Dragon Abyss was not what it had been at its peak, but it was nevertheless massive in size. Within the city stood a mountain, and atop that mountain was a Daoist temple where Sage Dragon Abyss reportedly cultivated. At the mountain's foot stretched an endless cluster of newly built palaces; the palace of the Demon Hunter Division stood among them.

As the date of the Dragon Abyss Auction drew near, the palace was taken over by the deputy city lord, Huo Fang. He was a truly powerful man, and one of the few ninth-stage Adepts in the Society.

Huo Fang sat in the main seat of the grand hall, listening to his subordinates' reports on the auction preparations. As time passed, more people entered the hall. At one point, a woman in a purple gown stepped inside, and the moment Huo Fang saw her, he rose to greet her.

"Welcome, Purple Empress!"

Purple Empress smiled faintly. She looked young but mature at the same time, and the austere hall seemed to turn brighter by virtue of her simple presence. "The resources gathered by the division have arrived. They were all carefully selected; I believe you will not be disappointed."

Huo Fang nodded in satisfaction. "Have you given some thought to that matter? The Society has many talented people, but only someone with your beauty, your cultivation, and your eloquence could take that position."

Purple Empress covered her mouth and laughed. "Don't exaggerate. It's just hosting the auction, nothing really major. Deputy City Master, you really have a way with words...."

She accepted at once, with graceful ease, but she was in fact undermining the importance of the role. At a large auction like this, the auctioneer could not be lacking. The task had to go either to a renowned appraisal master or to a high-tier cultivator with broad experience. Huo Fang's choice was undoubtedly the right one, and since Purple Empress had taken the task, she would see it through flawlessly.

Purple Empress immediately requested the item list. She needed to familiarize herself with the details of each item so she could prepare the introductions for the auction. She also needed to think through what could help drive up prices and stir the atmosphere. The order of items was still only roughly arranged, so she had to plan it in advance. The most valuable treasures could not appear too early, or the later stages might fall flat. But the opening could not be too dull either. There had to be enough fine items early on to draw in the participants and raise their interest.

She paused on the name of an enchanted artifact. "Nine Dragons True Fire Shield?"

Huo Fang was busy with his work and answered casually, "A top-grade enchanted artifact from a small general goods shop in the city. One of my stewards passed by, thought it was interesting, and added it to the auction. I think the shop was called Azure Yang Shop. On paper it's the property of a Foundation Establishment family, but in truth, it's a Golden Core artisan's way of making money. What was that man's name again... I think he was Luo Hai or something? His title is also Azure Yang."

As he spoke, Huo Fang suddenly put down his work in his hand. "Hmm? Purple Empress, has this man offended you in some way? If you want, I can have this lot removed."

To him, it was a trivial matter, and he was happy to do Purple Empress a favor if they had a grudge. But she shook her head. "No need. It's only a top-grade enchanted artifact. There is no need to trouble anyone over such a thing. Besides... Azure Yang and I don't really have any grudges. It's only some minor entanglement involving the juniors."

Huo Fang nodded. There was a saying that rogue cultivators repaid even the slightest grudge, but that applied only when their own interests were directly damaged. More often, they lived by the principle that if both parties took a step back, a broad path opened in-between. In a nutshell, they preferred peaceful coexistence. Conflicts involving families and juniors also rarely escalated the way they did in great sects and powerful families. The sort of scene where striking the young brought out the stereotype protective elder was seldom seen among rogue cultivators. For rogue cultivators, especially high-tier ones, family ties were often rather faint.

With that, the two set the matter aside and prepared to return to the business at hand. But just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall. A moment later, an Initiate hurried in with obvious enthusiasm.

"Deputy City Lord, I've found another treasure!"

"Huh? What's gotten you this excited?"

"A water-element enchanted treasure!"

"Oh? Bring it over and let me have a look."

Enchanted treasures were precious, but that depended on who was judging them. Adepts like them having one or two enchanted treasures on hand was nothing unusual. As for high-level Adepts, they would spare no expense to craft a life-bound treasure that suited them to face the lightning tribulation of Nascent Soul formation. Because of that, ordinary enchanted treasures did not interest Huo Fang much.

But the moment the blue armor plate fell into his hand, his expression changed. He raised a hand and poured mana into it. At once, a suit of blue armor appeared before him, rippling with flowing water patterns. "Oh? A pure defensive enchanted treasure?"

Seeing this, Purple Empress looked startled. "That's a fine piece. Someone is actually willing to put it up for sale?"

