Three days later, thousands of cultivators gathered in a vast hall built deep beneath the Northern Kingdom’s underground marketplace.
Xiaoqing and Cheng Yun sat together in one corner. Xiaoqing curiously studied the dense crowd filling the chamber.
So this was an auction in the cultivation world. She had read about such scenes ten thousand times in novels, but this was her first time attending one. Why did she feel a little nervous?
Unfortunately, everyone wore something to conceal themselves: veils, masks, cloaks, or similar coverings. No matter how widely Xiaoqing opened her eyes, she could not make out anyone’s face.
It all felt wonderfully mysterious.
“We finally made it,” Cheng Yun said through a private voice transmission. A gray cloak now covered most of her face. “I received the auction invitation three months ago and immediately asked Master and my family for a supply of spirit stones. I’ve been waiting for today’s grand auction, held once every hundred years by the Alliance of Four Kingdoms and Seven Sects.
“Xiaoqing, if you see something you want but don’t have enough spirit stones, just tell me. I’ll give them to—no, wait.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll *lend* them to you. Since I’m forced to spend so much time with an annoying person like you, I suppose I can reluctantly lend you a few.”
“No, thank you.”
Two Nascent Soul experts presided over the auction, while Core Formation cultivators served as guards. Now that Xiaoqing understood this world’s cultivation system, she knew her modest wealth meant nothing at an event of this size.
She shook her head firmly. “I won’t need them.”
“It’s fine. I have plenty of spirit stones. Oh—quiet. It’s starting.”
Their private conversation ended as the doors at every exit slowly closed, sealing the entire hall. An old man with a youthful face, crane-white hair, and white robes walked onto the raised platform.
Xiaoqing probed him with her spiritual sense and sucked in a sharp breath. “Damn! Another Nascent Soul monster! That’s the third one!”
“You think something is wrong too, don’t you?”
A girl who had not used a spiritual item to hide her face moved closer to Xiaoqing. Her features were as lovely as a painting, her eyes looked innocent, and two charming dimples appeared when she smiled.
She lowered her voice. “Even if the auction happens only once a century, does it need to be this grand? Normally, you couldn’t find a single Nascent Soul expert if you tried. Three have appeared here already, and no one knows how many more old monsters are in the private spaces on the third floor. Sharing a room with them all feels a little frightening.”
“Yes, it does make one’s heart tremble. Wait…” Xiaoqing cleared her throat. “Miss, could you stop coming closer? It’s rather warm.”
Xiaoqing retreated several steps. The girl advanced by the same amount, clinging to her like sticky candy. She behaved as intimately as a close friend Xiaoqing had known for years. Cold looks, outright refusals, and repeated retreats did nothing to shake her cheerful smile.
Cheng Yun had disappeared the moment the Nascent Soul elder took the stage. Hoping she would return to help was clearly pointless.
As though she could not sense Xiaoqing’s annoyance, the girl said brightly, “I don’t know why, but the moment I saw you, I felt so close to you. Why don’t we swear sisterhood? Big Sister, I’m a disciple of Qin Pavilion Sect. My name is Li Guai, but you can call me Little Guai. What about you? Tell me your name! I gave you my name and sect, so you have to tell me too. Go on!”
Li Guai took Xiaoqing’s hand. Her clear amber eyes stared straight into Xiaoqing’s, and her soft voice overflowed with coaxing sweetness.
Faced with such enthusiasm, Xiaoqing froze. “I never asked for your name. I don’t care which sect you belong to, and I certainly don’t want to swear sisterhood with you. Please let go.”
“No. I told you, so you have to tell me. Please? Please?”
> Ding! The enemy Li Guai has stolen the Water Beetle Eggs. Player, formulate a response at once!
What was that voice? Where had it come from?
Xiaoqing jumped. Then she realized that neither Li Guai nor anyone around them had heard it. Was someone sending her a private voice transmission? But…
> Ding! The enemy Li Guai has stolen the Supreme Treasure Sword. Player, formulate a response at once!
>
> Ding! The enemy Li Guai has stolen the Supreme Treasure Sword. Player, formulate a response at once!
>
> Ding! The enemy Li Guai has stolen the Supreme Treasure Sword. Player, formulate a response at once!
After repeating itself three times, the voice fell silent. Xiaoqing was too busy searching suspiciously for its source to pay attention to what it had actually said.
She soon paid for that carelessness.
Her gaze suddenly sharpened until it was almost impossible to meet. But why had her arm risen? Wait—why was her body moving by itself?
Both of Xiaoqing’s hands twisted with lightning speed and seized a wrist. The hand attached to it had already slipped halfway inside the front of her robe.
Xiaoqing was utterly bewildered. So Li Guai was a thief? That explained why she had been so friendly.
No, wait. The theft was not the important part. Why had Xiaoqing lost control of her own body? What in the world was happening?
“Xiaoqing” stared coldly at the visibly frightened Li Guai. “You can die now.”
Li Guai drew in her neck. Beads of sweat as large as beans appeared on her forehead, and she forced a smile.
“Big Sister, what are you talking about? Why would I die? I only approached you because you looked so friendly. If you find me annoying, you can say so. Why attack without warning? Ah! That hurts! Fine, fine, I’ll tell the truth. I’m merely greedy. Please, great hero, let go of me. Let go!”
A crimson fireball hurtled toward them. Before it could strike, “Xiaoqing” raised a protective barrier and shot backward a great distance. Only then did she look up.
The attacker was one of the auction guards, a young woman at Core Formation.
“Whatever grievance lies between you, fighting is forbidden inside the auction.”
“Xiaoqing” held the guard’s gaze for three seconds before abandoning the idea of killing Li Guai here.
> Ding! The player’s strength is far too weak. Reach Core Formation within ten years or bear the consequences!
>
> Ding! The player’s strength is far too weak. Reach Core Formation within ten years or bear the consequences!
>
> Ding! The player’s strength is far too weak. Reach Core Formation within ten years or bear the consequences!
What was this nonsense?
Xiaoqing regained control of her body, but she had no time to celebrate. Her mouth twitched as she demanded, “What exactly are you?”
> Ding! The system is the system. The system also belongs to the player. It is not a *what*.
“The system? What kind of thing is that?”
The presence hiding inside her body called itself a system. Was it one of those artificial intelligences that appeared so often in novels?
This was becoming far too much like science fiction.
Where had science gone?
> Ding! The system will carry you to greatness and make you a god. Kisses! Ding! The player’s strength is far too weak. Reach Core Formation within ten years or bear the consequences!
