"Uncle, don't worry—this auction has been arranged flawlessly. All the bidders are cultivators who, at first glance, appear completely unrelated to our Ye family. After the first round of bidding, these individuals will be swiftly eliminated, with absolutely no trace of what's happened. As for the Emperor's side—how is that going? The Tai Men Sect and the Tian Mo Sect have unexpectedly sent two senior masters, Xuanqing and Qijiu, to the palace. Isn't it possible they've heard something?" The elegant woman said hesitantly. Upon hearing this, the elder in the black hat also expressed concern. "You needn't worry. My brother has already investigated their intentions—they're specifically coming to secure the Pingshan Seal from the Three Emperors' Pavilion. Recently, the Three Pavilions have completed the final integration of all its components, and the seal is now fully formed. These two sects have extensive networks. Even from the subtle hints we've deliberately revealed, they've already begun to suspect the nature of the treasure we're crafting." Therefore, this time they are pressuring our Ye family, demanding that they purchase this treasure from us. That's fortunate—having this lure openly visible, my true plan will remain undetected. Nevertheless, to be safe, all elders who know of the plan have recently been instructed to travel together. Should they inadvertently fall victim to these two old monsters and have their consciousness forcibly examined, that would be disastrous. Especially the Qi Miao True Person from the Tian Mo Sect, who is particularly skilled in various secret arts—even if a Yuan婴-level cultivator is accidentally attacked, they will inevitably reveal everything. The man with the square face tightened his facial muscles, delivering a serious and weighty instruction. "Ah, now I understand. That reassures me. But the Pingshan Seal is something we've painstakingly crafted. Will we simply hand it over to these two families so easily?" the elder with the black hat expressed his regret. "Hand it over easily? Impossible! If only one of them had approached us, we might have struggled under the pressure and had to concede. Now that both families have arrived simultaneously, there is certainly room for opportunistic maneuvering. Brother has already made arrangements—should the Pingshan Seal be unable to remain in our hands, it will certainly not fall easily into the hands of either of these two families, becoming a liability to them. The middle-aged man with a square face spoke with a cold, mocking smile. The elder wearing a black hat and the beautiful woman exchanged glances, now completely puzzled, yet wisely chose not to press further. Thus, after a while of further conversation, the three parted ways and proceeded with their respective matters. That morning, Han Li transformed his appearance into a broad-shouldered man with a dark face, and turned his bamboo cylinder behind him into a long sword. He then drifted gracefully out of the temple, heading straight for Jinxi Market. Along the way, he refined his cultivation, lowering his修为 to the Ji Dan stage, to avoid drawing too much attention. As expected, the closer he got to Jinxi Market, the more he sensed the presence of higher-ranked cultivators. While the majority were at the Ji Dan level, there were also many Yuan Ying cultivators. In contrast, lower-ranked cultivators were noticeably fewer. It seemed that even moderately well-off cultivators were unwilling to miss this major auction. Upon passing through the protective seal and stepping into the market, Han Li immediately noticed a bustling scene—various cultivators in different attire filling the streets, many of them dressed in unusual garments. Yet, upon a quick glance, he spotted several gloomy black-robed cultivators at the entrance, constantly scanning the visitors entering the market. One of the men was none other than Ge Tianhao. Yet the Tianlan Holy Maiden remained absent. Han Li frowned slightly, but on the surface feigned ignorance, walking steadily toward the great hall without glancing at a single Yin Luo Sect cultivator. As soon as he lifted his leg and took just two steps, a faint, intermittent sense of awareness immediately swept over him, circling once before yielding empty and then moving on to another cultivator who had just arrived at the same stage of Dan Stage. "It's not unusual for the Yin Luo Sect to use such subtle awareness scans on visitors entering the marketplace. However, such treatment is typically reserved for those whose faces are unfamiliar—scattered cultivators or those whose identities appear questionable. High-ranking cultivators from other sects and lineages are generally ignored. For Dan Stage cultivators, this subtle scanning technique is particularly effective, as they remain unaware of it and thus show no reaction." Yet, when several senior independent cultivators encountered this matter upon entering the marketplace, they naturally grew furious and coldly glared at these Yin Luo Sect disciples. Fortunately, the Yin Luo Sect members showed no intention of escalating the situation; after a brief mental scan, they made no further moves. Thus, though these high-level independent cultivators