With the approach of Peacock Demon City’s decennial grand auction, the Demon City grew increasingly lively.
Numerous factions and Independent Cultivator Great Demons flocked from all over, preparing to attend this auction.
Business for temporary cave residences in the Demon City improved significantly, and many inn-caves were completely full.
As the time drew near, the hype for the auction was also continuously building.
Within the Demon City, one could often hear demons of all sizes discussing the items that might appear at this auction.
"Have you heard? This time, there are a full five finale items at the auction!"
"Five items!? That many! What’s going on? According to the usual practice in past years, there should only be three!"
"Who knows! Maybe it has something to do with the Peacock Secret Realm!"
"Oh, right, I heard that there’s supposedly a Magical Treasure among the finale items this time!"
"A Magical Treasure!? For real!?"
"That’s what I heard. I don’t know if it’s true or not."
"If there’s really a Magical Treasure up for auction, then maybe even Demon Kings will make a move at the auction!"
"Yeah."
"..."
In the lulls between Alchemy sessions, Xu Chang’an would occasionally go out to gather information.
After a few days, he had managed to gather quite a bit of useful information.
This auction would last for three days, with a preliminary estimate of nearly a thousand auction items. Among them were many Tier Two Treasures, which were rarely seen on a normal day.
There were five finale items, and according to the most prevalent rumors circulating, two of them could be preliminarily confirmed.
A Magical Treasure and a Tier Three Array!
As for the other unconfirmed finale items, there were countless theories, each with its own tale, making it impossible to distinguish truth from fiction.
Even for finale items, a certain degree of mystery still needed to be maintained.
At the very least, this kind of information was hard to come by on the open market. It was mostly shared within certain circles.
Not just anyone could participate in the bidding for finale items. Whether or not news about them circulated publicly didn’t really matter much. It was only necessary for specific demons to know!
The two items that had been leaked were merely groundwork to build hype.
’No news about Spiritual Items that can improve one’s Bloodline aptitude!’
Xu Chang’an sighed inwardly.
It seemed unlikely that such a Spiritual Item would appear at this auction. Even if it did, he probably couldn’t use it in his current situation.
After thinking it over, Xu Chang’an decided to hold onto his Talisman Treasure.
Selling the Talisman Treasure would net him a large amount of Demon Stones. Even if he didn’t bid on a Spiritual Item, he could use the funds to purchase other Elixirs and Spiritual Items to accumulate Energy for his panel.
However, for one, the accumulated Energy wouldn’t be enough to meet the threshold for a breakthrough. For another, this Talisman Treasure had already been seen by the Peacock Princess. If he sold it at auction in the Demon City and the Peacock Princess found out, he might not be able to collect the Demon Stones smoothly.
If there was a 100% chance of a Spiritual Item that could improve his Bloodline aptitude appearing, Xu Chang’an would be willing to take the risk. But as things stood...
The risk was too great, and the reward too small. After weighing everything, he decided to keep the Talisman Treasure!
A few more days passed, and the little lioness from Lion’s Mane Cave arrived in Peacock Demon City.
She came looking for Xu Chang’an at the Flame Leaf Elixir Workshop.
On this day, Xu Chang’an was in the courtyard exchanging Alchemy insights with the Horned Horse Demon Alchemist Lin.
A Little Demon from the Elixir Workshop came to report that a Great Demon, who had taken the form of a young girl in a purple dress, was looking for him.
As soon as he heard this, Xu Chang’an knew that the little lioness from Lion’s Mane Cave had arrived.
He immediately apologized to Pill Master Lin and followed the Little Demon to the Elixir Workshop’s main hall.
"Pill Master Lin, an old friend has come to visit. I’ll go and receive her."
"Go ahead."
The Horned Horse Demon was quite curious. They had been colleagues for years, and this was the first time he had heard that the Gray Rat Alchemist had any old friends.
So, he also followed Xu Chang’an to the main hall.
In the main hall, a petite young girl was curiously looking around.
She wore a short purple skirt, revealing a pair of exceptionally fair thighs.
It was none other than the little lioness from Lion’s Mane Cave, Cheng Mengying.
"Miss Cheng, I trust you’ve been well!"
Xu Chang’an said, stepping forward and bowing with his hands clasped.
After exchanging several letters, they had become quite familiar with each other.
By his own standards, he should have addressed her as Fellow Daoist Cheng, but this little lioness had told him to call her Miss Cheng instead.
Cheng Mengying’s eyes lit up when she saw Xu Chang’an appear.
"Gray Rat, long time no see!"
The young girl walked up to Xu Chang’an, her fair thighs swaying, and greeted him with a smile.
Xu Chang’an’s public Cultivation was now at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. Taking the opportunity from breaking through to Late-stage Qi Refining, his external physique was now about the size of an ordinary teenage human.
At this moment, standing before the petite Cheng Mengying, there was little difference in their heights.
’Speaking of which, this little lioness is incredibly fierce during Magical Combat, so why is her transformed appearance that of a petite young girl!?’
’Is she trying to make her enemies underestimate her!?’
Having not seen each other for a long time, the two demons naturally had a lot of catching up to do.
It was a little awkward at first, but with the foundation of friendship laid by their letters, and aided by Cheng Mengying’s somewhat impish personality, the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.
They didn’t shy away from topics in their conversation, which left the Horned Horse Demon on the side utterly astonished.
’Holy cow, this petite young girl in the purple dress is a Direct Lineage Demon from Lion’s Mane Cave!’
’The Gray Rat Alchemist has this kind of Demon Vein!’
’The status of a Tier Two Alchemist is comparable to a Foundation Establishment Great Demon. They might even be courted and befriended by ordinary Foundation Establishment Great Demons.’
’However, that doesn’t mean just *any* Foundation Establishment Great Demon would try to curry favor.’
’Lion’s Mane Cave!’
’A place with a Demon King presiding over it!’
’A truly major power in its own right!’
’One can only imagine the weight carried by a Direct Lineage Great Demon from Lion’s Mane Cave.’
’This Gray Rat Alchemist is really something else.’
The Horned Horse Demon Alchemist Lin marveled inwardly.
Xu Chang’an and Cheng Mengying chatted for a while before he led her into his Alchemy Room.
Cheng Mengying had come for a personal visit, not for business with the workshop, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to receive her in the Elixir Workshop’s VIP room.