His voice traveled into the gigantic cauldron, and at the same time, Su Ming's third syllable traveled out, causing a bang to ring in his head. It was as if his soul had left his body and was surrounding the cauldron with the power of the syllable.
The power that bounced back abruptly froze once Su Ming said those three syllables. At the same time, the pendant Su Ming had obtained from Dark Mountain on his chest abruptly shone with a dark light. With a flash of that dark light, it enveloped the gigantic cauldron in the blink of an eye. The cauldron shuddered within that dark light and slowly shrank until it was the size of a palm. It floated up and landed on Su Ming's palm.
That strange sight immediately made all the onlookers widen their eyes in disbelief. The people from Western Sea Clan who had brought the cauldron over sucked in a sharp breath, and shock appeared on their faces.
The people who were also observing Su Ming's actions previously were the second young master, the old men from Western Sea Clan who came with the auction, and even the auctioneer named Feng and Zi Shan. All of them were observing, wanting to see how Su Ming would take the cauldron away.
After all, the cauldron had been in Western Sea Clan for many years, and it had never shrunk. Even when it was brought to the land of Freezing Sky, it was only because Western Sea Clan had a storage item that could hold a mountain.
Yet right before their eyes, Su Ming had only pressed his hand on the cauldron, and the cauldron was immediately enveloped by a dark light before it shrank in an unbelievable manner.
All those who saw this scene would think of the words the blue-haired old man had said during the auction.
"Only those who are fated can obtain this item, and only those who are fated can open it!"
Zi Shan instinctively opened her mouth in the crowd. She knew about the cauldron, and she also knew that it had never changed over the years it had been in Western Sea Clan. It was like an inanimate object, and countless people from Western Sea Clan had researched it in an attempt to make it their own. They had tried everything they could, but to no avail.
Even the Clan Master of Western Sea Clan had to give up in the end. Only when the Progenitor of Western Sea Clan, Guru Li Long, said one sentence did the research on the cauldron come to an end.
That was what the blue-haired old man said at the auction.
In fact, the cauldron had been sent to the great land of Freezing Sky because of Guru Li Long's will. He felt that since no one in Western Sea Clan was fated to have this cauldron, then they should not forcefully keep it, or else a great disaster would befall them. That was why he had sent it to the great land of Freezing Sky to see whether there was anyone who was fated to have this cauldron.
At that moment, the breathing of the Western Sea Clan Elders who came with the auction quickened. They stared at the small cauldron shining with a dark light on Su Ming's palm with a dumbfounded expression. At the same time they were shocked, all of them remembered Su Ming's face.
A strange light appeared in Second Young Master's eyes. He looked at Su Ming standing in the distance, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"Very good. I didn't change my mind in vain and not buy this item to give to the Elder …"
A grave look appeared in the eyes of Old Chen from Heaven Gate. He looked at Su Ming standing in the distance, and for the first time in his life, he did not regard him highly because of his Master.
He remembered this young man called Su Ming.
Tian Lan Meng was also looking at Su Ming, and an elegant smile appeared on her face.
A dazed look appeared on Su Ming's face as he was the center of everyone's attention. He only recovered after a long while. He looked at the small cauldron in his hand, then turned around in silence and walked back to his tent.
Zi Che followed him and sat down cross-legged outside his tent, looking at the people's gazes gathered on him coldly.
After a long while, the owners of those gazes gradually averted their gazes and returned to their own tents with complicated, jealous, sentimental expressions on their faces.
The sky was already dark. The moon shone brightly in the sky, but snow continued falling, causing the ground to be covered in layers of silver. The entire tribe fell silent. Only the lights that were covered by the snow let out crackling sounds in the cold wind.
Su Ming sat down cross-legged in his tent and looked at the cauldron in his hand. Excitement appeared in his eyes. He lifted his left hand and stroked the cauldron. A feeling as if his flesh and blood were connected rose within him the moment he touched the cauldron.
"This is indeed the Barren Cauldron used to create medicinal pills … and the blue-haired old man from Western Sea Clan was right. This cauldron … hasn't been opened for a long time. There's … a medicinal pill inside!" Su Ming mumbled, and the light in his eyes grew brighter.
His heart raced against his chest. He originally did not believe in those words, but when he used the method he used to control the Barren Cauldron to make the cauldron smaller, he could vaguely feel a strange life force within.
That life force did not seem to belong to a living being, but to the medicinal pill itself!
'This cauldron has existed for a long time … If no one has opened it for a thousand years, then the medicinal pill inside is something from a thousand years ago. If … no one has been able to open it for ten thousand years …' Su Ming's heart pounded even more furiously. He stared at the cauldron in his hands, and uncertainty gradually appeared in his eyes. Once he observed the cauldron carefully, the uncertainty in his eyes was replaced by shock.
