91: Chapter 91 The Final Killing Trap, Blood Lotus Bait

Zhenmo Abyss, inner venue of the Blood River Dark Assembly.

Over a dozen terrifying Spiritual Pressure waves at the Foundation Establishment Stage, like massive, tangible waves, collided thunderously above the funnel-shaped abyss.

The air emitted a teeth-grinding explosion.

The Loose Cultivators in the Xuan-class stone niches turned pale, and those with weaker cultivation levels spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

Gu Shen huddled in the dark corner of Xuan-class niche number 75.

He did not mobilize his magic power to resist.

The layer of iron bones in his body, shimmering with dark gold luster, trembled slightly, channeling all of this indiscriminate pressure into the bluestone slab beneath him.

On the surface, he feigned a trembling appearance, but his eyes were as cold as the abyss.

"Seniors, please restrain yourselves. The rules of the Blood River Dark Assembly cannot be broken."

On the high white jade platform, the auctioneer Hong Fu looked slightly pale, but she still forced herself to maintain her Foundation Establishment Initial Stage cultivation as she spoke loudly.

The Spiritual Pressure in the high air stalemated for three breaths before slowly receding.

However, the tense silence was even more suffocating than the pressure.

Hong Fu took a deep breath and pointed to the jade box sealed with nine golden talismans: "The Incomplete Manual of 'Soul-Pulling Threads'. A secret of the Qianji Pavilion. Although it is an Incomplete Manual, the method of 'Divided Soul Thread Control' recorded within is intact. If one can comprehend it, one can control three Puppets of the same stage simultaneously during the Qi Refining Stage, without harming the Origin of the Divine Soul!"

"Starting bid, one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones! Each increment must be no less than one hundred!"

Boom!

This base price immediately kicked ninety-nine percent of the Loose Cultivators out of the game.

One thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones were enough to hollow out the entire foundation of a small Cultivation Family.

Gu Shen leaned against the stone wall, watching coldly.

He only had three hundred-plus Spirit Stones left in his Storage Ring, not even enough to qualify for bidding. But he had never intended to buy it anyway.

"One thousand five hundred." A hoarse, gravelly, and aggressive voice came from the Heaven-class number 3 private room.

"Two thousand. Fellow Daoist of the Blood Fiend Sect, don't embarrass yourself by bringing out such an ancient Legacy." The Heaven-class number 7 private room followed up immediately, its voice upright and calm, yet carrying an unquestionable domineering air.

"Hypocrites of the Danding Sect, do you even deserve to touch the art of Puppets? Two thousand five hundred!"

The bidding instantly reached a fever pitch.

In just half an incense stick of time, the price was forced up to four thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

Gu Shen lowered his eyes.

At this moment, the black iron buckle at his collar suddenly emitted a faint, high-frequency vibration.

"Master." Crab's standalone electronic voice traveled along Gu Shen's collarbone directly into his eardrum, "My microwave detector has captured a trace of abnormality. The item in the jade box on the white jade platform is emitting an extremely regular energy frequency band. This does not look like a simple information carrier; it is more like a positioning beacon continuously emitting signals."

Gu Shen's heart jolted.

"A positioning beacon? You mean, the Jade Slip has been tampered with?"

"Yes, Master. That frequency band is extremely hidden. If we use the terminology of your Cultivation World, it is inscribed with a highly profound, paired tracking master-slave formation pattern. Whoever carries this thing on them is like holding a torch in the dark night."

A cold arc curled at the corner of Gu Shen's mouth.

It was indeed a trap.

That Puppeteer He Zichuan was not selling his Family Legacy because he had no other way out. He had deliberately thrown this hot potato into the Blood River Dark Assembly and had placed a tracking mark on it.

"Five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones! Plus a bottle of blood essence from a Tier 2 Yao Beast!" The Blood Fiend Sect Cultivator in the Heaven-class number 3 private room let out a sharp shout, "Whoever bids again is an enemy of my Blood Fiend Sect!"

The entire venue was dead silent.

Five thousand Spirit Stones was already an astronomical price. Coupled with the Tier 2 Yao Beast blood essence, such a move completely crushed the other competitors.

