The Black Star Auction Hall resembled an abandoned cathedral, haunted by wandering souls. Its towering ceiling vanished into darkness, while the seats were arranged in a semicircle around the display platform, illuminated by the harsh glow of ash crystals. Spiritual incense saturated the air—its scent something Fang Li could not smell, yet could see, coiling around the attendees like gray serpents in his monochrome vision.
Fang Li sat in a dark corner at the back. His wooden mask, the Mask of Forgetting, functioned with terrifying efficiency; every attempt to focus on him failed, as if people were looking at nothing more than a piece of furniture or a passing shadow.
[System Alert: Hour 20 of Forced Wakefulness.]
[Mental State: Unstable. Auditory hallucinations commencing.]
[The whispers you hear are not from the audience, but from the mercenaries you merged. They are asking you to give them life again.]
Silence, Fang Li thought coldly, pressing his metallic hand into the edge of the seat until the wood cracked beneath his grip. They are part of me now. Silence is the only right they have left.
The auction began.
A slender man in an extravagant purple suit stepped onto the platform—the Darling, famed for his honeyed tongue and uncanny ability to drain the last coin from a cultivator's pocket.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the Darling proclaimed, his voice ringing through the hall, "today we are not selling goods… we are selling power. Let us begin with Item Twelve: the Broken Thunder Dagger."
Items followed in succession while Fang Li watched in silence. The Merged Eye worked tirelessly in the background, analyzing each offering. He was not searching for finished weapons—but for components.
[Item Fifteen Analysis: Ghoul Bone Powder.]
[Compatibility: 60%. Risk outweighs reward.]
Then the hall trembled as the Darling announced the main attraction.
"And now… the item many of you crossed continents for—the Ash Dragon Heart!"
He lifted the lid of a crystalline box. Inside lay a massive heart, beating slowly, encased in scorched crystal. With every pulse, waves of pure gray energy rippled outward, forcing cultivators of the Smoke Condensation rank to gasp for breath.
[WARNING! Massive energy source detected.]
['Ash Dragon Heart' identified as optimal evolution catalyst.]
[Proposed Merge Plan: Fuse with 'Burning Ash Cauldron.' Result: 'Immortal Dragon Cauldron.']
[Benefits: Immediate restoration of touch; total energy reserves increased by 500%.]
"The bidding starts at 5,000 Pure Ash Stones!" the Darling shouted.
"Six thousand!"
"Eight thousand!"
Fang Li watched the price spiral into madness—ten thousand, fifteen thousand, twenty. He knew he could not afford it. He had never planned to buy it.
His sleepless mind wove a far bloodier plan.
"System," he whispered beneath the mask, "I see the energy lines feeding the hall's protection array. Can you merge your black energy with the illumination matrix?"
[An intriguing thought… you wish to plunge the hall into chaos?]
[Operation viable. I will inject an 'Energy Virus' into the matrix. Once you touch the socket beneath your seat, the hall will become a hell of darkness and reverse lightning.]
[Cost: 40% of your current energy. Hallucinations will intensify.]
Do it the moment the Darling strikes the hammer.
The bidding halted at thirty thousand. The winner was an elder from the Heavenly Sword Sect, a proud man who believed wealth could purchase immortality.
"Thirty thousand Ash Stones… sold to Elder Mo!" the Darling cried, raising his hammer.
Crack!
The instant the hammer struck the platform, Fang Li placed his metallic palm against the floor.
Tzzzzzz!
Every illumination crystal in the hall detonated at once—not merely extinguishing, but exploding into blinding white shards. Absolute darkness swallowed the hall. Screams erupted. The protection array, meant to safeguard the auction, began spewing black sparks that lashed wildly at the crowd.
In this darkness, Fang Li was the only one who could see.
He moved like a specter across the seats, using Swift Wind Steps to reach the platform in seconds.
Elder Mo, stepping forward to claim the heart, felt a killing chill at his back.
"Who's there?!" he roared, drawing his sword.
Fang Li answered without words.
The Crushed Star Blade erupted from his right arm. In a single, precise strike—fueled by sleepless madness—it severed the hand reaching for the crystal box.
"AAAAARGH!" Elder Mo screamed.
Fang Li seized the crystalline container. There was no time to open it—guards were already storming in with enchanted torches.
[Target secured!]
[Insane Proposal: Partially merge the Dragon Heart with the container to release an energy pulse and destroy the rear wall!]
"A brilliant idea, you damned system."
Fang Li crushed the container with all his strength, injecting his black energy into it. The heart, once beating slowly, began to convulse violently under the forced merge.
BOOOOOOM!
A wave of raw gray energy erupted, reducing the rear wall of the hall to dust. Fang Li was hurled through debris and ash, leaving behind an auction hall plunged into ruin—an event that would scar Ash City forever.
As he sprinted through a dark alley far from the hall, the voices in his head began to laugh.
"You are no longer just a thief, Fang Li… you are now an enemy of the great sects. Do you feel joy?"
Fang Li slowed, gazing at the glowing container in his hand, then at the gray sky above. He felt no joy. No regret.
Only one thing.
Hunger—for the next level of power.
"System… begin merging the heart," Fang Li said quietly.
"I want my senses back. I want to feel their blood as it turns cold."