Chapter 685: To Hand, True Fire Sect

Only those with real ability can make the powerful lose their appetite and sleepless nights!

A common mediocrity, heh... who would care about him?

What do you think?

The white-haired youth turned his head and looked at the red-clad woman.

The red-clad woman flattered: "The boss is right!"

But... what deep grudge does the Heavenly Fire Divine Emperor Tian Jinpeng hold against He Pingsheng? Why go to such lengths?

The four white-haired youths were not Tian Jinpeng's men.

They were all cultivators without sect affiliation.

Moreover, they were infamous evil cultivators in the Spirit Realm.

The four often worked together, specializing in killing and seizing treasures, and had handled many dirty jobs for others as their gloves.

That's why Tian Jinpeng sought out these four and hired them to kill He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng is currently in Zhu Que Imperial Domain; it's no secret to many.

The Heavenly Fire Divine Emperor Tian Jinpeng has long known.

Unfortunately, although he knew He Pingsheng was in Zhu Que Imperial City, he could not find him.

Take Gu Song Mountain for example: after He Pingsheng, Zhou Qingmei, and Qiao Huizhu entered it, they rarely ventured out, and the official face of authority was Hao Cang.

Who would suspect He Pingsheng was at Gu Song Mountain?

Besides, Gu Song Mountain isn't even inside the imperial city; among the tens of thousands of factions surrounding the city, Gu Song Mountain is just an ordinary one.

So it's no surprise that Tian Jinpeng, despite knowing He Pingsheng was in Zhu Que Imperial City, couldn't find him.

To lure He Pingsheng out, they even killed members of the Li family and personally brought Xi Hu True Person to Zhu Que Imperial Domain for auction.

Their goal was to find He Pingsheng.

Fortunately, the white-haired youth never expected that when Xi Hu True Person was auctioned, He Pingsheng actually showed up.

Perfect!

I feared only that I couldn't find you—now that I have, will you still live?

We four Void Refinement cultivators can't kill you, a mere Nascent Soul tenth-layer?

Of course, they didn't know about He Pingsheng's relationship with Zhou Qingmei.

Because right after He Pingsheng won Xi Hu True Person in the auction, Zhou Qingmei left, and Xi Hu True Person took her place.

The white-haired youth saw Zhou Qingmei but didn't think she had any connection to He Pingsheng.

Moreover, he had scanned Zhou Qingmei's cultivation base.

Zhou Qingmei's displayed cultivation was only Nascent Soul first-layer—a mere first-layer, easily crushed.

Completely negligible!

…

On the other side!

He Pingsheng was invited to the back of the Holy Fire Trading House auction hall.

There was a large private chamber.

Inside sat five elderly men and women, all with white hair.

Each had at least a Nascent Soul cultivation base.

Their cultivation might not be exceptionally high, but their judgment of treasure value and precise knowledge of materials far surpassed ordinary people.

Each has his own expertise.

"Heh... Brother He, please sit!"

Mo Sang invited He Pingsheng and Xi Hu True Person to sit.

One of the appraisal team, an elderly white-haired man, looked kindly at He Pingsheng and said: "We examined the 【Dragon Xiao Sword】 you bid on earlier—it's truly excellent!"

"An ultimate-grade spiritual treasure, rare in the Spirit Realm!"

"This sword carries a divine artifact ability; even compared to low-grade Heaven-Piercing Spiritual Treasures, it holds its own!"

"Yet... we still believe the item you offered cannot match the value of our six-grade temporal origin!"

"We invited you here to ask: would you consider increasing your offer?"

"Of course!" the elder quickly added, "Technically, this violates our rules!"

"But in reality, our auction has ended, and no deal was reached between us."

"Under these circumstances, we've arranged a private secondary transaction."

"This counts as a second transaction."

"I say this so you understand."

He Pingsheng nodded: "I understand."

"Heh... good that you understand. I explain this to you because I want you to know our trading house isn't arbitrarily raising the price!"

"This is a secondary transaction!"

"Brother He, what else can you add?" the elder asked, calm with a faint smile.

He Pingsheng thought: What to add?

What?

His spiritual sense scanned his ring and glanced inside.

Then he pulled out a small green tripod: Qing Xuan Ding.

"This is an ultimate-grade magical treasure. What about this?"

He Pingsheng didn't know what the old man wanted, so he casually pulled out a magic treasure to appease him.

"Hahaha..." the elder laughed loudly, "Forget the magic treasure!"

Above magic treasures are mystery treasures; above mystery treasures are ancient treasures; above ancient treasures are spiritual treasures.

Magic treasures are generally only used by Golden Core cultivators.

Bringing this out feels almost insulting.

He Pingsheng was certain: these people summoned him to negotiate because they coveted something of his—so the initiative was in his hands. Let them speak first.

"Enough, enough..." the elder said, "I'll be frank with you: besides the Dragon Xiao Sword, if you add one Jipin 【Sheng Yuan Pill】, we'll accept it."

Sheng Yuan Pill...

So that's what they wanted!

He Pingsheng didn't have many Sheng Yuan Pills left.

He had originally strengthened twelve defective pills into twenty-four ultimate-grade ones, given one to Liu Haoran, traded away three, and sent eleven to the lower realms.

He originally enhanced twelve discarded elixirs into twenty-four ultimate-grade ones, gave one to Liu Haoran, sold three, and sent eleven to the lower realms.

Giving away one more wouldn't hurt.

For the Dao of Time, fine.

"Alright!" He Pingsheng pulled out one Sheng Yuan Pill.

Since they were after this pill, if he didn't offer it today, the deal would collapse anyway.

"Good, good, good..." the other side took the pill and the Dragon Xiao Sword, overjoyed: "Brother He, take the temporal origin!"

A silver bottle was placed before He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng didn't hesitate—he waved his hand and sealed the silver bottle away.

"Brother He, please follow me!" Mo Sang led He Pingsheng out of the auction hall and back behind the trading house counter, where they sat casually in a private chamber.

"Comrade He… please follow me!" Mo Sang led He Pingsheng out of the auction and back behind the guild counter, then casually sat down in a private chamber.

"Hehehe..." Mo Sang chuckled, "Brother He, today you not only acquired a treasure but also gained a beauty—congratulations!"

"Hehehe…" Mo Sang chuckled: "Comrade He, not only did you acquire a treasure today, but also a beauty—congratulations!"

"The one who brought the female slave is a Void Refinement cultivator. I know a bit about them—they're no ordinary lot!"

"The one who brought the female slave is a Void Refinement cultivator; I know a bit about their background—these people are no ordinary lot!"

"Understood!" He Pingsheng knew well the people behind this weren't ordinary—he bowed: "Thank you, Brother Mo Sang."

"By the way!" Mo Sang placed his spiritual tea cup on the table: "I have a jade slip here. Take it to the True Fire Immortal Sect—I hear they have a five-grade fire seed."

"By the way!" Mo Sang set down his spirit tea cup on the table and said: "I have a jade slip here—take this to the True Flame Immortal Sect. As far as I know, they possess a fifth-rank fire seed!"

"When you arrive, give this jade slip to their Grand Elder—they'll let you pass without issue."

He Pingsheng accepted the jade slip and bowed again in thanks.

Then he borrowed the trading house's facilities so Xi Hu True Person could wash up, before leaving the Holy Fire Trading House.

Then he borrowed the guild's premises for True Person Xihu to wash up, before leaving the Sacred Flame Guild.