Chapter 65: Anything That Shimmers Must Be a Treasure

Nangong Yin watched Yan Zhao walk away until her figure disappeared into the dense forest.

By the time she arrived at the Medicine God Sect’s main hall, the auction was already in full swing. The first Yang Marrow Pill had just been sold for thirty million spirit stones to an elder from a second-rate sect.

It was said that this sect’s Sect Master had been severely wounded not long ago and was on the brink of death, desperately needing a miraculous medicine. The sect’s Grand Elder had personally come, bringing the entire sect’s savings, just to obtain this single Yang Marrow Pill.

Since the Medicine God Sect had put up two Yang Marrow Pills for this auction, those who were aware of the situation from other sects restrained themselves and didn’t continue to drive up the price.

With the first Yang Marrow Pill claimed, the second immediately became the focus of everyone’s attention.

When Yao Shenzi brought out the pill box, all eyes converged on it in that very instant.

The fragrance of the pill seeped through the gaps of the jade box, drifting into the air like a warm morning sun bathing over the crowd.

Some cultivators who had been stuck at bottlenecks for a long time felt their spiritual qi surge the moment they inhaled that wisp of pill fragrance. The stagnant qi in their meridians began to loosen.

This alone demonstrated the divine efficacy of the Yang Marrow Pill. Everyone’s eyes grew even more fervent; they rubbed their palms together, determined to win.

Elder Wu took the pill box from Yao Shenzi, opened it, and revealed the dark-gold pill nestled on a silk cushion inside. He took half a circuit around the high platform so that the cultivators from various sects below could clearly see the contents of the box.

“The final auction of the day—the Yang Marrow Pill, starting at ten thousand spirit stones. Begin bidding!”

Elder Wu announced the starting price loudly, and someone from below immediately followed up: “One hundred thousand!”

“Five hundred thousand!” “Two million!” “…”

In but a moment, the bid had reached twenty-five million, about to surpass the price of the previous Yang Marrow Pill.

Just then, a soft laugh came from the crowd: “Fifty million.”

The voice was low and slightly hoarse, yet when it rang out, everyone heard it distinctly.

The bid had more than doubled in a single call. The open square outside the sect’s main hall fell silent for an instant, then everyone began looking around, searching for the source.

Soon, their gazes fixed on a dark figure.

The dark figure sat in an inconspicuous spot below the platform—a woman with a sharp, cold beauty.

At first glance, no one sensed anything amiss.

But after a brief silence, someone shrieked in horror.

“D-Devil Venerable Cangli!”

Only then did everyone notice that her left sleeve fluttered in the wind, completely empty beneath it.

A black robe, a missing arm, appearing and vanishing without a trace—even the Medicine God Sect’s Sect-Protecting Grand Array hadn’t detected the slightest hint of her approach. In all the world, only one person had such ability.

Devil Lord Nangong Yin.

Just a moment ago, Nangong Yin had bid on the Yang Marrow Pill, calling out fifty million.

Tushan Yu abruptly shot to his feet, his eyes blazing with fury. “Nangong Yin! Did your Devil Clan capture my younger cousin?!”

Elder Wu’s expression stiffened. The one below the platform was indeed Nangong Yin herself.

Nangong Yin appearing at the auction massively increased the likelihood that the Devil Clan had captured Bai Jin. It was no wonder Tushan Yu was so frantic.

Yet, at the center of all attention, Nangong Yin merely lifted her eyelids with little concern. “This Seat has no interest in your Demon Clan’s people.”

It was dismissive and arrogant. Tushan Yu’s face darkened. “You deny it?”

Nangong Yin found it tiresome and couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Tushan Yu, however, misunderstood her silence. He said coldly, “Are you trying to drive a wedge between the Demon and Devil Clans, declaring war on our Demon Clan?”

Upon hearing this, Nangong Yin let out a laugh. “Interpret it however you like.”

“You!”

