Chapter 371: Red Lotus

Ye Feng’s decision to compete with the Heavenly Sword Immortal was purely impulsive. He hadn’t expected to encounter a sword practitioner under such circumstances, let alone one who could be so formidable. In fact, he had fought sword practitioners in the Refining Realm before, even the strongest ones there. But due to the suppression of martial arts in the Combat Canon, those sword practitioners’ advantages weren’t as evident. Yet Ye Feng knew it was because the Refining Realm, lacking a benchmark, could only simulate the strongest secrets from the Heavenly Realm at its third layer. And Ye Feng was well aware that the sword techniques of the Heavenly Sword Immortal certainly didn’t belong to this realm. There was no need to prove it—just by the sword intent emanating from his eyes, he could tell they were techniques from a completely different world.

Following the others into the auction hall, Ye Feng chose an inconspicuous seat. Though he wasn’t afraid of those divine-tier powerhouses, there was no need to sit in the front row and provoke those with strong pride at such a time.

“Is no one here?” came a familiar voice.

Without turning around, Ye Feng knew it was the Third Demon Emperor. As she sat down, a faint fragrance reached his nose once again.

“No one. Even if there were someone, with a beauty like you here, I’d rather take the risk of offending others and have them step aside,” Ye Feng said jokingly as he turned around.

“How… how did you know?” The Third Demon Emperor’s expression changed slightly.

“I’ve never seen a man apply that floral perfume to himself, let alone a carefree man from the Demon Realm,” Ye Feng said with a shake of his head, smiling.

“When did you notice?” the Third Demon Emperor asked, still unconvinced.

“On the day of the auction. You were so close to me; it’s not strange I could smell it,” Ye Feng thought the question was rather stupid. He had only met her a few times in total, the last time being when they spoke face to face at the auction.

“You didn’t tell anyone, did you?” The Third Demon Emperor seemed worried.

“No. Do you have enemies?” Ye Feng asked, puzzled, looking at her. “Wait, with your strength and that pet of yours, I doubt many in the Heavenly Realm could pose a threat to you.”

“That’s good.” The Third Demon Emperor finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Do you want that top-grade divine crystal?” Ye Feng couldn’t help asking. “Though your combination with that pet is powerful, taking it by force will be quite difficult.”

“A top-grade divine crystal? I haven’t even taken it seriously. If it were an ultimate-grade one, I might consider fighting for it. But I guess my father will probably send my seventh or eighth brother. By then, I’ll just watch as an onlooker,” said the Third Demon Emperor with a smile, resting her chin in her hand.

“Oh, so you’re not from the Heavenly Realm?” Ye Feng was slightly surprised. Given what the Third Demon Emperor said, it was clear that her seventh or eighth brother must possess strength beyond that of a true god; otherwise, she wouldn’t speak so casually.

“You figured that out?” The Third Demon Emperor stuck out her tongue and fell silent, seemingly unwilling to reveal her origins.

Ye Feng also remained silent for a moment before asking, “What’s this pet of yours?”

“You mean Xiao Bai?” The Third Demon Emperor gently stroked the little white dog’s head. “I don’t know either. My father gave it to me after my coming-of-age ceremony some time ago. He said it’s still in its juvenile stage and can’t speak, but it can understand what we say.”

“It’s still in its juvenile stage?” Ye Feng was immediately surprised. He could clearly sense that this little white creature posed a great threat. None of the mid-grade divine beasts he had encountered had given him such a feeling, so it was obvious it wasn’t a mid-grade divine beast. As for top-grade divine beasts, they possess a divine essence from birth. The rank of this little white dog left Ye Feng confused.

“But its aura is completely different from that of mid-grade divine beasts, and it’s much stronger.” Ye Feng looked at the Third Demon Emperor. “But top-grade divine beasts have a divine essence from birth…”

“Because it’s not a divine beast…” The Third Demon Emperor wanted to say more but stopped herself, seemingly unwilling to reveal information related to her identity.

At that moment, almost everyone present had arrived, and the auctioneer came out from behind the stage.

Ye Feng observed his surroundings. The Dragon Clan members were here too, but Long Xuan wasn’t with them. Given that she had already surpassed the divine realm, her absence meant the few who stayed were even stronger. Moreover, the Dragon Clan members were usually at least one level stronger than their cultivation level. In Ye Feng’s eyes, this group posed the greatest threat to him. Although there were only three of them, Ye Feng marked all three as extremely dangerous.

