The Heavenly Dragon Auction House was still filled with fervor even after the final item had been sold, the corridors and exits becoming crowded with martial artists who were discussing the treasures they had witnessed, calculating the gains and losses of their respective factions, while others were already sending messages back to their families and sects to report everything that had happened.
The appearance of a Grade A painting, the enormous quantities of pills that had been sold, and the mysterious VIP who had casually spent eighty thousand spirit jades had already become the most discussed topic among the guests.
Lin Sheng had barely taken a few steps from his private room when Lady Fei approached him, her graceful figure moving through the crowd with practiced ease, a faint charming aura naturally surrounding her that caused several nearby martial artists to glance over despite themselves.
"Young Master, may I speak with you for a moment?"
Lin Sheng looked at her calmly, his expression remaining indifferent as he immediately understood what was happening.
Are they trying to investigate my background?
It wasn't surprising.
He had spent an amount of wealth equivalent to what an ordinary Grandmaster-level faction might expend on an important strategic resource, and he had done so without revealing his identity, relying entirely on a VIP room and an apparently ordinary appearance. Anyone responsible for the auction house would naturally want to know who had such wealth.
Lady Fei maintained her charming smile, but Lin Sheng could already sense the probing hidden beneath her seemingly casual approach.
"There's no need to worry," she said smoothly, "the Heavenly Dragon Auction House possesses a hidden route specifically prepared for guests who wish to leave without being disturbed. If Young Master is concerned about the attention outside, I can personally arrange—"
Lin Sheng let out a quiet scoff.
He wasn't concerned.
Not even remotely.
He had already sensed several powerful auras waiting outside the auction house, and although some were concealing themselves quite well, their presence was obvious to him.
He looked at Lady Fei with a carefree expression.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Before she could respond, Lin Sheng's figure suddenly blurred.
There was no dramatic movement, no explosion of Gang Qi, no obvious technique, his body simply faded from her sight as though he had never been standing there in the first place.
Lady Fei's pupils contracted.
"That..."
She immediately realized what she had just witnessed.
At the very least, this person possessed the strength of an Astral Gang expert.
Her expression quickly returned to normal, but when she looked toward the surrounding guests, she noticed several gazes filled with greed and curiosity, clearly wondering what had just happened and why she had personally approached the mysterious VIP.
Lady Fei couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
Idiots.
They believed they had discovered prey.
They had no idea that the person they were preparing to hunt was actually the hunter.
Meanwhile, Lin Sheng had already appeared outside.
The moment his feet touched the street, his appearance immediately attracted attention, especially because several people had been waiting for him to leave the auction house.
The crowd slowly parted as hidden figures began revealing themselves one after another, and Lin Sheng could feel their auras locking onto him.
He yawned.
Then he slowly curled his fingers into fists.
Since leaving the auction house had already attracted trouble, he might as well enjoy himself.
He rolled his shoulders and looked around.
Several powerful auras had appeared.
Xuan Gang, ranging from mid to peak stage.
There were quite a few of them.
Lin Sheng's eyebrows rose slightly when he sensed them.
Interesting.
He deliberately swept his perception through the surrounding area, but he couldn't sense any Marrow Cleansing experts.
That wasn't particularly surprising.
Marrow Cleansing experts generally belonged to the Martial Halls or major Rank 3 powers, and unlike ordinary Xuan Gang experts, they had far more to lose by becoming involved in an unknown conflict. The auction house had already attracted enough attention, and nobody knew what background the mysterious VIP possessed.
The people waiting outside were essentially testing the waters.
Smart of them.
The surrounding martial artists had also realized that something was wrong.
Powerful experts had gathered within an extremely short distance, and although most couldn't determine exactly who possessed the greater strength, the pressure alone was enough to make ordinary martial artists understand that remaining nearby was courting death.
One person immediately turned around and fled.
Then another.
Soon the streets surrounding the auction house began emptying as martial artists hurried away in every direction, unwilling to become collateral damage.
Lin Sheng didn't bother stopping them.
His attention remained focused on the several old men standing ahead.
One of them stepped forward.
His hair was white, his face wrinkled, and his aura carried the distinctive sharpness of someone who had spent decades refining Xuan Gang.
"If you have some background that we don't know about," the old man said calmly, "you can say it now."
Lin Sheng looked at him.
Then he smiled.
"I'm more of a vagrant who happened to get lucky than anything else, old man."
The old man's eyebrows twitched.
Lin Sheng continued, his tone completely casual.
After all he wasn't lying, he really didn't have a main identity in this continent making him a Vagrant.
"If you want to battle me, that's fine."
The surrounding experts exchanged glances.
The young man standing before them was far too calm.
There wasn't even the slightest trace of fear in his expression, and considering that several Xuan Gang experts had already surrounded him, such composure could only mean one of two things, either he possessed an extraordinary background or he was an arrogant fool who didn't understand the difference between life and death.
The moment Lin Sheng called them old, however, several of the experts smiled.
They had already made their judgment.
This person clearly didn't possess some terrifying background.
At least, he didn't possess a background they couldn't afford to offend.
The first Xuan Gang expert stepped forward.
BOOM!
His Gang Qi erupted.
