NOVEL FROG Chapter 65: Isn't this a good bid?
Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 65: Isn't this a good bid?
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Waves of pure pressure rolled from the white-haired old man. Half-Step Saint- Just barely a hair from merging with the rhythm of the world's Qi. The chaotic power of his qi, even suppressed as it was, made it clear a breakthrough was imminent.
When Ji Tianfang became a Saint, he would be promoted to Strike Force Commander. The position of Division Commander of the Third Division would then be open to one of his Nascent Soul subordinates. This was the source of decades of bitter rivalry and infighting in Seventieth Port Snake.
All of the onlookers looked in shock at the emergence of the mysterious Division Commander. He had entered secluded cultivation more than fifty years ago. For many of the younger cultivators here, this was the first time they'd ever seen him.
The four Commodores all calmed their expressions, bowing respectfully at their direct superior.
'Why has he decided to intervene now?' Commodore Liyang wondered. 'is Bing Meilu too much of a balance breaker in the competition?'
"Greetings, senior!" they all said.
The old man waved his hand dismissively, turning back to Bing Meilu with a questioning glance.
"Of course. My humble auction would be honoured to receive you, esteemed Division Commander," Bing Meilu replied cooly. "Please, take a seat."
The old man smiled, conjuring himself a rocking chair in the air, and sitting down with a sigh. He pulled out a shabby bottle of rice wine, poured some of it into a cup, and then began to drink straight from the bottle.
"Who's winning?" he asked, wiping dribbling alcohol from his lips with his sleeve.
"Thet would be either Commodore Rampage-Sword or Commodore Liyang," Bing Meilu said.
"How about my initial bid is that you can become my personal disciple?" the old man asked.
Gasps of shock rang out at that. A future Saint was a big deal in the Bird Talon Continent. Becoming the disciple of one would be a dream to any of the untalented cultivators of a Port. It would be a complete change in fate.
"In this lifetime, I already have a single master, so this humble disciple must turn down the generous offer."
Ji Tianfang raised an eyebrow, nodding in understanding.
While most of the onlookers were baffled that she would turn down the chance to be the disciple of a future Saint, those in the BMFs faction had already seen her reject an actual Saint back at Redscale City, so they were not surprised.
"Then... how about this?"
Ji Tianfang raised his hands and a portal opened. A scholarly-looking man, with a boyish, almost feminine physique fell from the portal, looking utterly confused. He stopped his fall, floating beside the Division Commander.
It was none other than Ji Longyi, Seventieth Port Snake's one and only Chosen of Heaven.
"Isn't it quite good?" Ji Tianfang smirked, gesturing at Ji Longyi. "This should be enough to secure me a winning bid, right?"
"Is-is he selling his grandson?" someone asked in confusion.
Bing Meilu's eyes narrowed in interest. Not only was he trying to remove her interference from his subordinate competition- He wanted her to raise his grandson.
Anyone with the slightest wisdom would realize that Bing Meilu had been the one to cause the transformation of the Crimson Dragon Faction. It was a pretty obvious fact. It seemed he wanted to borrow her power as a whetstone for Ji Longyi.
'Well, so long as I benefit from it, I don't mind... My own personal Chosen of Heaven as a slave? I could do worse.'
"And how long would I have him for?"
"How about twenty-five years, or until he reaches Transcending Impurity, whichever comes first?" Ji Tianfang offered.
"One hundred years, or until he becomes a Saint. Whichever comes first."
"That's a little long, don't you think?"
"Fifty Years, or until he becomes a Saint. Whichever comes first. For the remainder of my time under your authority, I will pay no taxes, fees or fines. Operational independence for me and my faction except in emergencies, and the resource allocation and permissions of a Commodore."
"...Very well, it's a deal!" Ji Tianfang smiled.
Bing Meilu was effectively giving herself permission to create her own Squadron, one with little oversight and that had to pay no taxes, massively increasing profit.
He pulled out a contract and signed with a brush. It wasn't a binding magic formation or anything, but having publically agreed, he would have to follow through or greatly damage his reputation.
The paper floated over to Bing Meilu, who signed it. Ji Tianfang waved his hand, and the contract split into two copies. One of them rolled up into a scroll and shot into his sleeve and the other settled into the girls' hands.
"...Grandfather, What's going on?" Ji Longyi asked in confusion.
"I sold you!" The old man chuckled, slapping his grandson in the back. "Constantly bleeding my ears off with your nagging, oh karmic merit this, karmic merit that! Well, now you have a whole new faction to evangelize! Aren't you happy? Well, anyways, enjoy being a slave, I have to go back into seclusion."
He tossed the scholarly Captain over to Bing Meilu's ice platform, before vanishing through a portal.
Ji Longyi stood back up, blinking in utter bewilderment. He had long since grown used to his old man's antics- From being tossed into a snake pit at age five, to randomly teleported to the middle of the sea when he'd just entered Qi Condensation.. but being sold as a slave was new to him.
'The old man might pretend to be callous, but everything he does is for my own good. For some reason, he thinks working for this girl will be good for me?'
"Um- Ji Longyi greets you? Might I ask your name?" he asked tentatively.
