The Azure Feather Pavilion.
After the auction, it had fallen quiet again.
But Tianyue City was destined for a sleepless night.
People throughout the city were discussing the auction, and countless people slapped their tables in admiration at the Heavenly Eagle Elder's actions.
Ye Xuan sat in the VIP room, sipping spirit tea as he waited for Wu Gang to return.
"Sorry for the wait, fellow Daoist. Having the city lord verify the Wind Shadow Pearl took a little extra time. Here are your proceeds and the items you won at the auction."
Wu Gang handed Ye Xuan several Qiankun Bags. Earlier, City Lord Wang Yu had repeatedly asked about the owner of the Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill, but Wu Gang had refused to tell him anything. In his eyes, Ye Xuan was clearly a valuable customer, and keeping a customer's identity confidential was only proper.
Besides, Ye Xuan did not want his identity exposed.
"Very good."
Ye Xuan took out the Wind Shadow Pearl and played with it in his hand. He could clearly sense the rich wind Spiritual Qi within the pearl.
If he could refine this Wind Shadow Pearl, the speed of his Wind Thunder Step would improve tremendously.
"As for the materials you asked me to purchase earlier, I've collected most of them. The city lord helped by contributing some of the precious materials."
Ye Xuan had requested too many materials, and even the Azure Feather Pavilion did not have many of the precious ones. Seeing that Wang Yu wanted to curry favor with Ye Xuan, Wu Gang had told him about this and obtained a batch of precious materials.
"You've been very thoughtful, Pavilion Master Wu."
Ye Xuan scanned the materials. Most of the precious materials needed to refine poison pills were there. He rubbed his hands eagerly; once he returned, he could begin learning to refine poison pills capable of threatening Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.
Before that, however, he still needed to improve his pill refining technique. Ye Xuan now felt that he was not far from level 2 in pill refining technique.
"Then I'll take my leave. Sorry for the trouble, Pavilion Master Wu, but please continue helping me collect the materials on the list. I'll return once I've used up the materials I have."
Ye Xuan rose to take his leave.
Hearing that Ye Xuan wanted to continue collecting materials, Wu Gang hastily agreed. He had just been worrying about finding a reason for Ye Xuan to return.
Ye Xuan cautiously left the Azure Feather Pavilion and wandered through the city, changing his appearance and cultivation several times. After confirming that no one was following him, he assumed the guise of a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, left through the western gate, and headed west.
No one is following me.
A hundred li outside Tianyue City, Ye Xuan stopped. After confirming that no one was following him, he activated Wind Thunder Step and flew swiftly toward Qingyu City. Only one day remained before he had to return to the sect; if he did not head back now, he would be too late.
He had flown less than a thousand li when an eagle's cry suddenly rang out in the distance.
Ye Xuan looked back, and his expression changed drastically. The Heavenly Eagle Elder had turned into a streak of light and was flying swiftly toward him.
Driving Wind Thunder Step beneath his feet at full speed, Ye Xuan took out the Wind Shadow Pearl and poured Qi into it with all his strength, increasing his speed once again.
But the Heavenly Eagle Elder behind him was even faster, and the distance between them was shrinking rapidly.
"Please wait, fellow Daoist. I mean you no harm."
The Heavenly Eagle Elder pursued him with all his strength. He was exceptionally skilled in speed to begin with; even without the Wind Shadow Pearl, he was much faster than Ye Xuan.
Before long, he caught up with Ye Xuan.
"Hehe, fellow Daoist, you certainly made yourself hard to find."
The Heavenly Eagle Elder spoke with a chuckle, his face full of warmth, without the slightest visible hostility.
But Ye Xuan remained on full guard. He could not understand how he had been exposed.
"What do you want with me?"
"Haha, there's no need to be like this, fellow Daoist. I sincerely wish to befriend you. Might you have any more Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pills? I'm still willing to pay a high price for them."
The Heavenly Eagle Elder laughed heartily, seemingly oblivious to Ye Xuan's wariness.
"You have the wrong person!"
Ye Xuan spoke coldly.
