Wait, isn’t the Reincarnation Saint supposed to be a woman? Why is there a man standing before him?
Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense recklessly swept over the Reincarnation Saint, searching for any signs of disguise through the Heavenly Transformation technique. Others might not know the shape-shifting ability within Heavenly Transformation, but the Reincarnation Saint surely would.
After observing for a while, Lan Xiaobu found nothing. He felt helpless—the opponent’s domain enveloped their body, and their charm of the Dao was overwhelmingly strong. To confirm anything, he’d need to tear through their domain, but doing so forcefully would mean starting a fight.
Lan Xiaobu withdrew his divine sense. They were going to clash anyway—whether the figure was male or female didn’t matter. Perhaps this Reincarnation Saint was even an imposter.
Though he stopped probing the Reincarnation Saint, Lan Xiaobu kept his divine sense roaming the hall. He planned to seclude himself here for cultivation later, so he needed to identify any strong presences. With his current strength, he wasn’t worried about offending anyone by scanning them.
People trickled in, and soon over four thousand were seated. Just then, a monk strolled in leisurely.
Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense landed on the monk, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly pulled back his scan. This guy’s power was the strongest he’d ever encountered—stronger than the Reincarnation Saint before him and no weaker than Ku Cai.
Clearly, this was the monk Ku Cai had mentioned. Truly formidable.
Having roughly assessed the threats in the room, aside from the Reincarnation Saint and the monk, only the two Saint Island Lords stood out. Lan Xiaobu paid little attention to the rest, including two Third-Turn Saints.
After another half-stick of incense, a beautiful woman stepped onto the stage. She was a Quasi-Saint Fifth Layer cultivator, likely the auction’s host.
Standing at the podium, she smiled, offered a formal bow, and spoke in a gentle tone, “Fellow Daoists, today marks the first auction since Saint Island’s emergence. Both Senior Tree Saint and Senior Mad Saint hope everyone on this island can advance swiftly in comprehending the Dao. However, opportunities differ, and luck varies. Some have proven themselves as true First-Turn Saints, even climbing higher in the Saint Realm, while others remain stuck at their current level, unable to progress.
“As the lords of Saint Island, Mad Saint and Tree Saint don’t wish to see this disparity. Thus, they’ve organized this auction. Ninety percent of the items come from the two Saint Island Lords, with a few contributed by fellow islanders. Anything can be offered as a bid, and the highest offer wins the treasure. Any objections?”
No one spoke up—there were no objections. At this level of cultivation, divine crystals weren’t abundant. Which Saint or Quasi-Saint didn’t have a few top-tier treasures in their world? Divine crystals were for low-level divine cultivators—few Saints carried heaps of them.
“Since no one objects, let’s begin with the first item: a replicated technique manual, copied from the Great Causality Technique Scroll. As you know, techniques replicated from an Origin Divine Passage Scroll typically drop a level, so this can be considered a Lesser Causality Technique…”
Lan Xiaobu was stunned. He hadn’t come here intending to buy anything, but with a Causality Technique on offer, he had to get it.
With the Lesser Causality Technique in hand, he could construct the Great Causality Technique using the Cosmic Dimensional Model.
No need to bid—he’d just build the dimensional structure. Though he tried to limit his use of the Cosmic Dimensional Model, for something like the Causality Technique, he wouldn’t hesitate.
The woman finished speaking and raised her hand, pulling an object from the void onto the auction table. It was indeed a scroll, suspended above a circular disk.
Almost every divine sense in the room swept toward it. Lan Xiaobu’s did too, while he began constructing the dimensional model.
Something was off. The moment his divine sense touched it, he sensed a problem. Not only could he not penetrate it, he couldn’t even detect the Lesser Causality Technique.
An array disk? Lan Xiaobu stared at the circular disk beneath the scroll. He’d never seen such a thing. An array his divine sense couldn’t perceive—what level was this?
