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Chapter 78: A Bountiful Harvest
Ye Cheng was unaware of the deeply embarrassing incident that had just occurred with Tang San. After leaving, he continued to sweep through the Star Dou Great Forest with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. Aided by the treasure-finding ability of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, he obtained many spirit bones. To his surprise, most of these spirit bones, like the torso bone from that pig-type beast, were buried underground or in other hidden places.
The age of the spirit bones wasn't high; they were generally ten-year, hundred-year, or thousand-year spirit bones. Only a few were ten-thousand-year spirit bones.
By the time he walked out of the Star Dou Great Forest, Ye Cheng's storage ring was already piled high with spirit bones.
Counting them carefully, there were a total of 861.
Among them, 206 were ten-year spirit bones.
361 were hundred-year spirit bones.
209 were thousand-year spirit bones.
And 85 were ten-thousand-year spirit bones.
This trip could only be described as a massive haul!
Originally, Ye Cheng had thought that his quest for spirit bones would require him to kill a large number of high-level soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. However, while using the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to search for treasure, he was surprised to find that while the forest wasn't exactly paved with spirit bones, it wasn't far off.
Of the more than eight hundred spirit bones, only about thirty were from soul beasts he had personally killed. The rest were essentially found by Ye Cheng in the ground, in the water, or in other concealed locations. It was simply incredible.
But on second thought, the Star Dou Great Forest had existed for untold millennia. Coupled with its vast population of soul beasts, countless beasts died every day from fighting one another. With so many years of accumulated life and death, it was not so surprising that so many spirit bones would be hidden away.
After all, spirit bones are useless to soul beasts. The vast majority of soul beasts have low intelligence. With the exception of soul beasts possessing extraordinary bloodline talents, the intelligence of even a typical ten-thousand-year soul beast was far below that of a normal human. Therefore, after killing an enemy and having a spirit bone drop, most soul beasts would simply ignore the item they couldn't absorb. They only cared about devouring their opponent's corpse. Only a small minority might, out of curiosity, drag it back to their nests to serve as a toy or a tool to grind their teeth on.
Aside from hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, whose intelligence was on par with humans and who knew that these items were treasures to Soul Masters and would collect them, other soul beasts basically treated spirit bones like leftover food scraps, leaving them to the elements.
And so, after countless years of accumulation, an immense treasure trove was formed.
Even though the drop rate for spirit bones from soul beasts is very low, over the vast expanse of time, they gradually piled up. In the end, they formed a massive, priceless hoard buried deep underground, waiting for people to explore and excavate.
But now, all these treasures were a windfall for Ye Cheng.
"With so many spirit bones, funding the establishment of the Forbidden City definitely won't be a problem." Ye Cheng knew just how precious spirit bones were to Soul Masters. Even the most worthless ten-year spirit bone would have Soul Masters willing to pay a high price, to say nothing of a ten-thousand-year spirit bone, which could absolutely fetch a sky-high price!
"Next, after I sell the spirit bones and get the money, I just need to find skilled craftsmen and recruit some Factions to contribute to the construction of White Cloud City," he murmured to himself.
To establish White Cloud City, Ye Cheng couldn't rely on himself alone. He had to recruit people to fill its empty spaces. After all, if a city has no residents, can it even be called a city?
Of course, with his current status, if he announced the establishment of White Cloud City, people would be scrambling to join. Many Factions, large and small, would hear the news and rush to pledge their allegiance. It was just like in ancient times when someone rebelled and declared themselves king; there was never a shortage of righteous warriors and displaced commoners flocking to their banner.
With a single call, Factions would immediately compete to become his followers. Countless commoners would cry and beg to join White Cloud City and live under his rule.
At that point, as long as he established his own City Lord's Manor—the Forbidden City—the construction of the other residences, manors, and city walls could be handed over to the various large and small clans who came to him with their families in tow.
This was a win-win transaction.
Ye Cheng needed these followers to help build White Cloud City and serve as its public face. In return, the Factions that came to join him needed a boss who could provide them with protection. Both sides got what they needed; it was hard to say who lost and who profited.
…
This was a building with a very peculiar shape. It was perfectly round, resembling half a sphere resting on the ground. There was no sign with a name, only the image of a hammer. This wasn't the forging hammer of a blacksmith, but the auction gavel of an auction house.
This was the Heaven Dou Auction House, located in Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Ye Cheng, along with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, had arrived here via sword flight. After landing and observing the building up close, he could see that the Heaven Dou Auction House had a diameter of at least five hundred meters and its highest point exceeded eighty meters. It was truly a spectacular sight.
Moreover, Heaven Dou City was the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, a place where land was worth its weight in gold. This alone showed how important the auction house was to the entire city and how unfathomably deep its backing must be.
"Brother, what are we doing at the Heaven Dou Auction House?" Ning Rongrong asked curiously, looking at the place she had visited many times before. "Are you going to buy something?"
"No, I'm here to sell something," Ye Cheng said truthfully. There was nothing to hide. There was no shame in needing money and coming to an auction house to sell things.
