Chapter 40: Loafing Around

Xu Yi and his three Late Qi Refining Stage companions each activated their defensive magical artifacts. As cultivators of the Nine Heavens Group, they wielded first-class, high-grade items.

They had also fortified themselves with several layers of protective talismans, ensuring they could withstand the attacks of other cultivators for a short time.

However, they dared not linger long. Among these opponents were others in the Late Qi Refining Stage; their defenses wouldn’t hold out indefinitely.

If breached, faced with such overwhelming assault, survival would be impossible.

Xu Yi took the lead, hurling a set of talismans forward. The three Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators behind him did the same.

The talismans transformed into balls of flame, exploding amidst the crowd of cultivators.

Those struck directly—save for those also in the Late Qi Refining Stage—either perished or suffered grievous injuries.

Even the Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators hesitated to engage Xu Yi in a life-or-death struggle. If they were seriously wounded, even if they defeated Xu Yi and his group, the treasures would likely fall beyond their grasp.

For Xu Yi and his fellow Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators, it was about survival. For the greedy ones, it was about wealth. Their motivations diverged, unity never truly forming. Now, under the fierce onslaught from Xu Yi’s group, the crowd scattered in all directions.

Xu Yi had no intention of prolonging the battle. Leaving the other Nine Heavens Group cultivators at the auction behind, he led three Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators through the passage blasted open earlier, making a beeline for freedom.

“Any who stand in my way shall die!” he bellowed, hurling talismans with reckless abandon as if money were no object.

Their eyes were fixed on the main gate. Once outside, their superior cultivation bases and magical artifacts would turn the tide, whether they fought or fled.

The fight surged towards the exit, claiming a life with each passing breath.

Behind Xu Yi, one of the Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators’ defensive talismans and magical artifacts crumbled. With a blood-curdling scream, he was cut down by a volley of talismans, collapsing to the ground.

Xu Yi and the remaining two cultivators stood on shaky ground themselves. This chaotic melee was unlike anything they’d faced before; they’d woefully overestimated their defenses.

Amidst the carnage, not a soul noticed that the bodies of fallen cultivars near the gates began to shed their spiritual objects.

Li Zhen seized this opportunity. Whenever his senses detected collectible items, he swiftly snatched them into his Dragon Heart Space.

Amidst the chaos of the auction house, no one would notice these details.

Even if they did, who would suspect Xu Yi? Any cultivator present was more likely to be under suspicion.

Xu Yi exchanged glances with two other Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators. Each produced a storage pouch from their person and tossed it onto the pile of corpses.

“Here are the items you’ve been bidding on!” The three storage pouches landed amidst the heap of bodies.

They knew all too well that without relinquishing the goods, their chances of escaping alive were slim.

As for using fake items to deceive these cultivators—why would anyone bother preparing such deceptions when real items were at hand?

Moreover, each had thrown out a storage pouch in quick succession. Such coordination couldn’t be coincidental; any delay could break their defenses and spell their doom.

The auctioned item belonged to the Nine Heavens Group. If lost, most responsibility would fall on the county chief for breaching the contract and leaving prematurely. Their own liability would be minimal.

Sure enough, as soon as the three storage pouches hit the ground, every cultivator’s eyes zeroed in on them.

The closest cultivators lunged forward just as their hands were about to touch the pouches—the three objects vanished into thin air.

Only those cultivators who had practically thrown themselves onto the storage pouches noticed this; the rest believed they had acquired them.

Talismans and magical artifacts flew towards them, and in moments, they lay dead on the ground.

“There’s nothing here!” one of the searching cultivators said with a shake of his head.

These words needed someone to believe them—other cultivators thought he’d hidden away the storage pouches, leading to another round of attacks.

Xu Yi and two Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators took advantage of the greedy cultivators’ distraction as they scrambled for the three missing storage pouches, successfully making their escape through the main gate.

“What do we do now?” one of them asked Xu Yi urgently.

