Sudden Upheaval

Xue Ningyi carefully took a jade container from her storage ring. Xiao Yan could sense that the jade vessel was clearly a treasure with extremely strong resistance, and there was even a spatial seal at its opening. The container alone was likely worth a fortune.

A Dou Zong appeared on the auction platform, his hands continuously forming complex and profound seals as the seal around the container's opening gradually weakened.

Xue Ningyi put on a pair of silk gloves and carefully reached into the container, slowly taking out the object within.

It was a green fruit, nearly round yet somewhat flattened. Though it looked like a fruit, it was entirely transparent. Behind an almost imperceptibly thin membrane lay clear green juice. Several tiny seeds floated within the flowing liquid, emitting a faint fluorescent glow. Even before Xue Ningyi introduced anything about the fruit, its one-of-a-kind appearance had already seized everyone's attention. Calling it a work of art would not have been an exaggeration.

"Teacher, what is this?"

"I have no impression of this thing at all..."

Hearing that, Xiao Yan was slightly shaken. With Yao Lao's vast experience, almost nothing could escape his knowledge. Even ancient jade had led Yao Lao to vaguely speculate about Dou Di, yet he had no impression of this object. Could it truly be connected to a Dou Sheng?

What Xiao Yan failed to notice was that Xiao Xun'er, who had been quietly standing beside him, was now tightly frowning.

"Everyone, the fruit in my hand is something that would be almost impossible to find a second of on the present-day Douqi Continent. It is called the Emperor Essence Fruit, and only a Dou Di can nurture it."

Xue Ningyi's words set off an uproar throughout the venue.

"A Dou Di? It's related to a Dou Di?"

"How is that possible? How could such a thing fall into the hands of the Gold Alliance Chamber of Commerce?"

"Something left behind by a Dou Di—if I possessed it, who in the Northwest Region could contend with me?"

"Fake. It must be fake."

Amid the overwhelming clamor, something unusual was happening, though the vast majority of people did not notice it at all.

Xue Ningyi's voice rang out again. "According to reliable ancient records, this item was created by a Dou Di for the descendants of his family. Consuming it can remove every bottleneck before advancing to Dou Sheng. In other words, as long as one does not die after consuming this fruit, one will certainly become a Saint!"

Xue Ningyi's words dropped another bombshell into the auction hall, which was already boiling like hot oil.

"A Dou Sheng? Did I hear that right?"

"Have the people of the Gold Alliance Chamber of Commerce gone mad? They're actually putting something like this up for auction?"

Even those in the private rooms, including Lu Zhi, Xu Chengzze, Su Zhang, and Yang Yue, showed changes in their auras. Clearly, they could no longer remain calm in the face of such a treasure. They had known that the final item would be of exceptionally high grade, but no one had imagined it would be this extraordinary.

"Go raise money. Sell everything we own... Ah!"

A sudden upheaval erupted in the auction house. Explosions continuously rang out across the venue, and every blast released a cloud of brilliantly colored mist. Anyone experienced enough to be in the auction hall immediately reached the same conclusion: the smoke was poisonous.

The instant the smoke spread and stirred up chaos, dozens of fully armed customers sprang from their seats. Half brandished their weapons and charged into the crowd, while the other half, led by five people, rushed straight toward the auction platform.

Blood flowed all along their path. Anyone who tried to block them was mercilessly cut apart. Within three breaths, they had assembled their formation. Within seven breaths, they had successfully closed in on the auction platform.

Xiao Yan saw that every one of them possessed at least the cultivation of a Dou Wang, while the five leaders had even advanced to Dou Zong.

Just as Xiao Yan was about to act, he saw Xu Chengzze and Su Zhang. Not only had the excitement they showed upon seeing the Emperor Essence Fruit vanished, but they had calmly settled back into their seats.

Xu Chengzze said teasingly, "Young friend Xiao Yan, sit tight. The Gold Alliance Chamber of Commerce has businesses throughout the Northwest Region of the continent. It did not achieve that through luck alone."

Even as Xue Ningyi watched the assassins step onto the auction platform and smelled the bloodstench emanating from their leader, there was not the slightest trace of panic in her eyes. Instead, her gaze remained steady, carrying a strange look like a cat toying with mice.

The moment the assassins stepped onto the platform, more than a dozen points of light appeared from behind it.

Spears! Carrying terrifying force capable of shattering gold and splitting stone, more than a dozen spears over three meters long sealed off every inch of space on the auction platform.

The five leaders halted at the sight of such power. The Dou Huang experts behind them, as though unafraid of death, activated their strongest defenses and used their bodies to block the attack. The spears harvested the lives of those Dou Huang experts who could command the winds and clouds outside, but they truly could not affect the five Dou Zong.

The leader darted forward and arrived before Xue Ningyi. The exquisite beauty before him stirred his heart, but he forced himself to ignore her. Inside that container was an opportunity that led directly to Dou Sheng, and that opportunity was about to become his.

The instant his fingers were about to touch the container, a heavenly pressure descended. He had been a Dou Zong for many years, and out in the world, he had always been one who controlled thunder and lightning, who could summon wind and rain. Yet at the very moment he was about to achieve his goal and open the path to Dou Sheng, an unimaginable pressure surged over him like a tide, as if it would crush his body directly into powder.

He recalled the past. That afternoon, he had still been a little Fighter, begging his teacher, who was already a Dou Wang, to demonstrate his strength. The pressure his teacher released had been like heavenly might as well, but after three breaths, his teacher had helped him up and looked at him with a smile.

This time, a hand reached out as well, except it was gripping his head.

"Hmph."

The sound rang in the hearts of everyone present at once. Everyone fell into a brief daze, after which their panicked emotions became calm again.

The poisonous mist that filled the entire venue vanished without a trace along with that snort, while all the assassins collapsed limply to the ground like piles of mud.

A muscular man who looked no older than forty held the assassin leader by the head and dragged him to the front of the platform.

Then he raised the assassin high and exerted a slight force with his hand. The sound of a skull shattering rang out. For some reason, the sound, which should have been heard only by those nearby, spread throughout the entire auction hall.

"At an auction, prices should do the talking. You resort to such despicable methods—do you take my Gold Alliance Chamber of Commerce for easy prey?"

Everyone was shocked by the muscular man's ferocious actions.

"This man looks familiar."

"Slayer Hand He Kui—it's Slayer Hand He Kui! I've seen his portrait."

"Wasn't he an expert whose reputation shook the Northwest Region a century ago? A ruthless man who could fight two Dou Zong alone while only a Dou Huang."

"Who would have thought that not only was he still alive, he was also one of the people behind the Gold Alliance Chamber of Commerce?"

After Lu Zhi's initial shock at seeing He Kui, he smiled. "That old fellow really isn't dead."

At the same time, Xiao Yan asked Yao Lao, "Teacher, what is this man's cultivation?"

Yao Lao's calm voice appeared in Xiao Yan's heart.

"Dou Zun!"