Dilemma

Yan Yun’s gaze swept across the dense array of characters surrounding her. She could confirm with certainty that these texts were indeed the cultivation techniques stored within their Yan family’s archive pavilion.

“Don’t just look,” Yan Lingyun urged, a hint of vexation coloring her tone. “Try it. Following your own will and intentions, integrate other cultivation techniques into the Heavenly Poison Sutra. This Heavenly Tome undoubtedly holds greater secrets; it’s a pity I died too early. Otherwise, I surely could have perfected the Heavenly Poison Sutra even further.”

After a moment of hesitation, Yan Yun’s eyes fell upon a Metal-attribute cultivation technique called the Golden Edge Sword Art (TL Note: A cultivation technique focusing on metal elemental energy for sword attacks). This technique was suitable for cultivators in the Cavern Heaven Realm (TL Note: A cultivation stage), and its primary characteristic allowed one to condense Metal-attribute flying swords from spiritual energy to attack enemies.

‘If I were to integrate this into the Heavenly Poison Sutra, would I be able to condense poison swords from toxins instead?’ This was Yan Yun’s initial thought.

No sooner had this thought formed than the characters of the Golden Edge Sword Art instantly flew into the Heavenly Poison Sutra. The words rapidly rearranged themselves, giving rise to new cultivation characteristics, or perhaps even entirely new moves.

“Heavenly Poison Sword Art? This? Is it granting the Heavenly Poison Sutra new magical abilities?”

Immediately after the technique’s rearrangement, a spell related to poison manifested within Yan Yun’s mind.

Consequently, Yan Yun quickly turned her attention to another palm-print technique, integrating it into the Heavenly Poison Sutra. This time, the resulting move was named the Poison Hand Seal.

Through numerous attempts, it became evident that all the methods generated by the Heavenly Tome were intrinsically linked to the Heavenly Poison Sutra. At present, she remained unsure how to fundamentally transform the Heavenly Poison Sutra or elevate it to the next level.

Perhaps this limitation stemmed from Yan Yun’s shallow understanding of cultivation, allowing her only to perform such rudimentary technique assimilation.

Nevertheless, even this limited capability provided Yan Yun with a wealth of usable magical moves. Once transformed into poison arts, these techniques could all be unleashed through toxins, perfectly resolving her predicament of being unable to utilize conventional spells.

The generation and transformation of these techniques consumed almost no energy. Thus, Yan Yun, in one swift go, converted all the cultivation methods she knew into poison spells she could wield.

Moreover, many of the characteristics of the transformed techniques differed somewhat from their original forms.

Yan Yun reveled in this process, spending several days immersed in the joy of creating new cultivation techniques.

It was not until several days later that Yan Lingyun suddenly reminded Yan Yun of something.

“Hey, kid! Time’s up. You have an auction to attend today.”

At Yan Lingyun’s reminder, Yan Yun’s consciousness immediately withdrew from the world of the Heavenly Tome.

Seated cross-legged on the bed, she opened her eyes.

“I nearly forgot, Ancestor,” Yan Yun said, a question in her voice. “This Heavenly Tome is indeed extraordinary. I believe it harbors even greater secrets, but for now, it seems I can only perform simple technique conversions and nothing more. Do you think this might be related to my cultivation realm?”

After a moment of contemplation, Yan Lingyun offered her reply.

“Most likely,” she conceded. “Back then, I directly merged all the cultivation techniques I practiced, and that’s how it became this very Heavenly Poison Sutra.”

Yan Yun nodded, believing this indeed to be the reason.

‘Never mind, I’ll put it aside for now,’ she thought. ‘I’ll delve deeper after the auction concludes. Hopefully, today goes smoothly, and I don’t run into anyone I know.’

Having spoken, Yan Yun suddenly activated her poison art, raising her hand. A stream of purple toxic energy swiftly condensed into a poison needle in her palm.

Once the needle had formed, she glanced at a bird perched on a tree outside the window and sharply flicked it outwards.

The poison needle, transforming into a streak of purple light, struck the bird with unerring accuracy. The unfortunate creature immediately plummeted from the tree, and after a few frantic flaps, it dissolved into a puddle of viscous liquid.

“Haha, I finally have some usable methods!” Yan Yun exclaimed, overcome with excitement.

After testing her new moves, she slipped on her shoes and stealthily departed from the Jiang family residence.

By the time she arrived at Qianjin Pavilion, she had once again transformed into the silver-haired maiden.

The number of people entering and exiting Qianjin Pavilion today far surpassed the usual. The pavilion was not open for general business; only those who had received an invitation to the Qianjin Pavilion’s auction were permitted entry.

