Chapter 127: The Most Spine-Chilling “Talent Recruitment Fair” in History

Three days later.

Qingyun Sect—no, it should have been called Ascension Group Headquarters—was decorated with lanterns and streamers, bustling with people.

An unprecedented grand event was ceremoniously held at the Main Peak Plaza.

The name of the event sounded dignified and proper—

“Post-War Asset Restructuring of the Eastern Wasteland Cultivation World暨First High-End Talent Market Revitalization Exchange Conference”.

The sect masters and clan heads of the major sects in the Eastern Wasteland who received the invitations were all confused and baffled, yet none of them dared not come. The current might of the Ascension Group had already left no room for anyone to show the slightest negligence.

When they arrived at the plaza, they were completely stunned by the scene before them.

At the center of the plaza, an enormous high platform had been erected. On the platform, Chu Feng was dressed in white, holding an amplification conch horn, his smile warm and amiable. Below the platform, dozens of viewing seats had also been set up, each furnished with exquisite tea sets and spirit fruits, making everything appear exceptionally formal.

And beneath the high platform, the so-called “assets” and “talents” were actually those cultivators of Heavenheart Holy Land who had been captured!

True Lord Lingxiao, Chiyunzi, and a group of Nascent Soul and Golden Core big shots were confined like rare demonic beasts in specially crafted black-iron cages, lined up one by one. On each of their chests hung a wooden placard, with their respective “product descriptions” written in cinnabar.

【Product No.: 001】

【Product Name: True Lord Lingxiao (Mid–Nascent Soul Classic Edition)】

【Product Attributes: Lightning-type, proficient in large-scale destructive spells.】

【Product Features: Profound cultivation, rich combat experience, comes with the “Former Disciplinary Elder of Heavenheart Holy Land” halo, strong deterrence.】

【Recommended Uses: Sect strategic deterrence, high-end combat sparring partner, directional blasting of large-scale mineral veins.】

【Starting Price: One hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones (limited to one hundred years of labor usage rights)】

【Product No.: 002】

【Product Name: Huoyunzi (Golden Core Self-Detonation Limited Edition)】

【Product Attributes: Fire-type, fierce temperament.】

【Product Features: Possesses the courage and experience of self-detonating a Golden Core, one-time consumable product, extremely powerful.】

【Recommended Uses: Assaulting fortified formations, assassination and decapitation, celebratory ignition at important occasions.】

【Starting Price: Thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones (comes with one “Controllable Self-Detonation Enhancement Talisman” developed by our group, double the power, guaranteed fair and honest!)】

What was even more outrageous was that beside each cage stood an Ascension Group “product introducer”, who was enthusiastically explaining various “usage experiences” and “maintenance methods” to the surrounding sect masters.

“This Elder Huoyunzi here has a bit of a fiery temper, but he makes up for it with excellent cost performance! Just look at these muscle lines and this mental state—he is absolutely top-tier mining material!”

Looking at these jaw-dropping “product descriptions”, then looking at those once lofty and untouchable great figures inside the cages—now all wearing ashen faces, trembling with rage—the sect masters who came to observe all felt a chill shoot straight from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads.

Ruthless! Too damn ruthless!

Killing someone was one thing, but this President Chu not only killed people—he even intended to boil their bone scraps into soup and sell it for money!

“Ahem.”

Chu Feng lightly coughed twice, and the plaza instantly fell silent.

“Dear guests, dear partners, dear family members!”

On the high platform, Chu Feng cleared his throat and began his “roadshow” with that highly infectious voice of his.

“I know exactly what everyone is thinking. Nothing more than believing that this move by our Ascension Group damages harmony with Heaven and violates moral principles.”

A few low murmurs arose from below, then quickly subsided.

“Wrong!” Chu Feng waved his hand righteously. “What I am doing is precisely the greatest mercy! The greatest morality!”

“In the cultivation world, the strong devour the weak. By tradition, these prisoners of war should have met the fate of death and Dao annihilation.”

“But I, Chu Feng, value the virtue of cherishing life and could not bear to see so many precious ‘cultivation resources’ wasted in vain.”

“So, I gave them an opportunity!”

“An opportunity to wash away their sins through labor and to once again realize their own value!”

A sect master below could not help muttering softly, “When you put it that way… it actually makes some sense.”

“Today, what we are auctioning is not their personhood, but their ‘labor contracts’!”

“We are finding suitable ‘job positions’ for them! We are revitalizing non-performing assets, and making outstanding contributions to talent circulation across the entire Eastern Wasteland cultivation world!”

