Chapter 241: The Conspiracy of the Heavenly Pearl?

Looking at this colorful Heavenly Pearl, everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment.
The Heavenly Pearl was something on par with divine artifacts—indeed, many would prefer it to divine artifacts. Its status among people was self-evident.
Though the Heavenly Pearl had only one function, it was enough to drive people mad: it could condense elemental energy.
The advantage of condensing elemental energy was that it allowed one to achieve twice the results with half the effort in cultivation, speeding up the recovery of combat energy far beyond ordinary people. In battles, having a Heavenly Pearl could allegedly elevate a warrior’s strength by an entire level instantly! Their cultivation speed could even reach 1.5 times that of ordinary people.
Ten years of cultivation was equivalent to fifteen years for others—no wonder it drove so many crazy.
In an instant, everyone began to breathe heavily, their gazes fixed intently on the Heavenly Pearl, unwilling to look away.
As the auctioneer finished his introduction, the crowd below erupted into excitement. The Heavenly Pearl was considered one of the three sacred relics of the Dark Source, comparable to the Li Xuan Dan. There were only six such pearls in the entire Dark Source, each in the possession of an absolutely top-tier warrior.
“This Heavenly Pearl was accidentally obtained by the lord of Water Curtain City, the leader of our demon clan, thirty years ago. Now that he no longer needs it for cultivation, he’s putting it up for auction. The starting bid is one million Black Coins. Let’s begin!”
These simple words stirred up another wave of excitement. It turned out this Heavenly Pearl had belonged to Gu He, the lord of Water Curtain City, thirty years ago. It was said he had acquired it by chance during an adventure. Over the past thirty years, his cultivation had accelerated greatly thanks to the Pearl. Now he no longer needed it? This news was astonishing.
It was said that the Heavenly Pearl could assist anyone, from divine-level beings down. Only those who had reached the Yin Huang realm no longer needed it. That meant Gu He must have already reached the Yin Huang realm!
Had he broken through? This news caused a storm of discussion—some were happy, others worried. Those happy were naturally the members of the pro-war faction; having another person at the Yin Huang realm was a huge advantage. Those worried were the opposing forces, even the Dragon Clan and Black Phoenix Clan members frowned. An additional strong warrior at the Yin Huang realm posed a serious threat to them.
But for now, all of this was put aside as the competition for the Heavenly Pearl began.

Prices soared rapidly, reaching a staggering two million in no time. Every bid caused a stir—clearly, such a treasure was beyond the reach of ordinary people, and only powerful families or factions were qualified to compete for it. Yet what people were more eager to see was the subsequent battles. A dragon-slaying sword could cost nearly three million, so what about the celestial pearl? Three million seemed almost insignificant compared to that.

In his eyes, even the first item, the dragon-slaying sword, paled in comparison.

The Philes family stepped in, the dragon race intervened, the Black Phoenix clan joined the fight, and both the opposition and neutral factions among the demons began competing, leading to intense battles.

Rod, however, frowned deeply, unsure of Gu He’s true intentions. Such an extraordinary treasure couldn’t be obtained easily, nor would anyone be willing to auction it off. Even if Gu He had reached the Yin Huang realm and no longer needed it, his three sons still did, as did the pro-war faction.

Money? As the leader of the pro-war faction, Gu He surely wasn’t short of it. So what exactly did he want?

Similarly, Sognar, Lilith, and Melon all remained calm, deep in thought. As for Aida and Eirwen, they looked worried—the news that Gu He had reached the Yin Huang realm had left them in shock.

With the pro-war faction so powerful, it was the opposition members who were most at risk. The two factions were utterly incompatible; if one grew strong, the other would naturally be in peril.

Suddenly, a look of shock flashed in Rod’s eyes. Looking up, he saw Sognar, Lilith, and Melon also expressing surprise—clearly, they had all realized something.

They exchanged glances, filled with disbelief. If that were indeed the case, it would be troublesome. This was definitely a conspiracy. All of them worried about Gu He’s cunning plans.

Glancing at Aida and Eirwen beside him, he showed concern—perhaps things were far more complicated than they thought.

But one thing was certain: this was a conspiracy. The fact that Gu He had offered the celestial pearl instead of keeping it for his own sons made it obvious he wanted to disrupt the atmosphere at the Source of Darkness, causing chaos. Once this pearl appeared, it would surely spark fierce competition, leading to bloodshed. The greater the chaos, the better for their pro-war faction, as it would give them more time to seize control of the outside world.

