Yao Jun teleported back to Golden Roar city along with Guo Luo and Yao Xuelian after he finished dealing with the Dragonfish and tossed the corpse to Yong Bo. He could use his law of space to teleport around, but with how vast the distance between the various points of interest was in this major universe, using the spatial arrays in the various cities was still the best option.
It only took four days for them to return, news of the Dragonfish's death had yet to even reach this city. Yao Jun also wasn't too interested in sticking around until the news reached this place, the citizens would become much more vigilant once they learned what had happened. They wouldn't become vigilant because the Dragonfish, a true and powerful Divine Beast, was a protector of the area or the like.
No, they would become vigilant because every inch of a Divine Beast's body was a great treasure. And now the Dragonfish had died, a Divine Beast with half a foot into the Heavenly Deity realm, and the entire body had vanished without a trace. The stronger and greedier cultivators would vigilantly keep an eye on everyone who tried to enter or leave the city, they might even ambush those that they found suspicious just on the off-chance that they could get their hands on the corpse.
Yao Jun had already planted spiders throughout the city when they first arrived here, which was why he was fully aware that this sort of ambushing had happened more than once in the past when it came to valuable resources. As such, he and his group didn't even stop at an inn after they returned and moved directly for the spatial array, Guo Luo going over the reports that Yao Jun had bought.
"So we're going for this Soul-Fang Emperor next, right? You think it'll aid you in your soul cultivation a bit as well?"
They hadn't discussed a proper order for which Divine Beast would be hunted when, Guo Luo's deduction that the next target would be the Soul-Fang Emperor was based on a very simple fact, it was the last Divine Beast on this planet. That wasn't to say that there were only two Divine Beasts on the planet, but it was the last Divine Beast that was suited to one of the elements that Yao Jun had specified when he asked for the reports.
But Yao Jun, who was carrying Yao Xuelian on his shoulder and allowed her to kick her feet, stretched out an arm and used his finger to turn over the pages of the reports. He swiftly found the passage he was looking for, tapping on a small paragraph towards the end of the fifth report.
"No, this one's closer so we'll be dropping by there first. If we can get our hands on it, great. If not, then we'll just have to hunt the beast after all. After that, we'll head for the Little spider and give Du Xiao a good meal."
The paragraph he pointed at wasn't a living Divine Beast they could hunt, it was just an off-handed remark that the Sunborn Auction House in Sunsong City would auction off an item that fit his criteria. The item in question was a decent quantity of Sebettu blood refined to a higher level of purity.
Yao Jun had already learned a little about the Sebettu, he had already had three, almost four, run-ins with them after all. They were a race descended from a true Origin Beast, the Heaven Devouring Dragon, which had the innate law of devouring. The refined bloodline would definitely not reach the level of the original Heaven Devouring Dragon, but it should still be a step above a normal Divine Beast. If he fed it to Jun Tuan, it should lead to some interesting changes to his law of dissolving.
And if they could get their hands on it, it would also mean that they could avoid one battle against a Divine Beast, lowering the number of variables they might encounter. Guo Luo nodded her head, inwardly relieved that Yao Jun was trying to acquire the blood through a more peaceful method. After all, any battle against a Divine Beast involved large amounts of danger, they weren't termed Divine Beasts just for the fun of it.
The group quickly reached the spatial arrays and took the one that brought them to Lionfang city, the capital of the province. As the capital, it was one of the few places in the province that had the long-distance spatial arrays needed to travel to the other provinces.
Both Yao Jun and Guo Luo had already reached the middle-stage of the Earthly Deity realm, so there weren't that many people who were willing to interrupt them unless they had a good reason to. As a result, they didn't encounter any trouble as they took the array to Sunsong city, wandering around for a bit so that they could take in the sights and enjoy themselves.
Yao Jun didn't miss this chance to spread several thousand spiders around, constantly expanding his web of information so that he could eventually bring it up to a stage that was somewhat similar to his information network in their own universe. They also had a fair bit of time before the auction actually started, a little over three weeks, so they had plenty of time to wander around this magnificent capital.
The city was built in a slightly chaotic manner, but every building was made from either dark orange or white marble, the violet-leaved trees and plum trees that were scattered about gathering together with the buildings to form a tranquil harmony. This part of the planet shouldn't be in winter right now, yet there was a faint drizzle of snow constantly descending from above, likely the result of an array.
It was the capital of Sunsong Province and the home of the Province Emperor, if you spoke about its splendour then it would only be second to Wolfsoul city. And seeing as Wolfsoul city belonged to the grand Lang clan, which had full control over the surrounding three provinces, it only made sense for this capital to be a bit less grand than Wolfsoul city.
With a city this large and filled with splendour, there was no way that the days wouldn't pass quickly, Yao Jun and his family moving all over the place as the days passed. Lionfang province was the neighbouring province, so news of the Dragonfish's disappearance and likely death quickly reached Sunsong province, setting off a small wave of commotion as people started to guess at who it was that that had acted.
