Chapter 946: The Grand Auction

"Uncle, rest assured. This auction has been arranged flawlessly. Every cultivator who will place a bid is a minor rogue cultivator we have long since bought off. These cultivators appear completely unrelated to our Ye Clan on the surface. Furthermore, once the auction concludes, we will immediately silence them; not a single whisper of wind will leak out. However, how are things being handled with the Emperor? Why did the Grand Void Gate and the Heavenly Demon Sect suddenly send two old monsters, Xuan Qing and Qi Miao, to the palace? They couldn't have heard some wind, could they?" the beautiful woman said, hesitating.

The old man with the crow-like crown revealed a worried expression upon hearing this.

"You may rest easy. Big Brother has already probed their intentions; they are here for that Flat Mountain Seal of the Three Views. Now that this seal is nearing completion, the Three Views are about to finish the final fusion of all its components. Those two sects have many ears; just from the tiny bit of wind we intentionally let out, they have already vaguely guessed what treasure we are refining. Therefore, they have come this time to pressure our Ye Clan, demanding that we sell this treasure to them. This is actually good; with this bait in the open, they won't pay attention to my true plan. However, as a precaution, all elders who know the plan must travel in pairs recently. If they are careless and fall into the trap of these two old monsters, having their spiritual sense forcibly probed, it would be disastrous. Especially that True Person Qi Miao from the Heavenly Demon Sect who arrived this time; he is particularly skilled in various soul-bewitching secret techniques. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would involuntarily spill everything if they were caught off guard," the square-faced middle-aged man said, his facial muscles twitching as he gave solemn instructions.

"So that's how it is. That is a relief. But the Flat Mountain Seal was also refined by us with great difficulty. Are we just going to cheaply give it to those two sects?" the old man with the crow-like crown said, feeling it a great pity.

"Cheaply give it to them? How is that possible! If only one sect had come knocking, we might not have been able to withstand the pressure and would have had to swallow our pride. But now that both have come together, there is naturally room to fish in troubled waters. Big Brother has already made arrangements. Even if the Flat Mountain Seal cannot remain in our hands, it will never fall into the hands of these two sects so easily to aid the enemy," the square-faced middle-aged man sneered with a hint of mockery.

The old man with the crow-like crown and the beautiful woman exchanged glances, feeling completely bewildered, but they were tactful enough not to continue asking.

Thus, after the three chatted for a while longer, they parted ways and went about their own business.

……

Days passed, and in the blink of an eye, the day of the grand auction arrived.

During this period, although the Yin Luo Sect searched everywhere for Han Li's whereabouts, the places they searched were only other marketplaces, inns, and areas where cultivators gathered near Jin Capital. Han Li had been single-mindedly cultivating the Snow Crystal Ball in the Daoist temple and had not stepped out once, so naturally, they gained nothing.

Early that morning, Han Li changed his appearance, transforming into a black-faced man, and also transformed the bamboo tube on his back into a long sword. He then drifted out of the Daoist temple and headed straight for the Jin West Marketplace.

Along the way, he restrained his Qi and lowered his cultivation base to the Core Formation stage to avoid attracting too much attention.

As he expected, the closer he got to the Jin West Marketplace, the more high-tier cultivator auras he sensed.

While these were predominantly Core Formation stage, there were quite a few Nascent Soul stage cultivators as well. As for low-tier cultivators, they were few and far between.

It seemed that any cultivator with even a little bit of wealth was unwilling to miss this grand auction.

Once Han Li passed through the barrier and walked into the marketplace, he immediately discovered that the entire street was filled with cultivators in all sorts of attire, including many people in strange and exotic clothing.

However, with a sweep of his gaze, he discovered several black-robed cultivators with gloomy expressions at the entrance, constantly scanning those entering the marketplace. One of the men was none other than Ge Ge Tianhao. But for some reason, the Heavenly Saintess was not present.

Han Li frowned inwardly, but on the surface, he pretended not to notice and walked toward the main hall, not sparing these Yin Luo Sect cultivators another glance.

But just as he took two steps, a faint spiritual sense immediately swept over him. After circling once, it left empty-handed and headed toward another newly appeared Core Formation cultivator.

The Yin Luo Sect's practice of using spiritual sense to scan cultivators entering the marketplace was not applied to everyone. Only those with unfamiliar faces, who looked like rogue cultivators or had suspicious identities, encountered this. As for those high-tier cultivators belonging to other sects, these people simply ignored them.

Their secretive act of scanning with spiritual sense was fine for those Core Formation cultivators, as they could not detect it and naturally had no reaction. But several Nascent Soul rogue cultivators encountered this upon entering the marketplace and were naturally furious, coldly glaring at these Yin Luo Sect cultivators.

Fortunately, these Yin Luo Sect people had no intention of provoking any trouble; after the spiritual sense swept over, there were no further actions. This left these high-tier rogue cultivators dissatisfied, but they would not truly provoke a major demonic sect like the Yin Luo Sect for this. They could only leave unhappily, just like Han Li.

"Elder Ge, I heard that person is proficient in disguise and illusion techniques. Keeping watch here like this, I'm afraid it's completely useless," a newly appeared old man with triangular eyes and a gloomy expression said, feeling dissatisfied as they had gained nothing.

