Painting of the Nine Immortals

The giant Sun was hanging high in the sky, shedding down an infinite amount of light that reflected off a field of debris.

Everyone stared at the field of ruins before them in a daze, unsure of what to say.

Originally, there was a three-story tall building, but it had now been destroyed by Ling Xian into a pile of waste.

How can the auction start like this?

Everyone here was speechless. They all wanted to blame Ling Xian, but none of them had the guts. They could only stand where they were in silence.

Ling Xian felt a little awkward as well. If he had known that the Mu Clan would admit their defeat, he wouldn’t have destroyed the auction ground.

“Ehem, ehem, about that.” Mu Feng dry coughed twice and after a moment of silence, shouted, “Someone, come. Quickly clean up the area and build a temporary tent.”

“Yes, Leader.” People from the Mu Clan nodded in unison and began to clean up.

The time and location of the auction cannot be changed. There were really no other options other than building a tent for now.

Seeing this, Mu Feng paid his respect to everyone waiting and smiled, “I am so sorry, everyone. A little accident happened, I ask everyone to be forgiving of us.”

Hearing this, everyone at the scene waved their hands to indicate that it was no big deal.

Logically speaking, every guest here was high in status and would never stay in a place with such poor condition. The reason why they agreed that it was okay was one, they still wanted to check out what kind of rare treasures the auction will bring out. Two, Mu Feng apologized personally. If they show their unhappiness now that would mean they are not giving face to the Clan.

Seeing that everyone was okay with it, Mu Feng moved his gaze to Ling Xian and chuckled, “Young master, as you can tell, our auction ground is now in shambles. I suggested that we build a simple tent. I hope you are okay with it.”

“It’s not a problem. Go prepare quickly.”

Ling Xian waved his hand as well. He wasn’t materialistic in nature. Plus, he was allowed to take any three items he wanted from the auction. Naturally, he wasn’t going to give up attending the auction.

“Thank you for your forgiveness.” Mu Feng sighed in relief. He was terrified that Ling Xian would be angry over this. After what he said, however, Mu Feng immediately felt humiliated.

The auction ground was destroyed by Ling Xian, yet he was required to smile and apologize. How could he not feel humiliated?

Sadly, no matter how bad he felt about all this, he had to swallow his anger!

“Go prepare quickly. I have very high expectations of the kind of treasures I will find at the Mu Clan’s auction.” Ling Xian teasingly smiled.”

“You have high expectations for the most expensive three treasures because you get to take them without wasting half a spiritual stone.” Mu Feng cursed in a quiet voice. Then, he sighed helplessly and left.

“Mu Clan… I sure want to see what kind of tricks you can play.” Ling Xian softly chuckled and waited expectantly for the auction.

“Hehe, master.”

Huang Er jogged to Ling Xian and toadied, “Master, you really are a phoenix out of a group of humans. Even the Mu Clan admitted their defeat against you. My respect to you is like the ocean, never ending and over flooding.”

“Stop flattering me.” Ling Xian laughed. “It is my victory for that short confrontation. But I am thinking that the Mu Clan isn’t giving up just like that.”

“That is true. But I believe you do not mind that.” Huang Er’s small eyes flashed with complexity. There was shock, some respect, and even excitement.

He never would’ve imagined, even in his dreams, that Ling Xian would play his cards betraying all rules. How could he so aggressively try to enter the ground, smash the auction ground, and slam the Mu Clan Leader’s head until he bled? How imposing was this?

What surprised him even more was that the Mu Clan willingly swallowed this humiliation after so much face slapping. They even willingly took out three treasures as an apology. How unbelievable was this?

Naturally, Huang Er felt shocked and respectful. As for excitement… it was because he was allowed to be walking alongside Ling Xian.

Imagine this, for one to have such a ruthless master, who would dare to treat Huang Er badly in the future?

“That’s not for certain. I am not afraid of Mu Clan’s ancestor. After all, no matter how capable he is, he will be no opponent of mine.” Ling Xian shook his head softly. With his capabilities today as a completion leveled cultivator of the undefeatable realm, he naturally wouldn’t think twice about the Mu Clan’s ancestor.

“It’s just that after controlling the City of Sin for so many years, the Mu Clan definitely have many hidden aces to play.”

Ling Xian spoke softly and slowly, “From the Poisonous Dragon Scorpion alone, we can see that without secretive abilities, they would not be able to find such a fatal poison.”

“That is true. But do not worry, Master, I will look into the background of the Mu Clan. I promise you I will deliver superb results.” Huang Er slapped his chest and promised.

Ling Xian softly smiled, “Then I will leave that to you. Remember, I do not ask you to give me every little detail. But do not try to lie to me using fake news.”

He made this statement seriously and coldly, which made Huang Er’s body tremble. He quickly responded, “Master, do not worry. I would never dare to hide anything from you.”

“That would be for the best.” Ling Xian softly nodded.

Huang Er chuckled softly. “The Mu Clan have lost the bait along with their fish. Not only did they lose all their face, but they also have to willingly apologize to you for their wrongs.”

