105: Deadly energy surrounds you!

Golden light exploded, and heat waves rolled like a tide.

The phantom of a Three-legged Golden Crow flapped its wings in the air for just a moment before transforming into a drop of golden dew, hovering above the treasure box.

It was just a single drop.

Yet, the temperature in the entire auction hall soared to sweltering levels in an instant. The air warped slightly from the heat, and even vision became blurred.

Inside the private booth, the originally cool and comfortable temperature-controlled Formation failed instantly.

Gu Changsheng felt the pool of Qingyuan Mana in his Dantian shrink back into the depths as if it had met its natural enemy. Even his usually smooth-running Withered Wood Meets Spring Scripture experienced a moment of stagnation.

Overbearing.

Utterly overbearing.

This was the pressure of the Solar lineage. Even as a masterless, dead object, a single drop could instinctively suppress all the wood in the world.

"Everyone, please look."

The Auctioneer's voice turned sharp with excitement. She had to circulate all her spiritual power to resist the scorching heat, her cheeks flushed red by the reflection.

"This is 'Blazing Sun Dew,' harvested from the leaf tips of the 'Fusang Divine Tree' in the Central Continent's Great Sun Divine Palace."

"Just one drop, refined into the body, can not only cleanse the marrow and temper the bones but also imbue spiritual power with the 'Blazing Sun' attribute, specifically breaking through Yin and evil energies! It is the absolute nemesis of demonic Cultivators and ghostly entities!"

Before she could finish, the entire venue erupted.

In the Eastern Wastelands, where the righteous and demonic factions had just declared a ceasefire and the situation remained murky, a means to counter demonic Cultivators was a life-saving talisman.

Moreover, this was a top-tier lineage from the legendary Central Continent.

"Starting price: five thousand... Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!"

Gu Changsheng's eyelids twitched violently.

Five thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones were equivalent to five hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

And that was just the starting price.

The wealth he had just considered a "fortune" was nothing but a joke in front of this drop of dew.

"Five thousand five hundred!"

"Six thousand!"

"Seven thousand!"

The bids no longer came from the first-floor hall but from the various VIP booths on the second floor.

Those Foundation Establishment Family Clan Chiefs and Sect Elders, rarely seen on ordinary days, were now like sharks scenting blood, frantically tearing at the price.

The price soared all the way, surpassing the ten-thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone mark in the blink of an eye.

Gu Changsheng picked up his teacup, using the action of drinking to hide the shock in his eyes.

This was the world of top-tier Cultivators.

For that trace of ethereal "lineage" power, they wouldn't hesitate to throw in the accumulated savings of a medium-sized Family over centuries.

"Fifteen thousand."

A deep and steady middle-aged male voice abruptly rang out from the "Earth-rank Room Three" booth.

The voice wasn't loud and didn't intentionally use spiritual power to intimidate, yet it carried the composure of one who wouldn't change expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before them.

The noisy auction hall fell silent for a moment.

A direct increase of five thousand?

What kind of financial power and confidence was this?

Gu Changsheng set down his teacup, his gaze passing through the one-way water mirror and landing on the tightly closed booth door.

Interesting.

In this situation where "gods were fighting," anyone who dared to play like this was either a powerful figure from afar with a background that reached the heavens, or... a reckless upstart.

Several Family booths that had been fiercely competing fell into silence.

Several powerful Divine Senses scanned Earth-rank Room Three unscrupulously, trying to probe the other party's background.

However, the booth seemed to be protected by a highly sophisticated isolation Formation. All the Divine Senses were like mud oxen entering the sea, failing to stir up even the slightest ripple.

This "unfathomable" nature made those old foxes even more wary.

"Fifteen thousand, once."

The Auctioneer's voice was trembling; this was already a massive overbid.

"Fifteen thousand, twice."

From several booths on the second floor, there were cold snorts of resentment or the crisp sound of teacups being smashed, but in the end, no one spoke up again.

In this sensitive period, it wasn't worth offending a mysterious and unfathomable great Cultivator for a consumable item.

"Fifteen thousand, three times! Sold!"

The golden gavel fell.

The dust settled.

The drop of "Blazing Sun Dew," radiating terrifying heat, was carefully sealed in a special cold jade bottle by an attendant and sent to Earth-rank Room Three.

At this moment, Gu Changsheng sighed softly.

"He's dead for sure."

His fingers tapped unconsciously on the armrest.

Others might be intimidated by the person's "composure" and "financial power," thinking they were some untouchable big shot.

But in the eyes of someone with an intelligence System, the person sitting in that booth was merely a Loose Cultivator whose luck had exploded to the extreme.

[System, view the character panel of Earth-rank Room Three.]

In his Sea of Consciousness, golden light flowed.

A clear character card emerged.

