HCB Chapter 177 Auction 9
Chapter 177 Auction 9
The guests attending the auction sensed something was amiss. They noticed that the Guiyuan Sect disciples were bidding exceptionally aggressively that evening, even outbidding the Tribulation Transcending stage experts who were interested in the auction.
By now, some of those who had received the order for the secret auction were starting to feel uneasy and were considering making a retreat.
As they expected, if they were in Qingli City now, they would see teams of disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall knocking on the doors of various families, the city ablaze with fire, and filled with screams and cries of agony.
Some of the original inhabitants of Qingli City watched as the disciples of Guiyuan Sect and the guards of the city lord's mansion knocked on the door of their once-lofty family compound, bringing their once-glorious cultivator lords down to dust. One thought can lead to heaven, another to hell; this is the epitome of the difference.
With Song Yuan's help from within and without, none of these families were spared. In the sky, there were also cultivators at the Mahayana stage who carefully searched for those afflicted by the Gu poison and captured them.
In the past, this Gu might have been quite troublesome, but the cultivation world has developed for hundreds of thousands of years, and there are countless ways to deal with Gu worms.
Guiyuan Sect's speed is not only fast, but also extremely precise.
The forces of Long Tian in the city, the forces that colluded with the mysterious person, and the families that participated in the previous beast tide have all been dealt with to a considerable extent.
Chang Xinqing then realized that she had originally planned to get rid of Song Yuan tonight. After all, with Long Tian gone, Song Yuan, the Gu practitioner, posed no threat. Especially now that the secret auction was over and the plan was accomplished, Song Yuan would be of little use.
When Chang Xinqing was alone with Long Tian, she tried to probe him and found that his attention to Song Yuan had greatly decreased. He even considered killing Song Yuan to cover up his tracks, but in the end, he was overcome by lust and gave up.
But Chang Xinqing is not Long Tian. She only cares about Long Tian's feelings. Since Long Tian doesn't care anymore, even if he kills a haggard old woman, it will only cause a few days of conflict at most.
The two will not have a complete falling out because of this, and that is enough for Chang Xinqing.
Noticing that the person she had summoned was not arriving, Chang Xinqing keenly sensed something was wrong. She stared intently at Song Yuan, who was drinking tea: "You actually betrayed your husband!"
"Little sister, what nonsense are you talking about? I think you're looking for someone. You don't need to look anymore." Song Yuan looked at the clear tea, her tone cheerful: "They're probably enjoying their dreams now."
"You actually killed them! You bitch, I'm going to tell my husband right now!" Chang Xinqing stood up and said arrogantly, but in reality, she turned her hand into a claw and attacked Song Yuan. Her aura was undisguised, clearly indicating that she was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, and the level of refinement in her aura was obviously not fake.
Song Yuan looked at the tea in his hand and smiled sarcastically. It was obvious that this pampered young lady who kept saying that she only had Long Tian did not trust Long Tian at all.
When she was a foot away from Song Yuan's neck, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, and the intense pain made her kneel down.
Song Yuan lightly touched the ground with her toes, moved her chair back, and moved away from the other person: "Sister, there's no need for such a grand gesture."
"When!" Chang Xinqing spat out a mouthful of blood, and an ugly worm crawled out of the hole in her heart and obediently crawled onto Song Yuan's hand.
"Didn't my sister really like the bird's nest that Tianlang gave us at night?" Song Yuan smiled slightly, pointing to the insect in her hand, her tone a mix of sarcasm and relief: "You don't think Long Tian didn't notice anything and believed you completely, do you?"
He didn't even trust his own first bedmate. Wasn't Chang Xinqing just someone he used to control her? After all, no matter how strong the Gu was, could a Gu user like her survive a direct confrontation with those powerful figures?
"Little sister, in the end I still won." As she finished speaking, Chang Xinqing collapsed to the ground, her eyes filled with resentment, and breathed her last.
