Chapter 10: Ten Cuts
There aren't many cultivators or demon cultivators in the auction house who possess purple jade pendants. Given the level of the Fengsha Ferry branch, the auction house here is not qualified to investigate Luo Mingshu's identity.
Furthermore, they had no reason to mistreat Luo Mingshu, since the cultivators who possessed the purple jade pendant spent enough money in the auction house in a year to support the entire Fengshadu Auction House.
At this moment, the local demon cultivators who had closed the auction's barrier after listening to Shui Qingsi were stunned. Their hands were on the control array, unsure whether to put them down or raise them. Luo Mingshu was certainly a big customer they couldn't afford to offend, but Shui Qingsi was not someone to be trifled with either.
In the entire Demon Realm, there are not many people who can control her. If they offend her, their Fengshadu Auction House will not be able to continue operating—at least during the time that Shui Qingsi is still in Fengshadu, they will be very unlucky.
But...but...Luo Mingshu is a high-level client. If she came at any other time, they would have to treat her with utmost respect.
Amidst the standoff, Hu Yue, the demon cultivator in charge of the Fengshadu Auction House, had sweat beading on his forehead. The other demon cultivators around him stared intently at him, waiting for his order: whether to obey Shui Qingsi's command or let the VIP customer in.
“We…our auction house still needs to do business. If we mistreat her, what’s the point of our tiered customer system? Without it, how will we incentivize customers to spend money?” Hu Yue frowned, glancing at Shui Qingsi, who stood arrogantly outside the barrier. “This little princess has no real power in the Demon Realm, and she can’t stay in Fengsha Ferry forever…”
"Alright, open the door for our VIP clients. As for what that little princess wants to do, let her do as she pleases. If she wants to cause trouble, the city lord will protect her." After thinking for a long time, Hu Yue decided to open the barrier for Luo Mingshu. If the purple-level clients wanted, they could buy the entire auction house directly.
At this moment, outside the auction house's barrier, Shui Qingsi's clear voice rang out: "What kind of broken token is this? This is the Demon Realm, and they all have to listen to me. If you don't apologize to me, I won't let them open the barrier."
Upon hearing this, Luo Mingshu laughed. What had she done to wrong Shui Qingsi? She had paid for the carriage and braked in time when she saw it blocking the way, which caused her to lose track of her fellow disciple.
"Apologize?" Luo Mingshu glanced at Shui Qingsi, her expression indifferent, with an air of arrogance that looked down on everyone. "Was it because I hit your head with my carriage that you became mentally challenged? If that's the case, then I really need to apologize, after all, you seem to be more than a little bit stupid."
When it comes to verbal sparring, Luo Mingshu has never lost. After all, she is a well-known argumentative person from the Four Directions Water Mirror who has been active on the Spirit Network for decades. This level of verbal battle is not as good as a small round of her verbal exchange with an anonymous cultivator.
Just after Luo Mingshu finished her rant, Xie Changming, who was standing to the side of the crowd genuinely joining in the fun, raised a slight eyebrow hidden under his hood. Those words seemed somewhat familiar…
“You…you…” From childhood to adulthood, everyone around Shui Qingsi had always been respectful to her on the surface, and even the spiritual network she used was the youth-friendly version. She had never heard such vulgar words before.
Finally, she put her hands on her hips and said, "Anyway, this troublemaker isn't getting in today."
Luo Mingshu had already sensed the change in the barrier. She shrugged and said, "Oh."
As soon as she finished speaking, the barrier around the auction house was removed, and Hu Yue, the president of the auction house, waved from inside, his body trembling.
"But the president called me in," Luo Mingshu said, feigning innocence.
"Do you know who I am? Tomorrow I will have my father shut down your auction house!" Shui Qingsi shouted.
“It’s closed tomorrow, so I’m going in today.” Luo Mingshu’s pinky finger twitched slightly as she hid the Soul-Calling Bell in her sleeve.
Seeing Luo Mingshu step forward, Lu Yaoyao, who had just snapped out of her daze, quickly followed. Now, Lu Yaoyao felt that the person Shui Qingsi hated most in this world was definitely Luo Mingshu.
Shui Qingsi watched Luo Mingshu walk away with light steps, her face flushed with anger. She clenched her fists and called out loudly, "Ziyun!"
"Your Highness, I'm here." The handsome young man who had been serving behind Shui Qingsi sighed and pinched his brow. After slacking off for so long, Shui Qingsi still remembered him.
