“Forget it, forget it. Since Senior Sister Huanhuan likes it, this Junior Brother will yield.”

Wu Hao leaned back with a laugh, conceding the round.

Wen Huanhuan, nestled deep in her husband’s embrace, smiled faintly. Her eyes sparkled with greedy excitement as she gazed at the “Ageless Pill” on the auction stage. With that pill, her youth would be eternal. She was sure to surpass that seductive fox, Senior Sister Ruoshui.

“Forty thousand spirit stones! Forty thousand spirit stones! Are there any higher bids?”

On the stage, Mu Jiu’er spun in a slow, elegant circle, her eyes sweeping over the crowd below like a searchlight.

The Golden Core Rogue Cultivators exchanged helpless glances. Forty thousand spirit stones! How could wanderers like them, scraping by on meager resources, possibly afford such a sum? They came to these grand auctions mostly to watch the spectacle and perhaps snag a lucky bargain. Sometimes, strange items of unknown origin appeared—things sect disciples ignored due to their unclear backgrounds. That was where the rogues found their treasures.

But this? This was a game for the rich.

“Fifty thousand spirit stones!”

A lazy voice drifted down from one of the private boxes on the third floor.

A Nascent Soul Ancestor had placed a bid.

The atmosphere in the hall shifted instantly. The expressions on the faces of the Golden Core cultivators below crumbled. Once a Nascent Soul cultivator entered the fray, the game was over. Those in the Golden Core realm simply couldn’t compete. The wealth of a Nascent Soul Elder was vast, an ocean compared to their small ponds.

On the balcony of a second-floor private box, Han Li’s face darkened.

“Senior Brother, I don’t want it anymore!”

Wen Huanhuan pressed her hand quickly over her husband’s mouth, stopping him from making another bid. They couldn’t possibly match the resources of a Nascent Soul expert. Worse, forcing the issue would only earn them the lasting resentment of a terrifying figure.

“Fifty thousand spirit stones! Fifty thousand spirit stones! Any higher bids?”

Mu Jiu’er spun around once more, her smile undimmed. Seeing the silence, she nodded gracefully.

“Fifty thousand spirit stones, going once! Fifty thousand spirit stones, going twice! Fifty thousand spirit stones, sold! Congratulations to the esteemed Senior for winning the Flawless Ageless Pill!”

And so, the first auction item found its owner.

On the balcony of another second-floor private box, Li Meng grinned widely. He held his female attendant close, unable to hide his satisfaction. Fifty thousand spirit stones for a single pill. What an auspicious start!

“Now for our second auction item: a low-grade magic treasure, the Azure Mystic Sword! In the hands of a cultivator specializing in Wood Element techniques, it can unleash tremendous power! The starting bid is ten thousand spirit stones! Minimum increment is five hundred!”

It was merely a low-grade magic treasure. The sect elites on the second floor showed little interest, sipping their tea. But the Rogue Cultivators on the first floor exploded into action.

“This item is fated with me! I ask all Fellow Daoists to grant me this convenience—eleven thousand spirit stones!”

“Once a treasure is missed, it is hard to reclaim it later. Spirit stones spent will return again in time—twelve thousand!”

“Haha, this Azure Mystic Sword looks quite good. How can I let it slip by? Twelve thousand five hundred!”

“I apologize for my presumption, Fellow Daoists. Allow this humble one to conclude this—fifteen thousand spirit stones!”

At this price, the hall went quiet. All the Rogue Cultivators turned their eyes toward an elderly Daoist priest. Dressed in blue robes, he had an air of immortal grace about him.

Fifteen thousand spirit stones!

How could a low-grade offensive treasure possibly be worth that much? If it were a sturdier defensive treasure, perhaps. But for a sword? It simply wasn’t worth it.

The bidding war died. The second auction item went to the old priest.

“Magic treasures are quite valuable after all,” Li Meng mused, squinting as he watched a Foundation Establishment cultivator carry away the sword.

It was a low-grade treasure forged from five-thousand-year-old Azure Mystic Bamboo. While the material was relatively rare, it wasn’t a miraculous find.

“What a terrible waste!” Li Meng shook his head in genuine distress.

