Inside a brightly lit private room, Xiao Yan and Murong Qianqian were sitting, while Fang Qian had left earlier due to official business.
In the blink of an eye, only Xiao Yan and his companion remained in the large private room.
The private room was large enough to accommodate twenty or thirty people without feeling crowded. At this moment, only Xiao Yan and Xiao Yan remained in the room. The already spacious room, coupled with the silence of the two, immediately made the atmosphere dull.
Her soft, delicate body nestled in a chair covered with milky-white fur. At this moment, Murong Qianqian looked like a rabbit returning to its burrow. A bored expression appeared on her exquisite face, and her clear, beautiful eyes were staring straight at the opposite side. On the dark wall, a light screen was projecting the scene in the auction hall onto it.
As the crowd continued to pour in, the originally empty stone steps of the auction hall were quickly filled with people. The noise in this circular auction hall became even more chaotic, turning into a buzzing sound that echoed endlessly, making people feel uneasy.
"Hey, is that kind of medicinal herb you mentioned very important to you?"
At a certain moment, feeling utterly bored, Murong Qianqian turned her beautiful eyes to Xiao Yan Xiao Yan, a look of confusion on her pretty face, and asked him a question.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan's expression first showed a slight surprise, then he frowned slightly, and finally nodded slightly, saying:
"That's right, the Blazing Flame Flower, it's crucial for my breakthrough to the Dou Di."
Dou Di...
As Xiao Yan finished speaking, Murong Qianqian's expression froze slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in the depths of her beautiful eyes.
But then, the girl frowned again, raised her beautiful eyes, and stared at Xiao Yan with suspicion, asking once more:
"You're not lying to me, are you? Don't think I don't know just because I'm not an alchemist. The Dou Di Emperor Tribulation Pill doesn't contain a medicinal herb like the Blazing Flame Flower. This must be a medicinal herb used in another kind of pill."
Xiao Yan's gaze narrowed almost imperceptibly, but he remained noncommittal.
Seeing that Xiao Yan did not answer, the girl's doubts deepened. Just as she was about to ask further, the previously noisy crowd on the light screen opposite them had quieted down at some point.
At the same time, on the stone platform at the very center of the entire auction house, the originally flat stone platform suddenly began to tremble violently. Then, a square crystal pillar slowly rose from the center of the stone platform.
At this moment, all eyes in the room turned to this location, and everyone's eyes revealed a hint of excitement, because they knew that the long-awaited auction was finally about to begin.
"Clang..."
The familiar chiming of bells rang out in the auction hall, and instantly, everyone's eyes were fixed on the source of the sound. At the same time, on the stone platform, beside the newly erected crystal pillar, after a moment of distortion in the invisible void, the figure of an old man slowly appeared before everyone present.
Inside the private room, Xiao Yan stared at the old man appearing on the light screen, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. He hadn't expected that the old man appearing on the stone platform was actually Fang Qian.
"Heh, no wonder they dare to hold the auction in such an open-air environment. The auction items are personally protected by Dou Di powerhouse. Unless someone is a desperate criminal, I doubt anyone would cause trouble at this auction."
He clicked his tongue in amazement, then chuckled and shook his head. To have a Xiao Yan Dou Di expert preside over an Xiao Yan was truly extravagant; at least, in all his years of cultivation, he had never seen anything like it.
However, just as everyone thought the auction was about to begin, a buzzing sound suddenly came from above the auction hall.
Immediately, a layer of golden energy shield, like an inverted bowl, enveloped the entire auction house from the outside.
"This is... a formation?"
Inside the private room, Murong Qianqian opened her bright, watery eyes and carefully examined the golden energy shield through the light screen in front of her. Her jade-like fingers lightly touched her delicate chin, and a hint of doubt appeared on her pretty face as she asked.
"It's an array, and a high-level one at that. With this, even a Dou Di expert would have a considerable difficulty breaking it in a short time."
Compared to the young girl, Xiao Yan had a more comprehensive view, and as soon as he spoke, he gave a general explanation of the extraordinary nature of the energy shield.
"Hiss..."
Upon hearing this, Murong Qianqian's expression instantly changed. To be able to withstand a formation of Dou Di expert, what level of formation would it be?
Beside him, Xiao Yan, who had been nestled in his chair, slowly straightened up, a solemn look appearing in his dark eyes.
"To be able to withstand Dou Di expert, this formation, even if of the lowest quality, is definitely no worse than Third-Tier Formation. Moreover, even among Third-Tier Formation, it would be considered top-tier. However, judging from this formation, it might actually be a Fourth-Tier Formation."
As soon as Xiao Yan finished speaking, Murong Qianqian's pretty face also showed surprise. Fourth-Tier Formation was a terrifying formation that even Dou Di expert would be wary of!
"Click click click..."
While Xiao Yan and Murong Qianqian were discussing the energy shield, something changed once again on the stone platform outside.
Amidst the clicking of mechanical wheels, the ground around the crystal pillar slowly cracked, and soon, a stepped passage leading deep underground appeared before the eyes of countless people in the auction house.
A staircase appeared, and then an elderly man in a golden robe walked out slowly with a smile on his face.
As soon as the old man appeared, an overwhelming and unstoppable aura swept out from his body.
Under this imposing aura, everyone in the auction hall couldn't help but change their expressions instantly. The crowd, which had already quieted down because of Fang Qian's appearance, didn't even dare to breathe loudly at this moment.
"Such a powerful aura! This person must be Dong Chuan, the president of Heavenly Cloud Auction House!"
The old man's appearance caused a solemn atmosphere among the crowd, while some of those who were visiting Yan City for the first time couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
Meanwhile, in those private rooms, the Dou Di experts all showed a hint of apprehension on their faces. Their gloomy eyes stared through the light screen at the old man who had appeared on the stone platform. Clearly, even they dared not be careless in the slightest when it came to Dong Chuan.
At the same time, Xiao Yan, who was also in the private room, had a face filled with a deep sense of solemnity.
At this moment, under Xiao Yan's terrifying Spiritual Strength, comparable to that of Third-Tier Alchemist, Dong Chuan's cultivation level, which appeared on the stone platform, was naturally seen through by Xiao Yan at a glance.
This Dong Chuan is so terrifyingly powerful that he is the strongest Dou Di expert Xiao Yan has ever seen since he came to the Western Region, after the sect leaders of the Four Great Sects. His cultivation is so profound that he has clearly reached the level of Five-Star Dou Di!