Not long after she collapsed, disciples of the Guiyuan Sect arrived at her door. Long Tian was immediately caught and taken to bed. The other party seemed to have no time to react before being taken away.
Not only him, but no one in the entire Long family was able to stay.
He originally wanted to resist, but in order to show respect to the other party, the people who came to capture him were all at the Tribulation Transcending stage and a small team composed of Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Although the other party unleashed an astonishing burst of Tribulation Transcending stage strength, they were still like rabbits in a cage, posing no threat whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Song Yuan, looking radiant, followed these disciples to Guiyuan Sect, after all, she hadn't received her reward yet.
Seeing Song Yuan's glamorous appearance, what else could Long Tian not understand?
"You bastard, you betrayed me, you bastard!" The disciple who was trying to capture him was momentarily unable to hold him back, but he still firmly held onto his constantly moving body, preventing him from falling onto Song Yuan: "I'm going to kill you."
Seeing his disheveled appearance, Song Yuan felt a surge of satisfaction: "Can I teach him a little lesson?"
She asked the disciples holding Long Tian, and the two disciples were slightly taken aback, exchanging glances. The last disciple nodded: "It's fine, but don't cause any deaths. It's up to our Guiyuan Sect to judge and execute him."
Anyway, they were also annoyed by this troublesome guy, especially since he broke free when they weren't paying attention. If they hadn't been quick and made up for it in time, they would have been humiliated.
"What do you want to do?" Long Tian's pupils shrank, but because of what had just happened, in order to prevent him from causing any more trouble, the two disciples put a spirit-suppressing ring on him.
“I know you planted a heart-devouring Gu in my heart.” Song Yuan took out an insect egg from the sachet: “And I’ve wanted to do it ever since that day.”
Unable to escape under the restraint of his two disciples, Long Tian was in excruciating pain from his heart. Cold sweat poured down his face and forehead as he groaned in agony. Song Yuan was greatly pleased to see this.
The commotion here clearly did not affect the atmosphere of the auction hall. Although it seemed a bit strange and the atmosphere was unusually quiet, the prices of each item were exceptionally high. The disciples of Guiyuan Sect seemed to treat spirit stones as if they didn't care about them, and they pocketed all the treasures.
No one dared to bid, and the subsequent auction proceeded exceptionally smoothly and quickly. The grand and magnificent Qingyun Auction came to an end just like that, and every Guiyuan Sect disciple who participated in the auction obtained their desired treasure.
The guests left one after another, with only a few remaining. All the guests who had bid in secret and had invitations were led to the basement by the maids who were there to serve them.
The other party clearly took the undercover bidding very seriously and acted with great caution.
Originally, there were only two powerful auras at the auction, but now they can sense five powerful auras.
Clearly, they didn't want anyone to sneak in and completely ruin the auction.
Cheng Jiu and his group originally thought that there would be quite a few people participating in the secret bidding, after all, the beak was so big, and the rumors were spreading like wildfire.
But when they arrived at the venue for the hidden auction, they found that there were far fewer people than they had imagined. There were only about twenty people, which could be counted by the naked eye. The four people who were originally assigned to sit in the regular seats below were asked if they wanted a private room.
The venue was quite deserted.
The auctioneer in charge of the auction was stunned. In fact, they had sent out quite a few invitations. After all, their plan was to make the auction as grand as possible while the Guiyuan Sect was caught off guard.
But when asked today, the guests who had received invitations to the secret auction were all making excuses, seemingly trying to avoid it at all costs.
They knew something was wrong without even thinking about it; something had happened.
The people in charge of the Qingyun Chamber of Commerce first went to inquire with Long Tian, but Long Tian had Song Yuan with him and then he was arrested, so they did not receive a reply.
They then asked another big boss, who was also in a hurry and didn't say much.
Okay, they still gave the message and the secret photography was carried out. Although the incident happened, the secret photography was successfully held, so their losses were not a complete loss, like a gambler's last gamble.
