#426 - Auctions
Ji Beilan left the palace and departed from the Great Zhou territory overnight.
Several days later.
The five commanderies of Great Zhou had endured three consecutive days of fierce battles.
The corpses of soldiers piled up like mountains.
There were soldiers from both Great Zhou and Xilin.
It had been a full six days since the evacuation of the common people began.
Now, with the efforts of all parties, the people had all been evacuated to the rear of the capital city.
"You useless trash, with more than ten times the manpower, you still haven't taken it down after three days!"
Xilin's commander was thunderously furious.
"Marshal, the Xuanjia Army of Great Zhou are all lunatics, and most of our army are surrendered soldiers from various countries, with insufficient combat power…"
"Enough, this marshal doesn't want to hear excuses! What are the total casualties these days?"
"Reporting to the marshal, the total casualties are nearly thirty million, with a loss of more than two million iron cavalry…"
The Xilin marshal's face immediately turned black.
"However, our army has now broken through more than ten important towns in the five commanderies and dozens of passes, cutting off the defense line of the Great Zhou garrison and forming an encirclement!"
"Immediately transmit my order to all armies to complete the encirclement at the fastest speed! With the Great Zhou's five commandery defense line broken, the garrison will inevitably retreat. We must rush ahead of them, block their retreat, and annihilate the Great Zhou army, especially the Xuanjia Army, completely! Not a single one can be allowed to escape!"
"Yes!"
…
On the borders of Wu Shun Commandery, Shang Xuan Commandery, Yu Shan Commandery, Qinghe Commandery, and Ningyuan Commandery, beacon fires raged, and the landscape was filled with corpses.
The armor of the Great Zhou soldiers was tattered, the shields in their hands were covered with cracks, and their weapons were deformed.
Their faces and bodies were covered in blood.
"They're here! The Xilin army is launching another charge!"
"Collect all the arrows and prepare for battle!"
"General, the marshal's order is for us to retreat quickly to the capital city!"
"What?"
"General, the marshal said that the people have all been safely evacuated to the rear of the capital city, and there is no need for us to defend to the death anymore!"
"How many soldiers do we have left now?"
"General, my Jiangjiao Battalion now has a total of just over 1,200 men, including the wounded…"
The vice-general wiped his blood-stained face fiercely and said, choking with sobs.
The general slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Retreat!"
"Quick, no wounded soldiers can be left behind!"
The general of the Jiangjiao Battalion directed the retreat, his eyes filled with tears as he looked at the broken bodies of the soldiers.
An army of thirty thousand!
Now only a thousand or so men remained!
…
On the five commandery defense lines, the Jiangjiao Battalions were all retreating.
Those captured important towns and passes were terrifyingly silent, with only vultures circling and crows cawing.
In the fallen cities, the Great Zhou soldiers, including the Xuanjia Army, had all died in battle, their blood staining the mountains and rivers!
The retreating Jiangjiao Battalions encountered parts of the Xilin army attempting to divide and encircle them, and could only choose to force a breakthrough, suffering heavy casualties.
Several days later.
Of the tens of millions of soldiers on the front lines, only about 300,000 survived to retreat back to the Great Zhou capital, and half of them were wounded…
Now, the entire capital city was shrouded in an atmosphere of despair.
The people in the city, however, were no longer as panicked as they had been in the past.
Inside the city, each street had an additional recruitment station.
Young and middle-aged men stood in long queues, signing up to join the army.
"If this continues, I don't know how long we can last…"
On a tall building, Yan Qingcheng, Mu Xuelan, the high-level members of the Demon Sect, the high-level members of the Imperial Spirit Sect, and the high-level members of the Medicine King Sect overlooked the entire city.
"Now, not counting these new recruits who have signed up to join the army, the entire capital city, plus the armies transferred from the several commanderies and provinces in the rear, only has about five million men. The Xilin army still has more than 100 million men, and they will arrive from all directions at the latest tomorrow, with their troops pressing down on the city."
