The crowd quickly quieted down, and as the cultivator stepped back, a tall man entered carrying a jade box shrouded in a defensive array.
The jade box had been opened, and a jet-black flower swayed gently as it moved.
Fu Mingxu leaned forward and craned his neck to look, and could see that the dark petals were covered with fine red lines, like blood vessels clinging to the petals and drawing nutrients from them.
But he knew this was just a facade, and the truth was the exact opposite of what he saw.
“They are mermaids.” Han Tao whispered in his ear, his fair earlobe right in front of him, as if he could swallow it whole.
Fu Mingxu's expression shifted slightly. Merfolk live on the shores of the East Sea. They are cautious by nature and dislike outsiders. They generally do not appear among humans, let alone in the Demon Realm.
The merman's aura was concealed very well; if Han Tao hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have noticed the difference between the other party and the human race.
However, having heard that mermaids are often beautiful, this one, though with regular features, is nothing special among cultivators.
"He disguised his aura and appearance." Han Tao noticed his doubt and transmitted his voice to him, "It seems there's something fishy going on."
Fu Mingxu couldn't help but roll his eyes and replied to him telepathically, "Even an idiot could see that."
After considering the implication of his words, he immediately became interested: "Do you think he's as beautiful as the rumors say? The kind of beauty that's hard to tell if someone is male or female?"
Even after the merman appeared, the auction house monks continued to talk at length about the uniqueness of this flower king, clearly trying to stir up the atmosphere and raise the price of this demonic flower.
Unfortunately, no one present was interested in listening to his nonsense; their eyes were all on the merman disguised as a human.
Han Tao's gaze lingered on him for two breaths before he replied to Fu Mingxu with great caution: "I've seen it, but you're not as good-looking as me."
Oh, this.
For some reason, Fu Mingxu felt like he was being teased.
However, he had no evidence.
Fortunately, the merman on the field spoke up under everyone's gaze: "I can do without spirit stones."
No one breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
If he doesn't want spirit stones, then what he wants must be something even more precious than spirit stones.
The alchemists exchanged glances, seemingly well-prepared to compete for the prize.
Fu Mingxu was now not only extremely envious of the Demon Flower's King form, but also intrigued by the merman. He continued to transmit his voice to Han Tao, his tone curious: "Guess what he wants?"
Han Tao shook his head honestly.
The room fell silent. The merman paused for a moment, then spoke resolutely, as if gathering his courage: "I want to be alone."
A note from the author:
Han Tao: You don't want spirit stones? Then what use are the spirit stones I had Ying send?
Chapter 34
As soon as the merman finished speaking, the people below the auction stage looked at each other in bewilderment.
Even before the Demon Flower King appeared, those who wanted it were already speculating what price they would have to pay besides spirit stones.
In short, it must be some kind of rare and precious natural treasure.
No one expected this request to be so strange.
The cultivator behind the merman was momentarily shocked, but having received no instructions from the manager, he could only suppress his expression and remain silent, wondering why this person's request was so strange.
One of the alchemists from the Medicine Sect stood up first and raised his voice, "Whom do you want? Since you're asking here, it means this person is someone you'll have a hard time getting in touch with right now."
"Could it be that you want us to avenge you?"
Many people nodded in agreement, feeling that this guess was the most reasonable.
Fu Mingxu disagreed. If it were simply a matter of killing someone, the Demon Flower could be auctioned off, and the obtained spirit stones used to find a cultivator willing to accept the task. After all, not everyone present needed the Demon Flower, while everyone needed top-grade spirit stones.
He looked at the cold expression on the merman's face, and a sudden, unbelievable thought popped into his head.
Could it be that he wasn't looking for an enemy at all?
Thinking of this, he transmitted his voice to Han Tao: "Can you tell whether this merman is male or female?"
Legend has it that mermaids have androgynous appearances because they have no gender before they meet their destined love.
Han Tao glanced at him, and although he found it strange, he squinted and looked over.
