txolops Chapter 116 Star Sea Pavilion Auction
Chapter 116 Star Sea Pavilion Auction
"Star Sea Pavilion is always generous, frequently hosting trade fairs for Core Formation cultivators. Every auction they hold always features a Nascent Soul Formation material as the grand finale! This is also a gathering for the Star Palace to recruit independent Core Formation cultivators; it's said that as long as a Core Formation cultivator joins the Star Palace, they can obtain the necessary Nascent Soul Formation materials for free!"
Longkui vividly recounted the information she had gathered, her bright eyes sparkling with anticipation for praise.
Since deciding to go to the auction, Han Xiaoliu released Longkui, who had just reached level 30 and still had a long experience bar to go before reaching level 31.
Anyway, a few more days won't make a difference, so Han Xiaoliu specially brought her out to broaden her horizons.
After hearing this, Han Xiaoliu curled his lip in disdain, a hint of undisguised mockery flashing in his eyes: "Give me a break! What foolish sect would let a complete stranger, a Core Formation cultivator, take their Nascent Soul materials for free? That's not how you recruit people. Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to recruit him after he breaks through to the Nascent Soul stage?"
He sneered inwardly. Unless the Lord of the Star Palace was insane, or had as many resources as he did, there was no way such a windfall could happen.
"Young Master~ please take me with you!" Long Kui panicked when she realized that the information she had painstakingly gathered was not to her liking. She knew that the rules of this auction were strict: only cultivators at the Core Formation stage or above were allowed to enter, and each person was limited to one attendant. If she didn't fight for it, her young master would definitely take Little Milk Qi with him again!
In desperation, she softened her body and leaned forward, hugging Han Xiaoliu's legs and rubbing against them gently, her voice so sweet it seemed like it could be squeezed to release water.
"Don't...use that trick!" Han Xiaoliu felt the warm, smooth touch on his calf, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, but he cleared his throat with feigned composure, "Young Master is a gentleman!"
"No, no! Take me with you!" Longkui seemed to have triggered some strange command. Instead of stopping, she rubbed against him even more vigorously, her little face full of coquettishness and persistence.
Standing to the side, Lu Xueqi watched this scene quietly, feeling that it was strangely familiar, as if she had seen it when she was young and ignorant.
Under Xiao Naiqi's scrutinizing gaze, Han Xiaoliu felt a strange sense of embarrassment creep into his heart.
He coughed, reached out and pulled Longkui up from the ground, saying helplessly, "Alright, I'll take you there!"
"Yay!" Long Kui's mood instantly brightened, and she immediately made a face at Lu Xueqi, proudly boasting, "Young Master, you can't take me!"
Lu Xueqi rolled her eyes, sighing inwardly: How come after all these years, this older sister's bust size hasn't increased, and her IQ hasn't increased either? Can't she wear both?
"Young Master, take me with you. You went with Aunt Yu Niangzi," Little Milkie bluntly exposed the truth. "If Aunt Yu Niangzi hadn't broken through to the Core Formation stage and could bring an extra person, you'd still be in seclusion in that dark room!"
"No, I don't believe it!" Long Kui's smile froze instantly. She turned her head sharply to look at Han Xiaoliu, her eyes filled with disbelief, as if to say, "Young Master, how could you do this?"
However, when she saw Han Xiaoliu's slightly nodding, tacitly agreeing expression, she was struck dumb and completely collapsed.
The young master doesn't love me anymore!
"Young Master... tell me this isn't true!" Her voice trembled, her eyes instantly reddened, and the glimmer of hope she had just felt plummeted to the bottom.
"No... this is real." Han Xiaoliu burst into tears as she looked at Long Kui, crying with tears streaming down her face and looking heartbroken. She knew the time was right.
His tone was slightly serious as he coaxed, "Will you dare to tell Dong Xuan'er about the young master again in the future?"
"I won't do it again! If she asks me about the young master's whereabouts again, I will never tell her!" Long Kui immediately stopped crying, raised her little hand to swear her mistake, and made her stance clear.
Han Xiaoliu shook her head, a barely perceptible smile playing on her lips: "No, if she asks you, just tell her. But you have to say—I always take you guys with me when I go out, just to sing and dance, nothing else. Understand?"
Longkui was stunned for a moment, then nodded frantically, her face full of a well-behaved expression that said "I've learned it," and the grievances in her heart quietly dissipated in this "new task."
Seeing Han Xiaoliu nod in satisfaction, Longkui weakly raised her little face again, blinking her big, watery eyes pitifully: "Then this time... could Young Master take me?"
Han Xiaoliu couldn't stand this kind of pitiful coquettishness, so she sighed helplessly and finally nodded.
"Young Master is the best!" Long Kui instantly stopped crying and smiled, happily throwing herself into Han Xiaoliu's arms and acting coquettishly. Her previous grievances had long since vanished.
