Chapter 366 Mysterious Wooden Plaque
"So many people have come to attend the auction!"
"And there are so many Heavenly Saints as well."
"This 'Sand Sea Palace Auction' truly lives up to its reputation as the grandest event before the expedition to Five Elements Mountain!"
As Ye Chen mused, he continued flying toward the entrance of the Sky-Shocking Light Formation, which was a hundred feet tall.
When he reached the edge of the Sky-Shocking Light Formation, Ye Chen saw eight mid-stage Heavenly Saints guarding the outside of the formation. Each person, whether they were there to observe the auction or to participate, had to pay ten top-grade Spirit Stones to enter.
Just to enter the "Sand Sea Palace Auction" required ten top-grade Spirit Stones. Ye Chen was already somewhat shocked. He wondered how many Spirit Stones would actually be spent to bid on the treasures inside.
Although Ye Chen had treasures accumulated over thousands of years by Heavenly Saint Moya, after all, Heavenly Saint Moya was only an early-stage Heavenly Saint. His treasures, compared to those of mid-stage and late-stage Heavenly Saints, were certainly not worth much.
Nevertheless, in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant Ye Chen carried were nine late-stage Heavenly Saint frozen guards. As soon as Ye Chen planned to attend the Sand Sea Palace Auction, these frozen guards had told him that they had supreme Spirit Stones that they could offer for Ye Chen's use.
Ye Chen was their new master, so naturally, what they possessed was his to use as he wished.
Although these frozen guards came from other continents in the Star Continent and most of their treasures had little to do with the thirty-three lands of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, making them unsuitable to bring out, they still had some supreme Spirit Stones. Those Spirit Stones, although not enough to support Ye Chen in bidding for all treasures, should still easily allow him to bid for one or two extremely precious treasures.
"No matter what, I must try to secure one or two secret treasures of the Five Elements."
"If it really comes to it, I'll have to use the Spirit Stones from the nine seniors!"
Ye Chen sighed in his heart, "It seems it's time to start earning some Spirit Stones, or else it would be somewhat inappropriate to keep using those from my seniors whenever I want to buy treasures."
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Chen, who had arrived at the outside of the Sky-Shocking Light Formation, paid ten top-grade Spirit Stones and then followed the crowd, flying into the light formation.
No sooner had he passed through the light formation into the true Sand Sea Palace Auction site than a bustling noise filled his ears even before he could see the situation in the Sand Sea Palace.
A cursory listen suggested that the number of warriors gathered in the Sand Sea Palace easily exceeded ten thousand!
When Ye Chen looked toward this newly entered realm, he saw that he was now in a vast palace.
Upon seeing this palace, Ye Chen felt a surge of excitement within him!
Such a magnificent and enormous palace!
The entire palace was built beneath a giant desert, and even spatial laws were arranged within it, making the palace appear even more grandiose!
The whole palace was a thousand feet high and ten thousand feet wide, stretching so far that it seemed endless.
Looking at the outermost part of the palace, there were rows of huge pillars supporting the palace. Next to every row and every pillar, there were various stalls set up, and as far along as the eye could see toward the front, there were probably thousands of stalls just on the periphery of the palace!
Stall owners selling various items, together with warriors walking back and forth among the stalls, meant that, indeed, tens of thousands of warriors had gathered around the outer ring of the palace!
Discussions, haggling, arguments, voices of people eager to buy treasures... One can imagine how lively it was here with tens of thousands of warriors making noise.
This was the first great event of the "Sand Sea Palace Auction" held in the morning, the Outer Palace Flea Market Gathering!
"The Outer Palace Flea Market, where there are treasures unearthed from various realms and exploration sites, including treasures hoarded by the warriors themselves. It's an excellent place to pick out precious treasures. Everyone knows that among these stalls, there must be something that captivates them. They also know that there might be extremely precious items not recognized by others, presenting a chance to find a great bargain!"
"Eyesight, intuition, and Spirit Stones are the keys to picking out treasures in this flea market!"
Ye Chen took a deep breath as he recalled the words about the flea market from the message jade token given by the Mystery Pavilion and then walked towards the countless stalls.
There were so many stalls that it would not be enough for an ordinary person just to glance through them once in a whole morning.
But Ye Chen was a warrior, and a warrior with an extremely strong Divine Soul at that. His Divine Sense swept over the treasures at each stall while he sensed the various auras emanating from them to see if any made his heart stir.
As Ye Chen strolled between the stalls, looking as he walked, the enthusiastic stall owners began pitching the treasures on their stalls to the warriors like him who were browsing.
"Warriors, brothers, and sisters from the thirty-three continents, come and take a look! Here are ten sacred-level spiritual herbs from the Void Abyss, all for just a hundred top-grade Spirit Stones!"