The Qingyun Chamber of Commerce, including the auctioneer, knew they had been abandoned! But because of their loyalty to their two masters, these people did not choose to run away, but instead diligently carried out their masters' plans.
Cheng Jiu jumped out from his sleeve: "Just as Senior Brother said, there was absolutely no need for this secret bidding!"
Cheng Jiu looked down at the empty space and sighed.
"With such a big beak, how could they not come and take a look?" Qin Che was also somewhat disappointed, like a last ember in the embers, quite listless: "Those people are too cunning. They sensed something was wrong and ran away one by one."
“Anyone who can act as a double agent must be a thief!” Cheng Jiu asserted.
The other party certainly didn't expect that this covert bidding wouldn't have caught any disloyal traitors, but instead would have caught a disciple of the Guiyuan Sect.
Gongcheng and Gongyu worked together to set up a defensive formation to protect them should a fight break out later.
Seeing the two people appear out of nowhere, Liu Di's two friends stared wide-eyed at him and asked, "Who, who are these two?"
"A highly accomplished disciple of the Guiyuan Sect," Liu Di introduced himself with great humility.
The two friends forced awkward smiles: "These two!"
"Too!"
These words struck the two like a bolt from the blue. After all, who among the participants didn't know about the hidden auction? Anyone involved in the hidden auction was definitely not legitimate, and they were all recklessly pushing the boundaries of the five major sects. There was no one who was pure and innocent.
So, they've actually come to participate in the secret auction with a few disciples from the Guiyuan Sect! They certainly don't believe that these disciples think they're on the other side.
What's the difference between this and openly causing trouble in the eyes of the Guiyuan Sect? Both of them looked at Liu Di with the eyes of someone looking at a swindler.
Good grief, they treated each other like brothers, willing to go to great lengths for one another, while the other side betrayed their brother!
The two felt as if the sky had fallen, and neither of them could leave the private room alive.
Liu Di also thought of something and silently touched his nose. Under the incredulous gazes of the two, he turned around guiltily and said, "I'm sorry if I die, but my fellow Daoist will not."
The two men glared at him, thinking, "If you're so capable, then take responsibility! What kind of hero are you if you dare to do something but not to admit it?"
One of them was quite clever and decisively slid down to kneel in front of the four people: "Please, esteemed immortals, understand that we are aware of this matter, but we never intended to participate. It was Brother Liu who specially invited us, so we came here. We have absolutely no disloyalty to the Guiyuan Sect!"
"We have made a mistake. Whatever punishment you deem fit, please, celestial lords, punish us as you see fit; we will bear it all."
"That's right, please, esteemed immortals, see this clearly." Upon hearing his friend's words, he immediately knelt down beside him.
Liu Di nodded in agreement, "Yes, I begged them to come!"
The four of them remained silent and did not respond to the two men's words. They had improved over the past few days and were no longer so easily persuaded to respond.
Despite the empty auction hall, the auctioneer below, clearly of good quality, still managed to liven up the atmosphere with witty remarks.
Time ticked by, and the three of them paid no attention to what the auctioneer was saying. Their hearts pounded, and they waited anxiously.
This auction was relatively small in scale, with only five items up for auction.
But each of these five things was right under the noses of the five major sects.
Aside from the initially advertised noblewoman from the demon race, the other party has a pair of long, soft rabbit ears, a delicate and cute appearance, but her clothing is quite revealing, exposing her fair skin. Her small face looks pitiful as she curls up in a cage, easily giving people a destructive urge.
The second cage actually contained a dragon-type spirit beast. Looking at the dragon-type spirit beast, Cheng Jiu even had a feeling of hallucinating that he was seeing his contracted little black dragon.
The two looked remarkably alike, yet upon closer inspection, they were distinct. His little black dragon was truly black, a pure black stripe without any blemishes, while below, a faint hint of gold shone through the black, giving it a luxurious and noble appearance.
