Chapter 1201: Signs Emerge

"Master, you seem unsettled. What happened?" Ti Hun opened her eyes and looked over, asking.

"Ti Hun, pay attention to the six people in that private box. Try to find out their identities and their purpose here," Han Li transmitted his voice.

Though Ti Hun did not understand Han Li's intention, she nodded and began to watch that private box closely.

Just then, the door of the private box moved, and a Daoist nun in a green robe entered with Lan Mei.

This Daoist nun was a Da Luo realm existence, appearing quite young with cheeks as rosy as lotus flowers. As she walked, a fragrance filled the air. She seemed not to be a human cultivator but a transformed plant or tree spirit.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Shi. I am an executive elder of the Sun and Moon Pavilion. You may call me Lotus Fairy," the Daoist nun said, glancing at the Thunderstones beside her with a flicker of interest before quickly withdrawing her gaze and smiling lightly at Han Li.

"No need to be polite, Fairy Lotus. Can the Sun and Moon Pavilion handle these Thunderstones?" Han Li nodded indifferently and asked.

"Fellow Daoist Shi jokes. Not just these dozen Thunderstones, even a thousand or ten thousand, my Sun and Moon Pavilion can afford them," Lotus Fairy smoothed a strand of hair from her temple and said with a faint smile.

"The Sun and Moon Pavilion indeed has deep resources. Then please appraise them, Fairy Lotus," Han Li raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Lotus Fairy's gaze swept over the dozen Thunderstones and quickly withdrew.

"Fellow Daoist Shi's Thunderstones are of excellent quality and considerable size. Let's say one hundred fifty thousand immortal jade per stone. You have thirteen, totaling one million nine hundred fifty thousand immortal jade. Let's round it up to two million immortal jade, how about that?" Lotus Fairy tallied clearly and said with a beaming smile.

Han Li had already inquired about the market price of Thunderstones. He had originally thought selling them for one million five hundred thousand would be good, but now he could get two million immortal jade, so he naturally had no objections.

"Fairy Lotus is straightforward in business. I also have some materials to sell," Han Li waved his hand and took out a pile of materials—leftovers from cleaning out the Flower Branch space that were hard to dispose of.

He had put these items up for sale on the Reincarnation Hall, but over the years, not many had sold, so he decided to clear them all today.

"Fellow Daoist Shi's items are quite miscellaneous, but there are a few decent pieces among them. How about I take them all for four hundred thousand immortal jade?" Lotus Fairy glanced over and said.

Han Li did not haggle and nodded.

Perhaps he took a small loss, but getting rid of them in one go saved him the trouble.

After the transactions, Han Li had an extra two million four hundred thousand immortal jade, almost earning back what he had just spent, which lifted his spirits.

Once the deals were done, Lotus Fairy did not linger and soon left with Lan Mei.

"Master," Ti Hun said to Han Li as soon as Lotus Fairy and her companion left.

"What did you find?" Han Li transmitted his voice.

"Those people didn't talk during that time, so I didn't glean any information. But I've identified one of the six—someone you know," Ti Hun said.

"Oh? Who?" Han Li asked.

"It's Lan Yan, the one we encountered in the Time Immortal Mansion," Ti Hun replied.

"Lan Yan? Are you sure?" Han Li was startled and pressed further.

"No mistake. Earlier, I only focused on probing the soul fluctuations of the bidder and ignored the others. Just now, I carefully examined the other five, and one of them definitely has Lan Yan's soul fluctuations," Ti Hun said with certainty.

Han Li knew Ti Hun's perception of souls was extremely acute and she would not be wrong, so he nodded slowly.

Lan Yan was from the Nine Yuan Temple; the other five were likely also under the Nine Yuan Temple. But what were Lan Yan and the others doing here?

"Continue monitoring those people and inform me of any developments," Han Li said after a moment of silence, instructing Ti Hun.

"Rest assured, Master. The restrictions in their private box cannot block my perception," Ti Hun assured.

Han Li left those people to Ti Hun and continued watching the auction below.

Time passed quickly, and the auction went through more than a dozen rounds.

"Next treasure is a peak Tai Yi stage Three-legged Golden Crow beast core, containing endless flame power. It can be used to refine immortal artifacts or to extract the fire energy for cultivation. Starting bid: three million immortal jade, minimum increment of one hundred thousand," the fat old man announced another auction item—a bowl-sized golden-red beast core emitting a sun-like radiance.

Han Li's eyes lit up. This was the item he had previously eyed to buy for the Essence Fire Child to recover.

Though the Three-legged Golden Crow beast core was a rarity, it paled in comparison to other treasures and seemed somewhat ordinary. Thus, few in the VIP seats bid; most participants were from the main hall.

Han Li raised the price slightly and outbid those below, buying it for five hundred thousand immortal jade before tossing it into the Flower Branch space.

The Essence Fire Child's body flickered with flames, transforming into the Essence Fire Bird form. It swallowed the beast core in one gulp, chirped a few times, and flew deep into the Flower Branch space to refine the core.

At that moment, the next auction item was placed on the stage—a long, black jade box covered with talismans and tightly sealed, though a yin-cold ghostly force still seeped out from within.

Han Li's gaze sharpened, and he sat up slightly. Beside him, Ti Hun also showed a delighted expression, staring at the jade box on the stage.