He recalled the protective array outside Saint Island. This disk seemed similar to that defensive array. Could the island’s array not be set by Mad Saint and Tree Saint, but another disk?
Thinking of array disks, Lan Xiaobu shifted his divine sense to the Cosmic Dimensional Model, then frowned.
After constructing the dimensional model of Saint Island’s protective array, he’d only glanced at it, confirming it was built, and hadn’t paid much attention. Now, looking closely, he saw it had indeed formed—but it only revealed the array’s level, not how to break it.
Then he noticed the model’s progress on the Lesser Causality Technique was painfully slow. It had only constructed the outer array’s dimensional structure—no sign of the technique itself. This pace mirrored the sluggish breakdown of the island’s protective array.
Even the Great Star Technique’s model, started earlier, showed no outline—progress was practically nonexistent.
This wasn’t a divine array disk—it surpassed Ninth-Level Divine Arrays. The island’s outer array was the same, beyond Ninth-Level.
Beyond Ninth-Level Divine Arrays? A Saintly Dao Array, perhaps? Lan Xiaobu hadn’t encountered Saintly Dao Arrays, but he knew if the Cosmic Dimensional Model couldn’t crack one, it’d never build the structure of the Lesser Causality Technique on that disk.
In that moment, he felt a chill. If someone had attacked his cave before he’d become a First-Turn Saint, how could he have escaped?
Lately, as his strength grew, he’d gotten careless.
These two Saint Island Lords had some tricks up their sleeves.
“I offer one top-grade divine spirit vein and three high-grade divine spirit veins,” someone shouted.
No bidding screen here—you called out your offer.
“One water-attribute Dao fruit, a Yunhuan Dao fruit, plus two top-grade divine spirit veins and five high-grade ones,” came a second bid.
Honestly, this offer’s value exceeded the Lesser Causality Technique. The Great Causality Technique was priceless, but the Lesser version wasn’t. The Dao of Causality was profound—misstep in cultivation, and you’d end up serving someone else’s gain.
“Ten top-grade divine spirit veins and twenty high-grade ones,” Lan Xiaobu bid without hesitation. If the Cosmic Dimensional Model couldn’t build it, he’d buy it.
His voice silenced the room.
Not everyone was as rich as Min Yuan. In truth, offering two top-grade and a few high-grade spirit veins was already extravagant.
The auction hall fell quiet, hundreds—thousands—of divine senses locking onto Lan Xiaobu. No restrictions here; bidding put you under everyone’s scrutiny.
The woman on stage didn’t speak. This auction differed from others—after she announced bidding was open, offers flew freely. No starting price, no bid limits. If no one topped your offer for a while, the item was yours.
Several minutes passed before she crisply declared, “To the Daoist offering ten top-grade and twenty high-grade divine spirit veins, the Lesser Causality Technique Scroll is now yours. Please come claim it.”
Hearing “claim it,” Lan Xiaobu realized he’d underestimated Tree Saint and Mad Saint. That disk was clearly designed to prevent copying—like what he’d intended. Though some could pierce a scroll’s restrictions with divine sense and replicate its contents.
Ten top-grade and twenty high-grade spirit veins were a trifle to him. He’d struck it rich off Min Yuan—this was pocket change.
Without hesitation, he ascended the stage, handed over a ring containing the spirit veins, and took the Lesser Causality Technique.
Every divine sense focused on him. Those who’d hesitated to scan him before now took their chance. He’d stepped up—probing him wasn’t malice.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t mind scans, but planting divine sense markers on him? That was disgusting. Three markers hit him: one from a Second-Turn Saint, one from a Third-Turn Saint, and one from that overpowering monk.
He’d expected markers from the Reincarnation Saint, Tree Saint, or Mad Saint, but those three stayed silent.
As he completed the exchange and stepped down, the woman produced a stone tablet.
The moment Lan Xiaobu saw it, he knew—it was the Boundary Flag of the Seven Realms Stone. He’d assumed it’d be saved for the auction’s finale, not brought out as the second item.
