Divine Emperor Demon Emperor

Late into the night, Qing Zhu was reclining on her bed, clad in only a thin layer of sheer gauze. If any man were to see such a seductive scene, it was believed that not a single one under the heavens could resist.

"Aunt Lan, go. Have them begin," she said softly to Aunt Lan.

Hearing this, Aunt Lan smiled faintly and was about to leave the room when Qing Zhu spoke again. "Oh, right. Tell them to be careful not to injure Lin Yun. His wounds haven’t healed yet."

Understanding Qing Zhu’s meaning, Aunt Lan smiled, then vanished from the room into thin air.

After Aunt Lan left, Qing Zhu slowly opened her lightly closed eyes. ’Lin Yun, you’d better not disappoint me.’

Late that night at the Celestial Spirit Auction House, Lin Yun had Lu Bingning and the other two women go to bed first, while he sat on a stone bench in the courtyard with Qin Feng, He Yuntian, and Bai Zhicheng.

"Brother Lin, why aren’t you resting in the middle of the night? What are you making us wait here for?" Qin Feng asked in confusion, having been summoned by Lin Yun and made to sit here late into the night.

Lin Yun didn’t tell them what it was about, as he wasn’t entirely sure himself. Hearing Qin Feng’s question, Lin Yun simply said faintly, "Tonight will not be peaceful."

Since Lin Yun didn’t elaborate, Qin Feng and the other two had no choice but to wait here with him.

About half an hour later, the sounds of battle suddenly erupted from the front courtyard. Hearing this, Qin Feng and the other two exchanged a look, all three finding it very strange.

This was the Celestial Spirit Auction House, after all. Where would a fight come from in the middle of the night?

Recalling what Lin Yun had just said, the three of them turned to look at him almost in unison. Just as Lin Yun had predicted, tonight was indeed not peaceful.

"Senior Brother Lin, it couldn’t be people from Taiqing Academy, could it? Would they really dare to charge in here and kill us?" He Yuntian asked.

Taking a sip of the clear water in his cup, Lin Yun said, as if to himself, "I saw Qing Zhu today..."

Hearing the name Qing Zhu, He Yuntian and Bai Zhicheng showed no particular surprise, but Qin Feng’s expression changed instantly. He had come from Yanhuang Country with Lin Yun, and he knew of Qing Zhu from their time in the Capital City.

Moreover, upon hearing of the Qing Zhu Association, Qin Feng, just like Lin Yun, had naturally thought of Qing Zhu.

"Brother Lin, is the Qing Zhu Association really..." Unsure in his heart about the connection between Qing Zhu and the Qing Zhu Association, Qin Feng asked Lin Yun.

Before Qin Feng could finish, Lin Yun gave a slight nod. Seeing this, Qin Feng knew that the Qing Zhu Association was, shockingly, truly related to Qing Zhu.

"The ones attacking the Celestial Spirit Auction House right now are probably from the Qing Zhu Association," Lin Yun told the three of them.

As Lin Yun explained, the three of them quickly understood the whole story.

Qing Zhu had sent the Black Attendants of the Qing Zhu Association, disguised as disciples of Taiqing Academy, to attack the Celestial Spirit Auction House late at night. The goal was to force Lin Yun to pull in the Celestial Spirit Auction House and annihilate Taiqing Academy in one fell swoop.

This was the "great gift" for Lin Yun that Qing Zhu had spoken of.

Think about it: Taiqing Academy attacking the Celestial Spirit Auction House in the dead of night, and with a clear motive. If news of this reached the Celestial Spirit Auction House Headquarters, they would surely be enraged. An enraged Celestial Spirit Auction House would inevitably dispatch a Gold Order to the Eastern Domain.

And Lin Yun could use this very opportunity to join forces with the Celestial Spirit Auction House and destroy Taiqing Academy in one move.

Although he didn’t know what Qing Zhu’s intentions were, or what she stood to gain from this, it was just as she had said: Lin Yun had no choice, and he would definitely go through with it.

Because if he missed this chance, it would be impossible to destroy Taiqing Academy with the strength of Flawless Palace alone. The two sects were of comparable strength; if they were to truly fight, it would only end in mutual destruction.

But this time, the attack by the Qing Zhu Association members impersonating Taiqing Academy gave Lin Yun an incredibly powerful ally for free. Moreover, even if Taiqing Academy were destroyed, the Celestial Spirit Auction House wouldn’t come to divide its territory and resources with Flawless Palace.

After all, the Celestial Spirit Auction House wouldn’t even deign to look at the meager resources of Taiqing Academy.

However, there was one major problem tonight. If Wei Yunhang learned that the Qing Zhu Association was impersonating Taiqing Academy disciples to attack the Celestial Spirit Auction House, he would very likely decide that since he was already being framed, he might as well go all in and launch a real attack.

Since the situation was already muddled beyond explanation and he’d be blamed whether he acted or not, he might as well charge in and kill Lin Yun. That way, Wei Yunhang could at least gain something from it. This was what worried Lin Yun the most tonight.

After hearing Lin Yun’s explanation, Qin Feng and the other two roughly understood the situation. They couldn’t help but sigh at the Qing Zhu Association’s methods. It was a truly unscrupulous organization, and one could never know the true purpose behind its actions.

The sounds of battle from the front courtyard grew increasingly fierce. At this moment, in the main hall, Chairman Nie listened to her subordinate’s report, asking with a puzzled expression,

"It’s been fifteen minutes, and you’re saying these people are just fighting without any intention of charging in?"

"Yes. Based on my observations, about a hundred people have broken in. They are all masked and wearing Night Travel Clothes. Although they’ve injured many of our brothers, their fighting isn’t particularly vicious, and they show no intention of trying to charge further in immediately," the man from the Celestial Spirit Auction House replied.

"Mm, I understand. You may leave," she said, waving her hand to dismiss him.

As she pondered the attackers’ origins, Taiqing Academy naturally emerged as the prime suspect. They had the motive, and they had the strength. Furthermore, the entire Fire City had been filled with Taiqing Academy’s disciples and Elders for the past few days.

The only thing Chairman Nie found hard to believe was whether Taiqing Academy truly had the guts to force its way into the Celestial Spirit Auction House. ’Would Wei Yunhang really disregard everything just to kill one Lin Yun?’

The situation was full of doubt, but though she couldn’t be certain, Chairman Nie still locked her suspicion onto Taiqing Academy. Besides them, she simply couldn’t think of any other power with both the ability and the motive.

’Wei Yunhang, if there’s real evidence proving it was you, do you think your Taiqing Academy will be allowed to exist in the Eastern Domain any longer?’ Although she had no cultivation and was a woman, at this moment, Chairman Nie erupted with the imposing aura of a superior.

After all, if she were just an ordinary woman, how could she have become the person in charge of Fire City? Since she was able to secure the position of Fire City’s head, Chairman Nie naturally had her own extraordinary qualities.

An assault on a branch of the Celestial Spirit Auction House in one of the Five Great Cities was likely a first since the auction house’s establishment in the Eastern Domain. It wasn’t that no one in history had ever attacked the Celestial Spirit Auction House—after all, it held many rare and precious treasures.

But in the end, every person or power that dared to attack a branch of the Celestial Spirit Auction House had vanished into the river of history.

The Celestial Spirit Auction House placed immense importance on the protection and prestige of its branches. This was not only because it was an Overlord Level Power on the Celestial Spirit Continent, but also because it wanted to send a message to all the powers in the world: anyone who dared to attack a branch of the Celestial Spirit Auction House had only one fate—disappearance.