Chapter 308: That Cauldron, That Song, That Era…
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As Su Ming stood on the balcony, a smile appeared on his lips when he heard those words. He brought out the beast skin, and with one flick of his wrist, the beast skin flew towards that old man. Once he caught it, he opened it, and his expression instantly turned odd the moment he read the contents.
Zi Shan stood by Su Ming’s with eyes burning in anger. She did not think he would be this shameless. They had originally agreed that he would only buy one item, but she did not expect him to do this. Indeed, she had not exactly handled things tactfully just now, but she did not expect that this sort of change would happen.
"That beast skin is very fragile. Clan Elder Feng, please be gentle when you handle it, if it gets destroyed, it won’t do us good." Su Ming ignored Zi Shan’s glare and instead spoke languidly as he looked at the blue-haired old man.
The blue-haired old man fell silent. He lifted his eyes from the beast skin and a hesitant look appeared on his face.
The change in his expression, Su Ming’s words, and the ridiculous bid of 100,000,000 immediately caught all the people’s attention and stirred up their curiosity. Discussions rose into the air, and those sounds gradually grew in volume until they eventually turned into a buzzing.
"Give it to him! I’ll explain what’s going on once I return to the clan!"
When the buzzing sounds caused by the discussions grew so loud that it seemed like the people’s interest towards this matter had surpassed that towards the auction, a raspy and sullen voice suddenly came from the eighth room.
A glint appeared in the blue-haired old man’s eyes. The beast skin in his hands was immediately torn to dust, and at the same time, his voice reverberated through the area.
"This item now belongs to you! Now, we will move on to the next item…"
But before he could finish speaking, Su Ming suddenly spoke, causing his voice to appear almost at the same time as the old man’s voice.
"Wait. Since this thing now belongs to me, then I’d like to ask you to help me handle it. I want you to put it up for auction."
The old man lifted his head once again and stared at Su Ming. Hostility appeared in his eyes.
"This goes against the rules, I won’t allow it!"
"I hereby put this item up for auction. The one who offers the highest price will get it. Let’s put the starting bid at… 5,000,000 stone coins, shall we? I’ll take whatever I can get, so, my fellow disciples, I hope you’ll place your bids."
When the old man spoke, his voice overlapped with Su Ming’s voice at the same time once again in the auction hall.
Laughter immediately spread through the auction hall. All those who could come to the auction were people of status in the land of Freezing Sky. If they were not disciples from Freezing Sky Clan, then they would be powerful Berserkers from nearby tribes. It was only natural that they could easily decide on who they wanted to side with between Western Sea Clan and Su Ming.
It was especially so since that Sky Shaman Spear was incredibly attractive to a lot of people there. The people who had previously placed their bids had originally thought that they would not be able to get it and were either sighing in pity or harboring other thoughts within their hearts when they heard Su Ming’s words. They were immediately tempted.
"6,000,000!"
"7,000,000!"
"8,000,000!"
"10,000,000!" They reached that price once again, but this time, the person who placed the bid was not from the third room, but from the emaciated old man from the eighth room.
A smile appeared on Su Ming’s lips. He cast a glance at Zi Shan, who was burning with anger as she glared at him coldly from his side.
Su Ming had put up with the woman’s multiple provocations when she humiliated Zi Che and wanted to cause strife between him and Tian Lan Meng. Truth be told, Su Ming would even go so far as to say that he could already imagine incidents like these happening again in the future.
"You’re despicable!"
Zi Shan’s chest heaved in anger. She looked so mad that it seemed as if she wanted to just jump on Su Ming and tear him to shreds.
Within the third room was the young man with a black dragon embroidered on his robes, and he also happened to be the person who had initially placed the bid of 10,000,000 stone coins on the spear. At that moment, he sat in the room with a smile on his face.
"That Su Ming is very interesting."
Standing beside the young man was the old man from Heaven Gate. That old man shook his head with a wry smile on his lips, but he did not speak.
"20,000,000!" The young man lifted his wine cup and took two sips from it before he spoke.
His words traveled out of the room and echoed in the air of the auction hall, stirring up another wave of shock among the people. Up till now, while not many treasures had been brought out in the auction, the people there had pushed the atmosphere up to the climax.
"21,000,000!" After a short period of silence, a voice appeared once again from the eighth room.
"30,000,000!" The young man spoke unhurriedly from the third room. A look of interest appeared on his face. Suddenly, a slight hint of admiration grew within him towards Su Ming.
"31,000,000!!" That hoarse voice from the eighth room only appeared once again after a while.
"39,000,000." This time, the person who placed the bid was not the young man from the third room, but one from the empty spot in the corner of the auction hall where Tian Lan Meng was.
Tian Lan Meng twirled a lock of her hair by her ear with a calm expression and spoke gently.
The blue-haired old man standing on the stone pillar at the center of the auction had an incredibly sullen expression on his face. He originally wanted to stop this, but when Clan Elder Hai from the eighth room joined the bidding, that which was unreasonable had turned into something reasonable.
He also knew that Clan Elder Hai had to join in the bidding. It could even be said that he wanted Su Ming to hold that auction. If that did not happen, then he would be unable to explain himself once he returned to the clan.
Unless he could truly bring out 100,000,000 stone coins and give it to the clan, then once his adversaries started interfering with him trying to clear things up, this matter would only continue getting worse.
"40,000,000!" The voice that appeared from the eighth room burned with anger as it reverberated through the area.
Tian Lan Meng smiled softly and no longer placed any more bids.
As for the young man in the third room, he placed his wine cup down, thought for a moment, before he shook his head with a smile and decided not to place any more bids as well.
