62: Wasting money? No, I'm here to buy goods.

At the center of Luoyun City stood the Duobao Celestial Palace.

It was a magnificent structure suspended a hundred zhang in the air, its entire surface covered in glazed tiles that shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight. This was the Central Continent branch of the Duobao Pavilion and the venue for today's "Prodigy Auction."

As the recommender for this event, Shen Tong, his face beaming with pride, led Lin Que through the bustling crowd straight to the top-floor Celestial-grade private box.

"Senior, the formal auction begins in one hour."

Shen Tong respectfully pointed to an area in the center of the hall, crowded with people:

"That's the preview event for this auction—'Mystery Box Appraisal.' It contains all sorts of unappraised ancient relics, their authenticity difficult to discern, relying entirely on one's eye. Senior, if you're interested, you can go have some fun."

"Mystery boxes?"

Lin Que stood by the railing, looking down at the scene below.

Hundreds of trays were placed there, each shrouded by a sealing Formation. Some emitted faint spiritual light, while others were as rusty and tarnished as scrap iron.

Countless young Cultivators gathered around, some sighing in regret, others shouting with wild joy.

"Interesting."

Lin Que gently touched the myriad treasures pearl on his wrist (which had transformed into an ancient-looking bracelet).

Now that he was in the Central Continent, there were many more places to spend money. The hundred thousand-plus Spirit Stones he had seemed like a lot, but if he truly wanted to bid on the final heavyweight treasures, it probably wouldn't be enough.

"Since I'm here, I might as well go earn some pocket money."

Lin Que's figure flickered as he drifted gracefully down... In the appraisal area, the liveliest spot was a display booth named the "Mysterious Mechanism Platform."

A group of lavishly dressed Sect disciples gathered there, fawning around a young man wearing a robe patterned with the Eight Trigrams.

"It's the Young Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, Mo Yunfei!"

"I heard he's cultivated the 'Heavenly Secrets Spirit Pupil,' which can see through the aura of Magical Artifacts and Magic Treasures—he never makes a mistake!"

At that moment, Mo Yunfei was waving a folding fan, pointing and commenting with an arrogant air:

"This jade pendant, though its spiritual light is strong, is actually a 'dead jade' in its final glow—it will shatter at a touch. Trash."

"This broken sword, though rusted, still retains Sword Intent within. Worth five hundred Spirit Stones. Buy it!"

Following his pointers, several of his followers made purchases, indeed making small profits each time, drawing cheers and applause from the surrounding crowd.

"Young Lord Mo truly has divine eyes!"

Mo Yunfei basked in the crowd's flattery when his gaze suddenly swept over Lin Que, who had just squeezed into the crowd, and the Little Snow Ferret in his arms nibbling on a demonic core.

"Where did this country bumpkin come from? Daring to come to the appraisal area with a rat?"

Mo Yunfei scoffed, his eyes full of superiority. Though Lin Que's bearing was extraordinary, his simple, plain blue robe (worn for low profile) did appear shabby compared to the Central Continent's Prodigies, who glittered with the radiance of their Magic Treasures.

Lin Que completely ignored him.

His gaze was fixed on a tray in the corner that no one paid any attention to.

It was a pitch-black, broken clay pot, covered in mud, without a trace of Spiritual Qi fluctuation, yet its price tag was a steep three thousand Spirit Stones.

"This thing..."

Lin Que's finger lightly touched the sealing light screen.

[myriad treasures pearl vibrates!]

[Detected special sealed object: Devouring Heaven Demon Jar (fragment).]

[Grade: ??? (Suspected ancient demonic artifact).]

[Contains within: A drop of un-dried-up 'qilin true blood.']

qilin true blood!

Lin Que's heart gave a sudden jolt. To Cultivate the Arhat Golden Body, the advanced stage after the Iron Skin Technique, he was precisely lacking this kind of top-tier Body Tempering divine blood!

"Boss, I'll take this."

Lin Que directly tossed out a Storage Pouch containing three thousand Spirit Stones.

The entire area fell silent.

Then, a wave of mocking laughter erupted.

"Hahaha! Is this fool crazy? Three thousand Spirit Stones for a broken clay pot?"