"Fortunately, this city is still quite strong. The city walls are engraved with defensive runes, and Xilin's siege weapons cannot damage the city walls and gates. If they want to attack the city, the only way is to use siege ladders!"
…
On this day, the ancient teleportation array in the Southern Domain Ancient City was suddenly sabotaged.
A mysterious person, shrouded in mist, rushed into the ancient teleportation array, knocking away all the people who were using the ancient array, and then forcibly changed some of the runes in the array with a bone-like object engraved with runes.
As a result, the teleportation array in the Southern Domain Ancient City lost its teleportation function.
When the powerhouses of various forces arrived, that person had already disappeared without a trace.
They checked the ancient array one after another and found that the array patterns were not really damaged, but were forcibly shifted from the correct position, causing the array pattern function to stop working.
After evaluation, they concluded that it would probably be difficult to repair it within a few months.
…
In the Eastern Wilderness Ancient City, after several days of cultivation, Jun Wuxie finally broke through to the Star Sea Realm Eighth Transformation.
Before he had time to be happy, he heard the news about Great Zhou as soon as he came out.
Jubaozhai had been blocking this news.
But today, it could no longer be blocked.
It was being spread everywhere in the city.
Several shopkeepers were very helpless.
They knew that someone was obviously deliberately spreading the news to let Jun Wuxie know and provoke him to go back.
"Young Master Jun, don't worry, perhaps things are not as serious as you think."
The shopkeeper of the Medicine King Sect comforted him.
Jun Wuxie's face was a little unsightly, and he said, "Everyone, I just want to know, why did you hide it from me and deliberately block the news?"
"This…"
Several shopkeepers looked at each other, feeling Jun Wuxie's anger accumulating.
They sighed.
"It was Patriarch Yan who asked us not to tell you for the time being."
They sold Yan Qingcheng out, mainly because they didn't want to take the blame.
"It's her?"
The muscles on Jun Wuxie's face twitched a few times.
"Now, what is the situation in Great Zhou? I hope you can tell me, don't hide it anymore! Can such a big thing be hidden? Great Zhou is my country, and it is also where my sect is located!"
"Alas, Young Master Jun, please see for yourself."
They took out a piece of information and placed it on the table.
Jun Wuxie unfolded it and read it line by line. His eyes became colder and colder, and his mood became heavier and heavier.
He had only been gone for a short time, but Great Zhou had already fallen into a desperate situation!
The Xilin army of hundreds of millions was pressing down on the border, and now they were pressing down on the capital!
The Xuanjia Army was almost completely wiped out. Of the five commandery armies, tens of millions, only 300,000 remained!
"Young Master Jun, Patriarch Yan, Building Master Mu, the powerhouses of our Imperial Spirit Sect, Medicine King Sect, and Demon Sect have all gone to Great Zhou. With them there, perhaps they can mediate a little, and at least they can delay for a few days. You don't need to be too anxious. Wait patiently until the auction ends tomorrow morning, and then Young Master can return to Great Zhou."
"If Xilin is not destroyed, my Great Zhou will not be at peace!"
Jun Wuxie clenched his fists, his eyes revealing a cold light.
Although solving Xilin cannot completely resolve the crisis of Great Zhou.
But if Xilin is gone, the Soul Hunting Hall will not have a powerful army to use. At least for a period of time, Great Zhou will remain peaceful.
"Young Master Jun, you should rest well. We won't disturb you anymore."
Several shopkeepers got up and left.
It was already close to nightfall.
Jun Wuxie looked at the waning moon in the sky. He wanted to rush back now.
But he knew that he was not ready yet.
He must bid for the Great Revival Pill and the Life Spring with a purity of 7% at tomorrow's auction.
Returning to Great Zhou this time, these two recovery resources will be of great use!
Yue Yao, Ling Fei, and Qin Keqing quietly accompanied him, and no one spoke.
They knew that at this moment, no words could alleviate the anxiety in his heart.
