274: Zhu Tian's Key

The Jiu Xu Auction House, affiliated with the Nine Void Commerce Guild, holds an auction at the end of each month, but these monthly Elementary auctions can at most only attract some True King powerhouses.

Only the annual Intermediate auctions attract some low-tier Quasi-Emperors.

Today's auction is an Advanced auction, held only once every ten years.

The auction items for this event are said to be treasures acquired by the Nine Void Commerce Guild over the past decade from various unearthed ruins; some are Divine Beast eggs, some are Divine Being Cultivation Techniques, and there are even Quasi-Emperor medicines and even Divine items.

Those participating must at least have backgrounds like top Holy Lands, and the Nine Void Commerce Guild distributed invitations in advance. Xu Qing didn't have an invitation, but did he need one to attend the auction?

Thus, he ignored the existence of the Formation and walked openly into the auction house, then conjured a king's chair behind him, sat cross-legged in the Void Realm, poured himself a glass of fine wine, and quietly waited for the auction to begin.

No one in the auction house noticed that an extra person had slipped in without a ticket.

The auction house is very large, and utilizing a mustard seed Formation, its interior is spacious enough to accommodate about 100,000 people, even after streamlining.

As the time drew near, the main hall was already full of people, and many private rooms were also occupied.

"Star Palace's Fifth Palace Master arrives!"

At these words, the auction house fell silent. More than ten people clad in starry battle armor walked in, accompanied by the Jiu Xu Branch Chief.

The person they accompanied was a burly middle-aged man with a smiling face, a silver full moon engraved on his chest, while the others had varying numbers of stars on their chests.

"Greetings, Fifth Palace Master!"

"Fifth Palace Master!"

"..."

Inside the auction house, many faction leaders rose to greet him, which showed the prestige of the Star Palace in the eastern region.

The middle-aged man merely nodded, then entered the 'Heaven' private room with the Branch Chief.

"What Divine Qi! Just a Palace Master can make so many faction leaders rise to greet him!"

In a private room, an elegantly dressed, gentle woman exclaimed in surprise.

"Junior Sister, it's just a faction from the Land of Chaos, what's there to be surprised about? My Qionghua Shangzong comes from the Central Heaven Divine Continent; a mere faction from the Land of Chaos is nothing but a bunch of nobodies!"

Beside the woman, a proud young man said with disdain.

The woman frowned and said, "Senior Brother, watch your words! Don't you know this Fifth Palace Master is a Peerless Quasi-Emperor at Perfection? The Star Palace's strength is no weaker than our Qionghua Shangzong!"

The young man's expression changed upon hearing this, his face losing some composure. He truly hadn't bothered to learn about these factions in the Land of Chaos, as people from the Central Heaven Divine Continent have always held a natural arrogance.

"Alright! The auction is about to begin!"

Beside the two, an old man opened his eyes, and the two immediately fell silent.

Soon, a beautiful woman in a red dress walked up. She was tall and curvaceous, with a smiling face full of alluring charm.

Just standing on the stage, she attracted the attention of many men, who wished they could devour her whole.

The beautiful woman in the red dress maintained her composure, clearly accustomed to such attention.

"Welcome, honored guests, for taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend the auction hosted by our Jiu Xu Branch. As usual, I will be hosting this auction!"

"Without further ado, the auction officially begins!"

"The first item!"

As her voice fell, a maidservant came up holding a tray covered with a red cloth!

After lifting the red cloth, a Jade Slip was revealed.

Immediately, everyone's breathing quickened. It's well known that to liven the atmosphere, auction houses often start with the most top-tier treasures, second only to the finale items.

Jade Slips often contain Cultivation Techniques or Martial Skills, and for one to be the first item, its value must be extraordinary.

"Everyone, this Jade Slip comes from the Black Blood Ruins three years ago. Everyone knows the Black Blood Ruins; that was the tomb of the Black Blood Supreme, who contended for the Mandate of Heaven with Emperor Ziyang during the Middle Ages!"

