Mysterious Statue

The time had just reached 7:45 PM.

After chatting for a while with a few War Gods who had come up to talk, Ji Yun made his way to the Auction Hall.

The Auction Hall was laid out like an opera house, entirely circular. At the center was the item display stage, surrounded by rows upon rows of seats, five thousand in total. At this moment, the hall was packed with people, War Gods gathered in small groups, chatting among themselves.

"Oh, Luo Feng?"

Ji Yun hadn't expected to see Luo Feng at the auction house, but after a moment's thought, he realized Luo Feng would definitely need Life Water to help his brother recover. Besides, Luo Feng was a War God now, so his attendance wasn't surprising.

Ji Yun naturally walked over to Luo Feng and sat down beside him. After all, within the entire War God Palace, the people from Limit Dojo were the most familiar, and they were all instructors from the training camp.

"Councilor Ji."

"Councilor Ji."

The War God instructors' tones carried a hint of deference.

Indeed, though Ji Yun was very young, he was now a genuine Councilor-level powerhouse, far beyond the War God tier. This naturally exerted some pressure on the War Gods around him. And this was only because Ji Yun couldn't casually release his domain in the virtual space; otherwise, these War Gods would already be on the ground.

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

His main goal today was to purchase Life Water. After all, he had struggled for over a decade just so his brother could stand up again like a normal person, so he would no longer have to endure the strange looks of others.

"Just browsing. The things being auctioned here aren't of much value to me. The real good stuff is all kept by the Dojo Master," Ji Yun said with a smile. "I heard there's a net this time that's pretty good. You might want to buy it, so you won't have to worry about anyone escaping."

Luo Feng's eyes lit up. "That's not a bad idea."

After all the War Gods had entered the Auction Hall...

"Everyone."

The entire Auction Hall quickly fell silent, and the background music vanished as well. Swish! A beam of light shone down on the central stage. A Chinese man and a white man stood on the stage. One spoke in Chinese, and then the white man repeated it in English.

They waved their hands, and a three-dimensional projection appeared in the space.

"This auction has a total of 71 items," the Chinese man said with a smile. "Perhaps what you're looking for is among them. I won't say much. I now officially declare this auction... begin!"

"The first item is a work of art—Vincent van Gogh's famous 1890 painting, Portrait of Dr. Gachet. The starting bid is 1 billion Huaxia Currency." As soon as the Chinese man finished speaking, a massive image of the famous painting appeared above the Auction Hall, slowly rotating so every War God could see it.

"The thirty-ninth item: one dose of Life Water. Starting bid: 10 billion Huaxia Currency."

Luo Feng, who had been calm the whole time, suddenly brightened. Above the Auction Hall, a test tube filled with Life Water appeared.

A few War Gods had bid before Luo Feng, but once he spoke up, they stopped competing.

War Gods—this was a place where War Gods made friends. No one would ruin their relationship with an Invincible War God over a single dose of Life Water.

"12 billion, going once... going twice... sold! Congratulations, War God Luo Feng," the Chinese man said with a smile.

Beside him, Luo Feng's joy was written all over his face. He could barely contain his excitement. His brother would soon be able to stand up again and become a normal person.

Item after item was auctioned off. Though the process was efficient, with 71 items in total, even at two or three minutes per item, it would take about three hours.

"Now for the fifty-eighth item: a spider-type King Rank Monster, the 'Black Widow Spider King's' leftover silk web—the 'Golden Thread Net.' Length: 8.3 meters, width: 6.1 meters. Starting bid: 5 billion Huaxia Currency." As the Chinese man spoke, a large golden net appeared above the stage.

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

"Mm, I was thinking the same thing." Luo Feng waited for a few others to bid, then called out, "8 billion."

"9.5 billion." This time, the others clearly weren't going to defer to Luo Feng. Giving face once was enough.

"10 billion." The voice came from beside Ji Yun, and the figure above the stage shifted to Luo Feng's image.

"Now for the sixty-third item: a statue of a bird from ancient mythology. This statue was recently excavated from an ancient ruin, secretly brought out by a researcher, and entrusted to the War God Palace for auction. To help any War Gods unfamiliar with ancient Chinese myths, a copy of the Classic of Mountains and Seas is included. Starting bid: 2 billion Huaxia Currency."

"A statue?" Ji Yun's eyes moved. He studied the projection of the statue carefully.

"There are some patterns on this statue? Hmm... seems like the emblem of some organization. Could it be from an ancient civilization?" Ji Yun stared intently, tracing the patterns with his eyes, as if trying to discern something.

"The Classic of Mountains and Seas? I've heard of it. It's a mythological text from ancient Chinese history before the Great Nirvana, full of strange beasts and wonders."

Ji Yun felt a stir in his heart. He immediately called out, "2 billion Huaxia Currency."

Instantly, the entire auction fell silent. No one else bid.

Fighting a Councilor over a meaningless statue? Only a fool would do that.

"Alright," the auctioneer said, a hint of resignation in his voice.

"2 billion, going once...

2 billion, going twice...

2 billion, going three times... Congratulations, Councilor Ji Yun."

The auction lasted over three hours. Ji Yun walked away with only a statue and a copy of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, spending 2 billion Huaxia Currency.