…
The next morning, Jun Wuxie, who had not slept all night, entered the auction venue early.
Jubaozhai had prepared a VIP room for them.
The people participating in the auction entered the venue one after another.
The hall was quickly full, and the VIP rooms around were also full.
Everyone came very early.
The auction began.
Jun Wuxie sat quietly in the VIP room, constantly hearing the sound of people bidding.
He had no interest in several treasures in a row.
"Next, the item to be auctioned is an eight-star middle-grade healing treasure pill—the Great Revival Pill!" The auctioneer opened the jade box, inside which was a light golden pill, exuding a rich fragrance.
"The effect of the Great Revival Pill is probably known to everyone! This pill, below the Saint Sect realm, even if you suffer a heavy injury, you only need to take one pill to repair all the injuries. It's not quite bringing the dead back to life, but it's almost there. It's an essential treasure medicine for high-realm martial artists!"
"This time, our Jubaozhai has a total of ten Great Revival Pills in stock, which will be auctioned together and cannot be auctioned separately. The starting price for ten Great Revival Pills is 300 million spirit coins, and each increase in price must not be less than 10 million. Please bid!"
"310 million!"
A loose cultivator made a bid.
"350 million!"
In front of a window in a VIP room, a middle-aged man from the Yunling Nan family faintly called out the price.
"Hehe, 400 million!"
The high-level members of the Kaitian Sword Sect also began to bid.
"450 million."
The high-level members of the Meitong tribe in Southern Border participated.
"600 million."
The high-level members of the Saint Sect stood in front of the window of the VIP room and casually raised the price by more than 100 million.
For a time, major forces bid one after another.
Soon, the price competed to 1.3 billion.
"1.5 billion."
The high-level members of the Saint Sect were still so calm.
Suddenly, there was an uproar in the hall.
The normal price of the Great Revival Pill is about 100 million per pill, but now it has been snatched to 150 million.
Speaking of which, forces like the Saint Sect should not lack Great Revival Pills.
After all, they are one of the controllers of the Qizhenge.
Have they not stored enough of this healing medicine over the years?
"2 billion."
A young voice instantly silenced the noisy hall.
People looked in the direction of the voice, their faces filled with astonishment.
“Jun Wuxie? He's bidding!”
In front of a window in a certain VIP room, Jun Wuxie stood there, his expression indifferent.
“Heh heh.” The Saintly Gate's higher-up was also stunned for a moment. He glanced at Jun Wuxie, a hint of disdain in his eyes, and said, “Twenty-five billion.”
“Thirty billion.”
Jun Wuxie's tone was calm.
“Disciple of the Martial Saint, you want to compete with my Saintly Gate in financial resources? You truly overestimate yourself.” The Saintly Gate's higher-up smiled confidently, with a hint of provocation, and said, “Forty billion. Will you still follow?”
“Your Saintly Gate boasts of being rich and powerful, but now it seems you're nothing more than that. Adding only ten billion at a time, do you think you can act like a big shot here?” Jun Wuxie retorted, saying, “One hundred billion.”
Instantly, the Saintly Gate's higher-up's smile froze, and the muscles on his face twitched fiercely.
One hundred billion?
Such a price could normally buy one hundred Greater Revitalizing Pills!
Although their Saintly Gate had abundant financial resources, they wouldn't waste them like this.
“Hmph! Bidding ten times the price for a Greater Revitalizing Pill, do you think you're very capable? It will only make people think you're foolish! I can't do such a foolish thing.”
“I'm happy, I like it, are you not convinced? If you lose, you lose. Just admit defeat and be done with it. Why bother arguing and trying to save face? You look exactly like someone raging in impotence. You've lived for hundreds of years, yet you're still so easily agitated. Your state of mind is worrying; I fear it will be difficult for your realm to improve any further. Tsk tsk.”
“You…”
Being ridiculed so bluntly in public, the Saintly Gate's higher-up trembled with anger.
