"Oh? Would you be able to explain the situation to us, Brother Yue?" a devilish being who was enshrouded in black Qi asked.
This devilish being was also at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and he seemed to possess a status that was even loftier than that of Yue Liantian.
All of the other devilish beings immediately fell silent upon hearing this, and Yue Liantian cupped his fist toward the devilish being in a salute as he replied, "Of course, Brother Jin Jiao. The holy brick has appeared in our city as the owner didn't want to create too much of a stir and draw trouble to himself, and the holy brick is actually flawed. The two cultivation arts contained within it are both missing critical mantras, and neither of them was the main ability cultivated by Master Qi Ling. Otherwise, such an item certainly wouldn't be making an appearance in this auction."
"I see. With Master Qi Ling's unfathomable powers, even a pair of incomplete cultivation arts used by him would be extremely valuable for study and reference. As such, its value does indeed surpass that of the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells," Jin Jiao replied in an enlightened manner.
Not only were the other devilish beings present not disappointed to hear this, the greed in their eyes only became more pronounced.
The fact that this item was flawed only made its authenticity more plausible.
"Would you be able to reveal the names of the two cultivation arts to us, Fellow Daoist Yue? That'll help us decide whether the cultivation arts will be useful to us." A sharp voice rang out in the venue, but a secret technique had been used to make it impossible to pinpoint who had spoken.
"I'm afraid not. When the owner of this holy brick brought it to our auction house, he had raised the condition that the cultivation arts contained within the holy brick can't be revealed in advance. Alright, I've said everything that I can say about this item; let the bidding begin!" Yue Liantian announced in a decisive manner.
"I'm taking this holy brick for 40,000,000 devil stones!" A thunderous voice rang out from one corner of the venue, and it belonged to a massive menacing devilish man who was around 30 feet tall.
"You think you can take a treasure of this caliber for 40,000,000? Isn't that a little too delusional, Brother Shi? I'm offering 50,000,000!" a horned devilish man with a heavy beard chuckled coldly in response.
"60,000,000!" Jin Jiao upped the price without any hesitation.
"65,000,000!"
"68,000,000!"
Other bids also came flying in from other corners of the hall, and the wealthiest high-grade devilish beings present were all participating in the bidding.
Han Li was naturally interested in the cultivation arts left behind by a Grand Ascension Stage being, but unfortunately, they had been left behind by a Sacred Ancestor and were incomplete. Otherwise, he would perhaps be inclined to go after it.
"80,000,000!"
A frosty voice rang out, and at the same time, a glacial aura swept through the entire hall.
All of the weaker devilish beings present instantly stiffened as if they had been plunged into a glacial pit, and even the Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings couldn't help but shudder.
"It's a devilish lord!" someone exclaimed.
All of the other devilish beings were stunned to hear this, and they immediately turned toward the source of the glacial aura.
At a certain side entrance of the hall, a grey-robed elderly man had appeared, and there was faint crimson Qi emanating from his body.
"It's the City Lord!"
"Senior Bing!"
The entire venue immediately erupted into a frenzy at the sight of this elderly man.
"What brings you here, City Lord?" Yue Liantian asked as he hurriedly extended a salute from afar.
"Why can't I be here? Am I not allowed to attend this auction?" the elderly man asked.
"Of course you are! It's my honor to have you here, City Lord! I'm just rather taken aback by your arrival," Yue Liantian hurriedly explained.
"In that case, I've made the highest bid, so shouldn't this holy brick be mine now?" the city lord asked in an indifferent voice.
"Of course. If no higher bid is made, then the holy brick is all yours. Are there any other fellow daoists who would like to make higher bids?" Yue Liantian asked as he raised the brick before him.
His voice echoed throughout the hall, but it was met by complete silence.
All of the high-grade devilish beings present were still staring at the holy brick with scorching yearning in their eyes, but none of them dared to say anything.
Not only was Bing Qianren the city lord, he was also a mid-stage devilish lord; no one would be foolish enough to compete against him in the bidding.
Yue Liantian took a deep breath, yet just as he was about to make a final announcement, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out. "90,000,000!"
"What? Who dares to compete with the city lord?"
"Are they not afraid of being killed?"
A massive stir immediately ran through the crowd upon hearing this, and everyone looked around in bewilderment, trying to pinpoint where the bid had come from.
However, the voice of the bidder seemed to have no source, and it was impossible to track down the exact location of the bidder.
Bing Qianren's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "95,000,000!"
"99,000,000!"
The same voice rang out again without any hesitation.
Bing Qianren's expression completely darkened upon hearing this, and the crimson glacial Qi around his body surged with fury.
All of the devilish beings in the entire venue fell completely silent in fear of incurring the city lord's wrath.
Much to everyone's surprise, the city lord paused momentarily before conceding, "Looks like I'll have to back down."
After that, he strode out of the venue without any hesitation.
Ye Liantian was also quite surprised, but he still didn't forget to do his job and immediately made a count of three. "Are there any further bids? No? Alright, then the holy brick will go to this fellow daoist."
There were several devilish beings who seemed to be tempted to bid up the price even further, but decided against it in the end. After all, this was something that the Blood Crow City Lord wanted; who knew if securing it could spell one's demise?
Everyone was looking around with wide eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of what kind of bold character had dared to compete for a treasure with a devilish lord.
In a certain corner of the hall, a humanoid figure suddenly stood up before making his way toward the stone platform.
Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, allowing him to instantly identify the devilish being as a blue-robed middle-aged man who was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, and there was nothing remarkable about him at all.
However, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of him.
"Isn't that Old Man Yang? Has he gone insane? Is he trying to get himself killed?"
Raucous chatter immediately rang out once again as everyone spotted this middle-aged man; it seemed that most of the people present were aware of who he was.
Han Li turned to a well-built devilish being seated beside him, and asked, "May I ask who this Old Man Yang is, Fellow Daoist? His cultivation base doesn't seem to be all that remarkable, so why is he so well known?"
This devilish being had thin azure scales on his face, and he had also been stunned by the sight of this Old Man Yang.
After sensing that Han Li was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being, the devilish man immediately replied in a polite manner, "You must not be from around these parts, Fellow Daoists. Old Man Yang is a renowned tool refinement master in this city, and many people go to him for devilish treasure repairs or to commission the refinement of some low-grade devilish treasures. He's been living in this city for over 100 years and has always kept a low profile, so I have no idea why he's doing something like this now. Perhaps the cultivation art that he's using is messing with his brain. Come to think of, how does he even have such a massive amount of devil stones?"
"I see. Thank you for the answer, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a nod before casting his gaze toward Old Man Yang again.
At this point, he had already made his way onto the stone platform, and he summoned a storage pouch for Yue Liantian to examine. After it was verified that the correct number of devil stones was in the pouch, the holy brick was handed over to him, and he stowed it away amid a flash of black light.
During this process, Yue Liantian was also appraising Old Man Yang with astonishment in his eyes.
What was even more astonishing was that after this Old Man Yang secured the holy brick, he didn't immediately leave the auction house. Instead, he returned to his seat, and it seemed that he was going to participate in the bidding for the final auction item as well.
This was naturally very surprising to all of the bystanders, and also tipped them off to the fact that something was most likely amiss.
Many devilish beings who were plotting against him immediately abandoned those intentions, and after taking a brief moment to compose himself, Yue Liantian finally moved on to the final auction item.
He waved a hand, and the empty-handed devilish woman made her over to him, then flicked a wrist to summon a green bracelet. As soon as the bracelet appeared, it released a burst of white light, and a massive object that was over 100 feet in length appeared on the stone platform.