"Stop them!" Shui Qingsi ordered.
Zhou Ziyun lazily scratched his head and helplessly blocked Luo Mingshu's path. He looked at Luo Mingshu and gave her a helpless smile: "I'm sorry, my princess asked me to stop you. If you two beautiful ladies take another step forward, I won't hold back."
As soon as he finished speaking, a powerful pressure spread out. Just now, this young man was hiding behind Shui Qingsi, always looking lazy. No one expected that he would have such a high level of cultivation.
The sheer pressure he exuded in his words was enough to rival that of a cultivator in the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm. This was the strength of someone on the verge of ascension. No one who could stay by the side of the little princess of the Demon Realm to protect her was a waste.
At this moment, the surrounding crowd was forced back several steps by Zhou Ziyun. Fearing that a fight would break out at any moment, they all cast protective spells, and whispers arose among the crowd.
"This demon cultivator is a Golden-Striped Turtle demon from the South Sea of the Demon Realm. The Golden-Striped Turtle lineage... in ancient times, possessed the bloodline of the Demon God Xuan Turtle."
"With the bloodline of a demon god, it's no wonder he has such cultivation at such a young age..."
“A demon cultivator whose strength is enough to ascend will not stay in the demon realm for long. In this Wind and Sand Crossing, those with the cultivation level of the late Tribulation Transcending stage can already walk around with impunity. Only our city lord can match Zhou Ziyun, right?”
Upon hearing the words "Demon God," Xie Changming pulled his hood down further, seemingly deep in thought.
The reason why the bloodlines of the four ancient demon gods, except for Yinglong, disappeared is simple: the bloodlines of the demon gods were thin. Some members of the demon god clan pursued free love and intermarried with demons, humans, and even demons. So over time, no pure demon god bloodline remained.
However, the power of the demon god is immense, and even being related to a demon god can grant one special talents and greatly accelerate one's cultivation speed. For example, Zhou Ziyun, who stood in front of Luo Mingshu with a lazy smile, was not someone to be trifled with.
Luo Mingshu had already sensed Zhou Ziyun's cultivation level. She lowered her eyes and saw that Zhou Ziyun had drawn a dark green barrier on the ground, intending to keep her outside.
But was she someone who would be easily threatened? She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Zhou Ziyun, a faint light hidden deep in her eyes; she would not back down.
Zhou Ziyun was a demon formed from a golden-striped tortoise. Perhaps it was because of his special bloodline that when he looked at Luo Mingshu, he saw a dark purple light deep in her eyes. She was noble and proud, which made him dare not look at her.
Luo Mingshu lowered her eyelashes, her long, thick lashes trembling slightly. She was the kind of person who would still try to confront even the hardest obstacle. So, under the gazes of everyone, including the demons, she lifted her skirt, took a step forward, and directly crossed the dark green barrier.
At this moment, the barrier suddenly lit up. Zhou Ziyun frowned slightly. He was indeed good at fooling the master of science. Although he had set up the barrier casually, Luo Mingshu's Nascent Soul cultivation was two major realms lower than his. If Luo Mingshu stepped into it so rashly, she would really be killed by the barrier's defensive attack if she was not careful.
Of course, before stepping onto the barrier, Luo Mingshu already knew what she was about to face.
At the same time, an invisible stream of air, sharp as a blade, rushed up to her chest and crashed into her with a sharp aura, as if a mountain had pressed down on her. Zhou Ziyun was a member of the tortoise clan and possessed immense strength.
Luo Mingshu slightly raised her head, swallowing the blood from her internal injuries. Apart from being a little pale, she maintained her composure.
"Can this stop me?" Luo Mingshu laughed, her voice trembling at the end, and she was about to walk further in.
Seeing that things were going badly, Zhou Ziyun was afraid that someone might actually die, so he quickly pushed Luo Mingshu back and gave her a way out: "Fine, if you can defeat me in three moves, I will let you in. Princess, is that alright?"
Shui Qingsi was stunned when she saw Luo Mingshu step into the barrier set up by Zhou Ziyun without blinking. Of course, she knew that Luo Mingshu's strength was far inferior to Zhou Ziyun's. Even if she knew that she would be injured, why did she still go in?
"Hmph, she wouldn't last three moves against you." Shui Qingsi's words were tantamount to admitting Zhou Ziyun's statement. She arrogantly raised her chin at Luo Mingshu, "You'd better step back. I don't need your apology for the injury I suffered here with my servants today."
