NOVPUBBefore Ji Zhaoyang and Shen Yuan could alight from the carriage, a wealthy middle-aged man with a face full of riches and hands adorned with Storage Rings hurriedly ran out of the Treasure House.
The body resembling a ball of flesh displayed an agility beyond the ordinary, taking two steps in place of three as he arrived before the carriage, bowing into the carriage as he said:
"It turns out to be the Third Imperial Prince gracing us with his presence. This old man has failed to meet you from afar, please forgive my oversight, Your Highness!"
Ji Zhaoyang stepped out of the carriage slowly, looking at the wealthy middle-aged man before him with an expression that was both smiling and not smiling.
"Executive Qian of the prestigious Treasure Drop Mercantile Association, who oversees affairs in the Primal Chaos Realm, you did not go to receive the Crown Prince, yet you come to see this insignificant Third Imperial Prince?"
Executive Qian’s face went through a slight change, and then he squeezed out a smile on his rich features:
"Your Highness, the Third Imperial Prince, is jesting."
Seemingly not wishing to dwell too much on this topic, Executive Qian extended an arm and said:
"Please come inside, Your Highness, the auction is about to begin."
Ji Zhaoyang did not pay heed to Executive Qian’s posture but instead turned his gaze back inside the carriage.
"Fellow Taoist Shen, please!"
Under the gaze of everyone present, Shen Yuan, dressed in a white Taoist robe and exuding an Immortal’s grace, stepped slowly out of the carriage. All cultivators present changed their expressions drastically.
"Falling Clouds Taoist Shen Yuan!"
"It’s the slayer who killed two Void Refining True Monarchs!"
"There were rumors that Falling Clouds Taoist had some connection with the Third Imperial Prince, but who would have thought they were true!"
Although the Great Yin 3rd Prince holds a noble status, his influence among cultivators is far less than the currently prominent Shen Yuan.
Especially at the crucial juncture when the All-Worlds Luotian Convention is about to begin, the formidable competitive strength represented by Shen Yuan’s talents and abilities is self-evident.
Ignored, the facial expression of Executive Qian stiffened for a moment, before immediately displaying an even brighter smile:
"I did not expect Falling Clouds Taoist to also participate in the auction. Our Treasure Drop Mercantile Association is truly honored by your presence."
"Your Highness, the Third Imperial Prince, and Falling Clouds Taoist, please come to the pavilion for your seats!"
Executive Qian personally led the way as the three entered the Treasure Drop Pavilion under the watchful eyes of the crowd. 𝓃𝓸𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
"For this All-Worlds auction, our Treasure Drop Mercantile Association has exhausted the entirety of the association’s resources, with as many as seventeen Taoist artifacts up for auction.
Among them, three Taoist artifacts are the treasures born from small worlds, possessing the ability to suppress destiny and serve as the foundational basis for a sect."
"There will also be items like the Qi of heaven and earth, Class 8 rare materials and earthly treasures, secret methods of the Upper Realm Immortals, and even a heritage of the Earthly Destroyer Divine Power up for auction."
Executive Qian led Ji Zhaoyang to the highest floor of Treasure Drop Pavilion, the highest point of the entire Void Immortal Ferry. From here, one could overlook the majestic Immortal Ferry housing a population of one million.
Beyond that, this place was also the closest to the All-Worlds auction, with those able to step into this area being among the top forces in the Primal Chaos Realm.
Along the way, Executive Qian prattled on to Shen Yuan and Ji Zhaoyang about the precious auction items.
Shen Yuan’s expression remained unchanged. Aside from feeling slightly moved by the mention of the Qi of heaven and earth and Earthly Destroyer Divine Power, he found the rest of the items unworthy of his attention.
Ji Zhaoyang, on the other hand, changed from his previously displeased look and asked with great interest:
"I have heard that the final item in this All-Worlds auction is of extraordinary value, and its details have not been revealed to the outside world.
Since the auction is upon us now, could Executive Qian possibly inform me?"
Executive Qian’s unceasing speech came to an abrupt stop, and an embarrassed smile appeared on his plump face.
"The final item of great importance is personally determined by the chairman. Although I have some small authority, I dare not contravene the chairman’s orders.
After all, the auction is about to begin, so why not wait a little while, Your Highness?"
The smile faded from Ji Zhaoyang’s face.
With his status, he ordinarily wouldn’t bother with a mere executive of the Treasure Drop Mercantile Association, but this time it was different.
In the previous All-Worlds auctions, the Treasure Drop Mercantile Association claimed to keep the auction items confidential on the surface, but in reality, the list of auction items had long been sent into the hands of the upper echelons of various powers.
Yet curiously, this time, with the auction about to begin, there was still no sight of the auction item list, and the information regarding the final auction item was strictly sealed by the association.
That would have been fine in itself, but the key issue was that Ji Zhaoyang was absolutely certain that the Great Yin Crown Prince Ji Xuanyi already knew the details of the final auction item. His purpose in attending the auction was to secure this final item.
The Treasure Drop Mercantile Association’s message blockade was to a large extent also due to the command of the Great Yin Crown Prince.