"Five thousand Spirit Stones, going..." Hong Fu was about to drop the hammer.

"Wait!"

A voice that was extremely weak, yet laced with a touch of madness, suddenly rang out at the bottom of the funnel-shaped venue.

Everyone looked toward the sound.

They saw a young Loose Cultivator in a gray-white long robe with a haggard face, who had somehow left the general seating area and stumbled onto the high white jade platform. As he walked, he coughed violently, as if he might stop breathing at any moment.

It was none other than the seller of the "Soul-Pulling Threads," the descendant of Qianji Pavilion, Puppeteer He Zichuan.

Hong Fu frowned: "Fellow Daoist He, the rules of the Dark Assembly state that the seller cannot interfere with the auction. What is the meaning of this?"

Puppeteer He Zichuan ignored Hong Fu. He raised his head, and his eyes, which had originally been murky and dead, now shot out a terrifyingly sharp light. He scanned the dozen or so Heaven-class private rooms above, and a strangely eerie smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Five thousand Spirit Stones? Tier 2 Yao Beast blood essence?" Puppeteer He Zichuan laughed hoarsely, the laughter growing louder and louder, until it finally turned into unbridled, maniacal laughter, "Is the foundation of my Qianji Pavilion only worth this much scrap metal?!"

"Insolent!" In the Heaven-class number 7 private room, the roar of Lin Xuan, a Deacon of the Danding Sect, exploded like thunder, "A mere ant of the Qi Refining Stage, how dare you spout such nonsense here! If not for the rules of the Dark Assembly protecting you, I would have searched your soul right now!"

"Rules?" Puppeteer He Zichuan abruptly stopped laughing, his eyes becoming extremely chilling. He thrust his right hand into his bosom and pulled out a jade box wrapped in layers of mud Seals.

"Don't you want this 'Soul-Pulling Threads'? Aren't you searching the whole world for the fugitive from Qingmu Cliff?!"

Puppeteer He Zichuan exerted force with his five fingers, shattering the mud Seals on the jade box.

Hum! The jade box cracked open.

In an instant, an extremely pure and dense vitality that made every pore in one's body relax, mixed with a trace of heart-palpitating, extreme Evil Qi, swept through the entire underground venue of Zhenmo Abyss like a storm!

In the jade box, quietly lay a piece of a withered root, only the size of a fingernail, crystal clear like red agate throughout!

"A blood marrow lotus remnant root!!!" From the Heaven-class number 3 and Heaven-class number 7 private rooms, two extremely uncomposed exclamations rang out simultaneously.

Boom! Boom! Two terrifying figures at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage smashed through the glass windows of the private rooms, and like two hungry wolves smelling blood, they threw themselves toward the high white jade platform, regardless of everything!

"That is the remnant root stolen by the Master of Qingmu Cliff!! How is it in your hands?!" The Elder of the Blood Fiend Sect's eyes were splitting with rage.

"Take him!" The Danding Sect's Lin Xuan roared sternly.

The entire venue was instantly thrown into chaos. The Loose Cultivators in the Xuan-class area were terrified and swarmed frantically toward the massive bronze door.

And Gu Shen, huddled in the stone niche in the corner, saw Puppeteer He Zichuan pull out that remnant root and his pupils instantly contracted to pinpricks.

It was not because of the remnant root.

It was because the moment Puppeteer He Zichuan shattered the mud Seal, the magic power in his body, which had been tightly suppressed at the Qi Refining Stage 4, surged violently like a volcanic eruption!

Qi Refining 9th Layer Peak!

What made Gu Shen's scalp tingle even more was that, along with the surge of magic power, an extremely sharp and terrifying energy, as if it could sever everything, emanated from Puppeteer He Zichuan's body.

Zheng—! An extremely clear sword hum overwhelmed the clamor of the entire venue.

Puppeteer He Zichuan joined his fingers like a sword, and a handleless Flying Sword as thin as a cicada's wing shot out from his sleeve, transforming into a silver streak of light that slashed directly at the Blood Fiend Sect Elder who was charging at the very front!

"A Sword Cultivator?!" Gu Shen stared fixedly at that silver sword light, as if lightning had struck his mind; all the clues converged in this instant.