62 Fated Battle

The Fairweather Auction House was a shadow of its former glory. Its intricately carved walls, gildings, and decorations had lost their luster or had disappeared under the gold-plundering formation. Entire rooms had crumbled due to structural weakening.

While most of the employees in the auction house had returned to their dwellings, there was one man who remained in the building every night. The auction house was his home, and he viewed the wealth it generated as his personal collection. He wore an unsightly expression as he struggled to use his aura to save his most valuable treasures. However, there was only so much the power of Foundation Establishment could do to stave away the plundering gold mist. Even bags of holding couldn't stop the elusive thief. Little by little, his treasures crumbled to dust and evaporated before his very eyes. The only ones that didn't disappear were those that were bonded to him, like his flying sword and a few life-saving treasures.

"You all may as well come out," he said with a grunt. A few short moments of silence were broken by the sounds of swishing blades as three cultivators flew in on magic swords. Each of them radiated the power of foundation establishment.

"Your senses are still sharp for such an old man," a masked figure commented as he jumped off his flying perch. The flying sword began spinning around him in a haphazard fashion when he landed. The other two masked men beside him followed suit, surrounding the white-haired auctioneer.

"I see that the three of you have come to court death," he said while brushing off his blue robes. Three silver-blue lights flashed as they darted out from the man's mouth and flew toward the three assailants. The three masked men deflected them with great difficulty. Surprisingly, the auctioneer could control three flying swords at once.

"Very impressive," the lead masked man said. "Flying swords are much harder to control than small daggers, pins, pearls, and other such objects. Moreover, these are high-level flying swords. It's no wonder that our master sent three of us to deal with you."

"You think you three alone are enough? Naïve." The three swords hummed, and an icy pattern resembling a snowflake spread out from each of them. The three patterns continued expanding and connected, forming a much larger pattern that surrounded him.

"No, you misunderstand. Our job is simply to stall you, so why don't you make this easy for yourself and stay put?" the masked man said while forming hand seals. His sword began to burn with a red flame. Meanwhile, his two assistants performed similar actions. Their swords turned green and yellow-brown respectively.

"The Earth, Wind, and Fire formation, how amusing." The auctioneer formed a dozen hand seals and threw a bag of silver dust in the air. It absorbed into his skin, giving him the appearance of a man made of pure quicksilver. "Let us fight!"

***

Cha Ming felt the pressure on his vital force ease up with the disappearance of the red mist. Looking outside the guard shack, he realized that somehow, all four formation eyes had been destroyed.

I wonder who handled the fourth eye? he thought. He wasted no time and ran back toward the center of town, where he met Gong Lan and Huxian.

The blood moon in the sky had faded, and it now resembled a moon made of pure gold. The whole city became a dazzling sight to behold. He followed a yellow brick road to the city center, where both a red and gold formation still glowed brightly. The scope of the red formation was much smaller than before, however. Both Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng were using their power to supress Zhou Xian. He grimaced as he was forced to stand up from his meditative posture.

***

Zhou Xian looked at his skinny companion. "How much time do you need so you can supress these two, Merchant?"

The skinny man's eyes opened, and he looked at the two master artisans with disinterest. "I still require an incense time to obtain seventy percent assurance. I'd ask for more time, but it seems you'll have your hands full."

Zhou Xian took a deep breath before withdrawing two scrolls from his bag of holding. The residual blood formation prevented Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng from interfering.

He flung the two scrolls into the air, where they unfurled into two golden contracts. He bit his thumb and swiped it across the first scroll. The golden contract's black writing glowed red before falling to the ground. The writing separated itself from the parchment and spread out in a circular formation while Zhou Xian signed the second contract in blood.

This time, the writing peeled off from the contract midair and created a formation in the shape of a gate. Within a few breaths' time, two powerful creatures emerged from their respective portals. One was a black hound with a sickly green mane while the other was a lithe beauty wearing barely anything. She appeared human, yet her entire form was red like blood.

"According to the contract, you may command us for half an incense time. What do you require, master?" the red creature inquired.

"Delay these two men for the duration of the contract," he instructed.

"Understood," the succubus responded. Both her and the hellhound darted out from the blood-red formation, shattering it. They immediately engaged Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng, leaving Zhou Xian to face Cha Ming, Gong Lan, and Huxian. The presence of foundation establishment oozed out from him.

***

Zhou Xian looked at Cha Ming and Huxian with a friendly smile. "My dear friends, it been so long. It's so nice to see you both. Alive." He glanced at Cha Ming with these words, and Zhou Xian's presence transformed.

Cha Ming had never fought against anyone at Foundation Establishment, so the initial aura was already imposing. Now that it had transformed, it no longer felt like suppression from a higher power. Rather, it was now a filthy feeling that aimed to corrupt his flesh, essence, and soul. The sickening feeling made it impossible for him to display his full strength.

