In the martial arts training hall, Luo Feng, dressed in a loose white robe, sat cross-legged on the Void-Gliding Shuttle, hovering nearly half a meter above the ground. His eyes were deep like oceans, silently staring at the twelve floating blades of the Void-Gliding Shuttle suspended before him, moving in accordance with his will.
Indeed, the twelve silvery-gray blades danced around him like spirits.
If one could trace the paths of these twelve blades, one would discover an extremely intricate and delicate maze-like pattern. Strangely, the speed of the twelve blades constantly fluctuated—sometimes accelerating, sometimes decelerating—crossing paths repeatedly. They seemed about to collide, yet never actually did. The blades flickered slowly at times, and at others, surged beyond the speed of sound.
“Chi!” Two blades brushed against each other.
“Failure.”
Luo Feng, suspended midair, had maintained a calm expression all along, but now a faint smile appeared on his face. “It seems my talent is indeed quite good. Right from the start, I can practice the second diagram of the Celestial Deity Chart. However, to complete the entire second diagram within a mere 3.2 seconds, the difficulty is truly immense.”
“The greater the difficulty, the greater the challenge.”
The Celestial Deity Chart is a training method for ‘object manipulation’ psychokineticists, found within the foundational manual “Psychokineticist Basics.” It contains a total of ninety-nine diagrams. However, according to the manual’s description, even the strongest psychokineticist on Earth today can only practice up to the eighteenth diagram. Luo Feng felt puzzled…
If that’s the case, then where did the later diagrams come from?
…
“Training with the Celestial Deity Chart is really exhausting,” Luo Feng shook his head and called out loudly, “Activate projection!”
Instantly, the projector in the martial arts hall emitted a beam of light onto the white wall, displaying a massive computer screen.
“Video chat,” Luo Feng commanded, “Connect to Xu Xin.”
“Beep—beep—beep—”
The video call began sending the request.
“It’s almost ten in the morning now. And it’s summer vacation—Xu Xin should be online, right?” Luo Feng waited. After about half a minute, the call finally connected.
Whoosh!
On the giant screen on the wall appeared Xu Xin, wearing pajamas, holding a steaming cup of coffee, her hair loosely hanging, looking somewhat drowsy.
“Luofeng,” Xu Xin struggled to open her eyes.
“You’ve got to be kidding. It’s ten in the morning, and you’re still asleep?” Luo Feng chuckled in surprise.
“What do you mean ten in the morning? It’s night here,” Xu Xin replied helplessly.
“Night?” Luo Feng was taken aback.
Xu Xin seemed to wake up a bit and quickly explained, “I’m in the United States, not back home. Although it’s morning back in China, it’s already night here.”
Luo Feng nodded in understanding.
“Hey, Luo Feng,” Xu Xin looked at Luo Feng through the video, surprised by the background behind him. “The background doesn’t look like the desolate wilderness of the Australian continent?” Back when Luo Feng was in Australia, they had chatted before, but it was usually through a communication watch, and the video would usually show caves, rocks, and barren landscapes.
“I’m back, in Jiangnan Base City,” Luo Feng smiled.
“Back?” Xu Xin was even more surprised. “Didn’t you say you’d be in Australia for a month? If I had known you were coming back, I wouldn’t have come to the United States at all.” Xu Xin sounded regretful. Indeed, ever since Luo Feng joined the elite training camp, the two had not met in person and had only communicated through video chats.
If she had known Luo Feng was returning, Xu Xin would never have gone to the United States.
“Missed me that much?” Luo Feng teased.
“Pfft!” Xu Xin wrinkled her nose in feigned indifference, swiftly steering the conversation elsewhere. “How long are you staying this time? I’ve got about a week left before I can head back with my family’s entourage. When I return… my parents are insisting I attend some grand banquet on September 1st—something about welcoming the new Inspector of Jiangnan Base City’s Extreme Martial Hall. Can you believe it? I’ve even got classes that day, but they won’t take no for an answer.”
Luo Feng blinked.
It seemed…
Xu Xin didn’t yet know who the new Inspector was.
“The new Inspector is quite impressive, Xu Xin. Do you know who the new Inspector is?” Luo Feng said, barely suppressing a grin.
“No idea. The Inspector… probably some super powerful expert, but what does that have to do with me?” Xu Xin seemed uninterested in the Inspector and quickly continued, “By the way, I’ve been really upset this time I came to the United States, Luo Feng. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been through…”
…
On the fifteenth of August, every month on the fifteenth, the War God Palace holds an auction, and on this day, over ninety percent of the world’s War Gods gather here for this grand event.
At 19:45 China time, in the virtual space within the War God Palace auction hall.
The layout of the auction hall resembled an opera house, circular in shape. At the center of the hall was the display platform, surrounded by rows of seats—5,000 in total. The hall was already packed, with War Gods chatting in small groups.
Soothing music echoed throughout the hall.
“Luofeng.”
“Luofeng, over here.”
