Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 112: Penglai

His voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear enough for everyone inside the building to hear.

"One hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones! This is just a magic weapon made by a disciple, and it’s priced this high?"

"Still, it’s the number one ranked item on the Baiqing List. And didn’t they say it can even withstand the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator? One hundred thousand spirit stones sounds about right."

"For those big sects, spending a hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones is nothing, especially for Kunlun’s Lu Chenhan. I heard Kunlun disciples get more spirit stones each year than they can use. And didn’t the Sword Sect spend one hundred fifty thousand last year for just a single Lightning-Dissolving Talisman?"

"That’s different. The Lightning-Dissolving Talisman was personally drawn by the Wuxing Sect’s leader. It can neutralize a bolt of heavenly tribulation lightning. If timed well, it could block the final bolt during the advancement to Unity Stage and help a cultivator break through safely."

The crowd buzzed with discussion. Most believed Lu Chenhan was determined to win. A hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones was no small amount, but with Kunlun backing him, some suppliers would gladly pay just to work with him.

"A hundred thousand? Kunlun isn’t that poor, right?" Mei Chouren called out, "Hehuan Sect bids one hundred fifty thousand."

Lu Chenhan looked up toward the third floor. A chill flickered in his eyes. The Hehuan Sect was always unruly and disrespectful of the rules.

He locked eyes with Mei Chouren and said coolly, "You think just having the Yamata means you’ll win?"

"Winning doesn’t matter. Our Hehuan Sect just enjoys a bit of chaos," said Yan Hao, standing next to Mei Chouren, fanning himself and smiling.

"Everyone, we still have more Trial Stones left to test," Huang Erqian quickly interjected. "Once testing is complete, we’ll officially start the bidding. Please be patient."

"We’re not in a hurry," Yan Hao said as he sat back down. "Go ahead."

Onstage, Lu Chenhan lowered his gaze, tapped his foot lightly, and leapt back into the window he had originally opened. He stood in the room, casting a glance toward Gu Liangtian to the side, then at the two from the Hehuan Sect, before finally staring at the Qianji Sect’s window across the way, deep in thought.

"Next, we need a cultivator in the early Unity Stage," Huang Erqian said. "Is there a Daoist friend willing to come up?"

"There’s no Unity Stage cultivator here," someone in the middle of the first floor mocked. "This isn’t some grand auction event."

"Would late Unity Stage be acceptable?" A voice came from a corner of the first floor. Xin Shenzi stepped forward, looking like he had been standing there for a long time.

Yixuan, seeing his wild-haired second master downstairs, whispered, "…Second Master."

"Why didn’t your second master come with you?" Xia Er asked curiously.

Yixuan gripped his sword and lowered his eyes. "I didn’t tell him."

He was too used to shouldering everything alone.

Down below, Huang Erqian immediately replied, "Of course! We’re well aware high-level cultivators rarely attend events like this."

"Just don’t use your full strength."

Xin Shenzi’s messy, blown-out hair alone was enough to make everyone in the building recognize him instantly—

—Xin the Madman from the Sword Sect.

Over two hundred years ago, he was a rising star in the sect-wide competition, nearly costing Kunlun their top rank. In the final match, with only a single sword, he forced Kunlun’s senior disciple to exhaust all his magic weapons. Though he lost, he earned great respect.

Back then, the Sword Sect master offered him protective gear, but Xin Shenzi refused. He charged into the final with nothing but his sword.

That very match earned him his nickname: Xin the Madman.

"This thing’s got some heft to it," Xin Shenzi said, weighing the Yamata weapon in his hand.

Compared to Lu Chenhan, he grasped its essence even faster. Standing among the remaining eight Trial Stones, he moved so quickly it was hard to even see. In the blink of an eye, all eight Trial Stones which could each withstand a full-force strike from a Unity Stage cultivato, were shattered.

Xin looked down at the weapon, now reverted to a plain wooden staff, and said, "Modern magic artifacts are surprisingly handy."

Receiving praise from a high-level cultivator, Huang Erqian was overjoyed, as if the compliment were aimed at him personally. His already gaunt face looked even more like a dried-out lychee peel when he smiled.

After the test, Xin Shenzi walked back toward the corner of the first floor. Just as he got there, he sensed something off. He turned his head and saw his precious disciple standing nearby.

"Disciple!" Xin Shenzi quickly walked over.

"Second Master," Yixuan asked, "Why are you here?"

"Isn’t today the Qianji Sect auction? I figured you’d come, so I came to take a look too," Xin Shenzi said, scratching his head.

Yixuan nodded and didn’t press further. He didn’t go upstairs either, just stood beside Xin Shenzi, watching the stage together.

"Surely everyone now understands why the Yamata was ranked number one on the Baiqing List," Huang Erqian said, smiling as he stood onstage. "There’s simply no higher ranking to give it."

As soon as he said that, the people in the center of the first floor couldn’t help but snort in laughter, though they couldn’t refute him.

A magic artifact that could withstand a cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage far surpassed the standard of the Baiqing Rankings.

"A good magic artifact needs the right time, place, and people. Once sold, it’s one less in the world," Huang Erqian said as he placed the Yamata back into the long tray. "Everyone, the starting price for the Yamata is 99,999 top-grade spirit stones. There is no limit on bid increments."

On the third floor, Lian Lian couldn’t help but laugh when she heard the starting bid. It was neither more nor less, just the perfect number. She was the first to bid, "100,001."

"We said earlier we’d go for 150,000," Mei Chouren leaned out and knocked on the window of the neighboring room.

Lian Lian opened her window and leaned her hand on the ledge. "It’s all about participation."

