Chapter 1662: Ultimate Treasure In Purple Star Palace

“Excuse me, brother. What is the Purple Star Palace? And why is everyone so excited?”

Ye Qing was the type of person who asked whenever he didn’t understand something. So, he chatted up a nearby person.

“The heavens’ blessings be with you.”

The man performed a jishou and greeted Ye Qing instead of pushing him away like a haughty Sage would. He even replied in a gentle voice, “This is your first time in the Celestial Market On A Cloud, I presume?”

“Correct. That is why I need your help, Reverend.”

The Illusory Mist made it look like he was talking to a beardless, middle-aged man wearing an ordinary outfit. Judging from his choice of words and behavior though, he was probably a Taoist.

From what he said, this wasn’t the first time he came to the Celestial Market On A Cloud either.

“You do not know this, Dao Brother, but there are hidden markets or shops in the Celestial Market On A Cloud besides the usual six. They usually contain the greatest valuables one can find in the Celestial Market On A Cloud. They are all incredible items of nature and profoundness, and they are much more precious than the ones you find in the usual markets. For example, there are the Celestial Tower, the Boundless Platform, the Primal Chaos Market and more. The Purple Star Palace is one of them.”

The Taoist explained, “These hidden markets and shops have restrictions and limited access, however. One cannot simply enter them like the Rising Serpent Market or Supreme Yin Market.”

“These hidden markets and shops usually appear only once per a decade, several decades, or even a century. Moreover, they only appear for a limited period of time. Sometimes, the duration could be as long as three to five days. Sometimes, it could be as short as two to four hours.”

“For outsiders like us, it is completely up to luck whether we would stumble upon the opening of a hidden market or not. For obvious reasons, it is the opportunity of a lifetime. That is why everyone is so excited.”

“I see now.” Ye Qing nodded and asked another question, “But why is the Celestial Market On A Cloud doing this?”

If they wanted to sell their stuff, then just sell them. What was the point of all these shenanigans?

“The Nature of the world goes to the virtuous and destined.”

The Taoist smiled. “Legend has it that the Celestial In A Cloud is the heir of the ancient Yellow Sky Dao Sect. The Yellow Sky Dao Sect believed in the theory of heavenly destiny and earthly virtues, the theory that all things happen because of destiny, and all arts lie with virtue.”

“That is why the Celestial In A Cloud built the Celestial Market On A Cloud based on this theory. The destined ones will enter the celestial market, and the virtuous ones will obtain the treasures.”

“The items inside these hidden markets are all rare and priceless, profound and mysterious, natural and fortuitous. They cannot and should not go simply to anyone. It should only be obtained by the exceedingly fortunate and those bearing both destiny and virtue. Only then can one guarantee that these treasures will find an owner that will make them shine, not the other way around.”

“This is why the Celestial Tower, Boundless Platform, Purple Star Palace, Primal Chaos Market and more exist.”

Heavenly destiny and earthly virtue? Tsk, they sure know how to craft their marketing slogan.

Ye Qing did not find the Taoist’s claims impressive, though he refrained from voicing his thoughts and asked another question instead. “So, what’s the story regarding the Purple Star Palace?”

The Taoist smiled. “Do not worry, Dao Brother. You will find out very soon.”

As if on cue, profound tunes of Dao suddenly came from the Purple Star Palace, shifting the stars and filling the world with light.

“The Purple Star Palace sits at the center of the Celestial Market On A Cloud. It appears only once per seventy two years—a match with the number of Earthly Fiends—and remains open for only thirty six Old Hours[1]—a match with the number of heavenly stars. It also contains a hundred and eight ultimate treasures, which matches the maximum number of sky cycles. Only the destined and virtuous may obtain them.”

“Now that the Purple Star Palace is open, this poor Taoist shall take his leave. See you later, Dao Brother.”

Before he even finished, the Taoist was already flying toward the Purple Star Palace.

