Inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long opened his eyes and exhaled once, before he turned his attention to the 12 golden balls of qi that were hovering above his head.
After breaking through to the Dao King realm, Shun Long truly realized how much more qi his 'Monarch's Hourglass' required compared to other cultivation techniques.
During this past month that he had spent in seclusion, Shun Long had spent nearly 10.000 high-grade spirit stones before he finally reached the early rank 2 of the Dao King realm.
If it was any other early-stage Dao King who had absorbed all of this qi, they would have certainly reached the middle stages of the Dao King realm.
However, Shun Long still knew that the benefits of the 'Monarch's Hourglass' far outweighed the disadvantage of needing to absorb enormous amounts of pure qi.
After all, the higher the grade of a cultivation technique, meant that a person had higher chances of reaching the immortal realm in the future.
At the same time, it was only after he broke through to the Dao King realm that Shun Long realized another benefit of his 'Monarch's Hourglass'.
If he had been training in any other cultivation technique, even if he had comprehended the 'Dao of Time' as well, Shun Long was certain that he wouldn't have been able to use his 'Monarch's Domain' or any other of the skills that he had comprehended, simply because the requirements to use them were extremely high.
''Master, are you going to take a look at the auction?'' Little Black asked as he coiled his large head around Shun Long who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground.
According to what Liao Huo had said, there wasn't much time left until the auction started.
Shun Long nodded and patted Little Black's head once before he answered
''I am curious to see what type of earth flame the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' is planning to auction. Besides, that old man, Liao Huo said that there will be other treasures as well that will be worth to take a look at.''
Naturally, in Liao Huo's eyes, Shun Long who could completely hide his aura in front of him was at least a late-stage Dao Emperor, which meant that the treasures that the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' was planning to auction would most likely be enough to attract the attention of even some extremely powerful Dao Emperors, otherwise Liao Huo wouldn't be so confident to make such a claim.
A few moments later, Shun Long closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', before he returned back to his room inside the inn.
This time however, Shun Long didn't keep Little Silver by his side and had the black panther return to the foggy space inside the 'Stone of Time', before he walked towards the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' all by himself.
Sometime later, Shun Long arrived in front of the entrance of an extremely crowded 'White tiger chamber of commerce' that had a sea of cultivators in front of its entrance.
It seemed that the auction today had attracted a huge number of people.
Of course, this was only natural since everyone inside Murong city had learned during the past 2 months that an earth flame was going to be auctioned today.
A treasure that needed hundreds of thousands or perhaps even a million years to form itself naturally... how could it not attract the attention of every single powerful cultivator within the city?
But even though every person present coveted the earth flame, everyone understood that it would most likely end up in the hands of the few Sovereign realm experts who were present today, or the representatives of the large powers throughout the northern part of the central region who had come to get their hands on it.
Sometime later, Shun Long managed to enter the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' before heading straight for the fourth floor.
Of course, the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' wasn't going to let just anyone participate in the auction since there were simply too many people present today, while the seats in the auction couldn't hold all the cultivators present.
This was why the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' was holding the auction on the fifth floor, and every person who wanted to participate would have to pay a fee of 100 high-grade spirit stones.
Although this price was nothing to the powerful Dao Emperors who were going to bid for the earth flame or the other treasures, to most ordinary cultivators who only wanted to take a look at the auction out of curiosity, it was an exorbitant price that few of them were willing to pay.
Of course, powerful experts who had an invitation token like the one that Shun Long had received from Liao Huo didn't have to pay any fee whatsoever.
As soon as he reached the staircase that led to the fifth floor, Shun Long saw more than a dozen of golden-armored guards standing there silently, as well as a number of beautiful young women dressed in white robes who were receiving the guests with smiles on their faces.
Every single one of those guards was at the peak of rank 9 of the Dao King realm, but Shun Long was certain that there were even some Dao Emperors hidden in the surroundings as well.
''Perhaps the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' has even asked for the help of a Sovereign realm expert, to make sure that things go smoothly today.'' Shun Long thought to himself as he showed his silver token that he had gotten from Liao Huo to one of the white-robed women in front of him.
The moment that the guards and those young women noticed Shun Long's silver token, they all bowed respectfully, before the young woman in front of Shun Long offered to lead him to the private room that was reserved for him.
-
Shun Long didn't decline and allowed the young woman in front of him to lead him to the fifth floor.
A few moments later, Shun Long noticed, that the fifth floor of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' only comprised of the auction venue itself.
More than half of the normal seats below were already occupied, while experts were still arriving in droves.
