245: Chapter 245 Auction House Conflict

"Fellow Daoists, please rest assured. I am not a person who goes back on his word."

Although verbal guarantees were meaningless, Zhang Wang and Hua You had no choice but to believe him. Lin Qing took out a transmission token and handed it to Zhang Wang.

"I still need to buy some things at the auction five days from now. How about we contact each other then?"

Zhang Wang and the other had no objections. They had already waited for over ten days, so another five or six days didn't matter. Taking the transmission token, the three exchanged a few more polite pleasantries before Zhang Wang and Hua You left.

The manager and the other person knocked on the door and walked in again.

"Fellow Daoist, do you still need to post a bounty for the Qingyan Beast?"

Lin Qing shook his head and handed the manager a Storage Ring containing two billion Spirit Stones and a transmission token.

"No need. It's enough to just post the bounties for the Lanwen Membrane and the Mist-ridge Boar. This is the deposit."

Afterward, Lin Qing gave five hundred million Spirit Stones each to the manager and that Disciple. They had found Zhang Wang and Hua You for him, saving Lin Qing a lot of time. Lin Qing was not a stingy person.

When Lin Qing walked out of Xunshan Pavilion, Ren Wudi and Qiyue had already left. Perhaps they had gathered enough manpower and headed toward the Southern Domain.

Lin Qing found an inn to stay at. Now that there were still five days until the auction started, and he was inside a city, it was impossible for him to sit in meditation on the streets the whole time.

With nothing to do, Lin Qing found a window-side seat in the inn's lobby to drink. Qingai City was not Wanyan Spirit Pavilion; there were still quite a few native locals in the city. Not everyone possessed cultivation talent, so finding Mortal food here was not difficult—for instance, Mapo Tofu.

While drinking, Lin Qing listened to other Cultivators chatting idly in the lobby. Some were talking about matters in the Southern Domain, some said the auction had attracted several famous Cultivators, and others brought up a certain Secret Realm from three hundred years ago.

"That Secret Realm is very likely the ruins of an ancient Sect. Although I had just made a Breakthrough to the Ninth Rank back then, I happened to be nearby when the Secret Realm opened and was fortunate enough to go inside."

"It's a pity the Secret Realm only opened for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Afterward, everyone was squeezed out, and there was simply no time to explore."

"However, I heard someone obtained a mysterious ring inside. When the Secret Realm appears again, that ring will react."

Five days later, at the entrance of the auction house, Lin Qing merely displayed a bit of his financial strength and was led into a VIP private room.

This auction was rather special; it was held specifically for that Cloud-patterned Elk. Therefore, there were no other things used as padding; right off the bat came things like beast meat, beast tendons, and beast bones.

Things like beast meat were auctioned by the catty and divided among relatively wealthy Tenth Rank or Ninth Rank Cultivators. As for parts that required high integrity, such as beast horns or beast skins, only the few Level 11 Cultivators present were qualified to bid on them.

"The next item, Cloud-patterned Elk fat, starting bid is five billion."

Lin Qing finally waited for the item he wanted, so he spoke without hesitation.

"Five billion five hundred million."

"Six billion."

In a rather luxurious private room, a Level 11 Late Stage Cultivator spoke with a smile. He was the administrator of Qingai City for the past few decades and could barely be called the city lord.

The specifications of this auction house were far from comparable to the one in Qianbao City. Whether it was the size or the Formations of these private rooms, in front of a Level 11 Late Stage Cultivator, the isolation Formation of Lin Qing's private room was almost equal to nothing.

Before speaking, the city lord naturally glanced over at Lin Qing's side and clearly sensed Lin Qing's Tenth Rank Early Stage cultivation. Aside from lamenting that someone merely at the Tenth Rank like Lin Qing had so many Spirit Stones, he didn't take other things to heart.

He had the same thoughts as those Level 11 Cultivators who attended the auction in Qianbao City, thinking that since he had spoken, Lin Qing should give up on his own. Therefore, there was still a smile on his Face when he made the bid.

Of course Lin Qing wouldn't give him Face. Besides, this Cloud-patterned Elk fat was very important to him, so almost the instant the city lord's voice fell, he spoke to raise the bid.

"Seven billion."

The city lord's Face darkened, but he didn't strike immediately. Instead, he sent a voice transmission to his attendant nearby.

"Go investigate what background this person has."

Afterwards, he continued to bid, maintaining the appearance of fair competition until Lin Qing raised the price to ten billion, at which point he had no choice but to give up.

The price of this piece of Cloud-patterned Elk fat was around eight billion. This slight premium obviously didn't matter to Lin Qing. He was no longer that poor kid from back in Qingyang County who had to split a single tael of silver in half to use. Right now, he had too many ways to make money; even if the price of this Cloud-patterned Elk fat rose to twenty billion, he would raise the bid without hesitation.

Lin Qing lost interest in the subsequent items, so he called over the service personnel of the private room.

"Go get the item and bring it over for the handover."

Seeing that Lin Qing was no longer participating in the subsequent auction, the service personnel bowed in assent. Before long, the service personnel brought the manager over to handle the transaction with Lin Qing.

At this time, the city lord's entourage had already finished gathering information.

"You're saying this brat is a Loose Cultivator?"

"There is no information about him within any slightly major forces."

If it were merely Tenth Rank Early Stage cultivation, he wouldn't be any confidential-level figure even in a super faction. Furthermore, the city lord and the others originally came from major factions; if even they couldn't find anything, it meant Lin Qing truly was a Loose Cultivator.

"Good, good, good! I almost really got bluffed by this bastard!"

After saying that, the city lord directly reached out and grabbed toward Lin Qing's private room. Although it was in a densely populated city, he was confident that with his Level 11 Late Stage cultivation, dealing with a mere Tenth Rank Early Stage Cultivator wouldn't harm the innocent.

Lin Qing's side had already completed the transaction with the auction house manager. The moment he put the Cloud-patterned Elk fat back into his Storage Ring, he sensed an attack hurtling toward him.

The city lord's attack transformed into a giant claw, directly penetrating into Lin Qing's private room, while structures like the walls remained completely undamaged.

Level 11 Return to Void Realm—even the Physical Body can become ethereal. It was not strange to be able to accomplish such a thing.

Amidst the screams of the manager and the service personnel, Lin Qing turned around and shattered the giant claw with a single punch.

Lin Qing was also somewhat angry at this moment. He had been very displeased when he paid the one million Spirit Stones for the city entry fee earlier. He could generously give hundreds of millions of Spirit Stones to the manager and Disciple of Xunshan Pavilion because he wanted to give it, but when he didn't want to give it, you couldn't just rob him.

He didn't want to give the million Spirit Stones at the city gate, but constrained by the fact that everyone followed this rule, he didn't throw a fit.

He didn't expect that the other party would actually dare to attack him in full view of the public now; this was simply courting death.

Lin Qing squatted slightly, then leaped up, crashing through the roof of the auction house, and finally halted tens of thousands of feet in mid-air. With a cold gaze, he looked down at the ground.

"Get your ass up here!"