I Have an Omen System

"Master Qin, our first Foundation Establishment auction was a perfect success. In total, we sold two Foundation Establishment Pills, three Top-Grade Spiritual Artifacts, ten Stabilizing Pills, another seventeen Treasure Talismans, and a number of hundred-year-old Spirit Grasses..."

"The grand total comes to a massive two hundred seventy thousand low-grade spirit stones!"

The wild joy on Zhao Youliang’s face was irrepressible. His bluish-black fur stood on end, puffed up with excitement.

This was more Spirit Stones than he had earned from a whole year of auctions combined. If not for the fear of being discovered on his way here, he would have been tempted to howl at the sky and beat his chest.

Qin Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? No one caused any trouble?"

Zhao Youliang shook his head, his voice filled with excitement. "Not a single person caused a problem. They were all incredibly well-behaved. Some even said that for us to be so bold, we must have a Purple Mansion Daoist backing us..."

"Those Treasure Talismans and Pills were also hot sellers. Their prices were at least forty percent higher than usual."

"Good!"

This certainly saved a lot of trouble.

Qin Xuan had originally expected a few nasty fights and was even prepared to flee at a moment’s notice. He hadn’t thought these family Cultivators would end up letting their imaginations run wild.

Zhao Youliang had single-handedly organized this entire auction.

It was just as he had said.

As long as the price of the Foundation Establishment Pills was low enough, once word got out, the Loose Cultivators and family Cultivators of Daqian would flock to them like moths to a flame.

Qin Xuan didn’t want to make a big scene and attract the attention of the Daqian authorities either.

All he wanted was to offload the "hot" goods in his possession as quickly as possible in exchange for resources.

If not for this concern, given his methods, the Cultivators who attended the auction would have likely already become nourishment for his Soul-devouring Banner.

"Since the first time went so well, let’s continue. I still have plenty of Treasure Talismans and Tier Two Elixirs."

Under Zhao Youliang’s shocked, monkey-like gaze, Qin Xuan once again flicked his sleeve.

This time, the radiant glow was even more intense.

A new collection of various Magical Treasures, Spirit Pills, and Talismans appeared out of thin air—nearly fifty percent more than last time.

Brilliant, auspicious light swirled and rose, bathing the entire cliffside in iridescent colors. The dense Spiritual Qi nearly condensed into a physical mist.

Jade bottles and porcelain jars CLINKED together, Treasure Talismans pulsed with spiritual light, and flying swords hummed softly... The sight was so spectacular it took Zhao Youliang’s breath away.

"Master Qin, you’re too incredible! You’re simply, simply..."

Zhao Youliang’s mouth hung open, the sheer shock leaving him at a loss for words.

"Alright, if you can’t come up with any decent flattery, then save your breath. I doubt you could think of anything good to say anyway."

Just then, his Divine Sense detected a sudden disturbance from the Bone-Transforming Corpse Beetle.

Qin Xuan’s brow twitched, and he dismissed Zhao Youliang.

...

Deep in the dense forest.

A female Loose Cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation sat cross-legged in meditation. She was completely shrouded in a gray cloak, her face sallow and emaciated.

Her True Essence surged around her, rippling with a watery-blue glow. Suddenly, her expression changed drastically.

SIZZLE!

Without any warning, a sharp, searing pain erupted from beneath the skin on the back of her neck—a pain that felt like a branding iron gnawing at her very bones.

’It’s a Gu Insect... Someone is after me!’

The female Loose Cultivator’s small, sallow face turned deathly pale.

She was the very same woman in the gray robe who had gotten lucky and won the bid for the Foundation Establishment Pill back in Yunxi Valley.

Because she had left early, she hadn’t been caught up in the chaotic battle that erupted in Yunxi Valley.

But the stinging pain on the back of her neck grew ever more intense.

The female Loose Cultivator steeled herself. With a flick of her wrist, she produced a Magical Artifact dagger and, enduring the excruciating pain, forcibly carved out a large chunk of flesh from the back of her neck.

The chunk of tender, white flesh instantly rotted and turned black the moment it was separated from her body, melting into a puddle of pus!

However, even after carving out the flesh, the stinging pain in her neck didn’t subside. Instead, it intensified.

It felt as if the Gu Insect was burrowing deeper, a pain that pierced straight to the marrow!

Terrified, the female Loose Cultivator’s voice trembled as she dropped to her knees, her head thudding against the ground.

"Senior, I know I was wrong! I didn’t mean to offend you..."

"The Foundation Establishment Pill, the Magical Artifact, and... and the Foundation Establishment inheritance! I can give them all to you, Senior! I beg you to spare my life!"

Dark red blood trickled down from the back of her neck, but her pleas went completely unheard.

An invisible corrosive power quickly stained the wound an ominous bluish-gray.

Just as the ghastly white bone fragments were about to be corroded by the Bone-Transforming Corpse Beetle...

