“Have you forgotten the main point of the plan? We attract more and more Cultivators to this area, and then use the power of the spell formation to carry out a blood offering. That will restore the glory of our totems! Actually, for the Demon Spirit to come is a good thing!
“In fact, there actually couldn’t be a better way to get more people to come here!” By the time the man finished speaking, his eyes were glowing with a cold light.
The other Cultivators of the Eight Branch Alliance began to nod silently.
Final preparations were made. Two days later at dawn, the Eight Branch Alliance began the auction.
A huge crowd of people was present, more than twenty thousand. As such, there was no special location for the auction; instead, it took place throughout the entire city.
Early in the morning, all of the buildings and shops in the city disappeared without a trace. What was left behind was a vast, empty square. Eight Branch Alliance Cultivators emerged from the surrounding tents to maintain order.
Everyone who was to participate in the auction held a jade slip in hand. These jade slips had been distributed a few days before, one for each person, including Meng Hao and Sun Daihai.
“It’s going to begin!” said Sun Dahai excitedly. Despite being a Nascent Soul Cultivator, he had never participated in an auction before.
Meng Hao, on the other hand, was quite used to such affairs. The pill auction back in the Violet Fate Sect had been attended by a hundred thousand Cultivators. That auction was above and beyond this one in both terms of scale and grandeur.
A glowing screen appeared up above, from within which appeared a man. His handsome face was as white as jade. Smiling, he clasped hands and bowed to the thousands of Cultivators below.
“We meet again, Fellow Daoists! I am Dong Hanzi, with whom which many of you are already acquainted, since I presided over the previous four auctions.
“Today’s auction is the final auction to be held by the Eight Branch Alliance. The rules are the same as ever. All of you have a jade slip, which you can brand with a value. That value will appear up here.
“There’s no need to prattle on. Our first lot for the day….” As Dong Hanzi’s voice rang out, the auction officially began. The first lot instantly caused quite a commotion. Prices branded onto jade slips immediately began to appear on the illusory screen up in the air. The prices instantly began to climb higher and higher.
Sun Dahai’s eyes went wide as he stared at the prices on the screen. As for Meng Hao, he didn’t pay much attention to the auction. Instead he was looking around the area thoughtfully.
Time went by and the excitement in the auction continued to grow. After four hours had passed, when it was almost high noon, Dong Hanzi offered up a totemic Sacred Ancient for auction. It was at this point that the auction seemed to reach its peak.
Regardless if it was in terms of values being called out verbally or branded on the jade slips, the price continued to rise shockingly. It seemed relatively chaotic, but order was actually being maintained. By this point Sun Dahai was thoroughly wrapped up in his excitement; he held his jade slip in hand as he participated in making bids.
All of the twenty thousand people in the area seemed to be going crazy. Only Meng Hao, his face hidden within the depths of his black cloak, seemed to remain calm.
“This Demonic Qi spell formation really is something!” he thought, his eyes glittering coldly. Earlier in the morning, when the auction had just started, he saw the spell formation beginning to operate. By now, it was rotating rapidly, congealing large amounts of Demonic Qi, then sending it undulating out invisibly to influence the emotions of the Cultivators in the area.
These undulations were causing the twenty thousand participants to slowly act like lunatics.