The An Family Elder scrambled ahead on all fours to lead the way. Li Xingluo didn't hesitate either, sweeping away everything the An Family had accumulated over the past several centuries.
"Senior, I..." Seeing Li Xingluo finish ransacking the place and prepare to leave, the An Family Elder knew that, poisoned as he was, he needed an antidote.
Li Xingluo glanced at the An Family Elder. A man like this would sell anyone out for profit.
"Did I ever say I'd cure your poison?"
The An Family Elder gaped in shock. This was completely beyond anything he had imagined.
He'd thought that as long as he led this evil god to what he wanted, the man would let him go. He hadn't expected the evil god to pull this at the very end.
"You... lied to me!"
"That's right. I lied to you. A spineless man like you doesn't deserve to live in this world. With a coward like you as an elder, it's no wonder the An Family is doomed."
"I'll fight you to the death!" Seeing that Li Xingluo wouldn't spare him, the An Family Elder lunged at him.
Li Xingluo simply raised one foot and kicked the An Family Elder squarely in the stomach. The elder flew backward and crashed into a pillar outside the Treasure Pavilion.
He fell to the ground and spat out a mouthful of black blood. Clutching his stomach, he glared at Li Xingluo with resentment, pointing at him and mumbling incoherently before succumbing to the poison.
Li Xingluo didn't even spare him a glance as he turned and left. Xiao Yi Xian looked at the An Family Elder's lifeless body on the ground, unable to understand why Li Xingluo had done that.
She hurried after him to ask. Only then did she understand what he had been thinking. No one could be allowed to find out that he was responsible for this. If the An Family Elder remained alive,
then, given how afraid of death he was, Jiamo Lin would soon find out that someone had used him. That would bring unnecessary trouble. Besides, An Yun's actions had crossed Li Xingluo's bottom line.
At that moment, at the An Family's secret base, the battle between the two sides was nearing its end. Under the joint assault of the Jiamo Family and the Aus Auction House,
hundreds of An Family members lay dead throughout the secret base. An Batian was already at the end of his rope.
He couldn't understand how things had come to this. This was clearly the An Family's secret base—how had Jiamo Lin and An Li learned about it?
He went over everything in his mind, but An Batian still couldn't figure out where things had gone wrong.
"Old An, you can rest easy and die now."
Jiamo Lin wasn't about to let such an opportunity slip by. The price they'd paid this time hadn't been small, but when he thought of wiping out the An Family once and for all, it was worth it.
An Batian still tried to fight back, but at the end of his rope, he was no match for them. The immense strain had already pushed his body past its limits.
A scream tore through the night. An Batian's life came to an end.
An Li rescued Liu Ya from the secret chamber. She was haggard and utterly exhausted, barely able to stay upright as the two of them supported her.
After returning to the auction house in Maple Forest City, An Li handed Liu Ya a letter. Once she had read it, she felt that all the suffering she'd endured these past few days had been worth it. Liu Ya stood by the window, gazing into the distance.
A month later, Li Xingluo and Xiao Yi Xian arrived in the Holy Capital of the Chuyun Empire.
The two headed straight for the Aus Auction House's headquarters in the Holy Capital, hoping to gather everything they needed for their journey to the Nether Poison Swamp as quickly as possible.
Li Xingluo and Xiao Yi Xian entered the Aus Auction House headquarters and looked around. It was countless times more luxurious than the auction house in Maple Forest City.
Their actions quickly caught the eye of a sharp-witted steward at the Aus Auction House.
He hurried over to them with a beaming smile. Seeing their mysterious attire and sensing that their auras were far beyond those of ordinary people, he greeted them warmly.
"Are the two of you looking for someone, or...?"
Li Xingluo looked at the middle-aged man before him. He seemed a little simple-minded, wore a constant smile, and appeared good-natured.
"We're looking for someone, and we'd also like to buy a few things from your auction house."
Li Xingluo casually revealed the gold card from the Aus Auction House. The middle-aged steward's smile widened until it seemed ready to split his face.
This is a huge deal. Not many people can get a gold card.
"Esteemed guests, please come with me!"
Li Xingluo hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. He found himself rather taken with the middle-aged steward leading the way.
As he headed straight for the second floor, the middle-aged steward glanced back from time to time to ask a question.
"May I ask who you're looking for? I can make the arrangements."
"Does your auction house have someone named Liu Yuntian?"
The middle-aged steward froze when Li Xingluo gave him the name. He seemed to ponder it, then quickly turned back and continued leading the two upstairs.
Li Xingluo naturally noticed the slight change in the middle-aged steward's behavior. He exchanged a glance with Xiao Yi Xian and nodded.
The middle-aged steward didn't say another word. He led Li Xingluo and Xiao Yi Xian to a room on the third floor and pushed the door open.
"May I ask why you're looking for Elder Liu?"
Elder Liu? Li Xingluo glanced at Xiao Yi Xian. Liu Ya still hadn't told them the whole truth.
"Someone asked me to bring him something."
"Oh, I see. Esteemed guests, please wait a moment. I'll go invite Elder Liu right away."
The middle-aged steward's sudden change in attitude was truly hard to read. To be safe, Li Xingluo nodded to Xiao Yi Xian.
The two had already grown quite in sync. Xiao Yi Xian understood what Li Xingluo meant from a single glance, so she stood and circled the room once.
Only then did she sit back down and nod to Li Xingluo. With her confirmation, Li Xingluo waited for Liu Yuntian to arrive.
They had barely finished their preparations when the room's door was violently forced open.
With a loud CRASH, the door was flung wide. Li Xingluo merely glanced toward it and made no other move.
A young man who looked every inch the spoiled son of a powerful family burst in, with the middle-aged steward who had led them there following close behind.
Embarrassed by the young man's rudeness, the steward gave Li Xingluo and Xiao Yi Xian a brief apology.
"Deacon Han, do you not want to work at the Aus Auction House anymore? You're bringing any Tom, Dick, or Harry into the VIP room?"
The young man acted arrogantly, plopping down in the chair opposite Li Xingluo.
Yet the moment he sat down, the corner of Li Xingluo's mouth curled into an almost imperceptible smile.
"I'm terribly sorry, you two. This is..."
Before Deacon Han could finish introducing the young man to Li Xingluo and Xiao Yi Xian, the young master clearly showed that he had no intention of letting anyone introduce him.
He immediately waved Deacon Han into silence. Seeing the young man stop the steward with a single gesture, Li Xingluo knew that he held no ordinary position at the Aus Auction House.
The young man stood and first sized up Li Xingluo, whose features were hidden beneath a black robe. Then he went over to Xiao Yi Xian and scrutinized her.
Though Xiao Yi Xian had disguised herself a little, her feminine aura and curvaceous figure left the young man entranced.
The young man shot Li Xingluo a casual glance, but his gaze soon returned to Xiao Yi Xian. One restless hand was about to land on her shoulder.
Suddenly, the young man felt his arm go rigid. His face turned blue, and he couldn't move.
Only his eyes could roll freely in their sockets. The sudden turn of events left Deacon Han frozen in shock as well.
"Why can't I move?" The young man could barely get his tongue around the words, and his speech came out slurred.
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