The Emperor's Domineering Favor, the Evil Consort's Unparalleled Reign

Ying Li sat with Yi Bicheng in a private room on the second floor, shrouded in silver-white gauze curtains. Looking at the large crowd in the hall, she extended her mental control ability to probe the strength of others. After a while, she found that the seating arrangement was quite reasonable. Generally, those sitting in the main hall had relatively low spiritual power, while those on the second and third floors were of higher level.

Especially on the second floor, there were even several figures at the divine cultivation level, which shows that the allure of this tomb treasure is truly considerable.

Because Old Man Yan deliberately concealed his strength, even Ying Li couldn't fathom his true power. However, since the other party was a yellow-robed spiritual master, his spiritual power must be considerable. It was just that Ying Li didn't know what level his master was at.

After withdrawing her mental control, she felt inexplicably uneasy, especially when her gaze fell upon the person opposite her, a sudden tension rising within her. Yi Bicheng seemed to notice her discomfort and leaned closer, saying, "Most of the people who come to the pawnshop in Gufeng City are people who don't want to show their faces. Unless we deliberately cause trouble, basically no one will make things difficult for us."

Ying Li nodded, picked up his teacup to refill it, but a woman with slender shoulders and a narrow waist bent down slightly and refilled his teacup without anyone noticing. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and her eyes showed a shrewd look.

Yi Bicheng was already used to it. After all, there were many women of this caliber in Tianfu. Even if the pawnshop in Gufeng City had brought so many women with excellent looks and spiritual cultivation to attract customers, he didn't care much. No matter how beautiful they were, if he didn't like them, looking at them too much would still give him a sty.

About half an hour later, Old Man Yan had finished eating and drinking and was lying comfortably on a specially made recliner. The Qilin Pearl, as the last item to be sold by the pawnshop, would probably not be auctioned until late at night. What was being auctioned now were some very exquisite but ineffective items.

Yi Bicheng liked the Cicada Moon Pearl, but because the pearl was extremely hard and could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, there were many bidders. He had to put in a lot of effort to finally acquire the treasure.

Decorating a fan with cicada-shaped beads on a red plum blossom in the far north, the white and smooth beads adorn the silver fan surface, and leaving a small cicada and a red plum blossom at the end creates a unique charm.

The pawnshop auctioned off a wide array of treasures, and finally, the Qilin Pearl was up for auction. Ying Li and Old Man Yan sat up straight, watching as a sexy woman in a fiery red dress slowly walked past the crowd carrying a lacquer box. Her beauty and figure were enough to make any man present bleed from their nose.

What shocked Ying Li was that this woman was also a master of the Divine Cultivation stage, estimated to be around the third level. Ying Li was incredibly surprised when he first saw Jin Yi, a seventh-level Divine Cultivation cultivator, in the pawnshop of Linshui City. However, after hearing about Wei Lingyun's matter, he understood that Jin Yi's skills were superb. Her initial refuge in the small city of Linshui was actually a means to escape. Her carelessness and subsequent death at the hands of Yi Bicheng were also due to Jin Yi's years of fleeing, hoping to find a good backer, and Yi Bicheng at the time happened to meet all her requirements.

Although Ancient Wind City is much simpler and more dilapidated than Linshui City, it is still a gathering place for the tombs of powerful figures. It is perfectly normal for there to be a few divine cultivators like that woman in the pawnshop.

The woman opened the top of the lacquer box, and a brilliant red light burst forth in the hall, drawing everyone's attention. Old Man Yan squinted, his right hand, which was holding the wine pot, paused, and his eyes lit up as he looked at the perfectly round red jewel in the hall.

"Ah Li, this is a top-quality treasure. It's a bead formed from the spiritual power of the Qilin divine beast. Usually, it comes in twins, one being the divine beast and the other the Qilin pearl. Although the Qilin divine beast is quite common on the Spirit Realm Continent, its spiritual power is extremely strong. The pearl has the power to connect heaven and earth, making it especially suitable for cultivating mental control. It's something that ordinary people, except for those from powerful families, can't obtain. You must get the pearl today; it will be of great help to you."

Seeing that Old Man Yan had changed his usual rascal-like manner, Ying Li secretly made up his mind to get his hands on the Qilin Pearl.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. The final item for today's auction at the pawnshop is the Qilin Pearl. The bidding qualifications are Spirit Masters with a Spiritual Power Restraint cultivation level of four or higher. Please, all Spirit Masters, present your precious Spiritual Agents. The highest bidder wins!" A woman named Yin Hong placed the pearl behind a barrier that had been set up in the hall. She then stood aside, smiling at the crowd. With a slight movement of her lips, she announced, "The auction for the Qilin Pearl begins! Please reveal your chips!"

As soon as the woman finished speaking, people in the hall began to murmur among themselves, but after a while, apart from the noise, no one in the hall was able to produce a spirit token to exchange. On the second floor, some of the hundred or so distinguished guests whispered instructions to the maids beside them, and soon someone produced a spirit token to exchange.

"It's actually the Spirit Summoning Rat from the Ghost Realm! What a treasure! I've heard that the Spirit Summoning Rat sets up a spirit-dispelling array, and anyone who steps into it will immediately be poisoned and die a gruesome death, with the poison spreading extremely rapidly throughout the body. The spirit mage who can produce such a Spirit Summoning Rat must be a high-level spirit mage, but I don't know their level. In any case, it has certainly broadened our horizons!"

"Even if the Spirit Lord were to retrieve this Qilin Pearl, he might not be able to find it in the Spirit Beast Mountain Range. It is said that it is currently only found in the treasuries of the nine great families and the Mu royal family, but because it is so precious, it is not easily used by people. Now that one has been found, people are fighting over it."