The obese old man muttered incantations under his breath, formed a hand seal to break the seal on the jade box, and opened it, revealing a black short flute inside. The flute was not uniform in thickness, appearing to be made from a section of leg bone, with a skull at one end, looking extremely sinister.

A powerful, icy ghostly force burst forth from it, accompanied by eerie wailing sounds that felt like a saw grinding and scraping in the mind, cutting at the soul, making one feel so uncomfortable they almost vomited blood.

The obese old man quickly waved his sleeve, and a white light rose from the auction stage, forming a white light curtain that covered the black flute, allowing the audience below to feel somewhat better.

“The next treasure is called the Soul-Scattering Ghost Flute, also a supreme ghostly artifact. It is a fourth-grade immortal artifact personally refined by Patriarch Nili of the Ten Thousand Ghost Sect in the Nether Sea Immortal Domain. However, during the battle at the Nether Sea back then, Patriarch Nili was defeated by Fairy Murong of the White Sword Sect, and the Soul-Scattering Ghost Flute was damaged, falling to fifth grade. Yet its power still far exceeds ordinary fifth-grade immortal artifacts. As you all just saw, this flute’s power is too great, and its main effect is attacking the soul, so it’s not suitable for a live demonstration. The bidding begins now, with a starting price of ten million immortal spirit stones, and each bid must increase by at least five hundred thousand.” The obese old man introduced the black flute and then announced the start of the auction.

Han Li felt a surge of joy at first, but then furrowed his brow.

This black flute was exactly the second immortal artifact that Ti Hun had taken a liking to. However, the jade slip had only mentioned that the black flute was an immortal artifact for attacking the soul; he hadn’t expected it to have such a grand origin, having once been a fourth-grade artifact.

As a result, the price of this treasure would likely be much higher than the Nether Ghost Claw. Although he currently had about forty million immortal spirit stones on him, he might not be able to win the bid.

While Han Li was thinking, the auction had already begun. In just a few rounds, the price had risen to twenty million.

“Twenty-five million!” Han Li’s mind raced as he raised his hand and made a high bid, increasing it by five million at once.

He didn’t have enough immortal spirit stones on him, so he had to make a bold move, hoping to scare off other bidders.

Indeed, with Han Li’s price increase, the entire venue fell silent. Many people looked shocked and stopped bidding.

“Twenty-eight million!” A cold voice rang out, unmistakably the same person who had competed with him for the Nether Ghost Claw earlier.

Han Li frowned slightly and was about to raise his bid to suppress him.

“Thirty million!” Another proud, cold voice sounded, coming from another VIP box.

Han Li looked over and saw a young man in blue robes inside, with an extraordinary bearing.

“Thirty-three million!” Han Li raised his hand and called out.

“Thirty-four million!” The blue-robed man frowned slightly, glanced toward Han Li’s box, and said in a deep voice.

“Thirty-six million!” That cold voice rang out again, sounding determined to win.

The blue-robed man shuddered and fell silent.

“Forty million!” Han Li shouted decisively.

The crowd in the venue erupted in commotion, all looking toward Han Li’s box and murmuring among themselves.

Han Li had previously won the Nether Ghost Claw for thirty million immortal spirit stones, which was still fresh in everyone’s memory. Now they were all curious about his identity and amazed at his wealth.

Han Li ignored the crowd and secretly glanced toward the box where Lan Yan and the others were.

That box remained quiet for a while, and the heart he had been holding slowly relaxed.

“Forty-five million!” But at that moment, the cold voice suddenly rang out again.

Han Li let out a long sigh, wore a bitter smile, and said to Ti Hun:

“Ti Hun, the other party has more wealth than I do. It seems we won’t be able to get the Soul-Scattering Ghost Flute.”

Unexpectedly, Ti Hun’s eyes were half-closed at the moment, as if she hadn’t heard Han Li’s words.

Han Li found it a bit strange but didn’t disturb her.

At that moment, no one else in the venue made a bid. The obese old man asked three times as per procedure and then announced the winner of the Soul-Scattering Ghost Flute.

Just then, Ti Hun opened her eyes, a look of surprise on her face, and said, “Master, those people just had a conversation, and I overheard an important piece of information.”

“What information?” Han Li was about to tell Ti Hun about the Soul-Scattering Ghost Flute being won by someone else, but upon hearing this, he quickly stopped and asked.

“It’s not very clear if I repeat it. Master, see for yourself.” Ti Hun formed a hand seal and pointed, and a wisp of black light entered Han Li’s brow.

A mass of black light appeared in Han Li’s mind, then gently burst apart, transforming into a scene showing the situation inside that box.

“Senior Jin is truly wealthy, able to take out such a large sum of immortal spirit stones so readily,” a man in black said flatteringly.

“A mere bit of immortal spirit stones is nothing worth mentioning,” the tall, thin figure said quite smugly.

“Alright, we’ve bought what we needed. We’ve already delayed too long. Let’s hurry and get the main task done. If we let that Devouring Immortal escape again, none of us will have an easy time,” another petite figure said coldly. It was a woman, but for some reason, her voice was somewhat indistinct.

“Yes, yes…” The others seemed quite afraid of this petite figure and quickly agreed repeatedly.

The scene was quite brief; after flickering twice, it disappeared without a trace.

Han Li squinted his eyes, a strange glint flashing within them.

People from the Nine Elements Temple, trying to capture a Devouring Immortal—could it be that Gold Devouring had escaped from the Nine Elements Temple?