At the same time, by offering this pearl, he was proving his strength to the world and serving as a warning to the opposition, putting them in a desperate situation.

Of course, it’s not that simple. There might be other ideas as well, but it’s hard to tell for now. Anyone with a bit of insight could figure these things out immediately. Nowadays, many people are just blinded by the Tianzhu in front of them and can’t see clearly. Once they reflect on it, I believe they’ll be worried about their actions. The price has soared to a terrifying level of 3.5 million Black Coins. 3.5 million is an unattainable figure for many, but it’s still bearable for the major families. Now, only a few major families remain in the competition. The Purple Wing Thunder Eagle was unfortunately eliminated; I’m sure they’re beating their chests in regret at this moment. If they hadn’t spent so much on the Dragon Slaying Sword, they might still have a chance to compete, but that sword wasted most of their funds, leaving them unable to afford anything else. Just as Rod had imagined, inside the Purple Wing Thunder Eagle’s private room, several people sat with grim expressions, silent and looking extremely displeased. The Tianzhu was far too tempting for them. It would have been better if Rod hadn’t appeared, but his arrival made them even more anxious. Their family’s strength had been greatly weakened, and their reputation was ruined. They urgently needed an unparalleled warrior to prove themselves—someone at the Yin Huang realm, who could silence everyone! Several members of their family were close to achieving the Divine Perfection realm, and a single Tianzhu might help them comprehend and break through to the Yin Huang realm. Take Zi Yang beside them, for example—he had a fervent look in his eyes, but it turned into disappointment. They also felt immense dissatisfaction toward the young clan leader, Ao Ying. If not for him, would things be like this now? Disagreements arose among them. On the other hand, they also needed the Tianzhu to help the younger generation improve their strength. Several talented young members had died at Rod’s hands, creating a critical gap in the Purple Wing Thunder Eagle’s ranks. They urgently needed to strengthen the younger generation, and the Tianzhu could help with all that. How could they not be jealous? Their eyes flickered as they exchanged glances, seemingly plotting something. “3.8 million!” A rough voice rang out at that moment. Finally, with only three families left, the competition reached its climax. “3.9 million!” Another family shouted loudly. Since they were in a private room, they had no idea who the other party was.

“Four million!” The astonishing price made everyone gasp. Four million—even a small family would struggle to come up with that amount, even if they sold everything they had.
Silence. After a long pause, a deep voice finally came from the second bidding room: “Four million three hundred thousand!” This time, they were going all in—this was their last attempt, their best shot. Success or death; this might well be their ultimate limit.
“Four million six hundred thousand!” The rough voice from the first room spoke again. The final moment had arrived, and everyone knew it.
Two million six hundred thousand—what kind of figure was that? Some people were stunned, unable to speak, only swallowing hard in silence.
“It’s someone from the Scorpion King clan!” Lilith whispered as a reminder. There were only a few clans in the Dark Source that were so arrogant and confident. After ruling them out and considering the familiar voice, Lilith had already figured out who they were.
“Five million!” It was undoubtedly an unprecedented price—perhaps even the highest ever seen in this auction’s hundred-year history. No one could have imagined the final bid would reach such a level.
The third room was determined to win, giving the other side no chance to counter. Five million pushed them to the forefront and forced the opponents into a desperate situation. Though the Sky Pearl was valuable, five million was beyond what most people could afford—even large families might struggle, and their future would be extremely difficult.
“Someone from the Black Phoenix clan?” Lilith asked, looking at Obsidian and Black Silver with a smirk.
The previously barely noticeable excitement on their faces vanished, replaced by surprise and shock.
“You figured it out!” They looked at Lilith with a wry smile before Black Silver said helplessly, “We recognized that voice. It’s the eldest of the Black Phoenix clan. Naturally, his bid made our clan happy—after all, the Sky Pearl helps with cultivation!”
“Doesn’t your clan already have one?” Lilith asked, puzzled, looking at Black Silver.
There were six Sky Pearls in total, and the Black Phoenix clan had one. Now they wanted to fight over it again—what exactly were they planning?
“Yes, it belongs to the clan leader. This one might be bought for the young lady!” Black Silver replied without hiding anything.
“Bold move!” Lilith was slightly stunned and glanced at Black Silver and the others with a strange expression before turning to Rod with an indescribable smile.

The bidding below was in full swing, and the auctioneer on stage was sweating profusely. He had expected high prices, but not ones this absurdly high! Five million—the highest price seen in a century!