Auction, Part 9

Outside, evil cultivators were attacking the gate, while inside, the teleportation array glowed intensely.

The Nine Heavens Pavilion manager was so anxious he wished he could bash his head against the ground.

He thought it couldn’t possibly be someone from within; those in high positions would have quietly left the moment they sensed danger, leaving only these oxen and horses trapped here.

The manager’s eyes trembled, his pupils fixed intently on one spot.

Large beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Finally, as if making up his mind, he clenched his fists, softened his knees, and prostrated himself on the ground, weeping and saying, “This humble one truly has no other way. It would be better to open the outer gate first; perhaps there’s still a sliver of hope for survival.”

“Are you mad?” Tang Shitao drew her sword furiously. “Don’t you know the nature of evil cultivators? They are all ruthless, bent on annihilation, wiping out entire families. How could there be a way out?”

“This humble one is not unaware, but!” The manager’s lips trembled, his expression growing more desperate. “But when the Nine Heavens Pavilion treasury was first built, a powerful elder set up the highest restriction. Once the exterior is completely breached, this place will automatically activate a teleportation array, teleporting the entire treasury…”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Tang Xueshan frowned. “Since the treasury will be transferred to a safe place, and we are in the treasury, wouldn’t we also be teleported and thus be safe?”

Tang Yueling’s eyes briefly closed, then reopened.

At this critical juncture, she became remarkably clear-headed.

Her gaze directly met the manager’s trembling face, and she realized, “This teleportation can only transport inanimate objects, not living beings. Otherwise, if enemies charged into the treasury and were teleported along, how would that be different from personally sending rats into a rice bin?”

Because of this restriction, she couldn’t even use her personal spatial storage.

It must be that the Song family had invested heavily in this important treasury.

She couldn’t help but wonder if her being forced into this situation was an accident, or if someone had designed it—for instance, someone seeking revenge for the claustrophobia in the Myriad Beast Forest, wanting to achieve their goal through others.

The escort who led her to the treasury had already been killed by evil cultivators outside, and now there was no way to verify anything.

Tang Yueling had nowhere to retreat. She was forced to squeeze into the treasury.

Things happened too quickly. Qi Liwei, surrounded by other managers and selecting spiritual items, was also trapped inside.

“That’s right.” The manager lamented. He was surprised by her intelligence, but at this point, no amount of intelligence would save them from death.

He grew increasingly desperate, gazing at the lavish place, sparkling with spiritual light and abundant treasures.

He suddenly felt that in the face of death, all his life’s pursuits were like a grand dream, all illusory.

The commotion outside grew louder.

Despair spread.

In their desperation, some even wanted to rush to open the main door, hoping to earn their survival by helping the evil cultivators clear the way.

But she was pierced through the heart by Qi Liwei’s sword, dying on the spot, without even a scream.

Qi Liwei drew her sword from the flesh, its tip dripping blood. She said coldly, “I’d like to see who dares.”
F

or some reason, she always felt a chill in her mind, as if she had forgotten something. But she recalled her journey into the Nine Heavens Pavilion, and there had been nothing amiss.

Although a certain memory felt somewhat discordant, what she had done in it aligned with her character.

Therefore, after reviewing it several times, the discordant feelings vanished, as if she had personally experienced it.

Under the threat of death, most people settled down, huddling nervously in the corners like quails.

Compared to their listlessness, Tang Yueling and the others were much calmer.

Even if they truly fell into the hands of evil cultivators in the end, they might not necessarily die.

It was more likely that they would be used as bargaining chips to demand exorbitant prices from their families, which would be far more profitable.

Of course, evil cultivators often cultivated evil techniques to the point of mental instability, acting like madmen.

If they were in the mood, for the thrill of bloodshed, it was not impossible for them to slaughter everyone on the spot.

Therefore, several people clutched their most powerful magical artifacts, talismans, and spiritual weapons, also preparing for a desperate fight.

The situation was tense, and they couldn’t consider anything else.

Qi Liwei guarded the door. She had already sent a message to the Qi family, though she didn’t know if it would successfully transmit from here. However, there was no other option.

The last restriction on the treasury was extremely obscure and difficult to decipher; it should be able to hold them off for a considerable amount of time.

