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800,000. Deducting the Flame Demon Heart they had purchased earlier and the Flowing Void Crystal they had ultimately secured after bidding up to 200,000, they ended up with 460,000 Pure Yang Great Pills in hand. Amid drifting clouds and mist, Wang Que, the Defense Envoy of Donghai Prefecture, personally appeared upon the mountain peak where Yaoguang was staying. "Fellow Daoist, here are four hundred and sixty thousand Pure Yang Great Pills. Please keep them safe." Wang Que directly handed over a spatial storage treasure. Although this spatial storage treasure was no supreme treasure, it was still worth over a hundred Pure Yang Great Pills, yet the Void Piercing expert gave it away casually. "Many thanks." Li Hanqiu nodded. "Once this auction concludes, I will host a small-scale Dao discussion among several attending Void Piercing experts. I wonder if Fellow Daoist might be interested in joining us?" Wang Que invited with a smile. "I have recently been cultivating a Dao art and do not have much leisure time. Next time the East Sea Immortal Market offers good treasures, I shall come visit again. It will not be too late to sit and discuss the Dao then." Li Hanqiu produced the excuse he had prepared beforehand. Seeing this, Wang Que did not press. "Very well. Then I shall await your esteemed presence at that time." Just then, a strand of divine sense seemed to arrive in a hurry. Receiving it, Wang Que immediately frowned. "What insolence! Fellow Daoist, something urgent has come up. Forgive me, but I must take my leave." With that, without even waiting for Li Hanqiu's response, spatial ripples emanated from his body, and in the next instant, his form vanished directly from the mountain peak formed of compressed space. This was... Employing void power to perform a void traverse and depart this place. One could tell the matter was urgent and that he had left in haste. Also because of his hasty departure, the ripples formed by his void traverse washed over Li Hanqiu, seemingly triggering a resonance with the spatial power upon him. However, with a gentle wave of his sleeve, the spatial resonance and spatial ripples dispersed completely. Just like sweeping away a bit of dust. This scene caused Yaoguang's pupils to narrow slightly. Was this... A probe?! If that spatial ripple had swept over an ordinary Void Piercing Battle Immortal, it would have definitely caused that Battle Immortal's "primal cavern" to tremor faintly. Even if it was only a slight tremor, it would suffice to expose their true strength. Fortunately, thanks to the stability granted by the Realm Stabilizing Ring, the primal cavern within Li Hanqiu revealed not the slightest irregularity, neutralizing this probe with casual ease. "Let's go," Li Hanqiu said impassively. Under the kneeling farewell of Zhiyun and Zhixue, they left the auction. Outside the auction hall, the two summoned the Void Disk disguised as a spirit treasure and flew out of the East Sea Immortal Market. The moment they cleared the East Sea Immortal Market, Li Hanqiu fully activated the Dao artifact. Without leaking any Dao charm, he completed a void traverse directly, vanishing beyond the East Sea Immortal Market amidst a burst of spatial ripples. And after Yaoguang and Li Hanqiu's figures vanished, atop the high tower housing the auction, Wang Que, who had just been conversing and laughing with Li Hanqiu, retracted his probing divine ability. "Where did this Void Piercing expert come from? To conceal himself so thoroughly that I couldn't spot a single flaw..." He recalled the composure the other party had displayed while traversing the void... Such exquisite mastery over space would make him considered an expert even within the Void Piercing realm. To probe further and perhaps offend such a powerhouse for a mere 460,000 Pure Yang Great Pills... The gains would not cover the losses. With that thought, he turned his gaze back to the auction, continuing to serve as the steadying pillar of this grand auction. ... The Void Disk traversed the void at high speed. In just a few jumps, it had already flown over a million li. Considering the state of his primal cavern and not yet having confirmed whether any pursuers were following behind them, Li Hanqiu stowed the Void Disk. Finding a medium-to-large city populated by over a hundred thousand cultivators, they descended and rented a temporary cave dwelling to lodge for the time being. "Next, we just have to wait patiently." After reinforcing the cave dwelling's formations, Yaoguang exhaled a breath of relief. Li Hanqiu nodded. No matter how stable his primal cavern was, he was ultimately only a Void Piercing Battle Immortal. A Void Piercing Battle Immortal cultivated only qi refining, without cultivating