Seeing Cha Ming's predicament, Huxian's figure blurred as he split into a black and a white fox, both with two tails. The white fox emanated a purifying aura, which neutralized part of Zhou Xian's evil presence. However, the disparity between realms was apparent. Huxian was only a half step into foundation establishment, after all.

Zhou Xiang clicked his tongue derisively at the expected intrusion. "So predictable, little fox. You stay put for a while." He formed a dozen hand seals and lifted his right hand up to the sky. A dark statuette appeared and subsequently scattered into thousands of black particles.

"Poison Suppression Idol!" he yelled. The figurine suddenly materialized above Huxian's white clone, and four characters surrounded him. They began emitting a frightening pressure that ate away at the purifying aura until it receded to one foot around the white Huxian.

Cha Ming and Gong Lan didn't waste any time, and neither did the black Huxian, who turned into a black pool of shadows at the base of Zhou Xian's feet. Hundreds of mouths rushed out from the pool, threatening to devour Zhou Xian, starting with his legs.

Cha Ming knew that his power was much weaker than everyone else's, but he could still play a significant assisting role. He launched seventy-two pearls toward Zhou Xian, and they formed a Snowflake Manifestation, plunging the temperature well below freezing. He then rushed out toward the white Huxian and began analyzing the supressing runes.

Gong Lan used both Huxian's devouring pool and Cha Ming's freezing manifestation to full effect, slashing at Zhou Xian with seven blades of blood. They froze as they entered the snowflake formation, becoming physical blades of bloody ice that threatened to eviscerate him. Zhou Xian grunted and spit out a dark-green flying sword. It zipped around him and parried each of the bloody blades in succession. Only bits and pieces of sharp ice hit him, leaving shallow flesh wounds on his arms and chest.

After dispatching the blades, Zhou Xian ignored both Cha Ming and Gong Lan, directing his attention to the ground below. He paused for a few moments before sending his flying sword plunging down into the dark abyss beneath him. It didn't shatter the black pool, rather, it dove down inside it and began dispatching many of the toothy maws that threatened to devour him. He was not wounded thus far, but the devouring power beneath him was sapping away at his qi reserves.

As Gong Lan continued to launch more blades from a distance, Cha Ming transformed his Clear Sky Staff into a large Clear Sky Brush. He quickly painted a character in the air, which then shot out toward one of the characters supressing Huxian. Zhou Xian's eyes narrowed when saw this, and he chose to send his flying sword out from the darkness to finish off Cha Ming, whom he saw as a weak fly.

Cha Ming was forced to retreat from the sudden assault, barely deflecting the sword with the Clear Sky Brush. He instantly changed his tactics to defense, using his Seven Cloud Steps to dart away and his Shearing Staff Art to deflect the incoming sword. It continued to harass him, and occasionally, it found openings in his imperfect defense. Fortunately, his earth and wood body refining had improved his defense and regeneration. However, with every shallow slash he took, he noticed an inky black substance seeping into his veins. It was clearly poison.

Seeing that Zhou Xian was focusing on Cha Ming, Gong Lan erupted with killing intent and charged at the restrained Zhou Xian. Zhou Xian drew another sword from his bag of holding, which he used to parry Gong Lan's dual saber assault. He confidently deflected her first few attacks, but she was building momentum. Soon, each blow made Zhou Xian's blood roil, and he was forced to divert attention from his flying sword to take care of the immediate threat. Meanwhile, Huxian's black clone continued assaulting Zhou Xian, devouring the power of his shield.

The lack of finely tuned control of the flying sword became quickly apparent to Cha Ming, who began using Burst Steps to instantaneously change directions and throw off the flying sword. After throwing it off for the fraction of a breath, he used Seven Cloud Steps to quickly move toward the white Huxian, using the opening to paint a single line in the air.

He didn't stop there, however. He made use of his extreme speed to slowly accumulate several lines in succession while simultaneously dodging the flying sword. After fifteen strokes, a character took shape and instantly flew out toward the second restraining character. The white Huxian roared and began assaulting the statuette with waves of purifying power.

As Cha Ming continued his combined evasion and painting motions, he felt something click. His darting motions, his instantaneous shifting, his quick parrying blows, and his quick brushing motions fused together. Before he knew it, the embryonic form of his second staff art took shape.

I'll call it the Swift Staff Art.

He immediately used his newly minted technique to good effect, completing a third rune in a few breaths' time. Zhou Xian, despite having broken through to early foundation establishment, was unable to endure and shouted, "Merchant, you need to come out now!"

