The Scarlet Dragon Halberd’s Dao Aura

Knock, knock.

Shortly after Su Hanxing successfully bid on the Golden Sun Flower, a knock suddenly echoed at their private room door.

“Come in,” he commanded.

Su Hanxing leaned back on the plush long chair, his arm casually draped around Chi Qiu. His expression was stern, his tone displeased, and he hadn’t moved an inch.

The private room door slowly creaked open. Chi Qiu turned to see the same attendant who had led them there earlier, now beaming, holding the Golden Sun Flower worth two hundred thousand Spirit Pills.

“Esteemed guests, here is the Golden Sun Flower you successfully bid on. Please inspect it.”

Seeing the attendant enter, Chi Qiu quickly slipped away from Su Hanxing’s embrace, darting to the side.

Why am I acting so guilty? she silently chastised herself.

“Xiao… Yue, come take a look.” Su Hanxing nearly blurted out Chi Qiu’s full name but quickly corrected himself, addressing her by her alias, Xiao Yue, instead.

Chi Qiu rose and approached the attendant, taking the Golden Sun Flower from his hands. After a cursory glance, she nodded subtly towards Su Hanxing. Noticing her nod, Su Hanxing immediately retrieved a jade bottle from his storage artifact and tossed it to the attendant.

The attendant fumbled slightly as he caught the jade bottle. After a swift count, he bowed deeply. “The transaction is complete. This Golden Sun Flower now belongs to you, esteemed guests.” With that, he quickly exited their private room.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you so serious.” Chi Qiu settled back onto the long chair, cradling the basin-sized Golden Sun Flower. She gazed at Su Hanxing’s solemn face, then recalled the attendant’s flustered demeanor, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“He just asked if I wanted a maidservant, nearly causing Little Chi to misunderstand me. I merely gave him a small ‘punishment’ for that.” As Chi Qiu returned to his side with the Golden Sun Flower, the sternness on Su Hanxing’s face vanished instantly. He chuckled softly, revealing the reason.

“He’s like a child,” Chi Qiu murmured, shaking her head with a touch of helplessness.

“The next item for auction is a mid-grade Primordial Spirit Treasure: the Flowing Fire Armor.”

“This armor boasts exceptional defensive power. It can also store heavenly flames, which can be unleashed without warning during combat, spewing forth fire so swiftly that even God Concealing stage cultivators would find it challenging to react. The starting bid is fifty thousand Spirit Pills, with each subsequent bid not less than ten thousand Spirit Pills!”

After the Golden Sun Flower found its owner in Chi Qiu, Fansheng tapped his staff lightly on the ground. With a subtle tremor, a dummy crafted from refined iron slowly rose from beneath the auction floor, adorned in a fiery red suit of armor.

“Seventy thousand Spirit Pills!”

“One hundred thousand Spirit Pills!”

Such a life-saving artifact immediately ignited a fierce bidding war among the attendees. The intensity far surpassed that of the previous two items. Neither Chi Qiu nor Su Hanxing had any need for this item. Su Hanxing leaned languidly against the long chair, turning his head to observe Chi Qiu. He found her watching the cultivators’ frantic bidding with considerable interest. This was Chi Qiu’s first time attending a cultivator auction, and she had never witnessed such a spectacle before, making her naturally quite fascinated.

In this atmosphere, with Chi Qiu watching the auction and Su Hanxing watching Chi Qiu, the Flowing Fire Armor was eventually purchased for six hundred thirty thousand Spirit Pills by a male cultivator in red robes.

Once the Flowing Fire Armor was sold, Chi Qiu naturally withdrew her gaze. She instinctively turned her head to look at Su Hanxing beside her, only to find him staring intently at her.

“What are you looking at?” Chi Qiu glanced to her other side, and finding nothing unusual, she asked with curiosity.

“Why, I’m looking at you, Little Chi, of course.” Su Hanxing replied without the slightest hint of concealment, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Me? What’s there to see?” Chi Qiu was momentarily taken aback by Su Hanxing’s blunt answer.

“You’re still holding onto this Golden Sun Flower. Aren’t you going to put it away?” Su Hanxing quickly reached out, lightly pointing at the Golden Sun Flower in Chi Qiu’s arms, and raised an eyebrow as he inquired.

