"Goodbye!"
At the gate to the inner palace grounds, Shi Zhao waved at the two large Bian crouching there.
The Stone Kingdom's current Sacrificial Spirit was an old Bian that stayed in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace.
Its first Sacrificial Spirit, however, had been a God-Striking Stone. The stone body it left behind had even become the kingdom's imperial jade seal, gathering the fortune of an entire nation and serving as the Stone Kingdom's greatest treasure.
Before leaving, Shi Zhao had spoken with the Stone Emperor at length. She had also taken the opportunity to examine that jade seal, the Human Emperor Seal. It was indeed extraordinary, leaving her deeply shaken.
"To think this old man would live to see the day he was pardoned." Third Grandfather looked toward the Imperial Capital, then back at the Imperial Palace, before finally resting his gaze on the girl beside him, overwhelmed with emotion.
"Yes, yes! His Majesty the Human Emperor treats Miss so well," A Man agreed.
Shi Zhao curled her lips. How could he not? She had traded Ancient Alchemy Recipes and information about the calamity facing the Eight Regions for this. Naturally, the Stone Emperor had granted every request she made over such trifling matters.
The Imperial Capital bustled with activity. All three were in excellent spirits as they wandered about, learning of recent events from the conversations and discussions of passersby.
Unsurprisingly, practically every conversation among cultivators revolved around Shi Yi. After all, Double Pupils were the eyes of an Ancient God and were far too easy to recognize.
At his young age, Shi Yi had already broken one record after another in the Void God Realm and won himself a resounding reputation. He had become the hottest topic in the Imperial Capital lately.
"The bearer of Double Pupils is a born god. He's only eight or nine and already that powerful! Truly awe-inspiring. In the future, he'll surely sweep across the world."
"Martial King Manor really struck gold, producing a born god like him. He might even contend for the Human Emperor's throne someday. Now that would be something!"
"I heard Shi Yi seems to have returned from the Primordial Divine Mountain. Apparently, it has something to do with what happened when he broke that record last time. Martial King Manor and the Rain Clan are both helping him look for someone."
"Hey, speaking of the Rain Clan, we have to talk about the Western Frontier..."
"Shh, keep your voice down. Some things aren't to be spoken of lightly."
Along the way, Shi Zhao kept her ears open in every direction while sweeping up goods along the streets, planning to bring some gifts back to the village. She spent lavishly, buying only the most expensive things.
Well, she ought to thank the Stone Emperor for his generous tip while she was at it.
Eventually, the three passed Martial King Manor. They gazed at it from a distance for a while but ultimately did not go inside.
After winding through the streets, Shi Zhao stopped before a sprawling complex of buildings.
"Bone Gu Auction House." Her eyes lit up. "Come on, let's take a look."
An auction was a classic, unmissable destination. She had wanted to check one out for ages.
After all, since she was already here...
Two flood-dragon beasts, one gold and one silver, crouched at the auction house entrance, lending it an imposing air. She ran into no familiar faces, nor did she see anyone fighting and killing over treasures at the door.
Shi Zhao glanced over the complete Yazi skeleton preserved in the hall. Within her Sea of Consciousness, the Tattered Cloth silently flashed with a ray of light, imprinting the Precious Technique from its primordial Talisman Bone.
Your Precious Technique is excellent. Now it's mine!
She smiled without a word and strolled inside.
Their clothing looked ordinary, but a closer look revealed the exceptional quality of the fabric. The attendant had a keen eye and dared not show the slightest neglect.
In particular, he noticed the transcendent bearing of the girl leading them and concluded that she was an important person keeping a low profile. Naturally, there was no opportunity for showing off and slapping anyone in the face.
Shi Zhao felt a little disappointed and casually tipped the attendant.
"Honored guests, please come into the private VIP room. Today's auction will begin shortly." A smile spread over the attendant's face as he bowed ahead of them and extended a hand to guide them.
A beautiful girl opened the red sandalwood door for them. The room beyond was luxurious as well, with ornaments made from all sorts of rare jade glittering inside.
