The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

"Everyone!"

Chu Xiu's cultivation level was fully revealed, and naturally no one dared to question his qualifications to preside over the trade fair.

The moment he spoke, he attracted the attention of everyone present.

"As is customary, I will now read out the rules of the Heavenly Auction."

"First!"

Anyone below the Qiankun Realm who dares to cause trouble or disrupt the auction will be executed without mercy!

"Anyone above the Qiankun Realm, regardless of their cultivation level, background, or power, will be crippled and expelled from the Heavenly-level Trading City by the sect leader of my Demon Yama Sect!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

Ye Wujiang felt a headache coming on as he listened to Chu Xiu's embellished version of the auction rules.

"This kid...did he realize I'd set a trap for him and is deliberately messing with me?"

There was no other way; as the young sect leader of the Demon Yama Sect, Chu Xiu's words largely represented the will of the sect leader.

Since Chu Xiu had already made such a boastful statement, he had no choice but to agree!

"Notify the senior elders to prepare for battle."

Ye Wujiang rubbed his temples and gave instructions to the two maids beside him who were at the early stage of the Qiankun Realm.

"Yes."

The maidservant vanished in a flash, returning two breaths later.

At the same time, the top experts on the third level also sensed the abnormal movement of the surrounding天地能量 (heaven and earth energy). By the time they reacted, an extremely powerful array had already enveloped the entire Heaven-level Trading City under the control of ten Supreme Elders of the Demon Yama Sect who were at the Great Perfection of the Reincarnation Realm.

Whether they were experts at the Qiankun Realm or others, they were now trapped like turtles in a jar!

"Night Without Borders? What are you up to?"

The doubts of the other eight Qiankun Realm experts rose, and Ye Wujiang said helplessly:

"What's the rush? A bunch of old fogies."

"They were just putting on an act to cooperate with my son-in-law, yet they're all terrified. They're a disgrace to the Qiankun Realm!"

Faced with Ye Wujiang's shamelessness, the other Qiankun Realm experts were helpless.

Of course, this also stems from their trust in Ye Wujiang, an old friend they had known for tens of thousands of years.

Those who were able to reserve permanent use of the private rooms on the third floor were all allies of the Demon King Sect.

Ye Wujiang would not attack them for no reason.

Chu Xiu glanced around the silent hall and spoke again:

"Secondly, all items auctioned or traded will be personally appraised and priced by the two ladies behind me, Bai Yao and Bai Tiao. Once the value is determined, anyone who questions the two ladies' appraisal abilities should take their items and get out of Wutong Pavilion!"

"Third, all items auctioned will be awarded to the highest bidder. Anyone who uses their status, cultivation level, or other means to bully the weak or disrupt the fairness of the auction will be executed without mercy!"

Chu Xiu recited all the rules in one breath, leaving the cultivators on the first and second floors speechless.

The rules he mentioned were largely the same as those they knew from previous years, except... the severity of the punishments was greatly increased.

There's no rule that just lets people kill without mercy...

Ye Wujiang looked at the young sect leader and son-in-law he had personally chosen, and the more he looked, the happier he became.

This Chu Xiu is not only young and promising, deserving of the title of a once-in-a-millennium genius, but he is also not only a genius with outstanding personal strength, but he can even provide help to his father-in-law who is about to face a great calamity.

In Ye Wujiang's mind, the divination performed for him by the diviner named Dao Yunzi when he encountered the number one diviner of the Heavenly Continent ten thousand years ago still echoed:

"Ye Wujiang, I'm afraid you'll never be able to advance beyond the Qiankun realm in this lifetime..."

"But perhaps there is one person who can help you overcome the obstacles preventing your advancement..."

"If one day you encounter a young man from the ancient world who possesses extraordinary destiny, remember to establish a friendly relationship with him no matter what, so that he can help you resist the great calamity of heaven and earth on the day you undergo your tribulation."

"Only in this way is it possible..."

Snapped!

Ye Wujiang's attention was brought back to normal by Chu Xiu's clapping.

After reading out the rules, Chu Xiu clapped his hands and officially announced the start of the auction.

He glanced at Bai Yao and Bai Tiao, and the two immediately nodded in understanding.

Bai Yao walked to the display stand, waved her hand, and a blood-red halberd radiating a sharp luster appeared on the stand.

"The first item up for auction is a Celestial-grade weapon/magic treasure from the Northern Land Immortal Treasure Pavilion—the Immortal Slayer Halberd!"

After Bai Yao stepped back, Chu Xiu immediately stepped forward, took down the blood-red halberd, and performed a set of halberd techniques commonly used by ordinary martial artists in front of everyone.

Even without the aid of magic, the powerful aura emanating from this immortal-grade halberd surged towards the audience like layers of waves.

"What a magnificent Immortal-Slaying Halberd!"

Chu Xiu nodded in admiration and looked at Bai Yao.

Bai Yao immediately offered a price: "The owner of the Immortal-grade weapon/magic treasure, the Immortal-Slaying Halberd, hopes to complete the transaction with magic crystals. I'm offering one billion magic crystals!"