"Fine, then 150,001," Mei Chouren shouted back.

"160,001," Xu Chengyu bid.

The cultivators downstairs had already gone quiet, watching the major sects bidding against each other. This kind of top-grade spirit stone bidding, incrementing by ten thousand each time, was way out of their league.

"170,000," the Buddhist son of the Wanfo Sect, Guliang Tian, suddenly made a bid.

Someone downstairs couldn’t help but say, "These big sect disciples are really rich. Doesn’t the Wanfo Sect use staffs and prayer beads? What would they even do with it?"

"You don’t get it. The Yamata is being auctioned right after the second trial and before the third, just at the perfect time. Its power might even change the tournament outcome. Maybe it won’t get them first place, but a top-three finish is definitely within reach."

"That’s right. Kunlun and the Wanfo Sect surely won’t want other sects to get it."

"Come to think of it, why didn’t Qianji Sect’s Ye Su keep it for herself? I remember she already reached late Core Formation stage and still doesn’t have a fixed weapon."

"Who knows."

Lu Chenhan could hear everything being said inside the building. His eyes landed on those few gossiping cultivators, his gaze turning slightly cold.

After a moment, he looked down toward Huang Erqian, preparing to place his bid.

"300,000," a voice suddenly came from a corner on the second floor.

The entire auction house fell silent. Most cultivators were stunned by the high bid.

Lu Chenhan stood by the window, not saying another word, his eyes locked onto the room on the second floor. As someone in the early Soul Transformation stage, he couldn’t even detect anyone inside.

—Who is it?

At this moment, the third floor was especially quiet. None of the disciples from the major sects seemed to have noticed anyone in that second-floor room.

That could only mean one thing: the person had either used a powerful artifact to block everyone’s senses, or… their strength far exceeded everyone else here.

"Three... 300,000 going once," Huang Erqian’s voice even trembled a little. The price had risen so fast. Before the auction started, he had only dared to dream it might reach 200,000 top-grade spirit stones.

Suddenly, no one from the major sects on the third floor placed another bid. All attention had shifted to the mysterious person in the second-floor room.

"300,000 going twice." Huang Erqian’s heart pounded.

The major sect disciples upstairs gave up on bidding entirely.

Seeing no one raise the bid, Huang Erqian struck the gavel once more. "Sold! 300,000 top-grade spirit stones!"

A wave of murmurs swept through the lower floor. The Yamata had actually sold for such a high price. The biggest mystery was who that second-floor guest was, what sect had enough wealth to offer 300,000 spirit stones? Must be a family that sells spirit mines.

"The buyer has one chance to back out," Huang Erqian pointed to the Yamata in the tray. "You may come try it out first."

After hearing this, Kunlun’s Lu Chenhan and Wanfo Sect’s Guliang Tian both looked toward the second-floor room, waiting for someone to come out and reveal their identity.

"No need," the voice from the second floor replied again, calm to the extreme.

With the final item sold, the auction came to an end. According to the process, the buyer could head to the back to complete the transaction. There was a private door in the room that led directly to the backstage.

Just when everyone thought they wouldn’t get to see the person from the second-floor room, the door suddenly opened, and someone walked out.

Lu Chenhan, who was already on his way out, turned to look—and his pupils shrank.

—They’re from Penglai.

Two extremely plain-looking people stepped out one after another. They wore green robes and had their hair tied with wooden pins. In a crowd, their faces were the kind you’d forget instantly.

"Why would people from Penglai leave their mountain?" Xin Shenzi frowned as he looked at the two of them.

"Penglai?" Yi Xuan, of course, had heard of Penglai, said to be the very center of the entire Mortal World but beyond that, he knew little.

"Penglai doesn’t leave the mountain easily. Something big must’ve happened," Xin Shenzi’s expression was rarely this serious. "And not something small."

Yi Xuan looked toward the two walking down the stairs. They were so ordinary, so forgettable, that if he closed his eyes, he wouldn't be able to recall their faces.

"Disciple, I’m heading back first," Xin Shenzi patted Yi Xuan’s shoulder. "Go tell the Sect Master."

"Okay…" Yi Xuan had barely spoken when, with a turn of his head, Xin Shenzi had already vanished.

The two Penglai members walked to the center of the stage and took out a bag of spirit stones. "Three hundred thousand. May we receive the Yamata now?"

Huang Erqian took the bag and used a bit of spiritual power to check. The brilliance of the spirit stones nearly blinded him. He turned and handed the Yamata over. "This is your Yamata."

The two Penglai members accepted it, turned, and left through the main door. They merged into the crowd, and within moments, no one could find them anymore.

"Penglai… why would they come out?" Mei Chouren rubbed his chest. "Don’t tell me something serious is going on."

People from Penglai were both hard to recognize and easy to spot. They always wore green robes, tied their hair with wooden pins, and every one of them looked strikingly average, once they entered a crowd, they were impossible to track.

Ye Su had just come out of her room when she heard Mei Chouren and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Penglai is good at divination," said Lian Lian, leaning against the doorframe next door. "If they’ve come out, it means something has happened or is about to happen."

Ma Congqiu chimed in, "I’ve heard of this! Their most famous prediction was foretelling the Divine Calamity. Back then, no one believed it. But once the gods fell, the cultivation world never saw another miracle again."

Because of Penglai’s sudden appearance, Lu Chenhan and Guliang Tian had already left. Disciples from other sects were also getting ready to return and check if their sects had received any news.

Before the Hehuan Sect’s Yan Hao could leave, he was stopped by Ye Su.

"There’s something I’d like your help with," Ye Su said, smiling slightly.