Chapter 518: The Most Eye-Catching One

Due to the arrival of Ghost King Su Mingyue, Lady Paramita Flower, and the Ghost Chariot, the lively and noisy auction scene grew somewhat quiet.

Everyone was watching the fierce battle between these two King-realm experts...

Hua Changxi was also watching, though her mood was somewhat grave.

She was worried, fearing that these several Netherworld experts had all come for her.

Cang Ming, standing in front of Hua Changxi's stall, was also paying attention to the fight, but he was truly half-hearted; his focus remained on Hua Changxi.

Hmph, this little ghost possesses quite a few treasures; even my divine sense as a King-realm expert cannot probe them.

However, this fellow carries the aura of the Nether River water; I can confirm that this person is the soul-clan member who rode the Nether Deer and snatched the Nether Fire Match.

She must be proficient in some kind of transformation technique, having previously transformed into a soul-clan member.

As for the Meng Mo, he actually did not believe it.

For no other reason than: could a human summon the Nether Deer?

What a joke!

Outside the auction hall, the battle between Lady Paramita Flower and Ghost King Su Mingyue had entered a stalemate; neither could gain the upper hand over the other.

"That Meng Mo has also chased over here; are you sure you want to injure us both?" Su Mingyue looked coldly at Lady Paramita Flower.

Lady Paramita Flower did not respond, but her offensive weakened.

A moment later, the two stopped fighting and landed.

"Hmph!"

Lady Paramita Flower let out a cold snort toward Lady White Bone and the other ghost-clan members, then revealed a sinister smile before striding into the auction area.

Su Mingyue was thoroughly fed up with this Lady Paramita Flower who relentlessly pursued her; suppressing her anger, she glanced at the ghost-clan member holding a bone umbrella and also led her subordinates into the auction area.

As for the Ghost Chariot, it had already slipped into the auction hall while Su Mingyue and Lady Paramita Flower were locked in battle.

Seeing that Lady Paramita Flower, Ghost King Su Mingyue, and the Ghost Chariot had all entered, Cang Ming glanced at Hua Changxi, then turned and left her stall.

He did not want others to know that the Netherworld Soul Realm Key—the Nether Fire Match—was on this little ghost-clan nobody right before his eyes.

Anyway, since she was stained with Nether River water, he could sense her whereabouts no matter where she went.

Let her enjoy herself for a while longer first.

"Cang Ming, you are fast enough," Lady Paramita Flower said, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful smile upon seeing Cang Ming.

Cang Ming remained expressionless: "Your speeds were not slow either." With that, he strode toward the Netherworld Auction Building.

Lady Paramita Flower followed, glancing at Hua Changxi along the way: "What, did the ghost clan offend you too?"

Seeing that she had noticed Hua Changxi, Cang Ming said coldly: "That little ghost belongs to this King."

Surprised by the certainty in Cang Ming's tone, Lady Paramita Flower smiled but did not contend with him: "Fine, she is yours." After speaking, she glanced at Hua Changxi once more.

At this moment, Su Mingyue also arrived with her people before the Netherworld Fourth-Grade Stall Path; she too noticed Cang Ming's unusual attitude toward the ghost-clan member Hua Changxi and took a few extra looks at her.

After looking, she immediately furrowed her brows; she could not discern this ghost-clan member's cultivation realm!

Although Su Mingyue felt some doubt in her heart, she did not investigate further.

Matters of killing for treasure played out daily in the Netherworld; it was not impossible that this ghost-clan member before her had gotten incredibly lucky and obtained a treasure capable of blocking the divine sense probing of King-realm experts.

"The auction is about to end; if you do not wish to die, leave immediately."

Being of the ghost clan after all, Su Mingyue offered a reminder; she had also realized that Cang Ming had set his sights on this little nobody.

"Phew~"

At her stall, Hua Changxi watched Cang Ming leave and saw Lady Paramita Flower, the Ghost King, and the Ghost Chariot enter the Netherworld Auction Building one after another, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

However, apart from the Nether River man, it seemed the others were not coming for her?

This discovery allowed Hua Changxi's tightly wound heart to relax slightly.

Originally, having been targeted by the Nether River man, she should have left immediately, but at this auction, both the Netherworld stalls and the Human Realm stalls had many people trading weapon-refining materials.

The Vermilion Bird Army lacked sufficient armaments and was urgently short on weapon-refining materials; she had to take this opportunity to trade for a batch.

Hua Changxi glanced at Cang Ming, who was already seated inside the Netherworld Auction Building, retracted her stall, and decisively walked toward those stalls trading weapon-refining materials.