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"Blood Shadow Mad Blade, I have here a medium-grade Sacred Artifact 'Blood Shadow Mad Blade' forged by a third-rank refining sect of Heavens Continent. Those heading to Five Elements Mountain or who use saber-type weapons should not miss this opportunity. This blade will greatly enhance your combat power! A medium-grade Sacred Artifact saber, selling for only three top-notch Spirit Stones!"
"A mysterious copper piece found in the most secretive exploration site 'Ancient Royal Tomb Land' from the three great exploration sites. It might contain a big secret. I've been pondering it for ten years and still couldn't figure it out, so I am selling it with a heavy heart, for just two top-notch Spirit Stones!"
As it was a large casual market, there were genuine treasures for which the vendors needed to exchange for Spirit Stones and agreed to sell them reluctantly. There were also fake treasures, with vendors exaggerating their value to swindle Spirit Stones.
Whether you can use the appropriate Spirit Stones to pick out precious treasures all depends on your eyesight.
Ye Chen browsed seven or eight stalls and had not yet picked anything that caught his eye, but he saw many young men and women like himself, attending the auction for the first time and being accompanied by experienced members of their clan, choosing curiously among the stalls. Some had already bought a dozen or so treasures.
"Hm?"
As Ye Chen walked through the bustling stalls, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but stop in his tracks, looking towards the fifth stall ahead.
At this moment, there was no unusual expression on Ye Chen's face, but a torrent of emotions had already been set off in his heart.
Because at this moment, Ye Chen suddenly realized something on his body had undergone a strange change!
This thing was a wooden token.
When Ye Chen collected the spoils of war from Heavenly Saint Moya, he found many treasures, including countless Spirit Stones, the Heavenly Origin Boat, the Eight Extremes Map, the Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror, and other Sacred Artifacts. Among them was a wooden token, whose purpose Ye Chen had not been able to figure out.
The wooden token had no treasure patterns at all, and only had one word on it, "Forbidden." When Ye Chen first got the token, he had infiltrated it with Divine Sense and poured his True Qi into it. After trying various methods, there were no signs of any anomaly, and it seemed like an ordinary object.
Unable to understand the purpose of this wooden token, Ye Chen stored it in the Heaven Spirit Ring.
Ye Chen could never have imagined that the wooden token would suddenly emit strange light within the Heaven Spirit Ring. He felt that it was the wooden token in the corner of the fifth stall ahead, also unremarkable, that had triggered the change in his own token.
Strangely, the token at the stall ahead showed no signs of change. Ye Chen only saw a word written on it, "Void."
On Ye Chen's token was the word "Forbidden," while the token ahead showed "Void." Aside from these two words being different, the other aspects of the tokens, including their appearance and construction, were identical.
Ye Chen knew these two tokens were definitely connected!
Seeing that the token at the fifth stall ahead remained unchanged, Ye Chen immersed his consciousness into the "Forbidden" word token within his Heaven Spirit Ring.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
This immersion filled his mind with numerous suspicions.
Because the wooden token which had shown no signs of change no matter what method Ye Chen applied before was now emitting light. The moment Ye Chen's Divine Sense entered, he sensed the change within.
To his amazement, he sensed a vast and incomparable picture inside, and what startled him even more was that this picture bore an uncanny resemblance to the 'Ancient Royal Tomb Land'—the most dangerous exploration site among the three great adventures, as once mentioned by Palace Master Yuan Li.
Ancient Royal Tomb Land, that was the most mysterious and dangerous region among the three great exploration sites. Even with his current strength, Palace Master Yuan Li had forbidden Ye Chen from entering, fearing he would perish. The 'Ancient Royal Tomb Land' was where numerous fallen Void Sky True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm were buried, a true Divine Spirit graveyard.
Even having viewed Heavenly Saint Moya's Divine Soul memories, Moya had not unraveled the meaning of this token.
Ye Chen could never have imagined that the token he had collected from Heavenly Saint Moya would be connected to the Ancient Royal Tomb Land of the three great adventures!
"This token is related to Ancient Royal Tomb Land?"
"What does that token at the stall ahead represent?"
"What is the purpose of the picture inside?"
With countless doubts in his heart, Ye Chen suppressed the pounding in his chest and walked nonchalantly towards the fifth stall ahead, showing no sign of excitement on his face.
In this casual market, when buying treasures, one must not show too much excitement over any captivating treasures; otherwise, they would be charged a high price.
Naturally, Ye Chen would not let the stall owner perceive his interest in the nondescript wooden token placed in the corner of their stall.
Just as Ye Chen was approaching the stall with an indifferent expression, the stall owner, with a wide smile plastered on his face, began to pitch his wares to Ye Chen: "Young lad, come take a look here. The treasures at my stall are all great items from the 'Void Abyss' exploration site from the three great adventures!"
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