Chapter 294 – Disturbance
Shi Hao’s temperament had changed drastically. He was like a sword previously hidden within a deep abyss, but now gushing with multicolored light. He was now extending his teeth and claws, revealing his power to the world.
However, after he glanced around, a sigh came out of his chest. Although it was a pressing matter, now was not a good time to let everything out, for he still had no idea where the Archaic Demonic Spider was.
It would do him no good to alert the enemy or let word of him leak out. He was certain that if he were to reveal his identity, that giant spider would never show up, for its status was too superior. Instead, mighty experts of other levels might come forward to suppress and kill him.
If that was the case, the martial prowess of the little pagoda could be used to kill a couple of lords at most, but not that Black-eyed Demonic Green Spider. It wouldn’t be worth it at all.
He needed to wait for an excellent opportunity, when mighty experts from all forces arrived in the Capital to celebrate the Human Emperor’s birthday. Everyone would should show up then.
Another option was to visit the Martial Imperial Manor in person after the business here was finished. He might be able to find the spider inside the manor!
In fact, when he thought about it this way, Shi Hao reconsidered his options. He wanted to maximize the effectiveness of the little pagoda’s power, because it might not necessarily only be a single supreme expert.
He had offended more than a handful of people in the battle of the North Sea. Some mighty creatures of the Archaic Divine Mountains might still hold deep grudges against him. The supreme experts of the sea were not very forgiving beings, either. Given the opportunity, Shi Hao would not mind to make some ‘noise’ this time.
“I’ve waited for so long already, so why can’t I wait a bit longer?” Shi Hao murmured and calmed himself down within no time. He had obtained his strongest hand just then, which unsettled his mind for a while. He was able to adjust himself to a natural state.
When he glanced back again, the green pond was spread smoothly not far away with Five-colored Luan dancing beside it. Everything looked peaceful, and he achieved an empty and quiet mentality again.
Various treasures could be found in this area. Auspicious light surged in streaks, and beams of divine lights erupted into the air. The sky was filled with an array of colors, and those watching were utterly dazzled by all the powerful magical artifacts here.
Shi Hao wandered around in the area and indulged himself in pleasure. He learned many new things here, for a number of the peculiar magical artifacts were items he had never seen before.
“Is this bowl a treasured artifact as well?” Shi Hao was quite surprised to find a broken pottery bowl that was greyish in color and lusterless. However, the price tag on it was astronomical.
Moreover, the rim of the bowl was already broken with a sizable piece missing. It was devoid of any sense of beauty, making those that saw it speechless.
“You should know, young man, that the best things are those closest to their original simplicity and nature. I’ll show you its power.” The old man of a treasured artifact shop spoke to Shi Hao with a smile. He then began an incantation and activated the pottery bowl.
“Collect!”
Instantly, ripples began to spread out in the green lake, and the entire body of water erupted, turning into a torrential current and injecting itself into the bowl. One could see clearly that the billowy green water was surging inside the bowl like a vast ocean. There was something terrifying about it.
The crowd nearby were all startled and came around to look at it.
“Is this the… Heaven Transforming Bowl?!” Someone cried out in surprise, making many people jump. All sorts of reactions could be observed among the crowd as everyone became excited at this marvelous sight. Of course, most people seemed taken back by the announcement.
“If it really were that magical artifact, then according to legend, the bowl could melt down and refine anything in this world. When a mighty expert is sucked into it, he would quickly be melted into a pool of grimy blood.” Someone exclaimed in a frightened tone.
“It’s such a pity that this is only a broken imitation of the real thing. The true ancient magical artifact can no longer be found in this world.” Someone sighed.
The Heaven Transformation Bowl imitated the laws of the nature and could melt anything down like a furnace. It could break down every tangible thing that it sucked inside, and no divine ability could help you to escape your doom once inside.
In the ancient times, there were more than one saint that had successfully produced such treasured artifacts. The refining process wasn’t any great secret. Instead, the key problem lied in the material used to make it.
In those days, the creation of each one of these bowls would cause a huge sensation, for the materials required were both specific and hard to come by. Among other things, Stellar Sand, Divine Blood, and various other treasures of heaven and earth were necessary materials.
