Su Jinli and Yu Shi both froze for a moment, surprise flashing through their eyes.
Though Su Jinli spoke little, she had clearly observed everything happening in the hall.
Frenzied bidding was simply the norm when cultivators fought over scarce treasures.
The fat cultivator spent lavishly; at most, that showed he had deep pockets. There was truly no sign of anything "wrong."
Yu Shi, meanwhile, frowned slightly. Having grown up seeing great clans fling spirit stones around without restraint, he considered the wealth on display at this fifth-floor auction nothing more than an ordinary high-end game.
The so-called problem seemed more like Xu Changqing being overly cautious.
The two exchanged a glance, each seeing the same confusion in the other's eyes.
They were both Earth-Grade Golden Core cultivators. Whether in the sharpness of their Divine Sense or the breadth of their knowledge, they should have far surpassed Xu Changqing, who was merely at Foundation Establishment Perfection.
Why had he been the first to notice this supposedly serious problem?
"You... explain yourself clearly!"
"What exactly is going on?"
"What problem is there?"
After thinking it over, both Su Jinli and Yu Shi chose to ask through voice transmission.
Xu Changqing quickly answered—or rather, explained, "The strange parts are hidden in the details. You're used to high-end games, so you overlooked these abnormal behaviors..."
First, the fat cultivator.
The medicinal insect could awaken spiritual intelligence, while the Spirit-Sealing Cauldron could refine pills and forge artifacts.
The two items seemed unrelated, yet both were rare treasures from obscure paths. He had snatched them up far too precisely; it did not seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision, as though he had planned it all beforehand.
Even stranger, he had spent over three hundred thousand without batting an eye, yet showed not the slightest vigilance in