Chapter 179: The Celestial Master's Feng Shui Sword

The moment Yu Danqing appeared, she immediately caught Lin Le's attention. This was not merely due to her unique personal charm, but because of the powerful aura she exuded.

Although Yu Danqing concealed it rather well, Lin Le could still perceive that this woman's martial arts cultivation was truly extraordinary. Though she was only in her early thirties, her internal energy had already reached the peak of the Minor Accomplishment stage. No wonder everyone fell silent the moment she approached; there was clearly a reason for it.

Not only was Yu Danqing's cultivation formidable, but a hint of ruthlessness, difficult for ordinary people to detect, also lurked within her smiling, beautiful eyes. To call her a femme fatale would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.

"First of all, welcome everyone to our Earth Nine Pavilion auction. There are a total of six collections to be auctioned today."

Shortly after, Yu Danqing announced the names of the items that would go under the hammer.

To their surprise, the *Compendium of a Hundred Herbs by the Medicine Ancestor*, which Lin Le and his companions intended to bid for, was actually listed as the very last item. It seemed Earth Nine Pavilion had placed it as the grand finale specifically to highlight its immense importance.

Following that, the auction commenced under Yu Danqing's hosting.

The opening lots consisted mostly of porcelain, calligraphy, and paintings—things that failed to arouse the slightest bit of interest in Lin Le.

Yet, the provenance of these porcelains and artworks was by no means trivial. The mere mention of the background of any single piece was enough to astound people. For instance, one of the lots was an oil painting stolen from the Louvre in previous years, created by an internationally renowned master, which unexpectedly fetched a staggering price of over a hundred million! It was truly breathtaking.

Items stolen from major exhibition halls like this would never be permitted at legitimate auctions. Probably only places lingering in the gray zones, such as Earth Nine Pavilion, had the audacity to conduct such business.

"And now, let us begin the bidding for the fifth lot of the day: the Celestial Master's Feng Shui Sword!"

With that, Yu Danqing signaled for the black cloth covering the fifth display case to be lifted, revealing an entirely pitch-black ancient sword laid out before the crowd.

The very instant the ancient sword was unveiled, everyone present felt an indescribable, sacred aura radiating immediately from the blade. It sent a profound wave of shock rippling through their hearts, as if they were witnessing a divine miracle with their own eyes!

"Whoa!" Almost simultaneously, gasps of astonishment escaped the crowd. It was clear that everyone shared the same sensation, feeling the astonishing power emanating from the ancient sword.

"Hiss..." Even Liang Qiuyang couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath of cold air and exclaiming, "This ancient sword actually possesses spiritual power! Mr. Lin, could this sword possibly be a magical artifact? Should we bid on it?"

Liang Qiuyang looked at Lin Le with anticipation. Clearly, he was quite tempted by the ancient sword.

As a feng shui master himself, Liang Qiuyang understood the critical importance of feng shui. This feng shui sword was obviously no ordinary object and held an absolute attraction for him.

To be honest, the moment the black cloth was removed from the feng shui sword, even Lin Le was somewhat stunned by the aura emanating from it.

That was because the energy radiating from the blade bore a striking resemblance to the magical powers of the inner-sect Taoism.

If that were truly the case, not to mention Liang Qiuyang, even Lin Le himself would have felt tempted. After all, magical artifacts were not items easily acquired.

However, the next moment, when Lin Le probed deeper into the ancient sword using his spiritual sense, a sense of disappointment inevitably washed over him.

He discovered that while the sword did indeed carry a certain mysterious force, it was not true magical power, but rather a remarkably dense concentration of mental energy!

Although mental energy and magical power shared similarities, they were fundamentally different in essence.

Put simply, magical power could be regarded as a higher tier of energy compared to mental energy—a state of power that only manifests when mental energy reaches its absolute zenith.

Alternatively, one could think of mental energy as the power belonging to outer-sect practitioners, whereas magical power was a force exclusive to true inner-sect practitioners.

