"If that is Lord Blood Hand's wish, then of course!"
It was a minor matter, and it fell within the flexible provisions of the rules. Besides, Selan was still trying to win over Leilin, so she naturally granted this favor.
In truth, even if Leilin's own quota had been full, Selan would still have agreed if he wanted to bring someone extra along.
After all, in her eyes, an apothecary grandmaster was worth far more than the Nonolifa family, which only had a liquefied wizard.
"Is that so? Then I truly thank you, my lady!"
Joy quickly flickered across Newen's face. He certainly hadn't recognized Leilin in his altered appearance and pulled Jessira forward to bow.
"Thank you…" Jessira still wore a somewhat reluctant expression, but she bowed her head submissively all the same.
"Mm." Leilin gave a reserved nod and stepped toward the auction house.
"Wait! Friend, I am Vance Nonolifa! I must truly thank you for what you've done today!"
The old man called Vance had been standing off to the side the whole time. When Leilin moved, he fell into step beside him, and the deep purple-red carpet unrolled beneath them as they walked into the auction house.
"It's nothing — just a bit of help offered in passing," Leilin replied politely. But beneath his hood, his expression was impossible to read.
He reached into his robes and touched a round coin tucked inside.
"The resonance is getting stronger. I'd wager the thing I need is on that person's body. Heh heh… Jessira, you've delivered quite the gift to me!"
Leilin glanced at Jessira, who was walking with her head lowered. Her face still burned with shame.
The scene that had unfolded outside the auction house had stripped away her vanity entirely, leaving her acutely aware of how wretched and helpless she truly was.
Even Leilin, who had stepped in to help her, had earned not a shred of her gratitude.
Of course, this woman hadn't recognized Leilin either. In her mind, she was still cursing and complaining: "Damn that Leilin! If it weren't for you, how could I have ended up here, suffering such humiliation… Just you wait — if I run into you tonight, you'll regret it…"
A vicious flash flickered in the depths of Jessira's eyes before being quickly suppressed. With her head half-lowered, no one had noticed.
Yes — the reason she had come here was primarily for Leilin.
Ever since she had seen him in Blue Mountain City, Jessira had thought of nothing but getting her revenge.
According to the elder who had been with them when they encountered Leilin, he had only been at the third-level Initial Stage at the time — he hadn't even reached the gaseous phase.
If he could be found, her grandfather, who had already reached the peak of liquefaction, would certainly be able to help them settle the score!
But to Jessira's great disappointment, no matter how thoroughly she searched Blue Mountain City — even staking out the pastry shop where Leilin had last been seen with them — she could find no trace of him.
By then, Leilin had long since taken on the identity of Blood Hand. Even if they crossed paths face-to-face on the street, Jessira would never have recognized him.
Having exhausted every lead, Jessira reluctantly gave up the search and turned to a different plan.
The auction event!
She was absolutely certain that Leilin had come here because the auction had drawn him in. So even if she couldn't find him right away, he would inevitably appear at the venue!
That was why Jessira, who had originally come only to relax and had no interest in the auction whatsoever, had insisted that Newen bring her along.
She seemed to have forgotten one thing, though. Setting aside the sheer number of wizards attending the event — far too many for her to go through every one — there was another problem that was equally difficult to solve: any formal wizard possessed some ability to alter their appearance. If Leilin had also disguised himself, then even if she scoured every corner of the venue, she would never find him.
Jessira might have thought of this, but the fire of hatred had already robbed her of the capacity for冷静 thought.
Meanwhile, Leilin and Vance had reached a fork in the corridor.
"Haha, chatting with you has been a pleasure, Blood Hand! I'm heading to my room now. Perhaps we can exchange arcane imprints and arrange another time to talk…"
Vance was deliberately cultivating a connection with Leilin. After all, the man clearly held considerable status at the Blue Mountain Auction House.
Knowing a few people like this could only benefit their family.
"Of course!"
From beneath the hood came a laugh altered by the Chip's voice modulation, and an arcane imprint drifted outward to meet Vance's.
After parting ways, Leilin was led by an attendant to his own room.
The furnishings inside were quite luxurious, though the space was modest — it could barely fit three chairs side by side before it started to feel cramped.
"No wonder they only allow two companions. I suppose Jessira must be standing to the side now. Oh wait — perhaps Newen is the one standing while Jessira sits in his place…"
Leilin let his thoughts wander.