A cultivator at the Great Perfection of the First Level of the Transcending Truth Realm might not be able to discern the intricacies of this Immortal-grade weapon or magic treasure, since even pseudo-Immortal-grade magic treasures are extremely rare to them.

In reality, even Chu Xiu only possessed a pseudo-immortal craftsman's ruler.

However, all the experts at the second level of the Reincarnation Realm recognized the special dragon pattern emblem on the Immortal Slaying Halberd.

"That's the emblem of the Pavilion Master of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion! This Immortal Slaying Halberd was actually made by the Pavilion Master of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion!"

"I bid! Two billion magic crystals!"

"Twenty-two billion!"

"Three billion!"

"..."

"Forty billion magic crystals!"

"Four billion? That's about the price of a Celestial-grade magic weapon. Any higher and it's not worth it..."

In just a few breaths, the Reincarnation Realm experts on the second floor had already raised the price of the Immortal Slaughtering Halberd from a low of 1 billion magic crystals to a high of 4 billion. Even Bai Yao felt that this price was the limit for this immortal-grade magic weapon.

Thinking of this, Bai Tiao secretly reminded Chu Xiu that he could start the countdown.

Chu Xiu smiled slightly: "A celestial-grade magic weapon that has already begun to develop a spirit is only worth forty billion magic crystals?"

"what?"

"A spirit?!"

"This Immortal-Slaying Halberd has actually developed a weapon spirit?"

A gasp of shock arose as Chu Xiu channeled his magic power, using a wisp of Heavenly Dao power—which possessed a strong attraction to these innate spiritual entities—to lure the newly formed weapon spirit out of the halberd and reveal it to everyone.

"It's truly a spirit! I'll offer six billion magic crystals!"

"Six billion? You might as well keep it to buy yourself a coffin! I'll offer 15 billion!"

"Twenty billion!"

"..."

Hearing the prices gradually rising, Chu Xiu raised an eyebrow and smiled.

This must be the true wealth of a Reincarnation Realm expert. What kind of person is that old man Mo Lie? A dignified Reincarnation Realm Great Perfection expert only has a few million magic crystals in his reserves. He has truly disgraced the Reincarnation Realm.

A celestial-grade magic weapon that has naturally nurtured a spirit, if nurtured by its master, may not only cultivate an extremely powerful and loyal combatant, but also has a high probability of upgrading the celestial-grade magic weapon to a higher-level divine craft!

Such magical treasures are coveted even by powerful cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Reincarnation Realm.

On another note, Chu Xiu smiled awkwardly. He didn't seem to have many magic crystals in his pocket. The ten billion magic crystals he had exchanged for someone's head were still in the hands of A Nu and Xue Li. He hadn't even seen a trace of those magic crystals yet.

Sigh, I'm so poor...

Ultimately, the Immortal-grade weapon, the Immortal-Slaying Halberd, possessing a spirit, was auctioned off for a high price of 40 billion.

In previous years, magical treasures of this caliber were always reserved for the grand finale.

And in this year's trade fair, it was used as the opening...

It is clear that the items traded at this trade fair are not the same items that Chu Xiu had seen in the brochure, but rather items that Ye Wujiang had instructed him to change after he entered the Demon God's Tomb.

Bai Yao and Bai Tiao, standing behind Chu Xiu, exchanged glances and both saw the shock in each other's eyes.

Besides shock, Bai Tiao's eyes also held deep shame and remorse.

Bai Yao's spiritual cultivation was even higher than Bai Tiao's, so she sensed some soul fluctuations within this immortal artifact. Just as she was about to remind Chu Xiu, her younger sister spoke first.

Fortunately, Chu Xiu did not heed his sister's advice directly, but instead revealed the true value of this magic weapon to everyone, preventing the loss that his sister almost caused due to negligence.

Bai Yao looked at her younger sister and Chu Xiu with concern, fearing that this young sect leader, whom she had just met, would severely punish her sister because of this matter.

If that's the case, then I have no power or influence, and my Reincarnation Realm cultivation is no match for the young sect leader who is only at the early stage of the Qiankun Realm. So I can only resort to special means... to obtain the young sect leader's forgiveness for my sister...

Bai Yao was about to speak up to share the responsibility with her younger sister, but Chu Xiu raised his hand to stop her.

Chu Xiu shook his head, indicating that there was no need for that.

"Young Sect Master... I'm sorry..." Bai Tiao lowered her head and said softly.

Chu Xiu smiled and patted her shoulder, comforting her, "It's alright. The spirit of this artifact is very well hidden. If my spiritual cultivation were not so high, I would not have been able to detect the abnormality inside the artifact either, just like you. There's no need to blame yourself. Just continue to work hard to improve yourself in the future."

"Thank you, Young Sect Master!"

Bai Yao burst into tears of joy. She never expected that this young sect leader would be so kind and generous. She couldn't help but feel fortunate for her younger sister.

"Well, go ahead."

Chu Xiu withdrew his gaze and looked towards the audience seats:

"The second item up for auction is the well-preserved, unclaimed body of a... early-stage Qiankun Realm expert!"

"If there are fellow Daoists present who have lost their physical bodies and only have their souls left, and are waiting for the right opportunity to possess a body, this physical body will surely be very much to your liking!"