At noon the next day… the auction was organized on the first floor of the Jade Spirit Pavilion as scheduled.

　　All influential people had converged at the venue.

　　Shi Mu was clad in the usual clothing of an ordinary barbarian man at this moment. In addition, there was a conical bamboo hat on his head. He stood in a certain corner of the venue, and was observing the surroundings.

　　The first floor of the Jade Spirit Pavilion was far larger than the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion. Still, it was almost packed at this moment.

　　The Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion had used high-ranked magic charms to attract a lot of people, but their move showed limited impact on the Jade Spirit Pavilion. It was because the opposite party had thrown out new chips as a counterattack. Thus, the effect of this move brought immediate results for them.

　　“Ai!” Shi Mu’s complexion changed, and he let out a soft ‘Ai’ sound in response.

　　He saw a grey-robed woman who was seated not far in his left front.

　　This woman’s whole body was wrapped in a cloak, and her face was covered with a layer of black gauze. However, Shi Mu still saw through her identity at first glance with the help of his extraordinary eyesight. In addition, he also noticed some of her details that allowed him to discover her identity.

　　Wasn’t this lady the woman surnamed Zhen of the Eastern Dark Moon Cult?

　　“How did she also show up here?” Shi Mu’s facial expression accordingly changed, and he surmised something in his heart.

　　In this meantime, it seemed as if the woman surnamed Zhen felt something strange and turned her head to look towards the rear.

　　The people in the rear area was bustling about and talking to each other in an energetic manner. So, there was no room for any suspicious activity.

　　The woman surnamed Zhen’s brows wrinkled, and she turned her head.

　　Shi Mu slowly walked out from behind a few big men. After that, he didn’t think to observe her once again. He instead changed his position while maintaining his composure.

　　The auction announced its official beginning soon after.

　　The Jade Spirit Pavilion put forth a lot of hard-earned savings this time. They offered several valuable treasures back to back. And, people began to make high bids for them one after another. This led to a burst of acclamation in the venue. Simultaneously, the atmosphere of the venue got ignited immediately.

　　“Ladies and gentlemen, the next item is the final product of this auction,” A man stood on the auction stage; he wore a dress with rosy clouds on them. He raised his voice to make an announcement.

　　He said. Then, he raised his one hand, and a small green box appeared on the stage in front of him.

　　The distance between the green box and the people was considerably big. But, the surrounding people with highly-sensitive sensing ability immediately felt that the green box was sending forth waves of cold and gloomy aura.

　　A wave of discussion burst forth in the hall right away. In the midst of the ringing discussion, the small box was opened and a cold aura swept across the people. Some of the people in the front few rows raised their heads and looked ahead to see the product in a curious manner. However, they could not help pulling back their necks as the cold aura swept past them. At the same time, they also felt a cold sensation in their hearts.

　　The people stared at the thing with their wide-open eyes.

　　They saw that a green flower was placed in that box. It looked quite tender and beautiful. A green light could be seen flowing on each petal of this flower like water.

　　Shi Mu’s eyes gleamed, and the corners of his mouth slightly curved upward as he saw this flower.

　　As Shi Mu had anticipated… the Mysterious Dark Flower that the Jade Spirit Pavilion presented today as one of its precious treasures was the same mysterious green flower that Yan Luo would often bring over to him from the different world.

　　“Everyone, this thing is called the Mysterious Dark Flower. It has come from the mysterious Dead Spirit World. If there is a noble friend of the Dark Moon Cult in the audience, he may have heard of it. This thing is rarely seen outside. So, I will first give you a brief introduction to this thing.”

　　“This mysterious dark flower appears to be a flower on the surface. But, it’s not just a flower if we consider its actual importance. Its outward appearance can be said to be relatively similar to that of any ordinary flower. However, it is the pure strength left when an Earth-ranked or even higher-ranked Dead Spirit creatures were struck to kill by lightning in the Dead Spirit World. This is the process of its formation. It is a very rare thing and highly difficult to pick. This flower can substantially increase a magicians’ magic power cultivation. Moreover, it’s also very helpful for a Moon-ranked magician or magician below that rank to break through a bottleneck.

　　“This item was originally planned to be unveiled at the final auction that will be held a few days later. But, we made an exception this time, and took this out ahead of time. And, we took this step because of two reasons. Firstly, we want to tell everyone that our Jade Spirit Pavilion is determined to hold the auction in a proper way. Secondly, it is also to tell everyone that we have even better things to offer at the final auction which is scheduled to be conducted at the end of the month. So, I request everyone to mark your presence on that particular day,” he announced.