"Eh, Brother, do you need money? Father gave me some before I left. If you need it..." Ning Rongrong said, pulling out a card that functioned similarly to a bank card. One could use it to withdraw money at any time or use it for payment in certain establishments.
"There's no need. How could an older brother use his younger sister's money?" Ye Cheng shook his head. It wasn't that he thought the amount was too small; he could tell at a glance that the card in Ning Rongrong's hand was a gold card with a maximum balance of a million, meaning it held at least one million gold soul coins. She was quite the little rich girl.
"Let's go. We'll talk inside."
With that, Ye Cheng walked ahead toward the main entrance of the auction house.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing exchanged a look, then tactfully followed behind him without asking any more questions.
The main entrance was also semi-circular, matching the auction house's overall architecture, and was a milky-white color. Four tall young women stood before the door.
These women had clearly been carefully selected. Not only were they all around 1.75 meters tall, but their figures were also perfectly proportioned. While not peerless beauties, their pleasant features were quite attractive. They appeared to be no more than twenty years old and wore floor-length dresses that covered even their arms, not revealing any unnecessary skin. Yet, the dresses were form-fitting, fully accentuating their graceful curves. The snow-white gowns were embroidered with silver patterns.
The four greeters moved in perfect unison, their hands clasped before them and professional smiles on their faces. Although the smiles were part of the job, they easily gave others a favorable impression.
Seeing the three of them walk straight over, one of the four women took three steps forward, bowed slightly, and said, "Welcome, esteemed guests. How may I..." Halfway through her sentence, she saw Ye Cheng's face clearly, and her words came to an abrupt halt.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!"
Once they processed who it was, the four women knelt directly on the ground, bowing their heads deeply.
Ye Cheng hadn't altered his appearance, so his identity was immediately recognized by the four women. They knew that the man before them was at the pinnacle of Soul Masters, a Limit Douluo—the strongest rank among Titled Douluo! Thus, they hurriedly knelt in salute.
Ye Cheng's expression remained unchanged as he said calmly, "You may rise."
"Yes."
The four women rose obediently. The apparent leader among them kept her head lowered and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, please come in."
They didn't ask Ye Cheng's purpose for coming. People came to the auction house to buy, to sell, or to cause trouble. It was obvious that this esteemed guest belonged to one of the first two categories.
They treated every visitor as a guest, but this man was arguably the most distinguished person to have ever set foot here. They had to receive him with the utmost care and not neglect him in the slightest.
(end of chapter)
Ye Cheng was unaware of the deeply embarrassing incident that had just occurred with Tang San. After leaving, he continued to sweep through the Star Dou Great Forest with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. Aided by the treasure-finding ability of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, he obtained many spirit bones. To his surprise, most of these spirit bones, like the torso bone from that pig-type beast, were buried underground or in other hidden places.
The age of the spirit bones wasn't high; they were generally ten-year, hundred-year, or thousand-year spirit bones. Only a few were ten-thousand-year spirit bones.
By the time he walked out of the Star Dou Great Forest, Ye Cheng's storage ring was already piled high with spirit bones.
Counting them carefully, there were a total of 861.
Among them, 206 were ten-year spirit bones.
361 were hundred-year spirit bones.
209 were thousand-year spirit bones.
And 85 were ten-thousand-year spirit bones.
This trip could only be described as a massive haul!
Originally, Ye Cheng had thought that his quest for spirit bones would require him to kill a large number of high-level soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. However, while using the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to search for treasure, he was surprised to find that while the forest wasn't exactly paved with spirit bones, it wasn't far off.
Of the more than eight hundred spirit bones, only about thirty were from soul beasts he had personally killed. The rest were essentially found by Ye Cheng in the ground, in the water, or in other concealed locations. It was simply incredible.
But on second thought, the Star Dou Great Forest had existed for untold millennia. Coupled with its vast population of soul beasts, countless beasts died every day from fighting one another. With so many years of accumulated life and death, it was not so surprising that so many spirit bones would be hidden away.
After all, spirit bones are useless to soul beasts. The vast majority of soul beasts have low intelligence. With the exception of soul beasts possessing extraordinary bloodline talents, the intelligence of even a typical ten-thousand-year soul beast was far below that of a normal human. Therefore, after killing an enemy and having a spirit bone drop, most soul beasts would simply ignore the item they couldn't absorb. They only cared about devouring their opponent's corpse. Only a small minority might, out of curiosity, drag it back to their nests to serve as a toy or a tool to grind their teeth on.
Aside from hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, whose intelligence was on par with humans and who knew that these items were treasures to Soul Masters and would collect them, other soul beasts basically treated spirit bones like leftover food scraps, leaving them to the elements.
And so, after countless years of accumulation, an immense treasure trove was formed.
Even though the drop rate for spirit bones from soul beasts is very low, over the vast expanse of time, they gradually piled up. In the end, they formed a massive, priceless hoard buried deep underground, waiting for people to explore and excavate.