"That thing's been sitting there for three years, even a beggar wouldn't take it!"

Mo Yunfei laughed even more exaggeratedly, bending over with mirth as he pointed at Lin Que:

"A country bumpkin is just a country bumpkin. You think this is picking up a bargain? This is clearly a worthless 'anchor stone' the Duobao Pavilion uses to trick fools!"

"I'll say this right now: if that clay pot can yield anything valuable, I'll eat it on the spot!"

Lin Que picked up the clay pot, gently patted off the dirt on it, looked up at Mo Yunfei, and curled the corner of his mouth into a playful smile:

"You said it yourself."

"Don't be in a hurry to eat it. It's too hard; I'm afraid it might chip your teeth."

After saying this, Lin Que did not violently break the Seal. Instead, a wisp of dark-golden liquid True Qi surged from his fingertip, and he casually tapped it on an inconspicuous pattern on the clay pot.

That was the System's "Weakness Scan" function.

*Crack.*

The layer of dirt on the surface of the clay pot shattered and fell away like an eggshell.

Immediately after.

ROAR——!!

An ear-splitting beast roar erupted without warning in the appraisal area!

A pillar of crimson blood Qi shot into the sky, instantly piercing through the hall's dome Formation!

A terrifying pressure emanating from an ancient Divine Beast swept through the entire area like a tidal wave. Those Cultivators who had been mocking moments ago instantly felt their Bloodlines suppressed, their legs going weak. Many directly fell to their knees.

"What... is that?!"

The smile on Mo Yunfei's face instantly froze, and the folding fan in his hand clattered to the floor.

In Lin Que's hand, the broken clay pot had vanished.

In its place, suspended in mid-air, was a drop of golden-red blood burning with raging flames. At the center of the blood, the faint silhouette of a fiery Qilin could be seen roaring at the heavens!

qilin true blood!

"Heavens! It's Sacred Beast True Blood!!"

"This single drop of blood is enough to drive Body Cultivators mad! It's worth at least fifty thousand... no, a hundred thousand Spirit Stones!!"

The crowd went wild.

Three thousand Spirit Stones, turned into over thirty times that amount in an instant!

What kind of godly luck was this?

Lin Que casually took out a specially crafted jade vial, collected the True Blood, and sealed away that terrifying pressure.

He looked at Mo Yunfei, who was already dumbfounded, and shook the jade vial in his hand:

"Young Lord Mo, this clay pot is now shattered into pieces. Do you plan to eat it raw, or with some sauce?"

Mo Yunfei's face flushed bright red, looking as if he had lost both parents.

Being publicly humiliated like this was worse than death to him.

"You... you cheated!!"

Enraged and humiliated, a strange purple light suddenly flashed in Mo Yunfei's eyes.

Pupil Technique: Soul-Piercing Thorn!

He wanted to teach this brat who didn't know his place a lesson, directly attacking his Divine Sense to make him lose face in public!

However.

The moment that invisible mental spike touched the space between Lin Que's eyebrows.

Within Lin Que's Sea of Consciousness, that pool of Divine Sense, which had already transformed into a liquid state (a qualitative change after his Breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm), remained utterly calm and undisturbed.

[Malicious spiritual attack detected!]

[Source: Heavenly Secrets Spirit Pupil.]

[Disadvantage determined: Divine Soul stabbing pain, Sea of Consciousness tremor, temporary blindness.]

[Transfer initiated! Multiplier: Double rebound!]

"Playing dirty?"

Lin Que sneered inwardly.

*Hum!*

Mo Yunfei only felt darkness before his eyes.

"Ah!!"

He suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream, clutching his eyes tightly with both hands, two streams of bloody tears flowing from between his fingers.

"My eyes! My eyes are blind!!"

"Young Lord?!"

The Heavenly Secret Pavilion guards were horrified and quickly supported the swaying Mo Yunfei.

Lin Que stood in place, spreading his hands with an innocent expression:

"What happened to Young Lord Mo? Could it be that seeing such a heavy treasure was too exciting, and it dazzled his eyes blind?"

"Sigh, the psychological resilience of young people these days is truly lacking."