The little black dragon darted out of the spirit beast pouch, sensing the familiar bloodline aura in the air, and cried out twice to Cheng Jiu.
"You mean it's your brother from the same lineage?" Cheng Jiu looked down at the black-gold dragon and asked in surprise.
The little black dragon's background was just too dramatic. Cheng Jiu hadn't forgotten that the other party was the illegitimate son of the current Dragon Clan Chief. And the black gold dragon below... could it be? Could it be the current Crown Prince of the Dragon Clan?
Although he found it hard to believe, Cheng Jiu thought it was true. That would be terrible. Dragon Lord bloodlines are always rare, especially those of a dragon with such high purity. Moreover, given the Dragon Mother's current temperament, her beloved child, whom she had longed for for so many years, was actually killed in the human realm. A mother who loses her child would really cause a huge uproar.
The mysterious person behind this has real guts and real skills.
After all, this child must have been protected by dragons. In this situation, the fact that the other party was able to kidnap and smuggle him to Guiyuan Sect right under the noses of so many dragons shows that strength, influence, and luck are all indispensable.
The life of the noble demon girl could be disregarded, but the little dragon had to be saved. Upon hearing Cheng Jiu's account of the little black dragon's background, this became the thought in everyone's mind.
The group brainstormed and started an internal chat, while the people on the other side could only see them talking, but couldn't hear what they were saying at all.
Worry, fear, and other negative emotions kept piling up. Would they stop discussing how to deal with them? Liu looked at his two friends with guilt, feeling sorry for dragging these two good people into this.
His two friends felt he was being hypocritical, like a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken, shedding crocodile tears, and waiting for the final verdict.
The remaining items were unremarkable compared to the two living creatures. One of them was the Spirit Disperser, which was banned as soon as it appeared. As long as it touched the spiritual energy on the body, it would dissipate and damage the foundation.
The most important thing for cultivators is their cultivation level. This Spirit Dispersing Powder is far too insidious, designed to destroy people. Even if there is an antidote, its effect is quite limited. If it is allowed to spread unchecked, the entire cultivation world will cease to exist.
Therefore, it was listed as a forbidden drug as soon as it came out, and even the alchemist behind it was hunted down by the five major sects, which is quite rare.
The fourth item is the cursed stone, which allows you to carve the name of your enemy onto it and, at the cost of your own life, have the cursed stone hunt down that person.
The curse of the curse stone is silent and difficult to detect. Moreover, the curse stone does not disappear after use, but can be used again. Such a harmful and self-defeating object is also listed as one of the five major prohibitions.
If someone uses a cursed stone, and it's discovered, that person will die, but their family will still exist, and the entire clan will be wiped out.
Moreover, the production of curse stones is extremely rare. They come from an abandoned secret realm. Because it was abandoned, the five major sects have laid many traps in that secret realm, making it extremely dangerous. It is located outside the world. If one were to enter rashly, not to mention falling into a trap, the most dangerous thing would be encountering spatial turbulence and being exiled outside the world. Even a Mahayana cultivator who encounters spatial turbulence and is exiled may not be able to survive.
The last item was a stone that exuded a completely black aura. Cheng Jiu and the others didn't recognize it, but according to the auctioneer, it was a demonic stone that was extremely poisonous to cultivators. If one survived it, they would eventually become a demonic cultivator, and there would be no way to reverse it.
These things need no introduction; they are the most forbidden of all. I have no idea how the person behind this managed to gather them all. It's simply insidious.
No sooner had the other party finished their introduction than the demon prince in the other private room flipped the table.
A powerful pressure locked onto the private room, tearing open a large hole and splitting the Qingyun Chamber of Commerce in two, letting in the sunlight from outside.
They could feel the vast, unyielding aura of the sky firmly locking onto them.
It’s over.
These words remained firmly etched in the minds of the remaining members of the Qingyun Chamber of Commerce.