the physical body or divine mind. As a result, the strength of his divine mind was somewhat inferior even to Yaoguang's, let alone capable of determining if any Void Piercing expert was pursuing them. Under such circumstances, he naturally could only resort to the clumsy method of waiting. "After all, it was only a revenue of eight hundred thousand Pure Yang Great Pills, and the one who obtained it was another Void Piercing expert. The likelihood of someone targeting us shouldn't be very high," Yaoguang said. "Indeed. Eight hundred thousand Pure Yang Great Pills is an astronomical sum to us, but for genuine Void Piercing experts who possess some industries, earning such an income within a year or two is not difficult," Li Hanqiu replied with a smile and a nod. Their current stay in this city was merely a precaution against unforeseen circumstances. "Speaking of which, I would have been satisfied if that supreme divine ability sold for six hundred thousand. Back then, I wanted True Monarch to agree right away. Who knew True Monarch would ask for eight hundred thousand, and the East Sea Immortal Market actually accepted? It was truly an unexpected delight," Yaoguang smiled and said. "We couldn't just agree. Had we agreed, trouble would have followed," Li Hanqiu said with a touch of solemnity. "Oh?" Yaoguang's expression grew serious. "This is Beihai Star, not the Cangwu Great World. In any environment here, if you show even half a shred of weakness, people won't think you magnanimous and benevolent. Instead, they will think you an easy mark who can be bullied and manipulated at will. When that happens, even a harmless situation turns into trouble," Li Hanqiu emphasized. Hearing this, Yaoguang gradually understood the underlying logic. To the East Sea Immortal Market, whether it was six hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand was not the key point. No matter what price they agreed upon, this supreme divine ability had to end up in the East Sea Immortal Market's hands. If they ended up stuck with this divine ability in the future, so be it, but if they didn't... The East Sea Immortal Market would essentially obtain a supreme divine ability for next to nothing. A guaranteed profitable venture. They were already taking great advantage of the deal. If Li Hanqiu had not demonstrated a firm, uncompromising stance at that moment, the East Sea Immortal Market would certainly have labeled him timid, weak, and easily bullied. Once you exposed a weakness, whether you were a genuine Void Piercing expert or not, they would first attempt to squeeze you. If the extortion failed, since you were already deemed weak and they were backed by the Great Shang Celestial Dynasty, they would merely need to offer you an out without suffering any real loss. And if the extortion succeeded... Several hundred thousand Pure Yang Great Pills! Perhaps even more! No one's Pure Yang pills fell from the sky. Who would say no to picking up a year or two's worth of windfall for free? At this realization, Yaoguang broke into a cold sweat. He had still thought too naively of people. In a transaction that appeared completely smooth on the surface, so many dangerous undercurrents were hidden. "That Wang Que delivering the Pure Yang Great Pills in person and testing you—he had harbored such thoughts already, hadn't he?" Yaoguang said. "Indeed. If you are kind, benevolent, and generous, who else would they bully but you? However, this was within our expectations. For a supreme divine ability to suddenly be put up for auction, anyone would suspect something was amiss," Li Hanqiu nodded. Yaoguang fell silent for a moment. The environment of Beihai Star... Truly required one to tread on thin ice. A single lapse that betrayed cowardice or hesitation anywhere could invite unwarranted calamity. ... Over the next month, neither Li Hanqiu nor Yaoguang made any rash moves, remaining quietly in this city belonging to the Great Shang Celestial Dynasty. During this time, they witnessed low-level cultivators oppressing mortals, gangs oppressing low-level cultivators, prominent clans oppressing low-level cultivators, and the city lord's manor oppressing local clans. Nearly every faction and cultivator stood at a tipping point—exploiting others while being exploited by another power. Mortals, low-level cultivators, gang members, clan cultivators, official cultivators... None could slacken. None were spared. In such a terrifying, high-pressure environment, if the slightest issue arose in any aspect of one's life, it would lead to ruin on their path and the complete collapse of their life. And yet, cultivators were beings who wielded deadly force. Ultimately, they vented their resentment and indignation through violence. A courageous few chose mutual destruction