For some reason, his Karmic Merit stirred strangely as he looked at her, a sort of strange cold feeling. It didn't feel like a warning of danger or an affirmation of her. To be honest, he'd never had the guiding energy react like that.
She ignored him, turning to face the onlookers of the auction, all of whom sat in stunned silence.
"Well, it appears our auction is over! A special thank you to Commodore Rampage-Sword for his generous donations, and to Commodore Blackflame for giving all of us onlookers a good martial arts show. I'm afraid I have a business to attend to now, so I cut this short. If you're interested in applying to join my faction, I've set up a notice board with more details at the mission hall. Thank you all for attending, have a nice day."
Bing Meilu melted her ice stage and flew off into the air, her whole faction immediately following her, alongside the still confused Ji Longyi. She had planned to hold a recruitment immediately after the auction, but leaving some time for everyone to cool off seemed smart.
Having caused a Commodore Black Heartflame to lose a huge amount of Essence Blood for nothing, and extorted Rampage-Sword for resources just to get a chance to attend an auction he'd had no chance to win, she was quite happy to quickly get out before anyone did anything rash.
---
Those left behind watched in dumb shock as the event came to an end just like that. The Commodores all shared glances. While none of them had gained the winning power of Bing Meilu's faction, the rivalry had still changed.
Black Heartflame was no longer the strongest of them, Rampage-Sword was down a Captain. They all had also gained information on the wealth of each other. It actually now seemed Commodore Liyang would have the upper hand.
All of that in just a couple days, whereas before their war raged cold, with little movement in whole years.
"Do you think he wants to groom someone from Bing Meilu's faction to be the new Division Commander?" Commodore Tang asked. "Why else would he send his grandson to her and even prop her up to create a fifth faction? What is he playing at?"
"Possible... but unlikely," Black Heartflame said, eyes narrowed in anger. "She seems liable to take her whole faction out of the Port when she's ready. Not like us who lack much in the way of future prospects beyond this promotion."
"But if he was- Would we even be able to stop her?" Tang asked.
None of them answered that question.
"Hmph. I'm going on a demon hunt, you losers keep worrying about that," Rampage-Sword snorted, flashing away.
---
Ji Longyi stepped into a throneroom. A young girl with pale skin and black hair sat atop an oversized throne. He let out a snort of amusement at the sight.
"So-"
"Shh."
"What do you mean-"
"Shhh."
The refined-looking young man fell silent, mouth hanging slightly agape. He had never had someone disrespect him so nakedly. She- she was just ignoring him?
'What the hell? Does she even know who I am?' he crossed his arms.
For minutes they stood there, until she finally opened her eyes, revealing two frosty blue orbs. They seemed to pierce him, slowly inspecting his form. He shivered slightly for some reason.
After a while, she nodded.
"So you are Ji Longyi, the famed Chosen of Heaven? Tell me, do you remember my little subordinate, Xia Xuefeng? How you had her unlawfully arrested because you couldn't even tell she wasn't a demonic cultivator? How do you intend to compensate me for that?"
The man blinked in shock, not having realized that Bing Meilu knew Xia Xuefeng.
"Oh-Uh, Yes. I suppose that was me- But I already compensated her for it-" he replied in surprise.
"You compensated her, not me. How do you plan to make up for the months of lost progress and training time? She'd have definitely reached Core Formation in the Ashen Mountains if not for your intervention. This is a karmic debt that you must repay." Bing Meilu said, eyes narrowed. "Not that you could ever afford to compensate me for wasting my invaluable time, given your puny mortal wealth, but if you give me something at the Nascent Soul realm, I'll look the other way just this once."
"W-what? Nascent Soul Realm? She was only in Qi Condensation at the time-"
"Shh. This is not a common bazaar for you to bargain at. Either give me my due or reap what you've sown," she said a mysterious look in her eyes.
"A Nascent Soul level item? For a few months of time from someone in the first realm? That's just ridiculous..."
He paused in confusion. His Karmic Merit had begun to pulse, the lines of heavenly fate guiding him.
'My Karmic Merit- Wants me to do it?' he was completely confused.
Last time as well, it had told him to let Xia Xuefeng take the remnant Nascent Soul from the Demonic Cultivator he'd killed. Now it wanted him to do the same for Bing Meilu.
'I don't understand? Why the hell would they be worth so much?'
Ji Longyi was confused, but he could only trust in the guidance of the Heavenly Dao. It had never led him astray.
He opened his spatial ring, and retrieved a Nascent Soul level herb, the Inner Consciousness Lotus. He had planned to use it himself when he was ready to step into the fourth realm, but now he had to give it up. Face pained at the loss of wealth, he tossed it to Bing Meilu. She smiled and stored it away in her spatial ring.
"Now, I'm still not quite sure what to do with you as my new slave, given your lack of basic competence in the matter with Xia Xuefeng, you clearly can't be trusted with anything important- But don't worry, I'm sure I'll find something for you to do. For now, just get to know the other slaves."
