Chapter Thirty-One: Sword of the Firmament

“Sixteen thousand!”
At the auction, someone quickly made a bid. On the second and third floors, within private booths, a few others also joined in. However, this top-grade spiritual bow was not suitable for most cultivators. At the very least, the Dragon Roar Bow required a strength of ten thousand catties to draw. Even if many high-level martial artists unleashed their full power, they would barely manage to string it, let alone wield its true might.
For them, it was rather like a chicken rib—something not worth the trouble.
Nevertheless, the Dragon Roar Bow was an exceptional spiritual weapon, extremely rare, and its starting price was not high. Winning it would be an unexpected boon.
The bow attracted interest from several people in the booths, though the bidding increments were modest.
Of course, Yi Tian heard the bid called by the chief, Yi Ke.
To the warriors of the Yi tribe, the Dragon Roar Bow was a priceless treasure.
Yi Tian made a decisive move.
“Eighteen thousand!”
The price for the Dragon Roar Bow rose steadily, approaching the threshold of twenty thousand elemental stones.
Gradually, people in the private booths began to withdraw from the bidding.
In the end, only Yi Tian and Yi Ke in the booth remained. Yet, after a moment’s hesitation, the chief chose not to raise his bid, allowing Yi Tian to win the Dragon Roar Bow for nineteen thousand six hundred low-grade elemental stones.
Having secured the Dragon Roar Bow, Yi Tian finally let out a breath of relief.
The moment he held it in his hands, he sensed its extraordinary nature—astonishingly heavy, weighing no less than two thousand catties.
Obtaining the Dragon Roar Bow was Yi Tian’s greatest gain from this auction, though it left him with less than ten thousand low-grade elemental stones.
The auction continued.
Each item presented was extremely rare and of tremendous value, leaving even high-level martial artists to sigh in longing.
At last, as the auction neared its end, the tenth-to-last item caught Yi Tian’s interest.
It was a martial technique!
“This is a fragment of an ancient martial technique, the Sword of the Firmament. According to our studies at Myriad Treasures Pavilion, the grade of this Sword of the Firmament is exceedingly high—perhaps even reaching the celestial level.”
After the auctioneer finished his introduction, the entire assembly of martial artists was shaken.
A celestial-level martial technique!
They could scarcely believe that such a treasure would appear at so modest an auction.

Even the most ordinary martial techniques are closely guarded secrets by every major force; training in one can at least triple a martial artist’s strength.
According to legend, there are three ranks of martial techniques—heaven, earth, and human—each containing profound mysteries. Even human-rank techniques can unleash attacks dozens of times stronger, with terrifying destructive power.
Within the Celestial Wind Empire, only the royal family or a handful of ancient noble houses possess human-rank techniques.
After building suspense, the auctioneer continued, “However, this Sword of the Firmament is a severely incomplete fragment, recording only the opening chapter—the Sword Qi section. Our experts at Myriad Treasures Pavilion have determined that even this Sword Qi section counts as a top-grade martial technique.”
Top-grade martial technique?
The news startled everyone present.
A top-grade martial technique! Even techniques below the official ranks are classified by power: low, mid, high, and top-grade.
If a low-grade technique can double a cultivator’s strength, a top-grade technique can amplify it more than tenfold.
Before the martial artists could get too excited, the auctioneer pressed on: “Of course, due to its lofty grade, this Sword of the Firmament’s Sword Qi section is exceedingly difficult to master. To this day, not a single person in Myriad Treasures Pavilion has succeeded in cultivating the Sword Qi!”
“According to our research, one’s true energy must be incredibly refined; otherwise, it’s impossible to succeed.”
What!
At that moment, all who heard understood.
Even mastering the introductory chapter of the celestial-level Sword of the Firmament was nearly impossible, which explained why it had ended up on the auction block in Black Dragon City.
“The starting price for this celestial-level Sword of the Firmament fragment is thirty thousand low-grade elemental stones!”
When the auctioneer announced the starting price, even those in the private booths fell silent.
A fragment of a celestial-level technique equivalent to a top-grade martial technique was an irresistible lure for any family or major force—worth bidding everything they had.
But if the fragment was impossible to cultivate, then no matter how rich or powerful they were, who would waste their fortune on a useless technique?
“Lend me some elemental stones!”
Yi Tian coveted the celestial-level Sword of the Firmament. Besides, he possessed the miraculous Star Mud for creating avatars—perhaps he could succeed in cultivating the Sword Qi, or even reconstruct the complete Sword of the Firmament, just as he had deduced the Pure Yang Art.
If he succeeded, he would truly possess a celestial-level martial technique.
Yi Shan and Yi Li readily lent him a generous number of purple-gold notes, valued at over twenty thousand.
The auctioneer, seeing the rare lull in bidding, could only sigh inwardly.
When they first acquired this celestial-level technique fragment, it had come at a high price. Yet, after repeated attempts, not a single person had succeeded in cultivating the Sword Qi, and so it had become a white elephant—brought out at every auction to recoup some of the cost.
Each time, they would carefully inform everyone of the Sword of the Firmament’s flaws.

Otherwise, the reputation of Myriad Treasures Pavilion would be irreparably damaged.
As a result, each auction saw the technique’s bidding price fall further.
“Thirty thousand!”
Yi Tian was the first to break the silence.
For a long moment, no one else bid. Some had nearly exhausted their elemental stones, others lacked the courage to throw tens of thousands into the void, and still others were already contemplating robbing the winner rather than spending so much unjustly.
In the end, the opening chapter of the celestial-level technique fell into Yi Tian’s hands.
The remaining items up for auction were almost all relics from ancient times, with the marks of ages past still lingering on them.
Some were fragments of ancient treasures; some, like a dull, gray-black orb, were said to be ancient spiritual root seeds.
Even so, these ancient objects attracted the attention of many families and factions, prompting spirited bidding.
Yi Tian could only shake his head.
He could sense no reaction from the Star Mud on his wrist. Though these were ancient artifacts, they lacked vital energy and were of little real worth.
“The final item, based on our appraisals, is likely the egg of a super-beast from ancient times. Its surface is encased in fossilized stone, but after removing the outer layer, we obtained this giant egg.”
The auctioneer lifted the cloth from the egg, revealing an object so large that it would take two people to encircle it. Its shell was etched with mysterious patterns, exuding a metallic sheen.
At the sight of the giant egg, Yi Tian frowned.
The Star Mud ring on his wrist suddenly surged with an eager hunger.
The change in the Star Mud immediately caught Yi Tian’s attention.
Since absorbing his vast stores of elemental and true energy, the Star Mud had remained dormant, never reacting so strongly—not even to the medicinal pills or spiritual artifacts at the auction, which had only stirred it faintly.
“This egg is of the highest grade, with an incredibly tough shell. Even our human-level experts at Myriad Treasures Pavilion cannot break it. It likely comes from a beast of imperial blood. Though it appears to be a dead egg, there is a sliver of hope that it may not be completely lifeless. Should someone form a blood pact with it, they could one day raise a super-beast and reap immense rewards. The starting price is fifteen thousand low-grade elemental stones!”
Despite the auctioneer’s flowery speech, everyone knew the egg from ancient times was almost certainly dead.
If it still held a spark of life, Myriad Treasures Pavilion would never offer it for auction.
For the great powers, only tangible, reliable gains were worth their bid; no one would squander a fortune on a mere glimmer of hope, no matter how promising the egg of a super-beast appeared.