　　A droning sound of people’s discussion burst out in the hall immediately like a crackling sound of a pot.

　　“Well, the introduction ends here. Now, you can begin to make bids for this thing. The initial price of this flower is 30,000 spirit stones. And, each subsequent bid must not be lower than a thousand spirit stones!” a smile spread across the red-dressed man’s face as he opened his mouth to say.

　　“Thirty five thousand!”

　　“Forty thousand!”

　　“Fifty thousand!”

　　The intense bidding began to rise higher one after another. There were many people on the scene whose complexion looked red and their facial expression seemed as if they were bubbling with excitement.

　　It could be said that the greater part of the people present here hadn’t heard of this Mysterious Dark Flower ever before. But, the Jade Spirit Pavilion was currently being represented by the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce. And, the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce just said that this flower could play a major role in a magician’s life since it had the potential to enhance the probability of breaking through the bottleneck. So, they knew this statement could never be wrong.

　　There were many magicians in the crowd of these influential people who were stuck in a bottleneck condition at present. Some of them were even at the peak of the Star-rank, and were on the verge of stepping into the realm of Moon-rank.

　　There was a possibility that this Mysterious Dark Flower could bring forth a Moon-ranked magician if it was used just right. Therefore, this made the surrounding people go crazy over it.

　　On the second floor… the beautiful woman looked at the electrified crowd below and a trace of a smile emerged on her face.

　　She chose to use several kinds of extremely valuable treasures this time. But, this step helped her regain the popularity. So, everything was worth it.

　　There was not much time left for the final auction. At that moment, the venue could attract increasingly more customers’ attention, and grasp the information and key issues.

　　Shi Mu didn’t continue to watch the auction further. He simply got up and walked toward the exit of the venue.

　　Meanwhile, the fierce bidding continued in the auction hall.

　　“Sixty thousand!” The bid price climbed very fast.

　　“Seventy thousand spirit stones!” A slightly distinct, low-pitched voice resounded in the hall and directly added 10,000 spirit stones. Simultaneously, it silenced many voices in the hall.

　　Shi Mu’s eyebrows twitched upwards, and he moved his head to take a look at that person.

　　The person who made this bid was not a man; it was the voice of that woman surnamed Zhen.

　　“Ninety Thousand!” Another voice resounded in the hall. It directly added 20,000 spirit stones in one fell swoop. The bidder was a grey-robed old man this time. He was seated next to Leng Yue Tong.

　　Meanwhile, Shi Mu had reached the doorway by now. A trace of a smile appeared on his face at this moment. He then turned around and walked out of the venue.

　　The more intense the bidding here, the more advantageous it would be for the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion.

　　…

　　The Welcoming to Immortals Pavilion… Zhong Xiu bent over her desk and was sorting out various kinds of documents. Her facial expression had a tinge of gloominess at the moment.

　　The Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion had also conducted a small-scale auction today. However, the auction couldn’t fetch the desired result due to the appearance of the Mysterious Dark Flower in the Jade Spirit Pavilion.

　　The door was shoved open at this moment and Shi Mu walked in.

　　“Big Brother Shi, I heard that the Jade Spirit Pavilion was very lively today. Also, the whole city is now talking about that mysterious flower.” Zhong Xiu said.

　　The Jade Spirit Pavilion had again proved its own heritage and real strength by means of the Mysterious Dark Flower.

　　“Miss Xiu, don’t worry. Look at this first.” Shi Mu’s face creased into a smile as he said. He then held Zhong Xiu’s hand. Simultaneously, he waved another hand and a black box emerged in his hand. He then handed it to her.

　　Zhong Xiu stretched out her hand and took the black box in a subconscious manner. After that, she opened the lid of that box under the gaze of Shi Mu’s smiling eyes.

　　Three green flowers were laid out in the box neatly. They were giving off a faint radiance. They all were the same Mysterious Dark Flowers.

　　“This is… Mysterious Dark Flower?” Zhong Xiu’s beautiful eyes gaped at those flowers, and the expression in her eyes got smeared with a hint of incredulity.

　　Shi Mu nodded with a smile.

　　He had exchanged these three Mysterious Dark Flowers with Yan Luo before. His actual plan was to retain these flowers so that he could use them after he would break through the bottleneck of the last stage of the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. But, the present situation was rather special. So, he had to take them out in response to a contingency.

　　After all, it didn’t seem to be very difficult for Yan Luo to collect this kind of flower.

