Chapter 265: A Wooden Ruler Bringing About A Storm (2/2)
“This ruler is extraordinary.” The Ice Feather Palace’s Bing Yuxia carefully contemplated about this wooden ruler before finally murmuring. Of course, only she herself heard these words.
“Gentlemen, everyone has seen this ruler now. As the last buried item within this tomb, our Inheritance Ancient Pavilion will use the grave auction rules to sell this off. This ruler was created by using divine wood. Since it has a great and extraordinary origin with the ghost race, the starting price will be 3,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades!” The auctioneer declared.
These words were met by an immediate uproar as the scene became rambunctious. A buyer couldn’t help but counter: “You’re kidding! The origin of this wooden ruler isn’t even clear and the wooden material is not known, yet it is starting at 3,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades? This is too much of a cheat!”
“Yeah! I think that even if it was 3,000 Heavenly King Refined Jades, it would still be too expensive. 3,000 Heavenly Sovereign Refined Jades might be worthy of consideration.” Another buyer echoed the sentiment.
The auctioneer shook his head in response: “This wood is as hard as steel; these engravings of the ninety-nine ghosts... They are a supreme creation from the ghost race. Our Inheritance Ancient Pavilion does not dare to make any baseless statement regarding this ruler, but we can absolutely guarantee that this ruler is made from divine wood. As for the type of divine wood, there is a need for further deliberation. Of course, if there is someone willing to let us know, we would be happy to accept the a.s.sistance.”
“Fellow Daoist is correct.” At this time, Li Qiye smiled and said: “This ruler starting with 3,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades is indeed a bit too much. In my opinion, this ruler was crafted from a Harmonious Ghost Tree. This ruler is odorless and has spiral sh.e.l.l patterns on the actual wood. Combined with the faint white amidst the black, these are the characteristics of the Harmonious Ghost Tree. It is indeed rare within the Mortal Emperor World, but there is not too many marvelous uses for it.” [3. Harmonious can also mean leaf, here.]
“Harmonious Ghost Tree…” All the buyers were surprised after hearing this name because many of them had never heard of such a tree.
“Harmonious Ghost Tree!” An appraiser from the pavilion who specialized in wood became serious after listening and slowly said: “This is a rare species of trees in the Mortal Emperor World; they only grow in the Burial Grounds, away from the sight of mortals. Even though this wood is indeed rare and precious, it is completely accurate to say that there is not much use for it.”
“If you don’t trust my words, then you can carefully look at it to see if the wood outlines of this ruler contain spiral sh.e.l.l patterns with a faint white within the black shade or not. This is a special characteristic of the Harmonious Ghost Tree.” Li Qiye smilingly spoke.
All the buyers took turns looking at it, and then someone said: “It really does have that spiral pattern with the white and black color scheme.”
“I heard about a legend relating to the ghost race — something to do with their origin. Legend has it that the Progenitor of the ghost race was the soul of an ancient corpse, and it finally came back to life. It married a mortal and gave birth to future generations. There is another legend that states that there are ninety-nine descendants; each of the descendants built their own tribe, which is why the ghost race is also named the hundred race.” At this time, Li Qiye said with a smile. [4. I don’t know if the corpse comes back to life, or the soul took/got a new body. This wasn’t clear here in this part.]
Li Qiye’s statement was immediately refuted by a master from the ghost race. He coldly shouted: “Nonsense! The Progenitor of our ghost race was a ghost who became an immortal and eventually gave birth to our ghost race. In our veins flows the blood of the Ghost Immortal!”
There were three different theories regarding the origin of the ghost race’s Progenitor. The first was that he was a ghost who became an immortal; another was that he was a soul of an ancient corpse; the last was that he was the result from a relations.h.i.+p between a ghost and a mortal!
In fact, their ghost race only accepted the first theory and were especially averse to the soul from a dead corpse theory — the entire ghost race vehemently denied this theory. And as for the last one, some believed it while some didn’t.
Li Qiye smiled and replied: “Even though all of your ghost race currently denies this theory, it is undeniable that, during the ancient era, there were ghost members who believed such a theory.”
“Hmph! Those are just heretics! They are not qualified to be a part of the ghost race!” The master from the ghost race coldly proclaimed.
Li Qiye continued on with a grin: “Whether it is heresy or not, it is all in the past now. However, it is a fact that there were ghost race members who believed in this theory. Therefore, during immemorial eras, ghost race members carved the images of the ninety-nine ghosts in order to honor the origin of the ghost race. I trust that this wooden ruler came from the heretics of the ghost race, and it is a memento of the ghost race’s origin. The Harmonious Ghost Tree is indeed precious, but if it is only a memento, then I’m afraid it doesn’t have much value.”
“If that is the case, then 3,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades is too much ah. Let it be 3,000 Ancient Saint Refined Jades, then!” After Li Qiye’s explanation, another buyer immediately exclaimed.
“Yes, 3,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades to buy a memento is totally not worth it. I don’t even want it for 3,000 Ancient Saint Refined Jades; how about 3,000 Royal n.o.ble Refined Jades?” Many buyers here began to cause a commotion.
Another buyer also lamented his bad luck as he shook his head in dejection: “I actually thought a Legendary Alchemist would be buried with great drugs and ancient medicines; I didn’t expect this guy to be a heretic of the ghost race. If the other ancient medicines buried along with him weren’t worthwhile, then this grave auction would have been meaningless.”
At this moment when many buyers were clamoring, Bing Yuxia, who was relaxing under her pavilion, stared at Li Qiye with a strange expression. She seemed determined to see through him.
“Help me act out a play; go ahead and bid.” At this time, Li Qiye elbowed Chi Xiaodie next to him and whispered.
Chi Xiaodie angrily glared at him and replied: “Why should I act with you! I am not interested!”