236: Chapter 236 Luo Xue

Lu Xue had originally intended to come in to handle the delivery of the auction items and calculate the Spirit Stone for Lin Qing, and by the way, to apologize for the previous incident.

But when she saw that there was only Lin Qing in the private box, and felt his unmasked Ninth Rank aura, she regretted it.

The professional smile that had originally hung on her face completely vanished. After taking out a Storage Ring and placing it on the table, she said coldly,

"Young Master, here are the items you purchased, along with the remaining thirty-five billion Spirit Stones."

Although Lin Qing had won quite a few items at auction, the things he sold were equally valuable, which was also the reason why Lin Qing had previously taken out the bone powder only to ask for its price rather than selling it directly.

After finishing the auction catalog, he already had a judgment on the total price of the things he needed, and asking about the price of the bone powder again was just in case.

After tallying the items inside the Storage Ring, Lin Qing symbolically nodded, then directly raised his foot and walked out of the private box, not glancing at Lu Xue more than once the entire time.

As for that matter before, Lin Qing did not take it to heart at all; it was not because he was magnanimous, but rather because Lu Xue was nothing in his eyes, and he would not experience any emotional fluctuations because of Lu Xue's attitude.

Inside the private box, Lu Xue's expression turned completely gloomy. Because she was naturally beautiful and backed by the Qianbao Mysterious Palace, even those in a higher Realm than her were mostly polite when speaking to her, and no one had ever given her a cold face like Lin Qing did.

She took out a communication token and instructed the other end,

"The person in Heaven-grade Room Ninety-Six, I want to know his whereabouts."

As a Tenth Rank powerhouse, she naturally had subordinates directly under her. Remembering Lin Qing's attitude, as well as the numerous treasures and Spirit Stones on him, Lu Xue ultimately harbored malicious thoughts.

Of course, it was impossible for her to make a move directly in Qianbao City; for the organizer to rob their own guest on their own turf—if such a matter were to spread, the cost was not something she could easily bear.

The auction had already ended, and Grand Aunt-Master Qing Yao and the others had also left. Lin Qing naturally had no intention of staying in Qianbao City any longer. Moreover, he had to return to the Wanyan Spirit Pavilion a step ahead of Tao Tao and the others. With Tao Tao's personality, she would definitely rush to find Lin Qing the first thing after the auction ended to share her experience this time.

Unfortunately, this auction was simply too popular, and the final settlement delayed some time, causing the Teleportation Building to already be packed with people by the time Lin Qing arrived.

Furthermore, the Teleportation Building in Qianbao City had compartments, and the number of people that could be teleported at one time was extremely limited. Although it would waste a lot of time, Lin Qing had no choice but to honestly queue up. Right now, quite a few people in the city were eyeing him, so it was impossible for him to leave Qianbao City to take a teleportation array in a nearby city.

Fortunately, Lin Qing also saw Tao Tao and her group in the queue. They were not far ahead of Lin Qing, and when making transfers, they would occasionally travel a bit on foot. Lin Qing was confident he could overtake them along the way.

Half a day later, it was finally Lin Qing's turn. After undergoing one teleportation, he immediately hurried toward the next teleportation location.

Teleportation arrays were paired two by two; a single teleportation array could not connect to multiple destinations simultaneously. In a major city like Qianbao City, there were over a dozen connected places, whereas some small cities often only had two or three connected places, or sometimes even just one.

When the teleportation array in certain cities did not have the place the Cultivator wanted to go, they needed to travel a distance on their own to go to other cities to take a teleportation array. This was also why detours were required to go to some relatively distant places.

During the first few teleportations, the landing cities similarly had a large number of Cultivators coming out of Qianbao City. These people were mixed, with cultivation levels varying from high to low. To prevent his disguise ability from being exposed, Lin Qing did not choose to change his appearance the very first time.

As for inside the Teleportation Building of Qianbao City, he dared not change his disguise even more, as experts from the Qianbao Mysterious Palace might be monitoring there.

After Lin Qing left the first transfer city, someone in the corner of the teleportation square picked up a voice transmission token.

"The target has appeared in Xuanshuo City and is hurrying toward Tianxun City."

Although Qianbao City had enclosed all the teleportation arrays, it ultimately could not guarantee everyone's safety. Since tracking was impossible, they would blockade him in advance. They only needed to send people to wait at the teleportation squares in all dozen-plus cities connected to Qianbao City, and they would know the target's movements.

"Continue deployment, and once he teleports a few more times, intercept him!"

Lu Xue continued to arrange. At the same time, she had already appeared in the Teleportation Building of Qianbao City; naturally, she still possessed this little bit of privilege.

There were simply too many people using the teleportation array during this time slot. Almost every single teleportation required Lin Qing to queue up, whereas Lu Xue utilized the advantage of her beauty to reach the teleportation array and depart almost directly.

Finally, while Lin Qing was waiting in line once more, Lu Xue caught up. By now, they were already very far from Qianbao City, and Lu Xue did not make any concealment, directly cutting into the line right behind Lin Qing.

Lu Xue stared smilingly at Lin Qing's back. Lin Qing naturally knew of Lu Xue's arrival, and the corners of his mouth likewise curled into a sneer.

The two of them stepped onto the teleportation array together and appeared in the next city together. Lin Qing continued on his journey toward the nearby transfer city, while Lu Xue closely followed behind Lin Qing, separated by no more than a zhang. If outsiders saw them, they would have thought they were together from the start.

"This Young Master, you really have quite the bold courage. You wouldn't happen to think I'm just heading in the same direction as you by coincidence, right?"

After arriving at a desolate place between the two cities, Lu Xue finally spoke. At this moment, she thought Lin Qing was stupid to the extreme—couldn't he guess that she was looking for a suitable opportunity to make a move against him?

In reality, Lin Qing could tell without even guessing, but how was Lin Qing not also looking for a suitable place?

Lin Qing turned around, looked at Lu Xue with a similarly smiling expression, and said,

"Miss Lu Xue, you really have quite the bold courage. You wouldn't happen to think I can't tell you want to make a move against me, right?"

"Arrogant!"

Seeing Lin Qing's smiling appearance, Lu Xue grew furious. She did not understand why the other party, a mere Ninth Rank, dared to provoke her like this.

Lu Xue distanced herself from Lin Qing while holding her hands aloft, summoning a nine-stringed Konghou from within her body. The body of the zither was carved from dark-veined black jade, entwined with emerald-green vines along the edges, and faint silver mist lingered over the strings.

Lu Xue horizontally held the Konghou, her fingertips brushing across the strings.

Clang——!

The first strand of zither music exploded outward, and a visible silver sound wave expanded outward. The rocks and trees all around shattered into pieces the instant they were touched by the sound wave.

Before the first sound wave even reached in front of Lin Qing, Lu Xue's five fingers rose and fell rapidly, continuous zither notes rising and falling in succession, and silver sound waves continuously bursting forth with the rhythm.