Chapter 419

Chapter 419: The Second Auction Gathering
Jin Yuan looked at her and said slowly: “Since you’re not that stupid, I’ll remind you of one more thing. Don’t reach Divine Transformation too easily. Sometimes, being more foolish makes you safer.”

Yu Zhao met Jin Yuan’s meaningful gaze and tapped her fingertips slowly on the tabletop.

She had already found it strange before. The gifts that cultivators in the Middle World sent her were almost all spirit pills and rare medicines that could raise her cultivation level.

She had thought it was just a local custom.

Now it seemed it was an unspoken agreement between them.

The higher the furnace’s cultivation level, the more nourishing it was for them.

No wonder they could be so patient, acting out scenes from storybooks with her. It was only because the time hadn’t come yet.

Yu Zhao stood up and said with a small nod: “Thank you for the reminder. I know what to do now. I should go back.”

If she stayed out too long, it would be easy to expose something.

Jin Yuan took a new teleportation talisman out from her sleeve and handed it to her.

Yu Zhao nodded to Jin Yuan.

Under Jin Yuan’s teasing gaze, she activated the teleportation talisman.

After she returned to her room, Yu Zhao took out the Star Domain Map from her storage space.

She swept her divine sense across it. A flash of disappointment passed through her eyes.

She had known it was impossible to find the coordinates of the Cultivation World on it, but she had still held a bit of hope.

After feeling disappointed for a moment, she focused on the map again.

By following the markings, she found the coordinates of several small worlds: the Water Realm, the Wind Realm, and the Fire Realm. She noticed that the distances between them were about the same.

If she connected them with lines, she would find that the place where the lines overlapped the most was a blank area.

Yu Zhao stared at that empty spot and felt a strong sense of certainty in her heart.

This place was very likely where Auspicious Palace was located.

She silently memorized this special coordinate, then kept studying the map. On the very edge of the map, she found several small worlds whose names all started with the word “Northern”.

Northern Heaven Realm, Northern Sea Realm, Northern Yuan Realm…

But there was no Bei Ming Realm where Dao Lord Tai Wei lived.

Yu Zhao did not know whether she should feel disappointed or relieved.

From Dao Lord Tai Wei’s past actions, it looked like she valued Yu Zhao, wanted to take her as a disciple, and bring her back to Bei Ming Realm.

But what Yu Zhao felt from her was only pressure and fear.

She instinctively wanted to stay far away from Dao Lord Tai Wei.

Yet reason told her that if she could contact Dao Lord Tai Wei again, the great problem that had troubled the Cultivation World for a thousand years could be solved much faster.

Those two feelings split her mind and stood against each other.

Luckily, the map made the choice for her.

She studied the map the whole night. The next day, she made a new plan for herself.

In the days that followed, she accepted invitations from the four of them, Feng Jiu Si and the others. One day they went to taste tea, the next day they went out shopping.

Her main goal was to spread her attention evenly so no one could complain.

Feng Jiu Si and the other three probably never thought that Yu Zhao had already seen through their wager. She acted very into the role.

After only a few days, rumors of Yu Zhao’s romantic ties with all four men began to spread through the Water Realm.

People said Yu Zhao was a wanton cultivator who toyed with feelings, was disloyal to her marriage, and kept one foot on four boats at once. Feng Jiu Si and the others, on the other hand, became the picture of deep, single-minded affection and spotless self-control.

Many people felt upset on their behalf. Some even came right in front of Yu Zhao to complain for them.

Yu Zhao only smiled faintly and said nothing.

She was not angry at all.

The more heated the rumors outside were, the more serious Feng Jiu Si and the others became about their “game”.

From their recent, more and more thoughtful actions, it was clear they were enjoying it.

Compared to the real gains she could get, those curses were worth less than nothing.

Two more days passed, and the second auction gathering in the Water Realm began.

There were clearly fewer cultivators at the second auction gathering. The seats in the hall were more widely spaced than before.

Yu Zhao and the others still sat in the private room that belonged only to the Feng Clan.

Feng Jiu Si and Shui Qiu Bai used their own advantages to snatch the seats closest to Yu Zhao.

When they sat down, they looked at each other and saw the same look of determination in one another’s eyes.

The auction gathering had only just started when the two of them began to fight over the same item.

It was a bracelet carved from a whole piece of Phantom Blue Jade. The texture was fine, and the entire bracelet glowed with a soft, icy blue light. Its color was very similar to the Jade Ruyi that Yu Zhao wore. It looked like it had been made by the same person as a matching defensive magical artifact.

There was one more important point. This bracelet was refined by a famous master artifact refiner.

That master artifact refiner was known for being hopelessly in love. Back then, to win the favor of his dao companion, he had stayed up day and night for ten full years and created a full set of magical artifacts from head to toe that fit his beloved perfectly.

Because of that, the magical artifacts made by this master artifact refiner were usually treated as tokens of love between men and women.

No matter in looks or in meaning, this bracelet was very suitable for Yu Zhao.

Feng Jiu Si and Shui Qiu Bai had both set their eyes on this point, so neither of them was willing to back down.

So a strange scene appeared in the auction gathering.

Two different voices started to bid from the same private room.

As soon as one voice called out a price, the other voice quickly raised it.

The price of the bracelet jumped from five thousand high-grade spirit stones all the way up, and soon passed ten thousand.

Huo Shao Yan stared, dumbfounded.

He also had thoughts about Yu Zhao, but not as strong as Feng Jiu Si’s and Shui Qiu Bai’s.

Seeing them bid against each other out of stubborn pride, Huo Shao Yan only felt like shaking his head.

Tu Xiao, on the other hand, was there just to watch the show. He had no intention of stopping them. Instead, he added fuel to the fire from the side.

Neither of the two men said they were bidding for Yu Zhao, and of course Yu Zhao was not going to stand up and drag that trouble onto herself.

In the end, Feng Jiu Si was the first to pull back.

He suddenly remembered that the auction gathering belonged to Shui Qiu Bai’s clan. Even if he shouted out a sky-high price, the one who would profit in the end would still be Shui Qiu Bai.

So he gave up in time and planned to win back his pride on another occasion.

Shui Qiu Bai felt a bit disappointed.

He had already decided that if Feng Jiu Si raised the price again, he would stop. He did not expect Feng Jiu Si to quit one step ahead of him.

Still, he had not lost anything either way.

A small trace of smugness flashed between Shui Qiu Bai’s brows as he said lightly: “Thank you for letting me have it.”

After suffering that hidden loss once, Feng Jiu Si decided he would not try to press down Shui Qiu Bai at this auction gathering again.

So for the rest of the time, the private room became Shui Qiu Bai’s personal stage.

He stood up from time to time to join the bidding.

Of course, even without Feng Jiu Si, there were still other people bidding against Shui Qiu Bai, but most of them were forced to give up in the face of his powerful wealth.

But there is always an exception to everything.

Jin Yuan was rich and not afraid of trouble.

With her messing things up, Shui Qiu Bai had to pay higher prices to win all the items he had taken an interest in.

The items in this second auction gathering were rare treasures from all kinds of regions. Many of them were things Yu Zhao had never even heard of, let alone seen. She was especially focused and did not notice time passing at all.

“…Next, we will start the bidding for the last item of this auction. It is also the rarest top-grade treasure of this entire gathering!”

Yu Zhao clearly felt the other people in the private room straighten in their seats. Their eyes were burning as they looked down at the auction hall.

The corners of her lips curled up.

It looked like something lively was about to happen.