Auction

In the Training Hall.

Luo Feng, clad in loose white robes, sat cross-legged, suspended nearly half a meter above the ground on his Sky-Shuttle. His eyes, deep as the ocean, intently watched the twelve Sky-Shuttle blades hovering before him, manipulating them with his will.

The twelve silver-gray blades danced around Luo Feng like a dozen sprites, their movements a complex, intricate maze. Their speed varied wildly, accelerating and decelerating, constantly crisscrossing, seemingly on the verge of collision yet never touching. The blades flickered, sometimes slow, sometimes soaring past the speed of sound.

“Swoosh!” Two blades grazed each other.

“Failed.”

Luo Feng, who had maintained a calm expression while suspended, couldn't help but crack a smile. “My talent seems quite good; I can already practice the second illustration of the Divine God’s Illustrated Manual. But completing the entire second illustration in just 3.2 seconds… that’s truly challenging.”

“High difficulty makes it more challenging.”

The Divine God’s Illustrated Manual was a training method for 'Object Control' Psychic Masters, found within the Foundation of Psychic Masters secret manual. It contained 99 illustrations, yet according to the manual, the strongest Psychic Master on Earth could only practice up to the 18th. Luo Feng was puzzled… if that was the case, where did the later illustrations come from?

…

“Practicing the Divine God’s Illustrated Manual is exhausting,” Luo Feng muttered, shaking his head. He called out, “Activate projection!”

Immediately, the projector in the Training Hall cast a beam of light onto the white wall, displaying a giant computer screen.

“Video chat,” Luo Feng commanded. “Connect to Xu Xin.”

“Beep—beep—beep—”

The screen began to send the video call request.

“It’s almost ten in the morning. And it’s summer vacation, so Xu Xin should be online, right?” Luo Feng waited. After about half a minute, the video connected.

Whoosh!

The giant screen on the wall showed Xu Xin, wearing pajamas and holding a steaming coffee cup, her hair casually disheveled, looking somewhat sleepy.

“Luo Feng,” Xu Xin said, trying to open her eyes wider.

“No way, it’s ten in the morning, and you’re still sleeping?” Luo Feng asked, surprised, with a laugh.

“What ten in the morning? It’s evening here,” Xu Xin replied helplessly.

“Evening?” Luo Feng was taken aback.

Xu Xin seemed to wake up a bit, quickly explaining, “I’m in America right now, not in Huaxia. Even though it’s morning there, it’s already evening here.”

Luo Feng understood.

“Oh, Luo Feng,” Xu Xin said, looking at him through the video with surprise. “Judging by the background behind you, it’s not that desolate place on the Australian continent, is it?” When he was on the Australian continent, Luo Feng had chatted with Xu Xin before, but those were through his communication watch, and the video usually showed caves, rocks, or desolate landscapes.

“I’m back, in Jiangnan Base City,” Luo Feng said with a smile.

“Back?” Xu Xin was even more astonished. “Didn’t you say you’d be on the Australian continent for a month? If I had known you were coming back, I wouldn’t have come to America.” Xu Xin sounded a little disappointed. Indeed, ever since Luo Feng went to the Elite Training Camp, they hadn’t met in person, relying solely on video calls.

If Xu Xin had known Luo Feng was returning, why would she have gone to America?

“Miss me that much?” Luo Feng teased.

“Hmph!” Xu Xin wrinkled her nose, feigning disdain, and immediately changed the subject. “How long are you back for this time? I’ll be in America for about another week, then I can fly back with my family’s team. When I get back… my parents are forcing me to attend an important banquet on September 1st. They say it’s a banquet to welcome the new Inspector of the Extreme Martial Arts Dojo in Jiangnan Base City. I’ll have school that day, but my parents are insisting I go.”

Luo Feng blinked.

It seemed… Xu Xin didn’t know who this new Inspector was yet.

“A new Inspector, that’s quite something. Xu Xin, do you know who the new Inspector is?” Luo Feng asked, barely suppressing a laugh.

“No idea. An Inspector… well, they must be some incredibly powerful warrior, but what does that have to do with me?” Xu Xin seemed uninterested in discussing ‘Inspectors’ and quickly added, “Anyway, I’ve been so annoyed since I came to America, Luo Feng, you wouldn’t believe it, I…”

…

August 15th. The War God Palace held an auction on the 15th of every month, and on this day, over ninety percent of the world’s Wargods gathered for the grand event.

Huaxia time, 19:45. Virtual space, in the War God Palace’s auction hall.

The auction hall was designed like an opera house, circular in shape. At its center was the item display stage, surrounded by numerous seats, totaling 5,000. The hall was already bustling with people, Wargods chatting in groups of three or five.

Melodious music echoed throughout the auction hall.

“Luo Feng.”