At the same time, he was examining the entire private box.
The most eye-catching feature was the enormous screen in the center, where each auction item would be displayed. The bidding device and communication equipment took only a moment of fiddling before he had them mastered.
The soundproofing between boxes was excellent. Once the attendant left, the room fell completely silent.
"Something feels off. Chip — scan!"
Leilin leaned back in his chair with one hand propping up his chin, appearing to be idly meditating or lost in thought. But deep in his eyes, a faint flicker of blue light flashed past.
"Scan initiated. No anomalies detected."
A few seconds later, the Chip's conclusion came back, and a trace of surprise flickered across Leilin's face.
"Hm? That can't be right. As the owners of an auction house, how could they not set up at least a basic intelligence-gathering magical array? Scan again — initiate triple-layered combined analysis and deploy the atomic microscope!"
Leilin instantly identified the problem.
For wizards like them, how could an auction house ever truly relax its guard? No matter what they said about protecting privacy, some degree of surveillance was inevitable.
Perhaps certain Morning Star wizards could be exempted from such treatment, but Leilin certainly didn't qualify.
"Authorization confirmed. Deploying atomic microscope. Deep scan initiated!" The Chip immediately began its second pass.
This time, it took less than three seconds to find something.
"Alert — micro-scale biological traces detected. Cross-referencing database — no matching images found!"
The Chip dutifully reported, projecting an image directly into Leilin's mind.
The image was clearly a magnified microscopic view. Amid an environment resembling countless cellular structures, tiny organisms shaped like ladybugs patrolled along the gaps between them. The ladybugs were so numerous that they had formed an arcane rune pattern.
"What is this…" Leilin's pupils contracted sharply. "The Manar Eavesdropping Rune! And what kind of organism is this? You'd need an atomic-level microscope just to observe them…"
With a chill running through him, he ordered the Chip to scan his own body. Only after confirming that the ladybugs remained on the room's floor and showed no signs of attaching themselves to him did he let out a breath of relief.
"I don't know what other functions these creatures may have, but just this ability to form runes and conduct surveillance is already troublesome enough…"
A heavy feeling settled over Leilin's heart, though on the surface he still looked half-asleep, betraying nothing.
"It seems the entire auction venue is covered by these microscopic insects, and someone has exploited their properties to construct a magical array… This kind of capability — only the Blue Mountain King himself could pull it off!"
Leilin was certain.
These ladybugs were something he had never encountered even with his breadth of knowledge. They were most likely creatures from another world, captured and utilized by the Blue Mountain King to create this extraordinary magical array.
A magical array meticulously arranged by a Morning Star wizard — even a third-level crystallized wizard wouldn't be able to detect it.
Leilin suspected that even the other fourth-level Morning Star wizards hadn't noticed it either.
That would explain why this secret had never been exposed, why the Blue Mountain Auction House's business thrived, and why no serious incidents had ever occurred.
Under the surveillance of these ladybugs, no scheme — no matter how carefully planned — could be carried out.
"Truly worthy of a Morning Star wizard," Leilin sighed inwardly, making no move to speak of it. He simply acted as though he had noticed nothing.
However, this also explained why the private boxes given to VIP guests were so small. With the Oakheart family's resources, they could easily build spacious luxury suites for every guest without breaking a sweat. The only reason they hadn't was this magical array.
A surveillance array covering the entire auction venue was already an extraordinary feat.
After all, the venue accommodated a massive number of wizards. Its current size was the absolute limit — no further expansion was possible.
The magical array had reached its boundary. Expanding further would create blind spots in the surveillance, which the Blue Mountain King would certainly not permit.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Blue Mountain City for this grand occasion. I am
At that moment, a voice resonated through the room, sounding as though it were spoken right in front of Leilin.
Then, images materialized on three of the walls, revealing a vast raised platform. A middle-aged nobleman with golden hair, dressed in a tailcoat, was delivering a speech from the podium.
"Three-dimensional holographic projection?!" Leilin nearly blurted it out before catching himself — it was simply a magical effect that achieved something similar.
Right now, Leilin felt as though he were sitting in the very best seat, facing the auction's host head-on. He imagined the wizards in the other boxes were experiencing the same sensation.
On the screen at the center of the room, a line of text now appeared: "The first auction item is about to come up — three Flame-Condensation Gemstones…"