Number One Under Heaven

After a few more hours of waiting, the handsome middle-aged man finally began descending to the Minor World. And the moment he did, everybody locked their attention onto him. He smiled, said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start off by apologizing for the delay. The amount of guests that had arrived previously had shocked even me, and I had to spend a week wandering the Starry Sky in order to find a better location. Next, I would like to thank all of you for being here, it means a lot to me--- and my wallet---” The smug on his face grew even wider as he said that, making people frown left and right. “Now, before I start this history making event, it should be noted that I do not care about your status here! As long as you have the money, you can partake in this auction! Do you have any questions for me before we kick this off?”

“....”

“....”

Silence.

Seeing how everybody stared at him with daggers on the verge of shooting out, he shrugged and finally said, “Good! Then let us begin! As you all know, I am known as the God of Art, Huan Yishu! I am here today to auction off the most peerless art piece I have ever created--- yet! The 9th and probably the last Painting of Desire!”

After finishing his sentence, Huan Yishu sliced the space in front of him with his bare hands. The space started ripping apart as if it was a mouth, and a moment later, something wrapped in red cloth was slowly being pulled out.

The moment this red object came out, an invisible pressure suddenly slammed down on every single individual watching. However, instead of panicking, the majority of them had a wide smile on their face. They watched as the clothed object was slowly being pulled out, and as it came out, their heart also began beating faster.

One second, two seconds, three seconds. Every second felt like another eternity. They had waited for an entire week yet it did not feel as long as these few seconds!

Boom!

The moment the clothed painting was fully displayed, gasps could be heard from every direction.

“H-Holy… It’s that big?”

“My Mother, the other eight was the size of a regular painting, yet this one… This one can fit an entire wall!!”

Many girls began drooling before they could even see what was behind that cloth! They can already imagine walking into their room with the painting greeting them!

“He...Hehe...Hehehe”

Weird laughs could be heard, but nobody even bothered to see who was making these weird noises and continued to stare at the clothed painting as if they are trying to see right through the cover!

Huan Yishu laughed inside his heart. ‘What foolishness. Would I be stupid enough to cover it with something so random that you can just see through it with your Techniques---?!’

*Cough*

*Plop*

A shout suddenly resounded, “Ahhhhh! Someone suddenly collapsed with blood coming out of their nose!”

“What?” People began to look at the direction that voice was coming from to see a peerlessly beautiful middle-aged girl on the floor with blood flowing out of her nose like a waterfall.

“T-That’s the God of Divine Techniques, Lady Nuo! There’s a rumor that she has mastered all Divine Techniques that has ever existed! Why did she suddenly collapse like that?!”

A girl next to the collapsed Lady Nuo suddenly dropped onto her knees and picked Lady Nuo’s head up. “Senior Sister Nuo! What happened?!” She spoke to her as if she was holding a half dead body.

*Cough*

Lady Nuo, with her eyes closed, whispered, “H-Hea---”

“Hea…?” The people around her asked themselves, 'What does she mean by that?'

“Senior Sister Nuo! What are you trying to say?!”

“H-Heaven… I saw Heaven…”

“Huh?” The people were confused at first, but they slowly began to realize what she meant after they noticed Lady Nuo’s red face and satisfied looking smile.

Huan Yishu also gave his attention to the commotion. ‘This old hag, she can actually see through the Heaven Sealing Cloth? I guess the rumor may have some truth to it… Oh well, there shouldn’t be any other here that is able to see through the Heaven Sealing Cloth,’ he thought.

“Unbelievable… Although we are all aware of what is behind that cover, we cannot simply imagine how it actually looks. To turn someone like Lady Nuo into that state... What did she see behind that cover?!” The crowd began heating up from the unexpected accident.

“Wait... If Lady Nuo turned into that state because of what she saw, what would happen if the rest of the females saw it?”

“Y-You--- T-That would be disastrous...!”

The males noticed a problem that could potentially turn this peaceful looking World into a bloody mess, literally!

*****

Lady Nuo recovered a few minutes later and stood there with a refreshed face. After seeing what was beneath the cover, she no longer dared to look at the painting again and turned to face her friend instead. “Junior Sister Bing, remember when I said that we would only come here as bystanders and not as a customer?” She asked her.

“Yes, and you also said it would be a pointless struggle because we do not have enough wealth or resources to battle with a few families here--- What about it?”

Lady Nuo cleared her throat and spoke in a dignified tone, “Well, I take that back. We will win this auction even if I have to trade that Divine Technique!”

Her Junior Sister Bing instantly widened her eyes and mouth, “What?!?!” She cried out. “Are you serious?! Do you remember the struggle you had to go through just to obtain it?! You said that you will protect it even with your dead body, yet you want to sell it off for some painting out of nowhere?! Are you hearing yourself, Senior Sister Nuo?!”

