Within the vast expanse, far away from Planet Si Xue, and among the stars flew a sliver of divine sense that was so powerful that anything that lived in the western region of the Vast Expanse gave it a wide breadth of distance as it went past. No creature, no matter how strong, how powerful, no cultivator or ancient being dared cross this sliver of divine sense's way as it crossed distances that could only be imagined and not even executed for these entities.
This sliver of Divine Sense was Zhang Tian, Shen Bao's self-made brother, and his mentor. And right now, he was about to cross the last planetary barrier from the western region of the Vast Expanse, and back to the northern region of the Wind Realm.
A few cultivators, however, greedy as they could ever be would not wish to miss this opportunity, as for them, they realized that this powerful divine sense was vigorous and full of amazing quantities of Saint Qi, if they were to capture it and refine it, they will become stronger.
Sadly for them, they couldn't fathom the might of this mere sliver of divine sense, as the moment they surrounded it, not before a man could blink or realize the gravity of their actions, they were all killed, destroyed, and completely absorbed by the divine sense only to fuel it to go faster.
Though Zhang Tian's divine sense accelerated, it was only by a fraction more, for even if these cultivators were legends within their worlds and planets, they weren't any stronger than an ant against but a mere divine sense of Zhang Tian.
Sometime later, the Divine Sense stopped in front of a massive barrier that separated the domains from each other, it was the same as a border that allowed entry and exit for only those with the right qualifications. Either being allowed entry directly from one of the four Royal Families of the Vast Expanse. Or, if they have Zhang Tian's cultivation level.
And with but a will of his mind, the barrier winced as if in pain, unable to suffer the gaze of Zhang Tian, the massive barrier that blocked oh so numerous cultivators waned and caved, afraid to offend one of the pillars of the Wind Realm.
There and then, the barrier opened and a powerful gust of Saint Qi blew in like a gentle breeze from the wind realm into the Western Domain.
This gout of Saint Qi was bound to attract a lot of cultivators to cultivate here, but for Zhang Tian, though this breeze was not worth a moment of his time, it was still the gentle reminder of home, a home that he had never been to in more than a thousand years.
Shaking in anticipation, Zhang Tian set the first foot into the Wind Realm, and immediately, hell broke loose.
For the lost Prince of the Wind Realm had returned, and with his return…many, many events and turmoil started brewing.
****
"800,000 medium-grade spirit stones. Coming from the eleventh booth!" called the girl, and many people abandoned the bid.
"Going once!"
"1,000,000 medium-grade spirit stones!" a man spoke from a nearby booth.
"I advise the friend in the eleventh booth to give up this trade," he said with as much smug and haughtiness as a golden spoon in mouth born arrogant noble.
Clearly, It was his way to scare me off.
"1,100,000" I typed, and just as the girl spoke the number.
"1,200,000" I added again on the same bid I did before.
People didn't understand what was going on, as I was bidding against myself, but once again before anyone even did anything, I added another hundred thousand spirit stones.
The man next to me shouted, "What the hell are you doing!
And kept going, adding more spirit stones.
Suddenly, everyone gave up their bid, for no man would even dare go against a person that kept increasing the price of an item even against himself.
This was a low blow directed toward the man in the next booth's ego, even if you have money, I have more. Though that's definitely not certain, you don't need to have a lot of money to prove that you are rich, you just have to act like a spendthrift jackass, and I did that with mastery.
Angry and wrathful, the man next booth burst his chair as he shot forward towards my booth, Y was ready to intercept but I never had to move a muscle.
The elder that got me into my booth immediately shot up and stopped the man from charging into my booth.
"I would like to ask you to go back to your booth, sir Xix Yongfei," the elder said.
"Elder Hong, this has nothing to do with you!" the man Xix Yongfei shouted back, trying to scare off the elder with his background.
"Ah, you are wrong, we of the Black Tower Pavilion provide secrecy and perfect security to all our guests, it would be bad for our reputation if we allow incidents to happen within our pavilion. Please return to your seat," the elder said still keeping his grandpa smile.
But I sensed something that man didn't, those words were the same as a rattlesnake shaking its tail, if Xix doesn't back off... he'll probably not make it out of here alive.
"Do you know who I am! Do you think I care about this little pavilion!" the man named Xix Yongfei shouted.
Classic do you know who my daddy is.
The elder with the gentle smile was no more and in his place was a man that looked like a volcano about to blow up, "Brat! Dare speak once more and I'll send your limbs to your father and he'll thank me for it! for even if your father, your father's father, and all your clan was here, they'll be kowtowing against the might of the Black Tower Pavilion, this might be but a small branch but the might of the Black Pavilion is known through the whole of the Vast Expanse, dare and desecrate this place and I'll turn you to grounded meat!"
