"The latest treasure of our pavilion, the Seven-Horned Viper, will soon be auctioned! Everyone is welcome to join the bidding!"
"The Thirty-Six Flavors Restaurant has introduced the latest Southern Bright Separation-Fire Stove, with Spirit Grade chefs personally preparing your meals. We guarantee to satisfy your appetite!"
"The Dragon-Pointing Hall specializes in mineral prospecting and formation setup. We accept all kinds of commissions. Come inside if you need our services."
The large shops around him were neither deserted nor so quiet that sparrows could roost at their doors, as he had imagined their expensive merchandise might make them. Instead, they bustled like tourist attractions.
As Lin Ke browsed, he kept an eye on his Niwan Palace, but the unusual stirring he had experienced at the Yi-Wa Market never happened again.
This proved that the seed he had obtained that time really was something one could encounter only by chance, not seek out.
The lack of any stirring did nothing to dampen Lin Ke's enthusiasm for wandering through the shops.
This trip truly broadened his horizons.
He even went inside three auction houses devoted exclusively to auctions.
Bulk goods, Origin Tier goods, Spirit Grade Supreme-Grade goods, and Spirit-Grade Transcendent goods—all went up for auction, leaving Lin Ke itching to bid, but his purse was painfully thin.
There were all kinds of spirit insects, Spirit Artifacts, treasured robes, Cultivation Pills, and more. Some shops did not even carry anything of spirit-grade superior quality or below; everything was high-end.
Others traded in bulk goods, such as tens of thousands of low-grade spirit flying swords at a time. Those transactions were mostly between other sects and factions.
After all, for a grand occasion like the Sect Grand Tournament, the Golden Wing Sect usually invited various friendly sects to attend.
Bulk goods produced by the Golden Wing Sect, such as Golden Essence Honey and honeycombs, were traded between sects.
Human settlements organized around cities or villages also made purchases, buying thousands or tens of thousands at a time, all in batches.
Transactions routinely involved tens or hundreds of thousands of spirit stones. They probably used at least mid-grade spirit stones; otherwise, an ordinary Storage Bag would not hold them all.
After making a few rounds, Lin Ke, keenly aware of his thin purse, finally headed down to the lowest plaza to wait for the Sect Grand Tournament to begin.
That wait lasted six hours.
By evening, as the sky darkened, countless disciples had packed every level of the plaza.
With all eyes fixed on the proceedings, a powerful divine sense swept across the entire gathering, followed by a voice.
"Golden Wing Sect, let the Year Festival begin!"
As the words fell, the next instant-
"Boom!!!"
Countless torches suddenly ignited, brilliantly illuminating dozens of li in every direction. Then came wave after wave of insect wings vibrating.
"Buzzzzz!!!"
Swarms of bees with golden markings flashing across their bodies converged from every direction.
Each bee stood half as tall as a person, and every one radiated the aura of the Dao Foundation Stage. There were tens of thousands of them!
They gathered in the sky, then waited quietly for something.
The Grand Elders are coming... Lin Ke thought.
One figure after another appeared just as the thought crossed his mind.
They wore clothing in all different colors and styles. Some looked like royalty and nobles, others like beggars in a busy market, while still others wore the traditional dress of various peoples from the Poison Tempering Mountains.
In short, no two were alike.
Their auras were inscrutable, and all were at least Fusion Stage cultivators.
Qi refining, Dao foundation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, fusion.
The Golden Wing Sect occupied an entire branch of the Poison Tempering Mountains and had hundreds of thousands of disciples, yet fewer than ten had reached the Fusion Stage.
That showed just how difficult it was to cultivate to the Fusion Stage.
"Let the Year Festival begin!"
"We welcome the Golden-Wing Envoy!"
The voice of an old man among the Grand Elders rang across the entire plaza.
In an instant, the whole gathering fell silent.
This was not because everyone in the plaza obeyed commands without hesitation, but because every person felt as though a natural predator had fixed its sights on them.
