Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“Many thanks, many thanks! Well, please enjoy the auction, and feel free to bid on any item that attracts your attention. I’ll be just outside; call for me if you need anything.”

Accepting the godstone, the disciple offered a salute and then left them in the silence they obviously desired.

Once outside, he smiled broadly as he examined the godstone. Meanwhile, a robed figure approached and, seeing the look on his face, asked, “What’s that in your hand, Yu Guo?”

“What?” Yu Guo said. Looking up, he suddenly said, “Oh, it's you, Eighth Elder!” He gave a deep bow. “The customers in this private room tipped me with two godstones.”

“Let me see them,” Eighth Elder said. Yu Guo didn’t dare to object, and quickly handed over the two bean-sized godstones, keeping his head down.

This Eighth Elder was a powerfully built old man, clad in a voluminous robe. His ruddy face was beardless, and he had a pair of eagle eyes that seemed capable of seeing anything and everything. Upon examining the two godstones, his eyes widened. “Amazing craftsmanship. And the vital power inside is incredible. I wonder which mine produced quality stones like this. It’s as strong as an ordinary godstone the size of a person, which means it’s perfect for use in spell formations. What kind of an individual would give something as precious as this as a reward to an ordinary disciple?”

“Elder,” Yu Guo replied quickly, “they’re aristocratic disciples here to participate in the Bloodgore Trials.”

Eighth Elder returned the two godstones to Yu Guo. “I recognize the look on your face. You thought I was going to keep the godstones, didn’t you?”

“I wouldn't dare to think that, not ever!” Yu Guo replied, beads of sweat visible on his forehead. “How could I possibly think something like that? If you want them, Elder, just take them.”

Eighth Elder snorted. “I don’t just want one or two. I want a lot! Stones of that quality are rare, and given how bad the weather has been, we need high-quality fuel for the spell formations. Take me in to see these people, I want to discuss business. If I can get a large quantity of those godstones from them, I’ll count it as service on your part. You’ll definitely get a reward from headquarters.”

“Many thanks, Elder!” Yu Guo said. Heart pounding with anticipation, he led the way into the room.

Inside, Yang Qi and his companions were watching the activity on the auction floor. A host of magical treasures were visible on the auction stage, although all of them were covered with red cloth that made it impossible to lay eyes on the actual items. Yang Qi wasn’t feeling inclined to use his Lord's Eye to identify the items. Considering he had the God Legion Seal, ordinary magical treasures didn’t interest him much, with the exception being the items of the seventy-two monarchs.

If any of those items showed up, he would definitely get them for his immortal-slaying clone.

“This is our first time attending an auction in the god world,” the Shepherd said via thought projection. “I wonder what kind of things we’ll see.”

Yang Qi suddenly waved his hand. “Someone's coming in.”

Only about ten breaths of time later, the door opened, and Yu Guo appeared, leading Eighth Elder. “This is Eighth Elder of the Primeval Pavilion,” he announced. “He’s here to talk with you about a business deal.”

“Business?” Yang Qi said. Looking at Eighth Elder, he saw that he was a Quasi-God. Although he had a high cultivation base, he wasn’t anyone Yang Qi needed to be worried about. “Eighth Elder, might I respectfully ask for your name? And could it be that you’re here to ask about my godstones?”

“That’s right, I’m here about the godstones,” Eighth Elder said. “My surname is Xu and my given name is Huadong. However, I’d prefer if you just call me Eighth Elder. I'm a member of the Primeval Pavilion, and Eighth Elder is what people call me.”

“That’s fine,” Yang Qi said. “Names are just ways to identify people, after all. Eighth Elder, could it be that you and the Primeval Pavilion are interested in my godstones?”

“The quality of those stones is incredible,” Eighth Elder said. “I’ll take however many you can offer. The higher the quality, the better.”

“And what might the Primeval Pavilion be offering in return? Godnotes?” Yang Qi shook his head. “Godnotes are amazing things, but I have plenty of them on hand. As you probably know, I'm preparing to participate in the Bloodgore Trials, and I want to be completely prepared. One mistake could lead to death. If your Primeval Pavilion has anything that could help with the Bloodgore Trials, or perhaps items which can help with godly ascension, then I’d be more than happy to work out a deal."

Eighth Elder laughed heartily. “You certainly set the mark high, Brother! It's not as though godly ascension is a simple matter. If we had ways to achieve that so easily, I would already be a god. That said, I can definitely get you magical treasures to make you stronger. Such things are expensive, though, too much to hand over for only a few godstones. We sell things like that for godnotes.”

