Volume 6: Theft is Robbery - Chapter 6: The Underground Auction House (Part II)

With Duke Yelu leading the way, Kuang Chi and Jing'er eventually entered a massive building not far from the spaceport. Because of the cloud cover and the limitations of his line of sight, Kuang Chi could not determine how tall the structure was, but he could only describe the area it occupied as astonishing.

Upon entering, they found themselves in an expansive hall, as vast as a public square. Despite its dimensions—hundreds of meters in width and length—there were only a few dozen people scattered sparsely throughout the space.

As the three of them stepped inside, a breathtakingly beautiful young woman approached them with grace. She asked in an elegant and polite manner, "Your Grace, is there anything I can assist you with?"

None of them were surprised; Duke Yelu bowed respectfully before turning to Kuang Chi. "You may bring out that chip now."

Kuang Chi produced the chip he had been holding. The young woman’s expression shifted to one of pure shock. After staring at him for a moment, she asked, "Young Master Kuang, may I ask who gave you this chip?"

Kuang Chi glanced around before answering, "The Great Elder of the Demon Sect gave it to me not long ago."

She nodded and gestured toward a cluster of sofas nearby. "Please, the three of you, have a seat. I will go and notify the relevant personnel to come and verify this." She paused, then added, "However, I cannot guarantee that the Venerables authorized to confirm your eligibility are present. If they are not, you may need to wait for some time."

The "Venerables" she referred to were clearly the Martial Venerables Duke Yelu had mentioned earlier. Kuang Chi smiled and nodded.

After the woman left, Jing'er asked with a puzzled expression, "Uncle, who is she? Her cultivation level seems so high; why is she working as a receptionist here?"

Duke Yelu chuckled. "Do you think working here is a waste of talent? Many sects and families would give anything to send their promising descendants here. Even I, if they were willing to take me, would hope to work this job." He sighed deeply. "Back in the day, I exhausted every effort but couldn't get a single one of our family’s youngsters into this place."

Kuang Chi and Jing'er stared at him, bewildered.

Duke Yelu continued, "I imagine she sees more Martial Venerables than I ever could. Where else is there a better chance of encountering them? If one of those Venerables is in a good mood, they might offer a bit of guidance." He sighed again.

Not long after, the young woman returned with three middle-aged men. Seeing them approach, Duke Yelu stood up hastily and pulled Jing'er to her feet. Kuang Chi, feeling helpless, followed suit.

When the group reached them, the young woman smiled and introduced Kuang Chi to the three men: "This is Young Master Kuang Chi of the Kuang family." She then bowed and retreated into the distance.

Kuang Chi locked eyes with the three men for a long time. Finally, the one with skin of a purplish hue spoke first: "It seems that after decades of your Kuang family’s shameless bragging, someone has finally decided to acknowledge it."

Kuang Chi’s brow furrowed. Ignoring the fact that the man was a Martial Venerable, he retorted coldly, "May I ask how to address you, senior?"

Before the purple-skinned Venerable could answer, another one—the shortest and thinnest of the three—coughed lightly. "This is Martial Venerable Zijin. Like you, he possesses a plant-type Divine Martial Beast. I think you two might find you have some common ground."

Kuang Chi did not know who Venerable Zijin was, but the gasps from Duke Yelu and Jing'er made it clear that they understood his background.

Whether or not Venerable Zijin held a grudge against the Kuang family, he showed no courtesy to Kuang Chi. "Kid, do you think I’m wrong? Only your Kuang family would dare to proclaim that a newborn brat would eventually become a God of War."

Kuang Chi scoffed again. "Whether I become a God of War or not has nothing to do with you. Don't you think you're overstepping your bounds?"

The atmosphere shifted instantly. No sooner had Kuang Chi finished speaking than a ball of purple flame erupted beneath his feet, engulfing him in an instant. Even with his heightened reflexes, Kuang Chi was caught off guard, and his clothes were reduced to ash.

As Jing'er shrieked, a series of crisp pops echoed from Kuang Chi's body. Ignoring the scorching flames still clinging to him, he threw a punch directly at the purple-skinned Venerable.

The other two Venerables sighed, each grabbing Jing'er and Duke Yelu to pull them to safety. The people in the hall, seeing the fight break out, quickly moved away and cleared the area.

It was undeniable that while Venerable Zijin was also a Martial Venerable, his cultivation was far superior to that of the Scarlet Flame Venerable Kuang Chi had fought days ago. Kuang Chi’s "Heavenly Injury Fist" couldn't cause him any trouble; for dozens of strikes, the Venerable stood rooted to the spot, using only his hands to deflect every blow.

After dozens of moves, the Venerable said coldly, "If you want my approval, show me your true skills." He paused, then added, "You may use your Divine Martial Beast and your War Dragon."

Seeing the situation, Kuang Chi wisely stopped his assault and retreated ten meters. He looked at Venerable Zijin coldly and merged with Xiaohua. The Xiaohua of today was not the same one from ten years ago. Having been transformed by the horn of the cosmic beast, its appearance triggered a sudden cold front that swept through the hall. In an instant, the ground within tens of meters turned white with frost, leaving only the three-meter radius around Venerable Zijin untouched.