Tensions between demons and devils were drawn taut. The atmosphere outside the main hall instantly became oppressive and stifling.

Ever since Nangong Yin appeared, everyone felt as if they were sitting not on seats, but on blades that could split them in two at any moment.

Yet, Nangong Yin, surrounded by the crowd, didn’t spare him a glance. After waiting a moment, she looked up at Elder Wu on the platform and asked, “This Seat bid fifty million, and there are no other bids. Shouldn’t you be striking the gavel?”

Elder Wu snapped back to his senses and felt completely at a loss. The little wooden gavel in his hand felt scalding.

Just then, Yao Shenzi stepped forward, took the small gavel from him, swept his gaze lightly over the crowd below, and asked, “Are there any further bids?”

Yao Shenzi’s personal intervention met Nangong Yin’s presence head-on, invisibly dispelling the shadow that had hung over the sect’s main hall.

The lower-level cultivators felt it most distinctly. They had been suppressed by an immense spiritual pressure to the point of suffocation, on the verge of death.

With Yao Shenzi’s single sentence, the air began to flow again outside the main hall.

As the clean, crisp air rushed into their lungs, they felt as though they had survived a calamity.

If not for this experience, they might have almost forgotten how keen their sense of breath had been however many years ago.

Seeing this, Tushan Yu’s rationality returned somewhat.

This was the Medicine God Sect’s territory, after all, and there were so many innocents present. Carelessly starting a fight with Nangong Yin would bring a hundred harms and not a single benefit.

So he restrained his emotions and, just before the gavel came down, loudly shouted a new bid. “Sixty million!”

A mocking smile curved on Nangong Yin’s lips.

She leaned back, clearly here to cause trouble. The moment Tushan Yu’s voice fell, she followed up: “Seventy million.”

“Eighty million!”

Nangong Yin waved her sleeve idly. “One hundred million.”

For a single Yang Marrow Pill to reach this price, the many cultivators below were already in an uproar, too terrified to make a sound.

Tushan Yu was so enraged his hair seemed to explode, fierce winds swirling wildly around him.

He was about to bid again, but someone from the Medicine God Sect stopped him. “Young Master, you must not let emotions rule! Calm yourself!”

Tushan Yu clenched his fists, shoulders trembling with rage, and roughly pushed away the person obstructing him.

But though he was furious, he ultimately did not voice another bid.

The last shred of his rationality held him back. He understood, too, that bidding against Nangong Yin in this auction was far from wise. He was only the Demon Race’s Young Master, while Nangong Yin could command the entire Devil Clan’s wealth.

He was simply unwilling to accept it. But what could unwillingness do?

Someone from Fuyun Sect watching from the sidelines in secret saw this and still felt it wasn’t enough.

So he decided to add fuel to the fire.

“Young Master Tushan, this old man found an item on the road by the peach forest. It looks like a belonging of your Qingqiu, so I might as well return it to its rightful owner.”

Saying this, he drew a red jade pendant from his chest and casually tossed it to Tushan Yu.

Tushan Yu caught it reflexively. When he saw the shape of the pendant, his eyes widened in shock.

A red fox tail, tipped with a speck of white.

This was a piece of blood jade specially sought by his Father Emperor, carved by a master artisan into the shape of a fox tail, given to Bai Jin as a gift for her thousandth birthday.

Seeing the object made him miss the person all the more. Tushan Yu’s emotions could no longer be suppressed. Clutching the jade pendant, he roared at Nangong Yin, “Give my cousin back!”

~

Yan Zhao silently recited the mental cultivation method’s chant, feeling the qi within her dantian begin to circulate, slowly flowing into her meridians, then traveling through her hands and into various acupoints on the little fox.

It took roughly an hour just to go through all the acupoints mentioned in the technique Nangong Yin had given her.

There were a few spots she simply couldn’t find, or where the little fox resisted too fiercely, so she had no choice but to give up.

But after a full cycle of the healing technique, the little fox did seem somewhat improved.

