Chapter 1833: A Lion's Open Mouth
In the blink of an eye, countless thoughts raced through Zhang Ruochen's mind.
However, there was one thing he couldn't figure out. Since the "Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram" was meant to lure Xie Canghai, why didn't Jiang Yunchong choose to trade with Xie Canghai instead of setting his sights on the Annihilation God Cross Shield?
Could it be...
That the seller wasn't the Tianjue Pavilion at all, but someone else entirely?
Zhang Ruochen had many questions, but he couldn't ask them immediately, worried about being eavesdropped on by Divine Cliff Elder's powerful spiritual power. For now, he could only choose to trust Jiang Yunchong.
From the private room on the west side of the fifth floor, wisps of dazzling multicolored light seeped out, enveloping the Annihilation God Cross.
Then, the Annihilation God Cross transformed into a speck of light and was taken away.
"What formidable skill. It seems that seller is also a terrifyingly strong expert," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
A storage bag flew out from the private room on the west side of the fifth floor and landed in Jiang Yunchong's hand.
"Pavilion Master Jiang, a pleasure doing business. Next time I have a treasure, I'll still bring it to the Tianjue Pavilion for auction," the seller said.
The voice was quite hoarse, growing more distant and ethereal. The mysterious seller who had auctioned the "Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram" had clearly already left the Tianjue Pavilion.
Jueyan Fox wanted to give chase, but Divine Cliff Elder stopped him.
Divine Cliff Elder's expression was stern. "You're no match for him."
"The Annihilation God Cross Shield is an ancestral artifact of the Undying Blood Clan, with immense power. Gods have been nailed to death on it before. Are we really going to let such a treasure be taken away like this?" Jueyan Fox recognized the origin of the Annihilation God Cross Shield, and intense greed stirred within him.
Divine Cliff Elder said, "Our most important task right now is to take down the Eastern Domain Saint Prince Mansion. At this critical juncture, there's no need to provoke other enemies."
Jueyan Fox was very reluctant, but in the end, he nodded.
"The value of the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram' probably surpasses even the Annihilation God Cross Shield. Are we really going to let that guy who claims to be Yan God's secret disciple have it?" Wanglairen laughed.
"Leave this matter for Xie Canghai to handle himself. If he can't even get his hands on a 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram,' then I'll have to doubt whether his abilities are sufficient for the task I intend to assign him next," Divine Cliff Elder said calmly, exuding an air of strategic composure.
Xie Canghai walked up to Zhang Ruochen and began negotiating with him again.
"Your Highness, name your terms. What will it take for you to part with the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram'?" Xie Canghai asked.
Worried that Xie Canghai might become suspicious, Zhang Ruochen didn't immediately change his attitude. He still wore a contemptuous expression. "This Crown Prince lacks nothing."
Xie Canghai seemed to ponder for a moment, then said, "Your Highness seems quite interested in the Cosmic Void Tears?"
Zhang Ruochen was about to push open the door and enter the private room, but upon hearing this, his movements slowed. "I have a bit of interest."
Xie Canghai felt he had found Zhang Ruochen's weakness and was secretly delighted. "I can take those thirty drops of Cosmic Void Tears and use them as part of the bargaining chips to exchange with Your Highness for the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram.'"
Zhang Ruochen turned around, carefully studying Xie Canghai. "Mr. Xie cultivates the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram,' doesn't he? No... it should be a rubbing."
Xie Canghai's expression turned somewhat awkward. "That's correct."
"In that case, the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram' should be a priceless treasure to Mr. Xie, right?" Zhang Ruochen continued. "If you want the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram,' Mr. Xie will have to show sufficient sincerity."
If it weren't for this fellow claiming to be Yan God's secret disciple, Xie Canghai would have already slapped him to death. How could he let him be so arrogant?
Xie Canghai said, "Three hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicines, one Taiyi Ancestral Stone, and thirty drops of Cosmic Void Tears. Should be enough, right?"
"Not enough."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "Add another ten billion sacred stones."
Xie Canghai's heart nearly leaped out of his chest. His arm trembled, and he almost couldn't stop himself from striking out with a palm to shatter Zhang Ruochen into pieces.
This was outright extortion, deliberately fleecing him.
"If Mr. Xie finds it difficult, this Crown Prince will have no choice but to send the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram' to the Heavenly Court Realm's Sacred Market for auction. The leftover scraps alone would probably fetch more than ten billion sacred stones," Zhang Ruochen said with a smile.
Xie Canghai sneered inwardly, thinking, "If you take a treasure of this level to auction, your master Yan God will beat you to death. You know that if you bring the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram' back to the Heavenly Court, you'll have to hand it over and get nothing for yourself, so you're blackmailing me instead."
Helpless, Xie Canghai ultimately chose to compromise.
"Fine, it's settled. But ten billion sacred stones is an enormous sum. I don't have that much on me. How about you give me a month? I'll transfer the sacred stones from the Black Demon Realm and deliver them to Your Highness personally," Xie Canghai said.
A month?
A month would be more than enough for Xie Canghai to investigate Zhang Ruochen's identity. How could Zhang Ruochen agree to that?
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "It seems Mr. Xie still lacks sincerity. This Crown Prince will have to find another buyer. There are plenty of cultivators in the Black Demon Realm who practice the 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram.' Surely someone can afford it."