After saying this, he paid no further attention to the chaotic Heavenly Secret Pavilion group and turned to walk towards the second-floor auction hall.

His departing figure was carefree, his achievements and fame deeply concealed...

In the Celestial-grade private box.

As soon as Lin Que sat down, Shen Tong hurriedly entered, his expression somewhat grave.

"Senior, did you just have a conflict with people from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion?"

"Just taught a mad dog a lesson, that's all."

Lin Que casually placed that drop of qilin true blood on the table to play with, speaking nonchalantly.

Shen Tong forced a bitter smile. "Senior, you may not know this. Although the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's combat strength is average, their connections are extremely vast. And... I heard that a True Disciple from the Blood Fiend Sect has also come this time, and he is on very good terms with Mo Yunfei."

"A Blood Fiend Sect True Disciple?"

Lin Que raised an eyebrow.

First killing an outer Sect steward (One-Eyed Dragon), and now a True Disciple shows up? This Blood Fiend Sect really was persistent like a haunting ghost.

"It's fine."

A flash of Battle Intent flickered in Lin Que's eyes.

His current strength was in a period of rapid ascent. With the qilin true blood obtained, as long as he had time to refine it, his Physical Body could reach another level.

"The auction is about to begin."

With a clear chime of a bell.

On the auction stage below, a female auctioneer in a fiery red dress, with a curvaceous figure, walked out gracefully.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Prodigy Auction!"

"The first item up for bidding—**a third-grade, Low Grade Spiritual Artifact, Frost Sword!** Starting bid, five thousand Spirit Stones!"

Fierce bidding instantly drowned out the venue.

Lin Que sat in the private box, sipping spiritual tea, quietly watching.

These ordinary goods held no interest for him.

Until half an hour later.

"The next item is one of the heavyweight finale treasures of this auction!"

The red-dressed auctioneer's voice became excited as she lifted the red cloth covering the tray.

*Boom!*

A thick, bloody aura instantly filled the entire hall.

On the tray lay a palm-sized piece of bloody bone, carved with dense, bizarre runes. Faint sounds of wailing ghosts and howling wolves could be heard emanating from it.

"This is a **fragment of the 'Blood Scripture'** brought from an ancient Blood Fiend ruin!"

"Although it's only a single page, it records an escape secret technique named **'Blood Burning Evasion'**! Burn your essence blood to travel a thousand li in an instant—it's a divine life-saving skill!"

"Starting bid, fifty thousand Spirit Stones!"

Blood Burning Evasion?

Lin Que's eyes lit up.

Currently, for offense he had the Seven Absolute Blades and the Seven Kill Saber Technique; for defense, the Iron Skin Technique and the Secret Canon of Self-Sacrifice. The only thing lacking was an escape method, which was still just ordinary flight.

This secret technique seemed tailor-made for him!

Moreover... [myriad treasures pearl vibrates!]

[Detected aura of a same-origin Cultivation Technique!]

[This bone fragment... seems to also be a part of the 'Secret Canon of Self-Sacrifice'?]

Lin Que's heart shook violently.

The Secret Canon of Self-Sacrifice actually had scattered fragments still out there?

"Fifty-five thousand!"

"Sixty thousand!"

The bidding below had already reached a fever pitch.

"One hundred thousand."

Just then, a cold, overbearing voice came from a private box opposite named the "Blood Fiend Pavilion."

That was the Blood Fiend Sect's True Disciple, Li Tianxing.

The entire hall instantly fell silent. No one dared to easily offend a Blood Fiend Sect True Disciple.

"One hundred thousand, going once..."

The auctioneer was about to bring down the gavel.

"One hundred and ten thousand."

Lin Que's voice lazily drifted out from the Celestial-grade private box.

Since it was a component of his own Cultivation Technique, there was no reason to let someone else have it.

"Hmm?"

Inside the Blood Fiend Pavilion, Li Tianxing violently crushed the wine cup in his hand, his gaze venomously fixed on Lin Que's private box:

"Competing with me?"

"Investigate! I want to know who's sitting in that box!"

"No matter who he is, once he leaves Luoyun City... I'll make him spit it all back out, principal and interest!"