A serious look appeared on Su Ming's face. He brought the cauldron before him and sniffed it carefully. The shock on his face grew stronger, and there was even a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
'The medicinal fragrance isn't strong … There are two possibilities for this. Either the medicinal pill in the cauldron has been abandoned, or the medicinal pill hasn't been completely created …
'But if this unknown medicinal pill has been abandoned, then even though the medicinal fragrance would naturally not be strong, but after so many years, it wouldn't be a problem of the fragrance not being strong anymore. It would have completely disappeared!
'Unless no one has opened it for more than a thousand years, or else the medicinal pill hasn't been completely created …' Su Ming's eyes sparkled as he stared at the cauldron. After a long while, he lifted his left hand and made a strange gesture.
This was the hand seal he used to control the opening of the Barren Cauldron when he was creating medicinal pills based on his memories. If he chanted some strange syllables, he could open the Barren Cauldron and end the creation of the medicinal pill.
Su Ming knew that as long as he chanted the syllables that matched the hand seal, he would immediately open the cauldron. However, as he looked at the cauldron, uncertainty appeared in his heart.
'If the medicinal pill in the cauldron isn't abandoned but is in an incomplete state, then if I open it now, then it will truly be abandoned …' After a moment of silence, Su Ming put away the hand seal and put the cauldron away into his storage bag.
'This isn't the place for me to study it. I'll think about it when I return to the ninth summit.' Su Ming did not act rashly. Once he put away the small cauldron, he closed his eyes and began exercising his breathing.
The night passed by quickly. When the next morning arrived, Su Ming walked out of his tent and went to the auction hall with Zi Che. Su Ming did not participate in the bidding on this day. He only had one goal in mind at that moment – the small black humanoid sealed within the stone.
That item did not appear on the second day of the auction. When the last day of the auction arrived, the atmosphere in the auction hall had weakened to a certain extent after most of the auction had been going on for the past few days. Then, the blue-haired old auctioneer finally brought out the item Su Ming had been waiting for.
It was a mountain rock that was about the height of a person. It was completely transparent, and there was a small black humanoid sitting cross-legged within it. It looked as if it was alive!
"I don't know what this item is. I've asked a lot of people before, but most of them don't know anything about this item. This item wasn't brought by Western Sea Clan. A few days ago, an esteemed guest brought it here to auction on our behalf.
"That esteemed guest called this item the Soul in the Stone. He once said that he originally had three of these stones, but once he opened the other two, one of the small black humanoid inside died and turned into a black crystal, and the other one turned into a gust of black wind and escaped. Its whereabouts are still unknown.
"This item is the last one. He doesn't want to test it anymore and wants to auction it off. His asking price is not high, but he has a request. The person who buys it must tell him the name of this item and prove that what he said is true. If he is satisfied, he will pay for the item and give it to the person for free. He will also give the other black crystal that turned into after he opened it to the person. The person will talk to you alone, so you don't have to worry about others knowing about this.
"The starting bid for this item is 100,000!" The blue-haired old man spoke slowly. Due to the strangeness of this item, it attracted quite a number of people's attention. However, most of them were unfamiliar with this item and had never seen it before. They could not tell where it came from and what it could be used for, which was why it was not convenient for them to place a bid.
"150,000!" The voice that placed a bid came from the crowd. It came from a thin middle-aged man. He did not hide his face, but simply sat there with an aloof expression. His clothes were very unique. They were made up of black and white.
This sort of attire was unique to a tribe called Enlightenment Gathering Tribe in the land of Freezing Sky. This tribe was skilled in creating ice sculptures, and they would use a unique method to give life to the ice sculptures so that they could turn them into an Enchanted Vessel.
The process of creating these ice sculptures was very secretive. Besides the Great Tribe of Freezing Sky keeping a sealed record of it, it was difficult for others to know about it.
A price of 150,000 was practically nothing to the people who could join the auction. However, there were too few people who knew about the origins and uses of this item, which was why the bidding for it was limited.
"200,000!" Su Ming stood on the balcony and looked at the small black humanoid in the transparent mountain rock. He could clearly see that the small humanoid only had three fingers on each of its hands!
Once he was certain that the small humanoid was the item he needed to create the Welcoming of Deities, Su Ming placed a bid.
"300,000!" The tribe member from Enlightenment Gathering Tribe frowned.
"500,000!"
"700,000!"
"1,000,000!" Su Ming said slowly, his gaze fixed on the transparent mountain rock.
"Sir, please don't force yourself to name a price. You don't even know what this item is, and you're just trying to name a price. If you can't even tell us where it came from and what it can be used for, then how are you going to deal with this?!" The thin middle-aged man from Enlightenment Gathering Tribe lifted his head and looked at Su Ming.
"I don't know who put this item up for auction, but I'm sure you're here. I can tell you that only I know what this item is. No one else knows what it is, let alone how to use it!" The Enlightenment Gathering Tribe member stood up and spoke to the crowd. (To be continued.) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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