Otherwise, given Chairman Huang of Treasure Drop Mercantile Association’s character of not pursuing anything without profit, how could he not make great efforts to hype the auction items?
Unable to grasp the key information and unaware of the specific movements of the Great Yin Crown Prince, Ji Zhaoyang felt extremely stifled.
His expression gradually turned foul, and Ji Zhaoyang was just about to speak.
But at that moment, a majestic voice slowly resounded at the highest level of the Treasure Drop Pavilion.
"As a large-scale mercantile association renowned across all realms, Treasure Drop Mercantile Association naturally has its own rules.
As the Third Imperial Brother of Great Yin’s royal family, how could you disrupt the order of the mercantile association for your own personal desires?"
Not far away, Crown Prince Ji Xuanyi, wearing a flood dragon robe, walked over at a leisurely pace, with many young prodigies respectfully following behind him.
Ji Xuanyi spoke in a calm manner, but having been the Crown Prince for over three hundred years, he had already mastered the ability to wield part of the humanity fate that he controlled, commanding respect with every move.
In this highest place of the Treasure Drop Pavilion, many were attracted by Ji Xuanyi’s words, casting curious glances their way.
With just a single sentence from Ji Xuanyi, the image of Ji Zhaoyang, pompous and threatening the Mercantile Association with his status as a Prince, was already planted in people’s minds first.
It was Ji Xuanyi who had first led Treasure Drop Mercantile Association to blockade the news, but he had directly pinned a big label on himself, and Ji Zhaoyang finally could no longer keep his composure, staring furiously at Ji Xuanyi.
Ji Xuanyi paid no mind to Ji Zhaoyang’s rage, and with a faint smile, turned his attention to the motionless Shen Yuan beside Ji Zhaoyang.
"Presumably, this is the currently celebrated Falling Clouds Taoist!
The Third Imperial Brother is fortunate indeed, to have such a prodigy at his side.
The tale of Falling Clouds Taoist slaying the Impartation Great Elder of Little Clarity Void Grotto Heavens is still widely circulated in the Primal Chaos Realm."
At the top floor, a group of young cultivators clad in azure Taoist robes looked towards this location.
The leader of this group of azure-robed cultivators was a female cultivator.
This female cultivator appeared to be in her early twenties with a countenance fair as artwork, and waist-length black hair pinned up with a sword hairpin, emanating an ethereal aura as if she might ascend to immortality at any moment.
Yet her cultivation base had astonishingly reached the Peak Stage of Spirit Refining, hardly inferior to Ji Zhaoyang who was favored by the humanity fate.
She was none other than Qing Yu, the present-day Saintess of Little Clarity Void Grotto Heavens.
The ethereal immortal’s gaze swept over Shen Yuan, her brows faintly knitting together.
Although Little Clarity Void Grotto Heavens had openly given up the pursuit of Falling Clouds Taoist, the karma between them had long been established, and now the Great Yin Crown Prince had deliberately brought it up again.
If there was no action taken, it might be perceived as the Little Clarity Void Grotto Heavens yielding to Falling Clouds Taoist.
With thoughts flashing in her mind, Qing Yu was about to speak, but then saw Falling Clouds Taoist approaching Crown Prince Ji Xuanyi on his own initiative.
Shen Yuan ignored the provocative words of Ji Xuanyi and his gaze fell upon a familiar figure with white hair beside him.
Yu Ke, the Little Clarity Void Grotto Heavens reserve Sacred Sage, once defeated by him.
A cultivation he once had to look up to now seemed insignificant in Shen Yuan’s eyes, such a minor character should not warrant his attention.
Yet, Shen Yuan detected a very subtle aura on Yu Ke.
A disorder in time and a distortion of causality combined made Shen Yuan feel like the Yu Ke before him did not belong to this world at all and should not exist in this realm.
Almost instinctively, he infused the Rebounding Wind Returning Fire Great Divine Power into the Great Tao Manifestation, and the fluctuation of time being brought to a standstill quietly spread around Shen Yuan.
Among the many cultivators present, the highest in cultivation was none other than the Void Refining True Monarch from Treasure Drop Mercantile Association, hidden in the shadows.
However, such a cultivation level, if not supported by Divine Skills, was fundamentally incapable of stepping into the domain of time and could not perceive the standstill in time.
Qing Yu’s parting lips, the surprise in Ji Zhaoyang’s eyes, the astonishment at the bottom of Ji Xuanyi’s eyes, and the shock of the many prodigies, all slowed down countless times at this moment.
Only white-haired Yu Ke wore a look of horror, no longer able to maintain his erstwhile composure.
He struggled in the stagnant time like a fish that had fallen into dead water, desperately trying to leap above the surface.
At this moment, Shen Yuan’s mind was suddenly filled with the memory of the time he traversed through the ages, seeing in the river of history countless fish attempting to swim against the current.
The aura on Yu Ke almost exactly matched those fish.
A flash of realization crossed Shen Yuan’s eyes.
"So it is, an escapee fish!"
