Chapter 1661 The Auction Three Years Later
The high priest tapped the ground lightly with his bone staff.
Beside the altar, a stone slab slowly slid open, revealing an ancient stone box.
The moment the stone box was opened, a pure and domineering dark demonic energy emanated from it, accompanied by an ancient imperial majesty that ruled over all demons and surpassed all living beings!
Inside the stone box lay a black crystal, roughly the size of a fist.
This crystal is as deep as an abyss, with countless tiny magical patterns arising and disappearing within it, evolving into the extraordinary phenomenon of twelve main veins connecting and climbing to the top of the sky.
Deeper still, there seemed to be a blurry phantom of an emperor sitting there, suppressing all the demons in the heavens!
"This item is a core demonic crystal preserved by our clan. It was left over from when His Majesty the Demon Emperor of the Hidden Extremes forged the 'Heavenly Demon Seal.' It contains a trace of His Majesty's original demonic path and imperial will. Having been imbued with the aura of ancient gods and settled by the years, its status is sufficient to serve as a top-tier demonic source!" the High Priest said slowly.
Zhang Xuan's gaze was instantly drawn to the magic crystal!
He could clearly feel the intense resonance and longing of his own true demonic body's Dharma form!
He suppressed his excitement, took a deep breath, and once again activated the complete Tree of Illusory Dao Rules and Authority.
The main body of the true demon erupted with unprecedented light, resonating intensely with the Daoist aura of the demonic crystal.
However, just when Zhang Xuan thought this was what he was looking for, his entire Great Dao Tree sent out a subtle warning!
This Hidden Extreme Demon Emperor's Origin Demon Crystal has power that is too pure and too extreme!
It perfectly matched and even greatly enhanced his main magical path, but it exerted a subtle suppression and repulsion on the other main paths and the thirteen side branches!
If this magic crystal is used as the source of the Dao, it can certainly condense an incomparably powerful demonic Dao fruit, and may even directly inherit part of the Demon Emperor's will and path, but the price may be the withering of other main branches and side branches.
This magic crystal was not the most perfect choice for him either!
It might help him easily enter Mahayana Buddhism, but it could also lock up the upper limit of his future path.
The burning passion in his eyes slowly cooled, transforming into a complex mix of regret and understanding.
He withdrew his divine sense, looked at the high priest with a hint of understanding in his eyes, and shook his head with a wry smile: "High Priest, this thing... contains too pure and vast the origin of the Demon Emperor, which is fundamentally different from the path that I pursue. If I use this thing as the source, I am afraid that I will lose the original face of my own path. I... can only regret it again."
The high priest didn't seem particularly surprised by Zhang Xuan's answer.
His deep gaze seemed to see through Zhang Xuan's chosen path, and he sighed softly, "The path of the Demon Emperor, domineering and supreme, does indeed differ from the inclusive path of governing all laws. It is rare to find someone who can remain clear-headed in the face of such temptation and discern their own path." He waved his hand, and the stone box containing the demon crystals slowly sank.
This trip to the secret realm ended in failure once again.
Zhang Xuan could only leave dejectedly and return to Xuan Kong Divine City once again.
"Master Wanbao only received information about the consignment of these two Dao Source artifacts. There are several other Dao Source artifacts, but the sellers will only appear when the auction begins. It seems we'll have to wait until the auction three hundred years from now," Zhang Xuan sighed.
Time flies by like a fleeting moment.
For high-level cultivators who often seclude themselves for hundreds or even thousands of years, three hundred years is but a fleeting moment in their quest for the Great Dao.
Zhang Xuan did not waste these three hundred years.
Using his authority as a guest elder of the Myriad Elephants Merchant Alliance, he contacted two more Mahayana cultivators who possessed Dao Source Treasures and were interested in trading them through various channels.
One of them is the Seven Killing Star Venerable from the Big Dipper Divine Realm. He possesses a wisp of the Broken Army Star Fiend, which contains the ultimate killing power and the Dao of War. Its sharpness is unparalleled and it is enough to condense the first killing Dao Fruit of offense.
The other one is an eighth-tier Flame Spirit from a hidden realm. It provides a ball of Chaos Origin Fire, the source of all fires, containing the primordial power to burn everything, and is extremely domineering.
However, the result was still regrettable; these two rare Daoist artifacts were still incompatible with his own Daoist essence.
This day.
Zhang Xuanxin had a feeling.
He took out the dark gold seven-patterned token, and the seven celestial patterns on it flowed faster, emitting a strong fluctuation.
"Three hundred years have passed quietly, and it's time for the auction."
Zhang Xuan arrived at the Starry Sky Palace of the Floating Divine City.
This palace was built by hollowing out and forging a vast star field.
Beneath my feet lies an ocean of light flowing with billions of runes, and all around me are countless enormous stars that move slowly.
All participants in this auction did not gather in one place, but were each in a separate private box.
These starlight-themed private rooms, like transparent bubbles, float in various locations within the Starry Sky Palace. Their blurry figures can be seen among each other, yet they are separated by powerful spatial restrictions.
There are thousands of private rooms, most of which are relatively dimly lit, and these are seats reserved for cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage.
There are also more than a hundred private rooms that are as dazzling as the sun, radiating a heart-palpitating Mahayana spiritual pressure or eighth-order demonic energy. These are the supreme private rooms belonging to Mahayana cultivators and eighth-order beings!
As a guest elder, Zhang Xuan possessed just such a supreme private room.
His private box had an excellent location, directly facing the most dazzling star field in the center of the Starry Sky Hall, where the auction items would be displayed.
His divine sense swept across the private rooms, each like a miniature sun, and he could clearly sense the various terrifying auras emanating from them.
The top beings of the nine divine realms have almost all gathered here!
Moreover, in some relatively secluded private rooms where the starlight was by no means weak, he also felt the ancient and old-fashioned Daoist charm of the old human race!
This is the foundation of the Wanxiang Business Alliance!
Such a gathering of supreme beings from all realms at a single auction!
Just as Zhang Xuan was secretly shocked, a gentle voice, tinged with surprise and amusement, penetrated the barriers of the private room and entered his consciousness directly:
"Fellow Daoist Zhang? No, you should be called Elder Zhang now. I never expected that in just three hundred years, you have not only stabilized your half-step Mahayana realm, but your spiritual pressure is so profound that even I feel a bit of pressure. What's even more remarkable is that you have become an elder of the Merchant Alliance. Truly, the younger generation is formidable!"
Zhang Xuan's heart stirred; he was familiar with this voice.
Following his divine sense, he saw an elderly man with gentle, jade-like eyes smiling and nodding to him in a VIP box diagonally opposite, radiating pure starlight.
Celestial Star Realm, Star Lord!
Unexpectedly, he also possessed a high-level Starry Sky Token from the Myriad Elephant Merchant Alliance.
"Senior Star Lord, it's been a long time. I've made some progress, but it's nothing compared to yours." Zhang Xuan quickly replied with a telepathic message.
"Haha, no need to be so modest. You got to where you are today because of your own good fortune and perseverance."
The Star Lord laughed calmly, but in his heart he secretly speculated that his true immortal son-in-law must have given him a lot of good things, which was why he had made such rapid progress!
