Mysterious Statue

It was exactly 7:45 p.m.

After chatting for a while with a few War Gods who had come over, Ji Yun headed to the Auction Hall.

The Auction Hall was laid out like an opera house. It was circular, with the auction platform in the center and rows of seats surrounding it. There were five thousand seats in total. The hall was already packed, and the War Gods were chatting in groups of three or five.

"Oh, Luo Feng?"

Ji Yun hadn't expected to see Luo Feng at the auction, but then he thought about it. Luo Feng must need Life Water to help his younger brother recover, and since Luo Feng was a War God now, it wasn't strange for him to attend.

Ji Yun went over and sat beside Luo Feng. After all, the people he knew best in the War God Palace were from the Limit Dojo, and they were all instructors at the Training Camp.

"Councilor Ji."

"Councilor Ji."

The War God instructors spoke with a hint of respect.

Indeed, although Ji Yun was very young, he was now a genuine Councilor Level expert, someone who had surpassed the War God level. His presence naturally put some pressure on the War Gods. That was only because Ji Yun couldn't freely release his Domain in the virtual space. Otherwise, they would already have been knocked to the ground.

"Brother Yun, are you planning to buy anything today?" Luo Feng asked casually.

His main goal today was to buy Life Water. He had struggled for over a decade so that his younger brother could stand again like a normal person and no longer have to endure other people's strange looks.

"I'm just having a look. The things being auctioned here aren't worth much to me. The really good stuff is kept by the Dojo Master," Ji Yun said with a smile. "I heard there's a good net up for auction this time. You could buy it, so you won't have to worry about anyone getting away."

Luo Feng's eyes lit up. "That does sound useful."

Once all the War Gods had entered the Auction Hall,

"Ladies and gentlemen."

The hall quickly fell silent, and the music stopped. A beam of light shone on the central platform. A Chinese-American man and a white man stood onstage. One spoke in Chinese, and the other immediately repeated his words in English.

The two men waved, and a three-dimensional projection appeared in the air.

"There are seventy-one items in this auction," the Chinese-American man said with a smile. "Perhaps one of them is just what you're looking for, so I won't say more. I hereby declare this auction open!"

"The first item is a work of art: Vincent van Gogh's 1890 masterpiece, Portrait of Dr. Gachet. The starting price is one billion Huaxia Currency." As soon as the man finished speaking, a huge image of the painting appeared above the Auction Hall, slowly rotating so that every War God could see it.

"The thirty-ninth item is a bottle of Life Water, with a starting price of ten billion Huaxia Currency."

Luo Feng, who had been calm until then, brightened. A test tube of Life Water appeared above the Auction Hall.

A few War Gods placed bids before Luo Feng, but as soon as he spoke, they stopped competing.

The War God Palace was a place where War Gods made friends. No one would risk ruining their relationship with an Invincible War God over a bottle of Life Water.

"One hundred and twenty billion! Going for the third time! Congratulations, War God Luo Feng!" the Chinese-American man said with a smile.

Luo Feng was beaming, barely able to contain his excitement. Soon, his younger brother would be able to stand again and live like a normal person.

One item after another went under the hammer. The pace was quick, but with seventy-one items, even two or three minutes per item added up to about three hours.

"Now for the fifty-eighth item: a Golden Thread Net left behind by the King Rank Monster known as the Black Widow Spider King. It measures 8.3 meters long and 6.1 meters wide. The starting price is five billion Huaxia Currency." As the Chinese-American man spoke, a large Golden Thread Net appeared above the platform.

"Luo Feng, you need this. Buy it," Ji Yun said softly.

"Mm, that's exactly what I was thinking." After waiting for a few people to bid, Luo Feng called out, "Eight billion!"

"Nine and a half billion." This time, no one held back for Luo Feng. They had given him the courtesy once; that was enough.

"Ten billion." The voice came from beside Ji Yun, and the figure above the platform changed to Luo Feng's image.

"Now for the sixty-third item: a bird statue from ancient mythology. The statue was recently unearthed from an ancient ruin and secretly carried out by a researcher. It has been consigned for auction at the War God Palace. To help any War Gods unfamiliar with ancient Chinese mythology, a copy of the Classic of Mountains and Seas is included. The starting price is two billion Huaxia Currency."

"A statue?" Ji Yun's eyes shifted as he studied its projection.

"There are markings on it? Hmm. They look like the insignia of some faction. Could it be from an ancient civilization?" Ji Yun stared at the markings, carefully following their lines as if trying to figure something out.

"The Classic of Mountains and Seas? I've heard of it. It's a collection of myths from ancient China, from before the Great Nirvana. It describes all kinds of rare and strange creatures."

Something stirred in Ji Yun. He immediately called out, "Two billion Huaxia Currency."

The entire auction fell silent. Not a single person placed another bid.

Only a fool would compete with a Councilor over a meaningless statue.

"All right," the auctioneer said, looking a little helpless.

"Two billion, going once."

"Two billion, going twice."

"Two billion, going for the third time... Congratulations, Councilor Ji Yun."

The auction lasted more than three hours. Ji Yun came away with only a statue and a copy of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, spending two billion Huaxia Currency.

"Councilor Ji, would you like to sit with us for a while?" Jiang Fang, the female War God who had sparred with Ji Yun before, invited him.

Although she respected Councilors, Ji Yun was still around the same age as the students in front of these Training Camp instructors.

