As the stunning Immortal Artifact made its breathtaking debut, the atmosphere inside the auction house was instantly ignited, reaching a fever pitch. The price skyrocketed all the way to a staggering one billion before Feng Wenjun successfully claimed it. The major families who had been fiercely bidding could only watch helplessly as the treasure was snatched away, leaving them filled with resentment and empty-handed.
Some of the bolder and more malicious families began to rally their men. Greed and cruelty flashed in their eyes as they secretly plotted to find out who had the audacity to steal the coveted Immortal Artifact today. The shadow of a conspiracy was quietly spreading just outside the bustling auction house.
As the person involved, Feng Wenjun naturally sensed that something was amiss around him, and the air seemed charged with a dangerous aura. However, he paid it no mind, maintaining a calm and composed expression. Upon first arriving at the auction house, his keen perception had already allowed him to discern that among the many guests, the one with the highest cultivation was Kumamoto Takeo, who sat across from them.
Feng Wenjun reasoned to himself that as long as they did not initiate trouble, he had no need to strike lightly. As for the others harboring malicious intentions, with his current cultivation, retreating unscathed would be no difficult task.
"Qian Yuxi, you should head back first. I have some matters to attend to here," Feng Wenjun said softly, turning his head to look at her with a gentle gaze.
"Alright, I understand. You must be very careful," Qian Yuxi replied softly with a slight nod and a faint smile, seeming to have already guessed his thoughts.
"I'm giving this to you. I noticed you liked it," Feng Wenjun said as he handed the newly won Violet Brocade Soft Armor straight into Qian Yuxi's hands. Beneath the lights, the armor flickered with a mysterious and gorgeous radiance, making it obvious at a glance that it was a rare treasure.
"Thank you, but I think you need it more right now," Qian Yuxi said, declining it despite a slight stir of excitement and a trace of emotion in her eyes.
"Don't worry about me, I have my own ways of handling this," Feng Wenjun said with a confident smile at the corner of his mouth and a firm tone.
"Alright, hurry off now! No need to worry about me." With that, he turned back to flash her a brilliant smile, and the two of them parted ways like two branching streams, leaving one after the other.
After leaving the bustling Heavenly Dragon Auction House, Feng Wenjun deliberately chose a relatively secluded path. He walked forward with steady strides, yet before long, he acutely sensed numerous auras lurking in the shadows.
From their auras, he instantly deduced that these people were Qi Condensation 3rd or 4th Layer experts, and they had clearly been lying in wait here for quite some time, just waiting for him to walk right into the trap. Feng Wenjun paused slightly, then spoke in a poised manner to the empty air: "Since you're all here, why hide and skulk? Come on out!" His voice was not loud, yet it echoed like a great bell down the quiet path.
No sooner had his voice fallen than the sound of light footsteps rang out. A dozen figures instantly sprang from every corner behind him, surrounding him completely. A middle-aged man wearing a black mask stood at the front, his eyes revealing a hint of greed and cruelty as he said coldly, "If you know what's good for you, hand over that Immortal Artifact right now, or don't blame my brothers for being unpolite."
"Don't waste words with him, just snatch it," another masked figure shouted impatiently.
"Exactly. Once we get this treasure, the High Priest will surely reward us heavily, and he's all alone—today he won't be able to fly away," another chimed in, greed burning frantically in his eyes.
"That's right! If we attack together, why should we be afraid of him?" The others joined in unison, instantly making the scene chaotic and thick with gunpowder.
"Noisy!" Feng Wenjun furrowed his brow slightly, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes as he spoke coldly. Examining these people closely, he noticed they all wore masks and secretly guessed that they didn't look like people from other families. Could they be wandering rogue cultivators, or mysterious forces from a neighboring country?
"Why don't you all come at once!" With that, Feng Wenjun took a deep breath, rapidly mobilizing the spiritual qi within his body to wrap around himself, forming a barrier that radiated a faint glow. The barrier looked thin, yet it possessed formidable defensive power.
Seeing this, the dozen or so men exchanged a resolute glance, then swarmed him directly. Various fierce martial arts techniques assaulted Feng Wenjun like a violent storm. However, the moment all the attacks touched that layer of spiritual qi barrier, they struck an invisible copper wall and were blocked outside, failing to inflict the slightest injury on Feng Wenjun.
