Hai Bodong walked up to the two teenagers, looking down at them. He didn't kill them; he had already figured out that these two were the cause of the whole affair, so he planned to hand them over to Hun Changqing for disposal.
However, he then frowned, pondered for a moment, activated his fighting spirit, and, to the girl's horrified gaze, froze the teenager into an ice sculpture. Then, he grabbed the girl and strode quickly towards the city gate.
...
At the city gate, Hai Bodong approached Hun Changqing, who was teasing a small, seven-colored snake. He glanced at the stunningly beautiful snake with surprise, then said,
"My lord, the matter has been resolved. I believe it was caused by these two alchemists. I killed the man, and I brought the woman here."
Hun Changqing looked at Hai Bodong with suspicion and asked,
"Why did you bring the woman here?"
"I thought you might be interested, sir. After all, she was the one who offended you, and she's quite pretty, so I brought her along."
Hun Changqing: …
Hun Changqing glanced at the girl, whose face was covered in filth and who reeked of a fishy smell, then looked at Hai Bodong with a strange expression and said,
"If you like her, you can keep her."
Hai Bodong also noticed Hun Changqing's gaze, looked at the girl, and felt somewhat uncomfortable. He smiled awkwardly and said,
"Hehe, I didn't consider this carefully, sir. Please forgive me. I will take her away now."
The girl, who had been terrified, heard their conversation and suddenly came to her senses, crying and begging,
"No...don't kill me! It was all Galle's idea! I told him not to come to the master anymore, but he wouldn't listen! Please! Master, this has nothing to do with me! I...I'm still a virgin! Master, I'll dress up and look very pretty, I definitely won't disappoint you!"
Hearing the girl's cries, Hai Bodong turned to Hun Changqing, wanting to see what he meant.
"Boring, you can handle it yourself."
Hun Changqing was somewhat speechless; why did everyone think he was such a casual person?
Hai Bodong nodded.
...
Soon, the two left the ancient city in the desert, leaving behind a beautiful and exquisite ice sculpture at the city gate.
Several
days later, Hun Changqing and Hai Bodong finally arrived at the capital of the Jia ma Empire, the Holy City of Jia ma.
Magnificent and exquisite buildings were scattered throughout the city.
The energy of heaven and earth within the city was immense, far surpassing that of the Snake-Man Desert and Utan City. The headquarters of the Alchemist Guild was also located here, making it the only sacred cultivation ground in the Jia ma Empire.
Hun Changqing stood in the sky, looking down at the magnificent city below through the clouds.
"Finally back, Jia ma Empire. I wonder how it is now,"
Hai Bodong said, gazing at the city below with deep emotion.
Because Hai Bodong was only at the Dou Ling realm and couldn't fly, Hun Changqing couldn't tolerate Hai Bodong's snail-like pace and intervened, breaking a small portion of his seal and restoring him to the Dou Wang realm. However, the remaining seal still needed to be completely broken by refining the Breaking seal pill.
"Stop lamenting, go down. Hurry up and finish your business; it'll be time to head to the Black Corner Region."
Hun Changqing said to Hai Bodong before transforming into a black streak of light and rushing towards the center of the imperial capital.
Watching this scene, Hai Bodong couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. "Dou Zong... If I hadn't been sealed back then, I wonder if I would have been able to reach this realm? Sigh~"
With a sigh, Hai Bodong hurriedly caught up with Hun Changqing, who was already flying far away. "Hurry up
!
Today is the capital's premier auction, the annual auction of the Mittel Auction House. The items are several times more valuable than usual. Stop dawdling!"
"Those items are so expensive! We can't afford them! And with our status, we can't get in without showing enough gold coins!"
"Don't worry, I have two tickets here. My great-aunt's nephew's nephew works at the Mittel Auction House, and he got me two tickets through connections!"
"Oh! Let's hurry up! When we get out, I can brag to those girls that I've been to the Mittel Auction House!"
...
After Hun Changqing and Hai Bodong arrived in the capital, they were walking on the street when two young men started talking beside them before running straight off in one direction.
"Wow, your family's Mittel Auction House has quite a reputation in this capital."
Hun Changqing looked at the two people who had left with some surprise and said to Hai Bodong.
"Hehe, please excuse my arrogance, sir. Although the Mittel family is one of the three great families of the Jia ma Empire, with a long history and a strong foundation, it's nothing to you."
Hai Bodong was also a little proud when he heard Hun Changqing mention the Mittel family, so while complimenting Hun Changqing, he also praised his own family.
"My lord, the major auction at the Mittel Auction House is about to begin. If you have nothing else to do, why don't you go and take a look?"
Hun Changqing was about to refuse Hai Bodong's suggestion—what was so interesting about an auction in such a place?—but then he reconsidered. He suddenly wondered if he had the ability to snag a rare treasure at the auction.
"Alright, let's go take a look."
Hun Changqing was determined to buy all the mysterious items from the auctioneers he didn't recognize or whose names he didn't know.
Soon, the two arrived at a massive building with distinctive features—green tiles and red eaves—and Hun Changqing nodded in agreement.
This auction house in the capital was many times larger and more magnificent than the one in Wutan City. Compared to it, the Wutan City auction house looked like a latrine.
Pushing through the crowded streets and entering the auction house, soft sunlight streamed in, seemingly isolating the outside noise. The short distance felt like entering two different worlds.
In the vast hall, resembling a crystal city, fully armed guards were everywhere, each wearing the Mittel family crest on their chest.
As the two entered the hall, dozens of gazes swept over them, scrutinizing every part of their bodies. After a while, these sharp, probing eyes slowly withdrew.
The hall was filled with countless crystal display cases, beside which a bustling crowd moved about. Inside the cases were all sorts of exotic items, a dazzling array.
Suddenly, a commotion arose on one side of the hall—the entrance and exit of the Mittel family's high-ranking members. It seemed a figure of considerable importance was about to appear.
The two looked in that direction and saw, among the group of men who had surrounded the passageway and suddenly became as excited as wolves in heat, a figure with a hint of vibrant red and a vaguely alluring form emerged from the passageway.
Hun Changqing felt that the figure looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't make out its details; the red figure only had a faint outline of a wheel.