However, Han Li merely scoffed inwardly. He had used an illusion technique to conceal his appearance, and all he had to do was revert to his true face once he turned around, and no one would ever recognize him.
Even if some among them cultivated certain special techniques, at most they could tell that he wasn't showing his real face — nothing more.
After all, even a peak-stage Integration cultivator like Duan Tianren had only managed as much when face to face with him before. The handful of peak-stage existences in this great hall certainly wouldn't deign to bother over a mere bottle of Glazed Heavenly Fire Liquid with such a minor flaw.
However, after Han Li returned to his seat, he simply closed his eyes slightly, as if he had no further interest in the auction below.
And the auction continued smoothly under Xiao Buyi's stewardship. Two more items even appeared whose bidding prices were no less than that of the Glazed Heavenly Fire Liquid.
Neither of them was a finale item, either.
One was an ancient extraordinary treasure called the "Ten Thousand Beast Conch," left over from primordial times. Although its power had not yet reached the level of a Heavenreach Spirit Treasure, once blown, it could issue commands to lower-grade spirit beasts within a certain range, compelling them to obey — a truly wondrous effect.
The other was none other than the bottle of "Soaring Dragon Pills" that Han Li himself had put up for auction.
The moment this pill appeared on stage and Xiao Buyi explained its remarkable effects, it immediately elicited a wave of excited murmurs throughout the hall.
No one ever had too many pills that could boost Magical Power and prove greatly useful for breaking through cultivation bottlenecks.
Moreover, Void Refining–grade pills appeared at auctions only in the rarest of occasions. The instant one showed up, it sparked a frenzy of competitive bidding.
Even cultivators below the Void Refining stage in the hall threw themselves into the bidding war with reckless abandon.
For them, it was far better to secure such a spiritual medicine now and save it for future use than to let this opportunity slip away.
As for the Void Refining–stage alien cultivators who had been stalled at their bottlenecks for lack of suitable pills, they stared unblinkingly at the pill bottle on stage, unwilling to concede even the slightest ground. Who knew whether such Void Refining–grade pills would ever appear again in future auctions?
After a round of frenzied price escalation, Han Li's bottle of Soaring Dragon Pills ultimately fetched an astonishing price of sixty-three million spirit stones — even somewhat higher than what he had paid for the Glazed Heavenly Fire Liquid.
And to his surprise, the pills ultimately landed in the hands of the Sacred Clan woman who had competed against him earlier for the Heavenly Fire Liquid. She herself naturally had no use for these pills, but she had most likely acquired them for her disciples or juniors.
This outcome naturally drew quiet sighs of disappointment from the people on the first and second floors of the hall.
When Han Li heard the final auction price, he too could only smile bitterly to himself.
It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with the price — rather, he was privately calculating the number of Soaring Dragon Pills he had consumed over the past two years. Converted at this price, the total was a staggering amount of spirit stones.
And this would likely continue for several hundred years to come. It was an extravagance of the most reckless kind!
But then again, had he not been constantly taking all manner of pills to forcefully advance his cultivation, with his rather unremarkable aptitude, how could he have progressed from the early stage of Deity Transformation to the Void Refining stage in just a few hundred years?
This was also the reason why, in Han Li's mind, the value of the mysterious small vial actually surpassed that of even his other Mystic Heaven Treasure.
With the sword transformed from that Mystic Heaven Treasure, he might well be able to roam freely across the Spirit Realm in the future. But without the mysterious small vial, he would never have had the confidence to reach that point in the first place.
Just as Han Li's eyelids hung low and his thoughts churned quietly within, the auction had already processed over a dozen groups of treasures and finally reached its climactic segment.
As the last item — a deep-blue puppet — was being led away by its new owner, Xiao Buyi swept his gaze across the hall, his expression turning solemn.
"I imagine many of our fellow Daoists have been growing impatient. Up next are several carefully selected finale items. Two of them are rare treasures contributed by our four clans. The other two are precious rarities provided by certain fellow Daoists."
While Xiao Buyi was speaking, the teleportation formation on the stage shimmered with an unusual glow. Figures flickered, and four new silhouettes materialized.
One was a short, long-bearded old man. Another was a tall warrior wearing a golden mask. The third was a woman with a graceful figure but an ugly face covered in green scales. And the last was a dark-skinned, strange-looking individual who bore two identical heads atop his shoulders.
Though these four were vastly different in appearance, they each faced the sea of gazes from below the stage with perfect composure, seemingly unconcerned by any of it.
Meanwhile, the representatives of various clans seated in the great hall below all drew sharp intakes of breath the moment they laid eyes on these four, then immediately fell into heated whispered conversations with those beside them.
"It's actually these four seniors!"
"Isn't it, though? These four are the four Grand Guest Elders of our Cloud City! I can't believe they've actually been invited to this auction."
…
The moment these four appeared on stage, Han Li snapped his eyes open as well, a chill running through his heart.
These four newly arrived aliens were all mid-stage Integration cultivators. No wonder their appearance had stirred up such a commotion.
When Xiao Buyi saw the four of them, a smile spread across his face. He cupped his fists and greeted them:
"I'll be troubling the four of you for this!"
"It's nothing. Since the four of us have accepted our compensation, what's a small matter like this?" The long-bearded old man replied with a low chuckle.