"Councilor Ji, care to come sit with us?" invited Jiang Fang, the female War God who had sparred with him before.

Though they respected him as a Councilor, in front of these training camp instructors, Ji Yun was still around the age of a student.

"No thanks. I'm still in Hongning Base City. I need to head home tomorrow," Ji Yun said with a wave and a smile. He turned and went back to his room, logging out of the virtual space.

Inside the villa.

Ji Yun took off his helmet and set it aside.

"That bird statue... I feel like there's something mysterious about it."

"Since martial artists today can reach the Planetary Level and fly through the air, it's possible that those ancient masters were also martial artists or Psychic Masters, perhaps even capable of grasping a domain, which gave them the power to summon wind and rain." Ji Yun sank into thought.

Better head home first.

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

Liu He had sent Ji Yun back. His Qiankun-level intelligent fighter was extremely fast, easily reaching any location on the globe in a short time.

The fighter flew directly into the Panshan Residential District of the Limit Dojo, landing on the large lawn in front of Ji Yun's home.

Since it was early morning, and Ji Shan's home was now the residence of a War God—after Ji Shan broke through to War God, the area around Ji Yun's house in Panshan Residential District had been renovated again—the front lawn was spacious enough for a game of soccer.

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

The purple-red triangular fighter slowly descended onto the lawn in front of Ji Yun's house. Its fuselage, over twenty meters long, only occupied part of the yard.

Whoosh! The hatch opened.

Ji Yun, carrying a long spear on his back and wearing a dark cyan robe, walked out alongside Liu He.

"Dad."

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

"It's good that you're back." Ji Shan wasn't good with words; he just hugged Ji Yun tightly and patted him on the back.

Ji Yun was now about the same height as Ji Shan, but from behind, it still looked like Ji Shan was sheltering him in his arms. Perhaps that was the most sincere, purest emotion from a father anywhere in the world.

"Ji Yun, I'll be off then." Liu He, gentle as a spring breeze, laughed from behind.

"Ah! Inspector Liu!" Ji Shan had only just broken through to War God; he couldn't chat as casually as Ji Yun did, so he quickly bowed. Ji Yun didn't stop him—this bow was a War God's salute to a Councilor-level powerhouse, not due to rank or other reasons.

"You two father and son have a good talk. I'll head back to the Dojo first." Liu He turned and walked back into the fighter. "Oh, right, Luo Feng should have become the Supervisor of Jiangnan Base City. You can go see him when you have time." With that, he waved again, and the fighter shot into the sky, vanishing in an instant.

"Dad." I'm finally free for a bit.

Ji Yun and Ji Shan went inside.

"A Councilor... a being beyond War God. I don't know how you managed to break through." Ji Shan shook his head with a smile. He wasn't jealous of his own son.

"When you have time, go chat with Uncle Luo. Then don't hang around here—go to Jiangnan Base City and see Xiao Yue. You don't have any old classmates or friends here anyway. Your dad's at least a War God in Kyoto Base City, so there's no problem."

"Mm." Ji Yun nodded.

"The Classic of Mountains and Seas."

Ji Yun carefully flipped through the book. Beside him was the ancient statue he had bought from the War God Palace yesterday.

"This bird?" Ji Yun studied the sections of the Classic of Mountains and Seas about strange beasts. After multiple comparisons, he confirmed that the bird statue was the Three Blue Birds from the Classic of the Western Mountains within the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

"The blue bird was often an ancient messenger, possessing extraordinary speed. It traveled between Kunlun and Penglai." Ji Yun slowly learned more.

"Ancient Penglai, according to research, was in the original Qilu Province. Unfortunately, Qilu Province fell to the monsters. As for Kunlun, it mostly refers to the present-day Qinghai and Tibet regions."

"Wait! Qinghai?"

Ji Yun froze, as if remembering something!

"The Qinghai region is very mysterious. Several War Gods entered to hunt monsters and went missing. Planetary-level martial artists also went in, but in the end, they found nothing. It's hard to say whether they lost their memories or there was simply nothing there."

"It might be an Ancient Civilization Ruins! But unless you're at the Councilor level, entering means nine deaths and one life. Only Planetary-level martial artists count as true cultivators." Ji Yun frowned as he analyzed.

Ji Yun closed the book and quietly pondered the statue.

In Daoism, Yuanshi Tianzun's dojo, Yuxu Palace, was said to be located on it, hence its alias: "Yujing Mountain." And because Kunlun Mountain stood at the northwest Qian position, it was also called: Heavenly Pillar.

Yujing?

Ji Yun turned on 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 ruin.

***

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

Among the records from before the Great Nirvana, only scientific and technological materials were relatively well-preserved. Other historical texts had been lost. Finding what he wanted wouldn't be easy.

"Hm?" Ji Yun recalled something. "Dojo Master Hong is a master of internal boxing; he might have collected some of these ancient texts."

Ancient Civilization Ruins...

Ji Yun remembered that to obtain the Black God Set, he would still need to go to the No. 9 Ruins and retrieve a new set.

"I won't dwell on it. When I have time, I'll head to No. 9 first. Since it's a fully developed ruin, the information is reliable." Ji Yun left the study, picked up the statue, and returned to his bedroom.