[You all have been tricked. The time-and-space mural is real.]

That was the first message that Cao Mao left on the wall.

[The rumor about Liu Bian’s necromancy is also real. His bodyguards are mostly ghouls.]

That was the second message that Cao Mao left on the wall.

Cao Mao snickered as he fled from the hallway and went to the eastern zone, the opposite area that Liu Bian and Zhao Bao were using.

Zhang Junyi and Sun Wentai were spectating the auction from the eastern VIP box seats. Cao Mao bypassed the southern zone and got to the front of Sun Wentai’s VIP box.

Unlike Liu Bian and the demon alliance, Sun Wentai didn’t bring bodyguards with him. He only brought his eldest son and three elders from his sect here.

Cao Mao stood in front of the door and pondered whether he should introduce himself to this unknown sect master or whether he should avoid the confrontation altogether. After thinking for a moment, he chose not to show his face. He repeated what he had done previously.

He painted the door with red ink as if it was blood. Two messages were written on the door of Sun Wentai’s VIP box seat.

For the sake of consistency, Cao Mao did the same to Zhang Junyi’s door. Then, he headed to the northern zone, which his subordinate was using.

‘I should get Ma Moxi out of here. He said that he came here to sell his immortal-grade pill…? That motherfucker still has the protagonist’s charisma and luck even though I’ve stolen his fate power. Oh well, he’s no longer a threat. He can do whatever he wants as long as his harem members are not my wives!’

…

Host Box Seat, Fifth Floor, Northern Zone

Since the beginning of the auction, Ma Moxi and Tang Fan had been chilling by themselves in the host’s box seat, which was located directly above the stage.

Tang Fan had warned Ma Moxi about his family’s scheme, so the latter wouldn’t participate in the auction. Of course, Ma Moxi had listened to his friend’s advice.

After the morning auction, Tang Fan couldn’t stop mocking Liu Bian.

“That prince is freaking stupid. Did you see that? He just purchased a fucking normal rock for over 25,000 essence cores! That’s 25 billion refined spirit stones! HAHAHAHA! My guild takes one percent of the auctioned price, so we’ve just made 250 essence cores for nothing!”

Ma Moxi rubbed his chin and maintained his fake smile. But deep down inside, he worried about the Tang Clan’s future.

‘The prince will definitely retaliate once he finds out the truth. This place is not safe, and this moron here will get himself killed.’

Ma Moxi had the urge to drag Tang Fan away from this city. However, his immortal-grade pill was with Tang Deming, and he needed it back.

“Say, Fatty Fan, can I take my item back? I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to sell it anymore.”

Tang Fan looked shocked. His voice cracked, “No, no, no! You can’t do this to me, Moxi. We can’t simply change the auction schedule because you’ve changed your mind. Many people have come here, just to bid for your items! If we remove them, it will affect our reputation!”

Ma Moxi shook his head in regret. As he had thought, he couldn’t use this method, “Okay. If you say so.”

But that didn’t mean Ma Moxi had given up saving his friend.

POEK

Ma Moxi karate-chopped the back of Tang Fan’s neck. The latter was knocked unconscious.

Ma Moxi sighed. He wanted Tang Fan to become his finance assistant for his future mercenary organization, so he couldn’t afford to let his friend die here. As for the pill, he would come back to fetch it later.

While carrying Tang Fan, Ma Moxi activated his Heaven and Earth Escape skill. His body and Tang Fan’s body became smoke, and he brought his friend away from this building.

A minute later, Ma Moxi was in the sky, heading back home while being invisible.

Beep

While Ma Moxi was flying back to Siren City with Tang Fan in tow, someone sent Ma Moxi a text message to his phone. He picked up his phone to check.

The sender was Cao Mao.

[Where are you? I’ve visited your box seat, but I found nobody.]

‘Boss?’

Ma Moxi immediately texted back, “I’m heading home ATM.”

Beep

[Is there something wrong? I thought you made friends with Tang Fan.]

“No, it’s nothing. I just have a gut feeling that I shouldn’t stay there for too long. Oh, I’m bringing Tang Fan home with me. He will be useful to my new mercenary corps. Can I keep him?”

[Are you asking me to keep a pet? What am I? Your father?]

“Technically, no. But practically, yes.”

Cao Mao went silent for a whole minute before he continued to send text messages.

[Drop him off in the city and come back here ASAP. I have another job for you. It relates to the assassination of Liu Bian. We’re going to fish in the troubled water!]

“You can send me the details of my mission here, though.”

[I don’t like texting. Someone might be tapping our conversation. Come meet me in an hour, or we’ll lose this opportunity!]

“Roger that!”

…

While Cao Mao was busy texting with Ma Moxi, Sun Wentai, Xu Lanying, and Zhang Junyi began to notice the graffiti that Cao Mao had left. Each of them had a different reaction when they found the messages.

Sun Wentai simply scoffed and disregarded them as he didn’t believe it.

Zhang Junyi was also skeptical. He didn’t think that the boulder was really the time-and-space mural since Tang Deming and Qiang Han had informed him beforehand. Still, he took a mental note that he would send someone to investigate this matter after today.

As for Xu Lanying, who had seen the incomplete version of the time-and-space technique, she started to get anxious. She deployed all of her succubi to visit Liu Bian’s men outside the city so that they could gather more information.

Despite the ruckus, no one actually bothered to confirm the written message with Tang Deming or Qiang Han. Instead of taking the shortest and most efficient route to investigate the rumor, everyone avoided spooking this merchant and the city lord.

These overthinking overlords were too proud to ask somebody else for help. Cao Mao had accurately predicted this weakness of theirs.

