It seemed as though the lower-ranked wizards were determined to unleash all the pent-up enthusiasm and Magic Stones from the previous two days. From the very start of the third day's auction, the atmosphere was absolutely blazing.
Every auction item sold at staggeringly high prices. Wealthy wizards hidden among both the VIP booths and the regular seating appeared one after another, even surprising Leilin somewhat.
It turned out that his fortune, while top-tier among these wizards, was far from being at the very pinnacle.
He witnessed a fellow sitting among the regular wizard audience calmly throw out over a billion Magic Stones for a single treasure—all because of a trivial jealous spat. When he asked around afterward, he learned that this person was a direct descendant of a Morning Star
But even this person wouldn't dare act arrogantly in front of two Morning Star Wizards, only daring to show off at a time like this.
At the same time, Leilin also spotted the patriarch of the Nonolifa family, Vance, who had won a crystallized magical array that had reportedly been optimized to outperform ordinary magical arrays by twenty percent, along with a large batch of materials to assist in crystallization breakthroughs. It appeared that Vance was approaching the bottleneck of spiritual power crystallization, which prompted Leilin to take a few extra glances.
According to the guidance of the Destiny Gold Coin, the thing he needed this time might very well be in this person's possession.
And the final treasure auctioned off was a top-tier magical artifact—the Three Serpent Ring!
It was said that during its forging, the souls and flesh of three ancient cold serpents had been drawn out. Not only did it contain an impossibly vast storage space, but it could also withstand three full-power attacks from a Morning Star Wizard!
Full-power attacks from an ancient Morning Star Wizard—those were Morning Star killing moves! Terrifying spells capable of plunging the sun and moon into darkness and causing mountains to crumble and rivers to collapse!
To have three chances to survive attacks of that magnitude—this Three Serpent Ring's value was beyond question. It was the most precious treasure of the entire auction.
Even Morning Star Wizards would covet it.
With this top-tier magical artifact on one's person, in battle against a wizard of the same rank, one would certainly gain a tremendous advantage—perhaps even turn the tide entirely.
Its price soared relentlessly, eventually surpassing even the highest bid for the Astral Stone, reaching the staggering sum of 8.6 billion Magic Stones before being claimed by a wizard in one of the VIP booths.
Leilin estimated that this buyer was very likely a Morning Star Wizard themselves—perhaps even the Blue Mountain King himself.
Regardless, the Blue Mountain Auction had finally concluded successfully. The waves it had stirred, especially with the appearance of the Three Serpent Ring, would continue to ferment and spread in all directions for some time to come.
Many lower-ranked wizards departed Blue Mountain City, continuing with their research or their journeys.
The decrease in wizards greatly improved order throughout Blue Mountain City, and the previously somewhat chaotic situation had calmed down.
But advanced wizards like Leilin silently waited for something else.
For them, this auction had only been the appetizer. The real feast was yet to come.
Although the Orcutt Family had ostensibly recalled their elite wizard patrol squads, in reality they were in a state of outward relaxation but inner vigilance, with covert security levels raised again and again.
The reason for all of this was the private exchange gathering!
Because it was an anonymous exchange, many wizards chose to use it to fence stolen goods. The items that appeared were all of exceptional quality, and the prices were remarkably low.
The Orcutt Family guaranteed safety during transactions and that neither party's information would be leaked. Naturally, any trouble that arose from the traded items afterward—the Orcutt Family would take no responsibility for that.
"Mr. Blood Hand! The private exchange gathering will be held tonight. The location is..."
Leilin, who had been meditating with his eyes closed in a small inn, suddenly opened them as a flower-wreath-shaped arcane mark emerged from the arcane communication book at his waist, transmitting Selan's voice.
This woman was still trying to recruit Leilin into the Orcutt Family, constantly probing into his background in her words and subtext.
But how could Leilin let her succeed so easily? He had not only concealed his origins flawlessly but maintained an aloof, neither-close-nor-distant attitude that greatly frustrated Selan.
In the end, he had simply moved to a different residence, communicating only through the arcane mark, leaving her completely unable to track him.
As night fell, Leilin deliberately changed his appearance once more and, following her directions, made his way outside Blue Mountain City.
This type of private exchange gathering was the most prone to incidents. Even with the Blue Mountain King presiding, the Orcutt Family didn't dare hold it within the city proper, opting for an outside location instead.
That way, if something did happen, the losses could be minimized.
"Hm? Other wizards are here too?"
After landing, Leilin happened to see another wizard who had clearly arrived just a step ahead of him, walking toward an inconspicuous cave entrance.
"Welcome!"