As Luo Feng stepped into the auction hall clad in simple, unassuming attire, numerous War Gods from the Limit Dojo greeted him with enthusiastic waves.
“Mr. Luo Feng, hello.”
“Mr. Luo Feng.”
As Luo Feng strode down the corridor of the auction hall, warriors of all hues—ebony-skinned, golden-toned, and pale-complexioned—filled the seats on either side. Battle Gods from across the globe greeted him with unmistakable warmth. With a gracious smile and nod, he swiftly made his way to the expansive sector reserved for the War Gods of the Limit Dojo.
Vast and mighty!
Indeed, the War Gods from the Extreme Martial Hall could be described as a vast and mighty force, occupying a sprawling expanse. To the eye, their numbers seemed to stretch into the hundreds at the very least.
“No wonder it’s the top elite force in the world. Both the number of War Gods and the number of council members are the highest,” Luo Feng mused inwardly.
“Hmm?”
Luo Feng immediately noticed a striking figure dressed in purple and quickly walked over. “Teacher Jiang Fang.”
“Luofeng, yes,” Jiang Fang smiled at her student. She had only thought Luo Feng was exceptional in sword techniques and movement arts, but she never expected her student’s most astonishing talent would be in psychokinetic abilities. Now he had suddenly become an Invincible War God and even served as the Inspector of Jiangnan Base City, a major base city. Jiang Fang couldn’t help but feel how unpredictable the world was, how quickly things changed.
There were differences in rank among Inspectors.
Large base cities had populations of two to three hundred million, while smaller ones might have less than a hundred million. Across the globe, the five major superpowers and the 23 base cities combined made up a total of 52 base cities. The total human population was around 7 billion, so on average, each base city had a population of over a hundred million.
Jiangnan Base City was clearly among the larger ones.
“Luofeng, sit here,” Jiang Fang smiled, pointing to the seat beside her.
“Okay,” Luo Feng sat down beside her.
“After the auction ends, I’ll introduce you to the other War Gods from our guild. Including you, our guild now has three Invincible War Gods,” Jiang Fang smiled.
…
In a corner of the auction hall, the Scorpion and Vulture couple were seated.
“Luofeng has arrived,” Weina glanced toward the distance.
“He seems quite popular,” Li Yao sneered. Nowadays, Li Yao’s gaze and aura were truly ‘unapproachable to strangers.’ Some War Gods sitting near Li Yao were old acquaintances, but they couldn’t help frowning at Li Yao’s current demeanor and gaze.
…
The auction hall was packed, with over three thousand War Gods present.
“Ladies and gentlemen!”
The entire auction hall quickly fell silent, the background music fading away. Flash! A spotlight illuminated the central display platform, where a Chinese man and a Caucasian stood. One spoke in Chinese, followed by the Caucasian repeating the same in English.
“Once again, we meet on the fifteenth of this month,” the Chinese man smiled, and the Caucasian repeated the same.
Both simultaneously raised their hands—
Instantly, numerous various items appeared around the central display platform, many of them, only to vanish moments later.
“This month’s auction includes a total of seventy-one items,” the Chinese man smiled. “Perhaps among them, there are things you desire. I won’t say much more. I now officially announce the start of this month’s auction!”
“The first auction item is a piece of art—a famous painting titled ‘Portrait of Dr. Gachet,’ created by Vincent van Gogh in 1890. The starting price is ten billion Chinese Credits.” As the Chinese man finished speaking, a massive image of the famous painting appeared in the air above the auction hall, slowly rotating so every War God could see it clearly.
…
Below, amidst the assembly of the Extreme Martial Hall’s War Gods, Luo Feng couldn’t contain his astonishment upon hearing the first auction item. “Teacher Jiang,” he exclaimed, “even renowned paintings and antiques are up for auction?”
“Of course,” Jiang Fang whispered softly, “The War God Palace auction is the largest auction in the world. It’s not only War Gods participating in the auction; behind each War God stand various organizations and powers. Therefore, all kinds of rare treasures are brought here for auction. Even famous paintings and antiques are only auctioned here if they are of the highest quality. Ordinary famous paintings and antiques simply don’t meet the starting price of ten billion Chinese Credits.”
Luo Feng nodded.
Indeed, the Great Nirvana Period dealt a devastating blow to countless historical artifacts and renowned paintings. Many were lost or destroyed during humanity’s desperate exodus. Now that human society has stabilized within the fortress cities, these precious antiques and masterpieces have become extraordinarily valuable treasures.
“The sixth auction item is a set of A-grade genetic enhancement serums, ten in total, with a starting price of twelve billion Chinese Credits.”
…
Luo Feng just listened, not making a bid once.
Finally—
“The thirty-ninth auction item is a vial of the Water of Life, with a starting price of one hundred billion Chinese Credits.” As this announcement echoed, Luo Feng, who had been calm all along, suddenly had his eyes light up. Above the auction hall, the vial of the Water of Life appeared in projection.
“It’s finally here.” Luo Feng’s eyes locked onto the projection of the Water of Life suspended in midair.
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