Chapter 353: Star Spirit Marrow

"Thank you all for your support. I hereby declare... this auction a complete success!"

As the auctioneer's voice echoed throughout the auction hall, guests rose with varied expressions and departed through various passages.

"At least there was some gain..."

Amidst the crowd, Lin Qing walked toward the exit, simultaneously sensing the space crystal the auction house had just given him, which contained a strange treasure resembling a maple leaf.

"A Thousand-Year Dream." Lin Qing pondered silently, "Judging from the data provided by the auction, this strange treasure should contain the mystery of 'descending into the future'. Although it offers little help for the bottleneck of Future Sight, it will be useful later. Twenty-eight hundred thousand Universe Sands were not wasted in vain..."

He had heard that this specific strange treasure named 'A Thousand-Year Dream' was at this auction, which was why he had made a special trip to attend.

This was already the seventeenth strange treasure containing the rules of the future he had obtained.

Although it offered little help for the final bottleneck of fusing the spatial-temporal mystery of Future Sight, it would be useful in the future; it was better to prepare early.

"Pity. If it were a strange treasure containing the mystery of Future Sight, perhaps I could have broken through..."

Lin Qing shook his head silently.

He had nearly fused the spatial-temporal mystery of 'Future Sight'; he was only missing a tiny thread to achieve true perfection. With just a slight trigger, he might have succeeded.

Pity. A hair's breadth lost means a thousand miles missed. If he relied on slow accumulation, who knew how long it would take?

In the King of Kings Realm, there were many powerful Chaos Lifeforms who were merely a hair's breadth away from fusing a perfect spatial-temporal mystery, yet being stuck for ten billion or a hundred billion years was normal; some were even stuck until the day of their death without breaking through.

As a Life-type Primordial God, Lin Qing would not be completely blocked by such a bottleneck, but it still required time.

"Brother Jialin."

Suddenly, footsteps sounded, and a cheerful voice came from behind.

Lin Qing turned to look and saw a long-haired youth rushing over quickly. He immediately spoke: "Su Lan? You came to attend this auction too?"

This youth named Su Lan was an acquaintance he had met at a previous private trading session.

He had bought two strange treasures containing the rules of the future from him consecutively and sold two Chaos rare materials to him in return; through this back-and-forth, they had become familiar.

Whenever Su Lan learned of any private trading sessions, he would also invite Lin Qing.

Although Su Lan was merely a low-level Chaos Lifeform, he spent quite lavishly, and his father did not seem to be an ordinary figure among high-level Chaos Lifeforms.

Su Lan, a low-level Chaos Lifeform, was highly respected in many places; even figures titled as Counts were quite polite to him.

As for the name 'Jialin', it was Lin Qing's alias.

Having instantly killed Yan Xue Bo on Jueying Star and made such a huge scene, coupled with the two potential threats of Like Yu Gong and the Blood Sea Marquis, he naturally needed to keep a low profile.

"I heard there was 'Qingdu Silver' at this auction, so of course I had to rush over."

The long-haired youth said helplessly: "Pity, there were quite a few people eyeing the Qingdu Silver, especially one high-level Chaos Lifeform with terrifying wealth. He treated Universe Sands like sand picked up freely by the seaside. A single portion of Qingdu Silver was actually auctioned at the high price of one hundred and eighty thousand Universe Sands. It was truly outrageous; he might even be richer than my father."

"One hundred and eighty thousand? I recall you were quite wealthy?" Lin Qing said casually: "Last time you said your father supported you with quite a bit?"

"That still doesn't mean spending one hundred and eighty thousand Universe Sands to buy a single portion of Qingdu Silver. The premium was almost close to double." The long-haired youth sighed: "If my father found out, he would surely scold me for being wasteful."

He shook his head slightly, then looked at Lin Qing and said: "What about you? Did you win any?"

"Mm, the premium was quite high too." Lin Qing smiled.

"You really are wealthy." The long-haired youth said with some envy: "My father is unwilling to let me spend money like this, unless I establish great merit on the battlefield, then he might reward me."

