Though both men stood at the Late Golden Core stage, the gap in their power was a chasm, not a crack.

Han Li was a single step away from the Great Perfection of the Late Golden Core stage, a veteran of his realm. Wu Hao, by comparison, had only recently broken through.

If they were to truly cross swords, Wu Hao knew the outcome. He wasn’t afraid of a fight, but he certainly knew how to calculate odds. Defeat was likely. Death was possible.

And for what? A moment of pride?

He was a cultivator, not a battle-crazed maniac like Han Li.

“Senior Brother, look,” Wen Huanhuan whispered, suppressing a giggle. “He’s scared.”

Han Li ignored the taunt. He reached out, pulling his Junior Sister’s delicate form tighter against his chest. His cold gaze shifted away from the boisterous swordsman and settled on the auction stage below.

“Junior Sister, are you certain the item is here?”

Wen Huanhuan leaned into him, her expression shifting from mocking to charmingly coquettish. “Rest assured, Senior Brother. There is no mistake.”

It was merely a war of words between Golden Core powerhouses, a bit of pre-show entertainment for the gallery.

Li Meng watched from the side with great interest. Who didn’t enjoy a bit of high-stakes drama?

“Fellow Daoist,” Li Meng rumbled, lowering his head to address the female attendant nestled in his arms. “When does the auction actually begin?”

It was strange. Why had she stayed?

He glanced around the second level. The other Golden Core cultivators in their private booths didn’t seem to have attendants clinging to them.

“Soon,” she replied softly. “In about an hour.”

An hour?

The time passed in waves of noise and silence. The attendant remained quiet in Li Meng’s embrace, speaking only when spoken to. She didn’t pry into his background or attempt to make idle chatter, which only deepened Li Meng’s curiosity.

Am I really just that handsome? Li Meng wondered, looking at the empty stage below.

He dismissed the thought immediately. His transformed appearance was anything but “handsome.”

He was “Iron Ox”—rough, rugged, and built like a siege engine. No woman, especially a disciple of the beauty-obsessed Joyous Union Sect, would look twice at such a coarse brute unless she had to.

“Fellow Daoist must be wondering why I chose to stay?”

The woman in his arms looked up, a playful smile gracing her lips. Her slender, jade-like hand rested lightly on his broad chest.

Li Meng looked down at her. “Could Fellow Daoist enlighten me?”

She blinked her large eyes. “This must be Fellow Daoist’s first time consigning here?”

Li Meng nodded. “Indeed. Fellow Daoist has keen eyes.”

“It’s not my eyesight that’s keen,” she said with a faint smile. “That is precisely why I stayed. The House rules dictate that for a first-time guest with such… distinct consignments… I am to accompany you until you leave.”

A look of understanding dawned on Li Meng’s face.

It wasn’t his charm; it was his goods. The items he had provided were valuable enough to warrant VIP treatment. While they might not be treasures to a Nascent Soul Ancestor, those Elders had disciples and descendants who would kill for them.

“Fellow Daoist, look. It is beginning.”

Li Meng followed her gaze.

The ambient noise in the hall was sliced away as a hush fell over the crowd. All eyes turned to a graceful figure ascending the auction platform.

She wore a long, flowing palace dress of deep purple. The fabric clung to her in all the right places, hinting at the full, alluring curves beneath without revealing too much.

Her walk was a deliberate, hypnotic sway. Her waist-length hair was coiled high, adorned with exquisite ornaments that chimed softly as she moved. Her makeup was heavy, deliberate, enhancing her features into something bewitchingly fox-like.

With her arrival, a faint, delicate fragrance seemed to drift through the massive hall.

The Rogue Cultivators on the first floor stared with burning intensity. The sect elites on the second floor maintained their composure, though many gazes lingered.

“Quite a beauty,” Li Meng murmured, his eyes narrowing slightly.

She was stunning, her looks rivaling even Senior Qu’s. But where Qu Rou was an icy, unreachable peak, this woman was a blazing fire—a passionate enchantress designed to captivate the soul.