The feeling of being locked onto by a powerful ferocious beast startled the merman on the stage. He looked at Han Tao and the other person with a startled expression.
His gaze was so obvious that it attracted the attention of many people who were watching him.
One of the cultivators who knew the whole story of last night's "jealousy" revealed a look of sudden realization and whispered, "Could it be that he has also taken a fancy to that beautiful mortal?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a pair of golden eyes looking over, their fierce light sending chills down his spine.
The speaker instinctively shut up and quickly lowered his head, remaining silent. However, many of the people present, who were sharp-eyed and aware of what had happened, looked at the merman on the stage with even stranger expressions.
If that's really the case, then they're incredibly audacious. Everyone knows that last night, the Dragon Clan leader and Cloud Cold City Lord Han Tao even fought against Immortal Lord Si Yang for this mortal partner, let alone him.
The alchemists also recognized Han Tao. After whispering to each other, one of them revealed a meaningful smile: "Young brother, I see you have good talent, but you can't just talk nonsense and ask for a high price."
How could a dragon possibly want a demon-born flower?
The merman flinched at the fierce glint in the golden eyes, but then raised his head and stood tall: "Whoever bids for this Demonic Flower, the Flower King, will receive the recipe for the Demonic Source Pill."
Fu Mingxu was shocked; it sounded like they were after the Medicine Sect. Sure enough, the two alchemists from the Medicine Sect began to fidget, clearly conflicted.
Han Tao coldly looked at the person on the stage. Considering that he hadn't even glanced at Fu Mingxu, he decided not to hold the misunderstanding against him.
Fu Mingxu couldn't help but send him a telepathic message: "I want one too."
The coldness in Han Tao's eyes vanished instantly, and she turned her head to look at him: "Of course."
"I'm not doing this for myself." Fu Mingxu quickly explained, afraid that he might misunderstand something. "Although I don't know how to remove the demon seed, the Demon Source Pill can not only repair the demon source, but also suppress the demon seed."
The demonic seed is an appendage of the demonic source, so elixirs that can repair the demonic source naturally have a suppressive effect on it. That's the wonder of the universe; there's always a way to overcome something.
Upon hearing this, Han Tao did not say anything more, but silently looked at the merman on the stage with a look of intense pressure in his eyes.
The two had only been exchanging words for two breaths when a cultivator in the front row inadvertently noticed that the two were standing very close together. The dragon leader, who had been like a ferocious god slaughtering demons in the war between good and evil, was as gentle as ice and snow melting in front of his mortal partner, which was astonishing.
The merman on the stage finally finished his suspense. He suppressed his discomfort at being stared at by so many people and slowly said, "I want to use these to exchange for Zhang Anran, a disciple of the Seven Star Peak of the Heavenly Profound Sect."
The audience fell silent, all eyes turning to the stage.
Fu Mingxu saw the mermaid carefully take out a crystal-clear jade from her bosom, the faint red light adding a touch of beauty to her otherwise ordinary face.
"Three months ago, we became husband and wife under the witness of the Three Lives Stone. A month ago, she was summoned back by the sect and has been missing ever since."
“I went to the Tianxuan Sect to find her, hoping to see her, but I was turned away by the gatekeepers.”
He took a few steps forward and came to the bottom of the auction platform. On the Three Lives Stone, which was emitting a faint peach-red light, were five small characters engraved: "Zhang Anran Meng Shui".
He channeled another stream of spiritual energy into it, and the audio-visual image of the two becoming husband and wife in front of the Three Lives Stone appeared.
The Three Lives Stone is a specialty of the East Sea, a predestined stone for marriage under the laws of Heaven. Only those whose hearts are in perfect harmony and who deeply love each other can carve their names on it. In other words, a marriage witnessed by the Three Lives Stone is recognized by the laws of Heaven. Unless the two people themselves go against their wishes, the names on the Three Lives Stone will automatically disappear.
But now, the names of the two people on the Three Lives Stone are clearly engraved on it.
