The Auction (III)

"Darling~"

The single word slid out of Nanhua Caiyi's lips like honey, but to Shen Huiying, it felt like a sharp needle prickled her heart. 

She gripped the arm of her chair, her nails digging into the smooth wood, and her breath hitched.

Suddenly, she started rethinking every encounter she had with Long Yu.

His expressions... his smiles, everything.

And soon enough, his face as he gave her back the token she had given him before. It prickled her heart directly.

'...Why?'

She pondered as her eyes met Long Yu's.

His eyes flickered with something—was it regret?

Or maybe reluctance?

But before she could search any deeper, he turned his gaze away, biting his lip as if to hold something back.

'Why did... he do that kind of expression...' she thought before lowering her gaze to the ground, filling her head with all kinds of thoughts.

Was he reluctant about something?

How did he even get together with Nanhua Caiyi?

WHY did he even get together with her?

Shouldn't he be close to this Empress right now?

Just like before...

Shen Huiying could still feel the memory of him lying beside her, her fingers brushing his hair, watching his peaceful face as he slept.

She'd watched him for hours, memorizing every line of his face, every peaceful breath he took, so sure he was hers.

Of course, Long Yu didn't know about this. After all, he was under a spell and couldn't wake up even if he wanted to.

Anyways...

Her thoughts were like a sweet whisper to herself, and even without being possessed or manipulated by an Inner Demon, there was only one result that came to her mind...

Long Yu was hers.

He belonged with her, no one else.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Mhm..." Long Yu had a thoughtful expression.

He already knew that he wouldn't be able to buy any of the items in this auction, so it was quite a waste being here.

"Maybe, I should just leave..." he let out a small sigh. "Or not... the concentration of Qi here is higher than the mountain I usually cultivate in."

Meanwhile, Zhao Xiu resumed her graceful smile, her eyes looking over the crowd as she prepared to reveal the next auction item.

"Alright, everyone! The second item we have today is..."

She gestured with a dramatic wave of her arm, and the crowd held its breath, watching as another tray was brought forward and carefully placed on the platform.

With a flourish, she lifted the cloth, revealing a sparkling, deep blue crystal that seemed to hum with energy.

"A Nine-Colored Essence Crystal!" she announced. "This item holds the pure essence seed of a Nine-Colored Swan, which can be used to directly awaken any kind of physique or bloodline!"

"The starting price is 200 high-grade spiritual stones!"

As soon as she announced this, numerous bids started appearing.

After all, this was another priceless item because many physiques need a special kind of herb or even enlightenment to be awakened, and having an item that could directly ignore these...

Was certainly not cheap!

"400 high-grade spiritual stones!"

"650!"

"900 high-grade spiritual stones!"

The bids kept increasing, however, this time the Luo Family didn't bid anything.

"1200 high-grade spiritual stones, from the Zhao Family!"

"2500 high-grade spiritual stones!"

Slam!

"Who dares to outbid this Deity?!" The patriarch of the Zhao Family exclaimed furiously as he heard that someone had outbid him.

However, the person in question only gave him a cold look...

"A-ah... Apologies, Fairy Ji! I didn't know it was you..." He immediately lowered his head and cupped his head as soon as he saw that it was Ji Ningshuang had bid.

'Ah... it seems that the auction house will be scammed...' Long Yu shook his head, after all, almost no one would dare to bid against Ji Ningshuang.

"5000!"

Unexpectedly, someone bidded against her.

Long Yu looked toward the figure, and his eyes widened as he saw the familiar silhouette.

"Ye Chen?" he muttered, which happened to be heard by Nanhua Caiyi.

"Do you know him?" Caiyi moved closer to Long Yu.

"Not really... just saw him before. I just didn't expect him to be so... wealthy." he sighed faintly before turning to look at Caiyi.

To him, she smiled softly before leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Ah... how long do you plan to act like this?"

"Mhm... maybe... until our contract ends?" she replied with a wry smile.

Rolling his eyes, Long Yu focused himself back in the auction where the battle still continued between Ye Chen and Ji Ningshuang.

"15000 high-grade spiritual stones and a Sword Embryo!" Ji Ningshuang declared, looking down at Ye Chen who reluctantly stopped bidding.

"15000 high-grade spiritual stones and a Sword Embryo going once!"

"Twice!"

"Sold! Congratulations to Fairy Ji for obtaining the Nine-Colored Essence Crystal!" Zhao Xiu happily clapped her hands.

With that, the essence crystal flew towards Ji Ningshuang, who immediately placed it in her spatial ring.

"A Sword Embryo...?" Long Yu let out a cold breath.

'That could strengthen my Sword Gu...'

[Rewards concluded.]

'Ah... you're finally done?'

[Yup... it took a while to calculate the amount of luck Ye Chen lost because of the Ancient Qilin Blood.]

[You've absorbed a total of 172.942 luck points!]

[Ye Chen's fortune has been lowered by 0.172942%!]

[Ye Chen's current fortune is 99.827058%!]

[Your Protagonist Halo has been upgraded to Level 5!]