At this, Feng Wenjun let out a cold snort. Immediately channeling his spiritual power outward, he transformed it into a powerful shockwave that sent his attackers flying, tumbling miserably to the ground.
"How can someone so young possess such terrifying strength?"
"Good heavens, he's actually a Qi Condensation 4th Layer expert!" The ringleaders who had spoken earlier were utterly shocked, their faces turning to expressions of disbelief.
"Don't panic, everyone! No matter how strong he is, he's still just one person. Let's attack together—I refuse to believe we can't take him down!" One of them forced his composure and shouted aloud.
By now, Feng Wenjun's eyes had grown as sharp as an eagle's. Employing agile footwork, he darted rapidly among them like a ghost, making his movements impossible to trace. Every punch and kick he threw carried a whistling wind and tremendous force; his attackers were sent flying one after another, utterly incapable of fighting back.
Next, Feng Wenjun flung his hands wide open, and those who had been sent flying were instantly frozen in mid-air by an invisible force. Struggling desperately, terror spread across their faces. With a stern look in his eyes, Feng Wenjun increased his spiritual power output. In an instant, their bodies began to shake violently before turning into mists of blood that drifted into the air, creating an exceptionally gruesome scene.
The leading men turned pale with fright at the bloody spectacle. Exchanging glances, they leaped into the air and rapidly scattered to surround Feng Wenjun on all sides. Raising their hands simultaneously, they flashed through complex and mysterious hand seals at high speed, shouting in unison: "Myriad Phenomena Spirit-Binding Array! Rise!"
As their shouts fell, the surrounding environment began to shake violently. A huge circular rune suddenly appeared in the sky, radiating a powerful and majestic aura. The surrounding air seemed distorted and warped under the pressure of this mighty force, which felt as crushing as a great mountain descending from above.
"You brat can consider yourself dying without regrets. This is our clan's secret art, the Myriad Phenomena Spirit-Binding Array. Even if you were a Golden Core Peak expert trapped in this formation, you would be immobilized," the leader said coldly, a look of triumph crossing his eyes as he gazed at Feng Wenjun trapped within the array.
At that moment, Feng Wenjun only felt his body pressed down tightly by an enormous, invisible force, while the spiritual qi inside him was seemingly locked away by a mysterious power, unable to circulate properly. For a moment, he fell into an unprecedented predicament, and the situation became tricky.
"It seems I have no choice but to go all out. Haah—!" Gritting his teeth, Feng Wenjun expelled a breath of stale air, then rapidly gathered all his spiritual qi into his hands and began forming complex and abstruse hand seals, shouting aloud: "Chaos Innate Formula, First Stage: Prison Mountain!"
As his shout echoed, runes instantly swirled around his body, flashing with a mysterious light as if harboring endless power. Immediately after, the runes slowly transformed into a towering mountain that radiated an archaic and heavy aura, as though it came from the primordial era.
With wide eyes and a gaze filled with resolve and determination, Feng Wenjun roared: "Break for me!"
Manipulated by him, the mountain formed by the runes slowly rose and slammed into the great array in the sky with an unstoppable momentum. With a deafening roar akin to heaven and earth shattering, the rune-formed mountain instantly smashed the array to pieces.
The powerful shockwave sent the masked men flying. Spouting blood, they crashed heavily to their knees, their faces marked by pain and despair. Although the formation was decent, the cultivators in black were simply too weak to unleash its true power.
"What kind of people are you?" Feng Wenjun pointed a finger at one of them, demanding loudly with anger and confusion in his eyes.
"You aren't qualified to know what kind of people we are! If we vanish today, your entire family will suffer total annihilation!" That man gritted his teeth against his agonizing pain, replying stubbornly with a frantic and threatening glint in his eyes.
"You dare threaten me? You're courting death." A flash of killing intent crossed Feng Wenjun's eyes. Before his voice even faded, he flicked his wrist lightly, and a streak of spiritual power shot forth. That man instantly turned into a mist of blood and dissipated into the air.
Seeing this, the remaining men fell into utter despair. Abandoning all thoughts of survival since they couldn't run and couldn't fight, they knew they had no choice left but to fight to the death. Resolution gleaming in their eyes, they charged madly at Feng Wenjun once again.