Its eyes were misty, glistening with moisture, and its spirit had recovered a little.

Still, it was uncomfortable overall, so it turned its head to the side, refusing to meet Yan Zhao’s eyes, and curled its big tail around to protect vital areas, not letting Yan Zhao touch it no matter what.

Yan Zhao’s cultivation base was low, and healing the fox was also strenuous. Afterward, her spiritual qi was completely exhausted. She had to sit and rest a while before moving on.

She didn’t rest long. Nangong Yin’s method had proven effective, so she decided to follow Nangong Yin’s advice and seek out Yao Shenzi, asking him to refine a furnace of Soul Nourishing Pills for the little fox.

When Yan Zhao stood up, the little fox lay in her arms, closed its eyes, and quickly regulated its breathing.

Damn you, Nangong Yin! Utterly shameless!

Ren Qingyue ground her teeth.

This devil boss was both vicious and meticulous, quietly setting her up.

The cultivation method she had taught Yan Zhao was just too strange!

After Yan Zhao finished running the technique once, the injuries on her soul did feel better, but her body had become unbearably uncomfortable.

It was as if the flames that had been burning her soul had somehow transferred into her body. If Yan Zhao touched her again, she would explode.

Ren Qingyue’s fury toward Nangong Yin reached its peak.

She absolutely could not let Yan Zhao have contact with Nangong Yin, nor let Yan Zhao be bewitched by her again.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of how to take revenge on Nangong Yin in the future, and she completely forgot that Yan Zhao didn’t know the way.

As Yan Zhao carried her along, she suddenly heard a beast’s roar.

The roar was majestic and powerful, saturated with dense spiritual qi, making her ears ache.

She dragged her exhausted body and poked half her head out from Yan Zhao’s embrace, seeing a fierce beast leaping down from a gentle slope not far away.

A single roar from this beast made the earth tremble. No other fierce beast within several li dared to set foot in this region.

Ren Qingyue’s heart dropped. A Golden Core Stage fierce beast?

This beast’s power was no less than that of the Heavenly Pearl Flood Dragon she had slain earlier.

But now, not only was her soul injured, her body had also been made weak and limp by Yan Zhao, unable to muster any strength. They had survived an encounter with Nangong Yin—could it be that now they would simply watch as Yan Zhao was devoured by a beast?

The little fox struggled to break free from Yan Zhao’s embrace.

If she gave everything she had, she might be able to fight.

Just then, a huge shadow suddenly fell from the sky.

Yan Zhao looked up. When she saw the monster that had appeared, she opened her mouth and cried out, “Ah.”

It was the pill furnace that had injured the little fox earlier.

It had swelled in size, transforming back into its original form, and descended from the heavens.

Gulp.

It swallowed the swaggering fierce beast in one bite.

Yan Zhao: “…”

After devouring the fierce beast, the pill furnace even let out a very human-like burp.

Its lid flipped up like a gaping mouth and chomped a few times. Then, ghostly purple flames ignited within its belly, burning the swallowed fierce beast into a pile of ash. It lifted its lid again and spat out a puff of green smoke.

At last, the pill furnace bounded up and landed with a heavy thud. Its lid swung open, and two orbs of light flew out from inside. Each traced a perfect arc through the air before landing straight at Yan Zhao’s feet.

Upon closer inspection, these two orbs were actually two beads.

One was dark yellow, likely the product of the fierce beast the furnace had just devoured.

The other was more special. Its body was semi-transparent, containing a five-colored iridescence that was beautifully dazzling.

Its appearance and size were similar to a demon core, but Yan Zhao had never seen a demon core of such quality before.

Yan Zhao bent down to pick up the two beads. They felt heavy in her hand, especially the multi-colored one.

Whatever, Yan Zhao thought. Anything that shimmers must be a treasure.

And so, she naturally stuffed the two beads into her chest.

The little fox: “…”

Are you not even a little curious as to why this pill furnace attacked demon beasts and then spat out demon cores?!