He frowned in confusion. Jiu Longyi was an exceptional talent, a Chosen of Heaven already in Core Formation. Any organization would jump to have someone like him in their ranks, but she seemed unimpressed, and even a bit disdainful. He'd never had anything like this happen to him and was a bit unsure of what to say.
"I already said I was sorry about Xia Xuefeng, you don't have to be so disrespectful to me."
"...This generation!" Bing Meilu shook her head. "Back in the day, when people respected the proper order of things, you'd be flogged publically for speaking to your master like that. And no discipline or patience either! The youth these days are all so hyperactive, immediately speaking before even being spoken to. As I've always said, spare them the soul torture, spoil the child."
"...What?"
"You're dismissed for now. When I have something for you to do, I'll call you back. As I said, just get to know your comrades. You'll be spending a lot of time together, after all."
"Whatever." Ji Longyi shook his head and left.
---
Deep below the Slave Hall was a basement, filled with ice. Encased in one ice crystal was Jia Lao, Rampage Factions' top Captain. He stood there, frozen in ice, his eye flashing around.
'Dammit! I can't believe this would happen to me? The Boss fucking sold me to this crazy bitch! And I can't get out of this blasted ice!'
Every time he tried to use his Ghostly Sword Qi to break the ice, it just seemed to grow in size. He had been stuck here for days, slowly shivering as cold energy crept into his bones.
'When I get out, I'll fucking kill that bitch! I'll chop her into a dozen parts and toss her corpse into my dog pit for them to use as a fucking chew toy! I'll pour fucking hot oil down her smug stupid throat-'
He suddenly heard the door of the basement open. Footsteps resounded through the air, as Bing Meilu stepped down the stairs, coming into view. Jin Lao's eyes glared in hatred at the sight of the girl.
"I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest- I expected you'd have already figured out how to curse me for revenge, but it seems you're a bit incompetent for a so-called curse master. All that blustering and bragging, causing trouble in my hall, but you can't even melt a bit of my ice?" she laughed, her voice amused and disdainful.
Just hearing that despicable, haughty laugh sent waves of fury through him. He bit down on the ice gagging his mouth, eyes filled with rage. Her words stung even more because they were true. He'd been utterly unable to escape for days.
"I suppose it's to be expected, given the trash method you cultivate. Ghostly Sword Qi as a method for curses? You might as well just eat your own shit if you want to imitate a brainless monkey so desperately! Sword Qi is sharp and direct, whereas curses are subtle and indirect. It not as you have close to the talent to harmonize the Yin and Yang contradiction and create a working sword-qi curse method."
There was a smirk of complete contempt on her lips, arrogant eyes staring down at him like he was worthless. She suddenly waved her hands, creating from ice a large mural, covered in inscriptions and images.
"This here though, the Hungry Ghoul Six Dao's Inner Incantation- This is a real curse method, something that can cause calamity and disaster to whomever it targets. As it happens, I wanted to train my curse resistance, so you can freely curse me with it as much as you wish. If I left it to your own method, I'm sure I'd never feel the curse in a decade, so I'm forced to actually make you stronger just to make you barely strong enough to be worth using as a training tool. I'll even give you a lock of my hair to serve as a catalyst and focus."
"I would never give something this dangerous to anyone actually competent, but for a pathetic loser like you, it's fine. It's not like you'll ever be strong enough to threaten me in any way. If you had any talent the boss you loyally served for years wouldn't have tossed you aside like yesterday's trash. If I were you, I would kill myself out of shame but you sadly lack even that level of basic self-respect."
A strand of black hair was ripped from her head, and she waved a finger. The black threads floated over to his eye. She carefully threaded the hairs through the gap between his eyeball and socket, until both of his eyes were stuffed with dozens of threads of coarse, sharp hair. He would have screamed from the discomfort and disrespect, had he not been gagged.
He could only uselessly glare at her. Eyes flashing over the mural she had created, he froze. It actually seemed incredibly profound. Just at a glance, he could tell it was leagues beyond his self-made Ghastly-Sword Cursing Art, which itself was superior to any of the curse methods he had studied before joining the Armada.
'Fine then, you fucking whore! You want me to curse you? I'll curse you alright! I'll curse you to death! Wanting to use me as a training block? I'll make you regret the day you ever gave me this curse technique! I'll end your shit life!'
He glared at her as hard as he could, trying to let her how much he despised her guts. She laughed, voice cold and arrogant.
"Ah, how pitiful. Glaring at me so angrily, but unable to do anything about it. Haven't you spent decades cultivating to Core Formation for nothing you worthless loser. You can me as much as you want, it'll never amount to anything with how weak you are! Hate me, loathe me, revile me, it's all as worthless as the rest of you!"
With that, Bing Meilu left her basement, with a pleased smile. Of course, she had no particular dislike for Jin Lao, he really wasn't important enough for her to care enough to dislike him. It was just the case that the more he genuinely hated her, the more powerful his curses would be, and the more motivated he would be to get stronger. If it were not for the risk of being caught and punished, she might have actually tortured him just to make him hate her more.
That said, mental torture was just as effective, and not against any rules in particular, so she'd used her words instead.
She could already feel the first bits of cursed energy latching onto her. She immediately refined them into the mass of cursed energy she already possessed.