Guards from Qianjin Pavilion stood at the entrance, meticulously checking invitations.

According to Yan Yun’s observation, the invitations were categorized by three colors: gold, silver-white, and a common hue. The invitation in Yan Yun’s hand was silver-white.

‘I hope no one tries to snatch the Thousand Illusions Necklace from me today,’ Yan Yun silently prayed before stepping inside. Upon reaching the entrance and presenting her silver invitation, a maidservant immediately approached her.

“Miss, please follow me,” the maidservant said with a smile after verifying the invitation. “This humble servant will escort you to the auction hall.”

Yan Yun nodded and followed the young woman inside, but instead of ascending, they proceeded towards the entrance of an underground passage.

It seemed the auction hall was located underground.

Passing through a long underground corridor, Yan Yun emerged into the auction venue—a remarkably bright and spacious hall capable of accommodating at least ten thousand people.

The moment she entered, the lively hum of guests’ conversations filled her ears, creating a bustling atmosphere.

The venue was tiered into three circular levels, with the central auction area featuring a platform raised three to four meters above the ground.

Yan Yun’s gaze swept across the hall, quickly spotting many familiar figures.

To the right on the second level from the entrance sat members of the Jiang family and the Yan family. Yan Long, Jiang Yuan, and other prominent figures from both families were present.

After a swift glance, Yan Yun quickly averted her eyes, fearful of being recognized by acquaintances. On the other side sat the Zhou and Song families, along with several second-tier families from Qifeng City. Evidently, there were also other families of considerable strength, though they appeared to be from surrounding regions rather than Qifeng City itself.

As for those seated on the third floor, Yan Yun only recognized Lin Ze from the Lin family; the rest were strangers to her. However, their attire and demeanor strongly suggested they were sect cultivators.

‘Such a grand display?’ Yan Yun thought, a flicker of worry in her heart. ‘I have a feeling today’s auction might not proceed so smoothly.’

Just then, the maidservant spoke, offering a reminder.

“Miss Ziyun, as an Earth-grade distinguished guest (TL Note: A VIP status classification, indicating a significant level of importance), your seat is on the second floor.”

Yan Yun’s expression instantly chilled, and she instinctively let out a soft “Ah.”

A look of distress crossed her face. Both the Jiang and Yan families were on the second floor; her presence there would be far too conspicuous, especially after Yan Kun had encountered her just days prior.

“This? Can I not remain on the first floor?” Yan Yun quickly inquired.

The maidservant, without further questioning, patiently explained.

“Miss, you must be attending our Qianjin Pavilion auction for the first time. Our seating arrangements are primarily based on the numbers on the invitation cards, and there are no spare seats. Therefore, I am unable to adjust your placement.”

Given the maidservant’s explanation, Yan Yun had no recourse but to nod and ascend to the second floor.

The moment she stepped onto the second floor, numerous gazes instantly fixated upon her, making her feel as though thorns were piercing her back.

The second floor was largely occupied by individuals from Qifeng City and the surrounding mundane powers, most of whom knew each other.

Naturally, the sudden appearance of a strange young woman with peculiar looks drew considerable attention.

“It’s her?” Yan Kun uttered, momentarily stunned upon seeing Yan Yun.

Yan Yun avoided looking at Yan Kun, keeping her head bowed as she followed the maidservant. Unfortunately, her assigned seat was precisely between the Yan family and the Jiang family.

“Miss, this is your seat. Please make yourself comfortable. The auction will commence once all guests have arrived. This humble servant will now take her leave.” After uttering these words, the maidservant turned and departed, leaving a bewildered Yan Yun standing motionless.

‘Damn it, could I be this unlucky?’ Yan Yun thought, glancing to her left where the Yan family sat, then to her right, where the Jiang family was seated.

Both families were observing her, particularly Yan Kun, whose expression was a mix of scrutiny and bewilderment.

‘Truly unlucky,’ Yan Yun sighed, taking a deep breath before primly settling into her seat.

Her seating position, much like her true identity, placed her in an utterly awkward predicament.

“I was just wondering why there was an empty seat between our two families,” Yan Kun began, undoubtedly compelled to greet her. “I never imagined it would be yours, young lady. We meet again.”

However, Yan Yun’s immediate priority was to speak as little as possible. Thus, she merely cast a brief glance at Yan Kun, offered a curt nod, and then ignored him completely.

“Kun’er, do you know this young lady?” Yan Long inquired, a note of suspicion in his voice.

Yan Kun immediately responded.

“Just a chance encounter, nothing more. We’re not familiar.”

These words, of course, reached Yan Yun’s ears.

‘Not familiar, indeed,’ she grumbled inwardly. ‘If you truly knew me, you’d die of fright.’