A whole set of twisted logic, turning black into white, was forcibly spoken by him with upright dignity, brimming with humanistic care.

The sect masters below listened in stunned silence. At first, some felt this approach was excessive, but after Chu Feng’s explanation, they strangely began to feel it made perfect sense.

Soon after, many eyes began to glow with fanatic fervor.

To hell with morality! A mid–Nascent Soul enforcer, with one hundred years of usage rights, for only one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones? That was practically being given away for free!

One must know that cultivating a Golden Core cultivator required at least several hundred thousand spirit stones, and even then it was not guaranteed. As for Nascent Soul cultivators, they were priceless—money alone might not even be enough to obtain one.

“President Chu, this price… isn’t it set a bit low?” Sun Desheng, the sect master of Falling Sunset Sect, asked tentatively.

Chu Feng smiled. “Sect Master Sun, when our Ascension Group does business, we emphasize small profits but quick turnover, mutual benefit, and win–win cooperation. Everyone who could come today is a friend of mine, Chu, so naturally I must offer a friendship price.”

“I hereby announce that the ‘Talent Auction’ officially begins! First item—Lot No. 1, True Lord Lingxiao!”

“Starting price one hundred thousand! Each increment must be no less than ten thousand!”

As soon as his words fell, the crowd below exploded.

“I bid one hundred and ten thousand!” a sect master shouted impatiently.

“One hundred and twenty thousand! A figure like True Lord Lingxiao would already be worth it even as a mountain-guarding divine beast!”

“I bid one hundred and fifty thousand! No one fight me for this!”

“One hundred and eighty thousand! My Qingfeng Valley happens to be lacking a gatekeeper!”

The scene instantly heated up. These sect masters, who were usually lofty and aloof, now looked no different from aunties fighting over vegetables at a marketplace.

Inside the cage, True Lord Lingxiao listened to the rising bids outside. Two lines of blood-tinged tears of humiliation slowly slid down from the corners of his eyes.

He, a dignified mid–Nascent Soul great cultivator, a Disciplinary Elder of Heavenheart Holy Land—when had he ever suffered such extreme humiliation!

“Chu Feng! Just kill me!” True Lord Lingxiao finally roared.

Chu Feng glanced back at him and said calmly, “True Lord Lingxiao, those words are too distant. I am arranging a job for you—you should be thanking me instead.”

“Two hundred thousand!”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand!”

The bidding continued, and True Lord Lingxiao’s expression grew increasingly ugly.

In the end, True Lord Lingxiao’s “hundred-year labor contract” was won by the wealthy Falling Sunset Sect Master Sun Desheng at the sky-high price of three hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones.

Sun Desheng was beaming with pride, patting his chest as he said, “President Chu, I, Sun, have made a huge profit on this deal!”

Immediately after, Huoyunzi and the other Golden Core elders were bundled into various bizarre “asset packages” such as “Mining Area Blasting Team One” and “Sword Formation Sparring Phase Three”, and were frenziedly snapped up by the major sects.

Some went even further, directly asking, “President Chu, how is the ‘after-sales service’ for these people? What if they break after use?”

Chu Feng answered with a straight face, “We provide a one-year warranty. Non-human-caused damage can be repaired for free. If they really cannot be fixed, we can buy them back at a depreciated price.”

Bursts of laughter erupted from below, and the atmosphere grew increasingly heated.

This world-shocking auction lasted an entire day.

When the final “labor contract” of a Purifiers soldier was auctioned off, Elder Liu Changqing held the account book, his hands trembling with excitement.

“President… we struck it rich! We really struck it rich!”

“The total revenue of this auction… one million two hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones!”

“After deducting all costs, net profit—one million!”

This figure plunged the entire Ascension Group into a frenzy of celebration.

With this money, Murong Xue’s compensation finally had security, and the group’s various construction projects could advance by great strides.

And Chu Feng had finally gathered enough “startup capital” to head toward the nine-deaths-one-life Ten Thousand Souls Cavern, to gamble for that slim chance of survival.

He stood on the high platform, facing the setting sun, his gaze fixed toward the westernmost reaches of the Eastern Wasteland—where the forbidden land of Ten Thousand Souls Cavern lay.

The corner of his mouth curled into a determined arc.

Leng Yanran.

This “emotional debt” of yours carried rather high interest.

However, debts owed by him, Chu Feng—even if he had to punch a hole through the heavens—would definitely be repaid.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep