Chapter 249: The Quintessence Merchant Union’s Next Head (Patreon)

Yorick

Yorick was the youngest competitor for the next head of the Quintessence Merchant Union, and this put him at a disadvantage. First, most of the normal powers which liked to influence the competition had already chosen who to back, greatly lowering the wealth he could access. More important, however, he was the only one yet to meet Perival.

In most other forces, Yorick would have been able to train hard and make use of his superior cultivation talent to make a difference, but Perival was a merchant god, so becoming the head of the force under him worked differently. Anyone who could reach A rank could become the head of the Quintessence Merchant Union, but who Perival would choose was usually based almost entirely on who could bring in the most profit, and he was falling behind.

This auction had been a chance to pull ahead. He’d prepared so many good items, put in so much work to bring them in front of an audience preparing for the C rank Universal Tournament. But who would have thought one of the minor mercenary groups under his senior apprentice sister would randomly find a cache containing some of the best C rank weapons in the entire universe.

There was no way he could have prepared for that.

Frustrated, he watched as the halberd, the first of nineteen Empyrean grade C rank artifacts his senior apprentice sister had put up for auction, sold for 123 A rank universal credits, a ridiculous price for a weapon only comparable to a Heroic grade B rank artifact when held by anyone with actual power in the universe.

Normally, no C rank weapon would sell for so much, but the Slaughterer was correct. Empyrean grade C rank artifacts were too rare, and the rewards from ranking high in the C rank Universal Tournament were valuable, so, at this time, with only 1,728 years to go until the next C rank Universal Tournament, a powerful C rank weapon could go for far more than usual.

“Alright, time for our next item.” On the stage, the beautiful Starflower clapped her hands and the floating halberd disappeared, replaced by a well endowed naked human man with long green hair, dark green eyes, and bark colored skin over large muscles, the C rank restrained by an invisible formation which caused him to float in the same position as the halberd. “With a Heroic grade Child of the Forest race and Fabled grade Vitality Troll bloodline, this high class slave has endless stamina, an Attunement stat of 83,569, and a high affinity with the life element. Raised in the forests on the B rank planet Giminarivox, his uses are endless.

“Rip out his heart to create Heartblood Forest Wine. It will grow back. Strip his flesh for meat to raise a monster. He’ll regenerate. Or, for all you ladies out there…”

Yorick tuned the woman out, not that interested in this piece of merchandise not provided by one of his competitors, and then he watched as successive items were put up for sale, no one in their box showing any interest.

The Slaughterer, as a bodyguard, had no purchase rights, and Yorick wasn’t planning on buying anything, his intent to get a better feel for the market. But it was interesting how the Space Scarab’s daughter had shown no interest.

This auction, with its entrance requirements, was one of the only places to buy resources used for awakening and strengthening uniquenesses for those at C rank and below, such as the bottle of Galaxy Tree Dew useful for awakening to eye-based uniquenesses which came up third, and Yorick thought this was what Krysta La’Vordi had come for.

She showed no interest in any material resources, however, seemingly more intrigued by the many slaves which came up for auction, and it wasn’t until they got to the fifth to last item, the best of what Yorick had prepared for the auction, that he felt her aura shift.

Down on the stage, a large black cauldron appeared with a ten meter tall giant blood-colored tree stump growing out of it, four C rank men crucified to its sides, their bodies slowly being absorbed into the blood-colored bark. On the right was a large one-eye, human-looking but with a single large eye instead of two, with metallic skin, brown hair, and a golden iris in his large eye; in the middle was an elf with forest green hair, slightly blue skin, and bright blue eyes; and on the left was a dwarf with fiery red hair, a large red beard, and cold gray eyes. Then, as the cauldron—filled with monster flesh and blood around the stump’s roots—was turned on the stage, the last man became visible, his eyes yellow with purple flecks, his skin one of the lighter human shades, and his hair yellow-green with black streaks.

