"Go!" the thin elderly man immediately yelled upon seeing this, then raised his giant silver hammer up high before sending it crashing down viciously toward the center of the stone platform.
A rumbling boom rang out as a bolt of thick silver lightning hurtled down toward the giant green tree from above.
He knew that their opponents were also Grand Ascension Stage beings, so he wouldn't be able to subdue them in a short time. Thus, he had decided to target this massive tree with his attack.
He didn't know what purpose this tree was meant to serve, but destroying it was definitely the right thing to do.
The other three elders naturally sprang into action without any hesitation as well.
Seven or eight treasures rose up into the air in unison amid a loud buzzing sound, then combined to form a massive mountain that came crashing down viciously from above.
Even before the giant mountain had actually landed, it released a storm of invisible threads that were threatening to punch countless holes into the two treasure thieves along with the stone platform beneath them.
However, the black-robed man suddenly vanished into the giant tree in a flash amid a burst of raucous laughter.
As for the short elderly man, he also sped into the massive tree as a streak of light.
The silver lightning struck the tree in the blink of an eye, and countless arcs of lightning sprang over its surface.
A charred smell began to waft through the air, and the tree quickly wilted away into ashes, but the duo that was supposed to be inside it was nowhere to be seen.
"They got away!"
The thin elderly man was stunned to see this, as were all of the other trade guild elders.
Many formations had been set up in this place in advance, including five or six flight restrictions, so it was incredible that those two had managed to teleport away so easily.
"Don't panic, this space is like an impregnable fortress; there's no way that those two could've gotten away. Hold on… They managed to obtain entry talismans that are available only to the elders of this guild, and they've torn through the restrictions to escape! We have to stop them!"That voice belonged to Ming Zun, and initially, it was quite calm and collected, but it suddenly took a drastic turn as Ming Zun discovered something using his spiritual sense.
Immediately thereafter, a ball of golden light emerged in mid-air before vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.
The elders' expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and they also set off in pursuit, leaving the auction attendees to exchange bewildered glances with one another.
Only then did Hu Yushuang return to the stone platform in a pale-faced manner, then forced a smile onto her own face as she offered everyone some words of consolation. All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the flying cabins all wore different expressions upon witnessing this sudden turn of events, but none of them departed from the auction venue.
After all, doing so would most likely arouse suspicions that they were accomplices of the black-robed man, or were trying to take advantage of this situation to cause more trouble.
Even though they were extremely eager to obtain the Ancestral Dragon blood, they could only give up on it due to the qualms they held toward the trade guild.
Furthermore, judging from the black-robed man's display of confidence, it was most likely the case that pursuing them would be nothing more than a futile task anyway.
All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present were extremely wily characters, so they naturally weren't going to do something so with such a terrible risk to reward ratio.
As expected, the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the trade guild returned not long after their departure.
A faint buzzing sound rang out, and a white light formation appeared on the stone platform, following which Ming Zun and the four elders emerged with dark expressions.
Their auras were completely unchanged, so it was most likely the case that the two treasure thieves had managed to get away.
Hu Yushuang hurriedly made her way over to the five of them before extending a respectful curtsey.
Ming Zun waved a dismissive hand toward her, and instructed, "Release portraits of those two across the entire trade guild; make sure to find out who they are and their current location as soon as possible."
"Yes, I'll get that organized right away," Hu Yushuang hurriedly replied before immediately making a hand seal, upon which she abruptly vanished on the spot.
Meanwhile, Han Li was seated in his flying cabin with a contemplative look on his face.
All of a sudden, he made a grabbing motion, and a dark green wooden sword appeared in his grasp amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
Han Li held the sword horizontally before himself, then stroked the dark green patterns on the blade with two fingers in a contemplative manner.
The blood soul and Zhu Guo'er exchanged a glance upon seeing this, but they didn't dare to interrupt him.
"There may have been an issue with the final auction item, but we'll still abide by past convention and present the intercontinental teleportation spots are our special auction item. I will be hosting this segment of the auction in person," Ming Zun said in a calm manner.
