Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Seeking the Fated One

The Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill’s effect was heaven-defying, and it was extremely hard to refine. The materials needed were rare and precious.

Song Wan Ning wasn’t injured. She wasn’t poisoned. Yet she’d forced herself to take the pill—just to spite Master.

And now Ye Chu Xue had to sit here, bidding against a city lord, swallowing arrogance and contempt with every breath.

How could she not be angry?

Bai Yang’s expression darkened at her words. His throat tightened.

He thought of the pill he had stolen.

Back then, it had been because of the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill that Master had turned distant—so distant it felt like a blade laid between them.

He curled his fingers quietly and said nothing.

The air grew heavy, strange, hard to breathe.

Ye Chu Xue kept bidding, fast and relentless. She held herself back again and again, but the thought that had been gnawing at her for days finally tore free.

“Senior Brother Bai,” she said, voice tight, “why have you changed? In the past, you couldn’t stand Martial Uncle Song’s behavior either.”

Her eyes were bright with anxious insistence. “Why do you always stand on her side now?”

These past days, she had turned that question over until it bruised her from the inside out.

Her heart never settled. She was afraid—afraid that Master and Bai Yang would abandon her, afraid they would return to Song Wan Ning, leaving her behind.

She had been in the Cultivation World for over 20 years. Master and Bai Yang had already become the most important people in her life.

She couldn’t bear their betrayal.

But before Bai Yang could answer, Yun Jin Yue’s voice cut through again, cold as iron.

Ye Chu Xue immediately pressed her light and clung to the bid, refusing to let the other side take the pill.

Soon, the price climbed to five hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

The entire hall erupted.

Five hundred thousand.

With that kind of money, what couldn’t you buy?

And yet these two stared at the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill like predators, as if only one of them would walk out alive.

“Comparing people just makes you mad! Damn it—five hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones!”

“I’ve lived this long and never seen that many spirit stones…”

“The master behind this pill is making a killing. Two fools tearing at each other like dogs, and neither will let go.”

“Tell me—who’s it going to end up with?”

“Of course Yun Xiang City! That’s a city lord with deep pockets!”

“Tch, I’m not so sure. The one in that private room must be someone big too. Maybe some great clan’s powerhouse.”

“Hiss…”

No one expected the fiercest bidding wouldn’t be over a priceless weapon, but over a single pill.

Now everyone waited to see whose money was truly stronger.

Inside the private room, a servant bent low beside Yun Jin Yue. “Reporting to Young Lord: that private room belongs to two true disciples from the Heaven-Questioning Sect.”

“Oh?” Yun Jin Yue raised an eyebrow, surprised it had been found so quickly.

The servant hurried to explain. “At first, I couldn’t find out. The auction house refused to disclose it. On my way back, I overheard two attendants gossiping in secret. That’s how I learned who they were.”

“I see.” Yun Jin Yue’s lips curved.

Then she didn’t bid again for a long moment.

“Since they want it,” she said lazily, “let them have it.”

“Young Lord?” The servant’s face tightened in alarm. “The City Lord is still waiting for the pill to save his life!”

If the City Lord didn’t wake soon, the Deputy City Lord would rebel. The Young Lord couldn’t hold everything together alone.

Yun Jin Yue gave a cold laugh. “Pass my order. Have them guard every exit—especially the road back to the Heaven-Questioning Sect.”

Continuing to bid would only waste money.

It was better to take a faster route.

Besides… people did this sort of thing all the time.

“Yes!” The servant understood immediately and hurried out.

Since those two refused to show respect, they had only themselves to blame for what came next.

“Five hundred thousand, once!”

“Five hundred thousand, twice!”

“Five hundred thousand, three times!”

“Sold!”

Mo Yuan brought down the hammer. His hands trembled slightly.

As the jade tray was about to be carried away, his heart tightened hard enough to hurt. He stopped the attendant at once.

“This pill is valuable,” he said evenly. “I’ll deliver it myself.”

He kept his expression flat, refusing to show the chaos inside him. Taking the tray, he personally delivered it to the third-floor private room.

People were surprised—but it made sense. With a pill like this, caution was only natural.

Inside the private room, Ye Chu Xue waited with excitement and pain twisted together.

She had squeezed her last spirit stones dry. On top of that, she still owed the sect three hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

It made her chest ache.

But as long as Master woke up… any amount of spirit stones was worth it.

Mo Yuan knocked, then entered carrying the tray. His gaze flicked up for an instant before dropping again.

Private-room guests usually removed their disguises, and sure enough, they had.

He memorized their faces, then offered the tray with practiced respect.

Ye Chu Xue suspected nothing. She checked the pill, satisfied, then placed a storage pouch on the tray—five hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones within.

The deal was done quickly.

Mo Yuan left with the tray.

Bai Yang couldn’t stop himself from watching him a beat too long. Something about that attendant felt… wrong.

He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

The auction continued.

Mo Yuan forced his breathing steady and began introducing the next item, voice smooth despite his pounding heart.

“The next item is a Spirit Bead from the Xi Qin Sea,” he announced. “It is filled with dao patterns, mysterious and unfathomable, and it seeks a fated owner.”

The red cloth was lifted.

A Spirit Bead—black and white interwoven—rested on the tray. Ripples of light shimmered across it like flickering patterns, carrying a deeply mysterious aura.

“This item is being consigned by a fellow daoist. The starting price is one hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones.”

At a glance, it looked like a treasure.

And if the auction house master allowed it to be sold, it meant the treasure would choose its own owner.

If you weren’t the fated one, then even if you held it for a hundred years, you could never unlock its secrets.

But who would admit they weren’t the fated one?

Almost immediately, someone bid.

Ye Chu Xue set the pill aside and stared at the Spirit Bead. Her heart pounded so hard her cheeks flushed hot.

A pull rose from the bead—powerful, insistent—as if it were calling to her from the dark.

This treasure should be hers.

She was the fated one.

The thought hit like lightning, intoxicating and absolute.

Then reality crashed down.

The Spirit Bead’s price surged higher and higher, leaping to three hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones in the blink of an eye.

For her, that number might as well have been the sky.

No.

It should have been hers.

“Senior Brother Bai,” Ye Chu Xue said urgently, turning to him with pleading eyes, “do you have any spirit stones left? Can you lend them to me?”

“I’ll pay you back as soon as we return!”

Bai Yang frowned and checked his storage ring.

“I only have one hundred thousand.”

“Only one hundred thousand?” Ye Chu Xue froze, disbelief tightening her face. “Doesn’t Martial Uncle Song often give you spirit stones?”