[Name: Zhao Guizhen]

[Cultivation: Late Foundation Establishment Stage]

[Identity: Eastern Wastelands Loose Cultivator]

[immortal foundation: Xi Cui Chen]

[Status: Haunted by Death Qi (Extreme Danger)]

[Description: This person entered an ancient Cultivator's cave in his early years and obtained an Incomplete Manual of the "Lesser Sun Wheel Scripture," cultivating a body of pure Yang spiritual power. With his Lifespan nearing its end, he sold all his belongings to gamble everything on the Blazing Sun Dew in hopes of breaking through to the Purple Mansion. He thinks he is safe with three second-grade peak-quality escape talismans, but in reality, he has already been marked by the Divine Thoughts of three Purple Mansion True Persons.]

Gu Changsheng looked at the blood-red "Extreme Danger" tag on the panel, a hint of mockery curling at the corner of his mouth.

Xi Cui Chen.

Drawing in the dawn light of the Nine Heavens for Body Tempering, it was indeed a rare High Grade immortal foundation.

Given enough time and resources, he might have been able to achieve great things.

A pity.

He underestimated human greed and overestimated his own weight.

This was Qingsong Immortal City. Although private fighting was ostensibly forbidden, in the face of absolute profit, rules were meant to be broken.

Without a Sect to protect him or Family death soldiers.

A child parading through the market holding a gold brick has only one end.

To be eaten until not even the bone fragments remain.

"This isn't buying a treasure; it's clearly buying a death warrant."

Gu Changsheng withdrew his gaze, and the slight regret he felt from being unable to bid due to lack of money instantly vanished.

This drop of Blazing Sun Dew was a classic "path to death."

By now, the auction was nearing its end.

Gu Changsheng didn't rush to stand up. Instead, he very subtly extended his Divine Sense toward a corner of the hall.

That black-robed Puppet that had previously outbid him for the wood wasn't salivating over the Blazing Sun Dew like the others.

It was watching the door.

Those hollow, dead eyes were staring fixedly at every exit of Duobao Pavilion, like a venomous snake lurking in the grass, waiting for a certain prey to appear.

"Still camping for me?"

Gu Changsheng sneered in his heart.

The controller behind it was quite persistent. For the sake of a mere "rotten piece of wood," they didn't even look at the finale's treasure, specifically leaving an informant to block people.

Since you want to play, I'll play "darkness under the lamp" with you.

Gu Changsheng stood up and straightened his robes.

Most people's attention was still on the aftermath of that shocking gamble, or they were secretly plotting how to intercept and kill that "Rich Man Zhao."

This was the perfect time to fish in troubled waters.

He didn't foolishly hide in the booth waiting for the crowd to disperse like Zhao Guizhen—that would be handing the initiative to others. Once surrounded, it would be impossible to escape.

Gu Changsheng walked to the corner of the booth and pressed the teleportation Formation reserved for VIPs.

Buzz.

A flash of light.

His figure instantly vanished and reappeared in a hidden passage in the back alley of Duobao Pavilion.

This was a VIP-only passage leading directly to the city's bustling main street, surrounded by Restrictions that blocked Divine Sense.

As soon as Gu Changsheng's feet hit the ground, his body distorted.

Crackle.

A series of crisp sounds from bones shifting.

The originally tall and cold middle-aged Taoist instantly shrank by three inches. His back became hunched, his skin turned loose and sallow, and even his eyes became murky.

His aura plummeted from the Middle Foundation Establishment Stage, turning into a decrepit Ninth Level of Qi Condensation old man who was about to die.

He took out a pre-prepared red sandalwood cane from his storage ring and held it tremblingly in his hand.

He wasn't done yet.

Gu Changsheng pulled a wine gourd from his robes and sprinkled some low-quality spirit on himself. He immediately reeked of strong alcohol.

Perfect.

The image of a destitute, alcoholic old Loose Cultivator with little Lifespan left was vividly portrayed.

Gu Changsheng pushed open the secret door at the end of the passage and blended into the bustling crowd on the street.

Meanwhile, at the main entrance of the auction hall.

The black-robed Puppet still stood there like a statue, staring fixedly at every Foundation Establishment Cultivator who walked out.

It would never have guessed that the "Middle Foundation Establishment Stage great Cultivator" its master hated so much was currently leaning on a cane, humming an unknown tune, passing less than a hundred feet behind it, and even buying a stick of candied haws from a roadside stall...

Half an hour later.

In the west of the city, at that gloomy and remote Immortal Cave.

After confirming he wasn't being followed and the feeling of being watched had completely vanished, Gu Changsheng slipped inside and quickly activated all the Formations.

Only when the layers of light screens lit up, completely isolating the outside world, did he breathe a long sigh of relief.

He shed his disguise and restored his true appearance.

Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged on the stone bed and took out the piece of "Thousand-Year Sunken Yin Wood."

The charred wood lay quietly in his palm, still emitting that uncomfortable musty smell.

But in Gu Changsheng's eyes, this was ten thousand times more endearing than that radiantly brilliant Blazing Sun Dew.

Gu Changsheng's fingertips lightly brushed over the rough texture of the wood's surface, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

"What a steal."