Chapter 627: Golem Square
Who was she? She came from a noble lineage, a phoenix among women, a heaven’s proud daughter on top of having exceptional beauty with countless admirers, including princes and prodigies. In the Alchemy Realm and the Stone Medicine World, many lost sleep thinking about her at night, then they lost their minds upon seeing her, never able to forget her beauty afterward.
Yet last night, this brat again and again chose to oppose her in such a blustering manner. And today, he was even acting like he didn’t know who she was!
His attitude humiliated her and made her want to kill him even more than back when he was spewing out cruel and crude words.
Eventually, the prideful girl took a deep breath and contained her urge to kill. If Li Qiye was going to act like a “stranger”, then she would also display the most arrogant posture to meet him. With that, she exhibited a noble and out-of-reach demeanor; anyone who saw her at this moment would lower their heads. She was already extremely powerful, so with this arrogant aura, others thought that she was a jewel or a goddess on the moon.
She looked down with contempt at Li Qiye as if he was an ant or an insignificant passerby. After glaring at him, she didn’t bother looking at him a second time and turned around to disappear into the Golem Square.
Her oppressive aura caused Bai Weng and Shi Hao to shiver. The two were not like Li Qiye, so they had to bend their backs as they were unable to withstand her aura.
After she left, they were finally able to heave a sigh of relief. Earlier, they felt as if there was a huge mountain crushing down on them, rendering them breathless. With her departure, they were finally able to see the sun again.
Bai Weng regained his composure while still quivering a bit. Seeing Li Qiye wanting to enter the square, he quickly pulled on Li Qiye’s sleeve and asked: “Young Noble, do you know the identity of that lady earlier?”
“Identity?” Li Qiye spoke leisurely since he didn’t care too much for these things.
His nonchalant attitude left Bai Weng speechless. He didn’t know if Li Qiye was slow or just extremely supercilious.
Bai Weng took a deep breath and whispered: “Young Noble, that little miss was a person from the Jian Clan. If I am correct, then she is the golden daughter of the Jian Clan.” 1
“So what?” Li Qiye responded in a carefree manner. He didn’t care for the arrogant girl’s origin.
“So what…?” Bai Weng couldn’t help but raise his tone since he was scared to death.
Shi Hao, on the other hand, stuttered: “That… that… ‘Number One Arrow’… the Jian Clan?”
Bai Weng quickly replied: “How many Jian Clans do we have in the Alchemy Realm outside of the Number One Arrow — the Jian Clan?”
Afterward, he reminded Li Qiye: “Young Noble, the Jian Clan is an imperial lineage created by Immortal Emperor Diyi Jian. It is a renowned and monstrous existence in our Alchemy Realm.”
He was afraid that Li Qiye didn’t know the strength of the Jian Clan and continued on: “Although our Giant Bamboo Country is quite strong, we are far weaker than the Jian Clan. Their influence reaches far and wide and they also have more than ten domains the size of our country.”
“So what?” Li Qiye still uttered the same phrase.
Bai Weng was completely lost. What else could he say if Li Qiye didn’t even put the Jian Clan in his eyes? Li Qiye then continued on without a care: “Okay, ignore that Jian Clan, we can enter now.”
Not caring didn’t mean that he didn’t know about the Jian Clan. With amazing power, Immortal Emperor Diyi Jian, alone, created this clan in the Alchemy Realm. 2
The emperor was a mixed-blood golem. At a young age, he was adept at using the bow and used it to test his dao. Eventually, he became an Immortal Emperor shouldering the Heaven’s Will.
The art of the bow and arrow was quite rare among true experts, but the emperor actually reached the apex using such a style. This was indicative of how amazing he was, so his title, ‘Number One Arrow’, was true to reality. During the era where the emperor reigned with his unbeatable arrow, there was a legend that he used just one arrow to kill an immortal. Of course, this was only a legend and no one knew whether it was true or not.
Li Qiye, Bai Weng, and Shi Hao entered the Golem Square. The first half of the auction was almost over, and the featured treasure finally came out.
A Heavenly Cauldron was carried into the room. It resembled a Vermillion Bird standing on one foot with its mouth opened towards the sky. One could feel hot air blowing about violently as if the cauldron contained the most tyrannical flame in this world.
