Chapter 145: The Strong Gather

After the elderly man departed, the palace-attired female attendant who had previously guided him pushed the door open once more and led him toward the fourth floor. Tianzhi’s entire fourth floor was a massive auction venue, and the treasure auction activities were held right here. During the walk, Qin Feng exchanged a few brief words with the attendant and learned that the auction event was held once a week. Considering today, his timing was quite fortunate, as this week's event happened to be scheduled for today.

Upon reaching the fourth floor and presenting his token, Qin Feng was permitted to enter the fourth-floor auction house.

The space on the fourth floor was quite vast. Since Qin Feng had arrived slightly late, he followed the attendant's guidance to a relatively secluded spot and sat down.

He had chosen the seat himself, naturally with the intention of avoiding too much unwanted attention.

During the waiting period, Qin Feng first cast his gaze around to survey the surroundings.

Clearly, because the recent unearthing of the Nine Walls Scroll at Tianhuan Mountain had caused such a massive sensation, it had attracted cultivators from many other countries to hunt for treasures here. Sensing a huge business opportunity, Tianzhi had decided to provide a temporary trading platform. Even so, the scale of the auction house was by no means small; the fourth-floor space could easily accommodate up to a thousand people. There were no windows, presenting a fully enclosed design, and all four walls were covered with soundproofing and defensive barrier restrictions. Only a few dim, glowing magic stones provided illumination, seemingly intentionally creating a special atmosphere. The facilities within the venue were quite simple, consisting merely of dozens of rows of neatly arranged, rather precious spirit-wood chairs. At the front of all the seats stood a massive, semi-circular stone platform about one meter high, brightly illuminated, which presumably served as the stage for conducting the auction.

People arrived in twos and threes, led successively to their seats by various palace-attired female attendants.

Qin Feng swept his gaze across the room.

The vast majority of those attending this auction were at the Human-Tier Realm. Earth-Tier cultivators were scarce, and there was not a single Heaven-Tier cultivator present. It appeared that this auction was primarily targeted at Human-Tier cultivators.

Among the attendees, a small portion hailed from the Yunqi Kingdom, with members of the Earth Corpse Sect making up the majority, while those from the Shu Sword Mountain were few, and none of them were acquaintances. This was a favorable situation, allowing Qin Feng to let out a quiet sigh of relief. The vast majority of the rest came from various countries across the Eastern Domain—a diverse and motley crew, though overall consisting of the dozen or so nations located relatively close to the Yunqi Kingdom. It would have been difficult for countries much further away to reach their hands out this far.

However, they all shared one common characteristic: the aura emanating from each person was incomparable to that of ordinary Human-Tier cultivators. It seemed these individuals were also the standout elites within their respective sects across various countries, most likely having rushed here upon hearing the news to gain some practical experience.

Among these people, four cultivators particularly caught Qin Feng's attention.

First—

A woman clad in delicate feather garments possessed a graceful figure and breath-taking beauty. She sat calmly in a central seat slightly ahead and to Qin Feng's right. This woman was truly naturally endowed with peerless beauty, possessing a kind of breathtaking loveliness akin to a multicolored lotus flower, radiating a noble and sanctified elegance.

Her beauty stunned everyone present, repeatedly drawing the gazes of all the male cultivators in the venue!

However, mere physical beauty was not enough to warrant Qin Feng's special attention; the world was full of pretty women, and there was no shortage of mere vase-like beauties either. What caught Qin Feng's attention was the unique temperament emanating from this woman. To him, it felt remarkably distinct—a contradictory sensation that made one feel both close to her yet deeply ashamed of one's own mediocrity. She must have practiced some peculiar cultivation technique to produce such an illusory effect.

Having just perused the *Seven Rankings of Immortals and Demons*, Qin Feng instantly cross-referenced her face with the portraits and retrieved her profile.

Named Zhi Yuexin, the woman possessed a rather extraordinary background. When she entered the rankings, she was at the eighth stage of the Mortal-Tier, occupying the 421st position on the *Human Spirit Ranking*, and was a disciple of the Multicolored Exquisite Pavilion in the Divine Luo Kingdom.

