The Dou Zun Corpse

Tianbei City was jointly controlled by the Han and Hong Families, both Dou Zong families.

The two families also jointly controlled Tianbei City's Space Wormhole, alternating the right to its earnings every three years.

The Hong Family, however, was not satisfied with that. Not long ago, the Hong Family's ancestor had made a breakthrough in his cultivation. The Han Family's ancestor, by contrast, had been unable to advance any further after reaching Four-Star Dou Zong.

As a result, the Hong Family's ancestor had begun thinking of swallowing up the Han Family and taking control of Tianbei City.

Their first step was to establish a connection with the Wind Lightning Pavilion.

After all, the Wind Lightning Pavilion was the overlord of the Northern Region. If they could secure its support, annexing the Han Family would go more smoothly.

The Hong Family had taken the lead in organizing this auction in Tianbei City, hoping to use it to strengthen their voice in the city.

With Fei Tian leading the way, the two entered a VIP room at the auction house without trouble.

"What's being sold at this auction?" Sun Qi asked Fei Tian.

Fei Tian answered, "Besides some Cultivation Methods and Combat Skills, there are also some things brought out of a Dou Zun's tomb."

"Not long ago, the Hong Family's ancestor in Tianbei City stumbled into a Dou Zun expert's cave dwelling. Among its contents were quite a few things the Dou Zun expert left behind after his death."

"Besides some weapons and pills, the most valued item should be the ruins of the sect behind that Dou Zun expert."

"According to the Hong Family's ancestor, this Dou Zun expert was at least a Five-Star Dou Zun during his lifetime, and the sect behind him was powerful enough to rival the Wind Lightning Pavilion. For some unknown reason, however, the sect mysteriously vanished over a century ago."

Sun Qi had little interest in this sort of grave-robbing. It was bad for one's karmic virtue.

Feng Qing'er, on the other hand, simply looked down on it. Any elder picked at random from her family would be powerful enough to rival the Wind Lightning Pavilion's master.

If not for the Wind Lightning Pavilion's supreme treasure, her family would never have arranged for her to join it.

One should not think that internal strife occurred only in human families. The infighting within magical beast families was no less severe.

After all, the rule of big fish eating small fish applied throughout the Dou Qi Continent.

"Elder Fei Tian, so once you've completed your mission this time, you're going to explore those sect ruins?"

Fei Tian nodded. "That's right. The Hong Family's ancestor has already taken the lead and is auctioning off ten places. They plan to go together, and I came this time for one of those places."

Sun Qi found the auction somewhat dull. It was nothing more than a few Earth-Class Dou Techniques, fifth- and sixth-grade pills, and the undershirts and underpants a Dou Zun had worn.

He had no idea whether these people had some special fetish, but they even stripped the clothes off the dead.

"Ugh! That's disgusting. They're actually auctioning off a dead person's clothes. Why don't they bring out the Dou Zun's remains and auction those off too?"

Feng Qing'er had barely finished complaining when a wooden coffin was carried onto the auction stage ahead.

"Everyone, these are the remains of that Dou Zun expert."

"Since the Dou Zun's presence still lingers on the remains, we have specially sealed them in a specially made coffin."

Seeing that they really had dug up the Dou Zun expert's remains to sell, Feng Qing'er could not take it anymore.

"That's disgusting. Let's go, let's go. Sun Qi, come on, let's get out of here. I've seen enough."

Sun Qi, however, felt nothing in particular about human remains.

The remains on the auction stage were, in the end, just a dried-out corpse. Its sex was impossible to make out, but judging by its appearance, it had been dead for over a century.

Feng Qing'er pulled Sun Qi to his feet, then said to Fei Tian, "Elder Fei Tian, take your time bidding. I'll take Sun Qi out for a walk first."

With that, she led Sun Qi out without looking back.

Fei Tian watched the two leave but did not stop them. In any case, as long as they stayed in Tianbei City, they would not be in any danger.

At his speed, he could reach any corner of Tianbei City in an instant.

Outside the auction house, Feng Qing'er looked at it with an expression of revulsion. She was a girl after all, and had an innate aversion to things like dried corpses.

"The Hong Family is really perverted, even bringing something like that out to sell."

Sun Qi smiled. "It's perfectly normal. The Hong Family needs to use this opportunity to expand its influence in Tianbei City."

"That's probably also why they organized the exploration of the ruins this time."

Feng Qing'er did not see things as clearly as Sun Qi did. She asked curiously, "Influence? What do they want that for?"

"To swallow up the other families and take complete control of Tianbei City, of course."

The moment she heard it was a struggle for control, Feng Qing'er understood. She was quite familiar with such things.

The two walked side by side to Tianbei City's market, and Feng Qing'er thoroughly enjoyed the surroundings.

"This market looks like it's run by the Hong Family too. Want to go in and have a look?"

Because the Hong Family had auctioned off a dried corpse earlier, Feng Qing'er felt somewhat averse to them. She shook her head. "Forget it. Let's just look around nearby and see if there's anything fun."

"Can this pill of yours really help someone break through a bottleneck?"

"Little girl, I'm a dignified fifth-grade alchemist. Would I lie to you?"

As he spoke, the old man deliberately puffed out his chest to display his alchemist badge. Five Pill Patterns were engraved on the medicinal cauldron badge, signifying a fifth-grade alchemist.

From a distance, however, Sun Qi could tell at a glance that the alchemist badge was fake, and that the pill was also a counterfeit with nothing more than the lingering presence of a Sixth-Grade Pill.

By the street, a rosy-cheeked, jade-like little girl stood with two guards in front of the fake alchemist's stall. From the look of it, she wanted to buy the pill.

"Old man, why does it look like the color is coming off your alchemist badge?"

The sudden voice immediately drew everyone's attention. A blond youth had appeared in front of the old man's stall at some unknown point, holding the old man's alchemist badge in his hand.

He held it up toward the sky and examined it carefully.

Only when he saw the badge in the youth's hand did the old man realize that the badge on his chest had disappeared without him noticing.

Seeing someone disrupt his business, the old man immediately flew into a rage. "Where did you come from, you brat? How dare you slander me like that!"

"I'm a dignified fifth-grade alchemist! What would a brat like you know?"

Between a very authoritative-looking old man and a blond brat, the old man seemed more credible no matter how one looked at it.

But with a single sentence, Sun Qi punctured his lie. "What's this? Have Tianbei City's fifth-grade alchemists fallen so low that they're setting up stalls by the roadside now?"

That one sentence left the old man speechless, his face turning crimson with anger.

Sun Qi held the alchemist badge out in front of everyone and rubbed it with his hand. Sure enough, the color came off.

"Also, which Alchemist Association issued this badge to you? The quality is terrible. Remember to file a complaint with them later."

With that, he casually tossed the badge back to the old man, then grabbed a pill bottle from the stall and examined it.

He then brought it close and took a sniff. "This pill is fake too."