　　However, the fact that Shi Mu didn’t know yet was that… this kind of mysterious flower wasn’t good to toy with. It was very dangerous for the purity of the soul. It was highly likely that it would suck away one’s energy under the influence of the pure power of its Yin energy if that person would just try to approach it. And then, that person’s body would turn into an ice.

　　“This… Big Brother Shi, where did you get these flowers?” Zhong Xiu recovered from her stupefaction after a long while and asked.

　　“I just had a chance encounter. Besides, I was unaware of the value of this thing before.” Shi Mu bypassed the topic in a gentle manner.

　　He didn’t know why there were some subconscious thoughts in his heart that he shouldn’t let Zhong Xiu know the existence of Yan Luo.

　　Zhong Xiu was herself an exceptionally intelligent person. How couldn’t she notice Shi Mu’s unwillingness to talk about it further? So, she also didn’t dig into the details.

　　She looked at the three green flowers, and a hint of excitement flashed through her eyes.

　　“Miss Xiu, I’m handing these three mysterious flowers over to you for further processing. In any case, the Jade Spirit Pavilion has already done enough publicity for us. So, we just need to use these flowers to attract people back to us,” Shi Mu said.

　　Zhong Xiu nodded.

　　“However, we are only a few days away from the final auction. These three Mysterious Dark Flowers will be put together for sale at the auction that day. In this meantime, we will do some publicity in advance,” Zhong Xiu pondered a moment before she said.

　　“As for how to make use of this thing… I think you know far better than me. So, you take charge of the proper execution of their arrangement,” Shi Mu said.

　　Zhong Xiu groaned in agreement. She then looked at Shi Mu and a hint of a reddish glow appeared on her face. She then approached Shi Mu, lifted her foot forward quickly, and kissed him on his face once.

　　Shi Mu’s cheeks were cold. He hadn’t reacted yet. But, Zhong Xiu had already turned around and left the room like a gust of wind went out.

　　He was stunned for a moment. He then forced a smile and sat down on the table that was near him. Then, he took out a charm paper that was made up of an animal skin.

　　…

　　The Rising Sun City was seething with excitement because of the Jade Spirit Pavilion’s auction… so much so that almost everyone in the city was talking about the Mysterious Dark Flower.

　　However, the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion – that seemed to have been suppressed – suddenly issued startling news the next day. According to the news… they were going to auction three Mysterious Dark Flowers at the final auction that would be held at the end of the month.

　　At the same time, all big forces of the Rising Sun City received a written invitation from the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion. In addition, the images of those here flowers were also attached to the invitation.

　　In addition, a list of many other priceless treasures was also mentioned on the invitation card. All those products were rare treasures. A large number of high-ranked magic charms were also the part of those priceless treasures. Furthermore, the final product of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion’s auction was also mentioned at the end of the invitation card. It was the star stone!

　　This kind of invitation card shook up the entire Rising Sun City once again. A lot of influential people had received this invitation started. The first thing they did after receiving this invitation was they sent people to the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion to convey their message that they would definitely be present at the auction.

　　High-ranked magic charms, Mysterious Dark Flower, Star Stone!

　　Almost all things that were mentioned on the invitation card were enough to make people go crazy over them… let alone the presence of three treasures.

　　Especially the previous auction of the Jade Spirit Pavilion had generated a lot of buzz of the Mysterious Dark Flower in the city. There were a large bunch of people who wanted that flower but were unable to make bids at the time of auction. They all started to swarm to Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion.

　　Moreover, every big force of the city started to secret observing the movement of the Jade Spirit Pavilion to know their reaction to the invitation of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion.

　　But, the Jade Spirit Pavilion acted beyond everyone’s expectations since it didn’t show any response.

　　Time passed by, and it seemed that a few days passed in an instant.

　　Tomorrow was the day of the final auction. All major forces of the city were too busy to pay attention to the competition and covert struggles between the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion and the Jade Spirit Pavilion. They all were busy in arranging their financial resources.

　　However, the Jade Spirit Pavilion – that had been inactive so far – suddenly moved into action. It suddenly sent out the final invitation to the auction. Simultaneously, it similarly included the appendix of all treasures they were going to present at the auction… like the Welcome the Immortals Pavilion.

　　The other mentioned products were indeed precious. But, the last one of these treasures was a thing which was called the Soaring Flame Crystal. It was regarded as the most precious treasure in the Jade Spirit Pavilion.

　　“Soaring Flame Crystal? What is this thing?” there were many people in the city who were unsure about this thing. In fact, they never heard of this thing.

　　But, these people didn’t know about this thing… it didn’t represent that others were also unaware of this thing.