the only other being who could see Cao Yun's mind and soul from within.
Now that the girl Meiyue had been sold, she was taken off the stage. Cao Yun would get to her later on and he already knew how he would handle it. What he wasn't too sure about was whether he should bring Xixue with him or not. Despite the time spent with her, he was seeing her under a new light now. She wasn't an emotionless secretary. Because of his past, Cao Yun had obviously a soft spot for siblings, especially sisters. He knew this could become a weakness and it could be exploited against him. But in this case, he was certain that Xixue's tears had been genuine. But he still decided that he should reunite her with her cousin behind closed doors, for both women's sake.
In the crowd, there was a deathly silence as everyone was too afraid to offend anyone. And in the balconies, apart from Sister Lisha and Miss Wo, everyone was also worried about the situation. They simply couldn't afford to offend Weiji Nian in any way. At the same time, they couldn't side with her openly as it would offend Mo Yun and maybe also Boss Gui who was ruling this city. In fact, even the auction hall's leader was in a pinch as he didn't know how to keep going.
Before anyone else could react, Sister Lisha spoke.
"Let's not muddy the Blood. Brother Mo, you are indeed ruthless with your words and your money. But Sister Weiji is no less impressive for going against such a formidable opponent. Losing and winning are two necessary sides of the same coin we call life. While victory is sweet, can't it also be deadly? While defeat is bitter, isn't it also useful? Victory and defeat are two liars. The wise one can see through their allures and perceive his own truth through the latter's smile and the former's frown."
Sister Lisha's words were spoken very calmly. In them, Cao Yun and any Accomplished Demon really could tell that she was putting some intent. The crowd regained a bit of life as if the events had happened in some distant past that didn't bother them anymore. Even Weiji Nian's face became a bit less red. Even though she had some rivals, namely Boss Gui and her followers, she had never been insulted in public. Worse than that, Cao Yun had also insulted her son. One way or another, she will have him suffer for his insults. But now was not the proper time or place.
"Sister Lisha is quite wise. We could study your words for decades before understanding the meaning you put behind them."
Weiji Nian's words were said without any ridicule or second reading. However, a few demons in the audience were able to tell that she had probably not really understood neither what she had said herself nor what Sister Lisha had truly meant. That woman really was pathetic... That was such a shame that she had an uncle to protect her. Unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could do about that.
Then, the final item in the auction was brought on stage. At first glance this wasn't anything impressive. However, Cao Yun was immediately stunned by it, and so was Dian Mo. It was difficult to tell which of the two of them was the most speechless. Luckily, the young man was able to hide it perfectly. And this time, it seemed as though Sister Lisha's senses were not on him. She too was focused on the piece of paper that had been brought on stage just now.
Between two beautiful attendants, a man and another woman, presented on a small pedestal, there was a long parchment like piece of paper. On it were some fine examples of calligraphy. Although the crowd had to admit that the art was rather good, it didn't hold up when compared to some other pieces sold beforehand. Obviously, everyone was wondering what was going on. It couldn't really be the last item of the auction. There was no way it would go for a very high price. In fact, some people would have left already if they didn't fear offending the auction hall and the rich Accomplished Demons in the balconies.
Sensing that the crowd was full of doubts, the auction hall's leader was quite satisfied. Now, his effect would be perfect.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this unimpressive looking piece is a rarity that you will only see once in your entire lifetime. This is an original work by Demon God Da Mo's personal aide, Holy Pang Yu. It is more than forty thousand years old. Despite its age, it has remained in perfect condition. The paper itself has been made from Saint Wallowing Moth's silk threads. The ink is mainly made of Deafening Thunderous Liger's blood essence, but there are also traces of demon blood in it. Although the analysis can't tell for sure whether this was Holy Pang Yun's blood, it certainly belonged to a Reborn Demon.
"Although we have had some trouble translating the entire thing, this is mostly a Four-Four Aphorism poem written after some great victory. Unfortunately, we won't be able to discern anymore than that. However, we are absolutely certain of its origin and its authenticity. Our bid will begin at thirty Heidai coin."
Each word of the auction hall's leader was enough to make the entire audience gasp, except for two people, Sister Lisha and Cao Yun.
In fact, in Cao Yun's mind, this was something else entirely which was making him speechless. On this parchment, there were obviously Moshenhua and ancient demon tongues written in a very elegant way. However, there were also a few characters no one in the audience could recognize. Some simply thought they were so stylized and ancient that they simply didn't recognize obscure characters of their own language. A few even entertained the possibility that those were Insight Writings. Only Cao Yun had seen through them, those were Antique Sixian characters. In other words, whoever had written this had had access to Cleansed Asura's language somehow.