“Luo Feng, over here.”

As Luo Feng, dressed in simple casual clothes, entered the auction hall, many Wargods from the Extreme Martial Arts Dojo waved and called out to him warmly.

“Mr. Luo Feng, hello.”

“Mr. Luo Feng.”

Walking down the aisle of the auction hall, Wargods of all skin colors—black, yellow, white—from all over the world filled the seats on both sides. They were clearly very friendly towards Luo Feng. Luo Feng smiled and nodded, quickly making his way to a large section occupied by the Extreme Martial Arts Dojo’s Wargods.

A formidable presence!

The number of Wargods from the Extreme Martial Arts Dojo was indeed formidable, occupying a vast area, with at least several hundred people visible to the naked eye.

“As expected of the world’s top elite force, they have the most Wargods and council members,” Luo Feng mused.

“Hmm?”

Luo Feng spotted a beautiful figure in purple and walked over. “Teacher Jiang Fang.”

“Luo Feng, yes.” Jiang Fang smiled, looking at her student. She had only thought Luo Feng was excellent in blade techniques and movement, but she never expected his most astonishing talent to be in ‘Psychic Power.’ Now, he had suddenly become an Invincible Wargod and was even appointed Inspector of a large Base City like Jiangnan Base City. Jiang Fang couldn’t help but feel how unpredictable life was, and how quickly things changed.

Inspectors also had varying statuses.

Large Base Cities had populations of two to three hundred million, while small Base Cities might have less than a hundred million! The world’s five major powers and 23 Base Cities totaled 52 Base Cities. With a global population of around 7 billion, the average population per Base City was just over 100 million.

Jiangnan Base City clearly belonged to the category of large Base Cities.

“Luo Feng, sit here,” Jiang Fang said, gesturing to the seat beside her.

“Okay,” Luo Feng sat down.

“After the auction, I’ll introduce you to our other Wargods. Including you, our Dojo now has three ‘Invincible Wargods’,” Jiang Fang said with a smile.

…

In a corner of the auction hall, the Vulture and Scorpion couple sat.

“Luo Feng is here,” Wenina said, looking into the distance.

“He seems quite popular,” Li Yao sneered. Nowadays, Li Yao’s usual gaze and demeanor could be described as ‘keep away from strangers.’ Some Wargods sitting near Li Yao, who were old acquaintances, couldn’t help but frown at his current aura and expression.

…

The auction hall was packed, with over three thousand Wargods present.

“Everyone!”

The entire auction hall quickly fell silent, and the music faded. Flash! A spotlight illuminated the central display stage, where a Huaxia man and a Caucasian man stood. One spoke in Chinese, followed by the Caucasian man repeating it in English.

“On the 15th of this month, we meet again,” the Huaxia man said with a smile, and the Caucasian man repeated it.

Both waved their hands simultaneously—

Immediately, a multitude of various items appeared around the central display stage, a vast array that vanished moments later.

“This auction features a total of 71 items,” the Huaxia man announced with a smile. “Perhaps what you desire is here. Without further ado, I officially declare this auction open!”

“The first item is a work of art, Vincent van Gogh’s 1890 painting, ‘Portrait of Dr. Gachet,’ with a starting bid of 1 billion Huaxia coins.” As the Huaxia man finished speaking, a giant replica of the famous painting appeared above the auction hall, slowly rotating to allow every Wargod to see it.

…

Below the stage, in the section where the Extreme Martial Arts Dojo’s Wargods gathered, Luo Feng was surprised by the first item. “Teacher Jiang, they even auction famous paintings and antiques?”

“Of course,” Jiang Fang whispered, lowering her voice. “The War God Palace auction is the largest in the world. It’s not just Wargods participating; behind them are various organizations and powers. So, all sorts of rare treasures are brought here for auction. Only the most top-tier famous paintings and antiques qualify. Ordinary ones wouldn’t even meet the starting bid of 1 billion Huaxia coins.”

Luo Feng nodded.

Indeed, the Grand Nirvana Period had been a terrible blow to many historical artifacts, antiques, and famous paintings. Many were lost or damaged during humanity’s exodus. So now, with human society stabilized in ‘Base City’ form, the prices of these antiques and paintings were very high.

“The sixth item for auction is a set of A-grade gene agents, a set of ten, with a starting bid of 1.2 billion Huaxia coins.”

…

Luo Feng listened, not making a single bid.

Finally—

“The thirty-ninth item for auction is a portion of Water of Life, with a starting bid of 10 billion Huaxia coins.” As this announcement rang out, Luo Feng, who had been calm, his eyes lit up. A test tube containing the Water of Life appeared in the air above the auction hall.

“Finally, it’s here.” Luo Feng’s gaze locked onto the projection of the Water of Life.