were dissatisfied, they did not wish to provoke such a powerful demonic sect. They could only leave, as was the case with Han Li, with a sense of irritation. Even if this person remains composed and shows no flaws, you need not worry. The person from the Unexpected Sect has some connections with the Heaven Demon Sect, and Lin has already borrowed the Mirrored Sound Jewel from their Seventh Master, currently concentrating on refining it at his residence. It will be ready for effortless use within just a few days. Right now, if I can identify this person, that will be ideal; if I fail, at least I can cause them to lose their alertness. By the final couple of days of the auction, under the power of the Mirror’s breaking form, this person will have no place to hide and will be swiftly captured. "Geng Tianhao glanced at the stern elder, speaking calmly. "Now I understand. I always thought that with Elder Geng’s flawless strategic acumen within the Temple, such a seemingly pointless move would be impossible. In that case, the Abbot and the others need not even come—just we several of us could secure this person and make a significant contribution to the Temple." The elder with the triangular eyes brightened, speaking with genuine enthusiasm. "I hope so." Ge Tian smiled confidently and glanced toward the direction of the Palace of Radiant Light. This time's opponent seemed to be a formidable figure. Even the originally top-tier fourth elder, who had reached the mid-stage of Yuan Yin, might fall at this person's hands—how could it be otherwise? Unexpected developments were far from rare. He should therefore remain vigilant. Ge Tian thought this quietly, his expression gradually darkening. At this point, Han Li no longer concealed the aura of a Yuan婴 stage cultivator. Though the cultivator responsible for hosting the auction seemed to find Han Li somewhat carefree, he never once showed any sign of impatience. Along the entrance hall, there were other cultivators dressed similarly, each hosting senior Yuan婴 stage guests. As for the Jian Dan stage cultivators, they had to simply walk to a stone stele at the entrance of the main hall and read the information inscribed upon it themselves. "The Yuan婴 stage auction has been moved to the Jiuxiao Hall above, while the Jian Dan stage auction continues to take place in the Baoguang Hall. Additionally, attendees of the Yuan婴 stage auction must pay one thousand spirit stones each, while those of the Jian Dan stage need to pay one hundred spirit stones to gain entry. We haven't made a mistake, have we?" After a pause, Han Li gathered his gaze and glanced briefly at the attendant, speaking calmly. "Your judgment is correct, indeed. This year's number of participants has increased by a third compared to previous years, so we had to urgently borrow the Jiuxiao Hall from the Tianji Pavilion for temporary use." In addition, the requirement to pay these spiritual stones is no different from that of previous years—mainly to prevent the auction hall from becoming overly crowded, thus necessitating this measure to control the number of attendees. However, for senior figures of your standing, such as yourself, these stones are naturally not considered a burden. Otherwise, if anyone could freely enter the hall, even if the venue were ten times larger, it would still be completely insufficient. The yellow-robed cultivator smiled politely and said, "A thousand spiritual stones? You truly are quite generous in collecting them. As you mentioned, as long as I find something satisfactory, I won't mind this amount. I have no interest in the Jie Dan stage auctions—I will certainly attend the Yuan Yin stage auctions instead." Han Li raised his hand and tossed ten mid-tier spiritual stones into the yellow-robed cultivator's arms. "Please enter, the Yuan Yin stage auctions will begin in the morning. Here is your auction hall pass. With this pass, you may attend all the Yuan Yin stage auctions for the coming days." The Huangshan cultivator smiled more widely upon receiving the spiritual stone, then drew out a jade plaque bearing a number from his sleeve and handed it to Han Li. Han Li simply reached out, took the plaque, and with a flash of azure light, transformed into a streak of brilliant light, swiftly heading straight toward the grand hall in the sky. At that moment, other Yuan-Infant cultivators had already begun to ride their flight lights toward the upper realm. When Han Li entered the main gate of the Jiuxiao Hall, he found only a faint white light curtain at the entrance—no one else was present. A slight furrow formed on his brow as he gently infused some spiritual energy into the plaque and waved it back and forth at the curtain. Instantly, a beam of red light shot out from the plaque, causing the curtain to part automatically. Han Li then moved without hesitation, once again becoming a streak of azure light and entering the hall. The curtain promptly closed as it had before. After two hours, a total of several hundred Yuan-Infant cultivators gradually arrived and entered the sky hall one after another. Following three resonant chimes of the great bell, the grand auction officially commenced. -- Let's postpone the update time a bit.