''Esteemed guest, this way please.'' The young woman smiled and gestured for Shun Long to follow her, as she walked past a certain corridor that 2 golden-armored guards were guarding and headed towards one of the private rooms there.
The white-robed young woman stopped in front of the entrance of a certain room a few moments later, and bowed towards Shun Long before she continued
''Esteemed guest, you can go ahead. I will be right here if you need anything, so don't hesitate to call me.''
Shun Long nodded and thanked the young woman for leading the way, before he took a few steps forward and entered the room.
As expected, the quality of the private room itself wasn't any inferior to the 'Intelligence room' where Shun Long had met Liao Huo.
A luxurious couch and a jade-white table were placed at the center of the room, facing the main stage of the auction venue, as well as the people who were seated in the normal seats down below.
With just a glance, Shun Long could also see the rest of the private rooms around him, but he couldn't make out the appearance of any of the people present in those rooms and could only see their silhouettes instead.
Clearly, there was some sort of formation set up by the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' within every private room, as it obscured the appearance of the people inside.
Naturally, this was done by the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' to let everyone bid freely, without the need to feel afraid that their identity would be exposed and that they would end up offending someone during the auction.
However, just as Shun Long was about to sit on the couch and wait for the auction to begin, a dozen different soul senses suddenly entered his room and swept past his body, before they moved towards the rest of the private rooms a few moments later.
Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he sensed this but his body didn't seem to have the slightest bit of reaction to it, as he calmly seated himself on the couch a few moments later and took out a wooden barrel of wine from his herb garden, placing it on the jade-white table in front of him.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', a dangerous glint flashed inside Little Black's deep azure eyes when he sensed this sudden intrusion in Shun Long's room, before the black dragon's serious voice resounded in Shun Long's mind a moment later
''Master, it seems that this 'White tiger chamber of commerce' has managed to attract quite a few people. There are at least a dozen late-stage Dao Emperors, as well as 4 Sovereign realm cultivators present in this place.''
4 Sovereign realm experts!
If the people inside Murong city knew that there were 4 Sovereign realm experts who had come to the auction of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' today, they would be sitting on pins and needles.
Even the Murong family, the overlord of Murong city only had 2 Sovereign realm experts backing them and they could do whatever they wanted in the city.
It was almost certain that if those 4 Sovereign realm experts started fighting, the entire Murong city would be razed to the ground!
And yet, Shun Long wasn't too surprised when he heard this.
After all, even Sovereign realm experts would want to get their hands on any earth flames that appeared, and this was even more so for the rarer earth flames with special attributes.
Although most people didn't know about this matter, Shun Long was perfectly aware that each earth flame was unique and had its own properties. Some earth flames purely had the element of fire inside them, but there were earth flames with the element of wind, the element of lightning, and even the element of ice, along with many other elements.
There were even some earth flames who focused on the special attributes of a person's soul.
When an expert absorbed an earth flame, they would then have the chance to gain insights on the element inside the earth flame, increasing their strength even further!
This was why, more often than not, even experts who weren't alchemists or formation masters would do everything they could to get their hands on an earth flame!
-
At the same time that Shun Long sat down on the couch and started to drink some of his wine while completely ignoring what was going on in the rooms around him, in one of the private rooms that was just a few meters away from his own, a silver-haired middle-aged woman in white robes narrowed her eyes as she mumbled to herself in a curious voice
''Who is this person? Someone that even I can't see through their cultivation base...? Don't tell me that it's a middle-stage Sovereign? But the people from the 'Northern Sovereign's city', the 'Black mist valley', and 'Lord Zhu's garden' are already here and none of their middle-stage Sovereigns have come to Murong city! It's not the old ancestor of the Murong family either...
Perhaps this person belongs to another power that's not from the northern part of the central region...''
The 3 white-robed women who were standing next to the silver-haired middle-aged woman all had looks of shock on their faces when they heard this, before one of them asked
''Master, didn't the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' tell us that there were only 4 Sovereign realm experts who had come to Murong city, including master herself? How come there is another one now?''
After a moment of silence, the silver-haired middle-aged woman shook her head and answered in a calm manner
''Perhaps this person hid himself too well, or he has a special relationship with the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' which is why they kept this a secret. Regardless, it doesn't matter who he is. The only thing that matters is who will get their hands on the earth flame in the end.''
The 3 white-robed women nodded without saying anything else, as they all turned their attention to the main stage of the auction venue as they waited for the auction to start.
Finally, a little more than an hour later, the seats in the audience below, as well as the private rooms up above, were all filled to the brim with people, before a beautiful young woman in yellow robes finally appeared on the main stage of the auction venue, causing the entire crowd to immediately fall silent.