Dragon scales, phoenix feathers, Kunpeng bones, White Tiger fangs, Lingxi horns, Nine-Tailed Fox tails, Golden Peng wing bones, Black Tortoise shells...

Although the quantity of these items was small, they made up for it in variety; Hua Changxi bought whatever she saw.

Although she bought a lot, it was not too unusual; others were also rushing to purchase and trade in the remaining time.

Up in the Netherworld Auction Building, seeing Hua Changxi weaving between various stalls with no intention of fleeing, Cang Ming put his mind at ease and turned his attention to the auction.

Although the Nether River clan possessed abundant resources, they still needed to exchange for some cultivation resources with other clans.

Especially cultivation resources from the Human Realm.

Now that the auction was about to end, the items put up for bidding were all treasured possessions kept in reserve; he was still very interested.

After Cang Ming successfully bid on a few items that met his satisfaction, he cast his gaze back toward the stalls, his brows instantly knitting together, though they soon relaxed again.

Hmph!

Did she think that by changing her appearance, he would not be able to find her?

Yes, knowing she was being targeted by the Nether River man, Hua Changxi had seized an opportunity to place a Nether-Following Stone onto her Capricious Mask once again.

Now, she was no longer a little ghost-clan nobody, but had taken on the distinctive appearance of a Netherworld rogue cultivator: wearing a black mask and clad in black robes.

She thought she could deceive heaven and earth, never imagining that when the Nether Deer had carried her across Zhongyuankou, she had been drenched from head to toe in Nether River water.

To avoid leaking her human aura, she had only evaporated the moisture from her Dharma robe at the time, not daring to use flames to burn it dry, resulting in the scent of Nether River water lingering on her robes.

It was precisely because of this that Cang Ming had targeted her.

Cang Ming scoffed at Hua Changxi's disguise, but very soon, he could no longer laugh.

Not only him, but many experts from both the Netherworld and the Human Realm found their focus on the bidding wavering, their gazes repeatedly drifting toward the Netherworld Fourth-Grade Stall Path, fixed on a wealthy and bold rogue cultivator.

The Jiuguan Auction was both an auction and a trading fair.

Those who came to participate included rogue cultivators arriving alone, as well as powerful factions with substantial strength.

Thus, transactions took many forms, ranging from individual trades of rare treasures to bulk transfers of massive quantities of goods.

Generally, bulk commodity trades occurred only between major factions; it was rare for rogue cultivators to trade in such large volumes.

First, they lacked the wealth; second, they lacked the strength to protect such goods.

Ten tons of Black Iron, wanted!

Five tons of Dark Gold, wanted!

Nine tons of Cold Iron, wanted!

Ten tons of Refined Iron, wanted!

If Hua Changxi had not attracted much attention while purchasing these items, the moment she produced ten million Nether Stones to trade with the Demon Clan for a hundred tons of Dark Metal, she became the most conspicuous rogue cultivator at the Nine Nether stalls.

Cang Ming looked at Hua Changxi in utter speechlessness, wishing he could fly over, pry open her skull, and see what exactly was inside.

Carrying Nether Firewood on her person yet failing to keep a low profile, instead showing off so blatantly—did she think others wouldn't discover her, or did she feel she wasn't dying fast enough?

Even if he were the one who obtained the Nether Firewood, his first instinct would be to rush back to the Nether River Palace, not to flaunt it outdoors.

Hua Changxi was unaware of Cang Ming's thoughts and continued burying her head in searching for weapon-refining materials.

She knew that such extravagant shopping might draw attention from some people, but there was no help for it; time was running out, the auction was about to end, and she had yet to acquire many weapon-refining materials.

After finishing her purchases at the Nine Nether stalls, Hua Changxi turned her gaze toward the Human Realm stalls.

To be honest, while the Nine Nether's supplies were also abundant, only a small fraction was usable by the Zhu Que Army; the bulk of weapon-refining materials lay in the Human Realm.

However, her current appearance was certainly unsuitable for making large purchases at the Human Realm stalls; it was far too conspicuous!

Just as Hua Changxi was preparing to find a secluded spot to revert to her human form, she suddenly sensed several scorching gazes falling upon her.

Following her perception, she glanced toward the auction building and immediately felt her eyelid twitch.

Up in the auction building, several powerful experts were sizing her up.

Being watched, Hua Changxi could not change her appearance; she could only continue weaving through the Nine Nether market lanes while scanning her surroundings for a place to transform.

During this time, she noticed that some human cultivators, disguised as members of various Nine Nether races, were successively entering the auction venue.

They were precisely the group she had seen earlier before the Fifth Nether River Waterfall in the Nine Nether!