Chapter 367: The Last Day of the Auction

The old man stared intently at the golden crystal in Ye Feng’s hand—a 24-sided shape that could not be forged artificially. Trembling, he reached out and gently touched the top-grade divine crystal, murmuring to himself, “This… is the first time in my life I’ve seen a true top-grade divine crystal. I’ve only seen related images and documents before…”
After a while, he regained his composure and asked, “May I conduct some tests?”
“Sure,” Ye Feng shrugged indifferently. Top-grade divine crystals might be extremely rare in the Heavenly Realm, but in Ye Feng’s eyes, they weren’t anything special. Still, he was somewhat curious about what price it might fetch in a backroom auction.
The old man carefully took the golden crystal, which was actually only the size of a table tennis ball, from Ye Feng’s hands. In truth, such divine crystals were extremely difficult to destroy unless their energy was completely absorbed—no one in the Heavenly Realm could do that. The old man’s cautious manner, as if afraid the crystal might fall to the ground, made Ye Feng feel a bit amused.
After having it scanned by a bunch of instruments on the long table whose names Ye Feng didn’t know, the old man slowly raised his head and said, “The energy content is 100%, and it hasn’t been used before.”
“Hmm. If it’s auctioned in a backroom setting, what price do you think it could reach?” That was what Ye Feng was most concerned about.
“In my opinion, this is priceless. Throughout history, only eight top-grade divine crystals have been recorded in the entire Heavenly Realm, and this one is the ninth. It’s a rare treasure on par with heritage artifacts!” The old man clearly thought Ye Feng didn’t realize how important this item was.
“Still, I plan to sell it. Keeping it with me isn’t as useful as a mid-grade divine crystal…” Ye Feng shook his head and smiled. He had no intention of telling the old man he possessed many top-grade divine crystals.
“That makes sense. Though your strength is strong now, you’re still at the ultimate stage. It won’t be easy to break through anytime soon.” Only figures like Zi Ji Zunzhe and Long Yue knew that Ye Feng had reached the demi-god realm. The old man seemed disappointed. “Besides, even if you reach the demi-god realm, for a long time, you’ll only be able to absorb energy from low-grade divine crystals. It’s said that even the strongest demi-gods at the peak level need special methods to absorb energy from top-grade ones… It’s indeed a bit early for you…”

The old man muttered to himself in a low voice, his face showing reluctance. In his view, since someone possessed such a treasure, they must be destined for it. He didn’t want to see Ye Feng sell this top-grade divine crystal, but he believed Ye Feng couldn’t absorb it and that holding it would only bring trouble—someone would eventually come to steal it. He shook his head helplessly. “It’s better to sell it. Not everyone is fit to possess this.”

“Top-grade divine crystal, starting bid: one million top-grade magic crystals…” The old man sighed softly before finally giving his estimated starting price. “I’ll report this to the owner of the Extreme Auction House, asking them to hold a special auction for a day and announce the existence of this top-grade divine crystal to the six realms.”

“The six realms?” Ye Feng narrowed his eyes slightly, having received strange information from the old man.

“The Demon Realm, the Immortal Realm, the Fiend Realm, the Buddha Realm, plus Hell and Heaven—six realms in total. Hell and Heaven exist in parallel spaces, which is why they’re often forgotten. The Buddha Realm also exists in another separate parallel space.” The old man spoke calmly, seemingly having encountered people from different realms before.

“Whatever you decide. As long as you don’t tell others it came from me, that’s fine.” Ye Feng wasn’t opposed to it. In fact, he was curious to see what the masters from various realms looked like. “I trust your organization has professional ethics.”

“Don’t worry. Aside from me and the owner of the Extreme Auction House whom I’ll inform, no one else will know the origin of this top-grade divine crystal.” The old man showed a confident expression. He thought Ye Feng was worried about information leakage and potential trouble. In his view, although Ye Feng’s strength was now comparable to that of Zi Ji Zunzhe, there were many hidden experts in the Heavenly Realm, some even capable of defeating Zi Ji Zunzhe—posing an even greater threat to Ye Feng. He also didn’t want to see this young man, who had allowed him to see a true top-grade divine crystal in his lifetime, perish.

“It seems your boss is quite powerful.” Ye Feng tried subtly to get more information from the old man.

“I can only tell you that in the Demon Realm, there are those stronger than Zi Ji Zunzhe.” Though reluctant to reveal more, the old man still offered a helpful reminder. “To be precise, there are those capable of defeating Zi Ji Zunzhe. Not to mention the other realms…”

The old man’s words confirmed Ye Feng’s suspicions. In fact, the Refining Realm had a special function that could simulate the strongest being that could emerge in a given environment. For example, if a certain realm had existed for ten billion years, by inputting its energy level and intensity, as well as the techniques used by its inhabitants, the Refining Realm could automatically determine the strongest being that could arise there and create such a being. Over the ten years he had spent in the Refining Realm, Ye Feng had fought against beings of this caliber countless times, and he was convinced that such beings truly existed in the real world.