At the same time, several others were marked as dangerous by Ye Feng. One was dressed in all white, followed by three angels with twelve pairs of white wings. Ye Feng recognized him at a glance—that guy must be the God from the parallel universe. Another figure with very distinct features stood out: bare-chested, with blood-red skin and a pair of black horns on his head, also accompanied by three humans of various appearances, one of whom had twelve pairs of black wings. Ye Feng guessed that the horned man was the legendary Satan.

Both the God and Satan seemed extremely dangerous to Ye Feng. Their cultivation levels were likely at least at the peak of the True God tier, possibly even beyond it. As for their strength, it would only be more terrifying.

The few bald men from the Buddhist realm were easy to identify as well—dressed in robes with bare heads. There were only three such people. The leader had a rainbow-colored halo behind his head. Ye Feng knew that must be the Buddha, whose strength was also at least at the peak of the True God tier. The lotus flower beside him gave Ye Feng a sense of familiarity.

“Could it be a plant from the Holy Realm?” Ye Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.

As for the remaining factions, what surprised Ye Feng was that in the Immortal Realm, the leader was someone he had never seen before, nor had the Purple Extreme Venerable mentioned him. It was a young man who seemed around the same age as him, also at the True God tier in cultivation.

The Demon Realm also had a considerable number of people. The leader was a man in purple robes who appeared somewhat sinister, but his cultivation level was also at the True God tier.

What caught Ye Feng’s attention the most was a young man in black who was chatting amiably with the dragon clan. Judging from the dragons’ expressions, they seemed to respect him as well. This puzzled Ye Feng, as the dragon clan was traditionally proud and disdainful of associating with the demon race. Although they lived on the Demon Realm continent, it was still considered an independent space. The young man in black gave him an inscrutable feeling. His aura seemed to indicate a True God-level cultivation, but Ye Feng had a strange sense that his strength might be even greater.

After marking those dangerous individuals, Ye Feng finally snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention back to the auction stage.

“…The starting bid is 1 million high-quality demon crystals, with an increase of at least 100,000 each time. Other currencies of equal value can also be used for bidding…” The auctioneer hadn’t finished speaking yet.

“1.2 million!”

“1.3 million!” The price just called out was immediately undercut by others.

“1.5 million!”

“1.8 million!”

“Two million!” Bids kept coming in one after another. In just a few breaths, the price doubled.
“Two and a half million!” But it seemed the bidding was intensifying.
“Two million eight hundred thousand!”
“Three and a half million!”
“Five million!!!” In less than a minute, someone called out a staggering price—higher than the amount of magic crystals Ye Feng possessed.
“Five million three hundred thousand!” After a brief hesitation, someone else bid that amount.
“Six million!” The same voice rang out again.
Ye Feng glanced in that direction—it was the Immortal Realm faction led by Zi Ji Zunzhe.
“Six million two hundred thousand!” This time, it was the young man in black from the demon race who bid.
“Six million five hundred thousand!” Zi Ji Zunzhe and his group had almost reached their limit. This price required each of them to spend nearly half of their wealth.
The crowd fell silent. It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford six million five hundred thousand—it was simply unnecessary. Whoever won this item would hardly be able to leave the Demon Realm alive.
Ye Feng privately calculated how many domain values his upcoming magic crystals could fetch. “At six million five hundred thousand, they’ll charge a 5% fee, leaving 6 million 175 thousand. Adding the previous 3 million 800 thousand brings it to 9 million 975 thousand. Plus the 800 thousand from the storage ring of that half-god-level warrior I killed earlier, that’s a total of 10 million 775 thousand high-quality magic crystals. Converting that into a third-tier domain value would exceed one trillion. There must be a reward, but I don’t know what it is.”
The auctioneer was also delighted. This item was almost the most valuable he had ever auctioned, and his commission would be substantial. With excitement, he spat out, “Six million five hundred thousand—first bid! Six million five hundred thousand—second bid! Six million five hundred thousand—third bid! Congratulations to the Immortal Realm faction for winning ownership of this top-tier divine crystal!”
“Please pay the full amount in the back before collecting the item…” The auctioneer continued explaining.
The crowd began to disperse in a flurry.
“I know for sure that even if we bid on this, we might not get it. I really don’t understand what they’re thinking,” Ye Feng said, shaking his head helplessly.
“If you didn’t know Zi Ji Zunzhe, you’d enjoy watching this show too, right?” The Third Demon Emperor seemed unimpressed. She stood up to leave but then seemed to remember something. “By the way, my name is Hong Lian. Next time we meet, don’t call me the Third Demon Emperor.”

“I’ll remember it,” Ye Feng said with a smile, nodding as he watched the other person leave.