As soon as the parchment had appeared, Cao Yun had begun to cross-reference it with everything he knew from Cleansed Asura's memory. Even with his mind cultivation, it would take a very long time to do so. But this might be a great opportunity for him to speed up his translation of the materials. Right now, his focus was on 'Death Verses' but if he could translate anything at all, it would help him in the long run. Moreover, he learned something else from Dian Mo.
"Boy, this man is absolutely wrong. I've never seen this handwriting before. This isn't some Holy Pang Yu's work. Holy Pang Yu... What has this moron done to receive such a title...? Anyway, this is someone else's handwriting. Besides, there has to be more to the text than just a poem. Besides, the Four-Four Aphorism style didn't exist while Pang Yu was alive. This idiot on stage doesn't know his history right. And I can assure you Demon God Da Mo wouldn't have written such a weak poem. The structure is almost nonexistent and it barely adheres to the rules of the period. Nowadays, you're a bit lax when it came to the rules. But back then, demons would have adhered to them more strictly."
Although Dian Mo's analysis was spot-on, Cao Yun didn't care too much as he already knew who had written this text. Dian Mo had not noticed it because he had not studied it himself. But after spending so much time working on 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', there was absolutely no doubt in Cao Yun's mind. This calligraphy was the work of his mind cultivation's method. There were great differences but they couldn't fool Cao Yun's eyes. In fact, he was also feeling a very deep familiarity with the characters in front of him.
If this was the handiwork of the writer, it could be extremely useful. Not only were the characters themselves interesting, but the blood used in the ink was also priceless. Thankfully, no one else seemed to have had notice the true nature of this piece. After all, they didn't even know about the 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks'. Looking all around the room, Cao Yun detected a lot of enthusiasm, but nothing to indicate they were seeing something more than a great historical piece of art. That was until his eyes met Sister Lisha's.
At that moment, the two of them realized that they both knew this piece was much more precious than what had been said. However, neither of them could them how much the other one truly knew. Since the Sisters of the Abyss were know to be the protectors of Blood, it was possible Sister Lisha had perceived something in the ink. Or maybe she knew the real meaning behind those characters. That was unlikely since Cao Yun himself wasn't too sure. His best guess was that they were talking about the Turbid Demons in some way. After all, there were exactly seven characters. Maybe it was a first draft of the mind cultivation manual. Or maybe it was something to complement it.
No matter what the truth was, Cao Yun had to have this piece. And apparently, Sister Lashi was of the same mind.
While the auction started, the two of them kept looking at each other, trying to read what they truly knew. Try as they might, they simply couldn't pierce through their intent. And while they were engaged in that exchange, the bid was slowly rising. In less than half an hour, it had gotten to 92 Heidai coins. This was obviously a lot. In fact, some people had clearly exceeded their deposit but the auction hall knew they could pay. They had no reason to stop them from giving all their money away.
Finally, when the bids were calming down, Sister Lisha spoke first.
"100 Heidai Coins!"
Everyone looked at her a bit dumbfounded. If she had bid first, she probably wouldn't have had to rise the bid so much. After all, just out of respect for the Sisters of the Abyss, most bidders would have stopped bidding. In fact, they would have known that they had no chance of outbidding Sister Lisha so they had nothing to gain by going up against her. However, what they saw was that Sister Lisha was focused on Mo Yun as if he was her rival in this bid, but surely...
"110 Heidai Coins!"
The uproar was far superior to what had happened when Cao Yun had gone against Weiji Nian. Some were even afraid that his words would be as ruthless and insulting. Disrespecting the Sisters of the Abyss was a death sentence, even Lord Wanghuo would never do such a thing in public. Thus, Weiji Nian was quite pleased. She was looking forward to this tiny man making such a mistake. Although she would have preferred to kill him herself, this would still be acceptable.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, there were no bad words exchanged between them. Even now, they were still studying each other, trying to find out what they had discerned in this calligraphy. Each one was wondering if they had missed something the other had not. And the price the other party was willing to go to would reveal something...
"125 Heidai Coins!"
"150 Heidai Coins!"
"160 Heidai Coins!"
...
By adding everything that had been sold today, the sum would reach around 500 Heidai Coins. This piece of calligraphy alone might be worth more than anything else already sold...
"280 Heidai Coins!"