"I asked you brothers to do this precisely to flush out the snake. I never intended to use this method to find him immediately. That person has significant abilities, and we have no good way to see through his true form. But by searching for him so aggressively, perhaps he will panic and reveal some flaws. Even if he can keep his composure and not reveal a single flaw, you don't need to worry. The Tulu people also have some friendship with the Heavenly Demon Sect. Fellow Daoist Lin has already gone to borrow the Myriad Sound Treasure Mirror from Fellow Daoist Qi Miao of the Heavenly Demon Sect and is currently concentrating on refining it at her residence. In just two or three days, she will be able to use it freely. It would be best if I could find him now, but if not, it will at least make him lose his guard. Once we reach the last day or two of the auction, under the power of this mirror to break illusions, that person will have nowhere to hide. We can then capture him with lightning speed," Ge Ge Tianhao said, glancing at the old man with triangular eyes.

"So that's how it is. I was wondering how Elder Ge, with your ability to plan everything, could do something so useless. If that's the case, there's no need for the Sect Master and the others to rush over; we can capture him ourselves and perform a great service for the sect," the old man with triangular eyes said, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

"I hope so," Ge Ge Tianhao gave a dry laugh and looked toward the direction of the Treasure Light Hall.

The guy they were dealing with this time seemed like a ruthless character no matter how you looked at it. Even the Fourth Elder, who was at the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage, might have lost his life to this person; how could it be so easy to handle? It wouldn't be strange if any accidents occurred. It was better to be extra careful.

Ge Ge Tianhao thought silently, his expression involuntarily turning gloomy.

……

At this moment, Han Li was already standing before the massive stone hall he had seen that day.

At this moment, this Treasure Light Hall was completely shrouded within a five-colored light screen, appearing exceptionally mysterious.

What stunned Han Li was that above the Treasure Light Hall, there was an additional single-story hall built of white stone. Although it was slightly smaller, only one-third the size of the stone hall below, it was still several hundred zhang wide, an existence that was absolutely a behemoth floating in the air.

And in front of Han Li, a Foundation Establishment stage attendant in yellow robes was respectfully explaining something to him. At this moment, Han Li no longer concealed his Nascent Soul stage aura, and although the attendant responsible for receiving guests at the auction looked at Han Li with some casualness, he did not dare to reveal a hint of impatience.

In front of the hall entrance, there were other cultivators dressed similarly, also receiving high-tier Nascent Soul cultivators. As for Core Formation cultivators, they could only honestly walk to a stone tablet in front of the hall entrance and read what was written on it themselves.

"The Nascent Soul stage auction has been moved to the Nine Heavens Hall above, while the Core Formation stage auction is still being held in the Treasure Light Hall. Additionally, for the Nascent Soul auction, one must pay one thousand spirit stones, and for the Core Formation auction, one must pay one hundred spirit stones to enter. We are not mistaken, are we?" After a long while, Han Li withdrew his gaze, swept a glance at the attendant in front of him, and said indifferently.

"Senior, your eyes are sharp; that is indeed the case. This time, there are thirty percent more cultivators participating in the auction than in previous years, so we had to urgently borrow this Nine Heavens Hall from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion for temporary use. Furthermore, paying these spirit stones is the same rule as in previous years. It is mainly to prevent the auction from being too crowded; we have no choice but to use this method to control the number of people. However, for a high-ranking expert of your status, Senior, these spirit stones naturally won't be taken to heart. Otherwise, if just anyone could enter the hall at will, even if the venue were ten times larger, it would be impossible to accommodate them," the yellow-robed cultivator said with a fawning smile.

"One thousand spirit stones? You really know how to rake in the spirit stones. But as you said, as long as I can bid for things I am satisfied with, these spirit stones naturally won't matter. I am naturally not interested in the Core Formation auction; I want to participate in the Nascent Soul auction," Han Li raised a hand and tossed ten mid-tier spirit stones into the yellow-robed cultivator's arms.

"Senior, please enter. The Nascent Soul auction will begin in the morning. This is the auction token; for the Nascent Soul auctions in the coming days, Senior can participate continuously by holding this token," the yellow-robed cultivator's smile grew even wider upon receiving the spirit stones, and he pulled a jade token with a number from his sleeve and handed it to Han Li.

Han Li reached out and took the jade token, and without another word, a flash of green light appeared on his body, and he transformed into a streak of light, heading straight for the floating hall in the air.

At this moment, other Nascent Soul cultivators had already successively driven their escape lights toward the sky.

When Han Li flew into the entrance of the Nine Heavens Hall, he saw that apart from a pale white light screen at the entrance, it was completely empty.

His eyebrows twitched, and he injected a bit of spiritual power into the jade token in his hand and waved it a few times at the light screen. Immediately, a red light shot out from the jade token, and wherever it passed, the light screen parted on its own.

Without a second thought, Han Li flickered his figure and transformed into a green streak of light, shooting inside. The light screen then immediately closed as before.

Two hours later, several hundred Nascent Soul cultivators had successively flown into the Nine Heavens Hall in the air.

And after three massive bell tolls, the grand auction officially began.

Net ===== CHAPTER 947 =====