Several days of quiet rest — like a silent spring rain.
In the underground chamber of the Silent Stone District, Lin Mu slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath. He turned his gaze inward.
The crimson sea of Primeval Essence refined by the Four-Flavor Liquor Worm was now completely calm and stable.
Rank 2, middle stage.
Feeling the fullness within him, Lin Mu reined in every trace of his aura, changed into clean clothes, and pushed open the door of the small courtyard.
Today was the day the Red Iron Relic Gu officially went up for auction.
When Lin Mu passed through the outer and middle rings — roaring with noise, as chaotic as a market square — and stepped into the Three Star Cave treehouse, climbing the spiral staircase to the second floor, the air seemed to be sucked dry in an instant.
To participate in the core auction on the second floor, one had to pass the Jia Clan guards' rigorous verification of assets.
Only Gu Masters of substantial wealth or considerable standing were permitted through that door.
This invisible threshold cut off ninety-nine percent of the idle onlookers outside, leaving them firmly planted downstairs.
Outside, the noise was deafening. Inside, one could hear a pin drop.
The spacious circular hall on the second floor was thick with a peculiar, suffocating tension.
Everyone unconsciously held their breath lower, watchful eyes sweeping back and forth across one another. The air was saturated with wariness and calculation.
Today's second floor was, without question, a battlefield for the younger generation.
With the exception of Lin Cang, Lin Zhen, and others of such high standing that it would be beneath them to personally compete with their juniors, nearly every notable young talent Black Blood Stockade had to offer was gathered here.
At the center of the crowd, without question, stood Lin Feng.
This "Grand Elder's personal disciple" — who had just claimed first place in the True Transmission Competition and broken through to Rank 2 — wore white robes today, openly radiating the Red Iron Primeval Essence fluctuations of a Rank 2 initial-stage cultivator.
He carried himself with effortless grace, his gaze sweeping the room with contempt, savoring the reverent and fawning looks directed at him from all sides. The display was carried to its absolute limit.
Not far from him, Lin Xue of the Medicine Hall and Lin Ze of the Storage Hall wore expressions that could only be described as deeply unpleasant.
Lin Xue in particular was still stuck at the bottleneck of Rank 1 peak stage. Watching Lin Feng flaunt his Rank 2 aura, her cold, clear eyes looked ready to shoot fire.
Beyond the glare of that spotlight, Lin Mu stood quietly behind Lin Feng.
He suppressed his aura completely — like a shadow with no presence at all, playing the silent role of an attendant.
Everyone present, including the insufferably arrogant Lin Feng, would never have imagined it.
This seemingly unremarkable retainer was not only a terrifyingly advanced Rank 2 middle stage...
Deep within his Aperture, he had sealed away a White Silver Relic Gu that would drive even Rank 3 elders to madness.
A cultivation pace like his would have turned heads even in the top sects of the Central Continent.
Of course, beyond Black Blood Stockade's younger generation, the buyers on the second floor included not only Righteous Path clan members but also many solitary Demonic Path rogue cultivators. Most wore bamboo hats or masks, scattered in the corners.
Among them, one figure drew the sidelong glances of the entire room.
The person wore a wide, grey robe.
It was the Demonic Path cultivator whose fearsome reputation had spread through the outer reaches of Black Wind Ridge in recent days — Dustlord.
His brutal and domineering record had created an absolute vacuum around him — a clear circle of three feet in every direction where no one dared to step.
"Ladies and gentlemen — the auction begins!"
With a loud announcement from the Jia Clan steward, the caravan brought out several Rank 2 Gu worms in batches as appetizers — the Iron Armor Gu for defense, the Savage Bull Gu for raw strength, and others of their kind.
As could be expected, the bidding was extremely sparse.
Everyone knew perfectly well where the real prize lay.
Every person in the room was clutching their purse shut for the sake of the final centerpiece, terrified of spending even one extra Primeval Stone and missing their chance at the end.
The atmosphere grew awkwardly stagnant.
It was not until a strange Gu worm in a crystal bowl was brought out that Lin Mu's otherwise still gaze flickered with the faintest light.
Rank 2 — the Dog Sniff Gu.
The steward announced its properties at length. This Gu worm was, in every sense, a comprehensive upgrade of the Blood Scent Gu.
It could not only detect blood aura — it could lock onto the specific scent of any living creature in the vicinity with extraordinary precision, even penetrating most low-grade aura-concealment methods.
A divine instrument for tracking in the field.
"Good item. But the drawback is lethal."
Lin Mu ran the calculation quickly in his mind.