Tang Yueling guarded the teleportation array, sword drawn and ready.

Tang Xueshan also gripped a high-tier Thunder God Talisman, waiting only for the array’s occupants to appear before blasting them to smithereens.

Secret arts involving restriction arrays were difficult to learn but relatively easy to destroy.

Tian Ning followed behind, killing indiscriminately as if chopping melons and dicing vegetables, both cutting off others’ paths and leaving no retreat for herself.

Su Qing descended along the cloud ladder.

This path, like an atrium, led directly to the teleportation point within the treasury through seven teleportation arrays.

This internal route should have been built for the high-ranking officials of the Nine Heavens Pavilion.

The scenery along the way was exceedingly beautiful. Being high up, clouds and mist swirled, and sunlight pierced through the clouds, casting dappled light and shadow.

Looking down from above, one felt a sense of vastness and the grandeur of overlooking all mountains.

However, Su Qing and Tian Ning had no mind to appreciate the scenery.

The two merely rushed along, incidentally destroying things.

The path that should have taken an incense stick to traverse was forcibly shortened to mere breaths.

Seeing the last array disk ahead, Su Qing and Tian Ning exchanged a glance.

Tian Ning understood. She swept a sword intent upwards, cutting off the last connecting section, completely disabling this internal passage.

The two descended into the eye of the array, one after the other.

A bright white light flashed, and the array disk rotated. Su Qing’s vision spun.

The surroundings swirled like a vortex. When she opened her eyes again, she had already landed in the Nine Heavens Pavilion’s treasury.

A sword tip, flashing with fire and sharpness, pressed against her throat.

She raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise, directly meeting Tang Yueling’s murderous eyes.

And in her peripheral vision, dozens of Thunder God Talismans scattered towards her—

Tang Yueling recognized Su Qing, suddenly startled, and shouted, “No!”

But it was already too late.

The Thunder God Talismans had already touched Su Qing’s clothing and hair.

Thunder patterns instantly appeared on the talismans, and a furious thunderstorm aura leaked out.

Ten thousand zhang of lightning seemed to burst from the talismans.

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Su Qing actually wouldn’t have minded someone blasting her with those prohibitively expensive Thunder God Talismans.

After all, getting hit meant a gain; she would welcome it.

Unfortunately, this time she was destined not to get her wish.

Su Qing’s figure remained still, her heart not at all flustered, because she knew a nimble figure would leap up behind her.

And indeed, it was so.

The snow sword flashed, sweeping out an arc of light, and with one strike, cut down all the Thunder God Talismans that were about to activate.

Qi Liwei’s eyes trembled. She exclaimed, “Miss Tian Ning!”

Tang Yueling immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Rather than questioning Su Qing about how they got here, she narrowed her eyes and first noticed a deep red wound on Tian Ning’s cheek.

The wound, set against Tian Ning’s snow-white face, was like a shattered white jade mask, revealing the blood and flesh of a living person underneath. Tang Yueling furiously demanded, “Who did this, that ill-mannered person?”

Tian Ning blinked, not quite understanding the source of her anger.

Tang Yueling herself had suffered severe injuries, and her bleeding hadn’t stopped.

Why should she care about the small wound on her face?

Su Qing rarely felt so speechless; Tang Yueling’s obsession with appearances was truly beyond help.

One must know how powerful cultivators, especially Body Cultivators, were in terms of regeneration and healing.

Tian Ning’s current battle damage was merely temporary; she might even be fully recovered in a short while.

Even Tang Yueling herself noticed something amiss. She coughed, then indignantly exclaimed, “What are you two doing here? Are you just sending yourselves to die as well?!”

Qi Liwei quickly added, “Liwei will not allow Miss Tian Ning to suffer even the slightest injury.”

“Enough of these useless words.” Tang Shitao said with a smile. “It’s still unknown how you and I will escape. With your strength, you might even need your young lady to protect you.”

Qi Liwei’s eyes flashed with thinly veiled anger as she glared at Tang Shitao. “Do you have a solution then?”

At this critical juncture, they still had the mind to bicker.

The Nine Heavens Pavilion manager only felt that the sky was falling and life was hopeless.