Luo Mingshu was knocked back by Zhou Ziyun. Instead of falling backward, she transferred the force into her body and took three steps back. With each step, her toes cracked the bluestone paving the ground.
The demon cultivators and other cultivators who were secretly cheering because Luo Mingshu dared to provoke Shui Qingsi didn't notice this detail. Only Lu Yaoyao, who was standing close by, and Xie Changming, who could see everything clearly, saw the cracked stone slab under Luo Mingshu's feet.
She was drawing the force that should have been transferred to the ground back into her body. The only advantage of this was that she could maintain her outward elegance, but the surging internal energy was undoubtedly more harmful to her body. The gloomy Geng metal energy surged and raged within Luo Mingshu's body.
Luo Mingshu's thinking was simple: she would never lose face in front of others. What did it matter if someone slapped her on the backside? Even if that person was at the Tribulation Transcending stage and much stronger than her, it didn't matter.
Her thin lips were pressed tightly together, and a sweet, metallic taste emanated from her mouth—the taste of blood.
At this moment, Shui Qingsi's voice rang out. She could not sense the situation inside Luo Mingshu's body: "My servant possesses the bloodline of the Demon God Xuan Turtle and his cultivation has reached the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm. With your cultivation, how could you possibly withstand three moves from him?"
"You'd better hurry back and remember to fix my carriage," Shui Qingsi said, stamping her foot.
Zhou Ziyun looked at Luo Mingshu with astonishment. He did not expect that Luo Mingshu would dare to swallow all his moves. Even for a Nascent Soul cultivator, her ability to withstand such attacks was truly terrifying.
"Three moves?" Luo Mingshu swallowed the blood that welled up in her throat. She raised her hand and gently wiped her lips with her fingertips to hide the trembling of her lips. "Silly little sister, how about ten moves?"
"Did he knock your brains out?" Shui Qingsi sneered.
"Your subordinates are highly skilled, so you think you're powerful?" Luo Mingshu's words were sharp and sarcastic. "Truly laughable."
She recalled the "windfall" she had recently received from an anonymous monk on the Spirit Network.
Luo Mingshu is consistently arrogant and domineering, never showing any weakness in front of others. She'll handle things personally if she can manage them with her own strength, but if there's no other way—
She has no shame.
"Five million spirit stones, anyone can come, human, demon, monster..." Luo Mingshu pointed to his spatial pouch, and the dazzling spirit stones shrank to an extremely small size, like grains of gold sand. Luo Mingshu placed them in front of him, and they condensed into a golden cloud made of spirit stones, shining brightly. Each spirit stone was full of spiritual energy, without any fakeness.
Luo Mingshu's disguised features were blurred behind the golden clouds of spirit stones, but beneath her phoenix eyes shone a faint purple light, exuding nobility and elegance.
"If you can hold out against this tortoise for ten moves, or even just knock him down... I'll give you all five million spirit stones." — Anyway, it's from some sucker, so it's practically free. I might as well spend it.
That's five million spirit stones! Upon hearing this, some fearless cultivators or demon cultivators were indeed eager to try. Although their cultivation was not as high as Zhou Ziyun's, they might be able to withstand ten moves...
"If someone else is playing for you, then we must decide who wins and who loses!" Shui Qingsi panicked; she herself was quite envious of those five million spirit stones.
Zhou Ziyun stood to the side, stroking his chin in thought. It didn't seem like changing jobs now was a bad idea...
"This is the Demon Realm. Look, does anyone dare to help you? Do you think you're so great just because you have a few stinking coins?" Seeing that the surroundings were silent and no one dared to step forward, Shui Qingsi immediately felt that she had won.
Luo Mingshu casually fiddled with the golden cloud of spirit stones in front of her, her posture relaxed.
In the silence, Zhou Ziyun was still debating whether or not to change jobs, but the next moment, someone actually walked out from the side of the crowd.
A tall man wearing a black hood walked up. No one could see his face clearly except for his exquisitely handsome jawline, which was visible in the shadows.
—When Luo Mingshu took out five million, Xie Changming quickly remembered the spirit stones he had squandered not long ago, and the solemn promise he had made to his protectors before leaving the Demon Realm.
"I will find a way to make money," he said.
He certainly wouldn't let such a great opportunity to make money slip by.
Luo Mingshu looked at Xie Changming, who walked forward calmly, and smiled at Shui Qingsi, "Sorry, silly sister, having money means you can do whatever you want."
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