35: The highest bidder gets what I have left.

The gilded gates of Danyang Pavilion slowly closed.

A clear, melodious chime isolated the outside world's clamor.

The auction officially began.

Lu Yuan sat in an unnoticed corner, his figure completely swallowed by the shadow of a pillar, his presence as faint as a roadside pebble.

The immense amount of Spirit Stones he obtained from Wang Wealthy was his confidence, but he revealed not a single bit of it.

His gaze was calm, sweeping over the bustling hall before finally settling on a private room on the second floor.

Ye Chen.

The Son of Luck sat upright, an arrogant expression on his face, attended carefully by a maid from Danyang City Lord's Mansion.

On the other side, within a gloomy private room, the sinister laughter of Blood Fiend Sect's Young Lord Zhao Qian was faintly audible.

Further away, in a private room enveloped in a thin mist, Han Yuexi's figure was ethereal, her aura seemingly not of this world.

Wolves surrounded him.

And he was the deepest hidden hunter.

Soon, the first substantial item was presented.

“An Incomplete Manual of an Ancient Body Tempering Cultivation Technique. According to our appraisal, it is part of the Legacy of the ancient Body Refining Sect, 'Indestructible Vajra Gate.' Starting bid, thirty thousand Spirit Stones.”

The elderly auctioneer's voice was resonant.

A nearly instinctive fervor instantly erupted in Ye Chen's eyes.

His intuition, his unfailingly successful Luck, were frantically telling him that this item was fated for him.

However, in Lu Yuan's vision, above the ancient Jade Slip, a line of blood-red text floated.

“Target: Incomplete Manual of an Ancient Body Tempering Cultivation Technique.”

“Appraisal Result: This Cultivation Technique has been tampered with by later generations and contains fatal flaws. Cultivating it to a critical point will inevitably lead to chaotic Qi and blood, resulting in Qi Deviation.”

“Put option price for 'Ye Chen severely injured by this Cultivation Technique': 20 karma points.”

Lu Yuan's lips curved into a silent, icy arc.

He did not look at the Incomplete Manual, nor did he show any intention of bidding.

His finger tapped three times rhythmically on his knee.

In the hall, a drowsy, stout Cultivator jolted awake and shouted, “Thirty-five thousand!”

Ye Chen frowned and snorted coldly.

“Forty thousand.”

“Forty-one thousand!” From another corner, a gaunt old man spoke in a sinister tone.

“Fifty thousand!” Someone else joined the fray.

Ye Chen's expression was somewhat displeased.

It was just an Incomplete Manual, yet so many people were competing with him for it.

Of course, he wouldn't know that the “impulsiveness” of these seemingly unrelated bidders had already been “bought out” by Lu Yuan with insignificant karma points.

This was a false prosperity staged for him alone.

“One hundred thousand.”

Ye Chen lost patience and directly called out a high price, his voice imbued with the pressure of a Golden Core Cultivator.

The entire hall fell silent.

The Cultivators influenced by Lu Yuan sobered up, shrinking their necks and daring not to speak further.

“One hundred thousand once, one hundred thousand twice...”

The old man looked around, about to bring down the hammer.

Lu Yuan's finger tapped once more.

The stout Cultivator stood up, his face filled with an impulse he himself couldn't understand.

“One hundred thousand... and one hundred!”

After he shouted, he himself was stunned.

The hall was first dead silent, then erupted in irrepressible laughter.

Ye Chen's face was clouded with gloom, the knuckles of his hand holding the teacup already white.

This was no longer bidding.

It was humiliation.

“One hundred fifty thousand.”

He squeezed out three words through gritted teeth, his murderous gaze fixed on the stout man.

The stout man was drenched in cold sweat, slumping into his seat, his face ashen.

Ultimately, Ye Chen acquired this useless Cultivation Technique, which was destined to cost him dearly, at five times the starting bid.

He took a sip of tea, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart, dismissing it as mere noise from a group of ants.

The next few auction items were uneventful.

Until a black robe embroidered with silver patterns was displayed.