To use five-thousand-year-old Azure Mystic Bamboo and only produce a low-grade magic treasure… Li Meng was at a loss for words. The artificer who forged that sword was truly a champion among incompetents.

What followed was a rather tedious stretch. The items in the first half weren’t particularly valuable. The Rogue Cultivators on the lower floor fought over them like starving wolves, while the sect members on the middle level only occasionally threw out a bored bid.

“D-Daoist friend…”

The female attendant in his arms suddenly let out a soft, coquettish cry.

Li Meng looked down. Her face was flushed a deep crimson. One glance at his own hand placement, and he gave an awkward chuckle, quickly shifting his grip.

“My apologies, I…”

The attendant shook her head slightly. She raised a slender hand to brush a stray lock of hair from her forehead. Her eyes were hazy, a hint of alluring charm flashing within them.

“It’s fine… it’s no trouble.”

Since she said it was no trouble, then it was no trouble.

Li Meng smiled and settled his arm comfortably around her waist once more.

“Now for our seventy-first auction item: another Flawless Ageless Pill!”

As soon as Mu Jiu’er’s words fell, a shockwave went through the audience.

Another flawless Ageless Pill?

The success rate for producing flawless pills was abysmal. Many Alchemists spent their entire lives staring at furnaces without ever refining a single one. Yet today, at the Joyous Union Sect’s auction house, two had appeared in the same session. Had the Joyous Union Sect produced a grandmaster of the Pill Dao?

“Husband! It’s another Ageless Pill!”

From the neighboring private box came that familiar, sugary voice.

Wen Huanhuan leaned over the railing, her eyes shining with renewed hope. Surely, this time, no one would compete with them? The big players had already eaten.

Han Li looked down at his wife. A trace of rare tenderness flickered within his usually cold eyes.

“Wife, don’t worry. What is yours will not escape.”

He opened his mouth to bid.

“Seventy thousand spirit stones!”

A hoarse voice thundered from the upper floor, crushing Han Li’s words before they could leave his throat.

On the auction stage, Mu Jiu’er smiled gracefully.

“Seventy thousand spirit stones! Seventy thousand! Are there any higher bids?”

On his second-floor balcony, Han Li’s face turned ashen with fury. He clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked, but he didn’t dare look up. When Nascent Soul cultivators played, Golden Core cultivators were merely spectators.

“Old Monster Cao! What does a withered man like you want with an Ageless Pill? Have you no shame? Eighty thousand spirit stones!”

A gentle yet clear voice rang out from another upper-floor box.

“What’s wrong? Has Fairy Xu already run out of heirs to spoil? Ninety thousand spirit stones!”

“Ninety thousand for a second-grade pill? Old Monster Cao, have you lost your mind in your dotage?”

“If Fairy Xu does not wish to compete further, she need only remain silent. If this old man were two hundred years younger, he would certainly enjoy… discussing the Dao with Fairy Xu.”

“You… you shameless old fool! One hundred thousand spirit stones!”

“Now now, Fairy Xu, don’t get angry over a pill and disturb your Dao Heart. Since Fairy Xu treasures it so dearly… this old man will yield.”

In his private box on the second floor, Li Meng wore a strange expression.

Although the exchange between the two Nascent Soul Seniors sounded polite on the surface, the air was thick with venom. It felt less like an auction and more like a public execution of past grievances.

“Daoist friend,” Li Meng whispered softly to the attendant in his arms. “Is there some history between those two Senior Nascent Souls?”

The attendant glanced nervously toward the ceiling before nestling closer against Li Meng’s chest.

“That is Senior Xu Yan of the Qingxu Sect and Senior Cao Yuan of Thousand Crane Valley,” she murmured into his ear, her voice barely audible. “I heard that when they were both still Golden Core cultivators long ago… they were Dao Companions. In the end… they separated for reasons unknown to outsiders.”

She paused, looking around as if fearing eavesdroppers.

“Later… Senior Xu Yan became Dao Companions with another Supreme Elder from the Qingxu Sect who had also reached the Nascent Soul realm. But that Supreme Elder mysteriously disappeared during a distant journey and has never been heard from since. There is no official explanation… but some whisper that Senior Cao Yuan… was responsible.”