"It really is Senior Sister Zhang!" A Tianxuan Sect disciple in the back row recognized her and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, whispering to his fellow disciple, "But Senior Sister Zhang isn't..."
Sun Zhihai never expected to hear such secrets at an ordinary auction, and he was even more surprised that Zhang Anran's words were true and that he really did have a Daoist partner.
A month ago? That means...
He couldn't bring himself to speculate about what was going on within the sect with malicious intent, so he simply scolded his fellow disciples: "Are you out of your mind? How can you talk about something like this outside!"
His fellow disciple was taken aback, and a look of fear belatedly appeared on his face.
The two spoke very softly, but Chang Hong, who was behind them, heard them clearly. He silently memorized their ambiguous conversation.
After displaying the Three Lives Stone, the merman returned to the stage: "As everyone knows, a marriage recognized by the Heavenly Dao cannot be prevented, but I cannot sense her presence through my mind."
Fu Mingxu frowned upon hearing this. The Three Lives Stone could not be faked, after all, no one could control one's own feelings.
If Zhang Anran is truly in the Tianxuan Sect, there are only two merfolk who cannot sense the reason for his existence.
Either she died, but if she died, her name on the Three Lives Stone would naturally disappear.
Or perhaps she is trapped within a formation that conceals the secrets of heaven.
The merman's conditions didn't sound too difficult; after all, wanting to see his wife was perfectly reasonable.
However, the alchemists in the front row were not fools, and they immediately thought of the second possibility.
Why could they be trapped by the array that the Tianxuan Sect deliberately used to conceal the Three Lives Stone's influence? This is something that makes one ponder deeply.
The alchemists from the Medicine Sect and the Sword Sect looked at the alchemists from the Heavenly Profound Sect sitting in a row, and sure enough, they saw extremely ugly expressions on the faces of the two.
It seems that the hidden story behind this is truly not simple, otherwise Zhang's husband would not have come up with such an ingenious move.
Zhang Anran?
Fu Mingxu suddenly remembered the two senior brothers and sisters Zhang Hengbo whom he had met before. Their names were so similar to Zhang Yanran's. Could they be related?
Moreover, Zhang Yanran once said that she was searching for the Heavenly Mystic Beast for her senior sister.
The seemingly simple matter of auctioning the Demon Flower suddenly became complicated.
The merman, seemingly oblivious to the expressions on everyone's faces, asked, "Is there anyone willing to take on this task? I will gladly present you with the Demon Flower and the Demon Source Pill formula upon its completion."
He glanced at the alchemist dressed in the robes of the Tianxuan Sect and said solemnly, "Of course, I have bound this Demonic Flower with a twin pact using my heart's blood. If I die, or if I have the thought of taking it down with me, it will be destroyed!"
"What a madman!" The two alchemists from the Tianxuan Sect stared at him in shock.
Who would form a twin pact with a spirit flower? Wouldn't that be a waste of their heart's blood?
However, many people believe that this was probably a desperate gamble made by the person on stage out of desperation.
Such a passionate and intense love is enough to move many people.
Fu Mingxu pursed his lips. He knew that merfolk were a fragile and sensitive race, and their inability to distinguish between male and female was a natural defense mechanism created by heaven and earth to protect them.
Yet this mermaid not only came to the human race from the shores of the East Sea, but also went to the Demon Realm to obtain the Demon Flower after searching in vain. She endured countless hardships to stand here, exchanging absolute bargaining chips for her current situation, and searching for her beloved with the most resolute heart.
Passionate and pure emotions are always moving, and Fu Mingxu was no exception. He couldn't imagine such things because he had never loved anyone so passionately.
As for why the other party was so certain that someone urgently needed the Demon Flower and the Demon Source Pill formula, that is probably another secret.
At this moment, Wenren Tuo, the alchemist of the Medicine Sect, stood up, looked at Daoren, the alchemist of the Heavenly Profound Sect, and said with a smile, "I think your sect should do this for others and achieve two goals at once."