"Wait, let me think of another way."
Xie Canghai turned and walked toward the private room on the east side.
Seeing Xie Canghai furious but unable to vent his anger, Zhang Ruochen felt an immense sense of satisfaction and pleasure.
"That group of people all have impressive backgrounds. Pooling together ten billion sacred stones shouldn't be too difficult, right?" Zhang Ruochen thought with anticipation.
After all, ten billion sacred stones was equivalent to the total wealth of some poorer Great Saints.
After a while, Xie Canghai handed over three hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicines, the Taiyi Ancestral Stone, and thirty drops of Cosmic Void Tears to Zhang Ruochen. Then, he took out a storage bag, looking very reluctant, and tremblingly passed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen opened the storage bag and probed it with his spiritual power. It was indeed filled with a massive amount of sacred stones, piled up like a mountain of sacred stones.
There were a full three billion of them.
Zhang Ruochen was not someone who hadn't seen the world, but he still felt his emotions surge, almost losing his composure. With this many sacred stones, how many cultivation resources could he buy?
"Not enough. Only three billion sacred stones?" Zhang Ruochen said with a straight face, feigning displeasure.
Xie Canghai felt a pang of heartache. He took out a black metal box and transmitted his voice to Zhang Ruochen: "Inside are four divine stones, each worth roughly one billion sacred stones."
Zhang Ruochen couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. Was this real? He had searched high and low for something like this, and now it had fallen into his lap without any effort.
Opening the black metal box, Zhang Ruochen carefully examined it. Confirming they were genuine divine stones, he immediately stored them in his space ring, maintaining his composure. "Still quite a bit short."
"Insatiable greed."
Xie Canghai cursed Zhang Ruochen's ancestors eighteen generations in his heart, then took out a jade box covered in inscriptions.
The jade box was blood-red, clearly no ordinary item.
"This is... a half-ripe king-grade sacred pill, the Thousand Revolutions Path-Gazing Pill," Xie Canghai said, his voice trembling.
This "Thousand Revolutions Path-Gazing Pill" was the foremost treasure he had prepared for his breakthrough to the Great Saint realm.
"Really? A king-grade sacred pill?" Zhang Ruochen had only seen a handful of heaven-grade sacred pills in his life. King-grade sacred pills were like something out of legends; he had never seen one before.
He knew that when sacred pills reached a certain level, they could give birth to a pill spirit.
The pill spirit of a heaven-grade sacred pill was already no weaker than a Saint King realm cultivator.
How powerful would the pill spirit of a king-grade sacred pill be? A Nine-Step Saint King? Or even a Great Saint?
"This Thousand Revolutions Path-Gazing Pill is still in a half-ripe state. It needs to continue nurturing in the Blood Jade Sacred Box until it undergoes its final transformation, only then will it become a true king-grade sacred pill. Until then, never take the Thousand Revolutions Path-Gazing Pill out. Never," Xie Canghai warned.
"If I don't take it out, how do I know if it's real or fake?"
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen prepared to break the inscriptions on the Blood Jade Sacred Box and take out the Thousand Revolutions Path-Gazing Pill.
"How dare you..."
Xie Canghai's aura turned fierce, but he immediately restrained himself. "I, Xie Canghai, am a Dao Domain realm expert. Why would I take out a fake pill to deceive you? If the Thousand Revolutions Path-Gazing Pill is taken out before it matures, its medicinal power will be greatly diminished."
"What does this old fellow mean? With all these warnings and threats, is he planning to secretly snatch the Thousand Revolutions Path-Gazing Pill back?" Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
The identity of Yan God's secret disciple could only restrain Xie Canghai in the open. In a place where no one knew, even if it were Yan God's own son, if he harmed Xie Canghai's interests, he would still meet a dead end.
"Alright, I'll trust you."
Zhang Ruochen reached out and patted Xie Canghai on the shoulder, laughing. "The 'Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram' is yours. Pleasure doing business."
Back in the private room, Xie Canghai's expression was icy cold, but he restrained himself. He knew that many of the cultivators present belonged to the Heavenly Realm Faction.
With many eyes and ears, word might get out.
Even if he felt murderous intent, he had to endure it.
Da Xi Wang said, "This Yan God secret disciple and the Tianjue Pavilion Master both seem a bit suspicious. Should we test them?"
"I agree," Xie Canghai said.
A smile appeared on Divine Cliff Elder's face. "I understand your feelings. But in three hours, it will be time for us to attack the Eastern Domain Saint Prince Mansion."
"The Chen Clan has built a total of eighty-one Saint Prince Mansions in the Eastern Domain Sacred City."
"Each Saint Prince Mansion is a formation base."
"Connecting all eighty-one together forms a Zhou Tian Grand Formation, capable of mobilizing the power of the entire Eastern Domain Sacred City. To break through the Eastern Domain Saint Prince Mansion, we must first break the Zhou Tian Grand Formation."
"Therefore, everyone has their tasks. Let's not create unnecessary trouble."
"I promise you all that once we capture the Eastern Domain Saint Prince Mansion, you may take whatever treasures you desire. You may kill whoever you wish. Including the treasures and people that have appeared in this Tianjue Pavilion."
At this moment, Divine Cliff Elder was like a god reigning over all living beings. With one word, he determined life and death.