Chapter 619

Chapter 619: Auction

“Look at what I’ve caught!”

A wolf beast proudly shook a child it held upside down by the leg.

This was the spoils it had just “dug” out from a tunnel.

Although wolf beasts held a low status among the demons, they were cunning and ferocious, exceptionally skilled at digging, and possessed keen senses of smell. Because of this, very few cultivators hiding underground could escape their pursuit.

Most importantly, the tunnels connecting Feixu Valley to the outside world had been destroyed by the giant elephants.

Some cultivators hiding underground met unfortunate fates, while the rest fell one by one into the hands of the wolf beasts.

Of course, the wolf beasts didn’t always have smooth digging operations.

They encountered strong resistance and suffered casualties.

However, whenever such situations arose, two great beasts transformed into humans would immediately rush over.

They either drove the resistors out of hiding or crushed them outright!

The giant elephants specialized in earth-based magic and possessed powerful talent abilities; it was futile for the cultivators to hide deep underground.

This wolf beast had gotten lucky, capturing a beautifully chiseled little girl.

It couldn’t help but swallow hard, greed gleaming in its wolfish eyes.

Instinctively, it bared its sharp fangs.

The captured child was barely three or four years old, now terrified and crying with tears streaming down her face. She was kicking her limbs and repeatedly shouting, “Daddy, Mommy, please save little girl!”

Her cries were pitiful, and many cultivators kneeling nearby showed sympathetic expressions.

But the wolf beast holding her grew even more excited, extending its wet tongue toward the little girl’s face.

Slap!

An accompanying wolf beast smacked it on the back of the head with a paw, angrily shouting, “Stop playing around; we need to focus on the task at hand!”

The wolf beast grudgingly withdrew its tongue and tossed the little girl into the group of captives.

At that moment, the wolf beasts’ search operations were nearing their end.

Meanwhile, two Golden Core Great Beasts spoke haughtily to a group of over ten cultivators.

These cultivators came from different flying ships, and after a brief exchange with the Golden Core Great Beasts, they quickly reached a consensus before entering the bidding phase.

The first batch of fifty cultivators was tied together, like livestock, by the wolf beasts and brought forth for the auctioneers to inspect.

The expressions of these cultivators varied: some were ashen-faced, others bore expressions of humiliation, some glared angrily, while others trembled in fear.

The auctioneers, however, surveyed their kin with cold, calculating eyes, clearly accustomed to such sights.

“I bid five thousand Intermediate Spirits.”

“Five thousand five.”

“Six thousand!”

The auction proceeded swiftly. After a brief yet intense round of bidding, the final victor emerged.

He handed a storage bag filled with spirit stones to a Golden Core Great Beast and commanded his men to bring the captives aboard his flying ship.

Suddenly, cries and pleas erupted from the families of the purchased cultivators, who watched helplessly as their loved ones, the pillars of their households, were taken away, leaving them utterly heartbroken.

Separation from family, couples torn apart, friends severed…

Many cultivators’ eyes were about to burst with rage, but their struggles only invited the vicious whip strikes from the wolf beasts.

The cultivators, their powers sealed, were defenseless against these specially crafted whips, and they were mercilessly lashed until their flesh split open, blood streaming down.

The injuries, though not fatal, were excruciating!

Soon, the second and third batches followed.

The cultivators from Feixu Camp and their families were roughly categorized into different tiers, each marked with a starting price for the auction.

Unsurprisingly, the highest bids were for Purple Palace cultivators, while those in Qi Training were far cheaper. Adult cultivators fetched several times the price of children, and female cultivators were more valuable than their male counterparts.

Twenty miles away from Feixu Valley, Wang Chen witnessed the slaughter, humiliation, and auction of the cultivators, his anger beyond description.

Though Wang Chen felt no sense of belonging to Feixu Camp and had always remained on the outskirts of Feixu Valley, aside from his close ties with Zhang Mushan’s family, he had no other friends.

Wang Chen merely saw this place as a temporary refuge, a starting point in the new world.

Yet, when he saw these loose cultivators reduced to livestock, at the mercy of others, he couldn’t suppress a profound sadness for his kind.

Wang Chen had never imagined that the fate of low-level cultivators in the Haotian Upper Realm could be even more tragic than those in the Mountain-Sea Realm!

Is this truly the legendary celestial realm?

Wang Chen realized he still knew far too little about the cruelty of this world.

Despite his anger, Wang Chen kept his composure.

Truthfully, he didn’t particularly care about the other cultivators from Feixu Camp; his concern lay solely with Zhang Mushan’s family.

As an illegal resident who had smuggled his way into the upper realm, Wang Chen had managed to establish himself here and even secured loose cultivator status in Yongle Immortal City, thanks in large part to Zhang Mushan’s efforts.

Though Zhang Mushan’s actions were primarily to repay Wang Chen for saving his child, their bond had grown strong.

Thus, using the Qing Qian Kun Mirror, Wang Chen hid in a tunnel and observed Feixu Valley from a distance of twenty to thirty miles. Despite the risks, he chose not to flee quietly.

Perhaps good deeds are rewarded; Zhang Mushan’s family was fortunate, having avoided calamity during the earlier battle. Though they were all taken captive, at least they remained alive and together.

Zhang Mushan, his wife, and their twin daughters were auctioned off in batches, with the couple and their daughters bought by the same bidder.

Only Zhang Zhuanghu was unlucky enough to be taken to another flying ship!

Just as the auction was nearing its end, the three great beasts that had pursued Master Mu returned.

And they brought Master Mu with them!

Thud!

The Golden Core true master was thrown to the ground like a lifeless dog, his body and face streaked with blood, his eyes tightly shut, his face as pale as paper, and his robes in tatters—a truly pitiful sight.

“One Golden Core true master at the third level,” declared the great beast that had captured him in a deep voice. “Starting bid: five hundred Upper Spirits!”

Five hundred Upper Spirits?

The bidders exchanged glances.

But soon, someone called out, “Five hundred fifty Upper Spirits!”

“Six hundred!”

“Seven hundred!”

It was clear that the Golden Core true master was highly sought after, with bidders eagerly driving the price upward.

The final bid reached one thousand one hundred Upper Spirits!

“Let’s go!”

The great beast, now in possession of the spirit stones, snorted and growled, “Brothers, we’re heading home!”

The other four great beasts echoed, “Home!”

They had appeared suddenly and departed just as swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, they vanished with the wolf beasts in tow.

Soon after, flying ships ascended into the sky, disappearing in various directions.

Yet two flying ships and a large group of cultivators remained, including hundreds of loose cultivators from Feixu Camp and their families.

Among them were Zhang Mushan, his wife, and their twin daughters!