“Oh?” Yang Qi said with a smile. “If godstones won't work, what about this?”

He extended his hand and something like fragments of starlight appeared, which floated in the direction of Eighth Elder.

Eighth Elder reached out, using his godpower to form an enormous hand to grab it. Still, he was physically shaken. ‘This guy’s energy arts seem as deep as the ocean. Just a casual movement from him nearly paralyzed me. I didn't even realize there were Quasi-Gods as powerful as this!’

Eighth Elder was immediately struck by the realization that there was no way he could fight Yang Qi. As such, he didn’t even consider treating Yang Qi as an enemy. They were just too far apart in power.

And because of that, he also didn’t consider resorting to any trickery.

“Eighth Elder, why don’t you appraise that godsand I just sent you?” Yang Qi said. From the expression he had just observed on Eighth Elder’s face, he could tell that he had been shaken to the core, removing any treacherous thoughts he might have harbored.

“Godsand?” Eighth Elder quickly looked down at his hand and saw that there were three grains of godsand, all the size of sesame seeds. Despite their size, they were immensely heavy and radiated sun-like brightness. They were clearly a hundred times as powerful as the godstones he had seen earlier, and just as valuable as an entire storehouse full of regular stones.

“Dear lord...” Eighth Elder said, visibly shocked. “Is this really the product of an ore? It must have taken millions upon millions of years to compress it down to this level. How old is it?”

“Well, what do you think? That godsand can operate some powerful god items. Just imagine how easy it would be to deal with the weather if you used it in some of your spell formations.” Yang Qi had already been in the god world for the better part of a year. Although much of that time had been spent flying over the ocean, he was still becoming more familiar with his surroundings. He understood many of the mysteries of the god world, for instance, how despite the fact that godstones were considered wealth to ordinary people, they were also used to operate spell formations.

Without godstones to power the formations, life in the god world would ultimately be impossible.

“How many grains of godsand do you have?” Eighth Elder asked, his heart pounding in his chest. After all, the power he could get from sand like this would definitely be enough to boost his cultivation base.

If nothing else, they could be used to power spell formations that would be particularly helpful in cultivation. And if he could push his godpower high enough, he might be able to gain enlightenment of godly ascension.

There were plenty of spell formations in the god world, but not necessarily the energy sources to power them. There were plenty of ordinary godstones, but they could only be used to power ordinary formations. High-level formations required high-level godstones. Unfortunately, high-level godstones took a lot of time to form. They needed to be compacted by the earth's crust for hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions of years. And after the destruction that had been unleashed in ancient times, such stones were very rare.

Because of that, high-level godstones were very valuable. And Yang Qi’s godsand was basically an extremely high-level type of godstone.

“I don’t have much of that type of godsand on me,” Yang Qi said. “But if you want more, I can get it. As long as you can pay for it. Right now, I'm not interested in magical treasures or medicinal pills. I'm very close to reaching godly ascension on my own, as I'm sure you can sense.” When Yang Qi spoke, his words fairly thrummed with indisputable confidence.

There actually wasn’t a need for him to even explain, as Eighth Elder could sense his terrifying cultivation base. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if he became a god right here and now. And obviously, it made no sense to offend people like that.

Furthermore, Eighth Elder was one hundred percent sure that this person would end up as an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment, which would make him extremely important. And that was the type of person to recruit, not plot against.

“Well, Brother, you might not need medicinal pills or magical treasures, but what about your companions? We’ve prepared especially to do business with people attending the Bloodgore Trials, and have brought some magical flags here for just that purpose. I think they might be of interest to you.”

“What do you mean ‘magical flags’?” Yang Qi asked quietly.

“They can help you gather immense godpower, and ultimately, reach godly ascension.” Waving his hand, he said, “Go bring in a set of the flags.”

“Yes sir!” Yu Guo said, hurrying away. A moment later he returned with two other disciples, bearing an enormous chest between them. It was made from godsteel and secured with an enormous lock that Eighth Elder opened with a silver key.

Inside were ten magical flags.

Although it was impossible to tell what they were made from, they were spectacularly beautiful.

“These are not intended to be used in fighting,” Eighth Elder explained, “but to make a formation for cultivation. They’re Ten Directions God Convergence Flags. With high-quality godstones to power the formation they create, your godpower will soar. If you couldn’t normally push your godpower to the limit, you could definitely do so with these flags.”