Even the other two Venerables gasped, ushering the onlookers further back to clear a hundred-meter space. It seemed this hall had been purpose-built for such duels.

All eyes were on Kuang Chi. A mass of snowy-white vines erupted from his back; hundreds of them, each ten meters long and as thick as a little finger, whipped through the air. The bone-chilling cold radiated from them like a physical force.

Venerable Zijin studied him for a long time before saying, "Your Divine Martial Beast seems to have changed significantly since our last encounter."

Indeed, both Kuang Chi and Xiaohua had undergone a qualitative transformation. The searing energy of the Scarlet Flame Venerable had apparently activated the strange fluids injected into them by the cosmic beast, keeping them in a state of constant evolution. Kuang Chi’s skin now had a white, almost translucent luster, and the surging energy from Xiaohua made him feel as if his body were about to explode. Years ago, he would have feared this as a precursor to physical rupture, but he now knew it was simply his meridians struggling to adapt to the rapid influx of power. Having cultivated the "Dominant Moon Body Tempering Technique," his body was far from fragile.

Venerable Zijin suddenly spoke: "The body-tempering technique you practice is the Dominant Moon Body Tempering Technique!"

Kuang Chi paused, then asked rudely, "How did you know?"

Gasps erupted, and the three Venerables looked at him with an incredibly strange expression. After a long silence, Venerable Zijin sighed, as if asking the air, "The Kuang Dragon Art, the Starry Sky Art, and the Dominant Moon Body Tempering Technique... what kind of result will come from combining these three supreme arts?"

Suddenly, an arrogant laugh boomed from the entrance. Someone added, "Never mind the consequences, but if you dare to strike our Kuang family’s young master, shouldn't you give us brothers a reasonable explanation?"

All eyes turned to the entrance, where three exceptionally robust men with remarkably similar features stood. They looked at Venerable Zijin with the intensity of someone seeing a long-lost love. The atmosphere turned bizarre, and even the three Venerables looked at the newcomers with shock.

Venerable Zijin exclaimed, "Why have you three lunatics come here?"

The man in the center of the trio let out a series of strange laughs. "We heard our young master escaped from the Abandoned Star Sector on his own. Since we were nearby on personal business and heard someone was bullying him... Old Man Zi, what do you think we should do?"

Another of the brothers chimed in, "Exactly. Old Man Zi, even we have to call you a senior—how could you bring yourself to pick on our young master? If that’s the case, please, senior, offer me some guidance as well." He moved to charge at Venerable Zijin, but the eldest brother grabbed him. "Second brother, I’m the eldest. Let the old man guide me first before he guides you."

The second brother protested, "Big brother, you're the eldest, but why should you handle such a small matter? Let the younger brother be the vanguard."

The third brother added, "Second brother, that being the case, as the youngest, I am even more duty-bound."

Venerable Zijin barked, "Enough!" They stopped, but continued to grin at him.

"I am conducting official business, not bullying your boy," the Venerable stated.

The second brother replied instantly, "Old Man Zi, then conduct your official business once more. To avoid damaging the harmony of our own family, you choose: which one of us three will you 'guide'?"

Venerable Zijin looked at the other two Venerables. "You handle this," he said to one of them.

The third Venerable, who had remained silent, smiled kindly at Kuang Chi. "You probably haven't met these three treasures of your Kuang family. Ever since they became Martial Venerables, they've clung to the Galactic Federation and never returned to Kuangzhan Star."

The eldest of the three brothers laughed, "Senior Hu, will you please guide us three brothers later as well?"

Senior Hu ignored them and said calmly, "We represent the elder brothers in agreeing to grant you the status of successor to the Divine Hall."

The three brothers at the door gasped, and the eldest asked urgently, "Senior Hu, are you saying our young master can join the Divine Hall?"

Senior Hu scanned the room coldly. "Whether he can join the Divine Hall is not for us alone to decide. Since your boy was recommended by the Great Elder of the Demon Sect, he must also receive the approval of the other two Great Elders to join officially." He looked at Kuang Chi and smiled, "But I suspect your boy will have no trouble gaining their approval."

The three middle-aged men walked up to Kuang Chi and each delivered a heavy pat to his head. The eldest said, "Not bad. We old guys didn't waste our efforts on you."

The three pats nearly knocked Kuang Chi unconscious. After a long recovery, he asked bitterly, "May I ask who the three of you are?"

After some calculation, the eldest replied, "Let's see... you should call us your great-great-grand-uncles."

The second brother corrected him, "No, it should be great-great-great-grand-uncles. He should be our sixth-generation grand-nephew."

Before the third could speak, one of the other Venerables said to Kuang Chi, "Leave the chip. Once we have done what is necessary, we will send someone to your ship to notify you. You may leave now."

Without waiting for Kuang Chi to respond, the three Venerables turned and walked away at a brisk, almost fleeing pace.

The three Kuang family Venerables, their attention fully on Kuang Chi, watched him until he deactivated his merger with Xiaohua. Only then, amidst Jing'er’s startled cry, did they snap back to reality.

A staff member from the auction house hurried over with a set of clothes. Kuang Chi, face burning with embarrassment, quickly put on the ill-fitting garments.