“This is a Heavenly Cauldron.” The auctioneer introduced after the cauldron was brought out: “It has an amazing origin. It came into being in a distant southern cave in the Alchemy Realm that housed a Heavenly Flame. Its Fire Source is one of the fiercest of them all — the Vermillion Divine Flame!”
Because the Stone Medicine World had the most alchemists, a lot of them were present as well. Many of them drew breaths after hearing this: “The Vermillion Divine Flame!”
This Fire Source was the finest to alchemists, so this cauldron was a true treasure.
Bai Weng was also astonished as he gazed at the cauldron after hearing the announcement. He felt that this was a priceless treasure; if he could obtain such a thing, it would be a satisfaction that lasted for a lifetime.
An alchemist skeptically asked: “Is this real or fake?”
The auctioneer responded in a serious manner: “I swear upon the reputation of the Golem Square. This cauldron was identified by our three alchemists, so the Fire Source of this cauldron is definitely the Vermillion Divine Flame!”
“What is the starting bid?” A young man stood up and asked: “This cauldron will be mine for sure!”
The roads were indeed narrow for enemies. This young man was the descendant of the Lie Clan that blocked Li Qiye’s path early this morning — Lie Jie.
His arrogant attitude was a cause for annoyance, but the Lie Clan had deep pockets. An alchemy clan never lacked money.
“Since everyone likes it so much…” The auctioneer immediately said: “Then we can start. There is no starting bid, feel free to name your price.”
After Lie Jie heard that any bid was fine, he took the initiative: “I bid 5,000 Heavenly Sovereign Refined Jades!”
Another alchemist gave his bid: “I bid 6,000 Heavenly Sovereign Refined Jades!”
Another great character from a prestigious clan voiced his interest: “I also bid 6,000 Heavenly Sovereign Refined Jades, but they are of the Jewel Sovereign grade.”
In general, when it came to refined jades, jades of the Heavenly Sovereign level meant that they were of the lowest grade — Little Sovereign Refined Jades. Unless further specified, this was true for all the levels; they would start at the lowest grade.
While others were starting a bidding war, Bai Weng asked Li Qiye with a blazing gaze: “How is this Heavenly Cauldron?”
He felt that this was already of the finest grade and was completely suitable for Shi Hao.
Li Qiye only gave it a glance and said: “Not bad.”
“Not bad… only not bad…?” Bai Weng couldn’t help but stutter: “But the Fire Source of… this… cauldron is a Vermillion Divine Flame!”
Bai Weng didn’t know what to say to Li Qiye. In his eyes, this was the best of cauldrons, but Li Qiye only said “not bad”. This was the gap between the two.
Li Qiye didn’t hold any interest for the cauldron before him. It was not worth wasting his time for, so he said: “When are they auctioning the other cauldron?”
Bai Weng arched his chin over to the right and said: “It will be in the second half of the auction over there. Only the most honored guests, those who bought three items from the first half or paid the fee of 8,000 Heavenly Sovereign Refined Jades, would be eligible to enter. Of course, honored guests are not required to participate in the first half.”
Li Qiye said: “Then we’ll wait for the second half, there is nothing to see here.” With that, he started walking away.
“But—” Bai Weng was taken aback. However, Li Qiye had already started to walk towards the entrance, so Shi Hao and him quickly ran to catch up.
There were guards beside the entrance of the room where the second half of the auction was taking place. Li Qiye was immediately stopped when he arrived there.
Two guards blocked his path while one of them coldly said: “Friend, please show the Noblest Writ. If you don’t have it, then please leave.”
“I don’t have one.” Li Qiye leisurely said: “But you guys should be welcoming me inside. This would be an honor for your Golem Square after all.”
Li Qiye was so arrogant that it caused the two guards’ expressions to darken. One coldly spoke: “Are you looking for trouble?”
The other one sneered and said: “You should look at where you are standing before looking for trouble. You are at the wrong place!” With that, his hand stretched towards Li Qiye.
1. Jian = Arrow.
2. Diyi Jian = Number One Arrow.