When ordinary practitioners of Buddhism, Taoism, and other religious sects reached a certain level of mental fortitude and cultivation, they were capable of generating a certain degree of mental energy.

This mental energy could then be infused into objects they carried, causing those objects to also generate mental energy and acquire certain functional capacities.

Nevertheless, the capabilities displayed by such mental energy were quite limited and naturally incomparable to those of genuine magical artifacts.

"Master Liang, this ancient sword is not a true magical artifact. It is merely an object imbued with mental energy. While it might serve some purpose in adjusting feng shui, that is the extent of it. If you are here for a magical artifact, you might as well forget it." Recognizing Liang Qiuyang's intentions, Lin Le stated his observations directly.

"What? Not a real magical artifact?" Liang Qiuyang looked deeply disappointed.

"No way? The aura coming from that sword was so distinct, I clearly felt it just now," Ji Xiaorui said, finding it hard to believe.

"It's just mental energy. If you want some, I can exert a little effort later and guarantee that even your toilet at home will emit this kind of sacred vibe. I promise every time you go to the restroom, it will feel like making a pilgrimage. Do you want that?" Lin Le teased.

Hearing this, Ji Xiaorui gave him a look of utter disdain. "Master, you're so disgusting..."

Although it was merely a joke, both Ji Xiaorui and Liang Qiuyang completely abandoned any lingering thoughts of acquiring the ancient sword.

Meanwhile, seeing the shocked reactions of the audience, Yu Danqing wore a satisfied smile on her stage and began her introduction.

"This Celestial Master's Feng Shui Sword was forged from lightning-struck jujube wood and crafted by the hand of a Taoist celestial master. It is said that that celestial master had already attained the Dao, a truly high-level master possessed of great magical power. And this Celestial Master's Feng Shui Sword is a genuine, authentic Taoist magical artifact..."

Genuine? Lin Le offered a bitter smile inwardly. Although Earth Nine Pavilion had many experts among its ranks, not a single one was truly capable of verifying whether this Celestial Master's Feng Shui Sword was an authentic magical artifact.

More likely, even the people at Earth Nine Pavilion had been deceived, leading them to auction the sword under the belief that it was a real magical artifact.

Otherwise, an organization like Earth Nine Pavilion, which relied heavily on reputation to sustain its network and business, would never do something that ruined its own signboard.

At this thought, Lin Le directly used spiritual voice transmission to address Yu Danqing: "Fair lady, before you've fully investigated the matter, it would be wiser to phrase things more cautiously. What if this feng shui sword turns out not to be a magical artifact? Wouldn't that smash Earth Nine Pavilion's reputation to pieces?"

Hearing these words, a look of sudden astonishment crossed Yu Danqing's glamorous face. She involuntarily glanced around her surroundings, though naturally, she could not spot the source of the voice transmission.

Yet Yu Danqing knew very well that anyone capable of utilizing spiritual voice transmission was definitely no ordinary person; she was forced to take the warning seriously.

In truth, Yu Danqing had harbored her own doubts about the sword's status as a magical artifact prior to this. True magical artifacts were generally held only by high-level practitioners of inner-sect Taoism, but true inner-sect Taoists rarely appeared in the secular world, let alone brought magical artifacts out to be auctioned.

However, the energy signature emanating from the Celestial Master's Feng Shui Sword was simply too extraordinary—something ordinary people could never imagine.

Moreover, the master of Earth Nine Pavilion had already issued instructions to auction it off as a genuine magical artifact in order to fetch a high price, which was why Yu Danqing had introduced it in that manner.

Yet, judging by the current situation, there was indeed something amiss with the sword, or else no high-level expert would have stepped in to offer guidance.

Yu Danqing's reaction was exceptionally swift. Realizing this, she immediately shifted her tone and added, "Of course, this information was merely provided by the owner of the item. Earth Nine Pavilion currently lacks the ability to verify the authenticity of this feng shui sword's identity as a magical artifact. Whether it is real or fake remains for all of you to judge yourselves..."