Ascension of the Immortal Asura

"Woaaah!"

Roars of excitement erupted throughout the theater, something that had not happened often during the several days auction, which surprised John.

"Before we start bidding on this item, the auction will go on break for one hour. Please use this time to rest and recoup, at which point the bidding on this seal will commence," the auctioneer said, her actions clearly used to hype up the fervor for the seal even further.

However, the auction occasionally took breaks several times a day for an hour, and so this was not an unprecedented move. Many auction participants quickly flooded out of the theater for various purposes, while others remained behind to discuss the auction and the upcoming bidding war to come.

John's gaze scanned the excited auction theater, before he turned to ask Caz a question.

"What's going on? Why is everyone so excited for this Daoist Eternal Weapon?" John asked curiously.

Caz cast John a look of disbelief, before he remembered that John was not from Five-River Freeport, and had not lived on the Divine Marital Continent for long.

"I guess it makes sense that you don't know why everyone is so excited," Caz replied before explaining it to John.

"As you know, there are five great powers of Five-River Freeport. My Mystic Trade Hall, the Divine Merchant Palace, the Forbidden Merchant Guild, and the Black-Vault Trade Faction, and…"

"The Eternal Weapon Temple," John replied as he recalled the name of one of the five powers of the city. "Does that mean?"

"Yes. Daoist Eternal Weapon is the leader of the Eternal Weapon Temple," Caz confirmed, but saw John's gaze was still questioning, so he elaborated further.

"The Eternal Weapons Temple is famed across the Divine Martial Continent as the undisputed number one power when it comes to weapons forging. Every Dao Transformation and World Expansion expert worth their salt get their weapon from the Eternal Weapon Temple, with the only exceptions being those who found even stronger ancient weapons. However, those are so rare as to be no more than legend, and so the most powerful weapons in this world are crafted there.

Daoist Eternal Weapon created the Eternal Weapons Temple tens of thousands of years ago, and is by far the number one undisputed weaponsmith in this world. Just getting an audience with him is next to impossible, let alone getting a weapon personally crafted by him. And he's been in isolated mediation for over one hundred years, and just now came out.

It's said that he has made less than ten weapons for other cultivators in his entire life, so you can see how rare such a thing is, and why everyone would be excited to obtain this opportunity," Caz explained to John, who felt his blood rise in excitement as well as he finally understood the gravity of the situation.

'I need to obtain this! I don't have a scythe, and finding a scythe that suits my combat style is next to impossible. This is the perfect opportunity to do so!' John mused, almost unable to control his excitement.

"How much do you think this auction will go for?" John asked Caz.

"You can forget about obtaining it," Caz replied dismissively as he leaned back in his seat as if ready to watch the event unfold.

"What? Why is that?" John asked, unable to believe that was true. He had nearly thirty billion spirit crystals to his name, which was an absolutely horrifying sum of money. Surely a weapon would not go for that much.

"Think about it! The strongest cultivators of this world are all relatively equal in strength, with the quality of their weapons making a large difference in their combat prowess. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them, and so you'll have ancient World Expansion monsters bidding on this seal.

While the most monstrous of those World Expansion experts all likely have ancient weapons already, some of the experts just below them do not. They'll be the ones bidding on this seal. Can you compete with monsters such as them?" Caz asked John after explaining the situation to him.

"If you're lucky, the bidding will be around thirty to forty billion, which is just out of your reach," Caz finished before taking another sip of wine.

A frown appeared on John's face as he stared at the seal on the auction podium. This was a chance to obtain a scythe personally crafted by him, with the quality at the World Expansion Realm. His battle against the Demon in the Dao Transformation Trail realm flooded back into this thoughts, and he had remembered just how impossible it was to damage the Demon. He was only able to land a finishing blow thanks to using the Demons own arm-blade, as nothing else was sharp enough to injure it greatly.

While his battle axe, which was the weapon the Jade Dragon Emperor had used himself during his youth was strong, it was not suitable against such a defensively strong opponent. Only unparalleled sharpness could penetrate such defenses, of which the Asura was sure to have even stronger defenses than that Demon.

With his eventual battle with the Asura coming up in the near future, obtaining this weapon was a must to ensure his combat prowess was at maximum when the time came.

"Is there any way for me to obtain more spirit crystals in the next hour?" John asked Caz with a serious expression on his face, indicating the severity of the situation for John. Caz felt slight surprise that John was so interested in the weapon, as such a weapon would only be beneficial for World Expansion experts, which John was very far away from.

However, due to John's serious demeanor, Caz gave it serious thought, and a strange expression appeared on his face as he gazed back at John.

"What is it? Do you have a way?" John asked curiously.

"Maybe, but I don't know if it will work, but I guess we can try…follow me," Caz said as he stood up and walked out of the private booth. John quickly followed Caz, trusting him with this situation. The two entered the auction halls that wrapped around the outside of the circular auction house, and eventually arrived before a set of stairs that were guarded by two Peak Dao Transformation guards.

"No permittance allowed," one of the guards stopped them, raising his hand outwards.

"Let them up," a voice suddenly sounded out in the guards' minds, as well as Caz and John. John was surprised to have a voice appear in his mind through sound transmission, but remained silent as the guards swiftly moved aside, allowing Caz and him to walk up the stairs.

The stairs circled up to the very top of the auction house, where the most exclusive of private booths were. There were exactly twelve private booths at the top floor of the auction house, each massive in size. They overlooked the entire auction theater beneath them, giving those within the private booths a great view of the entire spectacle.

Two more guards were stationed outside the gold-trimmed door, and both moved aside as well to allow Caz and John to enter. The door opened on its own, and John and Caz entered the private booth, which was several hundred yards wide and fifty yards deep. The booth contained all sorts of luxurious lounges, bars, and other amenities, but despite its massive size, only one person sat within the longue.

It was a man facing away from them, who was seated at the opposite end of the lounge, overlooking the auction theater through the one-way windows. Only the man's head was visible, as the rest of his body was hidden by the luxurious seat he was sitting on. The man had long black hair, with wisps of silver, indicating a bit of his age.

A reserved yet powerful aura naturally emanated off the man, and while John couldn't feel his aura clearly, he could tell the man was far more powerful than he was.

John cast a sideways glance towards Caz, and raised an eyebrow as he saw Caz become a bundle of pure nervousness. His face was scrunched up, and he was clearly shaking, almost unable to contain his nerves.

"Come, have a seat," the man said without looking back, his voice deep yet smooth.

"Yes, Trade Master," Caz replied with overwhelming respect, while John felt surprise wash through him as he recalled what Caz had said earlier regarding the 'Trade Master'.

'The Trade Master? The Master of the entire Mystic Trade Hall?'