Yao Jun's spiders quickly transmitted the information he was already expecting, some people had started to keep an eye on the various arrays and exits of the city. But he had no intention of leaving just yet, and could just teleport out of the city if worst came to worst, so he continued sightseeing with his wife and daughter, occasionally bringing his parents out from the God Gate so that they could also experience the city.
The day of the auction arrived before long, Yao Jun bringing Guo Luo and Yao Xuelian over to the golden pyramid engraved with 'Sunborn Auction House', the words shimmering and flickering. There was only a single entrance to the pyramid, a pair of large wooden doors engraved with the image of a man basking in the light of a radiant sun. There were two youthful and delicate women standing by the open doors, greeting and guiding everyone that came.
"Greetings, would you like to put an item up for late auction or are you looking to buy? And please forgive us, but all the personal booths have already been booked, so you'll have to take a seat in the lower section."
Their seating area didn't matter much to either Yao Jun or Guo Luo, so they weren't bothered about having to sit in the lower section, which was generally considered the poorer section as it offered no privacy. He wasn't looking to sell anything unless he had to so they didn't hand over anything, an aged gentleman escorting them through the straight hallway that led to the auction room itself.
There were multiple doors lining the straight hallway, some leading to ascending or descending stairways, some leading into other hallways, and some that led into smaller rooms where you could get your items appraised. The aged man pushed open the engraved wooden doors at the end of the hallway and gestured for Yao Jun's group to enter, the three people sweeping their gazes around as they entered the auction hall.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
If Yao Jun had to describe the construction of the auction hall using one word then it would be a very simple word, weird. There was a large open stage at the centre of the room, the end of the stage connecting with a hallway leading to the rest of the pyramid. Several thousand orderly seats were spread out in front of and to the sides of this stage, everything at the bottom looking quite normal.
But as you left the ground, rather than have the personal booths be placed on the upper floors, they were attached directly to the walls of the room. So as you looked up, it would appear as there were multiple bubbles growing on the walls of the room, the murky crystal they were built from preventing even one's senses from penetrating into the personal booths. What Yao Jun didn't know was that a pair of sharpened eyes landed on him the moment he entered the auction hall, a quiet mutter sounding out within one of the personal booths.
"Fuck, a troublesome one has appeared."
Yao Jun didn't know about the mutter so he just casually picked three seats close to one of the exits, preventing Yao Xuelian from scurrying around in excitement. They arrived quite early, but everyone attending this auction was a cultivator so the seats were quickly filled up, meaning that they didn't have to wait for too long before the auction actually started.
The lights in the room were dimmed somewhat after the last person arrived, a spotlight shining down on the open stage as a handsome man with swept-back black hair walked onto the stage. The man had reached the middle stage of the Heavenly Deity realm and wore an amiable smile, flipping his hand as a wooden case appeared on his palm.
"Good afternoon everyone, I'm Gao Weizu and I'll be the host for today's auction. Our reputation precedes us, so I won't waste your time and move straight onto the little appetizer we've prepared to get your mouths watering and funds flowing."
Gao Weizu opened the wooden case to reveal a light yellow gourd, removing the cork and allowing the thick scent of blood to spread throughout the room. The scent of blood carried with it a strong suppressive force, the aura of a Divine Beast enveloping the room. Gao Weizu closed the gourd after allowing everyone to experience the force, his blue eyes flickering slightly as he closed the box again.
"This should be what some of you came here for, the refined Sebettu bloodline. It is a bit above a Divine Beast, but still far from the original Heaven Devouring Dragon, it is certainly good enough to be our appetizer to get things going. The gourd is an interspatial treasure and it contains a little over 400 litres of this blood, so I feel that 40 Primordial grade Spirit stones is a good starting point, don't you?"
Gao Weizu spoke the sum in a casual manner, but that simple number was enough to disqualify a good portion of the people present. Primordial Grade Spirit Stones were only below Empyrean Grade Spirit Stones, which were so rare that you might not see one in your entire life. As such, Primordial Grade Spirit Stones were the more commonly used currency for large trades like this.
For example, he Time-Altering Spire Yao Jun had on him right now, it had gone for a total of 120 Primordial Grade Spirit Stones, and that was only due to the uniqueness of the location where the auction had taken place. Yao Jun had been far from being able to afford that sum back during that auction, but he was no longer the same as he was back then. He waited for a few other bids to be made, checking what price people seemed to be willing to pay, and then finally made his bid.
"250 Primordial Grade Spirit Stones."
The previous bid had already reached 125 Primordial Grade Spirit Stones, Yao Jun directly doubling the bid to erase the competition. Revealing some wealth might attract some greedy gazes, but he wanted to get his hands on this blood so he was bound to reveal that he was wealthier than he looked eventually anyway.