Also, this was spoken with the use of an oppressive Divine Sense that caused Xix Yongfei to recoil back in terror.
The kid, haughty as he was, still backed off, with such a loss of Face right now, he didn't even dare speak up, lest the man actually makes his earlier threat a reality.
And just to pour more oil into the fire.
I added another hundred thousand spirit stones. Which made the kid cough blood from frustration.
I'm always amazed how could cultivators actually do that, I should investigate this occurrence.
Soon afterward Xix Yongfei left the perimeter of the auction house, and the rest of the audience looked more jubilant and laughed, they seemed more relaxed and a few would take occasional glances my way then laugh with each other. It seemed like they needed some distraction and entertainment and I provided plenty.
After a moment, the elder came to my room, entered, and sighed, "Did you really have to rile him up that much? Xiao Meng, he'll be waiting outside for you to leave, I can protect you within the pavilion, but I can't do much outside it.
"How would he even know who I am?" I asked.
The old man sighed, "He only has to figure the odd one out." He said, and I immediately understood what he meant.
The VIP booths are the only booths with privacy in them, and since all the other VIP Booths were open besides mine, Xix Yongfei only needs to do a quick scan on everyone here, and he'll immediately realize who was in the VIP booth by process of elimination. If he excluded everyone in the audience and everyone on the VIP booths, the person who comes out and he didn't see in the auction will be good ol me.
"Don't worry about it, I have a way, can we continue?" I asked.
"Right away then," the elder said and closed the door.
Soon the auction continued.
And more amazing items showed up, but sadly none was useful for me. Shields and Swords were good for cultivators, but for me, they were only a hassle.
I needed materials because I can make better items for myself since only I can use Poison Qi instead of regular Qi. Any other type of weaponry and defensive treasure that requires the use of Qi to use is useless to me. Better make stuff than buy things that don't work well for me.
Soon came another item that I was actually interested in.
"This is an eight Petal Yellow River Lotus that's about to reach completion. It constantly releases evil Yin Qi and can be used to make a powerful and potent poison that can kill even Nascent Soul Cultivators and heavily injure a first realm Soul Formation Cultivator once it has grown to completion. Starting bid at 50,000 Medium Grade Spirit Stones."
A few bids immediately were called, but the moment I placed a bid of 80,000 Medium Grade spirit Stones, everyone stopped bidding.
"If the senior in the 11th booth wants this, I will happily oblige and give up this bet," a cultivator said as he clasped his hands towards me.
Soon many others did the same.
'Oh, that's nice of them'
I took the lotus for a really cheap price, even if this was good to kill cultivators, for me, it's a really powerful tonic and can help me increase my cultivation base once it's grown. This is a good deal.
Soon, more items showed up, and I noticed that whenever I bid on something everyone gives up, giving me 'Face'. And for the first time, I liked this.
"Elder," I muttered, and immediately the old man came to my booth.
"Yes?"
"Is there a list of the items that are still going to be auctioned?"
"I suppose you didn't receive it, but yes there is," the old man said and nodded to one of the girls stationed outside.
She brought me a paper with a list of items, most had already been sold and auctioned off, and the few remaining didn't even catch my attention.
"I think I'm done, you can auction the swords, and take the payment I owe from their final value, I suppose they are worth more than what I paid for, right?" I said.
"Yes, of course, those Xuan Tier Weapons are pretty expensive, and they'll fetch a hefty price. Once they are sold, I'll deduct what you owe and keep the rest here for you when you come back next time, will that be alright with you?"
"Yes, that will be good," I said and stood up, I closed in on behind the massive window that blocked my appearance from the people on the auction and coughed for everyone's attention.
"Thank you all for giving this old man this chance, I won't vie for more items lest I'll incur losses upon those who wish to obtain something for their benefit, I'll be leaving the auction now," I said to everyone in the audience.
"Thank you senior for your generosity, we appreciate it!" one cultivator said, and the rest followed.
If they ever knew I'm just a Core Formation cultivator they'd never do this. But since they saw how I spent money like water and didn't even give Face to that Xix Yoingfei guy, they must believe I'm pretty amazing, especially since the elder of this tower adamantly stopped that Xix Yognfei for my sake.
Now, that everything is done, I'll have to plan my exit, so that no one follows or know who I am, though my identity is definitely going to be leaked, for now, as long as I can make it out, I'm more than certain that once I'm outside the city I can deal with anyone coming my way.