Everyone was curious about the wooden box being wheeled out with so much security and requiring an elder to personally oversee.
The elder rested a hand lightly atop the box, and one by one, the formation locks unravelled beneath his touch, each release accompanied by a soft, resonant chime that carried further than it should have across the hall. When the final lock gave way, the lid lifted on its own, and a pale light spilt upward from within.
With the flash of pale light, everyone present felt something stir deep within them — an instinctive, almost primal pull toward what lay in the box.
Mo Xuan looked at his group and asked in a low voice, "Do you all feel it?" They nodded. Whatever could make everyone's soul react like this had to be extraordinary.
Resting inside and cushioned on a bed of dark velvet, sat a single fragment of crystal no larger than a thumb, its surface swirling faintly with threads of light that shifted colour with every passing second — gold, then violet, then a deep, oceanic blue, as though something vast had been compressed down into a shape small enough to hold.
"Those who know what a Dao Soul Crystal is will now surely understand why this arrangement was necessary," the elder said.
"A Dao Soul Crystal? Here?" a voice from the general seating blurted out before its owner could stop himself, disbelief cracking through his voice.
"Impossible. Those haven't surfaced in an open auction in decades—"
The elder smiled at their reaction and waved his hand as the audience quieted down. "In here is a fragment of a Dao Soul Crystal. For those who know, you understand the use of what this is. And for those who don't—" He paused a moment, stroking his beard, looking deliberately mysterious.
"A complete Dao Soul Crystal can help one break through to the Soul Dao Realm without any backlash," the elder continued, unmoved by the noise that had started rippling out beneath him. "Even a fragment carries tremendous potential, offering a rare opportunity for enlightenment and rapid growth in one's Dao. The possibilities it presents are, quite simply, unimaginable."
Up in the curtained private rooms, silk panels that had stayed politely drawn all evening now hung fully open, occupants leaning so far over their balcony railings that several attendants moved quietly to stand behind them. Voices that had remained composed and measured through every previous lot now overlapped in open, unguarded urgency.
"Room Three will not be outbid on this," a voice announced flatly as a powerful aura spread out from behind one of the curtains.
"Mmph, you'd better learn your place," another voice answered from across the hall, cool with another vast aura bursting forth in answer.
The atmosphere in the hall changed. Below, in the general seating, the mood had curdled into something tighter and more combustible.
Yu Lianxue's hand found his sleeve, her grip firm.
"Xuan," she said, low enough that only their small group could hear her over the growing noise below. "We must leave immediately after the auction ends."
Mo Xuan glanced at her, surprised by the urgency in her voice. "The bidding hasn't even started."
"That's exactly why." Her eyes flicked briefly toward the crowd below, then back to him. "We can't get caught in this."
Down on the floor, the elder lifted one hand for silence, though it took considerably longer to settle than it had for any previous lot.
"The starting bid," he said, "will be five thousand high-grade Spirit Stones. Increases begin at one thousand."
The number alone was enough to strip away whatever composure remained among the general seating, several disciples audibly gasping. But it was the private rooms that answered first, and fastest.
"Six thousand." A voice from room Three, sharp and immediate.
"Seven thousand." A voice from a room that hadn't participated since the auction started.
"Eight thousand," a voice from room Seven answered — the same room that had claimed the cultivation manual moments earlier.
"Nine thousand." Room Three again, faster this time, clearly unwilling to let go.
A third voice cut in from another room that had stayed entirely silent until now. "Ten thousand."
Down on the general floor, the Iron Wolf elder finally rose fully to his feet. "The Iron Wolf Clan bids eleven thousand," he announced, his voice carrying a challenge that went beyond the number itself, his gaze lifted pointedly toward the private balconies.
A brief silence followed.
"Thirteen thousand," Room Three snapped back, clearly irritated at being challenged from below rather than from an equal balcony.
"The Iron Wolf Clan does not yield ground easily," the elder said, his hand tightening further around the sabre at his side. "Twenty thousand."
Murmurs spread rapidly through the crowd now.
"Twenty-two thousand," Room Seven cut back in, seemingly unwilling to let the contest settle into just Room Three and the Iron Wolf Clan without reasserting itself.
