Chapter 149: The Grand Auction
"What the hell is that?"
The First Scourge's face had turned deathly pale at the sight of the silver flames, and the other two scourges were also horrified, looking as if they were about to turn and flee at any moment.
Meanwhile, the golden ape had many charred sections all over its body, but the ferocity in its eyes hadn't abated in the slightest, and seven specks of starlight appeared on its chest and abdomen as it launched a massive fist at the bone giant.
A huge golden fist projection was sent hurtling through the air before crashing into the bone giant's chest with devastating force.
An earth-shattering boom rang out as countless bone fragments were sent spraying through the air in all directions.
Only half of the bone giant's body remained, and after swaying for a moment, it collapsed into the sea in a limp and powerless manner before quickly disintegrating into nothingness.
At the same time, the instruments in the hands of the three scourges also exploded violently into three balls of white light. Powerful shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye swept through the air in all directions, causing the surrounding space to rumble and quiver incessantly.
The three scourges were throwing up blood uncontrollably as the shockwaves sent them flying back over 1,000 through the air.
Meanwhile, Han Li reverted back to his human form, and the silver fire raven flew back to him at his behest before vanishing up his sleeve in a flash.
Through their spiritual connection, Han Li could sense that the Essence Fire Raven was very excited after devouring those crimson flames, clearly having benefited immensely from the feast.
"Run!"
As soon as the First Scourge steadied himself in the air over 1,000 feet away, he immediately called out to his two companions, who flew to his side in a blind panic.
The three of them then each made a peculiar hand seal with one hand, and their other arms exploded in unison, forming a cloud of blood mist that enveloped them in an instant.
Within the cloud of blood mist, the three of them flew away as a streak of crimson light, displaying incredible speed as they did so.
Countless arcs of silver lightning instantly appeared over Han Li's entire body, and he vanished on the spot amid a rumbling thunderclap.
Close to 100,000 kilometers away, the three scourges drew to a halt, and their faces were deathly pale and still etched with shock and horror.
The three of them were just about to catch their breath and take some pills when a resounding thunderclap suddenly rang out overhead.
Thick bolts of silver lightning flashed through the, intertwining with one another to form a lightning array with a diameter in excess of 100 feet.
Han Li was standing at the center of the array with a cold look on his face.
He made a forward-grabbing motion with one hand, and the arcs of silver lightning that were lingering in the air around him instantly converged to form a silver ball of lightning over the palm of his hand, from within which thunderclaps were ringing out incessantly.
With a casual flick of his wrist, the ball of lightning descended from the heavens.
The three scourges were in complete despair as they felt the terrifying pressure descending upon them from afar.
They were severely injured and had completely depleted their energy reserves, so it was impossible for them to get away. Hence, all they could do was summon as many protective treasures as possible to try and keep the ball of lightning at bay.
A pillar of silver lightning that was as thick as a water tank came crashing down from above, swallowing up the three of them in the blink of an eye.
A thunderous explosion rang out alongside a string of bloodcurdling howls, and the Three Scourges of Splendid Mountain were completely destroyed in both body and soul in an instant.
Han Li took a glance at the spot where the three scourges had just vanished into thin air, then conjured up another lightning teleportation array and vanished from the spot.
……
Around half a month later.
A brocade-robed man with a powerful aura was seated on an ornate wooden chair in the island master's manor in Black Wind City, looking at the azure-robed man standing before him with undisguised praise glowing in his eyes.
"It's all thanks to you that my daughter was able to return safely to Black Wind Island, Fellow Daoist Liu. I promised you a reward, and it's time to deliver. What request would you like me to grant for you?" the man asked with a smile.
The azure-robed man in the room was naturally none other than Han Li, and he replied in a calm manner, "I took on this mission for the sole purpose of securing a teleportation spot that would allow me to leave the Black Wind Sea the next time the teleportation array is used."
"That's it?" Lu Jun asked as a look of disbelief appeared on his face.
"That's it," Han Li confirmed.
"Yuqing has already told me what happened while the two of you were on the back to Black Wind Island. As I'm sure you're aware, I like to surround myself with talented individuals, and I'd like you to stay here on Black Wind Island. I could even grant you one of the deputy island master positions," Lu Jun offered.
"Thank you for the kind offer, Island Master Lu, but there are certain reasons why I must leave the Black Wind Sea, so I'll have to turn down the offer," Han Li said with a hint of apology in his eyes.
Lu Jun could tell that Han Li wasn't lying, so he could only drop the matter.
"In that case, I won't force you to stay against your will. In addition to a teleportation spot, I have some other gifts that I'd like to present to you, and I hope you won't refuse this time."