[All of your fortunes have been strengthened! Your presence within the Heavenly Dao has increased, you may receive the blessing of the heavens if lucky!]

'Uhh...?! God damn... he didn't even lose 1% of his entire luck...'

'What more?'

[You have unlocked 15% of your special perks.]

'And...?'

[Your dantian has expanded by 100 times, Qi Absorption has increased by 10 times, and your comprehension has been enhanced by 200 times.]

'What...?'

[You really are underestimating your own talent. Hah... if you had your whole talent unlocked, even the Empress of the Nine Heavens would directly come here to take your life due to the fear of losing her position.]

'Really?'

[Yes! She wouldn't care if she lost most of her cultivation just to kill you! Your talent is heaven-defying, not even 200 Chaotic Bodies or even the Nine Blocked Yin Pathways could compare with it alone.]

'.......'

[Do I really need to explain it once again? You're the singularity of every single 'book'! You appear in every single one of them! It doesn't matter what your role is, but most of them you're either the main villain or one of the main leads!]

[And there are millions if not billions of 'books'! And the talent of every single one of 'you' in those books is directly transferred to you!]

[You just need to awaken them.]

[Unfortunately, it's only the base talent, it's a pity that you cannot receive the bloodlines of the physiques, if so, you would be invincible and didn't even need to cultivate.]

'I understand... but what's the user of such a terrifying talent if I cannot win against a Chaotic Body?'

[I mean... if you use your comprehension ability and master a lot of techniques, you would be close to dealing with one...]

'But not beat it, right? After all, I cannot get those divine abilities that came with those heaven-breaking physiques or bloodlines.'

'The innate strength that comes with them... I simply cannot get it.'

'Well... I don't care, after all, I'm going to get the Nine-Yin Blocked Pathways either way.' Long Yu closed his eyes.

And then, he reopened them as he heard that the fourth item was going to be shown. He was so focused on the conversation with the system that he didn't even get to see the third item, but not that he could buy it anyway.

"And now, our fourth priceless item...!"

Zhao Xiu announced as she grabbed the cloth covering and then took it off, showing a small box that usually was used to store pills.

"It's none other than...!"

She slowly opened the box, revealing an eight-striped pill with a small snake circling it like it was the most sacred treasure.

"A peak 8th-tier pill, the Fortune Changing pill!" she shouted, attracting the attention of everyone who wasn't really interested.

"The legendary Fortune Changing Pill?!"

"This kind of pill is even rare in the upper heavens?!"

"Exactly! How exactly did the Golden Chamber of Commerce get their hands in one?!"

Immediately, the crowd went wild as Zhao Xiu showcased this pill.

"Now... the starting price is 100.000 high-grade spiritual stones, or simply, a perfect-grade spiritual stone!"

And just after the starting price was announced...

"100.000 high-grade spiritual stones and a peak 7th-tier pill!"

"2 perfect-grade spiritual stones and a batch of 7th-tier herbs!"

"2 perfect-grade spiritual stones and a low-level heaven-tier technique!"

The bids kept coming in! And all the powerhouses that were hiding their wealth to finally attack started bidding the highest value that they could mutter.

And slowly, the price kept increasing, until it reached such a huge value that only the most powerful sects and families could bid.

"500 perfect-grade spiritual stones and a middle-level heaven-tier artifact!" Luo Zhiqiang finally bid himself.

However, he was quickly interrupted by another cultivator...

"500 perfect-grade spiritual stones and a Demonic Crow Refining Bone!"

He looked towards the direction of the voice and immediately exclaimed in fury.

"You old devil! It's your own auction, why are you bidding?!" he shouted loudly at Nanhua Caiyi.

Hearing his words, she simply stuck out her tongue before hiding behind Long Yu.

'This bitc—' Long Yu cursed inwardly, but his thoughts were interrupted by another bid.

"500 perfect-grade spiritual stones and the Seven Stars Sword Grass." A clear and clam voice resounded throughout the whole auction house.

This time, it was Ji Ningshuang who had bid, and she directly suppressed everyone else by a large margin.

The Seven Stars Sword Grass was a really rare herb that could create a Seven Stars Sword Body which was a high-level physique close to those holy bodies.

In other words, the value was really immense and shut down everyone else who even thought about bidding.

"1000 perfect-grade spiritual stones and the Seven Stars Sword Grass going once!" Zhao Xiu started announcing.

This time, she even waited for a few seconds before continuing...

"Twice...!"

"Sold! Congratulations to Fairy Ji for getting such a heaven-defying pill!" Zhao Xiu congratulated Ji Ningshaung by clapping her.

Even the other around also accompanied Zhao Xiu, showing their respect towards Ji Ningshaung.

She had a huge prestige.

"Well...! Now, we have our grand final!" Zhao Xiu announced happily as a beautiful woman appeared on the stage with another covered trail.

"The final item is..." she declared with a mysterious voice.

Her hands hovered on the trail, and as soon as she gently lifted it...

The entire room seemed to take in a collective breath.