But now, all these treasures were a windfall for Ye Cheng.
"With so many spirit bones, funding the establishment of the Forbidden City definitely won't be a problem." Ye Cheng knew just how precious spirit bones were to Soul Masters. Even the most worthless ten-year spirit bone would have Soul Masters willing to pay a high price, to say nothing of a ten-thousand-year spirit bone, which could absolutely fetch a sky-high price!
"Next, after I sell the spirit bones and get the money, I just need to find skilled craftsmen and recruit some Factions to contribute to the construction of White Cloud City," he murmured to himself.
To establish White Cloud City, Ye Cheng couldn't rely on himself alone. He had to recruit people to fill its empty spaces. After all, if a city has no residents, can it even be called a city?
Of course, with his current status, if he announced the establishment of White Cloud City, people would be scrambling to join. Many Factions, large and small, would hear the news and rush to pledge their allegiance. It was just like in ancient times when someone rebelled and declared themselves king; there was never a shortage of righteous warriors and displaced commoners flocking to their banner.
With a single call, Factions would immediately compete to become his followers. Countless commoners would cry and beg to join White Cloud City and live under his rule.
At that point, as long as he established his own City Lord's Manor—the Forbidden City—the construction of the other residences, manors, and city walls could be handed over to the various large and small clans who came to him with their families in tow.
This was a win-win transaction.
Ye Cheng needed these followers to help build White Cloud City and serve as its public face. In return, the Factions that came to join him needed a boss who could provide them with protection. Both sides got what they needed; it was hard to say who lost and who profited.
…
This was a building with a very peculiar shape. It was perfectly round, resembling half a sphere resting on the ground. There was no sign with a name, only the image of a hammer. This wasn't the forging hammer of a blacksmith, but the auction gavel of an auction house.
This was the Heaven Dou Auction House, located in Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Ye Cheng, along with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, had arrived here via sword flight. After landing and observing the building up close, he could see that the Heaven Dou Auction House had a diameter of at least five hundred meters and its highest point exceeded eighty meters. It was truly a spectacular sight.
Moreover, Heaven Dou City was the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, a place where land was worth its weight in gold. This alone showed how important the auction house was to the entire city and how unfathomably deep its backing must be.
"Brother, what are we doing at the Heaven Dou Auction House?" Ning Rongrong asked curiously, looking at the place she had visited many times before. "Are you going to buy something?"
"No, I'm here to sell something," Ye Cheng said truthfully. There was nothing to hide. There was no shame in needing money and coming to an auction house to sell things.
"Eh, Brother, do you need money? Father gave me some before I left. If you need it..." Ning Rongrong said, pulling out a card that functioned similarly to a bank card. One could use it to withdraw money at any time or use it for payment in certain establishments.
"There's no need. How could an older brother use his younger sister's money?" Ye Cheng shook his head. It wasn't that he thought the amount was too small; he could tell at a glance that the card in Ning Rongrong's hand was a gold card with a maximum balance of a million, meaning it held at least one million gold soul coins. She was quite the little rich girl.
"Let's go. We'll talk inside."
With that, Ye Cheng walked ahead toward the main entrance of the auction house.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing exchanged a look, then tactfully followed behind him without asking any more questions.
The main entrance was also semi-circular, matching the auction house's overall architecture, and was a milky-white color. Four tall young women stood before the door.
These women had clearly been carefully selected. Not only were they all around 1.75 meters tall, but their figures were also perfectly proportioned. While not peerless beauties, their pleasant features were quite attractive. They appeared to be no more than twenty years old and wore floor-length dresses that covered even their arms, not revealing any unnecessary skin. Yet, the dresses were form-fitting, fully accentuating their graceful curves. The snow-white gowns were embroidered with silver patterns.
The four greeters moved in perfect unison, their hands clasped before them and professional smiles on their faces. Although the smiles were part of the job, they easily gave others a favorable impression.
Seeing the three of them walk straight over, one of the four women took three steps forward, bowed slightly, and said, "Welcome, esteemed guests. How may I..." Halfway through her sentence, she saw Ye Cheng's face clearly, and her words came to an abrupt halt.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!"
Once they processed who it was, the four women knelt directly on the ground, bowing their heads deeply.
Ye Cheng hadn't altered his appearance, so his identity was immediately recognized by the four women. They knew that the man before them was at the pinnacle of Soul Masters, a Limit Douluo—the strongest rank among Titled Douluo! Thus, they hurriedly knelt in salute.
Ye Cheng's expression remained unchanged as he said calmly, "You may rise."
"Yes."
The four women rose obediently. The apparent leader among them kept her head lowered and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, please come in."
They didn't ask Ye Cheng's purpose for coming. People came to the auction house to buy, to sell, or to cause trouble. It was obvious that this esteemed guest belonged to one of the first two categories.
They treated every visitor as a guest, but this man was arguably the most distinguished person to have ever set foot here. They had to receive him with the utmost care and not neglect him in the slightest.
(end of chapter)
