Chapter 49

At the same time, in a guest room of the Wu Ling City Lord's residence.

A cultivator with a large head knelt on the ground, his expression filled with fear as he spoke in a low voice to a middle-aged man in black clothes in front of him.

"What did you say? Zhao Shiguang was killed? Damn it! I specially came to Wu Ling City early to deliver this token to this waste of space, but I didn't expect—sigh! It's a waste of my good intentions. Hmph! This waste of space is dead, but it's a waste of an entry token. I paid a high price to get this token," the middle-aged man in black said, his face dark and his eyes flashing with cold light.

"Ancestor! The other party is likely a wandering cultivator. They will probably participate in the Ziyu Sect's entry selection tomorrow. When they appear, I can identify them," the large-headed cultivator said, looking at the middle-aged man in black with fear and hurriedly speaking.

"Whoever it is, since they killed a member of the Zhao family and stole our entry token, I won't let them off," the middle-aged man in black said, his eyes filled with killing intent, his voice cold.

Without waiting for the large-headed cultivator to say anything, the middle-aged man in black glanced at him coldly and said, "You failed to protect the clan leader's son. When you return to the clan, someone will punish you. I'm too lazy to deal with you. Hmm! Tomorrow, stand by my side and secretly point out the person who killed Zhao Shiguang. For now, don't provoke this person. Continue to gather information about orphaned girls around seventeen or eighteen years old in Wu Ling City and report to me."

The large-headed cultivator felt a great relief and naturally agreed, bowing respectfully before quickly leaving.

An hour later, Hua Xiajiu swallowed the remaining four Soul Condensation Pills, causing his soul form to swell and recover to about three meters in size.

"Almost all my spirit stones were spent to buy these soul condensation pills. Although the effect is obvious, at this rate, it still can't solve the problem of my soul form not being condensed enough. Ah! I need spirit stones, I need pills, I need many spirit stones, many pills—" Hua Xiajiu thought, his face showing a faint worry and a desire for spirit stones.

Thinking about this, Hua Xiajiu took out Zhao Shiguang's and the tall, thin cultivator's storage bags and began to sort through their contents.

Before long, the worry on Hua Xiajiu's face disappeared, and his joy gradually increased.

As the son of the Zhao clan leader, Zhao Shiguang was extremely valued in the clan. This time, he was able to bring the clan's only entry token to participate in the Ziyu Sect's entry selection, which shows how much he was cherished. His father, as the clan leader, doted on him and had high hopes for him. Not only did he send two Spirit Condensation Realm cultivators to protect his safety, but he also specially rewarded him with a large number of spirit stones and spirit weapons.

Ten thousand spirit stones, four spirit weapons, especially a sword-shaped spirit weapon, which was a mid-grade spirit weapon. This was the first mid-grade spirit weapon Hua Xiajiu had ever obtained. Previously, whether it was the black staff or the blood sword, they were all low-grade spirit weapons. There were also several bottles of pills for healing and restoring true essence.

As for the contents of the tall, thin cultivator's storage bag, they were much less impressive, with only a little over two thousand spirit stones, one low-grade spirit weapon, and no pills at all.

After a while, Hua Xiajiu played with two tokens, one black and one white, in his hands, frowning in deep thought.

Both tokens belonged to Zhao Shiguang. The white jade token was the Ziyu Sect's entry qualification token, which Hua Xiajiu already had in his own storage bag. The other black token was made of an unknown mineral.

From Zhao Shiguang's memories, this token was a membership token for a secret auction on the Dao Soul Continent. His father had spent a great deal to obtain it, and it was not Zhao Shiguang's personal property. Instead, he was supposed to give it to the old ancestor of the Zhao family in the Ziyu Sect, hoping that after Zhao Shiguang joined the Ziyu Sect, the old ancestor would take better care of him.

It was said that the secret auction organization's auctions were spread throughout the continent, offering a wide range of items such as spirit weapons, pills, puppets, and rare materials. However, the time and location of the secret auctions were unpredictable. Only an hour before the auction, the token would transmit a secret message to the token holder. This was one of the reasons why it was called a secret auction. The choice of location for the secret auction was extremely important; otherwise, if there were few token holders near the chosen location, the secret auction would be a joke. Perhaps the organizers of the secret auction had a way to know where the tokens were located.

Additionally, the secret auction only recognized the token, not the person. Any cultivator who held the token could participate in the secret auction.

These pieces of information flashed through Hua Xiajiu's mind. After a moment of deep thought, he decided to put away the two tokens and begin meditating.

At this moment, the black token in Hua Xiajiu's left hand suddenly vibrated, emitting a wave similar to a soul message, which instantly entered Hua Xiajiu's mind.

The next moment, a dozen characters and a simple map appeared in Hua Xiajiu's mind.

"One hour later, at the West Spirit Crane Tower in Wu Ling City."

The characters and the simple map did not last long, disappearing after a dozen breaths.

But in the instant they appeared in his mind, Hua Xiajiu had already memorized them.

"Such a coincidence. I just got the token, and a secret auction is being held nearby. Hmm! This is an opportunity I can't miss. I hope to find soul condensation pills there." After a while, Hua Xiajiu decided to attend this secret auction.

An hour later, Hua Xiajiu quietly left the inn and ran along the street toward the west of Wu Ling City.

Following the simple map in his mind, Hua Xiajiu walked through several alleys and streets, arriving in front of the Spirit Crane Tower.

Standing a hundred meters away from the Spirit Crane Tower, Hua Xiajiu looked up.

The building was not large, covering an area of about four to five hundred square meters, with only two floors.

At this moment, two cultivators wearing white masks were sitting cross-legged at the entrance of the building, motionless, seemingly dozing.

Hua Xiajiu was hesitating whether to use his soul message to probe the cultivation levels of the two people at the entrance when he suddenly heard a sound of wind. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a cultivator shrouded in black mist rushing out from another street nearby, heading straight for the Spirit Crane Tower without stopping.

When the cultivator was less than ten meters from the Spirit Crane Tower, the two masked cultivators suddenly opened their eyes, their gazes sharp as they looked at him.

The cultivator bowed respectfully to the two and, without a word, took out a black token and handed it over.

The masked cultivator on the left raised his right hand, and the black token in the black mist cultivator's hand flew up, appearing in his hand in an instant.

After apparently using his soul message to check the black token, the masked cultivator casually returned the token to its owner and said, "The token is correct. After paying one thousand spirit stones, you may enter."

The black mist cultivator, seeing this, was not surprised. He took out a bag of spirit stones and handed it to the masked cultivator, then passed between the two and entered the Spirit Crane Tower.

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