He swept a hand through the air as he spoke, and a blue storage pouch flew out before coming to a rest in front of Han Li.
Han Li accepted the storage pouch, then expressed his gratitude before taking his leave.
Following his departure, Lu Yuqing emerged from the rear hall, having already changed into a set of clean clothes, and she made her way over to Lu Jun's side with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
"Why didn't you make more of an effort to try and convince Brother Liu to stay, Father? Are you doubting my claims about his powers?" she asked.
"On the contrary, I have a feeling that he's even more powerful than what you described," Lu Jun replied with a serious look on his face.
"In that case, why did you..."
Before Lu Yuqing had a chance to finish, Lu Jun cut her off with a wave of his head.
"Someone of his power and talent is clearly unwilling to stay in our Black Wind Sea, and on top of that, I don't completely trust him, so it may not be a good thing to keep him here. Hence, this is the best outcome for all of us."
"But..."
Lu Yuqing still wanted to protest further, but she was cut off once again by Lu Jun as he said in a stern voice, "Yuqing, the current situation that our Black Wind Island is facing is far more complex than you can imagine. Your brother has already gone missing, do you know how catastrophic the consequences would've been had you not been saved by Liu Shi?"
"I'm sorry, Father," Lu Yuqing apologized in a dejected voice, and tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.
Lu Jun heaved a faint sigh as he embraced her and gently patted her should, unable to bear scolding her any further.
Meanwhile, Han Li had already flown out of Black Wind City and was returning to Mount Youyang.
Upon returning to his cave abode, he made his way straight to the backyard.
After deactivating several concealment arrays, a small medicine field was revealed.
At the very center of the medicine field was a dark purple seedling that was completely unremarkable in appearance, looking no different from the weeds that one would find on the side of the street.
However, in reality, this was actually a seedling that Han Li had painstakingly grown from the Soulbirth Flower seed that he had obtained from the Transient Guild prior to traveling to Black Wind Island.
The germination rate of the flower was very low, so even though he had purchased quite a few seeds, he was only able to sprout one of them after exhausting close to half his supply of seeds.
After checking on the flower to ensure that nothing was amiss, Han Li reactivated the concealment arrays before returning to the cave abode.
He pulled out the storage pouch that Lu Jun had given to him earlier, but instead of opening it right away, he carefully examined it with his spiritual sense.
Only after verifying that there was nothing amiss did he refine the storage pouch and remove its contents.
There were only two types of items in the storage pouch, namely a palm-sized black badge and a small pile of top-grade spirit stones.
Han Li counted the spirit stones to find that there were about 200 of them, which was a small fortune.
He casually stowed the spirit stones away, then began to carefully inspect the badge.
The badge was riddled with spirit patterns, and on one side was engraved the words "Black Wind" while the word "Teleportation" was inscribed on the other side.
Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.
It had been quite a tumultuous journey, but he had finally achieved his objective.
The seasons passed by, and over three years flew past in the blink of an eye.
At this particular point in time, there was a particularly high number of cultivators in Black Wind City, particularly high-grade cultivators at or above the Body Integration Stage, and there were decorations put up all over the city, as if some type of celebration were taking place.
The centenary Black Wind Island grand auction was about to commence, and it was a major event.
All types of precious and exotic materials and ingredients, high-grade cultivation arts, and premium pills were always put up for sale during the grand auction, and there were even some special treasures that would only appear in the grand auction.
Almost all of the high-grade cultivators in the entire Black Wind Sea would gather here for the grand auction, and even some enemy islands of Black Wind Island would call a temporary truce and send people to participate in the auction.
On the summit of Mount Youyang, Han Li emerged from his cave abode, having adopted a disguise using his Transient Guild mask, transforming him into a burly man with a dark complexion and a coarse beard.
Even from his cave abode, he could clearly see the lively and bustling scenes in Black Wind City.
A faint smile appeared on his face, and he was also rather looking forward to this centenary auction.
With that in mind, he flew toward the city as a streak of azure light.
At the center of Black Wind City was a majestic golden palace that was hovering in mid-air.
The palace was roughly 1,000 feet tall, and it took up a huge area. It was entirely constructed from golden jade, and it was giving off a radiant golden glow, presenting a dazzling sight to behold.
Inscribed in majestic, flowing characters on the plaque above the main entrance of the palace were the words "Golden Cloud Pavilion".
Aside from the main entrance, each of the pavilion's other three sides also had an entrance.
Four massive golden staircases extended out of the palace, and there were occasionally streaks of light landing upon them before making their way into the Golden Cloud Pavilion.
This was the venue for the grand auction.
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