"The Gu's sense of smell was too acute — if it encountered an overwhelmingly pungent or excessive stimulating odor during use, the Gu Master would suffer severe backlash: mild cases resulting in dizziness, severe cases in immediate unconsciousness."
"Even so, the flaw did not outweigh the value. For Lin Mu at this stage, the strategic worth of this Gu worm was considerable."
Taking advantage of everyone's attention being fixed on the main event, Lin Mu casually beckoned a caravan attendant and passed over a slip of paper with a price already written on it.
With his current financial resources, acquiring this "appetizer" that no one else was bothering with was trivially easy.
Once the slip was handed off, Lin Mu folded his arms, closed his eyes, and paid no further attention to the routine auction items.
Time passed.
The air in the second-floor hall suddenly became viscous and oppressive.
Several elite caravan guards radiating powerful auras stepped forward with measured, deliberate strides, bearing a sealed box of agarwood to the central display platform with solemn ceremony.
The box opened. A Gu worm — translucent as red agate, radiating an enticing crimson light — lay quietly on a velvet cushion.
Every breath in the room stopped at once.
There was no elaborate sales pitch. The Jia Clan steward said only one sentence:
"Rank 2, Red Iron Relic Gu. Sealed bid. Highest offer wins."
The rules were merciless, and electrifying.
Every bidder would write their maximum price on a slip of paper and deposit it into the sealed box.
The result would be tallied by the caravan steward in a private room, and the winner would be notified by a discreet sound transmission — never announced publicly.
This was Jia Fu's guarantee of absolute confidentiality — a measure to ensure that winners would not be ambushed and robbed by rivals or Demonic Path cultivators after leaving the camp.
The atmosphere in the hall froze to absolute zero.
Attendants moved through the crowd carrying paper and brushes. Some people's hands trembled so badly they could barely hold a brush. Others had their attendants submit the slips on their behalf from within private booths.
Behind every number written on those slips lay the absolute limit of one's financial resources — and a ruthless calculation of every rival's psychological ceiling.
Lin Feng bit through his lip and wrote a figure on his slip. Lin Xue and Lin Ze, eyes red, pushed their slips into the sealed box.
And in the corner, Dustlord — acting under Lin Mu's prior, meticulous instructions — calmly deposited a slip of his own.
Clang —!
A clear bell rang. Bidding time was over.
In that moment of universal attention, something extraordinary happened.
The branches beneath the counter holding the sealed box — decorative until now — began to grow wildly, as though alive.
Jade-green leaves unfurled and wove together in an instant, wrapping the Red Iron Relic Gu — the object of every nerve in the room — into a tight green cocoon.
When the branches and leaves receded like a tide and parted once more —
The Red Iron Relic Gu had vanished entirely, clearly transferred to the private room for settlement. In its place sat another Rank 2 Gu worm, ready for the next round.
The contest was decided. The dust had settled.
"Who bought it?!"
The crowd, burning with desperate curiosity and unbearable suspense, began to disperse.
Lin Mu followed behind Lin Feng at an unhurried pace, making his way toward the stairs.
His peripheral vision swept sharply across Lin Feng ahead of him, and then to Lin Xue and Lin Ze preparing to leave not far away.
All three of these young talents — without exception — wore expressions as though they had swallowed a mouthful of dead flies.
Ashen. Ugly. Their fists clenched at their sides, eyes filled with unconcealed fury and humiliation.
It was obvious. These proud, self-assured geniuses who had believed their wealth more than sufficient — not one of them had received the steward's sound transmission.
Every single one of them had failed.
"Heh..."
Lin Mu lowered his eyelids, a deeply satisfied cold laugh rising in his chest. "This was merchandise I had my eye on. Did you really think you could compete with me?"
Outside the Three Star Cave, rumors were already spreading wildly through the market.
Every faction that had failed to win the bid was frantically speculating that the final victor must have been that arrogant, domineering Demonic Path cultivator — Dustlord — who was rumored to have made a fortune off the dead.
And yet.
In the fading light of the setting sun, deep within a secluded stretch of forest on the outskirts of Black Blood Stockade.
Hou San — the man playing the role of Dustlord — who should have been striding forward triumphantly with the Gu worm in hand, was instead crouched behind a massive boulder.
He had not won the Relic Gu.
On the contrary, his entire body was shaking violently, like a sieve in a storm.
His weathered face was drenched in cold sweat the size of soybeans, his eyes wide with a desperate, all-consuming terror.
"It's... it's over!"
Hou San, his voice thick with the edge of tears, stared at his empty hands in despair and let out a wail like a man mourning his own parents:
"I submitted the slip... I submitted it... So why — why didn't the steward call me in?!"
"I didn't win. Someone snatched it right out from under me!"