A vast field of Gang Qi spread outward, the pressure causing the surrounding stones to crack as the old man's right hand transformed into a sharp claw and reached toward Lin Sheng's chest.
"Since you refuse to explain yourself, don't blame this old man for being impolite!"
His voice thundered through the street.
Lin Sheng didn't move.
The claw was already less than a foot from his chest when he raised his hand.
Pa!
A slap landed.
The sound wasn't particularly loud.
Yet the old man's head exploded.
Blood and fragments scattered through the air as his head was violently torn apart by the sheer force behind Lin Sheng's palm, while his headless body continued forward for several steps before collapsing heavily onto the ground.
Silence descended.
The remaining Xuan Gang experts froze.
Their pupils contracted violently.
Nobody had expected that.
Not even the old man himself.
One slap.
A Xuan Gang expert had been killed by a single slap.
The others immediately turned around.
"Run!"
They didn't hesitate.
Their bodies erupted with Gang Qi as they fled in different directions, no longer caring about face or reputation.
Unfortunately, they had already made their decision too late.
Lin Sheng's perception spread outward.
No longer merely a Qi Field.
It was a Domain.
The invisible pressure descended upon the fleeing experts in an instant.
BOOM!
The entire street shook.
The Xuan Gang experts were slammed into the ground as though an enormous mountain had suddenly fallen upon them, their Gang Qi collapsing under the overwhelming suppression before their bodies were flattened against the stone.
Blood splashed across the street.
Several bodies twitched once before becoming completely still.
Lin Sheng stared at the scene.
He scratched his cheek.
"That was anticlimactic."
His voice carried genuine disappointment.
He had thought that at least one of them would put up a decent fight.
Instead, they had run the moment their companion died.
"How dare you!"
A roar suddenly erupted from behind him.
The air became scorching.
Lin Sheng turned his head.
A terrifying wave of Qi-Blood surged toward him, blazing like a furnace as a figure charged from the crowd.
His Qi-Blood was completely different from that of an ordinary martial artist, thick and vigorous, carrying a vitality that seemed almost tangible, and the moment Lin Sheng sensed it, his eyes brightened.
Blood Exchange.
Now this was interesting.
The Blood Exchange expert roared as he swung his fist.
"Die!"
BOOM!
The punch tore through the air, blazing Qi-Blood wrapping around the fist like a raging dragon as the force behind it caused the surrounding ground to crack.
Lin Sheng watched the attack approach.
Then he simply stepped to the side.
The fist passed beside his body.
The Blood Exchange expert's eyes widened.
"What—"
Lin Sheng's fist had already arrived.
There was no elaborate martial technique.
No unnecessary movement.
His fist simply drove forward.
THUD!
His fist pierced through the man's abdomen.
The Blood Exchange expert's body violently convulsed as Lin Sheng's arm passed straight through his stomach, his eyes widening in disbelief while blood poured from the corner of his mouth.
"Guh..."
Lin Sheng withdrew his fist.
The man's body staggered backward.
He didn't die immediately.
Instead, he looked at Lin Sheng with trembling eyes, as though he had finally understood the horrifying mistake they had made.
They had attacked someone far beyond their ability to deal with.
His knees buckled.
He collapsed.
Lin Sheng looked at the blood on his hand, casually shook it off, and wiped his fingers against his sleeve.
"At least you lasted longer."
He turned his head toward the side.
His gaze lingered for a moment.
There was someone there.
A faint aura had been concealed among the surrounding buildings, subtle enough that an ordinary Astral Gang expert would never have noticed it.
Lin Sheng had noticed it from the beginning.
He simply hadn't cared.
His eyes met Lady Fei's.
She slowly walked out from the shadows.
For the first time since approaching him, the charming smile on her face had completely disappeared.
She stared at the corpses scattered across the street, then looked back at Lin Sheng.
She had originally thought that the mysterious VIP was merely an extremely wealthy Astral Gang expert.
Now she wasn't so certain.
That effortless suppression of multiple Xuan Gang experts, followed by the casual killing of a Blood Exchange practitioner, had exceeded what she expected by far.
And that Domain...
Her expression became solemn.
At least a Grandmaster.
But why would a Grandmaster come to the prefecture disguised as an ordinary martial artist?
The thought immediately reminded her of the increasingly unstable situation within the Qian Dynasty.
The auction house had already received unusual intelligence regarding movements among several major powers, and the rumors surrounding the Su family had only made the situation more complicated.
Could this be related to the war?
Could this mysterious Grandmaster be part of an external force infiltrating the prefecture?
Lady Fei watched Lin Sheng's back as he casually walked away.
The man didn't even bother looking behind him.
He had killed several Xuan Gang experts and a Blood Exchange expert in the middle of the street, yet his expression hadn't changed in the slightest.
Lady Fei narrowed her eyes.
"Just who are you?"
Lin Sheng didn't answer.
His figure gradually disappeared into the distance, leaving behind only the bloodstained street and the stunned martial artists who had remained far enough away to witness everything.
For him, the entire encounter had been little more than a warm-up.
After finally escaping the Heavenly Mechanism and reaching the Rank 4 Golden Body, Lin Sheng had been suppressing the urge to test just how strong his current body had become.
Now he finally had his answer.
It wasn't bad.
Not bad at all.