The most famous one was the Heaven Transformation Bowl, the making of which involved the most astounding materials. It could even suppress and kill heavenly deities, making it unpredictable even to the spirits and gods. To those of the mortal world, such a thing was beyond terrifying.
It was as famous as the heaven and earth pouch, and was listed as one of the most formidable treasured artifacts.
“Although this is not made from the original material and can only be considered an imitation. It still is one of my store’s greatest treasures.” The old man smiled. As he turned over his hand, the water in the bowl spilled out and returned to the lake.
Such noise naturally attracted much attention. Many people had travelled for days to come here. They started to ask about the price to try and purchase it.
Shi Hao found that this bowl was not bad as well and wanted to consult the little pagoda for its value. Anyhow, it seemed like an ancient item.
However, the translucent little pagoda became motionless after devouring the Dragon Tooth Dagger. It remained dim and lusterless in his hair, for it was hibernating and slumbering to mend itself.
“Yi, why don’t I observe the bowl with this?” It suddenly dawned on him that he had obtained a divine object that could see through all fabrications. Why not try using that instead?
Shi Hao stood calmly on the outskirts of the crowd and watch them bid. He then reached for the natural-born deity’s eye. The ten heavenly passages could materialise in midair, but it could also be activated inside him.
He opened one of the passages, which illuminated inside his body. After being infused with spiritual essence, the eyeball became alive, and streaks of divine multicolored lights began to twirl around it.
Shi Hao handled it with great caution and fixed it inside that heavenly passage. He activated it carefully and observed the broken bowl.
“It’s much more than what it seems to be.” With one look, he discovered something unusual about it. The bowl looked ordinary to the naked eye, but through the dual-pupil, he could see glittering divine multi-colored clouds hidden within.
In particular, near the bottom of the bowl was where the light was somewhat scorching. It was as if a stove was providing the entire bowl with divine energy, making it shine resplendently.
“It might be an imitation, but a divine material lies inside this pottery bowl. If I can extract it and put it aside until a later date when I find other divine materials, I might be able to use them in the future to make the real Heaven Transformation Bowl.” Shi Hao told himself so in his mind.
No matter what, this bowl was definitely worth the extortionate price on the tag.
Shi Hao took part in the bid as well. No one had expected that it was the bowl, instead of the auction, that would attract attention and competition. The price was growing higher and higher.
“I’ll exchange it with five pieces of Underworld Iron,” someone said. This was a descendant of a lord named Gu Lingyu. He was a well-known person of the Capital, and currently, he was keen on obtaining the bowl.
“I’ll offer five Pearls of Blood Essence.” Said Shi Hao. Needless to say, he would not miss out on the bowl, either.
“Six pieces of Underworld Iron,” said Gu Lingyu, the lord’s descendant, in a cold voice. He glanced at Shi Hao, and a black iron stone was dropped onto the ground with a dang sound. The stone glittered with a dark luster.
“Six Pearls of Blood Essence.” Shi Hao showed no sign of wavering and took out another scarlet red pearl the size of a human head that glistened in multi-coloured light. It was a rare material he brought back from the North Sea nurtured by a spiritual clam.
“You… don’t know what’s good for yourself!” Gu Lingyu stared at him and left angrily.
Shi Hao paid no attention to him and eventually managed to win the bid. He turned the bowl over and over in his hand in complete satisfaction. The item itself was a powerful treasured artifact, not to mention it had other benefits.
He refined it carefully and focused all of his heart into his meditation. He tried to comprehend its activation techniques and indulged himself completely in the process, almost losing track of the world around him.
For someone who had reached his level, he no longer needed to spend days to master the method. He could use it almost as soon as the bowl fell into his hands. It took him only a while to achieve a thorough comprehension.
“This bowl is completely worth the price!” After studying it carefully, Shi Hao was pleasantly surprised, for this bowl was powerful and suitable for him to use in the Capital.
“Young man, don’t you think you are too domineering? I saw you throw Liu Han and his friends into the lake a while ago, and now you are robbing others of their magical artifact. Don’t you think you’ve gone too far?”
A young woman approached him at this point. She was accompanied by several others, among whom was his former competitor Gu Lingyu.
“I followed the rules and won the bid. Isn’t this none of your business?” Shi Hao couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.
“We find you a bit too arrogant. I’ve never seen you around in the Capital before. Where are you from?” The woman was not bad-looking, but talked in a rather careless manner.