"Since you offered that price, then you must give the money to the owner of the spear. If that was a false bid, then you will have to be punished as well."
The young man might not have continued placing bids, but he did not mind using those words to get acquainted with Su Ming. Besides, it was not as if he was worried about one Clan Elder in Western Sea Clan either.
Su Ming cast a glance at the third room and made a mental note about that voice. Soon, someone knocked on the door. Once Zi Che opened it, he brought back a storage bag and handed it to Su Ming calmly.
Su Ming took the bag and scanned it with his divine sense. Once he did so, he put it away. Then as if he was spurred on by the well of emotions stirring within him, he spoke languidly, as if talking to himself, but at the same time, seemed to also be talking to Zi Shan.
"With this amount of money, I can join in the bid for every single item now. I don’t have to be like before and not dare to place any bids because I don’t have any coins in my pocket."
"I’ve never seen someone as shameless as you! Su Ming, you’re shameless! You’re despicable!"
Zi Shan was so angry that her face had turned white. She glared at Su Ming, then stormed out of the room in a rage, though her rage only added extra charm to her alluring body.
Zi Che cast a glance at the departing Zi Shan from the corner of his eyes, then shook his head and averted his gaze. Within his heart, he thanked the heavens that Su Ming’s second senior brother was not there. If he was, then Zi Shan would truly come to understand that there was someone who was even more shameless than Su Ming.
If Hu Zi was here, then Zi Shan would also be driven insane with the realization of just what sort of life she would have to face during her remaining stay in the land of Freezing Sky…
She was lucky that she met Su Ming alone.
The disturbance during the auction died down once the bid arrived at an amount of 40,000,000 stone coins. The blue-haired old man had a sullen look on his face, but he had to continue hosting the auction. He brought out some of the remaining items and tried to redirect the people’s attention back towards him, allowing the auction to get back on track.
When the sky started to darken and the first day of the auction that would be held for several days was about to end, the auction committee brought out the last item to be sold on that day, and the atmosphere within the auction gradually heated up once again.
"The Great Yu Dynasty is the sacred land for us in the Berserker Tribe. The Great Barren Cauldron is the country’s sacred item. It can even be considered as a Berserker tribal item! During that era, when the Berserker Tribe was at its most glorious age, the cauldron was considered the most supreme of all items. All treasures that were created in the form of a cauldron were rare, because all of them contained power so incredible they could cause the heavens to tremble!
"Now, we do not know whether the Great Yu Dynasty still exists… neither do we know where our tribal item, the Great Barren Cauldron, was located… In fact, even if we, their descendents, created other items in the shape of the cauldron, it’d be difficult for us to escape bringing destruction on our heads when we create a cauldron...
"We all know that when a cauldron is created, the moment its form appears, a destructive force will manifest, and it is so devastating that even a powerful Berserker in the Berserker Soul Realm cannot endure the blast…
"Even during that ancient age, there was only a small handful of cauldrons and any treasures that were made in the cauldron’s shape that existed, and now, I’m about to bring out one of them!
"This is a treasure that is made in the form of a cauldron, and its seal still remains even now. Over the years, it has been buried in a corner of earth until it was discovered by the head preceptor of Western Sea Clan… There should be something sealed within the cauldron, but it cannot be opened!
"Those of us in Western Sea Clan have examined it for a long time, but we cannot open it. Now, we brought it here to be auctioned off to those in the Great Tribe of Freezing Sky. Only those chosen by fate can open it. This item is the treasure of the Berserker Tribe. It doesn’t belong to any tribe or any clan… My fellow tribesmen in the land of Freezing Sky, I hope that someone among you can obtain this!"
The old man’s voice grew increasingly louder until it reached a volume so great that it had practically turned into a thunderous rumble reverberating through the hall. Behind him, the nine sea dragons swam about and disappeared into the air, but soon, they appeared once again, and when they did, they carried a gigantic cauldron about 1,000 feet in size on their bodies as they slowly swam out of the distortions.
The cauldron was so huge that when it appeared an incredibly oppressive feeling was formed. While the people were not as small as ants compared to the cauldron, they were still nothing before it.
The nine mermaids surrounded the cauldron and their singing voices echoed in the air, adding a solemn feeling to the cauldron along with that oppressive air it brought with it, because the song the nine mermaids sang was the God of Berserkers Song the first God of Berserkers created!
"The place where I was born still did things according to the laws of the universe. After I was born, the Berserkers thrived… If the heavens have eyes, then let them watch the Berserkers running wild on the lands for eternity. If the gods have spirits, then I will become the King of the Berserker Tribe who rules over the gods themselves!
"...If the heavens do not dare open their eyes, then I will seal the heavens with the eight cauldrons. If the gods disobey me, I will use the cauldrons to destroy the gods and reestablish the position of the blood descendants of Berserkers all across the universe!"
As the voices of the mermaids echoed in the air, the auction hall was enveloped in a solemn atmosphere. Su Ming stood on the balcony and the God of Berserkers Song echoed in his ears. He could feel the arrogance of the God of Berserkers seeping out of the song itself, could hear the respect coming from all the living in the world from the lyrics.
He could even hear the brazenness and boldness coming from the declaration about resealing the world and reestablishing the blood descendants of Berserkers as the rulers of the land!
"That was during the most prosperous age of the Berserker Tribe… when an innumerable amount of Berserkers followed their king, their God of Berserkers, and fought against the heavens…" Su Ming mumbled. Fascination appeared in his eyes.
The moment the mermaids’ lingering voices started fading, the blue-haired old man suddenly spoke up!
"The starting bid for this cauldron is 10,000,000… you may place your bids now!"