As this fourth man appeared, Yorick felt a slight killing intent from Krysta La’Vordi, and the next thing he knew there was a halberd held over his chest with the blade up against his guest’s throat, his bodyguard having summoned out his weapon almost instantly.

Meanwhile, down below, Starflower began to introduce the item.

“What we have here, everyone, is something special. Not just a resource for gaining or strengthening a uniqueness, but for gaining or strengthening four, with the added bonus of granting a powerful Mythic grade bloodline on the side.

“Some of you might recognize this plant as a bloodtree, capable of extracting the genetic power and uniquenesses from the souls of those it slowly eats over 144 years and transforming that power into one to five fruits depending on what else it is fed during that time, but you probably don’t recognize the meat and flesh in the cauldron as all being from C rank wolf-type monsters, guaranteeing the tree will produce at least three fruits, most likely four. And you almost certainly don’t recognize the synergistic power of the four slaves which the bloodtree has been eating over the last 78 years.

“Each slave has a Fabled grade race, Iron-skin One-eye, Everlasting Elf, Destruction Dwarf, and Rapid Speed Human. Each slave has a Fabled grade bloodline, Armored Wolf, Ivy Wolf, Death Glare Wolf, and Phantom Wolf. And each slave has a single Fabled grade uniqueness, Defense Prince, Regeneration Prince, Attack Prince, and Speed Prince.

“Together, they make it so the fruits produced by this bloodtree will help awaken to uniquenesses which will help strengthen defense, self healing, offensive, and movement skills along with the Toughness, Vitality, Strength, and Agility stats in almost any cultivator, of what grade dependent on the individual, while also granting the Mythic grade bloodline Four Aspect Wolf, which will increase the same.

“These fruits are ideal for almost any warrior, especially talents without existing bloodlines, but for those who don’t want any of the five benefits, the tree comes with instructions for how to remove any of them from one or more of the tree’s fruits.

“Bidding starts at 144 A rank universal credits with a minimum bidding increment of 12 A rank universal credits.”

As the bidding began, Krysta broke the pause in their box, disappearing from her seat and appearing behind the Slaughterer with her left hand right over his head, spatial magic gathering. “I understand you are just doing your job, and I have no enmity with you or your master, but I don’t like having a weapon at my throat.”

“Fair enough.” The Slaughterer’s only physical response was to summon his weapon back into his spatial storage ring, not moving anything but his left arm, which returned to a comfortable position by his side. But then he activated some kind of domain skill, an aura absolutely full of killing intent filling the entire room, and Yorick couldn’t help but feel terrified, unable to concentrate on the bidding going on at all. “But please return to your seat, Krysta. And don’t threaten my client. You wouldn’t like the result.”

Ms. La’Vordi snorted, probably feeling the same as Yorick that the Slaughterer, while incredibly competent, wasn’t her match. But she removed her hand and teleported back to her seat anyway, reaching forward to the artifact under the window in front of her to try and place a bid as the Slaughterer’s domain disappeared.

As Yorick had been the one to put the item up for sale, however, he of course wasn’t allowed to bid on the item himself, and that extended to everyone in his box.

“Yorick, the bloodtree is yours?” Yorick sensed Ms. La’Vordi’s killing intent rise as she asked the question, her expression showing anger, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. He knew the backgrounds of all four slaves, and the demigoddess shouldn’t have had any interactions with any of them.

“Stand down, Krysta.” The Slaughterer’s domain skill extended, even as he again didn’t move, but this time it wasn’t filled with killing intent but the power of the four aspects, clearly showing off his extremely high grade cultivation technique. “Were we to fight again, your chances would be no better than last time. And I will protect my client.”

The anger in Ms. La’Vordi’s aura intensified, but then it changed to confusion, followed by excitement, like she’d suddenly realized something which made her happy.

There was definitely a story there, a secret of some kind, but Yorick wasn’t going to risk asking while the demigoddess was around, instead planning on asking the Slaughterer later, with whom he had an iron tight contract.