Simultaneously, due to her exceptional beauty, she also ranked 63rd on the *Alluring Beauty Ranking*!

Praised by the world as the Exquisite Fairy.

Indeed, she was quite stunning, and Qin Feng lingered on her for a few extra glances.

Second—

A middle-aged cultivator whose entire skin resembled gray, decaying mud sat on a diagonal slant about six rows ahead of Qin Feng. Although extremely tall, this man was as thin as a skeleton, with merely a massive frame propping up his oversized robes. His deeply sunken eyes reflected a fish-belly-like white glare akin to dead fish, and a single glance from him was enough to give anyone a creeping sense of dread. His rigid face bore not a shred of human expression, and as he sat quietly there, not even the slightest hint of human aura could be sensed from him. If one had not witnessed with their own eyes that a person was sitting there, the vast majority of people would have assumed there was nothing at all in that spot.

What was even more astonishing was that within a radius of one zhang around his body wafted an overwhelmingly pungent scent of rot!

This stench resembled the smell of decaying flesh; not only did it induce retching in those who smelled it, but it also carried intense corrosiveness and lethal poison. The parts of the spirit-wood chair in contact with his body had already rotted beyond recognition, with pools of yellowish liquid streaming down the chair and dripping onto the floor, eating away deep, bubbling craters.

Upon catching sight of this man's appearance, all the nearby cultivators scattered far away as if they had run into a ghost, each looking as though they desperately wanted to avoid provoking him.

Naturally, Qin Feng was not unfamiliar with someone so notorious that every passerby knew his name.

In the *Seven Rankings of Immortals and Demons*, Qin Feng had paid special attention to this individual. Named Ni Ni, he was a disciple of the Mud-Bone Sect in the Eight Marshes Kingdom. With a cultivation base at the tenth stage of the Human-Tier, he ranked 97th on the *Human Butcher Ranking*, standing as an overwhelmingly powerful apex expert beneath the Earth-Tier—the kind of figure who could run rampant below the Earth-Tier, and who, when pushed to fury, could even force ordinary early Earth-Tier powerhouses to give him a wide berth.

Because of his numerous misdeeds, murdering people and consuming corpses, his sins were towering. Consequently, he was also listed 427th on the *Demon Wanted Ranking*.

At the same time, he possessed an extremely venomous moniker—"The Evil Corpse Fiend."

Qin Feng frowned; looking at such a person for even an extra second was an insult to one's eyes. Yet, the man's strength was indeed formidable, amounting to a minor magical ability. If one truly encountered him, utmost caution was definitely required.

Qin Feng silently took note.

Third—

A red-eyed, evil monk with green hair growing from his head sat in a position forward and to the right of Qin Feng.

This man was robust and tall, with bulging, well-defined muscles that faintly shimmered with a yellowish demonic halo, revealing at first glance that he practiced a special body-refining magical technique. A head of green hair, dense and chaotic like moss, grew wildly over his scalp, presenting a deeply repulsive sight. Across his broad face rested a pair of blood-red, terrifyingly bloodthirsty eyes, while both of his cheeks were carved with countless dense, fly-head Sanskrit characters. The writing was blurred and hard to distinguish, appearing mysterious and bizarre, causing anyone who looked upon it to immediately feel an extraordinary, eerie sensation.

The green-haired evil monk possessed a remarkably unique image. Rummaging through his memory, Qin Feng quickly recalled the man's background.

Named Gu Lang, he was a disciple of the Earth Burial Temple in the Heavenly Stone Kingdom, ranking 537th on the *Human Butcher Ranking*. Possessing extraordinary strength, rumor had it that he had once relied on his own power to slay an early Earth-Tier powerhouse, though this had not been entirely verified. It was said that his head of green demonic hair originated from the nine-colored demonic hair of the Earth-Storing Evil Monk, a special magical technique passed down for ten thousand years within the Earth Burial Temple, divided into nine colors according to the strength of the art. Due to certain special reasons, his true strength could not be fully probed when he entered the rankings, hence his provisional ranking of 537th!