"How could I have the wrong person? After leaving the Azure Feather Pavilion, you changed identities seven times within the city, then another eight times after leaving it. Only after getting a hundred li away from the city did you begin hurrying along at full speed. If you aren't the owner of the Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill, why act so cautiously?"
The Heavenly Eagle Elder stroked his beard, laying bare all of Ye Xuan's movements as though he had witnessed them himself.
Ye Xuan's pupils contracted. He had used Chaos Spiritual Qi to conceal himself the entire way, yet someone had actually seen through him.
A sense of danger rose in Ye Xuan's heart.
"Don't worry, fellow Daoist. I was only able to learn your whereabouts because I have a Law Treasure."
The Heavenly Eagle Elder took out a bronze mirror.
The Heaven-Peeping Mirror, a low-grade Law Treasure, could reflect everything within a hundred-li radius. The more Spiritual Qi poured into it, the clearer its images and the greater its range.
It was through the Heaven-Peeping Mirror that the Heavenly Eagle Elder had discovered everyone in disguise within the city and gained such insight into Ye Xuan's movements.
"What do you want?"
Ye Xuan spoke coldly.
"I felt like we were old friends the moment we met, fellow Daoist. I was just hoping to invite you to my home for a chat."
The Heavenly Eagle Elder put away the Heaven-Peeping Mirror and looked at Ye Xuan with a smile, but a hint of unquestionable authority in his words made the situation tense.
During the pursuit, the Heavenly Eagle Elder had sensed that Ye Xuan's strength was only at the Golden Core Realm, at most the Golden Core Late Stage. Although a thin mist shrouded Ye Xuan and prevented him from seeing his true strength, he could still make a fairly close guess.
"And if I refuse?"
Ye Xuan tightened his grip on Waning Moon and stared straight at the Heavenly Eagle Elder.
"Hehe."
The Heavenly Eagle Elder gave a hollow smile, condensed a towering giant palm, and reached out to seize Ye Xuan.
Boom!
The longsword flashed out, its Sword-Ray stretching ten thousand zhang as it cleaved the giant palm apart. The Heavenly Eagle Elder's gaze burned.
Even someone at the Golden Core Peak would have been thrown into a fluster trying to neutralize that strike, yet Ye Xuan had dispelled it with a casual move.
A genius!
The Heavenly Eagle Elder laughed wildly.
In his younger years, he had obtained a "Soul-Seizing Instruction" from a cave abode. It was a possession cultivation method that, when cultivated to its utmost, was akin to rebirth in another body, and even cultivation and aptitude would stack together.
That was why the Heavenly Eagle Elder had spent such an enormous sum to buy a flawless Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill for his son.
He was nearing the end of his lifespan. Only by raising his son into a Nascent Soul cultivator could he unleash the Soul-Seizing Instruction's greatest power.
Yet now, he had actually encountered a genius-at the very least, a genius capable of fighting above his level within the same realm. This left the Heavenly Eagle Elder extremely excited.
His own breakthrough to Nascent Soul had come through a chance fortuitous opportunity. His natural aptitude was poor, and his son's was equally unremarkable.
Ye Xuan's aptitude was at least a hundred times his own. If he could possess Ye Xuan, his future path of cultivation would become a broad, smooth road.
"Haha, become my nourishment!"
The Heavenly Eagle Elder finally lost patience and revealed his true colors. He wanted to possess Ye Xuan and obtain his supreme talent.
Boom!
The Heavenly Eagle Elder suddenly unleashed his power, his imposing presence pressing down on Ye Xuan until he could barely breathe.
Clang!
Waning Moon rang out in Ye Xuan's hand. Driving Azure Feather Swordsmanship to its utmost, he struck first against the Nascent Soul expert.
"Azure Feather Swordsmanship! You're a disciple of the Azure Feather Dao Sect!"
The Heavenly Eagle Elder recognized Ye Xuan's swordsmanship at a glance. A struggle flickered in his eyes, but he soon calmed down and revealed a savage grin.
"So what if you are? Once I possess you, I can simply flee far away. Could the Azure Feather Dao Sect really chase me to the ends of the earth?"