Offensive enchanted treasures were common enough. Any capable artisan could make some as long as they had the materials, and even mystical enchanted treasures were not too rare. But defensive enchanted treasures were another matter entirely. They were much harder to find, both because everybody wanted them and because they were harder to craft.

Destruction was always easier than creation. By the same logic, defense was harder than offense. In the case of offensive items, things were pretty simple: The user could just keep pouring energy into them until they were powerful enough to cause harm. So long as a weapon could deal damage, it served its purpose. Even if it had flaws or caused side effects when used, those were things that could be tolerated.

But defensive items were different. They had to be free of flaws; otherwise, enemies could well exploit a weakness and break through. Imagine relying on a defensive enchanted treasure to protect a vulnerable spot only to have a flaw exposed at a critical moment. The thought alone was terrifying. For that reason, crafting defensive enchanted treasures was extraordinarily difficult. The demands were harsh at every stage, from selecting materials to refinement methods to engraving compatible formations. Those demands led to very high failure rates, and a consequently high cost of refinement. Even famous artisans rarely refined pure defensive enchanted treasures. They preferred items that combined both offense and defense.

Anyone with sense understood what that meant. If an item was made to do both, it usually fell short in both. How could its performance possibly compare to either a proper weapon or proper armor? Yet most cultivators had little choice but to accept the situation.

At any rate, enchanted treasures were numerous in the cultivation world, but truly pure defensive enchanted treasures were exceedingly rare. And now someone was willing to auction such a treasure? Even if it was only low-grade, it was still extravagant!

Huo Fang naturally understood what Purple Empress was getting at, and looked at the Initiate. "Who submitted it? Are there any additional conditions?"

The cultivator answered at once, "This treasure was submitted by Zhang Jiadi of the Azure Yang Shop. There were no additional conditions."

The Azure Yang Shop! Huo Fang instinctively turned to look at Purple Empress, and the two exchanged glances. They had only just been speaking of that shop and its owner. Speak of the devil, could this treasure belong to Devil Lord Azure Yang?

"Oh, actually Zhang Jiadi specifically mentioned that when this treasure is auctioned, we should help promote the reputation of its creator," the cultivator added.

"Who?"

"Master Azure Yang!"

Purple Empress's expression turned rather peculiar. This treasure did not merely belong to Azure Yang; he had personally crafted it himself! Anyone capable of crafting pure defensive enchanted treasures deserved to be called a master artisan without exaggeration. Even Devil's Cloud, the most famous master artisan in the Society, had not crafted such an item in many years.

Could Azure Yang already rival Devil's Cloud? Had she been aware of this, she would have certainly stopped Huangfu Song from provoking him in the first place. If a master of this level merely let word out that he was willing to refine custom defensive items, countless people would rush to serve him. How could the pitiful handful of subordinates under Huangfu Song compare with Azure Yang's power to rally others? Clearly, Azure Yang was using the auction to establish his reputation, perhaps precisely to prevent such things from happening again.

Should I take the initiative and pay him a visit, maybe explain what happened last time? Azure Yang left room for things to be smoothed over before. Clearly, he doesn't wish to offend me too deeply. But if I go to his door just like this... that would be a bit humiliating.

While Purple Empress's expression shifted, a rumbling sounded nearby. Huo Fang was testing the power of the enchanted treasure.

After a while, Huo Fang stopped, looking satisfied. "This Dark Blue Profound Armor truly is a pure water-element defensive enchanted treasure, and it's particularly effective against fire-element attacks. It generates a qi armor that can resist both physical and energetical attacks, and in terms of power, it can take a full strike from an early-stage Adept without any damage. It should even hold up well against attacks from a mid-stage Adept. Of course, against grand cultivators like us, it wouldn't amount to much, but for lower-level people, this could well be a life-saver. Also, the mana consumption is lower than I expected. Honestly, it feels like even a late-stage Initiate could use it."

He clicked his tongue in admiration. "Azure Yang really has some skills. I haven't seen a low-grade defensive enchanted treasure of this quality in years. This should definitely go into the auction. Better yet, we should use it as the opening piece and stir up the interest of both Initiates and Adepts. As for Azure Yang's condition, I'm fine with that."

In short order, Huo Fang decided the matter. This time, he did not even ask Purple Empress's opinion, as though he had forgotten he had just mentioned the bone she may or may not have to pick with Azure Yang. Clearly, personal relationships could not outweigh the auction.

Purple Empress watched in silence and did not object. She had also made up her own mind. She would have to make a trip to Surging Lake, and this time, she would not remain outside and observe as she had before; she would have to reach out to Azure Yang herself.