It was protected by a glittering shield, and was capable of astonishing speed. Although a terrifying amount of Spirit Stones was required to operate it, it was essentially the only type of item that the Western Desert Tribes could use at the moment. Anything that normally operated on spell formations that absorbed the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, was now inoperable.
There were a few special totem branding techniques that were the topic of heated debate within the city. However, what caught Meng Hao’s eyes the most were the neo-demons.
The Eight Branch Alliance had over a hundred thousand neo-demons of all varieties. The mere sight of them was shocking.
In fact… there were three totemic Sacred Ancients that the Eight Branch Alliance had on display. One was a three-headed Xuanwu turtle. Another was a three hundred meter long golden eagle. The final one was a blind crow. This crow was very similar to Meng Hao’s other black crows; however, its aura was vastly, vastly more powerful.
Unfortunately, these three totemic Sacred Ancients seemed extremely weak and listless. Clearly, the Tribes and Tribe members who had exercised faith in them had been slaughtered. Therefore, the faith power they had stored up was thoroughly exhausted, and had not been replenished.
In addition, they were bound by fine, silver chains that pierced through their bodies. Their previous aloofness and haughtiness had changed. Now they were items for sale that anyone could glance upon casually.
Every day, a voice would ring out through the entire city, filled with sincerity. It didn’t seem to contain even a scrap of hypocrisy, and sounded completely credible.
“Greetings, Fellow Daoists. The Eight Branch Alliance will be holding our final auction in six days. After the auction, we will be leaving this area. During this final auction, we will be selling all of the items that you have had a chance to look over recently. Some of these items belong to the Eight Branch Alliance, but the majority have been entrusted to us by other parties to sell.
“In some cases, these items will not be sold for Spirit Stones, but rather other special items that we require. After all, it is such items that we will prepare to auction off in the next location we travel to.”
Considering the reputation built up by the Eight Branch Alliance, as well as the extremely attractive items up that were to be put up for auction, more and more Cultivators arrived each day.
These people didn’t just come from the neighboring seven Tribes, but even Tribes from further south. Of course, for safety’s sake, large groups of Cultivators had been dispatched, all well-known figures. The leaders of all of these groups were of the Nascent Soul stage.
Three days before the auction was set to begin, the foreign population of the city had already swelled to twenty thousand. The city was packed, and the atmosphere extremely lively and out of the ordinary. In fact, some Tribes had already begun doing business secretly.
Sun Dahai was as happy as a fish in water; he immediately began to interact with the other Tribes as he attempted to gather together all the supplies they needed. As of the day before the auction, Meng Hao had already spent all the Spirit Stones he had brought in order to acquire the various items they needed.
The more people arrived, the more Sun Dahai seemed to think the area was safe. As for Meng Hao, he felt exactly the opposite. During the past seven or eight days, he had not actually engaged in any of the purchasing. Instead, he walked around the city, observing and studying it. In the end, he was convinced that under the surface of this entire area was a huge spell formation!
The spell formation was very complex. Even with many people working at it, it would take months to set up. Considering how long the Eight Branch Alliance had been in this area, Meng Hao was certain that the spell formation… had been put together by none other than them!
Most curious of all, this spell formation seemed to be able to stir and congeal Demonic Qi!!
The spell formation was so well hidden that even a Nascent Soul Cultivator would be incapable of detecting it. The only reason Meng Hao could sense it was because of the Demonic Qi that was congealed inside. Obviously, the body Meng Hao was using was illusory, materialized from Demonic Qi; naturally, he was extremely sensitive to Demonic Qi.
Demonic Qi was shapeless, which Meng Hao well knew. No one could see it, nor feel it. Only neo-demons or totemic Sacred Ancients would be able to sense it. However, considering the weakness of the Demonic Qi in the spell formation, it would probably be difficult even for Sacred Ancients.
Unfortunately, it could not escape detection of Meng Hao, Demon Sealer.
“A spell formation that attracts Demonic Qi is not the type of formation that an ordinary Cultivator would set up. The actual skill used in creating the formation is secondary to the mere fact that it contains Demonic Qi. Whoev