His words created another stir in the venue, but no one was truly surprised to hear this.
Generally speaking, an auction would always conclude after the most valuable auction items were sold. However, it was a signature trait of the He Lian Trade Guild's auctions to save the intercontinental teleportation spots for last, and that wasn't something that would be changed for no good reason.
However, never had the manager of the trade guild hosted this part of the auction in person.
As such, even though the majority of people had no intention of securing a teleportation spot, they were still paying close attention to the proceedings.
Han Li also returned to his senses from his train of thought and temporarily cast whatever he was thinking aside.
In contrast with the Ancestral Dragon blood, which he couldn't even verify the authenticity of, it was far more important for him to secure spots to travel to the other continents so he could reunite with Nangong Wan as soon as possible.
The rest of the auction progressed extremely smoothly.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that all of the teleportation spots had been switched to the Blood Sky Continent, but not many people were eager to claim them.
Thus, Han Li was able to secure several spots at a price that was only slightly higher than the base price, and that was naturally a pleasant surprise for him.
"Today's auction concludes here; you may now leave this space. Thank you for your patience," Ming Zun said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute after the final teleportation spot was sold.
Many of the auction's attendees on the plaza were still quite bewildered by what they had seen, but they all hurriedly rose to their feet and returned Ming Zun's salute.
Thus, all of them began to depart from the plaza under the guidance of the trade guild's servants.
Shortly thereafter, only the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the flying cabins remained.
"My apologies for showing you something so embarrassing, fellow daoists; never has an auction item been stolen from our trade guild since its founding. If anyone can help us capture those two thieves, our trade guild will be sure to reward you handsomely. Not only will you be able to make three requests to our trade guild that are within the guild's realm of capability, you can take the Ancestral Dragon blood as part of your reward as well," Ming Zun declared in a calm manner.
"Are you being serious, Fellow Daoist?"
"You won't go back on your word, will you?"
All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.
Even for beings of their caliber, the reward being offered by the He Lian Trade Guild was extremely alluring.
"Hehe, I wouldn't dare to say that our guild is the most powerful force in the Spirit Realm, but it's still quite a reputable and renowned one, so we wouldn't go back on our word. This offer will stand until those two are captured, and it doesn't matter to us how that's achieved," Ming Zun replied with a smile.
"That's all I needed to hear," the Mayfly being chuckled coldly, seemingly rather confident in his ability to track down those two thieves.
"Brother Ming, may I ask if you and the others managed to catch a glimpse of those two at all as you were pursuing them? Do you know what type of teleportation technique they used? How could they have successfully teleported away when there are so many restrictions set up here?" another Grand Ascension Stage being asked in a cautious manner.
"The five of us had already chased them down, but they had set up a temporary teleportation formation in advance nearby, so they were able to teleport away. We don't know what they did to that formation, but none of our patrols were able to detect it. As for the method they employed to leave this space, that was something I'd never seen before, so I can't offer much insight into that," Ming Zun replied with furrowed brows.
"Thank you for this information, Brother Ming; I know what I need to do now," the Grand Ascension Stage being said.
After that, a few more Grand Ascension Stage beings asked some questions pertaining to the Ancestral Dragon blood and the black-robed man, but unfortunately, Ming Zun wasn't able to give any definitive answers.
At this point, some of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were already beginning to depart, and Ming Zun displayed no intention to stop them.
"Let's go. We don't have time to search for those two; let's go back and wait for the teleportation to the Blood Sky Continent. I'm guessing we won't have to wait for too long," Han Li said as he rose to his feet.
The blood soul and Zhu Guo'er naturally offered affirmative responses. Thus, moments later, the three of them departed from the flying chamber within a ball of azure light before heading directly toward the exit of this space.
After returning to the pavilion where they were staying, Han Li issued a few instructions to the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er before entering his secret chamber.
As soon as he took a seat, he flipped a hand over to release a ball of golden light from his storage bracelet, which transformed into the shimmering golden page of the Golden Jade Tome that he had just purchased before landing in his grasp.