"In those days, the Black Blood Supreme's Black Blood Grand Law suppressed countless Prodigies and even once crushed Emperor Ziyang. It was merely due to ill fortune that he missed the Mandate of Heaven, and this Jade Slip contains the Black Blood Grand Law, the Cultivation Technique created by the Black Blood Supreme!"

The beautiful woman in the red dress explained.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed. This was the Black Blood Supreme's Cultivation Technique; even super factions were extremely tempted.

It should be known that the Black Blood Supreme was once crowned with the title of Young Emperor, but later, the Nether Race's Great Emperor intervened, which led to the demise of this True King, allowing Emperor Ziyang to take advantage.

"The Black Blood Grand Law, a ninth-grade Supreme Law, starts at 100 million Saint Origin, with each bid increment no less than 10 million!"

"110 million!"

"120 million!"

...Saint Origin is a special energy extracted from top-grade Saint Crystals by Quasi-Emperor powerhouses, capable of quickly restoring the energy consumed by Quasi-Emperors. A 10,000-zhang scale top-grade Saint Crystal mine can produce at most a hundred pieces of Saint Origin.

Therefore, it became the currency for daily transactions among Quasi-Emperor magnates.

This is also why the minimum requirement for this auction is a top Holy Land, because ordinary Holy Lands don't even have enough currency to bid.

Soon, this Black Blood Grand Law was acquired by a super faction from the Land of Chaos.

The auction continued.

Xu Qing watched idly. During the auction, dozens of treasures were sold, several of which even tempted Peerless Quasi-Emperor magnates.

As a result, the atmosphere of the entire auction house was extremely lively.

However, Xu Qing, after his initial curiosity, gradually found himself unable to integrate into such an atmosphere, as these treasures simply couldn't pique his interest.

Suddenly, he felt a bit bored.

With this thought, he intended to leave.

Suddenly, his heart trembled, and his gaze fixed on an item about to be auctioned.

"[Key of Zhu Tian: The key controlled by Zhu Tian, one of the Nine Heavens, and one of the Nine Heavens Key!]"

Xu Qing's eyes held a hint of disbelief. An accidental auction actually led him to one of the keys. He had waited several months in the Tianyang World for the key of yang heaven.

And for the nether heaven key, he needed to conquer the Netherworld, yet he found this Key of Zhu Tian here.

If he didn't have the System to shield the Heavenly Secrets, he would have thought he was being manipulated.

"Everyone, the next item is a bit special!"

The beautiful woman in the red dress said, unveiling the red cloth, revealing a purple jade key before everyone. The moment the key appeared, there was a faint sound of thunder.

"A key?"

"What's so special about this key? How could it appear at the Nine Void Commerce Guild's Advanced auction?"

"Why do I feel a tremor in my Origin when I hear this thunderous sound?"

The moment the key appeared, the entire auction house erupted in an uproar.

Xu Qing stepped out, and in the next second, appeared in the private room where the Star Palace was located.

"Who's there?"

Xu Qing's sudden appearance startled the Star Palace members, and Quasi-Emperor Qi immediately erupted.

"Stop!"

The burly middle-aged man, seeing Xu Qing's face, was shocked and quickly rebuked them.

Then, under the astonished gazes of several people, he bowed to Xu Qing, saying, "Zhao An'guo greets Clan Chief! I did not know of Clan Chief's arrival, please forgive me!"

"Greetings, Clan Chief!"

The others were shocked and quickly knelt down.

They were all new faces, powerhouses recruited into the Star Palace during its conquests, and therefore did not know Xu Qing.

They only knew that behind the Star Palace was an extremely powerful Family that could easily help people advance, and they themselves were beneficiaries of it.

"Alright, rise!"

Xu Qing took the main seat. Zhao An'guo and the others dared not sit, standing beside Xu Qing, eagerly pouring him wine.

This scene astonished the Star Palace members nearby. They knew their Fifth Palace Master was already a Peerless Quasi-Emperor, yet such an existence was now like a tea-pouring, wine-serving attendant in an inn.

Xu Qing watched everything outside. The commotion in the private room earlier had been suppressed by him, thus preventing chaos.