This flower was bid on by you; you should keep it. Chi Qiu heard Su Hanxing’s curiosity about why she was still holding the Golden Sun Flower. She nodded naturally. Extending her hand, she offered the Golden Sun Flower to Su Hanxing.

“This flower has been given to you. You should put it away properly.” Though Chi Qiu looked quite charming and pleasing to the eye cradling the basin-sized Golden Sun Flower, Su Hanxing still urged her to put it away soon.

Chi Qiu no longer demurred. She nodded gently before storing the Golden Sun Flower within her storage artifact.

“The next item for auction is the Spirit Rhinoceros Finger…”

The auction continued in full swing. With nearly a hundred items up for bid, the entire event was expected to last several hours at least. Over the next hour, Su Hanxing made another move. He spent two hundred forty thousand Spirit Pills to acquire a Soul Guiding Grass imbued with Dao patterns, which he then tossed to Chi Qiu once more. This time, Chi Qiu didn’t hesitate. She accepted the Soul Guiding Grass and promptly stored it in her own artifact.

“The origin of this next item is truly extraordinary. Forged from the unique extraterrestrial meteor iron found only in our Hongshan City, supplemented with various immortal and divine irons, it is a top-grade Primordial Spirit Treasure: the Scarlet Dragon Halberd.”

“This halberd possesses an excellent foundation. If wielded by a Dharma Manifestation Realm cultivator, they can engrave their unique Dao patterns upon it. The moment these patterns fully manifest, the Scarlet Dragon Halberd will transcend its primordial treasure rank, ascending to become a Divine Dao Weapon.”

Fansheng raised his hand, and a magnificent halberd, roughly two zhang long and three cun thick, appeared in his grip. The halberd was entirely scarlet, with crimson spiritual energy constantly emanating from its surface. Clearly, the spiritual energy contained within it had reached an astonishingly saturated level.

Whoosh—

Fansheng lightly flicked his arm, causing the great halberd to swirl into a spear flower. The moment this flower formed, it swiftly transformed into a miniature scarlet dragon, roaring as it burst forth. The instant the scarlet dragon appeared, the temperature throughout the entire auction hall noticeably rose.

“This…”

Su Hanxing suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed intently on the scarlet halberd in Fansheng’s hand, his lips trembling almost imperceptibly.

“What’s wrong, Hanxing?” Chi Qiu was startled by Su Hanxing’s unusual behavior. She looked up at him, only to see his face alight with joy, leaving her utterly bewildered.

“Little Chi, I… I’ve sensed the aura of ‘Dao’ that you spoke of!” Su Hanxing exclaimed with immense delight. From that great halberd, he perceived an aura that was both foreign and familiar—the very essence of ‘Dao’ that Chi Qiu had spent years trying, and repeatedly failing, to teach him to sense.

“Dao? On that halberd? Why can’t I feel it?” Chi Qiu’s eyes widened in surprise. Knowing Su Hanxing wouldn’t joke about such a matter, she immediately sat upright, focusing intently on the halberd in Fansheng’s hand, seeking to perceive its essence.

“It’s true, Little Chi, quickly try to feel it!” Su Hanxing was overcome with both shock and joy. His gaze upon the halberd began to burn with fervent desire. No one shall contend with me for this item!

“There is indeed an aura of Dao, but…” After a painstaking effort, Chi Qiu finally caught a faint, incredibly subtle ripple of ‘Dao’ from the halberd. Yet, this particular ripple felt distinctly unusual.

“What’s wrong, Little Chi?” Su Hanxing, seeing Chi Qiu’s look of astonishment, quickly inquired.

“Nothing, really. There are indeed Dao fluctuations on it, but they’re incredibly subtle, and it’s a ‘Dao’ I’ve never encountered before.” Chi Qiu felt a peculiar sensation in her heart, yet she couldn’t quite articulate it, thus she could only answer Su Hanxing in this manner.

“A top-grade Primordial Spirit Treasure: the Scarlet Dragon Halberd! Starting bid of one million Spirit Pills, with each subsequent bid not less than fifty thousand Spirit Pills!”

Fansheng’s staff slowly tapped the ground, its crisp sound echoing like a peal of thunder in everyone’s ears.

“Five million Spirit Pills!”

Su Hanxing was already impatient. He stood before the massive transparent crystal, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the Scarlet Dragon Halberd, a look of absolute determination etched upon his face.