Ye Liuyun’s cultivation level was the lowest among all the martial cultivators attending the auction.

“A rogue cultivator?”

The middle-aged woman in one of the private boxes burst out laughing. Every other cultivator wore a face full of contempt.

“I thought he was someone important—turns out he’s just a suicidal stray!” Commander Yuqian Wenqiang looked openly disappointed. He had already summoned a thousand soldiers to surround Ye Liuyun, but after seeing the youth’s realm he whipped out a voice-transmission talisman and, without even trying to hide it, ordered them all to stand down.

“Outrageous! I’ve been ignored by trash!” He Lingwu glared at Ye Liuyun, fury written across his face.

Feng Chengan chuckled. “Hah! Kid sure can bluff. How are you going to end this? Hand me that Nether Yin Flame right now and maybe I’ll save your life.”

“Kid, give the flame to our Void Pellet Sect and I guarantee no one will dare touch you!” A seventh-level Unity cultivator in the open seating shouted, jumping into the bidding war against Feng Chengan.

The avatar’s face flushed with embarrassment; he hadn’t expected the chamber of commerce to sell him out so shamelessly.

At that moment an auction-house steward arrived to drive him away.

“Is this how your esteemed house treats its guests?” The avatar asked coldly.

He was already weighing whether to open fire with his war chariot and reduce the entire hall to rubble. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The steward sensed murder in Ye Liuyun’s eyes, but thinking of the boy’s low realm and lack of backing he grew bold. “We only run auctions; what happens afterward is none of our concern.”

Yu Wenqiang spoke up. “Venerable seniors, no need for quarrel. The brat has a Marrow Washing Pill I want; everything else on him is mine too. As for that Nether Yin Flame—fine, I’ll let you two fight over it: highest bidder wins.”

The woman added, “Commander Yuqian, I won’t compete for that pill, but let me have those four other pellets at a friendly price.”

Yu considered briefly and nodded agreement.

Seeing that pills, flame and resources were now spoken for—and none would fall his way—He Lingwu hated Ye Liuyun even more: not only had the kid ruined his plans, he’d embarrassed him in public.

“Commander,” He said through clenched teeth, “I don’t care about loot—just hand me his corpse when we’re done. He’ll pay for his arrogance!”

Yu laughed heartily. “Done! I’m walking away with everything anyway; killing some stray isn’t worth dirtying my own hands.”

Feng Chengan and Hong Bo exchanged glances; with Yu having carved up every scrap they could only compromise and began haggling over who would buy which share of the flame itself.

Many spectators were already leaving—they could picture how this ended: a third-level Unity kid they could kill themselves now had half-a-dozen heavyweights on his tail—boringly certain death—and they didn’t even care enough to watch it happen.

Those same powerhouses kept discussing how they’d split Ye Liuyun’s belongings as if he weren’t standing right there listening.

Inside he felt equal parts rage and dark amusement—but firing inside city limits would be too noisy; besides there were plenty of experts here who might swarm him first if things dragged on. Better keep that war chariot holstered unless absolutely necessary...

So he shrugged lazily: “Take your time deciding—I’ll wait outside city gates.”

A flicker of spatial force flashed around him as he vanished from hall straight into street traffic racing toward open country beyond walls—

“He wants to run?” Yu Wenqiang had kept an eye on him precisely for such tricks; when Ye moved so did Yu—and behind their commander came every soldier under arms at speed neither side expected possible until they watched Ye streak clean past ramparts before any pursuit closed distance!

Next came Feng Chengan & Hong Bo relying raw power then He Lingwu plus woman leading their own contingents streaming after—all chasing single figure who’d already halted just beyond gates waiting patiently because if these fools wanted robbery tonight then robbery worked both ways...

Yu Wenqiang’s heart was still pounding, but he already knew Ye Liuyun was no ordinary man. By the time he thought of ordering the soldiers to cut him off, it was too late; all he could do was chase with everything he had. Only when Ye Liuyun finally stopped did his pulse slow a fraction.

Feng Chengan and Hong Bo arrived right on his heels. Feng Chengan flicked out a formation disk and sealed the surrounding void so Ye Liuyun couldn’t rip open space and vanish again.

“Commander Yuqian, I’ll lock this little bastard in place for you—no escape. In return, sell me that Yin-Underworld Flame at a friendly price, eh?” Feng Chengan bargained outright.

“Deal.” Yu Wenqiang had seen Ye Liuyun’s spatial trick; he agreed at once.

Hong Bo started to object, but Feng Chengan cut him off: “I’m doing the heavy lifting here—the flame’s mine. I’ll give you a chunk of source energy; you won’t lose out.”

Hong Bo weighed it up: fight for the flame and he’d face not only Feng Chengan but Yu Wenqiang as well. In the end he nodded—free source energy for no risk wasn’t bad; flames could be bought later.

Next, He Lingwu and the woman arrived with their men and filed into the sealed pocket of space.

“You guys are divvying up my stuff right in front of me—how polite,” Ye Liuyun drawled once they were all inside. “No one thought to ask my opinion?”

Yu Wenqiang didn’t like how relaxed Ye Liuyun looked; that earlier spatial stunt still gnawed at him. Even with the void locked, he feared the man might be hiding his true level. He summoned another full company—over a thousand troops, every soldier at First or Second Unity. Formed up, they could pin down a Seventh-Unity cultivator without breaking ranks.

“Hmph—a Third-Unity piece of trash has no say here!” He Lingwu sneered. He’d sensed the spatial ripple too, but dismissed it as some stray refugee’s getaway trick.

“Enough chatter,” the woman said. “Make him hand over everything now before he slips away again.”

“I’ll do it,” He Lingwu volunteered, stepping forward.