“.....” Lady Nuo did not reply to her. Instead, she looked at her with a serious face.

“Senior Sister Nuo…?”

Lady Nuo smiled, and said, “Believe me when I say it’s worth it,” before turning around and closing her eyes to wait for the auction to begin.

The Junior Sister looked at her with a bewildered face. ‘What on earth is really behind that cover?’ She thought. And following the crowd, she also turned around to stare at the covered painting, hoping to see through it.

*****

After the commotions died down a bit more, Huan Yishu finally began the auction. “Now, let us begin the long awaited auction! Because of the special occasion, I will not give a starting price, and whoever bid first will be the starting price! Auction--- start!!!” His voice echoes throughout the entire World. He wanted to make sure that everybody would hear him loud and clear.

“......”

“...........”

“..................”

Silence. Not a single bid was made for an entire minute!

“Eh?” Huan Yishu did not expect this and could only look around with a dumbfounded expression. Why is no one bidding? Did nobody want the 9th Painting of Desire ‘That’s impossible! Maybe they are waiting for someone to start the bidding price?’ He thought and began waiting again.

“....”

“........”

“..............”

Half an hour had passed, yet the place was still silent. Nobody was bidding!

Huan Yishu began sweating. Why is nobody bidding?! Half an hour had already gone by but not a single bid was made! Forget about Huan Yishu, even the males there are puzzled at the unexpected outcome. The females have been going crazy since the news of the 9th Painting of Desire was released, so why is nobody bidding now? Where is the chaos? Where is the blood bath?!

‘M-Maybe they did not hear me when I started the auction?... T-That must be it!’ Huan Yishu tried to convince himself, and he prepared a forced smile before rubbing his hands together. “A-Ahem. G-Guests? Why the silence? D-Did nobody hear me when I started the auction? I-If so, the auction has---”

“We heard you loud and clear the first time,” someone interrupted him.

Such words confused him even more. “T-Then why is nobody bidding?” He asked.

“.....”

“Bid? Bid for what? We don’t even know what’s behind the cover and you want us to bid for it? Are you stupid or something?” Someone finally said.

“Yeah! How do you expect us to bid for something we have never seen?”

“Right?! Who knows what is behind that cover! It might not even be the 9th Painting of Desire!”

“Yeah! Show us what is behind that cover and then we will start bidding!”

The already stiff smile on Huan Yishu’s face instantly freezes upon hearing their reason as to why they are not bidding. ‘SO THAT’S THEIR PLAN?!?!?’ He cursed in his heart. He finally understands what these girls were aiming for! It was obvious that the majority of them here are aware of the fact that they cannot outbid the big families hidden within the crowd and came here with only the intentions to see the painting! As for the people here that are actually going to bid in the auction, they sympathize with them as fellow fangirls, so they decided to not bid until everybody here sees the painting! Also, who knows if they will actually win the bid once they began?!

What a crafty bunch! What good patience! If this was the Mortal’s Realm, such a thing would have never happened! With so many people here, such large scale actions like this could not have been planned ahead of time, especially not within a week! So how was it possible to accomplish such feats?!

Huan Yishu began sweating profusely. He had planned on keeping the painting covered for the entire duration of the auction because he thought it would rake in more money, but now he has no other choice other than to let them see the painting! Just one bid and he will not have to show them the painting! The less an item has been seen makes it even more valuable, after all. But who is willing to bid now? The males? Impossible! Who would do something that is equivalent to suicide--- no, something even worse than suicide! Just one bid from any of the males here and he will make every single female here his enemy! And these are not just any regular females. Many of them here are either well-known Gods, Princesses, and even Young Ladies from families with high standings! To have such enemies means absolute death!

“Haaaaaah.” Huan Yishu lets out a long sigh and gives up. “Fine, fine, fine. You girls win. I will let you see what is behind this cover---- but only for a second! I cannot handle the consequences of revealing it for more than a second! If any of you disagree, then I will shut this auction down right at this moment!”

“Un, un.” Millions of heads nod at the same time, creating waves in the black sea made of people.

“Haaaaaaaah.” Huan Yishu lets out one more sigh before grabbing the cover. He looks at the excited crowd, and then he looks his shivering hands. He has never experienced such nervousness even before he became the God of Art!

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaah.” Huan Yishu lets out one final sigh, and he pulls the entire red cover off with one swift motion---

*GASP*

Gasping and choking noises could be heard from every direction, jaws began dropping on the floor faster than raindrops on a rainy day, and blood could be seen flowing out of everybody’s nose.

A Catastrophic scene. That was the most accurate description of what had happened on this day that will be forever branded into the Souls of these that was lucky enough to witness it, becoming an everlasting Legend that will be passed down from generations to generations until the end of time.