"All right, I was just thinking of visiting the Renyan Sect's market,"
Renyan Sect is also one of the five great sects, a prominent sect on the Xuantian Continent. Its market should be no smaller than the Xuanxin Sect's.
The three of them left Wangchuan Restaurant and walked onto the bustling street. Chu Lingwei immediately became interested.
"It's quite lively here."
Chu Lingwei's favorite thing was to browse the small stalls lining the streets, looking at one stall after another, filled with all sorts of strange cultivation items.
This suddenly reminded her of a withered branch containing spiritual energy she had bought once. She had collected it into her spatial artifact and planted it by the waterfall. She wondered if it had survived.
"Junior Sister, let's go sit at a teahouse."
Spirit Tea House was the fastest source of news.
"Waiter, what's been happening lately that the market is so lively?" Nangong Luo tossed the waiter a spirit stone and asked.
The waiter, a cultivator in the Spirit Movement stage, grinned so widely at the sight of the spirit stone that it seemed he might split his face. Bowing, he lowered his voice, "I presume you Daoist friends are unaware of recent events on the Xuantian Continent."
"Oh? What's happening? Tell us." Su Yan sipped his spirit tea. The only major event on the Xuantian Continent recently was the appearance of that great demon.
"A great demon has appeared on the Xuantian Continent, specifically feeding on human cultivators' spiritual energy and destroying their spiritual veins." The waiter's voice was heavy. He glanced behind him, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, continued, "Disciples who have returned from their travels say that the great demon only ambushes solitary cultivators outside of sect territories. As long as you are within sect boundaries, there is no danger."
"So, the market is the safest place?" Nangong Luo raised an eyebrow. It seemed this great demon had some hidden connection with the Renyan Sect.
The waiter nodded affirmatively. "Yes, there have never been any incidents of spiritual energy being absorbed in the market. Therefore, most people stay within the market or travel in groups."
Nangong Luo nodded and dismissed the waiter.
"This is truly interesting," Nangong Luo chuckled. The Renyan Sect's actions were becoming increasingly ostentatious.
Su Yan sipped his spirit tea, listening to the discussions of cultivators in the Spirit Tea House, his interest piqued.
Chu Lingwei was also drawn to the conversation of two cultivators sitting by the window.
"Why is Xinghe City suddenly holding an auction so early?" one cultivator's voice was filled with curiosity.
Xinghe City had a thousand-year-old auction house that held an auction every three years.
They accepted auctions from anyone, earning thirty percent profit. The Xinghe Auction House had endured for a millennium because it was staffed by numerous powerful experts who could effectively protect the identities of consignors and ensure the safety of buyers.
They never inquired about the origin of the items for auction, as long as they were valuable, they would auction them.
"I heard it's because a cultivator is about to break through to the Master realm and needs a Seven-Star Spiritual Gathering Grass to refine a ninth-tier Spiritual Gathering Pill. So, Xinghe City is specially holding an extra auction to find this Seven-Star Spiritual Gathering Grass for this esteemed cultivator."
The other cultivator explained the reason, sighing, "A Grandmaster realm expert. If he truly breaks through to that level, Xinghe City will gain another powerful ally."
"Indeed," the first cultivator scoffed. Who wouldn't want to gain a powerful backer? "Have they found the Seven-Star Spiritual Gathering Grass yet?"
"Who knows?" the last cultivator shrugged. "Even if they found it, they wouldn't announce it to the world, would they?"
"That's true. I really want to see it."
"What are you thinking?"
They soon changed the topic. Not everyone could enter the Xinghe Auction House; ordinary cultivators could only dream of it.
Chu Lingwei had only heard of auction houses in novels. Anything that could be brought to an auction must be extremely rare.
"Junior Sister, are you interested in visiting the auction house?" Su Yan put down his spirit tea. In the past hundred years, he had never heard of a Celestial Venerable suddenly appearing at the Master realm.
"Yes."
Chu Lingwei answered without hesitation.
"We'll depart for Xinghe City tonight," Nangong Luo declared decisively.
The fastest they could travel from this city to Xinghe City was one day. If they left tonight, they would arrive by tomorrow morning.
"Shouldn't we wait for our Senior Brother?"
"No need. I'll send him a sound transmission talisman and tell him to wait for us two more days." As for the great demon hiding in the Renyan Sect, it wasn't something that could be found easily. Delaying by two days wouldn't matter.
That evening, the three of them boarded their Second Senior Brother's flying sword and sped towards Xinghe City.
The auction in Xinghe City was scheduled for tomorrow night.
"Do you think we'll encounter that great demon?" Nangong Luo, half-reclining on the flying sword, looked back at the receding Renyan Sect and chuckled.
"If it really appears, do you think you can defeat it?" Su Yan glanced at Nangong Luo. His talent was good, but he was too lazy and not dedicated enough to cultivation.
He had no chance of winning against that great demon.
"Third Junior Brother, if you speak like that, Second Senior Brother will be hurt," Nangong Luo sat up indignantly. "I'm an eighth-grade alchemist. Who would send an alchemist to fight?"
"Even an alchemist would die."
Chu Lingwei covered her mouth and giggled, finding it quite amusing when her Second and Third Senior Brothers were together.
"Junior Sister, what are you laughing at?" Nangong Luo looked sideways. He was a Heaven Fusion realm expert and not without ability.
"I'm not laughing at anything. I just think we're not that unlucky." Chu Lingwei shook her head repeatedly. Her Second Senior Brother, when displeased, could be quite formidable.
Nangong Luo snorted twice, stretched lazily, and secretly thought to himself that he simply disdained fighting and killing.
Suddenly, Nangong Luo's expression changed drastically. He stood up and looked towards the direction of the Renyan Sect.
Su Yan did the same. The artifact in his hand appeared, ready for action.
Chu Lingwei's heart skipped a beat. Could it be this coincidental? Had the great demon appeared so quickly?
A gust of wind swept towards them. The flying sword was like a ship in a storm, and the protective barrier around them swayed precariously as it was battered by the hurricane.
Chu Lingwei summoned her Ice Jade Frost Sword, and the bell in her hand jingled softly.
"Who is it?"
Su Yan summoned his spirit beast, a golden qilin that soared into the sky. Su Yan stood on its back, shielding them.
The golden qilin was a seventh-tier spirit beast. As soon as it appeared, the hurricane opposite them subsided significantly.
Nangong Luo put away his flying sword and, with Chu Lingwei, landed steadily on his spirit beast, the Windwalker, fixing his gaze on the person putting on a show.
Suddenly, several streams of spiritual energy struck them simultaneously. Nangong Luo's expression tightened, and a defensive artifact enveloped them.
"Heavenly Transformation realm expert."
Su Yan murmured. Simultaneously, over a dozen seventh and eighth-tier spirit beasts appeared in the air, pouncing towards the opposing figure.
"Wow, this is amazing!"
The Third Senior Brother's spirit beasts, their bodies radiating their spiritual energy attributes, weaved their energies together with lightning speed.
A muffled grunt was heard. Nangong Luo let out a sneer. One of Third Junior Brother's spirit beasts alone could contend with a Heaven Fusion realm expert. Now there were over a dozen. Even a Supreme realm expert would struggle to resist.