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Li Huang might be the young master of the Li family, but it doesn't mean much when you compare his wealth to the family's wealth.
He might be able to get the Golden Dragon Pearl for himself with the spirit stones that he got from his grandpa, but it would still be impossible for him to go for an item of this caliber.
The [Whispering Lotus Mirror] is one of the most if not the most discussed topics between the cultivators of the Divine Central continent. This item was found a decade ago by a joint effort of a few groups such as the Feng family and the Tianteng organization.
The location of this item was first found by a few locals of the Lian continent and the information about it was eventually sold to the branch of the Feng family present in the region.
Shortly after that, the Feng family paid a significant sum of money to the regional government in order to purchase the rights to that location, and they immediately installed stringent security measures all around it. Even though the location was a labyrinth that was riddled with different kinds of formations and traps, that did not prevent the rogue cultivators from exploring it, and it certainly did not prevent the Feng family from doing so.
Of course, the sects around this location at first tried to stop the Feng family from having access to the labyrinth. As far as it went in the cultivation world, local governments didn't have that much real power when it came to the matters between cultivators. Given that, they acted on their presumptions about the Feng family and the power they held. They soon figured out that they were wrong about the extent of their power and the Feng family's power when they saw the cultivation level of guards around the labyrinth.
They were out of options, so they tried to bargain with the Feng family. To their astonishment, the Feng family agreed to their request to let them enter the labyrinth on the condition that they could purchase any treasure that was discovered as a result of their entry.
The sects in the Lian continent were ecstatic about this opportunity to let their disciples go through this tempering adventure and gain monetary and cultivation rewards from it. They saw this as a great favor from the Feng family now that they knew that they were from the Divine Central continent.
The reality could not be more different from what they believed at the time. This decision was made out of nothing but pure greed on the part of the Feng family; in fact, they were not even remotely charitable.
They were employing the local sects as free labor and manpower to excavate the outer parts of the labyrinth, which were rather easy to deal with, a task that could even be accomplished by the local powerhouses of the Lian continent.
In a couple of years, the outer parts of the labyrinth were fully explored, and all the riches were extracted. The most valuable items were procured by the Feng family and were sent to the main house for further examination and subsequent auction in the near future.
The Tianteng organization played a big part in the increase of the expedition speed of this labyrinth when they were contacted by the Feng family after the first year. A flock of formation masters were sent to the Lian continent where they helped disable the formations. They would collect the formation for in-depth research back in the Divine Central Continent.
The process after the exploration of the outer parts slowed down significantly as this was no longer a task that could be accomplished by mere disciples.
Seeing this, the Feng family asked the sects to only send their elders and best talents as it would be too dangerous to continue like this. They were also not complacent, they also dispatched a few dozen of elders and elite retainers to help with the expedition efforts. There were also the formation masters from the Tianteng organization who were now actively participating in the process.
With this new configuration, it didn't take long for them to clear the inner parts of the labyrinth. In just two years they were able to not only examine and map the inner parts of the labyrinth, but they were also able to find the pathway that would presumably lead them to the core area.
Finding the passage, even the elders from the Feng family and the formation masters from the Tianteng organization knew better than to proceed. They immediately reported their findings to their respective superiors.
The sect masters from the Lian continent didn't dare do anything else and stayed quiet and cordial. Throughout these past years they have experienced the vast difference in their powers and the powers of those from the Divine Central continent so if these powerhouses were contacting their higher-ups, they wouldn't dare say anything about their own ability to try and enter the core parts of the labyrinth.
Soon after, a few ancestors of the Feng family and a couple of top formation masters of the Tianteng organization got to the Lian continent to handle the process of clearing the core part of the labyrinth.
To say that the Lian continent was in an uproar was an understatement. They knew that the Divine central continent was rich with Qi and talents but seeing and hearing about the new arrivals to the continent shone a new light on how weak they are when compared to the real powerhouses.
The ancestors of every powerful family and sect converged on the labyrinth in order to extend a warm welcome to their counterparts who had traveled from the Divine central continent. When people from the Divine Central continent came and spotted people from the younger generation, they took a few moments to guide and thank everyone in the group before continuing with their mission. With simply this, they were able to improve their image in the hearts of the cultivators on the Lian continent.
In a few months after that, they were able to enter the final and main chamber of the labyrinth which was filled with treasures and riches. Many of those items are now sold and held as treasures all around the Divine Central continent.
There was just one item about which they were completely clueless. That item was none other than the [Whispering Lotus Mirror].
If its creators didn't have its name etched on it, they wouldn't even be able to figure out what it was called if they tried. The object was a flat metallic rectangle that had been embellished in various ways. It was pleasant to the eye but that was it, they didn't know anything else about it.
The formation masters soon figured out that this item was a formation of sorts but they found no way of activating it.
The Tianteng organization sent a few more experts to see what was going on with this item but none of them were able to progress the research on it even a little bit.
With days and months passing and no real result being shown, cultivators started calling this item by different names. Some called it Impossible as no one has been able to activate it. Some called it a bad joke as they thought it was impossible to activate by design, they said that this was a test by the one who built this labyrinth, a test of greed.
No one from the Tianteng organization took these words seriously as they were men of science, and they knew this item held vast knowledge on formations.
There was one person who hadn't got their hands on the [Whispering Lotus Mirror] and that was grand master Huili. The other formation masters were unwilling to risk it and let her travel between continents as it was a laborious endeavor for someone as young as her. Given this, they thought of a solution.
As they were promised part ownership of the final items, they were part owners of this item, but the majority of the ownership was still in the hands of the Feng family. They tried to buy it from the Feng family so that they could move it to Grandmaster Huili instead of her moving to the item's location, this way she could study it freely and they didn't have to worry about it being transported without their consent. However, the Feng family was unwilling to do so, and they had to compromise on buying it in the next auction.
That auction that they decided to sell the mirror in, is the same one that Li Huang is enjoying at the moment.
...
The auctioneer stated, "Let us begin the bidding for this magnificent item made from four hundred million high-grade spirit stones," and for the first time in quite some time, nearly nobody in the auction house felt that this evaluation was excessive.
Four hundred million was enough for a sect to grow from a middle-grade sect to a high-grade one, but for the majority of the cultivators in the auction house was nothing more than a number when compared to the mystery of the unknown.
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