Four Spots, Spacious

"Li Honglin?" Nangong Yuqing's brow subtly furrowed, the name of the handsome young man escaping her lips as red as ripe cherries.

"I was already amazed when I saw you wearing that red soft armor before, I didn't expect you to look even better in this magic robe," Li Honglin said with a slight smile. "I think you're going to outshine all the female cultivators at this auction today."

It was only as he spoke these words that Li Honglin glanced at Wei Suo, who stood beside Nangong Yuqing. Though he felt a strong disdain for Wei Suo, who appeared rather shabby, his expression remained calm, a nonchalant demeanor exuding from his dignified bearing. This was the natural grace of someone of high standing, something a rogue cultivator without any background could not compare to.

"Young Master Li, please don't joke around," Nangong Yuqing replied with a calm smile. "What, are you interested in attending this small-scale auction as well?"

"You must be here for the auction too. Since you're interested, why wouldn't I be? Besides, Shopkeeper Tian from the Golden Jade Pavilion specifically sent us word, saying that although the scale isn't large, there are still a few good items among the offerings," Li Honglin said with a smile.

At this moment, Wei Suo noticed that Li Honglin kept toying with two pigeon-egg-sized demonic cores in his hand. They were dark gold in color, their surfaces speckled as if covered in fine gold dust.

Wei Suo recognized these as demonic cores from a Level 3 high-grade demonic beast called the Splitting Gold Vulture. The demonic cores of the Splitting Gold Vulture couldn't be directly refined into pills with abundant spiritual energy when combined with other Spiritual Herbs. However, when held and played with, a trace of their unique spiritual energy would occasionally seep into the cultivator's hand. It was said that prolonged handling of these cores could enhance a cultivator's physical strength, making their physique more robust. But the price of such demonic cores was at least sixty Low-grade Spirit Stones each. Ordinary cultivators wouldn't typically carry one hundred and twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones around just for playing.

However, Wei Suo felt even more annoyed with this fellow now. The man was treating him like air. And although he hadn't directly stated his identity, his words were practically an open declaration. After all, someone of Shopkeeper Tian's status would only pre-emptively send news to the major powers within Lingyue City.

The implied meaning was clear: "What kind of person are you? You should know your place and leave while I'm talking to Nangong Yuqing."

Wei Suo had never been one to curry favor with powerful factions, and now, with the Green Robe Old Man, he had no need to rely on anyone. Since he had no connection whatsoever with this Li Honglin, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, Wei Suo had no intention of playing the good Samaritan by stepping aside.

Wei Suo merely feigned boredom and yawned.

"Is this your friend?" Just as Wei Suo had expected, Li Honglin could no longer ignore him. He glanced at Wei Suo, and the next words he spoke almost made Wei Suo's nose twitch with anger. "Does he also want to enter the auction? If he does, I have a VIP seat, and I can bring him along."

Li Honglin's gaze seemed to dismiss Wei Suo as a pauper who couldn't even afford the Spirit Stones for the auction.

"There's no need for that," Nangong Yuqing said before Wei Suo could respond. She glanced at Li Honglin, then turned back to Wei Suo with a slight, charming smile. "He also has a VIP seat. I was actually going in with his help."

Li Honglin's expression visibly faltered.

"Haha! Serves you right for showing off!"

Wei Suo maintained a composed smile on the surface, but inwardly, he was overjoyed, feeling a thrill all the way to his fingertips.

At that moment, he found Nangong Yuqing incredibly endearing. Based on her actions, Wei Suo felt he wouldn't refuse if she asked him to pledge his devotion seventeen or eighteen times over.

"Oh? May I know your esteemed name, brother? Are you from the Tie Ce?"

"His name is Wei Suo. I did invite him to join Tie Ce before, but he didn't show much interest in us," Nangong Yuqing said, her smile blooming like a flower.

This was truly giving him face!

Wei Suo suppressed the urge to laugh out loud, stealing a glance at Li Honglin's expression. As expected, the dashing and charismatic Li Honglin, with his air of superior bearing, had a slight twitch at the corner of his eye.

"However, if Brother Li wishes to enter with us, that's fine too. My seat allows for up to four people. We only intended to use two seats for ourselves anyway, so it will be more spacious," Wei Suo added with a grin.

"That won't be necessary," Li Honglin forced a smile. "Let's get acquainted after the auction concludes, Brother Wei."

After saying this, Li Honglin paused, seemingly wanting to invite Nangong Yuqing to join him instead of Wei Suo. However, after a moment's hesitation, he held back. After all, he wasn't foolish and knew that offending a cultivator whose identity was unknown, and who seemed to have some backing, was an unwise move.

The three of them walked towards Lingxiao Workshop.

Li Honglin led the way, while Wei Suo and Nangong Yuqing walked side-by-side, maintaining a slight distance from Li Honglin.

"I say, Nangong Yuqing, who exactly is this guy? We just told him it was a VIP seat for four people. If we go in and end up mixed with the common crowd, won't he laugh at us then?" Wei Suo whispered into Nangong Yuqing's ear.

"Don't worry about that. The Golden Jade Pavilion does business quite honestly. I recognize this jade token; Shopkeeper Tian did indeed give us VIP seating," Nangong Yuqing whispered back into Wei Suo's ear. "As for Li Honglin, he is the young master of the Golden Vulture Palace."

"The young master of the Golden Vulture Palace?" Wei Suo immediately understood why Li Honglin was casually playing with two Splitting Gold Vulture demonic cores. Since about ten to twenty thousand years ago, some sects and rogue cultivators had discovered methods for taming and raising demonic beasts. Now, some sects specialized in raising demonic beasts, and the Golden Vulture Palace was one such sect.

It was said that the Golden Vulture Palace had methods for raising several types of Level 3 demonic beasts and several types of Level 2 demonic beasts. Their primary source of income was usually the sale of demonic cores from these raised beasts. However, the quality of demonic cores from raised beasts was somewhat inferior to those from wild demonic beasts. Demonic beasts artificially grown through various medicines and Spiritual Herbs were still different from normal demonic beasts.

It was rumored that the Golden Vulture Palace also had several powerful cultivators who had reached the Mind Splitting Realm, making them a prominent force in Lingyue City.

"This guy seems to be interested in you, doesn't he?" Wei Suo whispered into Nangong Yuqing's ear again. "But it seems you're not interested in him."

"Yes, I just wanted to use you as a shield. What, are you scared?" Nangong Yuqing said.

Wei Suo chuckled, "What, am I not good enough as a shield now?"

Nangong Yuqing glanced at him and said seriously, "It seems about good enough." After saying that, she couldn't help but let out a giggle.

Wei Suo and Nangong Yuqing were only whispering to each other, ensuring Li Honglin couldn't hear. However, to others, especially those who recognized Nangong Yuqing along the way, it looked different. Nangong Yuqing, the famously fiery beauty from Tie Ce, was acting incredibly intimately with a seemingly ordinary low-level cultivator, whispering into his ear. Who exactly was this seemingly ordinary low-level cultivator?

Especially Li Honglin, walking ahead, heard Nangong Yuqing's soft laughter from behind, and an indescribable jealousy welled up within him.