“Big sister Gu is asking you a question. Why aren’t you answering her?” Someone beside her yelled at him.
Shi Hao now realised that these people were here to back Gu Lingyu up, and the woman seemed to be his elder sister. Shi Hao felt speechless at their reaction.
“Gu Linglong is back!” Exclaimed someone in surprise. The young woman was incredibly powerful and obviously a renowned figure among the younger generations of the Capital. Otherwise, her younger brother wouldn’t have turned to her for help.
“Linglong, you are back?” Not far from here, several aristocratic ladies of the Capital were surprised to see her here. They all walked near, among them were Princess Sixteen and the eldest daughter of the Thunder Clan.
Gu Linglong nodded around at them and smiled. Those accompanying her were now scoffing at Shi Hao now. “Say something. Lady Gu is asking you a question.”
“Is there something wrong with your head?” Shi Hao felt no need to show politeness and responded with such words.
That individual’s face turned pale. Even Gu Linglong was surprised to hear this. In spite of coming here in person herself, this teenager showed no fear whatsoever. He was indeed a tough figure. Hadn’t he heard of her prowess before?
At this point, Princess Sixteen and the eldest daughter of the Thunder Clan had both arrived. The pair had the reputation of being ‘Pearls of the Capital’ and were indeed stunning to look at. Their beauty made quite a few onlookers drool in secret.
“You’ve gone too far,” said Gu Linglong.
“You’re ridiculous!” Shi Hao retorted.
The atmosphere turned cold instantly. With the arrival of such a group of people, especially when these outstanding ladies were among them, Shi Hao still acted in such an indifferent manner. People as powerful as Gu Linglong were obviously displeased.
More and more people were gathering here, some of whom possessed exceptionally prominent auras.
“What’s going on?” One of them asked Princess Sixteen. He was politely received by people as noble as Princess Sixteen, which obviously proved his importance.
Shi Hao burst into a laughter at once. Although the teenager was in his human form now, Shi Hao recognized him instantly, for their paths had crossed before. The teenager was that Horned Dragon he fought with back in the Hundred Shattered Mountains and was suppressed by him later in the Void God Realm. Its flesh had been cut off by Shi Hao to make into a stew.
He did not make a sound, but instead sent out some of his aura towards that teenager.
The Horned Dragon immediately shudder and gasped. He couldn’t help but stumble back. Even though he had no idea who the person was, he sensed a hostile aura, which meant that the person had killed pure-blooded creatures before!
He took a step back and stared long at Shi Hao. He then turned to Princess Sixteen and said, “Don’t mess with him.”
Many people in the crowd changed their countenance at such words, for they knew the identity of the teenager. Quite a few pure-blooded creatures were here this time, and people like Princess Sixteen all knew that he was a Horned Dragon. However, he was obviously intimidated by that boy. Such a turn of event was incredibly frightening!
Gu Linglong was even more astonished and couldn’t help but stumble backwards.
“Sister.” Gu Lingyu was dumbfounded.
“Shut up!” Gu Linglong scolded him.
The place turned awfully quiet now. The aristocratic ladies of the Capital such as the eldest daughter of the Thunder Clan and Princess Sixteen were all greatly startled. Their suitors, on the other hand, felt their heart lurching and were shaken beyond imagination.
“Has the Horned Dragon met his old friend? Who is this person that frightens you so much? Let me have a look.” Just then, a frivolous voice came from afar.
The crowd almost jumped at this voice, for it obviously belonged to a pure-blooded creature.
At the same moment, a drunkard was yelling in an indignant tone from the same direction. “Who does the Demonic Spirit Lake think they are? Who are they to meddle with the affair of our Martial Imperial Manor?”
The crowd was amazed. The man was a disciple of the Martial Imperial Manor and had protested before when he was drunk, claiming that the manor used to have another kid, who was a supreme youth. He was now venting his resentment again.
“People of the Martial Imperial Manor have no manners at all. That so-called Great Demonic God is about to lose his life. You’re in no position to talk rubbish now.” The person of the Demonic Spirit Lake walked over with a sneer on his face.
“Are you a Demonic Spider? Who gives you the right to talk rubbish here?” Shi Hao spoke out as he turned to the man with a chilly look.