On the raised platform, the round, perpetually smiling face of chief auctioneer Bi Sheng visibly stiffened for the first time.
Beads of sweat the size of beans seeped from his forehead and slid down his fleshy cheeks, yet he remained utterly unaware.
The hands holding the White Dragon Jade Pillar trembled almost imperceptibly.
He had presided over the Nine Summers Auction House for years. What storms had he not weathered?
But something like today, when someone casually crushed White Dragon City's young lord to death from a distance over a mere look, then continued bidding as though nothing had happened...
Every faction present shuddered inwardly. None of them could fathom Mu Chen's cultivation!
All they knew was that this black-clothed youth was outrageously powerful-and outrageously bold!
"...Five million Spirit Coins. This... guest has bid five million."
Bi Sheng dared not look toward Mu Chen. His gaze hovered vaguely in midair. "Does anyone wish to raise the bid?"
Raise the bid?
What kind of joke was that?!
Never mind whether the White Dragon Jade Pillar, fine treasure though it was, was worth gambling their lives over.
The strength this black-clothed youth had displayed alone was enough to extinguish any such thoughts in ninety-nine percent of those present.
No matter how fine a treasure was, they needed to be alive to enjoy it.
"Five million, going once," Bi Sheng announced, forcing himself to proceed, his words coming considerably faster than usual.
No one answered.
"Five million, going twice."
Still, deathly silence.
Some representatives who had initially coveted the jade pillar now lowered their eyes toward their noses and their noses toward their hearts, as though they had suddenly lost all interest in the treasure onstage.
A few even discreetly shrank back, trying to hide themselves in the shadows of the crowd.
"Five million... going three times!"
Bi Sheng practically rushed out the final call. The wooden gavel in his hand came down hard with a dull thunk, particularly jarring in the silence.
"Sold! Congratulations to this guest on acquiring the White Dragon Supreme's token!" He rattled off the customary words, then urgently addressed a pale-faced maid beside him. "Quick, take the jade pillar to our guest!"
Trembling, the maid accepted the jade tray holding the pillar and walked toward Mu Chen's seat with her head bowed and her steps unsteady.
That short stretch felt as though she were walking on knife points.
Mu Chen put away the jade pillar and looked at the three women. "We have what we came for. Let's go."
Aside from its connection to the White Dragon Supreme, the jade pillar was a decent weapon, barely adequate for his use.
Luo Li nodded lightly and rose. Wen Qingxuan stood as well, her red dress blazing like fire as her gaze swept across the room with her customary cold pride.
Tang Qian'er stood with them and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. The atmosphere just now had made it hard for her to breathe.
The four headed straight toward the auction house's exit.
Wherever they passed, the crowd parted like a tide, opening a broad passage.
Only after their figures disappeared into the light at the exit did the frozen air inside the auction house seem to loosen all at once.
"Whew-"
"Hiss..."
"Heavens..."
Low murmurs of shock, lingering fear, and relief swiftly spread through the room.
Only then did many realize that cold sweat had long since soaked their backs.
"Quick, report to the higher-ups! Something major has happened in White Dragon City!" A scout serving another faction hurriedly began sending word, his expression grave.
Bai Dong was dead. Bai Xuan, the lord of White Dragon City, would surely go mad!
The skies over White Dragon City were about to change!
Early the following morning, before daylight had broken through.
After leaving the city, Mu Chen and his companions headed straight west, toward White Dragon Hill.
The broad road leading to White Dragon Hill was practically filled with wave after wave of vast parties.
Even in the sky, numerous figures flashed past from time to time, likewise hurrying toward White Dragon Hill.
"There are so many people," Tang Qian'er said softly, her eyes sweeping their surroundings.
It was a glimpse of just how alluring a Supreme Spirit Treasury could be.
Mu Chen felt little about it.
However numerous the ants, they could hardly shake a mountain.
Before long, White Dragon Hill lay before them.
It was a truly immense mountain range spanning heaven and earth, with no end in sight.
The mountains rose and fell like raging waves, peak after peak thrusting from the earth. The tallest soared a hundred thousand feet, their tips piercing the clouds, their cold, hard rocky ridges exposed in the morning light.
Even the lower peaks stood tens of thousands of feet tall. Dark green primeval forests covered their slopes, mist curled among the trees, and faint beastly shapes darted through them.
The broad road forked here.
Countless trails and beast paths spread like a spiderweb into the depths of the mountains.
The crowd scattered here, each party choosing its own direction and soon disappearing into the boundless mountain forests.
Before long, Mu Chen brought the three women deep into White Dragon Hill.
The four passed through one last patch of dense forest, and the view abruptly opened before them.
A vast valley lay encircled by mountains.
Most striking of all were the five towering peaks beside the valley.
A waterfall plunged from the summit of each peak.
Each waterfall was more than a thousand feet wide, crashing down from dizzying heights. The clear water shimmered faintly in the sunlight, like melted jade.
The five waterfalls hung like five inverted rivers of stars, their thunderous roar deafening. Mist filled the air, refracting the sunlight into brilliant rainbows.
The waterfalls poured down below, gathering into an immense lake.
Looming mountain shadows and deep forest greens dyed most of the lake a somber dark green.
Only where the waterfalls struck did white waves churn and shattered jade spray, breaking that almost frozen depth.
No wind stirred the lake's surface. Its stillness was suffocating.
This was where the White Dragon Supreme had fallen.
By now, many figures had already gathered here.
In parties of three or five, or groups numbering dozens, they spread around the lake, each occupying a spot and guarding against the others. The atmosphere was taut.
Judging by their attire and auras, none were ordinary.
Those who could reach this place so quickly either possessed formidable strength, were well informed, or had both advantages.
"The Spirit Treasury hasn't fully opened yet. We'll need to wait a little," Wen Qingxuan said, her red lips parting slightly as she gazed toward the center of the lake.
Most of the surrounding crowd were likewise watching and waiting.
"There's no need to wait. I'll simply open the Spirit Treasury myself." Mu Chen smiled.
Beneath his double pupils, the paths of flowing spiritual energy, the weak points in the fabric of space, the gathering of water essence, the course of the mountains' earth veins, and even the circulation patterns of the seal guarding the Spirit Treasury's entrance...
Everything lay revealed without a word.
He stepped forward, leaving the rock and standing in midair above the ink-dark lake.
He raised his right hand, the White Dragon Jade Pillar resting quietly in his palm.
The next instant.
Boundless spiritual energy, as vast as a sea of stars, erupted from Mu Chen's body without restraint!
Boom-!
The sudden, terrifying pressure made every waiting figure on the lakeshore blanch and turn in horror!
They saw the black-clothed youth standing in the air, his robes and hair stirring without wind.
No dazzling spiritual radiance surrounded him, yet he seemed to have merged with heaven and earth. A crushing pressure spread outward, making even their souls tremble.
A Supreme! He was definitely a Supreme!
"Open!"
The jade pillar blazed with light and swelled to more than ten feet long. Its crystalline body shone clear, and the white dragon within let out a long cry, seemingly on the verge of bursting free... then the pillar slammed down!
Crack-!
Beneath countless gazes filled with utter horror.
A crisp sound like shattering glass rang clearly in everyone's ears.
A spatial vortex a thousand feet across was forcibly torn open above the center of the lake!
Mu Chen withdrew the jade pillar, drew the three women over, and stepped through the air straight into the spatial rift.
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