“Profound Crow Spirit Concealing Robe, a top-grade Magical Artifact. When activated, it can temporarily shield against the Divine Sense probes of Early Stage Golden Core Cultivators, making it an excellent Sharp Weapon for stealth and assassination. Starting bid, fifty thousand Spirit Stones.”

Lu Yuan's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

“Target: Profound Crow Spirit Concealing Robe.”

“Appraisal Result: Genuine. Core array patterns are complete, no hidden damage.”

This was it.

“Sixty thousand.” Blood Fiend Sect's Zhao Qian was the first to speak, determined to get this Magical Artifact, a favorite of Demonic Path Cultivators.

“Seventy thousand.” Ye Chen bid calmly.

A robe that could shield against Golden Core Divine Sense had immense strategic value; there was no reason for him to miss it.

“Eighty thousand.”

“Ninety thousand.”

The two were at loggerheads, the price skyrocketing.

Lu Yuan remained silent.

He was an excellent hunter; he knew how to wait.

Waiting for the prey to tear at each other, exhausting their energy and financial resources.

In the private room on the second floor, Han Yuexi did not look at the treasures on the stage. Her gaze, piercing through the mist, remained fixed on that shadowed corner.

In her hand, an ancient mirror, its surface rippling like water, faintly revealed countless Karma threads invisible to Mortals, extending from that corner, gently swaying the emotions and decisions of everyone in the hall.

She couldn't understand it.

But her mind was greatly shaken.

When the price reached two hundred thousand, both Ye Chen and Zhao Qian began to falter, their bidding speed noticeably slowing.

“Two hundred ten thousand!” Zhao Qian gritted his teeth and shouted, this was close to his limit.

Ye Chen sneered, about to give up.

It was at this critical moment.

A calm, even somewhat indifferent voice, came from the corner that everyone had overlooked.

“Three hundred thousand.”

A single, decisive bid.

This sudden, heavy punch pushed the price to a suffocating height for everyone, and at the same time stunned Ye Chen and Zhao Qian, who were still entangled in their struggle.

They looked in the direction of the voice, but could only see an unremarkable face, one that would be lost in a crowd.

An Early Stage Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator?

Where did he get so many Spirit Stones?

Or was this just a disguise of some powerful being, or a front for some force?

Amidst their uncertainty and suspicion, the auctioneer's gavel fell heavily.

“Sold.”

Lu Yuan completed the transaction, his expression unperturbed throughout.

He acquired this crucial life-saving item at a price far below his psychological expectation.

After a brief silence, the auction's atmosphere was pushed to its true climax.

The final item was unveiled.

It was not the nine revolutions soul returning grass itself.

But a tattered beast skin map.

“Everyone!” The host's voice trembled with excitement, “This item is a fragmented map pointing to the legendary divine object, the nine revolutions soul returning grass, in the place where it appeared!”

Boom!

The entire Danyang Pavilion erupted.

All the Cultivators' breathing grew heavy, their eyes filled with greed and fanaticism.

“However,” the host's tone shifted, keeping everyone in suspense, “according to our Danyang Pavilion's appraisal, there are a total of three such fragmented maps.”

“Today, we are fortunate to have found all three of these fragmented maps, and they will be auctioned simultaneously.”

“Starting bid, one hundred thousand Spirit Stones per map, highest bidder wins!”

At these words, the entire hall fell silent once more.

Everyone understood Danyang Pavilion's scheme.

Three fragmented maps meant at least three winners, and it also meant that this struggle would extend directly from the auction hall to the bloody and cruel wilderness.

This was not an auction at all.

This was a war, ignited in advance, a fight to the death.

“Two hundred thousand!”

Ye Chen made the first move. As the Son of Luck, he had an almost instinctive possessiveness for such heavenly divine objects.

“Two hundred fifty thousand!”

Blood Fiend Sect's Zhao Qian followed closely, his voice filled with a desperate madness to win.

Just then, from a corner that had been silent, a mysterious person, shrouded from head to toe in a black robe, their face obscured, spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Three hundred thousand.”

Three factions confronted each other across the air, their gazes fixed on one another.

Invisible killing intent collided in the air, stirring ripples.

A grand gamble had begun.