The old man with the enormous sabre finally spoke for the first time all evening, his voice a low, gravelled rumble that nonetheless carried to every corner of the hall without effort. "Twenty-five thousand."
"Twenty-five thousand, once..." said the elder overseeing the auction.
"Twenty-five thousand, twice. Do we have any higher bidder?"
He paused for a long time... then, just as he opened his mouth again— "Twenty-five thou....."
A voice interrupted, "Thirty-five thousand." Hearing this, a smile bloomed on the elder's face.
Some people in the crowd gasped. A full increase of ten thousand.
The elder looked around, letting the amount sink in fully before speaking again. "Any other bidder?"
Seeing no one respond, he continued. "Thirty-five thousand, once..."
The elder swept his gaze across the hall.
"Thirty-five thousand, twice. Do we have any higher bidder?"
No voice answered.
"Thirty-five thousand, thrice. Sold—to the honoured guest in Room Nine." He inclined his head slightly toward the balcony that had just claimed the crystal. "And this brings the conclusion of our auction. Thank you all for participating."
"Now," Lianxue said, already rising from her seat, her voice leaving no room for argument. Mo Xuan and his group quickly stood and made their way out of the auction house. They observed some individuals hurriedly leaving, while others stayed behind — some evidently contemplating the amount of the final bid, while others looked toward Room Nine with warning expressions.
This night was meant to be anything but peaceful.
The moment they exited the auction house, the scent of danger thickened. Experts lurked in shadows. Murderous intent whispered from alleys and dark corners. Clan guards clustered tightly together, eyes sharp as hawks circling wolves, watching every figure that stepped out through the bronze doors as though sizing up a threat.
Mo Xuan and his group pulled up their hoods, quickly disappearing into the night — unnoticed amidst the chaos, concealed beneath their cloaks, leaving the brewing storm behind.
They never returned to the inn. Before dawn, they were already beyond Red Pine City's outer walls, moving with relentless urgency. They crossed forests and ridges without pause.
Behind them, Red Pine City had already become a powder keg waiting for the smallest spark.
When darkness became too thick to navigate normally, Lianxue activated a Grade Two Light Talisman. A gentle sphere of pale light floated several paces ahead, illuminating roots and uneven stones without becoming bright enough to attract unnecessary attention.
Despite everything, the familiar bickering made the long journey feel lighter. Jin Bao complained more than once about his aching feet, only for Lianyan to remind him, without much sympathy, that he was the one who'd insisted on tagging along in the first place. Mo Xuan said little, though every so often his mind wandered back to that thumb-sized fragment of crystal and the way it had made something deep inside him stir, unbidden, the moment its light had touched the room.
Only when dawn crept over the horizon did the silhouette of a city rise from the thinning mist ahead.
Unlike Red Pine's elegant crimson lanterns and polished stone, this settlement announced itself through sheer, unpolished bulk — a sprawling, fortress-like town reinforced with dark metal plates bolted directly into its outer walls, more garrison than marketplace at first glance.
Weapon merchants occupied nearly every corner of the visible street, their stalls lined with blades, spears, and reinforced armour stacked in careless, practical piles rather than displayed for admiration. Travellers of every stripe moved through the gates ahead of them, carrying stories written plainly across their gear — weapon craftsmen hauling tools of their trade, mercenary companies moving in tight, disciplined clusters, caravan guards escorting heavily laden wagons, and rogue cultivators drifting alone with the wary, unaffiliated look of people who answered to no sect at all.
The moment they passed through the gates, a signpost overhead confirmed their arrival: Steelforge City. The thick smell of cooked meat and furnace ash rolled over them the instant they crossed the threshold.
After ensuring no one was following them, they selected a modest restaurant on a quieter street, found a quiet table in the back corner, ordered simple dishes, and sat in silence, exhausted from the night's flight finally catching up to all four.
But peace didn't last long.
At the table behind them, several rough-looking cultivators were already deep in conversation, voices lowered but intense enough to reach their ears.
"...you mean you haven't heard? Red Pine City was half-destroyed!"
Mo Xuan froze mid-bite, chopsticks suspended in the air.
Across the table, Lianxue's eyes sharpened. Jin Bao slowly lowered his bowl. Even Lianyan's usual ease disappeared.
Another man leaned forward, lowering his voice to an urgent whisper.