Everyone’s mouths went dry. Some had hoped beforehand that Lu Yun would auction off his weapons of war—or crystal cannons, as they were called—but no one had expected him to actually do it!

Here they were, ten of them on the auction block!

Apart from the Panorama Pavilion, the other twelve merchant guilds were at a loss as well. In their eyes, many things could be sold, such as cultivation methods and combat arts, but items like weapons of war should be off limits!

Unforeseen consequences would arise when these items freely circulated in the market, but Lu Yun didn’t seem to care. Although he wasn’t selling the most powerful crystal cannons in his inventory, these specimens still possessed great destructive power. Wasn’t he worried at all that the cannons could end up aimed at Dusk Province if they fell into enemy hands?

……

Bids were called all over the venue, quickly pushing the set of ten cannons beyond five hundred billion with no signs of stopping. The heavenly courts were among the most avid participants. They were going to raise the price so high that not even peak factions could hope to pay for it!

Weapons of war were exclusive to the heavenly courts of the twenty-three facets, empowering them to exert dominance over the factions under their rule. They stood to lose the most with the cannons being auctioned off.

When the cannon reached nine hundred billion premium crystals, many immortals from peak factions gave up vying for the set.

“A trillion,” sounded a voice familiar to Lu Yun’s ears. Eyebrow arched, he turned to the floating summit belonging to the Fangyang Nobles. The bidder was Fangyang Xing!

The man had ascended to immortality from the void realm, but hadn’t been able to undergo his tribulation while in the celestial master tomb. He represented the mysterious faction known as the Firmament Palace.

He was a stunning genius who’d sensed the existence of the void realm thirty thousand years ago. Not even a pause had marked his footsteps before he set foot onto the path and ultimately lost his life at the hands of a black long-haired monster. After his death, he’d joined the Firmament Palace and become a yin divine spirit.

Upon his return to the world of immortals, he was much more powerful than when he’d been in the celestial master tomb. The power of heaven and earth in the venue followed his words as he spoke, forming the character zhao for trillion in the air.

“The Fangyang Nobles sure are wealthy and aren’t shy about it,” echoed a chilling voice. “Indeed worthy of a primordial noble clan! Two trillion!”

Bam!

A shockwave shattered the zhao hovering in the air as a man rose to his feet on another floating summit: Jiangchen Xie. Emerging in opposition to Fangyang Xing, he resembled evil incarnate with faint white flames flickering around him.

They were geniuses from the same era. Although there was a generation between them, Jiangchen Xie refused to bow his head before Fangyang Xing.

Back in the underworld, Jiangchen Xie had almost died from a shattered dao heart at Lu Yun’s hand. But under the guidance of the Venerated Sacrosanct Demon Sovereign, he was able to start anew and cultivate the Hadal Bone Method, ascending to immortality from the void realm and becoming one of the greatest geniuses in the world, and a worthy rival of Fangyang Xing.

This doubling of the price put a frown on Fangyang youth’s face, while the other guests sucked in sharp breaths. It’d taken many rounds of bidding for the crystal cannons to be valued at a trillion crystals, but Jiangchen Xie had oh so casually added another trillion.

“Why don’t you let me have the cannons, senior brother Fangyang?” Jiangchen Xie smiled merrily at Fangyang Xing, his expression dripping with threatening spite.

“That’ll depend on how many crystals you have,” Fangyang Xing said with an impassive face. “Three trillion.”

Jiangchen Xie maintained his smile. “Four trillion.”

“Five.” Fangyang Xing clearly wasn’t going to let a junior of his time walk all over him. As a member of the Firmament Palace, immortal crystals were nothing but a meaningless number to him. Yin spirits didn’t need them for cultivation.

“Six trillion.” Jiangchen Xie frowned, surprised by Fangyang Xing’s stubbornness.

“Seven,” Fangyang Xing responded with the same deadpan look.

Immortals in the venue held their breath and waited for the clash between two geniuses from thirty thousand years ago to play out. However, no matter who won the bid, Lu Yun would be the greatest winner in the end.

“Eight trillion,” Jiangchen Xie declared, a vein bulging on his forehead.

“Junior brother, you may have the cannons, since you like them so much,” Fangyang Xing said with a faint smile.

Jiangchen Xie responded with a grin of his own. “You have my thanks, senior brother Fangyang.”

With a wave of his hand, he sent a storage treasure with eight trillion crystals to Wanfeng on the center island, seemingly very pleased with himself. In a quiet voice that just so happened to be audible to others, he murmured, “With these ten precious babies, the Truespirit court will be able to manufacture similar weapons as well.”

He shot Fangyang Xing a gloating smirk.

Fangyang Xing scowled, his brows tightly knit together. It wouldn’t be good for the Fangyangs if the Corpse Refiners learned the techniques to refine such crystal cannons as well.

“The next lot.” Wanfeng suddenly lifted her hand. “Another set of ten crystal cannons with a minimum price of fifty billion premium crystals.”

Stunned, Jiangchen Xie tasted blood at the back of his throat and demanded in disbelief, “Another set? Since when did these things become common cabbages sold in the street?”

“While there are cabbages in the world of immortals, they will never reach the price of eight trillion premium crystals.” Wanfeng smiled. “The bidding may begin.”

Jiangchen Xie turned green while Fangyang Xing frowned in bafflement, puzzling over what Lu Yun’s plan was. Anyone else would’ve kept the cannons under tight lock and key, lest others reverse-engineer the refining techniques, but Lu Yun was putting them up for sale!

And after selling ten, he put another ten on the block!

Fangyang Xing’s thoughts were interrupted by a noisy din of bids. He refrained from participating this time, and the ten cannons ended up going to Lazuli Major’s Mo Clan for nine hundred billion crystals.

Jiangchen Xie’s heart didn’t know whether it should bleed or stop beating altogether. He’d paid nearly ten times the price!

“Next lot, the third set of ten crystal cannons. The starting price is once again fifty billion crystals.”

Everyone lost their calm. What was Lu Yun thinking?! Weren’t crystal cannons Lu Yun’s secret weapons? Was he trying to make them a household staple?!

……

“Can’t help it, I need the immortal crystals...” Lu Yun seemed visibly troubled. “It’ll take too long for me to go to the Endless Desert to find the Ancient Tree of Life, so my only option is to lure it here.

“Immortal crystals, o immortal crystals. How lovely are thy sparkle.”