Lu Xueqi couldn't stand it anymore. She turned her head to the side and silently complained: What's the point of fighting over this? It doesn't matter who takes you, we'll all go together in the end, won't we? I really don't understand!
A month later, Han Xiaoliu and his group of four arrived at Xinghai Pavilion!
Xinghai Pavilion, a key location directly under the Xing Palace, stands proudly in the heart of Tianxing City, like a peerless giant sword hanging upside down in the sea of clouds.
The entire building is constructed from deep-sea black gold and star rock, giving it a deep and cold dark blue color.
Under the refraction of sunlight, the pavilion shimmered with a breathtaking metallic luster, as if it were draped in a flowing suit of armor.
When the sea breeze brushes past the bronze wind chimes on the eaves, it doesn't produce a crisp sound, but rather a deep, resonant hum, like the panting of an ancient beast, shaking the soul.
Around this majestic building, the space presents an eerie sense of distortion—that is the Star Palace's proud "Five Elements Primordial Light" array operating silently.
Visible pale gold runes intertwined and coiled like chains, completely sealing off the space within a radius of a hundred feet.
The air was filled with a suffocating pressure of spiritual energy. Ordinary cultivators would feel their souls tremble and their legs go weak just by getting close.
The main gate of Xinghai Pavilion is several tens of feet high, with two bronze doors engraved with ancient array patterns tightly closed, and four guards standing in front of the gate like a deep pool and a towering mountain.
What's astonishing is that these four seemingly ordinary gatekeepers all exuded the magical power fluctuations typically found only by Core Formation stage cultivators.
Their faces were cold and stern, their eyes sharp as lightning, and they exuded a chilling aura of having survived countless battles. They were like four emotionless gods of death, keeping all those with ulterior motives firmly at bay.
Inside the main gate, responsible for checking cultivation levels upon entry were two late-stage Core Formation cultivators with a profound and deep aura.
Clad in platinum robes specially made by the Star Palace, they sat serenely on the high platform, their eyes slightly closed. The protective aura surrounding them was so solid it seemed tangible, and every movement they made stirred the surrounding air, creating faint sounds of wind and thunder.
Before them, any attempt to conceal one's cultivation level is futile; a mere sweep of their divine sense is enough to expose any newcomer.
Standing before this magnificent Star Sea Pavilion, gazing up at the towering spire piercing the clouds, both unruly rogue cultivators and elders of prestigious sects would involuntarily restrain their aura and lower their heads.
This building proclaims to the world with its absolute power and grandeur: In the chaotic star sea, the decree of the Star Palace is the inviolable will of Heaven!
Han Xiaoliu, a rogue cultivator, has reached the early stage of Core Formation and is accompanied by a maid. He has been granted two seats in the Bing-character area!
"The rogue cultivator, Jade Maiden, in the early stage of Core Formation, accompanied by one maid, is granted two seats in the T-section!"
The person in charge of verifying identities was a middle-aged cultivator wearing a dark gold robe in the style of the Star Palace.
He stood tall and straight like a pine tree, with a heroic and extraordinary face, sword-like eyebrows that slanted upwards into his temples, and a pair of bright eyes that revealed a sharp edge with every blink.
He didn't say a word, but his body exuded a sharp and incomparable sword aura, like a peerless divine sword that had been drawn from its sheath. With just a glance, he could make ordinary Core Formation cultivators feel like they had thorns in their backs and their souls tremble. This was clearly a decisive and ruthless sword cultivator!
After the sword cultivator's all-seeing divine sense swept over them, the identities and cultivation levels of the four were recorded without reservation.
As a jade slip engraved with a star emblem flickered slightly, confirming the correct instructions, the four were finally able to pass through numerous restrictions and enter the core auction hall of the Star Sea Pavilion.
The moment you step through the gate, a magnificent and awe-inspiring aura washes over you.
The interior space of the venue clearly employed an extremely sophisticated mustard seed array, making it as vast as a huge underground plaza.
The dome is inlaid with countless luminous pearls, arranged in an intricate array of stars, casting a cool and sacred glow.
Inside the lobby on the first floor, thousands of seats were clearly divided according to a strict hierarchical order.
From front to back, the four areas, A, B, C, and D, are arranged in sequence. The further forward the area, the richer the spiritual energy, and the more precious the material of the seats.
This undisguised class division silently demonstrates the supreme authority and terrifying power of the Star Palace as the absolute overlord of the Chaotic Star Sea.
Han Xiaoliu's eyes flickered slightly as he subtly surveyed his surroundings before leading his men straight towards Zone C.
Lady Yu, accompanied by another maid, obediently took her seat in the T-shaped area slightly further back.
As soon as he sat down, Han Xiaoliu felt the pure spiritual energy emanating from the futon beneath him.
A faint smile appeared on his lips as he thought to himself: As expected of a top-tier force that has controlled the Chaotic Star Sea for thousands of years, even the most peripheral scattered seats are treated with a level of privilege that would make the elders of medium-sized sects outside go crazy with envy!