"Provisional... Oh? A mysterious fellow!"

Qin Feng knew that such people usually harbored unknown secrets—was he not someone with secrets himself? Even Tianzhi had expressed it with such subtlety, which indicated that this man's true strength was definitely far more than just 537th on the *Human Butcher Ranking*!

Truly curious about this man and emboldened by his concealment inside the coffin, Qin Feng used his Purple Heaven Eyes to steal a glance at Gu Lang.

Yet, it was precisely this single glance that caused Gu Lang—who had been sitting upright with his eyes closed in meditation all along—to instantly snap to alertness. The monk turned his head to glare straight at Qin Feng, a pair of crimson demonic eyes flashing twice with eerie green light.

Qin Feng felt a sharp pain in his eyes and hurriedly closed his Purple Heaven Eyes. The opponent clearly did not have it easy either, as a trickle of blood slowly leaked from the corner of his left eye.

Gu Lang's eyes were filled with shock!

However, the man clearly possessed enough poise to quickly turn his head away, casually wipe away the blood at the corner of his eye, and resume his calm meditation.

Cool-headed and mysterious!

This alone was enough to demonstrate the man's extraordinary nature.

"What an utterly bizarre fellow! This man is by no means as simple as he appears on the surface!"

After all, since he had been the one prying into someone else's secrets and had been caught red-handed, Qin Feng's evaluation of this evil monk surpassed that of Ni Ni of the Eight Marshes Kingdom.

Fourth—

This was a youth in white robes occupying the central seat in the front row.

This individual drew the most attention, not only because he occupied the best seat in the entire venue, but also because his identity was extraordinary.

Clad in otherworldly white robes, the cuffs were embroidered with a cluster of red flames, atop which rested a glowing golden medicinal pill. A special pattern like this could only belong to one place across the entire Eastern Domain.

That was the Pill Domain.

Strictly speaking, the Pill Domain was a faction.

Much like Tianzhi's organization, it was an enterprise that established branch offices across the entire Eastern Domain. What Tianzhi operated was information and treasure auctions, whereas the Pill Domain specialized in the refinement and sale of various medicinal pills. It could be said that over ninety percent of the precious medicinal pills across the entire Eastern Domain originated from the hands of the Pill Domain.

Medicinal pills, passed down since ancient times, had consistently been pursued relentlessly by cultivators. However, refining pills required pill formulas, and ancient pill formulas were exceptionally rare. Only the Pill Domain faction controlled a vast number of ancient pill formulas.

Various precious and miraculous medicinal pills possessed extraordinary utility regarding a cultivator's cultivation realm, bottlenecks, and injuries. Their importance to a cultivator was comparable to mystic stones, and in certain aspects, they were even ten times more valuable than mystic stones!

This was a mysterious organization.

No one knew where the headquarters of the Pill Domain was located, but nearly all the formidable alchemists across the Eastern Domain were concentrated within the Pill Domain, serving this organization.

The white-robed youth hailed from the Pill Domain, which was why his identity was out of the ordinary.

Just trailing behind him were three Earth-Tier powerhouses acting as his bodyguards.

Clearly, this young man's identity was exceedingly special.

So much so that not the slightest mishap could be tolerated!

Because Qin Feng was seated in a rear corner, he could only catch a profile view of this youth's face. Yet even a mere profile could not conceal the man's peerless grace; he was simply not in the same league as the previously seen Yan Wen. The otherworldly aura radiating from him alone was something Yan Wen could never hope to catch up to, even if he whipped his horse to the utmost speed.

The youth's cultivation realm was difficult to fathom, seemingly shielded from scrutiny by some special method, yet Qin Feng knew that his cultivation was at the tenth stage of the Human-Tier.

Because he had just read the *Human Spirit Ranking*, and despite only seeing a profile, Qin Feng was still able to ascertain that he was Ling Yuzhi, who ranked ninth on the *Human Spirit Ranking*.