Everyone felt the gust of air, but it was too quick and too powerful for anyone to stop it. Moreover, the attacker had been discreet and skillful and no one could even pinpoint which direction the attack had originated from.
Anyone who knew about the Heaven Descent Pill would also know that the pill would only work on Qing Xun’s blood kin, since it’d been refined with her blood. Destroying the pill would be a personal affront to the Panorama Pavilion.
Just when most expected the pill to be destroyed, a cyan luster resembling the vast sky above suddenly dazzled from the pill and forcefully scattered the aura.
“This is a pill that survived a pill tribulation,” scoffed Lu Yun. “How would a peerless immortal be able to dent it?”
Gasps of astonishment resounded around the stage. This fabled ancient pill could even counter a peerless immortal’s aura!
With a wave of Lu Yun’s hand, the pill flew to Qing Xun. She inhaled deeply and accepted the pill with great care.
“I win the third auction as well, don’t I?” Lu Yun smiled at Qing Xun.
“Having refined a pill as incredible as the Heaven Descent Pill, Sir Lu naturally—”
“Hold!” Gu Zun took a step forward and exclaimed. “Fairy Qing Xun, do you recall the request you listed before the auction?”
Surprised eyes shifted to him.
“Of course I do,” Qing Xun replied indifferently as she tucked the pill away. “Whoever refines the highest ranking pill will win the Ten Orientations Stone.”
“My Dao Fruit Pill is the best of ninth-rank pills! The pill master from River Province refined a supreme-rank pill! Even Miss Yue’s Moondew Pill ranks higher than the Heaven Descent Pill. Why would Lu Yun be the winner then?”
The Heaven Descent Pill was rankless.
“They say that the pill can confer upon a fetus the golden immortal principles and establish their dao foundation, but that’s just unproven tales. Who knows if the pill Lu Yun created actually works that way?
“Only three Heaven Descent Pills have ever been refined, even back in the ancient times. Who can say for sure that this pill really is one?”
Qing Xun’s face tightened. She knew the pill master was forcing his conclusion, but she couldn’t find the words to counter his argument.
At this, everyone felt silent. Many actually agreed with Gu Zun. Moreover, they didn’t want the pill to be the real deal. If it were, they, too, would need to find a way to destroy it! Panorama Pavilion mustn’t be allowed to raise a celestial emperor!
There were nine majors in the world, each with their own celestial emperor. That was enough. No one desired a tenth peak dao immortal, even if it was decades later!
Qing Xun paled when she realized the key to the problem.
“Little sister,” called out a smooth, gentle voice. A dignified and graceful woman stepped onto the stage. There was a strong resemblance between her and Qing Xun. While the host of the ceremonies looked to be about seventeen, the newcomer comported herself with a dignified bearing.
“Big sister!” Qing Xun perked up at the new arrival.
“Would you let me have the pill, sister?” smiled the graceful madam. Delighted, Qing Xun fumbled out the pill and handed it to the woman, who promptly swallowed it before anyone could react.
“You....” Gu Zun’s expression darkened. Most present didn’t know who the woman was, but Qing Xun had just called her sister. That indicated the woman must be a senior member of the Panorama Pavilion.
“Qing Ruyan expresses gratitude to Sir Lu on behalf of my unborn child.” The mysterious madam swept a gracious curtsey to Lu Yun.
That prompted a reaction out of everyone. The woman was pregnant, and she was Qing Xun’s blood relation! She could use Qing Xun’s golden immortal principles to build a dao foundation for the child in her womb.
Qing Ruyan was the dao partner of the pavilion head’s firstborn son, and she was Qing Xun’s biological sister. Due to her mild temper and dislike of attention, most people didn’t know of her. She’d only taken the stage because Qing Xun’s blood had been used to refine a Heaven Descent Pill, and the pavilion wouldn’t have been able to keep the pill without her intervention.
“How courageous of you to take a pill refined with dead herbs, madam,” Gu Zun mocked before Lun Yun could respond. “Who knows if it actually works?”
“Whether it works or not, Sir Lu is the winner of the final auction.” Smiling, she levitated the Ten Orientations Stone to Lu Yun with a point of her finger.
“Hmph!” Gu Zun snorted. It was obvious that this Qing Ruyan didn’t think much of him. He placed his hands behind his back with a sneer and arrogantly declaimed, “The Panorama Pavilion is quite unfair in its dealings.”
“Unfair?” Qing Ruyan chuckled gracefully. “The Ten Orientations Stone is ours. Even if we decided to gift it to Sir Lu Yun with no strings attached, that would still be our right. What do you think you are to question our decisions?”
“What did you say?!” Days of accumulated fury had finally reached a tipping point. Gu Zun snarled irately and flung a slap at Qing Ruyan.
“You seek a swift and unpleasant death!” Qing Ruyan scowled, unleashing a tremendous might. Changes instantly swept over the entire blessed land; the skies darkened and earth trembled. The very world seemed to tremble beneath her fury.
Face slack with shock, Gu Zun’s upraised right hand froze in the air against his will.
“Ar… arcane dao immortal!!” He almost collapsed. He, a golden immortal, had attacked an arcane dao immortal!
There were three dao immortal realms on the path of cultivation: aether, arcane, and origin.
Qing Ruyan was an arcane dao immortal, which put her on equal footing with the ancestors of the major clans. She might’ve only plucked her first arcane dao fruit, but she was among the top heavyweights in the world!
Many immortals gasped in shock, no wonder she’d fearlessly swallowed the pill Lu Yun had refined!
With a wave of her hand, Qing Ruyan threw Gu Zun out of the blessed land.
“Sir Lu Yun,” she turned back with a smile. “I have a favor to ask, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Pray tell.” Lu Yun was caught off guard as well. He hadn’t expected the coquettish young madam to be an arcane dao immortal!
“My child will be born in ten years,” she said gravely, “and I would like you to take my child as your disciple.”