The Merchant Continent was not particularly vast, yet it served as a crossroads connecting all directions.
Because there were many direct teleportation arrays leading to other continents, its commercial atmosphere was extremely developed. Countless rare treasures from all over the world converged here, attracting hordes of people.
And since this continent also possessed a teleportation array to the Skylaw Continent, this made it the final stop before Liu Bai and Jiu You reached Skylaw.
This journey had taken them nearly two months!
"Seriously… I'm exhausted…" Even Liu Bai couldn't help but sigh. Because Jiu You felt that using teleportation arrays was too much of a loss, the two of them had flown the entire way. One could imagine how tiring it was.
"Heh, you should be thanking me. If I hadn't been so frugal, you would've wasted at least ten thousand drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid by now. Do you know what that means? Even as the Palace Master of the Nine Nether Palace, I wouldn't dare spend that much!"
"Yes, yes. Thank you, Sister Jiu You, for saving me a mid-grade divine artifact."
Jiu You gave him a sideways glance, then looked toward the land below. "Alright, we're now within the territory of the Merchant Continent. On this continent lies the largest auction house among dozens of surrounding continents. Countless heavenly treasures, divine artifacts, and even Divine Arts circulate here through various channels. As long as you have Sovereign Spiritual Liquid, you can buy anything you want."
Liu Bai nodded lightly. "I'm afraid not everything here arrives through… proper means."
Jiu You shrugged. "Who cares? As long as everyone gets what they want."
That was the reality.
"Oh, right—there are a few things you must remember here…" Jiu You suddenly said.
"First, especially inside the auction houses, be honest. Although this place isn't huge, it's extremely chaotic. There are countless major and minor factions, and most auction houses have powerful backgrounds behind them. So even though treasures gather here, few dare act recklessly."
"It's said that a few hundred years ago, a powerhouse from a top-tier force lost a bid on a divine item. He became enraged and directly attacked inside the auction hall, killing the manager and his bidding rival before seizing the treasure."
"This matter shook the Merchant Continent. Within mere days, that top-tier faction was besieged by numerous major powers. They suffered catastrophic losses, and even that powerhouse was severely wounded. In the end, he was forced to return the divine item and pay an enormous compensation to settle the matter."
"So you—skinny arms and thin legs—don't go trying anything lawless. No one will be able to save you…"
Liu Bai raised an eyebrow. He had heard of a similar incident before—though not in this world.
"So what if someone ambushes me outside the city? Will the auction houses care?" Liu Bai asked knowingly.
"That's the second rule…" Jiu You raised a finger and shook her head.
"The area outside the city is not a safe zone. Regardless of what happens there, as long as it doesn't involve the city itself, they don't care. So keep a low profile in the auction halls. If someone marks you, it'll be troublesome."
Liu Bai nodded with sudden understanding.
"I see. Then what if I mark someone? Will you help me?"
Jiu You: "…"
"That depends on what benefits you give me."
"I'm telling you now—if you want me to be your hired muscle, don't expect me to work for free!"
"No problem! From now on, we'll be the perfect outlaw duo, robbing the rich to help the poor!"
Jiu You's beautiful eyes widened. "Outlaw duo? Robbing? Your face is seriously thick. How did you connect 'robbing' with 'charity'? Whose wealth are you robbing, and which poor are you helping?"
"Rob their wealth… to help our poverty, of course."
"I'm done with your nonsense. We're landing our destination is here!"
Still bickering, the two descended from the sky. What appeared before them was an enormous, towering city.
Merchant City—the main city of the Merchant Continent. The largest and most magnificent city on the continent, and the central hub of everything.
The moment Liu Bai arrived outside Merchant City, he lifted his head to behold the monumental city walls, as if forged by deities themselves. Even the massive Northern Heaven City paled in comparison.
The walls soared hundreds of meters high, completely black and glimmering with cold light. They stretched so far that the edges vanished beyond sight.
Huge arrays flickered across the walls, releasing terrifying spiritual fluctuations. Overhead, massive light pillars surged skyward, forming a protective dome over the entire city.
To enter, one had to use the city gates. Descending from the sky would trigger the grand array and be treated as an invasion.
"What a powerful Spiritual Array!"
Although the array was not hidden, Liu Bai could still see glimpses of its structure. At the very least, the array's level surpassed eighth-rank—perhaps even a ninth-rank Grandmaster Array!
Even an Earth Sovereign expert would fail to break through it.
And such arrays were sealed both inside and out, meaning that once activated, even those inside wouldn't be able to escape.
"Let's go." Jiu You glanced at the gates. "The divine item you need is rare, but finding it shouldn't be too difficult here. We'll check some auction houses and see if they have anything suitable."
Liu Bai nodded.
Unlike Mu Chen in the original story, Liu Bai's Spiritual Condensing Bowl wasn't sealed, so he could freely use all the Sovereign Spiritual Liquid within. This was why he had been spending so extravagantly.
After all, his cultivation didn't rely heavily on spiritual liquid. It was better to spend it now to obtain what he urgently needed.
After entering the city, Liu Bai finally saw what the most prosperous city among dozens of surrounding continents looked like.
The wide avenues were far broader than any modern road he had ever seen in his past life, yet they were still overflowing with people—shoulder to shoulder, barely moving.
And Jiu You, being an absolute beauty—tall, perfect figure, delicate features, and especially those slightly narrow eyes that turned seductive when narrowed—naturally attracted countless gazes.