"No, I'm still in Hongning Base City. I need to hurry home tomorrow," Ji Yun said with a smile, waving as he turned back to his room and exited the virtual space.

Inside the villa,

Ji Yun took off his helmet and set it aside.

"That bird statue feels mysterious somehow."

"Since Martial Artists can now reach the Planetary Level and fly through the air, perhaps the capable figures of ancient times were Martial Artists or Psychic Masters too. Maybe they even mastered Domains, giving them the power to summon wind and rain." Ji Yun pondered.

I should go home first.

The next day, Ji Yun returned to Kyoto Base City with his things.

Liu He brought him back. His Qiankun-class intelligent fighter was incredibly fast and could easily reach anywhere in the world in a short time.

The fighter flew straight into the Limit Dojo's Panshan Residential District and landed on the large lawn in front of Ji Yun's home.

It was early morning, and since Ji Shan's home was now a War God's residence, the area around Ji Yun's home in Panshan Residential District had been renovated again after Ji Shan broke through to the War God level. The lawn in front of the house was big enough to play soccer on.

Ji Shan had come to the entrance early, waiting to see his son, whom he hadn't seen for seven months.

The purplish-red triangular fighter slowly descended onto the lawn in front of Ji Yun's home. It was over twenty meters long, but still took up only part of the space in front of the house.

Whoosh! The hatch opened.

With a spear on his back and a dark teal robe on, Ji Yun stepped out alongside Liu He.

"Dad!"

Ji Yun ran over with a smile and gave his father, Ji Shan, a big hug.

"You're home. That's what matters." Ji Shan wasn't good with words. He simply hugged Ji Yun tightly and patted him on the back.

Ji Yun was now almost as tall as Ji Shan, but from behind, it still seemed as though Ji Shan was sheltering him in his arms. Perhaps that was the most sincere and purest kind of love in the world: a father's love.

"Ji Yun, I'll be on my way," Liu He said with a smile as warm as a spring breeze.

"Ah! Inspector Liu!" Ji Shan had only recently broken through to the War God level. He couldn't be as relaxed and talkative as Ji Yun, so he hurriedly bowed. Ji Yun didn't stop him. It was a War God showing respect to a Councilor-level expert, not a gesture made because of Liu He's position or anything else.

"You two have a good talk. I'll head back to the Dojo," Liu He said, turning and boarding the fighter. "Oh, right. Luo Feng seems to have become the Supervisor of Jiangnan Base City. You can visit him when you have time." With that, he waved again, and the fighter shot into the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"Dad." I'm finally free now.

Ji Yun and Ji Shan went inside.

"A Councilor, someone who's surpassed the War God level. I still can't figure out how you managed to break through." Ji Shan smiled and shook his head. He wasn't jealous of his son.

"When you have time, go have a chat with your Uncle Luo. Then don't just stay here with me. Go to Jiangnan Base City and see Xiao Yue. You don't have any classmates or friends around here, and your old man is a War God in Kyoto Base City. I'll be fine."

"Sure." Ji Yun nodded.

Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Ji Yun carefully leafed through the book, with the ancient statue he had bought at the War God Palace the day before beside him.

"This bird?" Ji Yun studied the sections on strange beasts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. After comparing them several times, he was sure: the bird statue depicted the Three Blue Birds from the Classic of the Western Mountains.

"Blue Birds were often messengers in ancient times, known for their extraordinary speed. They traveled between Kunlun and Penglai." Ji Yun slowly pieced together what he was learning.

"According to research, ancient Penglai was in what is now Qilu Province. Unfortunately, Qilu Province fell to the monsters. As for Kunlun, it was mostly in what is now Qinghai and Tibet."

"Wait! Qinghai?"

Ji Yun suddenly froze, as though he'd just remembered something!

"Qinghai is an extremely mysterious region. Several War Gods once went in to hunt monsters and lost contact. A Planetary Level Martial Artist went in as well, but came back having discovered nothing. It's hard to say whether he'd lost his memory or whether there really was nothing there."

"It could be an Ancient Civilization Ruin! But anyone below Councilor Level who enters would face almost certain death! After all, only Planetary Level Martial Artists count as cultivators." Ji Yun frowned as he analyzed the possibilities.

Ji Yun closed the book and quietly studied the statue.

Yuanshi Tianzun's Daoist sanctuary, Yuxu Palace, was said to stand there, which was why it was also called Yujing Mountain. And because Kunlun Mountain lay in the northwest, the Qian trigram's direction, it was also known as the Heavenly Pillar.

Yujing?

Ji Yun opened his computer and searched for information related to Kunlun. He had a feeling that the Daoist Kunlun might be the site of an ancient Chinese civilization.

After a while, Ji Yun set the computer down and sighed.

The records from before the Great Nirvana had been preserved relatively well only in the field of science and technology. Other historical texts had been lost, and finding them would be no easy task.

"Hmm?" Ji Yun suddenly thought of something. "Hong, the Dojo Master, has devoted himself to internal martial arts. Perhaps he's collected some of these ancient texts."

Ancient Civilization Ruins...

Ji Yun remembered that he had obtained a Black God Set, but still needed to visit Ruin No. 9 to acquire a new one.

No point thinking about it now. I'll go to Ruin No. 9 when I have time. It's already been fully explored, so the information should be reliable. Ji Yun left the study, picked up the statue, and returned to his bedroom.