"ROAR!"

A deafening, ferocious, and violent beastly roar exploded over the dense forest like a clap of thunder.

The violent shockwave sent leaves and branches from the ancient trees showering down.

The female Loose Cultivator looked up in terror.

A colossal lion, as large as a small hill, suddenly appeared above her. Its mane bristled like steel needles, and its entire body was covered in bluish-black Scale Armor.

The Cyan Lion opened its cavernous maw, revealing menacing fangs. Fetid saliva splattered as it brought its massive paw down directly on the female Loose Cultivator.

"SQUELCH..."

With a sickening squelch, the Cyan Lion stomped the female Loose Cultivator—along with the Bone-Transforming Corpse Beetle—into a paste of flesh and blood.

’The Blood Demon Sword Sect? The work of the Plague Poison Altar?’

Standing on the Cyan Lion’s back was a stern-faced, middle-aged Cultivator. His eyes, sharp as a hawk’s, swept over the bloody mess below.

His nostrils flared slightly as if he had smelled something. He frowned, a trace of disgust on his face.

The middle-aged Cultivator’s eyes narrowed slightly.

With a flicker, he leaped down from the Cyan Lion, drifting silently to the ground like a falling leaf.

The soles of his boots landed on the edge of the viscous, bloody pulp, yet remained completely unstained.

He dipped his finger into the female Loose Cultivator’s blood on the ground, then extended his tongue and licked it lightly. His impassive expression changed abruptly, and a sharp glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.

’I didn’t expect to find a bonus while out on a mission... and a Heaven Dao Foundation Establishment at that.’

"Daqing, let’s go! After them!"

The middle-aged Cultivator wasted no more time. With a flicker, he landed steadily back on the Cyan Lion’s broad back.

Behind him, an ethereal mansion was faintly visible, where a Dragon and Tiger Pill Furnace seethed amidst a profusion of purple qi.

He was, in fact, a Great Zhenren of the Purple Mansion Realm!

"SNORT!"

The Cyan Lion blasted two jets of scorching white air from its nostrils and stomped its powerful limbs on the ground!

RUMBLE!

The ground trembled slightly, sending dead leaves flying!

The massive lion’s body transformed into a cyan afterimage, kicking up a fetid wind as it galloped toward Yunxi Valley with the speed of lightning.

...

「Cold Abyss Valley, Wu Family Estate」

The Wu Family Head, Wu Qingchuan, sat stiffly in the ancestral hall, his brow tightly furrowed.

Before him, a group of Wu Family women, dressed in white sackcloth mourning attire, wept sorrowfully before a family memorial tablet whose lamp had gone out.

The name inscribed on that tablet was Hua Tiemei.

Annoyed by the wailing, Wu Qingchuan suddenly swept his sleeve, angrily flipping over a fruit platter on the table. He roared:

"What is all this crying? The entire clan, young and old, wailing from night to day and day to night! Can your tears bring the Matriarch back to life?"

"I’m not dead! Si Yuan isn’t dead! The sky over our Wu Family has not fallen!"

CRASH!

The fruit platter hit the floor and shattered with a tremendous noise.

The entire ancestral hall fell silent.

Hua Tiemei was from a side branch of the previous Wu Family Head’s generation, not Wu Qingchuan’s biological mother. Strictly speaking, Hua Tiemei was even the main culprit behind the death of the previous family matriarch.

From the side, the Wu Family’s Second Elder, Wu Qingwen, said in a low voice, "Brother, please calm down... Everyone is just overcome with grief."

"With the Matriarch’s death, even though we are keeping it a secret, the clan has suddenly lost its strongest Foundation Establishment-level power. It’s inevitable that people are on edge... And that old dog from the Wang Family had his Soul Lamp extinguished a hundred years ago, so for all we know, he might still be alive..."

"Who says the Wu Family has lost a Foundation Establishment Cultivator?"

Wu Qingchuan’s gaze swept across the ancestral hall. Seeing the shocked and uncertain expressions on the faces of the clan elders, his voice carried a tone of triumphant vindication.

"I was planning to tell you all later, but there’s no point in hiding it now... Si Yuan performed a great service on the front lines and was rewarded with Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects by the Sect! He’ll be back soon—in a few months at the shortest, half a year at the longest!"

"Brother, is this true?" Wu Qingwen was both shocked and delighted.

"Nephew Si Yuan is really coming back?"

"Why would I lie to you..."

Wu Qingchuan took a deep breath, shot a venomous glance at Hua Tiemei’s memorial tablet, and then expelled all his pent-up frustration before bursting into loud laughter.

"I’ll tell you the truth. Si Yuan has already reached Foundation Establishment! And with the most profound Earth Dao Foundation Establishment, at that! Even if that Wang Zezhou is still alive, he will die without a grave!"

"Qixing Lake will finally belong to our Wu Family!"