As soon as Shi Zhao sat down, A Man picked up the wine jug on the table and began pouring, giving the girl no chance to approach.
"I don't drink." Shi Zhao shook her head. Seeing her maid secretly grinding her teeth, she arched her delicate brows and could not resist a soft laugh. "Unless you feed it to me, A Man."
A Man immediately beamed with delight. Leaning forward, she brought the wine cup over in her small hand.
Third Grandfather sat on the other side, smiling as he watched them play around.
Soon, the auction began. The girl beside them rolled up a painting, revealing a blank section of wall behind it through which they could clearly see everything in the auction hall.
Shi Zhao secretly opened her Spiritual Heavenly Eye. Although it had only taken rudimentary shape and was not yet truly perfected, it could already see through many concealed things.
Unfortunately, this was just an ordinary auction without any particularly rare treasures. After casually bidding on a few materials for artifact forging, she made no further moves.
Only when the auction was nearing its end did she suddenly perk up.
A brilliant silver stone was put on display, gleaming brightly with a metallic luster.
The auctioneer said it was starstone and very likely contained stardust sand, a supreme artifact-forging material that could be used to forge divine artifacts and was worth an astonishing sum.
The problem was that if it contained no stardust sand, it would merely be a stone with a trace of divinity, and its value would plummet. It was essentially no different from gambling on stones.
Shi Zhao acted without hesitation and won it for relatively few Essence Jades.
The auction's centerpiece was a precious artifact, which did not interest her much. At the very end, however, another rare treasure appeared: a jade bottle containing liquid as blue as chalcedony.
"The final treasure, Sea Spirit Liquid! Although it is not divine liquid in the truest sense, its value is still astonishing. Condensed from the essence of the ocean, it can be used in medicine or artifact forging, and is second only to genuine divine liquid!" the auctioneer announced.
This was a truly rare treasure. The auctioneer had barely finished speaking before bids began coming in one after another. The atmosphere instantly grew heated, the competition fierce.
Shi Zhao watched the show with interest without joining in. She had little need for this substance and was not particularly eager to obtain it.
Yet the bidding for the Sea Spirit Liquid simply would not stop, which was somewhat unexpected.
"Everyone, enough is enough. The Rain Clan will be taking this!" A girl's clear voice rang out. It sounded very young; the speaker was plainly still a teenage girl.
"Heh, the Rain Clan really did come," someone said in a lowered voice.
"It should be Yu Zimo, one of those known as the Rain Clan's Twin Talents. I heard she was born with spiritual perception and is truly exceptional," another person remarked. Although it sounded like speculation, his tone was certain.
In fact, word had spread as soon as the Sea Spirit Liquid was sent here for auction. Everyone knew the Rain Clan had an innate affinity for water and would never let this rare treasure slip by.
Nor had the auction house arranged for those people to drive up the price. There was no need. Once the news was out, other factions would naturally come to obstruct them.
There was no shortage of people willing to jack up the price just to spite someone.
Third Grandfather explained the reasons to a somewhat puzzled A Man, but Shi Zhao's lips curved slightly. She suddenly called out a bid, interrupting everyone's train of thought.
She had no fear of the Rain Clan. They were precisely the ones she wanted to spite.
Elsewhere, Yu Zimo froze upon hearing her. In principle, once the Rain Clan had announced its name, raising the price further was tantamount to openly tearing off the veneer of civility.
"Which faction is this? Don't they know the rules?" A boy beside her looked grim.
Yu Zimo glanced toward the source of the voice, but her innate gift of Spirit-Sensing failed her at that moment. She could not perceive the chain of cause and effect behind this.
All she could tell from the voice was that the speaker was also a young girl.
"The Sea Spirit Liquid is very important to our clan. We cannot afford to lose it, no matter what," an elder of the Rain Clan said inside their private room. They had no choice but to keep bidding.
Shi Zhao did not indulge them in the slightest. Her cherry lips parted, and she committed herself to driving the price up without yielding an inch.
This truly startled the onlookers. Many realized that regardless of who won the Sea Spirit Liquid, a clash was bound to follow.
Before you continue