It wasn’t just him. Everyone aboard the Celestial Market On A Cloud was rushing toward the Purple Star Palace for fear that someone would get to the treasures of their desires first.

There were more wolves than meat in the market. The Purple Star Palace only boasted one hundred and eight ultimate treasures, but there were over one hundred and eight guests aboard the Celestial Market On A Cloud after all.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Truemen and Grandmasters were lesser than dogs, and Sages were as common as cabbages these days. It was just that humans weren’t the only ones touring the celestial market right now. There were also Strangers, awakened natural gods and demons, ancient celestials who had emerged from certain abodes and blessed lands, Buddhas and more. Naturally, there were far more people than there were ultimate treasures.

Besides that, there was no rule stating that one person could only purchase one item from the Purple Star Palace.

In short, it was first come first serve.

“Let’s go.”

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou did not hesitate. They too made haste for the Purple Star Palace in the sky.

Although they had used up most of their money and so could not possibly afford the so-called ultimate treasures featured in the Purple Star Palace, they could at least scratch the itch a little by checking them out.

The first thing they saw after entering the Purple Star Palace was a brilliant river of stars. The river of stars was composed of one hundred and eight stars, each of them brilliant-looking and dazzling.

Right now, they were like celestials walking through the cosmos and scrutinizing the stars as if they were mere objects they could pluck and remove as they pleased.

Obviously, the one hundred and eight stars making up the river of stars were the one hundred and eight ultimate treasures being featured in the Purple Star Palace.

The method of display was somewhat similar to the one in the Rising Serpent Market. It was just more immersive and profound.

After all, the Rising Serpent Market only required them to make contact with their spiritual senses. The Purple Star Palace pulled their entire being into a magical space.

How interesting.

Ye Qing thought to himself as he took a step forward and landed on a star. The star immediately started blazing with crimson gold true fire like the sun, causing dazzling haloes and coronas to fill one’s vision.

At the center of the dazzling light was a crimson gold fruit.

In fact, the “sun” was the fruit. It was the source of the crimson gold flame and the light.

“Deep in the void, there exists a tree called the Sun Divine Tree. The Sun Divine Tree is born from the Supreme Sun Trueflame and so basks in its flame for eternity. The Sun Divine Tree flowers once every three hundred years and fruits in another three hundred years. It is called the Sun Divine Fruit.”

“The Sun Divine Fruit contains the essence of the Supreme Sun Trueflame. Consuming it would convert one’s foundation into the Sun Divine Bone. They will gain the natural ability to control the Supreme Sun Trueflame. Below the Sage stage, the user will encounter no bottlenecks or complications in their cultivation whatsoever.”

“Price: 10 million silver or a treasure of equal value.”

“The Sun Divine Tree and Sun Divine Fruit actually exist?”

Ye Qing was surprised to see this. He had read them in some travel journals and records of the fantastic before, but he thought that they were the imaginary things the author invented at the time. He did not realize that they were actually real.

“This is my first time seeing one either.”

Feng Qingyou added, “I’ve seen a Moon Celestial Fruit though. Its effect is more or less the parallel to the Sun Divine Fruit’s in the sense that it grants its user the Supreme Yin Celestial Body and the natural ability to control the power of the supreme yin.”

“Tsk tsk... it’s definitely a great treasure alright.”

Ye Qing sighed. This Sun Divine Fruit could transform an ordinary person into an ultimate genius possessing bones of divinity and a body of celestialhood instantly. They would encounter no bottlenecks below the Sage-stage and were expected to make it to the Sage-stage eventually as well. For obvious reasons, this was a life-changing treasure for any warrior.

But of course, this fruit was mainly useful for warriors below the Sage-stage. The lower their cultivation level, the more value one would derive from its effects. It wasn’t really all that useful for people who had attained sagehood like them.

That was why a lot of people left after checking out the contents.

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were the same. They went to the next star after they were done rating it.

1. I originally didn’t want to do this but it would be 72 hours in modern hours, which doesn’t fit the claim that it matches the number of heavenly stars. ☜