"Useless," the Merchant said coldly. However, he followed Zhou Xian's request, and the golden formation around the merchant was quickly absorbed through his skin. He now looked like a man made of pure gold. The golden mist above the city disappeared with the formation, revealing a starry sky and a full moon.

Since the Merchant was no longer retracting his aura, the restraining effect of his qi on Cha Ming and the others was much higher than Zhou Xian's. Moreover, Cha Ming felt an additional form of suppression. His body trembled, and he felt as though his bones desired to prostrate themselves in worship.

Is this the power of Bone Forging, the equivalent of the Foundation Establishment Realm in body cultivation? He gulped at this revelation.

Fortunately, Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng appeared between them and the Merchant. They were panting heavily, and it was clear that the battle against the summoned devils had been extremely taxing. However, the summoned creatures had suddenly disappeared, and they were now available to face the Merchant with them.

The Merchant had no chance to prepare himself before Han Jinlong threw his hammer. The Merchant received it with his body, sliding back fifty feet before finally stopping. He remained unwounded and casually tossed the hammer aside. Han Jinlong grunted, and the hammer rematerialized in his hands.

"This is going to be a tough fight, kids," Han Jinlong said. "You need to hold back the small fry until we finish with this 'Merchant.' Neither myself nor Yifeng can hold him back by ourselves." Both he and Master Zhang darted out and began to attack the golden man with full force.

Zhou Xian's expression darkened when he saw he would be getting no reprieve. "You leave me no choice!" he bellowed. A dark green pill appeared in his hand. He crushed it in his hand and inhaled the resulting green dust. His aura soared instantly. Although this forbidden medicine didn't increase his strength by a full level, both Cha Ming and Gong Lan were now firmly supressed, and Cha Ming could no longer continue freeing the white Huxian as he was now busy avoiding the flying sword's skewering flight pattern. Without a turning point, it would be impossible to reverse the situation.

***

Han Jinlong deflected a punch from the golden man with his hammer. Despite being forced back three feet, he barely left a mark on the man's fist. It was tougher than any metal he had forged to date. In addition to the Merchant's mid-level bone-forging body, he had also cultivated his skin, rendering it difficult to pierce or dent with metallic weapons.

Just how did he do it? Han Jinlong wondered. His skin should not be so tough at his realm.

The golden man was overthrowing everything Han Jinlong knew about body cultivation. He himself was a low-level bone-forging cultivator. He had been taught that body cultivators first strengthened and purified their bodies, bringing it to its most natural base state. Then came the forging of the bones and the strengthening of the tendons. This was the basis for bone-forging cultivators, and only those who completed these steps could begin cultivating their skin.

Still, the heavens were fair. Everything under the heavens had a weakness, and Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng only needed to find it. What worried him most was that, while the Merchant had a cultivation base at mid-level foundation establishment, he had yet to use any qi techniques. Just what kind of trump cards did he have? And was his whole body really like a human weapon?

Wait, a weapon! His skin is golden. Does this mean his body is like metal? To test his theory, he breathed out a plume of blue and bathed the golden man's body in flames. This time, he didn't shrug off the blow. A shield of qi materialized around him, resisting the scorching flames in his body's stead.

Yifeng, use your alchemist's flames to attack him. He's susceptible to fire, and he's been reserving his qi to counter it! Han Jinlong said mentally. His partner nodded and formed many intricate hand seals. Two red flame dragons shot out from his hands and began attacking the skinny man in tandem with Zhang Yifeng and his spear.

Zhang Yifeng's arms tingled with every strike of his spear. The spear was an unusual weapon choice for an alchemist, and he usually used the spear defensively to keep his opponent at bay.

Only when you keep your opponent away will your techniques truly shine. Instead of relying on the raw strength of his body, Zhang Yifeng imbued his weapon with qi. This made the long-ranged weapon a deadly threat to just about anyone. However, the golden man was an exception.

They were evenly matched in qi cultivation, but the Merchant had an equivalent body cultivation to complement it. His spear strikes had little to no effect. Zhang Yifeng wondered why the man kept defending instead of attacking. With such a strong defense, he could afford to ignore whatever they threw at him. Yet, the Merchant continued to defend against the alchemist's spear, his two meticulously controlled fire dragons, and Han Jinlong's relentless assault with both hammer and flames.

This really isn't easy. I feel like my weapon is about to break from all the strain, he thought. That was when he noticed the first crack on his weapon. It had grown dull compared to its usual magnificence. This treasured spear, a precious gift from Han Jinlong, was now on the verge of shattering.

So that's his game, he thought. After communicating his findings to Han Jinlong, he gritted his teeth and continued attacking. Regrettably, he had expended all his wealth on the expedition and no longer had any major life-saving treasures or extra weapons. He could only endure and continue attacking the Merchant, hoping that his spear would last until the end of the battle.