“Contact the group headquarters,” Xu Yi replied calmly. “We can investigate today’s events using surveillance footage. Those who stole our belongings will be forced to return them!”

Leaving aside their discussion, the chaos at the auction site grew even worse.

Initially, all present had been united against a common enemy, but now that the three storage pouches had vanished, every cultivator might have possessed one. This transformed the conflict into a disorderly free-for-all.

Moreover, some individuals within the hall continued to incite further strife, exacerbating the situation.

The number of corpses on the floor multiplied rapidly, blood pooling and spreading across the ground.

Some cultivators regained consciousness and immediately bolted through the doors.

Others assumed these cultivators were trying to escape with their storage pouches and gave chase.

The battle shifted from inside the hall to the area outside, quickly spreading outward.

Li Zhen remained motionless, still pinned beneath the corpses.

The auction house fell silent; it seemed no living cultivator remained. Any who suffered serious injury here would swiftly be killed by others. Even without a storage pouch, the spiritual artifacts on their bodies offered valuable loot.

With laws no longer constraining them, the cultivators feared nothing. They instinctively turned on each other for resources essential to cultivation.

“Finally gone!” A “corpse” lying on the ground opened its eyes, stood up, and muttered.

It began searching through the bodies scattered around, hoping to find something of value.

As this figure reached toward one corpse, a hand shot out from beneath it, plunging a dagger into the searcher’s neck with fatal precision.

The “corpse” rose, retrieving several spirit artifacts from the slain cultivator’s body.

“What a pauper!” The figure spat at the dead cultivator, disgust evident in its voice.

He didn’t search any other corpses but stood up and swiftly left.

Li Zhen waited a few more minutes. Seeing no more cultivators revive, he finally pushed aside the bodies.

Blood stained his clothes, giving him a wretched appearance.

Like before, he ignored the bodies on the ground. Perhaps they still held some spiritual items, but given what he’d witnessed earlier, these cultivators might have set traps even after death.

Stealthily, Li Zhen departed from the auction hall. The combat outside had moved away, which was why he’d lingered longer than planned. He hadn’t expected to witness such a thrilling counterattack.

Glancing at his bloodied garments, he used Dragon Heart Space to swap them for a fresh set of clean clothes.

Looking much more normal now, Li Zhen headed towards home.

Though he hadn’t tallied his gains yet, it was undoubtedly substantial. His next task was clear: survive.

“Why is there fog?” After walking for some time, Li Zhen noticed mist gathering around him.

It should not be fogging up this late in the afternoon, especially considering Yunxi County’s climate, where dense fogs were exceedingly rare.

As he breathed, some of the mist entered his body. Suddenly, red visions swam before his eyes, and a surge of murderous intent flooded his mind.

However, with each beat of his dragon heart, the crimson vision faded, along with the urge to kill.

“There’s something wrong with this mist!” In his moment of panic, he hastily closed his mouth and held his breath.

The fog thickened, its density rapidly decreasing visibility.

The nearest building was swallowed by the mist; it would be his last visible reference point, helping him understand where exactly he was.

He had arrived near the city center, not far from the county seat, an area where many government offices were located.

Relying on memory, he made his way to a corner.

His cultivation level was low, making extended breath-holding impossible. Longxin had just relieved him of the mist’s side effects, so cautiously, he inhaled a small amount. This time, when the mist entered his body, he felt nothing at all.

Longxin’s miraculous power had bolstered his resistance against this mist during their earlier encounter.

Now able to breathe freely, he relaxed. At least he wouldn’t die from suffocation.

In this dense fog, eyes became useless. He also suspected that the mist might have additional sensory-blocking properties.

Of course, his cultivation realm was too low. A cultivator’s spiritual perception range is inherently limited, but his ability to sense spiritual objects remained unaffected. This allowed him to detect other cultivators possessing such items before they could approach.

Li Zhen couldn’t yet gauge how widespread the mist was.

In reality, viewed from above, the mist only filled the core area of Yunxi County. If he could find the right direction and run about three hundred meters, he’d easily escape its confines.