Two old men wearing Orcutt Family insignia stepped forward without asking any questions, directly handing over something resembling a black mask.
The wizard nodded without a word, accepted the mask, and walked straight inside.
No identification marks, no passwords, no VIP cards to check—any wizard who knew about this entrance could enter. They would even be provided with concealment tools. It was precisely this combination of secrecy and tight security that allowed this private trading gathering to endure for so long.
"According to Selan, the entire venue is covered by a large concealment magical array. Combined with the mask's hidden effects and each wizard's own disguises, it's difficult to even tell male from female. Even a Morning Star Wizard supposedly can't see through the disguises inside—otherwise they'd be going up against the entire array!"
Leilin's lips curled into a cold smile.
"But in reality..." He stepped forward without a word, took the mask from the old man's hand, and walked straight inside.
These two old men both had third-tier crystallization strength, yet they were posted here as doormen. The Orcutt Family's spending was nothing if not extravagant.
"Chip! Activate the atomic microscope for scanning!"
Leilin silently commanded.
"Scanning initiated. Activating microscope assistance... Ding! Anomaly detected!"
The Chip responded promptly. In Leilin's field of vision, the originally black mask was now crawling with the same ladybugs he had seen at the auction—in fact, even more of them, carefully creeping toward Leilin's body.
"Heh heh... So this is the Orcutt Family for you!" Leilin shook his head.
The concealment array covering the entire trading venue was real, and the concealment runes on the mask were also real. Otherwise, they would never have passed the scrutiny of so many wizards.
But the Orcutt Family had secretly seeded these ladybugs throughout the entire venue—even on the masks themselves.
They wouldn't dare tamper with the magical array, so the array inside the venue could indeed block detection from Morning Star Wizards. However, in front of these bugs—ten thousand times smaller than a speck of dust—no matter what precautions the wizards took, every detail would ultimately be laid bare to the Orcutt Family.
"I suppose even the Morning Star Wizards haven't noticed the existence of these creatures..."
Leilin sighed, but a fine black powder suddenly materialized in his hand.
The ladybugs seemed to be attracted by something and abruptly began crawling toward the powder, clustering together into small balls.
"Chip! Begin simulating biological signatures and transmitting misleading signals!"
"Task received. Beginning operations..."
The Chip promptly reported back.
During these three days of auctions, Leilin had behaved himself impeccably, bidding on almost nothing—precisely because he had been wary of these bugs' detection capabilities.
But he hadn't been idle either. Through the Chip's continuous scanning and analysis, he had thoroughly mapped out the behavior patterns of these creatures.
He understood the habits of these great families well. If they had deployed measures at the auction, they certainly wouldn't overlook this place—it would likely be even more tightly controlled. So he had long ago prepared a specialized potion and taken countermeasures.
Under the effect of his powder, viewed through the microscope, the ladybugs appeared to have become drunk, growing sluggish before eventually returning to the mask.
Leilin smiled and walked inward, putting on the mask.
At the same time, a mysterious and extremely faint wave of energy radiated from his body.
Beneath the massive trading venue, in a hidden chamber...
"Reporting, Grandfather! According to the Star Dust Mites' feedback, everything has been normal so far!"
The current patriarch of the Orcutt Family was respectfully reporting to a middle-aged wizard with blue hair.
"Good. Several fugitives from the north have fled to this area. Rumor has it they've stolen a local treasure and intend to fence it here. Pay special attention!"
The blue-haired wizard spoke calmly, with no visible aura of power whatsoever, yet the Orcutt patriarch nodded repeatedly.
"Rest assured, Grandfather. Under the Star Dust Mites' surveillance, no matter what methods they employ, they will have nowhere to hide!"
The patriarch had good reason for his confidence.
These Star Dust Mites were a product unique to another world, discovered by chance when the Blue Mountain King explored the Star Gate.
Through subsequent research, he had not only successfully domesticated the species but had also granted them detection abilities, making them the Orcutt Family's secret trump card. Within the entire family, only the Blue Mountain King and the current patriarch knew of their existence.
Because the Star Dust Mites were so extraordinarily tiny and their biological signatures so weak as to be negligible, they were invisible without specialized instruments. Even many Morning Star Wizards had failed to detect them.
The thought of those typically lofty Morning Star Wizards believing themselves hidden perfectly while laying themselves bare before these mites—this never failed to amuse the patriarch.
Of course, even though he had once used these Star Dust Mites to spy on the naked bodies of several female Morning Star Wizards and had even kept sketches, he had never dared reveal this. Otherwise, the entire Orcutt Family might well have been razed to the ground by the enraged Morning Stars.