Void Beast Hide

Lei Chong did not refuse. Instead, he looked the Witch over. "Forget those fox girls. If you came, though, I'd welcome you."

"Hee-hee, if big sister really came, could you handle it, little brother?" The Witch was not angry. Instead, she giggled.

"Why don't you come and try? Then we'll know whether I can handle it," Lei Chong said with a smile.

The Witch chuckled and stepped back, soon vanishing from sight.

The flirtatious proprietress stepped forward and looked Lei Chong over as though she had seen a ghost, an unprecedentedly strange expression on her face.

She knew the Witch's identity very well. When had anyone ever seen through her so easily?

Time passed quickly, and three days went by in the blink of an eye.

Lei Chong did not go out during those three days. Instead, he stayed in his room, improving his Heavenly Eye to make it more powerful.

After three days of effort, Lei Chong could clearly tell that the imprint in his Heavenly Eye had grown clearer. Perhaps, after a little more time, he would be able to engrave the Double Pupils' runes into his Heavenly Eye.

The Gu Bone Auction House!

It had carved beams and painted rafters, glittering splendor, and an immense interior, with furnishings arranged with great care.

Upon entering the hall, visitors were greeted by a golden skeleton over ten zhang tall and twenty to thirty zhang long. Runes flowed across it, shining brilliantly, yet it gave off a vicious, baleful presence.

It was the skeleton of a vicious beast, complete and flawless, preserved in its entirety to supply divine power to the entire auction house.

The hall was crowded with men and women, young and old, all of them people of considerable standing.

Lei Chong and the Witch had come together. Guided by several young women, they entered one of the private rooms as honored guests at the auction.

Special formations enveloped these rooms, allowing those inside to see the hall clearly while preventing anyone in the hall from seeing in.

Lei Chong reclined in a lounge chair, looking over the people outside.

Before long, a youth entered through the doors. He had delicate features and bright, sparkling eyes, and he looked around the auction house.

He wore beast-hide clothing, and tiny, translucent specks of light glimmered in his hair.

It was Shi Hao, who had come to the imperial capital in search of his grandfather.

Shi Hao followed some of the crowd and wandered around the hall for a while. In the end, he chose a private room and became an honored guest of the auction house.

Seeing Lei Chong staring at Shi Hao the whole time, the Witch looked over curiously.

"Oh, that Bear Child." The Witch recognized Shi Hao as well.

She had met him before entering the Kunpeng Nest.

In the neighboring private room, Shi Hao was staring toward Lei Chong.

Though the formation screened that room from view, his divine perception was keen. He sensed someone there watching him, but he could not see who it was.

Shi Hao was just about to turn back when a fluctuation came from his hair.

"There are many treasures over there. Before the Kunpeng Nest opened, I sensed him inside it. It seems he has come out today." Little Pagoda's divine thought reached him.

"What?" Shi Hao's expression changed at once. He found the matter terrifying.

Someone had hidden in the Kunpeng Nest and waited until it opened. If Little Pagoda had not discovered him, perhaps no one would have known he existed.

In other words, when he obtained the Kunpeng Method, someone else had already gotten there first, and someone had long known that he had obtained the Kunpeng Method.

Thinking along those lines, many things could be explained.

"Never mind. If he's an enemy and a man, suppress them all. If he's fat, carry him back to the village," Shi Hao said, waving his fist.

Soon, the auction began, hosted jointly by an elderly man and a bewitchingly beautiful woman. The very first item brought out caught Shi Hao's attention.

In the neighboring private room, Lei Chong also opened his Heavenly Eye.

It was a fragment of bone with a soft, lustrous glow flowing through it. Inside were a few lines that looked as though they had been sketched at random.

The bone fragment was indeed extraordinary, but Lei Chong did not bid on it.

He had his own path, so there was no need to insist on obtaining the bone.

In the end, Shi Hao called out a high price and successfully won the bone fragment.

After that, item after item was brought onto the stage and successfully auctioned off.

"Next, we have a precious talisman left over from ancient times. It is exceedingly rare, so please take a look," the alluring woman in red on the stage said with a smile as she introduced it to everyone.

It was a piece of ocher-yellow paper, extremely flexible and undamaged no matter how it was folded. When flicked, it rang like metal or stone.

This was an Earth-Shrinking Talisman. Placed beneath one's feet, it could shrink the earth to an inch, making one faster than a bird in flight. It had been refined by a mighty figure in ancient times.

Lei Chong's interest was immediately piqued. He was searching for the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, and to keep him from escaping, he had to prepare more means.

With this Earth-Shrinking Talisman in hand, it would be easier to pursue the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow.

"Three thousand essence jade pieces."

"Four thousand essence jade pieces."

"..."

The so-called essence jade was a special kind of jade that contained the essence of heaven and earth and could be used for cultivation. It was very valuable.

"I bid a piece of Sea Blue Essence," came a bid from Shi Hao's private room.

As soon as that bid was made, the bidding around them stopped.

"I bid one Blood Spirit Pearl." Lei Chong took out a pearl.

It was a red pearl, its surface giving off a soft red glow. Such a treasure could only form when an old clam, in its twilight years, poured all its blood essence into its final pearl.

"Then I'll add another piece of Sea Blue Essence," Shi Hao's voice called out.

"I'll add a piece of Sea Blue Essence too," Lei Chong said, raising his bid.

This Earth-Shrinking Talisman was extremely important to him. He absolutely could not yield it to anyone.

Shi Hao ground his teeth in secret. "I've run into someone with deep pockets."

In the end, after giving it serious thought, he gave up on the Earth-Shrinking Talisman.

From Lei Chong's tone, he could tell the other man was determined to have it. No matter how much he bid, his opponent would top him.

He had originally intended to deliberately drive up the price and make Lei Chong bleed a little more.

But when he thought of the Kunpeng Nest, he abandoned the idea.

In the end, Lei Chong's bid was a little higher, and he successfully obtained the Earth-Shrinking Talisman.

"Everyone, let us reach another climax. I think many of you will be interested in the item up for auction next," the woman in red said with a charming laugh, thoroughly whetting everyone's appetite.

She took out a piece of beast hide. It was dull and had nothing remarkable about it, but when she flicked her wrist and draped it over herself, something strange happened: her shapely, curvaceous body vanished.

"Huh? She actually disappeared."

"What's going on? What kind of precious artifact is that?"

Everyone was surprised and quite interested.

Lei Chong's breathing grew even more rapid. This was his main reason for coming.

He wanted to obtain this Void Beast Hide. If he used it to secretly approach the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow when the time came, he would surely give him a surprise.

So no matter the cost, he had to obtain the beast hide.

With a swish, the woman in red reappeared. She had put down the beast hide and said with a charming laugh, "Can any of you guess what this is?"

"Could it be... Void Beast Hide?" someone asked, trembling.

Hearing this, everyone was shocked, and a complete uproar followed. This was a rare and precious material, truly too uncommon.

To people of the present age, the Void Beast should no longer be seen. Even in ancient times, it had been exceedingly rare and priceless.