“The Mu Clan ancestor is a smart one. If this were anyone else, they wouldn’t dare to act with such certainty.” Ling Xian’s lips curled into a faint grin and his eyes shone with high anticipation, “This is for the better. I have no interest in weak opponents.”

Then, he slowly closed his eyes and did not utter any more words.

Seeing this, Huang Er shut his lips. He took the hint and did not bother Ling Xian anymore.

Time passed just like that. After around half an hour, a simple auction stage was finally built. Below it, hundreds of chairs also appeared.

After that, Mu Feng stepped onto the stage and smiled, “Everyone, please have a seat.”

Hearing this, all the extraordinary guests made their move, and each found a chair to sit in. They waited for the auction to start.

Ling Xian found himself a random chair and sat down. His eyes flickered with anticipation.

“Everyone, I will not waste your time with too many words. I hereby announce, the auction officially begins!”

Mu Feng was in no mood to say anything to help hype up the atmosphere. First, he was too embarrassed to talk big when he was standing on a wooden stage. Second, he was just slapped by Ling Xian and had no such energy.

Therefore, he started the auction right away by bringing out the first treasure.

It was a treasure of the sixth realm. The moment it appeared, it attracted everyone’s attention.

“Let’s not waste any words. The base price of this is 100,000 spiritual stones. The minimum increase is 10,000 spiritual stones. Let us begin,” Mu Feng spoke without much energy.

Despite his lack of energy, the attractiveness of the treasure did not lessen, and its appearance ignited everyone’s passion. Then, an explosive reaction occurred. Voice after voice began to roar, each announcing a higher number.

A treasure of such realm did not trigger any interest in Ling Xian. He merely glanced at it and lost all interest.

After some time, the sixth realm treasure ended up with a middle-aged man at 180,000 spiritual stones.

Then, Mu Feng took out the second treasure, again, without much energy. The auction began again.

One has to admit that the Mu Clan was one of the controlling forces in the City of Sin. Every single treasure he brought out generated much buzz amongst everyone at the scene. Everyone joined the auction and kept on raising the price.

At once, the atmosphere of the auction ground turned extremely clamorous.

However, one person completely contrasted this atmosphere. It was Ling Xian.

These high-value items, to others, were rare treasures. But to him, how much were they worth? To someone at his level, normal treasures were not even worthy enough for him to look at.

No matter how much people snatched and shouted, Ling Xian remained calm like water and did not move the slightest. As time went on, he was getting impatient.

This made Huang Er, who sat beside him, admire and respect him even more. He wondered when there would come the day when he too, can look at treasures in the same calm manner as Ling Xian.

“If all treasures are of this caliber, then I wasted my time coming here.” Ling Xian softly shook his head, his eyes revealed much disappointment.

Just as he was near desperation, a technique scroll appeared, which garnered his interest.

Not only did he react to it, everyone there had heated gazes and found it difficult to conceal their excitement and desire.

What could they do? The value of this technique was far too high. Everyone here had a fast beating heart and they found it hard to breathe.

“The Technique of Physical Refinement, I am sure everyone here has heard of this technique.” Mu Feng became excited as well and was no longer acting like he was weak and tired. “The mastering of this technique allows one to be able to form a clone. Other than cultivation level, there would be no difference between the clone and the parent. In other words, learning this technique would mean there is an extra ‘you’.”

“When the clone’s cultivation becomes equal to the cultivation level of the original, then the two can converge into one, and the actual body’s cultivation level will increase exponentially. At times, one may be able to break the bottleneck and breakthrough to the next level.”

Mu Feng’s voice was powerful and stern. He listed all the advantages of this technique, turning everyone’s gaze hotter and hotter.

“Okay, I bet everyone is now getting impatient. Then I will not waste any time. This treasure has a base price of 3,000,000 spiritual stones with a minimal increase of 500,000 each time. Please, hop on this auction train.” Mu Feng grinned in satisfaction. He had high expectations that this treasure will gain him an astronomical amount of spiritual stones.

The result was what he predicted.

The moment he finished speaking, everyone’s passion was fueled. Voice after voice rose up.

“I will offer 3,500,000!” A middle-aged man shouted.

Sadly, this technique was far too valuable. Why would 3,500,000 be enough? Within the same second, this man’s voice was drowned out.

“5,000,000!”

“6,000,000!”

Everyone knew how much this treasure was worth and went absolutely insane. They were all willing to go bankrupt to get their hands on this.

Within a short period of time, the value of this technique was raised up to 1,300,000,000.

“The Technique of Physical Refinement. Not bad of a treasure, very suitable for me.” Ling Xian’s lips curled into a faint smile as he finally found something interesting.

It really did suit him, this technique. Especially at a time when he needed to plot something big.

Seeing this, Huang Er rubbed his hands together with much excitement, “Master, should I shout out a number for you?”

In his entire life, he has never participated in an auction let alone voicing a price. Therefore, he really wanted to experience it for himself – the feeling of speaking an astronomical number without having to bear the consequences.

“Make an offer? Why would I need to make an offer?”

Ling Xian shook his head with a smile. Then, before Huang Er’s astonished gaze, he made a statement that silenced the entire auction ground.

“Mu Clan Leader, that technique is now mine.”