He looked at the thinning restriction at the door and said, “Two cultivators, you specifically came here, do you have a way to escape danger?”
23A glimmer of hope appeared on his face. “I wonder if the path you took to get here is still usable? Once the treasury is teleported away, only we will be left to face the wrath of the evil cultivators outside. We will surely suffer endless torment and die a miserable death. If we can follow that path to leave, perhaps there is still a chance for survival.”

Su Qing smiled heartily, “It’s already completely destroyed.”

Of course, it wasn’t the evil cultivators who did it; they did.

Upon hearing this, the manager felt his heart turn to ashes. He suddenly went berserk, snatched a spiritual sword from an adjacent display rack, and attempted to commit suicide, but was stopped by the female cultivator.

Su Qing effortlessly took the sword from his hand. “Don’t rush, I have a way to escape.”

“But there’s one thing. While I can save you once, whether you live or not is not up to me.”

“The manager was overjoyed. The others also looked on with hopeful eyes. “As long as there’s a way out! You have a plan?”

Su Qing had intended to explain in detail, but her brow suddenly twitched, as if someone had heavily plucked her spiritual intuition, giving her a hint.

This was the benefit of powerful divine sense and strong intuition: being able to foresee a crisis earlier than others.

A powerful presence was approaching rapidly.

There was no time to hesitate.

Her expression became stern, and she said no more.

Immediately after, Tian Ning also sensed something was wrong.

She gripped Snowfall Sword, her expression taut.

Slowly, the others also felt it.

Their bodies trembled uncomfortably, as if affected by some formidable presence, causing their internal spiritual energy to become chaotic and their forms to almost dissipate.

A high-level cultivator had set their sights on them.

It wasn’t Old Man San, but the evil cultivator standing on the ghost ship!

It was at this moment that a towering flame suddenly shot out from the crack in the doorway.

The tragic cries of the evil cultivators came from outside, but soon, even the screams disappeared, leaving only a dangerous silence.

The scorching temperature rapidly rose.

Even the treasury walls trembled slightly, as if about to melt.

Everyone watched as the last restriction thinned, the transparent runes above expanded and deformed, swirling like ink, showing signs of nearing its limit. They were too panicked to speak.

The restriction was about to break.

In an instant, the treasury walls revealed lines of obscure and difficult-to-understand patterns and symbols, moving like living things on the walls, making the surrounding space appear blurry.

This was a sign that the teleportation array was about to activate.

At this point, Su Qing finally retrieved the gleaming golden key from her Sea of Consciousness, placing it in her palm.

This item, which resembled both a shovel and a key, had a cat paw print at its base.

It was indeed a product of Carefree Immortal, the key to opening the Sword School’s treasury.

‘Teleportation array, huh? Transfer, huh? She knew this one.’

‘Why not let everyone transfer to the Sword School’s treasury together?’

‘Confiscated, all confiscated.’

Tang Yueling frowned.

She had never seen Su Qing use this item before. “What is this?”

“My official seal.”

Su Qing, amidst the bewildered gazes of others, thrust this key directly into the wall, turning it clockwise to unlock it.

She saw the runes flowing on the wall abruptly stop, as if sensing some unknowable powerful presence, and quietly settled down.

In their place, a giant spherical light curtain erupted from where the key was inserted, enveloping the entire treasury, along with the countless treasures stored within.

After the spherical space enveloped the area, she deftly turned the key counter-clockwise, then pulled it from the wall.

The next second, this sphere, carrying a vast space, was violently compressed tens of millions of times, transforming into a furball in a cat’s belly.

With a sudden whoosh, it vanished from its original spot, transferring into a spatial rift.

Her timing was perfect.

By the time Commander Chiyan arrived, forcibly opening the restriction with his unusual fire, the place was already empty, leaving only the charred ruins of the spatial transfer.

He was furious.

Blood veins burst at the corners of his eyes, burning like flames.

He had clearly smelled the aura of a high-tier spiritual item, only for it to disappear just like that.

How could he accept this? Commander Chiyan ground his teeth, and his chest heaved violently, scorching the surroundings into a hopeless sea of fire. “Who was it?! This lord will not spare them; I will make them beg for death!”

Responding to him, however, was Old Man San’s palm strike aimed at his vitals.