An utterly terrifying aura held the entire plaza in its grip. The wind and all sound stopped; even time and space seemed to freeze.
An enormous, indistinct phantom appeared high in the sky.
Two antennae, sharp mandibles, golden compound eyes...
It was the head of a bee!
Golden-Wing Envoy was the elegant name for a bee!
And this Golden-Wing Envoy's head was several times larger than the plaza, as though she could swallow this entire stretch of space in a single bite.
But it lasted only a few seconds. The Golden-Wing Envoy seemed merely to glance to one side before her phantom vanished without a trace.
Only then did the entire gathering come alive again.
Then the tens of thousands of bees buzzed away in every direction, and thunderous cheers erupted once more.
"That was the Golden-Wing Queen! The guardian sacred beast of our Golden Wing Sect!"
"Not anymore. I heard the Golden-Wing Queen returned to the depths of the Poison Tempering Mountains long ago, after our founding patriarch passed away."
"They say the Golden-Wing Queen was the Spirit Beast who followed our founding patriarch back then. She was incredibly powerful, a gu creature who ranked among the strongest in the entire Poison Tempering Mountains!"
"Exactly! I felt like the Golden-Wing Queen saw me just now! Aaaah!!!"
The disciples grew more excited with each passing moment.
Although they could see her once every year, every sighting was just as awe-inspiring, so everyone was thrilled.
Lin Ke was excited too, though not out of sentiment. It was the feeling of having his horizons broadened.
Science might allow everyone to wield a handgun, but it could not turn everyone into a "handgun."
But the path of immortality... could!
That enormous phantom of the Golden-Wing Queen had shown Lin Ke how insignificant he was, but also how vast the road ahead could be.
Was the Golden-Wing Queen a great Fusion Stage cultivator? Or an even stronger being beyond that?
Lin Ke did not know.
But he now knew the direction of his future.
This kind of "experience" was a fortuitous opportunity in itself!
It let him know there was a road ahead, rather than a bewildering fog that ended in a dead end.
And besides...
"Was she looking at me just now?" Lin Ke muttered.
Why did he feel as though the Golden-Wing Queen had glanced at him?
He was already at the Dao Foundation Stage. He could feel even a mosquito setting a foot on him, let alone the almost tangible gaze of a mighty being like the Golden-Wing Queen.
"Brother, stop joking. The Golden-Wing Queen was obviously looking at me!" A Qi Refining Stage disciple beside him gave him a sidelong glance.
Then another disciple beside that one spoke up. "Nonsense! She was clearly looking at me!"
A fairly handsome male disciple snorted. "All of you, shut up! She was looking at me. I bought a new hairpin yesterday! Who would've thought she'd notice it after all?"
As he spoke, he turned his head slightly so everyone could see the low-grade spirit Green Jade Hairpin he wore.
"What a load of crap! I changed my clothes from light green to blue-green. The Golden-Wing Queen must have been watching me all along, so she wondered why I'd changed and glanced at me!"
The male disciple beside him wore green robes, with a green flower on his head and a mantis perched on it.
More people joined the argument.
Lin Ke did not know whether to laugh or cry, and could not be bothered to argue with them.
While most of the male disciples were heatedly debating whom the Golden-Wing Queen had looked at, the leading Grand Elder at the front seemed to have finished preparing something.
"Mooo-"
"Oink, oink!"
"Quack! Quack!"
A pig, an ox, a sheep, a chicken, a duck, and a goose, all of low-grade spirit quality, suddenly appeared before him. Bound with thin strands of rice straw, they bobbed in midair, unable to move.
"The Golden Wing Sect offers blood sacrifices to honor the living beings of all eight directions!"
He bowed toward the sky, and the livestock before him suddenly burst apart in unison, turning into sprays of blood and shredded flesh.
In the next instant, all those remains rose into the sky and drifted in every direction, finally scattering beyond the Golden Wing Sect.
The Year Festival offered sacrifices to heaven and earth.
And to the living beings between them, tenacious and unceasing.
Before you continue