Ancestor Qi Sea's Grand Banquet.
Trading was currently underway.
A Gu Immortal walked up to the platform. He wore black robes, his disheveled hair draping over his shoulders. At this moment, he raised his head, revealing his true face — it was the lone Eastern Sea Gu Immortal, Wu Ma Yang.
Wu Ma Yang had a hawk-like nose and a sinister gaze. He appeared to be injured, coughing twice before producing a seashell that floated suspended in the air.
The Eastern Sea immortals looked over, and many immediately recognized it, their expressions turning to disappointment.
It was merely a small sound shell — a Seventh Transformation immortal material at best.
Sound shells were ordinary shells that contained Sound Path Dao marks. Once they grew to the level of Desolate Beasts, their size would surge enormously, becoming giant sound shells. But when they reached the level of Ancient Desolate Beasts, the shell's size would suddenly shrink again, becoming a small sound shell.
The small sound shell that Wu Ma Yang produced had a dead, lifeless aura — clearly devoid of any life, nothing more than a Seventh Transformation Sound Path immortal material.
But Wu Ma Yang let out two cold laughs: "Everyone, please hold your patience. Would I dare humiliate myself at the Ancestor's grand banquet? What I intend to sell is not this small sound shell, but the sound stored within it."
Having said this, Wu Ma Yang bowed toward Fang Yuan: "Ancestor, please forgive my discourtesy."
Fang Yuan, playing the role of Ancestor Qi Sea, gave a faint nod.
Come to think of it, Fang Yuan and Wu Ma Yang had met before. Back in the Eastern Sea, Fang Yuan had once sold Bone Thorn Immortal Gu to Wu Ma Yang.
With Fang Yuan's permission, Wu Ma Yang turned and activated his methods, prying open a thin crack in the small sound shell.
Instantly, every Gu Immortal in the hall heard a weeping sound.
The sound was very faint, a winding murmur with its own peculiar musical beauty, but if one could not help probing deeper, one would become bound by this voice, gradually sinking into it, unable to break free. Mortals stood absolutely no chance, and even Gu Immortals would suffer injuries at best, or die at worst.
However, Wu Ma Yang released the sound for only a brief moment before immediately shutting it, and the small sound shell fell silent once more. Many Gu Immortals in the hall sighed and then quickly grew wary, realizing they had been ensnared.
"This is the Seventh Transformation immortal material — Ghost Crying Sound," Fang Yuan remarked calmly.
"Truly the Ancestor's discerning eye. I wish to trade this Ghost Crying Sound for an equivalent Seventh Transformation Dark Path immortal material. Black Hole Wood would be ideal, but Dark Thread Seaweed would also work." Wu Ma Yang named his price.
The immortals below the stage fell silent for a moment before one Gu Immortal spoke: "I have Dark Thread Seaweed."
Wu Ma Yang nodded, his expression brightening slightly. Just as he was about to reply, another person said: "I have Black Hole Wood. I'll trade for your Ghost Crying Sound."
After some negotiation, Wu Ma Yang descended from the stage in satisfaction.
In recent years, Earth Troughs had been appearing frequently across the Five Regions. Though the Eastern Sea had seen the fewest, they had still brought a wave of abundant cultivation resources.
The Ghost Crying Sound that Wu Ma Yang had collected likely came from one such occurrence.
Although Eastern Sea Gu Immortals traded among themselves regularly and held quite a few auctions, they were all small in scale — nothing compared to an event like Fang Yuan's. Ancestor Qi Sea's Grand Banquet nearly encompassed the entire Eastern Sea Gu Immortal world!
Trading volume in Treasure Yellow Heaven had also been rising steadily due to the Earth Troughs, but transactions there came with service fees.
The service fees in Treasure Yellow Heaven varied depending on the intensity of the treasure's golden light — the more precious and valuable the item, the higher the fee.
Seventh Transformation immortal materials already commanded a steep price, and Wu Ma Yang naturally saved wherever he could.
After Wu Ma Yang left the stage, the next Gu Immortal stepped forward and produced a ball of flame to sell.
The flame had a withered yellow core with an orange-red outer layer, brimming with an aura of death and desolation. The moment it was brought out, the surrounding air instantly dried out as though it were a desert, and the temperature surged upward.
"This is the Drought Fiend Flame." The Gu Immortal selling the flame smiled.
He hailed from the Su Clan, a superpower in the Eastern Sea, and his name was Su Lun. He belonged to the Righteous Path.
The trading order that Fang Yuan had arranged alternated between one Righteous Path representative and one independent cultivator. This arrangement clearly took the Eastern Sea's independent cultivators into account, winning their enthusiastic approval. Even better, there was no place for Demonic Path Gu Immortals, expressing a particular political stance on Ancestor Qi Sea's part.
The Eastern Sea's Righteous Path representatives did not hold much resentment either — after all, Ancestor Qi Sea himself was an independent cultivator from the Eastern Sea.
The Drought Fiend Flame was quite a spectacle — an Eighth Transformation flame, no less. Fang Yuan had to gently wave his hand, gathering and constraining the flame's power into a contained bundle.
The temperature and humidity in the banquet hall returned to normal.
"Many of you should already recognize what this flame is. But what I'm selling today is not merely the flame itself — it also comes with a matching Drought Fiend Immortal Zombie longevity technique. This method allows a Gu Immortal nearing the end of their lifespan to use this flame and convert their body into that of a Drought Fiend Immortal Zombie. Everyone should have heard of Drought Fiend Immortal Zombies — their combat strength can rival that of an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal." Su Lun continued.
But the Gu Immortals in the hall showed little interest.
Everyone was well aware of Heavenly Court's current plan to repair Destiny Gu. Once Destiny Gu was fully restored, immortal zombies would most likely cease to exist. With Destiny completely repaired, the world would never again permit the existence of living dead — those who were meant to die would die.
The prospects of converting into a Drought Fiend Immortal Zombie were therefore far from promising.
After a long pause, a Gu Immortal finally asked: "Can a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal also convert into a Drought Fiend Immortal Zombie?"
Su Lun nodded: "Of course. However, the Drought Fiend body produced through this conversion would be incomplete — merely a minor Drought Fiend, with combat strength limited to the Seventh Transformation range."
He was not making extravagant claims. In a setting like this, experts were everywhere, and he could easily be exposed. If that happened, his public deception would be a direct affront to Ancestor Qi Sea. Offending such an Eighth Transformation powerhouse was something neither Su Lun nor the Su Clan wished to see.
Every representative of the Eastern Sea's Righteous Path who had attended the banquet had presented a gift upon arrival.
It was only the independent cultivators and the Demonic Path Gu Immortals who had done so in lesser numbers.