Seeing Ye Feng’s dazed expression, the old man thought he was scared. “Don’t worry. We will definitely keep this a secret from you. We also know that if those powerful beings find out that you are the source of these top-grade divine crystals, it will bring you great danger. You are our client, and we certainly don’t want that to happen.”

“With your words, I’m relieved,” Ye Feng said with a faint smile and nodded. “Then… I’ll leave these things to you.”

“I will personally take care of them,” the old man said. At that moment, a powerful aura flashed from him—reaching the peak of the demi-god realm…

Ye Feng glanced at him briefly, showing no sign of surprise, before simply leaving with a smile.

“This kid is interesting…” The old man’s gaze remained fixed on the door for a long time after Ye Feng’s figure disappeared from sight, as if talking to himself.

In fact, from the moment he entered, Ye Feng had already sensed the strength of the old man who had hidden his true power. This was something he had learned from ten years of fighting in the Refining Realm—sensing an opponent’s strength had become an instinct for him.

“The Six Realms…” After leaving the old man’s room, Ye Feng’s lips curled slightly. “I wonder just how strong those strongest beings really are…”

Back at the auction hall, not many people had entered yet. Ye Feng walked along the corridor toward his seat.

“Blade Edge!” A figure that seemed familiar to Ye Feng suddenly appeared before him.

“The Third Demon Emperor?” Ye Feng raised his eyebrows slightly. The white puppy in the Third Demon Emperor’s arms was no longer sleepy like before; it was crouched on the emperor’s shoulder, examining Ye Feng curiously.

Ye Feng clearly noticed as well that the little dog gave him the impression of being far more powerful than the Third Demon Emperor, with a sense of danger that was stronger than any opponent he had encountered in the Refinement Realm. Of course, this feeling only indicated that the other party was extremely dangerous, not that he would lose in a direct fight.

Seeing Ye Feng shift his attention from himself to the little white dog, the Third Demon Emperor knew right away that Ye Feng had detected the existence of the little white dog. He gently patted the dog’s back, “Xiaobai!”

Only then did the little white dog reluctantly lie down, though its dark eyes continued to secretly observe Ye Feng.

“This little guy is quite special!” Ye Feng said with a smile.

“You’ve noticed…” The Third Demon Emperor smiled helplessly. “Your strength has soared in just a few days. I came here to ask if it’s because of that black fragment from the auction. Although I know you might not tell the truth, I still couldn’t help but come and ask.”

“No,” Ye Feng said with a smile, shaking his head. With such close face-to-face contact, he detected a faint fragrance from this impostor of the Third Demon Emperor. This was also thanks to his ten years of training in the Refinement Realm, which had significantly enhanced his senses.

“Really not?” the Third Demon Emperor pressed further.

“That black fragment can’t be used to improve cultivation or strength,” Ye Feng said firmly, shaking his head, before passing by him.

“Xiaobai, do you think I can beat him?” the Third Demon Emperor asked the little white dog, staring at Ye Feng’s back.

The little white dog looked up at its master, stared at him for a while, then lowered its head again, turning its eyes aside, as if it hadn’t heard what its master had said.

“Hey, if you can’t beat him, then just admit it! Why go through this?” the Third Demon Emperor snapped. “But he can’t kill me either—at best, it’ll be a draw!”

The little white dog turned its head again to glance at him, then turned it away once more.

“Hey, don’t think I don’t know that’s a look of disdain! Before your father gave you to me, I studied quite a bit about your race.” The Third Demon Emperor smacked the dog’s head, but the dog showed no reaction at all, as if it hadn’t been hit at all—neither pain nor movement, not even opening its eyes.

Ye Feng sat on a stool, quietly closing his eyes to rest. At this moment, not everyone had arrived at the venue, and it wasn’t time to start yet.

Of all, it was Venerable Zi Ji who felt Ye Feng’s changes most acutely. As a peak being at the half-god realm and spending time with Ye Feng every day, he could clearly sense Ye Feng’s progress day by day. He even had the illusion that Ye Feng had reached the pinnacle of the half-god realm in less than ten days since entering that realm. Yet he knew such a thing was absolutely impossible, and he had always believed his feelings were just an illusion. Still, he understood that no matter if Ye Feng occasionally reached the pinnacle of the half-god realm, his strength had already surpassed his own… With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes…

After a period of time equivalent to drinking a cup of tea, almost everyone had arrived at the auction hall, with only a few empty seats left. The start time for the final day of the auction had also arrived.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today is the last day of this auction. However, due to a special reason, after this auction concludes, we will hold a separate auction for one particular item. It will take place here again, ten days from now. There will be only one item up for auction…”

The auctioneer’s words sent the crowd into excitement…