But that High-grade Spirit Artifact seemed to be a robe hidden from view.
Or rather, the robe's very function was concealment, and it could block spiritual sense probes, which was why no one had discovered it.
Bai Lan had not noticed anything unusual at first. But after countless SLs, she realized that every time she touched one particular Storage Bag, the stall owner's expression changed slightly.
The old stall owner wore the face of a profiteer from beginning to end, so any shift in his expression was especially conspicuous.
Because of this, Bai Lan put more thought into investigating that Storage Bag. Only after turning the entire bag upside down did she discover its secret.
There was clearly something inside, yet whoever obtained the Storage Bag could not see it and could only mistake it for bad luck.
Little did they know, it was merely "the emperor's robe."
"I'll take this one."
For the umpteenth time after loading her save, Bai Lan inspected every Storage Bag on the stall before decisively picking up the one containing the special robe and handing it to the stall owner.
The stall owner raised a brow, looking faintly surprised. "Oh?"
Whispers gradually rose from the crowd around them.
"She chose fast."
"That can't be right. I remember drawing that Storage Bag before. There was nothing inside."
"Yeah, I saw you draw it with my own eyes."
"Could this little girl be seeing things? Hahaha."
Bai Lan ignored the surrounding discussion, her expression still resolute. Smiling at the stall owner, she said, "Well? Are you willing to part with it, Fellow Daoist?"
The stall owner's eyes gained a trace of contemplation. Only after a long while did he nod. "Naturally. This old man is a merchant and would never do anything that betrayed his word."
The old man took out the transparent robe and handed it to Bai Lan.
It looked like empty air, but the instant the robe entered her hands, Bai Lan felt the texture of cloth beneath her fingers.
To outsiders, though, it looked as though the stall owner and the girl had simply made a series of gestures at thin air.
They could not see anything at all.
The crowd fell silent.
They swept it with their spiritual senses.
They still could not see anything at all.
Were they blind? Or had that stall owner and little girl gone mad?
Had cultivation driven them crazy?
"After wagering with Fellow Daoist today, I find that we are kindred spirits. This is my Sound Transmission Talisman; please accept it." Ignoring the laughter around them, the stall owner smilingly handed her a Sound Transmission Talisman, then lowered his voice. "You have sharp eyes. I admire that."
Bai Lan froze for a moment before accepting the Sound Transmission Talisman.
Something was off.
Could this old man be fishing?
Using that robe that blocked spiritual sense to lure out someone with special abilities.
But she did not have any special abilities. She had only sensed that something was wrong through intuition!
No longer bothering with the onlookers staring at one another in bewilderment, Bai Lan put the item into her Storage Bag and slipped away through the crowd.
No matter what, getting away came first.
She returned to the Azure Origin Sect without incident. But on her way back to the outer sect, Bai Lan spotted someone familiar.
"Brat, do you know who my father is?"
"That's right. How dare you provoke our Second Young Master at the Auction House? How outrageous."
"You're so badly injured. Someone must have beaten you up, huh? Hahaha."
What familiar dialogue, what a rich flavor! Was this really the classic cannon fodder provoking Aotian scene?
Bai Lan slowly turned her gaze over and, sure enough, saw three or four people surrounding the heavily wounded, blood-soaked Long Aotian.
Bai Lan could not help letting out a muffled laugh. Those injuries had most likely been inflicted by that Heavenly Secrets Pavilion assassin.
According to the plot's description, that Heavenly Secrets Pavilion assassin had known from the start that his assassination target was only at the second level of Qi Refinement. He had therefore lowered his guard, allowing Long Aotian to escape without a scratch.
But Bai Lan's appearance had changed the assassin's mindset. He became serious, and although Long Aotian still escaped in the end, he was badly injured.
Still, for Long Aotian, a second-level Qi Refinement cultivator, to survive at the hands of a professional assassin in the late Qi Refinement stage—he truly was worthy of being the Child of Destiny.
However, since the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had failed this time, the next person sent to hunt Long Aotian would be at the Foundation Establishment stage. A Foundation Establishment cultivator... that would probably be enough to make him drink another pot.
"Don't you bully Brother Aotian!" Another crisp voice rang out.
Bai Lan perked up and saw a beauty standing before Long Aotian, confronting the group opposite her.
She was here, she was here—one of Long Aotian's harem members!
A beauty saving a hero—classic. So classic.
"Fifth Sister, you are a member of the Ling Family. How can you protect an outsider like this? What kind of conduct is that?" The person who had threatened Long Aotian spoke grimly. "Could it be that you have taken a fancy to this poor brat? Don't think that just because he can take a Core Formation elder of the Ling Family as his master, he can sleep easy. Grandfather only accepted him as a disciple for the sect leader's sake!"
Bai Lan shook her head. That was correct.
In the original plot, Long Aotian would betray the Azure Origin Sect in his later years. A large part of the reason was that his master, True Lord Changle, did not care about him at all. He simply raised him freely and never offered him any protection, allowing the Ling Family to bully him.
And so, Long Aotian turned dark.
But that seemed to have nothing to do with her. No matter how dark Long Aotian became, he was still Long Aotian, blessed by the Heavenly Dao and incapable of dying or being destroyed.
Even so, Long Aotian and Bai Ling remained unsatisfied and wanted to burn the world to ashes for their own selfish desires.
And she was even more pitiful—a person targeted and hunted by two lunatic Children of Destiny.
Especially Bai Ling. After being threatened by her time and again, Bai Ling was surely already thinking of how to eliminate her.
"Host, Long Aotian is getting beaten up by those people!" The system stared at the distant situation and asked curiously, "Has Host been waiting here to go up and punch him twice after they finish?"
Bai Lan shook her head slightly. "Your host is so kind. How could I do something like that? I'm waiting for them to finish so I can go loot Long Aotian's Storage Bag."
The system: "..."
Again!?
Last time Long Aotian had his Storage Bag seized, his mouth had twisted with rage, and he had stormed over to settle accounts with Bai Lan.
If he lost it again this time, his mentality would probably collapse.
One Storage Bag was worth a hundred Spirit Stones.
"Why are you making such a fuss? Isn't looting bags perfectly normal in the cultivation world? As Long Aotian's number one enemy, I'm already being kind by not going up to finish him off." Bai Lan spread her hands.
In the cultivation world, the standards used to judge morality differed from those in her understanding.
They were usually tied to one's position, and Long Aotian happened to be Bai Lan's number one enemy, standing on the opposite side from her.
Besides, he had been the one insisting on becoming enemies with her in the first place, so she could not be blamed for this.
That Ling Family young master who had provoked Long Aotian was a genuine second-generation immortal. His grandfather was a Core Formation expert, and he did not lack Spirit Stones. He was beating Long Aotian purely to vent his anger, not for wealth.
Therefore, he would not pay any attention to Long Aotian's Storage Bag. He only wanted to beat him up.
But Bai Lan was different.
She would do anything that was detrimental to her enemies.
Especially something like taking Long Aotian's Storage Bag while he was severely injured and unconscious—it was merely a convenient gesture to Bai Lan.
She was being kind. She was teaching Long Aotian through her actions.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, and don't put all your Spirit Stones in one Storage Bag.
Before you continue