with their oppressors. Yet the vast majority turned their blades against those even weaker than themselves. In merely one month, and solely within the scope of what Yaoguang's divine mind detected, six cultivators had their entire households slaughtered, two deadly gang wars erupted, and two clans fought a bloody battle over a meager share of resources. Toward all of this, the ruling echelon of the city—the City Lord's Manor—scarcely bothered to intervene. So long as the annual taxes were collected, and so long as there was no indiscriminate large-scale slaughter, eight or ten cultivators dying in a month was of no consequence. As for those below Foundation Establishment... They were never counted among the concerns of the powers that be. ... "It has been a month. If someone could track us, they would have caught up long ago. Let us return to the sect," Li Hanqiu said. Speaking, he seemed to notice Yaoguang's drifting divine mind. "What are you looking at?" "A Unity Realm cultivator took out a loan of eighty Profound Origin Precious Pills from the Qian Gang to put a deposit on a cave dwelling currently under construction, just to save the five Profound Origin Precious Pills in annual rent. But before the cave dwellings were completed, the contractor fled. When the Qian Gang came to collect the debt, the Unity Realm cultivator petitioned the authorities for justice, only to be thrown into prison and fined by the City Guard Division on charges of disrupting public order. Right now, guards are arresting his family and seizing his property..." Yaoguang recounted. Li Hanqiu glanced over. "Attempting something beyond one's means with limited ability is a misstep in itself. Pinning one's hopes on others compounds the mistake. They do not realize that in this world, the only thing one can truly rely upon is oneself." Saying this, he sighed. "Let's go. The strong prey on the weak—such is the nature of Beihai Star. We have no power to change it." Yaoguang nodded and withdrew his divine mind. Immediately, the two set off once more, heading toward the Jiuxiao Sect. Along the journey, they maintained their caution. Thus, when the Jiuxiao Sect came into view, half a month had already passed. Although they had been away for nearly two months, they had made arrangements and settled all affairs before departing, so throughout those two months, peace had prevailed across the Jiuxiao Sect. "Good," Li Hanqiu let out a long sigh of relief. "Next, it will be time for our Jiuxiao Sect to soar," Yaoguang said with a smile. Li Hanqiu nodded. The two soon slipped secretly into the Jiuxiao Sect and summoned Li Qingshan and a select few others. Apart from them, the rest of the sect did not even know that the two had ever left. Seeing Li Hanqiu and Yaoguang return, Li Qingshan, who had been guarding the sect, also let out a breath of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted. "All right, Yaoguang and I already discussed the distribution of the Pure Yang Great Pills on the way back," Li Hanqiu said. "This divine ability was contributed by Yaoguang, so four hundred thousand will belong to him. Of the remaining sixty thousand, thirty thousand will be allocated to the sect's upper echelon to help them advance as quickly as possible to the Core Formation realm, and even the Heavenly Fire realm. Another twenty thousand will be used to nurture the twenty-four seeds we selected for true disciples. The remaining ten thousand will be exchanged in batches for twelve million Profound Origin Precious Pills, so that the benefits are shared across the board." "We will proceed as Martial Uncle and Perfected Yaoguang say," Li Qingshan agreed immediately. Thirty thousand Pure Yang Great Pills divided among the sect's leadership! Thirty thousand! The entire Yunxiao Sword Sect's annual revenue had been barely over sixty pills. Although this was because they had only recently driven out the Xuanguang Sect and remained at the level of a Radiant Sun Golden Core faction, having not yet completed the transformation into an Incandescent White Golden Core faction, it showed just how precious Pure Yang Great Pills were. Thirty thousand pills... The entire Yunxiao Sword Sect would have had to hoard without eating or drinking for five hundred years to accumulate that much. Now, five hundred years' worth of resources was being poured into people whose strongest members were only at the Core Formation realm... The changes this would bring to the entire Jiuxiao Sect were already easy to imagine. "You should go as well," Li Hanqiu said to Yaoguang. "Now that the resources are secured, I look forward to seeing what surprises you bring us when you emerge from seclusion." Yaoguang smiled and cupped his hands. "Then True Monarch had better prepare himself mentally."