Seeing several shady-looking men inching closer with lecherous intent, Liu Bai immediately strode forward, spreading his broad chest and sturdy arms as he pulled Jiu You into his embrace. Then he shot a fierce glare at the offenders.
Jiu You didn't reject the intimate gesture. She even chuckled softly.
Feeling the increasingly hostile gazes around them, she leaned her body even closer against Liu Bai…
In that instant, Liu Bai felt an indescribably soft sensation crash into his chest, making his heart tremble violently.
Only after they passed through the most crowded section of the street did Jiuyou finally step out of Liu Bai's embrace. She glanced at him, her eyes filled with amusement as she spoke lightly: "So, how was it? Very comfortable, right?"
Liu Bai coughed lightly at her words and immediately put on the appearance of a righteous gentleman.
"No, it was only somewhat comfortable…"
"No, what I meant was those guys earlier were too vile. They actually wanted to take advantage of you because of the crowd. Luckily I reacted quickly, otherwise they might really have succeeded!"
"Oh? Then why do I feel like a certain vile person still managed to get his way just now?"
As she spoke, Jiuyou leaned in again, her tone filled with teasing amusement. "But elder sister does not mind. Since you like taking advantage of elder sister so much, how about one of these days I warm your bed for you?"
"This… probably not good…" Liu Bai hesitated. He genuinely could not tell whether this woman was being serious or not.
"You really do have that kind of thought. Then fine. Just be careful when the time comes. I wonder if that small body of yours can even handle it…"
"No, no, I was joking. Truly…"
In the end, their playful banter concluded with Liu Bai's defeat. He had no choice. His strength was lacking, so he simply could not retaliate. If he wanted revenge, he could only wait until his cultivation surpassed hers.
The two of them did not linger on the streets any longer and headed straight for the auction house.
Although many shops along the way contained good items, if one wanted to find truly rare Divine Artifacts or rare Divine Treasures, the auction house was the only place to go.
Things there might be more expensive, but their quality was absolutely guaranteed.
The largest auction house in Merchant City was located in the center of the city. Even someone who had just entered Merchant City would be able to see the towering structure.
Of course, unlike in the original story, Liu Bai did not encounter a young girl who had snuck out of her home disguised as a boy, because right now she was probably still at home under her father's strict supervision, diligently cultivating.
After walking through several streets and turning around a corner, their vision suddenly opened up. Ahead stood a massive hall as large as a mountain, silently towering over its surroundings. Majestic spiritual energy radiated from within, rising into the sky like a pillar of light.
"Tsk tsk, the Merchant Auction House…" Jiuyou looked up at the enormous golden characters above the hall and smiled. "This is the place."
"With this scale and grandeur, it certainly lives up to being the largest auction house among dozens of surrounding continents. Even many top tier forces from Skylaw Continent will likely send people here."
Clearly, it was the first time both Liu Bai and Jiuyou had seen an auction house of this level, and neither could hide the shock in their eyes.
Stepping quickly into the auction house, Liu Bai's first sight was a great crystal hall. At its front was a massive light screen displaying the auctions currently taking place or about to begin, along with the treasures that would appear in each session.
Very soon, Liu Bai found the item he sought on the screen.
"The Heavenly River Divine Sand. An earth attribute Divine Treasure on par with the Taiyi True Water. It is said that a single grain can fill a lake spanning hundreds of miles."
"This is perfect. If I use Heavenly River Divine Sand to construct the Five Spirit Divine Celestial Body, then with one strike, who in the same level could block it? And Heavenly River Divine Sand can even transform one into ten thousand. Even the top ranked Sovereign Celestial Body will struggle to defend against it."
The joy on Liu Bai's face was completely unconcealed. It was clear he was extremely satisfied with the Heavenly River Divine Sand.
Jiuyou signaled to him, then casually tossed ten drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid to the female attendant at a nearby counter. She retrieved two entry tokens for the auction and pulled Liu Bai through the hall, entering a light gate.
Beyond the light gate was an arena like chamber. Its size was not large, able to hold only a few hundred people. This was a small scale auction session where the number of items was limited, but all of extremely high quality. Only those with substantial means could enter.
When Liu Bai entered, he casually swept his gaze across the room. He immediately sensed several individuals he would rather not provoke. Their auras were even stronger than Jiuyou's. They were likely Fifth-Grade Sovereign.
Normally, unless a top tier sect dispatched its high level members personally, Fifth-Grade Sovereign were already considered formidable.
But if this were a grand core auction session of a major power, Liu Bai would not even be qualified to enter. In this smaller session, although the attendees were strong, they were not enough to intimidate Liu Bai and Jiuyou.
Next, they simply had to sit quietly, wait for the auction to begin, and secure the item they desired.
There were no troublemakers, and no one attempted to provoke them because of Jiuyou's beauty. This left Liu Bai slightly disappointed. It seemed his protagonist aura did not come with a surrounding aura of lowering others' intelligence. That made things slightly less entertaining.
Jiuyou, however, was not idle. She occasionally introduced the identities of individuals she recognized.
"Those few are from the Celestial Fox Sect. Look at them. Their entire bodies reek of charm." Jiuyou curled her lip toward several scantily dressed women.
At their center stood a young man wearing a flashy bright pink robe. The overly intimate behavior among them made even Liu Bai unable to restrain a disdainful glare.
"That man's identity is not simple. He is likely the fat sheep those fox spirits managed to hook. Just watch. Judging from his hollowed out appearance, he will probably end up losing even his underwear before the auction ends."
....
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