And just as he guessed, quite a few gazes landed on him, especially from the various personal booths. But something he never would have guessed was that there was a group of people with furrowed brows seated in one of the personal booths, two familiar faces mixed in with them. The familiar faces belonged to the grey-eyed and brown-haired Ren Shuren, and his wife, the silver-haired and black-eyed Ren Yazhu.
When they last met before Yao Jun left his own universe, Ren Shuren's torn off right arm had yet to be fully healed, but enough time had passed now for his arm to be restored to its peak state again. As they were both members of the Sebettu, the nine other people around them obviously also belonged to the same race. And for the Sebettut to appear here, their target would definitely be the refined blood, which had been taken from a member of their race.
Ren Shuren had already reached the middle-stage of the Earthly Deity realm and had a fairly high position among the people that had entered Yao Jun's universe. Or at least, that was the case until Yao Jun revealed himself and utterly trashed one of their plans, tearing off Ren Shuren's arm in the process. Thanks to that, Ren Shuren had been assigned a different mission and was forced to leave Yao Jun's universe, ending up here after a short while.
His position had dropped somewhat, and with this being a major universe rather than a minor one, his standing was far from as good as it was back in Yao Jun's universe. As a result, he was seated behind the actual leader of this group, a middle-aged woman with frosty green eyes and long black hair. He saw the woman frown at Yao Jun's bid, giving her a soft warning.
"Zue Angye, let it go, just forget about getting that blood back, it's for the best."
Ren Shuren was the one among the Sebettu who had interacted the most with Yao Jun, the two of them meeting a total of three times in the past. Ren Shuren was also the only person among the Sebettu who had gotten to experience Yao Jun's terror and walked away alive, so his instincts were very clear on what the best course of action was. But Zue Angye didn't share his opinion, she didn't know what he did.
"Forget about it? That is the refined blood from one of our race's soldiers. It belongs to our race, and no one else. We came to get our hands on it, and acquire it we will."
In truth, if it was just the blood belonging to a Sebettu soldier, they wouldn't care much about it. But this blood had been refined to a great degree, increasing the purity of the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline. They had indeed come to this planet just to get their hands on that blood, but Ren Shuren remained confident in his choice, shaking his head.
"And I'm telling you, with him making a bid, that's already become impossible. You are already aware of how things turned out when he last revealed himself, he didn't become known as the man who killed God Piercer for nothing. Consider the blood lost, it's better than making an enemy out of him."
When Little Thunder first died, Yao Jun had shattered the second-largest planet of his universe in his rage, millions if not more had been sent to their deaths in that event. And Ren Shuren didn't doubt that Yao Jun would repeat a scene like that if they pushed him too far. Zue Angye had indeed heard the news about what Yao Jun had done, her eyes narrowing in thought for a short moment.
"...We'll try to buy it, if that doesn't work then we use the Heaven Concealing Robes to ambush and steal it."
Ren Shuren's mouth twisted slightly when Zue Angye continued to remain adamant, her every word caused the most base instincts of his bloodline to flare up. And since she remained adamant about acquiring the blood, he could only be adamant about the exact opposite.
"That won't work. I used the robe against him once in the past, there's no way he'll fall for it again. Let me tell it to you in simple terms, that blood no longer has any ties to us, forget that it ever existed."
Ren Shuren hadn't seen Yao Jun since they last met, back when Ren Shuren warned him about an ambush that had been prepared for him. He had used a Heaven Concealing Robe to catch Yao Jun off-guard them, and seeing how unfathomable and downright terrifying Yao Jun felt right now, he was confident that those robes would no longer work against him. He wasn't the leader of this group, so his continued attempts at dissuading her finally caused Zue Angye's eyes to narrow somewhat angrily.
"Who's side are you really on? With how refined that blood is, what do you think will happen if we allow one of our generals to absorb it so that they can increase the purity of their bloodline?"
To races like the Sebettu, the purity of their bloodline was everything, it was a large factor of their strength and thus their standing. The more warriors they had with pure bloodlines, the stronger their race would be as a whole. Ren Shuren simply scoffed at Zue Angye's attempt at throwing his loyalty into question, performing a sweeping gesture towards Yao Jun's group.
"Who's side I'm on? Simple, I'm one the side that ensures the greatest chance of our race's continued survival and prosperity. And I'm telling you right now, reconsider your plans or die. And god forbid you actually manage to hurt one of those two people around him before he kills you, that is likely to spell the inevitable doom of every operation we have planned in this universe."
Those were Ren Shuren's honest feelings, born from the depths of his blood and instincts. Back when Yao Jun was just an early stage Earthly Deity, he had been able to tear off Ren Shuren's arm and shatter God Piercer planet. And now he had reached the middle-stage of the Earthly Deity and radiated a whole new level of pressure and horror. The current him might not be able to threaten the Sebettu as a whole, but Ren Shuren was confident that his future self would be more than capable of that.