Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San-Chapter 963: Too Dangerous

"City Lord Mei, are you alright?" Tang San asked with concern.

Mei Gongzi shot him a glance and said, "I'm fine."

Was that... an eye-roll?

As if to serve as confirmation, she then completely ignored him and quickened her pace to leave.

Tang San rubbed his nose, feeling like he'd run into a wall. Still, he could sense that Mei Gongzi was in an excellent mood—clearly, the Shadowfiend Sword had given her quite a surprise. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

"Too dangerous, Big Brother! Really, way too dangerous!" Back in VIP Room Eight, Jin Miaosen was even trembling a bit.

"Mm, let's wait a little longer before we settle things with our own items. Better to do it once the Emperors are around to watch over things. We're in no hurry," Tang San reassured her.

"I'm not talking about the handover! I'm talking about that City Lord Mei. She's too strong! When she activated her domain just now, I felt like I couldn't even move. And you're still thinking of making her my sister-in-law? Big Brother, you must have a death wish! I bet you wouldn't even survive one strike from her."

Tang San's mouth twitched. What a great little sister I have... Well, it's good that you're worried about me, I suppose...

But it wasn't just Jin Miaosen who felt this way. The three Great Nymph King elders who'd gone with Tang San to the item counter also had lingering fear in their eyes. They all nodded repeatedly, obviously shaken by the upgraded version of Mei Gongzi's God-Killing Domain they'd just witnessed. At that moment, they felt like their very life force had been frozen, and their bodies had been completely out of their control. If Mei Gongzi had chosen to attack them then, they probably wouldn't have even had a chance to dodge.

Though they'd always encouraged Tang San to participate in this competition for the Emperor's seat, only after personally experiencing Mei Gongzi's outburst of power did they realize just how fierce the competition would be. If even the Peacock Demon clan, which had no Emperor alive, had such a terrifying representative, then how strong would the other powerful clans' champions be?

"Big Brother, maybe... maybe we shouldn't join the competition at all? Things have finally gotten a little better for us since you arrived. Please don't go and get yourself killed!" Jin Miaosen blurted out without thinking.

Even Tang San, with his typically good temperament, couldn't help but reach out and knock her on the head. "Wish me well, would you? I know what I'm doing. If I can't win, I'll just surrender. Besides, don't forget we have the Substitute Lotus Seeds, remember?"

"Oh, right... the Substitute Lotus Seeds..." Jin Miaosen let out a small sigh of relief.

Tang San could only shake his head helplessly. No wonder the Blue Gold Tree clan was always bullied—they really had no fighting spirit at all! Even though they'd gained powerful abilities like life-bestowing and life-reaping through the Ancestral Tree's imprint, they had no real desire to fight. That was the core of the problem.

Changing this mindset wouldn't be something that could be accomplished in a day, or in a year. Tang San hoped that maybe his own performance in the martial tournament for the Emperor's seat could bring some much-needed fighting spirit to the Blue Gold Tree clan. At the very least, he hoped to shatter their cowardly attitude; if nothing else, it would make the fact that he'd been using them as a cover and personal wallet feel less exploitative.

***

The auction moved on to its second day.

On the first day, the most expensive item had been the Shadowfiend Sword Mei Gongzi had bought for a shocking 5,100 amethystine coins. The second day would surely bring other rare treasures, especially at the start and the end—times when the best items were always showcased. So as the auction resumed, everyone was refreshed and eagerly waiting.

On stage, a figure descended from the sky. It was someone new, with whom Tang San was actually quite familiar: none other than the Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor.

Compared to the two Emperors from the Empyrean Dominion who'd hosted yesterday, the Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor seemed much more genial. He drifted down with a warm smile, even giving off an air of scholarly elegance.

The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor said, "After yesterday's long auction, I'm sure everyone's feeling a bit fatigued. So today, on the second day, let's start with something to wake everyone up. Bring out our first item."

As he stepped onto the stage, Tang San could clearly feel several powerful divine consciousnesses descend from the VIP suites where the Emperors resided. Though they were too subtle for most to even feel at all, Tang San's own divine consciousness was refined enough to detect them. Their senses swept over the entire auction hall, obviously searching for something.

Tang San knew exactly what they were looking for: the one who had attacked Mei Gongzi earlier. To dare to strike at a Great Demon King, and one who was a city lord at that, in the middle of the Ancestral Court... Someone with that kind of strength and the ability to slip away even under Mei Gongzi's terrifying spatial sealing power had to be truly formidable. Tracking them down wouldn't be easy.

On his part, Tang San didn't even need to think to know who it was. Although that figure had struck first at Mei Gongzi, they hadn't had any real killing intent; their true target was clearly the Shadowfiend Sword. To risk so much for that sword... their identity was all but obvious. While there was no proof, practically everyone knew who the wannabe thief was.

Tang San also figured that this incident would likely elevate Mei Gongzi's standing in everyone's eyes. After all, her attacker was known as the best thief, and perhaps also the best assassin, on the Daemon Continent. Yet it hadn't been able to take advantage of Mei Gongzi's inexperience; in fact, it had almost been cut down by her immediate counterattack. That level of power was bound to make the other competitors in the martial tournament weigh their chances very carefully.

Mei Gongzi's last public victory had been winning the Ancestral Court Elite Competition as a ninth-order fighter. Then, unbeknownst to the general public, she'd overpowered an Immortal Flame Phoenix Great Demon King during her city lord evaluation. Since then, there had been no new record of her strength. This brief yet overwhelming display had surely caught everyone's attention.

Compared to Mei Gongzi, Jin Miaolin barely registered to the true powerhouses. Sure, the Blue Gold Trees had slain an Emperor, but that had been the Ancestral Tree's power, not Jin Miaolin's. Could he even bring that power to the Ancestral Court to compete for an Emperor position? Unlikely. And even if he could, the Emperors of the Ancestral Court certainly wouldn't allow that sort of external interference. Otherwise, what would stop them from sharing their power with their own descendants?

On stage, the first item of the day slowly emerged, drawing everyone's gaze. Everyone knew that the first item of the second day was guaranteed to be something exceptional. But when this item finally appeared, it still made all the bidders gasp in awe.

It was an orb of light—pure, snow-white light. As it appeared, everyone who saw it felt their entire body's pores open wide and draw in energy, as if their very life force was being uplifted under its glow. A faint, golden mist hovered and swirled up to a hundred meters above the orb of light, and the sight made viewers' hearts sing with delight.

Only those with divine consciousness at the eleventh order or equivalent could perceive the tiny jade vial at the very center of that light. Whatever was inside it, that single vial was the source of all this radiance.

The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor only said one short sentence: "This is a drop of blood essence from the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor."

The hall instantly erupted into an uproar.

That was the entire introduction. Those who knew didn't need to be told. Those who didn't know... were completely unqualified to bid for it.

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor was the Master of Destiny, the one who controlled fortune across the entire Daemon Continent. What was a drop of his blood essence? It was the blessing of fortune itself! With that drop in hand, one would practically become the chosen child of destiny in the upcoming competition!

The temptation was simply too immense, too overpowering.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)𝒆bnov(𝒆)l