The air in the Eastern Hollow Realm was thick with a stench of blood and decay, the aftermath of silent warfare. Not a battle between armies, but a war of influence, of stolen fates, severed pacts, and broken karma. It was here, in the remnants of the Withering Fang Sect's great citadel, that Li Xuan's agents moved like ghosts.
Three weeks had passed since the fall of the Immortal-Tempered Hall—a rogue sect that had defied the Thousandfold Echo Hall and dared to forge pacts outside the Karma Network. Their soul flames had been extinguished in the dark, not by blade or spell, but by debt.
Li Xuan sat in the sealed heart chamber of the destroyed sect, cross-legged atop a dais of crushed jade, surrounded by floating mirrors of karma. Each mirror reflected a different truth: betrayals, lost oaths, unspoken fears.
His cultivation had reached the peak of Nascent Soul, but that was only one path.
He no longer relied solely on cultivation. Power, true power, was not measured in realms of qi, but in how many threads of karma one could control—and how deeply they were buried.
Realm Hierarchy – Updated in the Auction Codex
Low Realms: Mortal foundation lands. Sparse spiritual energy. Dominated by outer sects and rogue cultivators.
Upper Realms: Spirit-rich zones. Core sects dwell here. Soul Formation and Spirit Ascension cultivators thrive.
God Realms: Blessed by celestial tides. Karma flows here like rivers. Immortal Lords rise and fall.
Ancient Realms: Lost to time. Home of extinct races, primordial beasts, and ruin-born treasures.
Forbidden Realms: Denied even to the Heavens. Only those who defy causality itself may enter.
In a darkened cavern beneath the scorched bones of the Withering Fang citadel, Li Xuan activated the Karmic Sovereign Array. Thousands of karma threads spun from the mirrors into the array's core.
"Report," he whispered.
A projected image of General Ran, Keeper of Fates, bowed. "Seventeen sects submitted in the past eight days. Five minor realms seeded. Two auction houses erected. We await your judgment on the Immortal Shadow Emissary."
Li Xuan narrowed his gaze. "The emissary claims allegiance to the Black Flame Sect, a force from the Upper Realms."
"Yes, Master. They wish for a karmic alliance."
Li Xuan's voice was cold. "And they sent a spy. Not a diplomat."
He raised his hand. A bound figure emerged in chains of black karma. A woman, her cultivation suppressed, eyes burning with fury and fear.
"I am Yi Mian. You do not understand what you're provoking."
Li Xuan stood. His shadow stretched across the floor like a crawling beast. "I understand perfectly."
He pressed a finger to her brow. A seal burst into flame.
"Your fate is bound now. Welcome to the Thousandfold Echo Hall."
Within the Hidden Citadel of the Silent Root Sect
The Trial of Brandless Origin had begun.
Li Xuan's hidden sect now numbered over one thousand core members, but most were still pawns. Only a few would become hands of fate.
In the darkness of the trial chamber, ten cultivators faced illusions of their worst betrayals. They screamed. They raged. They begged.
Above them, Li Xuan watched silently. At his side, General Yue, Queen of the Veil Flame, whispered, "Only two will survive."
"That is enough," Li Xuan murmured.
The first survivor was a boy with burned-out spirit roots. The second, a mute girl whose sect had used her as a living furnace.
He gave them names: Ash Fang and Silent Willow.
They would become shadows in the Upper Realms.
The Karma Auction Network: Phase Three Initiated
The codex glowed in Li Xuan's hand. New upgrades activated.
[Karma Accumulated: 183,220]
[Hidden Realm Access Nodes: 41]
[Soul Bidding Feature: Enabled]
[Tier 3 Codex Authority: Soulbrand Manipulator]
With the Soul Bidding feature, Li Xuan could now offer not just items—but destiny itself.
"You want your sister cured of the Withering Plague? Place your mother's karma on the auction block."
"You want your crippled Dao restored? Offer a child's future for barter."
Each bid carved pieces from lives. Li Xuan gave power—and took more.
He no longer needed to be present. His clones, the Auction Generals, or even just the sentient Codex fragments, could run entire bidding wars.
He had become a god of unseen contracts.
The Whispering Immortal Appears
One night, while studying karma distortions in the Deep Mist Ravine, Li Xuan sensed it—a flicker of presence. Older than time. Pure. Silent.
The fog twisted. A figure emerged: robed in starlight and shadows, faceless, featureless, but breathing the scent of ancient laws.
Li Xuan didn't bow.
"You've interfered with karmic flow. The Heavens will notice."
The figure's voice was like echoes of forgotten prayers.
"Let them notice."
The figure tilted its head. "You walk the path of the Black Sovereign."
Li Xuan said nothing. His mirrors burned in silent defiance.
The Whispering Immortal turned and faded.
But Li Xuan knew: eyes were upon him now.
Trust is a Lie
Even among his most loyal Generals, Li Xuan trusted none fully. Each clone was embedded with secret karma seals. Each command chain had failsafes.
He tested their loyalty constantly—pitting agents against each other in silent games.
When General Lin, the Smiling Shadow, presented a mysterious artifact from a fallen God Realm ruin, Li Xuan took it—and then destroyed Lin's hidden soul anchor.
He said nothing.
Lin understood.
Obedience was survival.
Plans for the Upper Realms
The Low Realms trembled beneath his influence. The time to rise was near.
He would ascend not as a challenger—but as a merchant.
Li Xuan began crafting Karmic Ascension Contracts—documents binding powerful cultivators in the Upper Realms before he even arrived.
Using Soul Bidding, he connected with desperate mid-tier sects.
He sent cursed items disguised as treasures—then offered antidotes at auction.
He was setting the board before stepping onto it.
Final Act: The Shadow Palace
Atop the ruins of a floating city, Li Xuan began constructing the Shadow Palace, a mobile karmic fortress capable of realm travel.
Forged from spirit bone, karmic metal, and auctioned souls, it pulsed with forbidden law.
The Shadow Palace would become his first true kingdom—one not tied to land or sect.
And at its heart would rest the Auction Codex.
A throne of chains.
A judge without mercy.
Li Xuan stood at the summit of the Low Realms, surrounded by his masked agents, his generals, his enemies turned puppets.
He whispered to the heavens:
"Bring your laws. Bring your gods. I will buy them too."
And the karma around him screamed.
End of Chapter 11