A blue window flickered in Li Meng’s vision.

[Name: Mu Jiu’er] [Age: 158] [Luck: 700] [Cultivation: Late Foundation Establishment (Great Perfection)] [Aptitude: Dual Spiritual Roots (Water & Fire)] [Favorability: 0]

Another Foundation Establishment cultivator stuck at the bottleneck, Li Meng noted. No hope of forming a Golden Core.

On the stage, Mu Jiu’er’s voice rang out, clear and enchanting.

“Welcome, esteemed Seniors, to the Auction Immortal Assembly hosted by the Joyous Union Sect!”

“Tonight, we present a total of one hundred and thirty-one lots. Pills, talismans, magical treasures, rare heavenly materials—everything one could desire is here! This junior wishes all esteemed Seniors success in obtaining your heart’s desires!”

Mu Jiu’er performed a graceful pirouette on the platform, her dress flaring like a blooming flower, before clapping her slender hands.

A female disciple walked onto the stage carrying a wooden tray.

“Now, for our first item!”

Mu Jiu’er’s voice rose in excitement. “One Flawless Ageless Pill! A treasure that locks away youth eternally and cleanses the physical body of impurities! The starting bid is 25,000 spirit stones! Minimum bid increment is 1,000!”

The assistant opened the exquisite rosewood box and held it high, turning slowly to display the contents to the hall.

A strange, wonderful medicinal aroma instantly flooded the venue.

“What? A Flawless Ageless Pill?”

“That scent… heavens, it’s true! It really is flawless quality!”

“Where did the Joyous Union Sect find such a thing?”

The Rogue Cultivators on the first floor erupted. Their eyes burned with greed as they stared at the small pill.

Golden Core cultivators could maintain their appearance through mana, but true eternal youth required specific arts or pills. A Flawless Ageless Pill was a supreme luxury. It didn’t just freeze time; it refined the body, enhancing one’s natural immortal grace.

Up on the second floor, Li Meng blinked in surprise.

He hadn’t expected the Auction House to use his pill as the opening act. They were using it to whip the crowd into a frenzy right from the start.

“Husband! That Ageless Pill is mine!”

A sugary, coquettish voice rang out from the adjacent booth.

The tone was so overly sweet it sent an involuntary shiver down Li Meng’s spine.

Good heavens… that woman is pure saccharine.

“30,000 spirit stones!”

Han Li’s deep voice boomed from the same booth.

On stage, Mu Jiu’er looked up toward the second level, her smile widening.

“30,000 spirit stones! The esteemed Senior upstairs bids 30,000!”

“31,000 spirit stones!”

Wu Hao’s voice cut in. He grinned toward the couple on the neighboring balcony, leaning casually against the railing.

“Don’t worry about the price,” Wu Hao laughed, his eyes openly roaming over Wen Huanhuan’s enticing figure with undisguised lust.

Wen Huanhuan responded with an alluring smile, batting her eyelashes at him.

“This servant doesn’t want it from you,” she purred.

Han Li tightened his embrace around his wife, his face darkening as he glared at Wu Hao.

“35,000 spirit stones!” Han Li barked.

Wu Hao shrugged, feigning deep regret.

“In that case… I suppose I’ll just have to win it for my own little Junior Sister instead.”

He chuckled lightly, looking down at the beautiful auctioneer.

“36,000 spirit stones!”

“40,000 spirit stones!” Han Li countered instantly, his voice expressionless but heavy with pressure.

Wu Hao narrowed his eyes. A flicker of hesitation crossed his face.

A Flawless Ageless Pill was precious, certainly. But for a male cultivator like him, it held little practical value. It was a vanity item.

To spend over forty thousand spirit stones on a cosmetic pill… that was wasteful.

His target for this auction lay elsewhere.

Wu Hao chuckled again, shaking his head. He waved his hand dismissively toward the stage, signaling his withdrawal.

The game wasn’t worth the coin.