Three days passed in a flash.
Ten Thousand Treasures Auction House's decade-held grand auction finally opened amid countless expectations and undercurrents. This day, Qingrong City's atmosphere reached an unprecedented climax. Beneath the giant banyan, the magnificent structure woven from countless aerial roots—the Ten Thousand Treasures Auction House—like a waking primordial beast, opened its doors welcoming guests from all directions.
Compared to previous ordinary auctions, this grand event was extremely high-caliber. Cultivators holding ordinary wooden tokens could only crowd in the noisy hall, while those with VIP qualifications or powerful faction backgrounds entered different passages to the box area upstairs—environment elegant, privacy good.
Xiao Qi and Liu Yun, relying on that purple-gold VIP invitation, were guided by a well-trained, attractive attendant through a dedicated passage into a box on the auction house's second floor. The box was modest but luxuriously appointed—soft beast skins covered the floor, spirit wood furniture, a massive one-way crystal glass window before them overlooking the entire auction hall clearly, while outsiders couldn't inside at all. The table held spirit fruits and fragrant tea; a corner held a small sound-isolation and protective formation array.
Esteemed guests, please wait briefly. The auction will begin soon. If you need anything, press the bell by the table. The attendant respectfully spoke, then bowed and withdrew.
Liu Yun curiously examined the box's furnishings, exclaiming: VIP treatment truly is different—much more comfortable than those crowded below.
Xiao Qi didn't relax though. He walked to the crystal window, his gaze quietly sweeping below. The massive circular auction hall was now packed with people, clamoring noise, thousands of cultivators gathered; various auras mixed, forming a vast, restless current. But on their floor's ring of boxes, the truly influential figures determining this auction's direction hid behind windows.
His spiritual sense was like invisible tentacles, extremely cautiously spreading outward—not daring to approach those boxes with strong protective formations too closely, merely sensing from outside those that were faintly emanating majestic, icy, or sharp auras.
Left box three, aura blazing like fire, carrying a domineering military atmosphere—should be from Blazing Sun Sect. Liu Yun also approached the window, whispering based on experience. Blazing Sun Sect is a famous sect in the southern regions, renowned for fire-system cultivation and artifact forging.
Right box seven, cold air, surrounding temperature seemingly dropped several degrees—possibly cultivators from Northern Mystery Ice Valley. Xiao Qi added. He sensed that cold similar to Mu Xue's ice-system spiritual ability, but more domineering and fierce.
Look there— Liu Yun pointed toward an opposite box with extremely luxurious decoration, faintly showing dragon patterns. That... seems like a representative from a Central Province dynasty, aura.
Beyond these orthodox sects and secular dynasties, Xiao Qi also keenly caught several hidden, gloomy auras. One box was lifeless as a tomb—possibly a master of ghost or corpse cultivation. Another box emanated faint, obviously containing a major transformed demon. Still another box had completely internalized aura like an abyss—he couldn't probe its depth at all, full of unknown danger.
His gaze finally landed on one of the optimal viewing boxes directly above the auction stage, not far from theirs. That box's protective formation gave him an especially different feeling—not merely powerful, but carrying a familiar, uncomfortable cold and viscous sensation, the same source as the Silver-Faced Envoy's aura he'd sensed in the alley that night!
Shadow Snake Pavilion! They were indeed here, and had taken one of the best positions!
Xiao Qi's heart slightly. Shadow Snake Pavilion's bold display either meant they were determined to get something, or they were supremely confident, not fearing exposure at all.
Just then, the lights below in the auction hall suddenly focused on the central circular exhibition platform. An elderly man in brocade robes, full-faced and prosperous-looking, with cultivation reaching early Gold Core stage, smiled warmly as he stepped onto the stage—this was Ten Thousand Treasures Auction House's chief auctioneer, Qian Buduo.
Fellow daoists, esteemed guests, welcome to Ten Thousand Treasures Auction House's decade grand event! This old man Qian Buduo, honored to serve as this session's auctioneer... The elderly man's voice was resonant, carrying spiritual energy, instantly overwhelming the hall's clamor, clearly reaching everyone's ears.
After an enthusiastic yet opening speech, the auction officially began.
Early auction items were mostly rare materials, high-grade pills, fine artifacts. Though the hall's cultivators competed fiercely, atmosphere hot, for box-level VIPs these were merely appetizers—most boxes remained silent.
Xiao Qi and Liu Yun also didn't act. Their goals were clear: observe and that ancient fragment.
As the auction progressed, atmosphere gradually heated. When a wind-system law fragment, nearly treasure-grade Qingluan Feather Fan appeared, boxes finally acted. The Blazing Sun Sect's box and the Central Province dynasty's box engaged in intense bidding; finally, the dynasty representative bought it at an astronomical high price of one hundred fifty thousand superior spirit stones, causing the hall to gasp.
Then, a bottle of three-pattern Coagulation Pill that could increase golden core formation chances sparked even greater competition—Mystery Ice Valley and that lifeless box both joined, prices soaring.
Xiao Qi watched coldly, analyzing in his heart. These generous-spending factions had formidable strength—all potential competitors. And that Shadow Snake Pavilion box, silent as ever, like a venomous snake concealed in shadow, patiently awaiting the fatal strike.
Finally, as treasures found owners one by one and the auction approached its end, auctioneer Qian Buduo's expression became extremely solemn, his voice carrying a trace of reverence.
Next will be this auction's final item and the grand finale's focal point— An ancient soul fragment from the core of an ancient battlefield, containing endless mysteries...
The entire hall instantly quieted, so silent a needle dropping could be heard. All gazes—hall and boxes alike—focused on the exhibition platform.
Two guards in martial attire, their auras, carefully carried up a jade box made of ten-thousand-year cold jade. As the box opened, an ancient, desolate, yet pure soul fluctuation erupted like a tide, sweeping through the entire auction hall!
Even through the restriction and crystal glass, Xiao Qi felt his spiritual sense slightly rock; his chest's jade pendant even transmitted an extremely faint resonance!
It was this!
And almost simultaneously, he acutely sensed that the Shadow Snake Pavilion box—that had been silent all along—its icy aura abruptly fluctuated!
All heroes converged; undercurrents churned. The true competition was just beginning.