"By the way." He asked again: "The registration deadline for the military departments of the various provinces is approaching soon. Have you thought about which province's expeditionary army to join?"

"I haven't even thought about joining an expeditionary army." Lin Qing shook his head.

"Do you plan to enter the Garrison Army?" The long-haired youth said in surprise: "The Garrison Army can only wait for expeditionary armies from other provinces to attack before having a chance to establish merit. It is not as fast as establishing merit in the expeditionary army."

Lin Qing did not say much.

War was a good opportunity for all sides to gain military merit and accumulate wealth, and also a time to change one's allegiance.

Why did high-level Chaos Lifeforms, who were already titled as Dukes and possessed territories, still participate in the Xianlian Shengxing Exchange?

This was to wait for the Eternal Beings who commanded the various provinces to 'make an offer' and poach them.

This was also a rule tacitly allowed in the King of Kings Realm.

Except for the private armies of Eternal Beings, anyone wishing to join the camp of a certain province could change sides during wartime.

In the provincial wars, high-level Chaos Lifeforms were the main force. If one could poach just one of the enemy's main forces, the enemy would lose one, while one's own side would gain one. If many were poached, the gap would become huge.

It could be said that the direction of the war was already decided during the Xianlian Shengxing Exchange period.

But Lin Qing was not interested in war, and moreover, he was merely a low-level Chaos Lifeform without even a territory.

Randomly joining a Garrison Army on one side and focusing on cultivation was the proper course of action.

"Brother Jialin, did you get any inside information?"

The long-haired youth suddenly switched to telepathy and said mysteriously: "I heard that in this wave of provincial wars, the Star Refining Marquis and the Absolute Distance Marquis seem to have made a wager before Your Majesty and intend to play for real."

"The Absolute Distance Marquis and the Star Refining Marquis?" Lin Qing glanced at him, "I am not very clear on that."

He had no background or connections; how could he know such hidden news?

However, he had indeed heard that in this wave of provincial wars, the two strongest provinces were the Absolute Distance Province and the Star Refining Province, and these two Marquis were not ordinary Eternal Beings.

As for the 'Your Majesty' mentioned by the other party, it was naturally the Ice Emperor of this Frozen Empire.

"Do you truly not know, or are you pretending not to know?"

The long-haired youth could not help but look at Lin Qing, muttering in his heart.

In his view, Lin Qing was clearly just a low-level Chaos Lifeform like himself, completely inconspicuous on this Star Refining Xianlian Shengxing, yet he was wealthier than him, and his words showed no reverence for those high-level Chaos Lifeforms.

He obviously had considerable background; perhaps he was from a family of Eternal Beings?

However, since Lin Qing obviously did not wish to speak, he naturally would not press further.

"I came to the Xianlian Shengxing merely to collect some special strange treasures during the Exchange." Lin Qing shook his head: "I did not intend to get too deeply involved in the war."

"Alright." The long-haired youth said no more, only stating: "Pity, most of my family's treasures are with my father. I only found these two strange treasures containing the rules of the future in the family treasury."

"Has your father come to the Star Refining Xianlian Shengxing?" Lin Qing asked.

"Not yet." The long-haired youth said: "My father is an old subordinate of the Star Refining Marquis and is very loyal to him, so he deliberately avoided the Exchange to prevent the rulers of other provinces from seeking private talks with him."

Lin Qing understood.

It seems that Su Lan's father must be a peak figure among the high-level chaotic beings, for him to catch the Star Refiner Marquis's attention.

Lin Qing didn't care; after stepping out of the auction hall, he said, "I'll return to cultivate. If you hear any news about this kind of rare treasure, notify me."

The long-haired youth nodded helplessly.

Suddenly—

A line of vivid blood-red characters appeared before his eyes, and Lin Qing couldn't help but be startled.

He maintained a calm exterior, but his mind grew wary: "Someone wants to kill me? And this threat level is far higher than Yan Xue Bo's… Since arriving at the Star Refiner Xianlian Shengxing, I haven't offended anyone—could it be because I showed off my wealth a little?"