And thus, a simple move, such as rumor, worked very well against top cultivators, who barely relied on social networks and common sense.

…

At 1 PM, the afternoon auction session began.

“Welcome back to the grand auction! This afternoon, we’ve prepared precious items and goodies that are valuable enough to make everybody here drool!”

While Tang Deming was being long-winded on the stage, Cao Mao returned to his seat on the first floor. He also deactivated his stealth skill, so he could participate in the auction.

Tang Deming’s assistants pushed a tray cart to the center of the stage. On the tray were three bottles, each containing a heaven-grade pill, each glittering in a different light.

Cao Mao recognized them. They were the pills that Ju Shoufen and he had made for the sake of gathering funds.

Seeing that his items would be auctioned first in the afternoon, Cao Mao was relieved. He turned around and looked up towards the box seat of Liu Bian, checking if they would make their moves yet.

The lights of Liu Bian’s room were off.

Cao Mao’s heart sank. If Liu Bian were to attack the city while the auction was still ongoing, he might lose his pills and money.

Although Liu Bian had promised that he would pay Cao Mao 30,000 essence cores for the trouble, the latter still wanted to get the money from the auction first. Then, he would shamelessly ask the prince for the promised compensation. If everything went according to his plan, Cao Mao might profit over 60,000 essence cores today.

But now, he could only pray and hope that this auction session would end before the invasion started.

“The first items today are these heaven-grade element pallets! We have a Fire Element Pallet, Lightning Element Pallet, and Wood Element Pallet!”

…

As soon as Tang Deming was done with the introduction, the crowd on every floor went in an uproar. Some of them stood up as they also wanted the pallets for themselves.

Sun Wentai’s son, Sun Bofu, also stood on the front balcony to look closer. Even the three subordinates of Sun Wentai were very interested.

The group talked among themselves, “Most members of our sect can use the water, earth, and wind element. If we have those three pallets, we might be able to nurture our top disciples.”

“True. If one of them can have more than 4 or 5 primary elements, their future will be limitless!”

“How about Bofu? We can keep the pills for him. Isn’t that right, my lord?”

Sun Wentai nodded, “Indeed. Those element pallets will definitely help Bofu. Hey son, everyone is talking about you. Do you want the pallets, too?”

Sun Bofu turned around. He laughed, “Of course! Who doesn’t like a shortcut in cultivation!? If I have those pills and I practice our sect’s elemental arts, I should be able to use at least 6 basic elements!”

The elders were satisfied with Bofu’s enthusiasm and knowledge.

Sun Wentai made his decision, “We’ll bid everything we have for those pallets. Ignore the other items! How many essence cores do we have!?”

…

Sun Wentai was not the only one who had the same thought. Xu Lanying, Fu De, and Xia Dun were busy bickering at each other, fighting for the rights to bid for these items.

The quiet cyclop became talkative, “I haven’t bid on anything since this morning, so I’m going for those pallets. If possible, I want both of you to concede this round.”

Fu De shook his head, “That won’t do, Sir Xia. I also need those pills for myself. I’m a blood element practitioner, so my affinity with other basic elements is poor. Those pallets can compensate for my weaknesses.”

Xu Lanying giggled, “But I doubt you have enough essence cores or refined stones to compete against me. You see, I still have 40,000 essence cores sitting in my rings, and I also want those pills. For the sake of our alliance, please give up this round for me.”

Xia Dun refused to yield, “True. I don’t have enough cash to compete against you, but I have a spare immortal-grade weapon with me. Sister Xu, could you concede the pills for me? I’ll sell you my immortal-grade saber for cheap, so you don’t have to compete with anyone for the next items.”

“Nope! I don’t want that silly sentient weapon of yours. I want the pallets.”

Xia Dun turned to Fu De, “Friend Fu, can you lend me some of your essence cores?”

Fu De snorted and shook his head, “No can do. Instead, why don’t you lend me yours? I’ll return them within a month with a 10% interest rate.”

“But if we don’t cooperate, Sister Xu will win the auction.”

“Nah, you should help me, not the other way around. You won’t benefit much from the pallets, but I do. Oh, Sister Xu, could you lend me your essence cores? Pretty please?”

“…”

The atmosphere in the demon alliance became awkward. Instead of cooperating with each other, the demons glared at their ‘colleagues’ as if they were rivals.

…

While everyone was drooling, staring at the pallets with greed and desire, Tang Deming announced a shocking piece of news.

“The seller of these pallets has informed us during the break that he wishes to sell everything at once! Therefore, the first session of this afternoon will be the auction of these three pallets!”

“WHAT!?”

Everyone had thought that Tang Deming would have auctioned these pills one at a time. When the latter told them that they had to compete for all pills at once, the theatre’s air became cold.

Nobody hid their malicious intent, but nobody directed it at Tang Deming either. They glared at each other, telling everyone with their eyes that they should stay out of this session.

Still, they were too naïve. Tang Deming devilishly declared, “The starting bid of these pallets is 30,000 essence cores, and the minimum bid increment is 5,000 essence cores!”

BANG

Tang Deming’s wooden hammer hit the auction table, signaling the start of the bidding before anyone could digest the information.

The starting bid was actually the market price for these items. As Tang Deming was a capitalist and an opportunist, he planned to milk the richest folks here and get a lot of auction fees from the seller.

The crowd on the first floor couldn’t even compete for the items. Their faces became ashen as they were heart-broken.

The entire theatre hall went silent for 10 seconds. Nobody made the first move as they were too astonished by the minimum bid requirement.

Yet, Xu Lanying regained her composure first. She went all-in right away since she needed those pills for herself and her core disciple.

“40,000 essence cores!”