"..."

People were talking excitedly, their faces filled with anticipation.

"Ha, it's just a Qiushu Spirit Guide, and you people are already jealous? You've never seen anything like it!" Just as people were marveling, a sharp female voice sneered from a private room on the second floor.

Everyone was startled and was about to shush her when the woman whispered something to her maid. The maid's expression suddenly changed, and she shouted, "Exchange for the Spirit-Guiding Bird and the Spirit-Guiding Mouse! Does anyone else have any treasures to offer?"

"Huo!"

As soon as the maid finished speaking, everyone gasped. The Flying Bird Spirit was powerful and cunning, and ordinary people could not tame it. Although many of them were stranded on the continent during the war between humans and ghosts, it was said that some spirit masters had lost their lives in order to tame the Flying Bird Spirit. The woman sounded young, but with such a grand gesture, her skill was clearly not low.

Ying Li was also somewhat shocked. In the past few days, she had been frantically studying spiritual techniques and had learned quite a bit about these ferocious birds. If this woman wasn't a red-robed spiritual mage, she really wouldn't have been able to tame the bird. But how could an ordinary person become a red-robed spiritual mage? Old Man Yan was almost ninety years old and had become a yellow-robed spiritual mage, but according to his past experiences, he only became a red-robed spiritual mage when he was over thirty-five. Now, this young woman had produced such a powerful spiritual technique; she was truly capable.

"Young Master Qi will exchange his Spirit-Guiding Celestial Dog for a private room number eighty-two!"

The other side calmly instructed the maid to announce the exchange of spirit guides. Everyone held their breath in anticipation. This was another powerful spirit guide. The celestial dog was the size of a small spirit beast with extremely high attack power. It had once fought two first-stage divine cultivators in the war between humans and ghosts, and the battle ended in a draw after several rounds. In the end, the divine cultivators were seriously injured.

"They're all serious here! They've even brought out the Tengu Spirit Summoning Technique. This is truly an eye-opener!"

Old Man Yan looked at Ying Li with a surprised expression and gestured with his lips, "Ah Li, you should observe first. Our wolf hunter is valuable. If no one places a bet, then we'll make our move." Because of the frequent wars between humans and ghosts, there are many spirit guides scattered across the continent. It's not surprising that someone has a spirit guide or something.

Ying Li nodded, opened the Xuanjin curtain to look at the wolf inside, its belly round and snoring. Seeing that it stayed obediently inside, she and Yi Bicheng sat comfortably behind the silver-white gauze curtain, closely watching the woman's movements across from them. However, Ying Li felt that she had heard that sound somewhere before.

"Hmph, the Tengu is not bad, but it's too inferior. I won't use the Flying Bird Spirit Guide. This time, I'll use the Leopard Cat!" The woman snorted coldly, slammed her hand on the table, and announced the exchange of spirit guides herself without letting the maid pass on the message.

"This woman is incredibly domineering. She's collected so many spirit guides in a row. I've seen leopard cat spirit guides before, but apart from the leopard cat master, the others are just ordinary. Yet this woman chose to use this spirit guide to overpower the celestial dog, which shows that this leopard cat is no ordinary creature. Although it can't compare to the leopard cat in the secret passage of the Yin Huan family manor, it was able to defeat the celestial dog's spirit guide, so it's no pushover," Ying Li analyzed, looking at the woman's location with a hint of curiosity.

"This woman is quite remarkable; she can possess two types of spiritual energy simultaneously. She seems to have some skill!"

"Let's see if anyone else has a more powerful spirit summoning ability than the leopard cat. Will those old spirit masters just give up like this?"

"..."

Old Cui glanced at the half-dead Ma Yin, then looked in the direction of the woman who had spoken, his brows furrowing. A girl who could produce two kinds of spiritual guides—could she have some powerful family behind her? In recent years, he had focused all his attention on lust. Although he had a disciple, Ma Yin, he was too arrogant and didn't teach her very seriously.

It seemed he would have to bring out some good stuff today, so he touched the maid's shapely buttocks and, with ill intent, kissed her chest hard as she bent over, until a flush appeared on her chest, before saying fiercely, "Exchange for the Spirit-Guiding Abyss Serpent."

The maid had seen all sorts of people in the pawnshop. She saw hundreds of lecherous old men like him every year. To do this job, you had to endure what ordinary people couldn't. Besides, this old man was a yellow-robed spirit sorcerer, and they couldn't afford to offend him.

The maid giggled and threw herself into Cui Yunfei's arms, rubbing against him intentionally or unintentionally. She gave a wink to the woman next to her, who then loudly announced the exchange of spirit tokens.

Everyone was shocked; the hall was deathly silent.

Old Man Yan gulped down a mouthful of wine, gave Old Man Cui a cold glare, and slapped Ying Li on the back with a show of bravado, saying, "Li, don't argue with him. What's so great about a mere Abyss Serpent!"

Just as Ying Li was about to announce her exchange of spirit guides, the woman angrily lifted the silver-white gauze curtain and said angrily, "Hmph, this princess has truly met her match! Coincidentally, my next exchange of spirit guides is also the Abyss Serpent! How about we have a contest?!"

When Ying Li saw the woman's face clearly, he couldn't help but stand up. Wasn't that Ling Xiaoxiao, whom he had encountered in Huai'an Kingdom? She had begged Yin Huan relentlessly, only to be injured and forced to leave. What was she doing here? And wasn't she supposed to be a princess of the Ling Royal Family of the Mu Clan? Why would she be searching for the Qilin Pearl at this pawnshop? Her own treasury had countless of them!