The Skybound Hall darkened once again—not with storm ow. A chilling silence spread across the realm as spatial rifts tore open above the Citadel of Echoing Karma. Black-robed figures emerged from the void, their faces hidden, their auras suffocating.
This was no ordinary auction.
It was the Shadow Auction—a gathering that occurred only when Li Xuan called upon the forsaken, the condemned, and the forgotten sects that still lurked in the ruins of the Lower Realms. These factions were taboo, their teachings outlawed, their names erased by time. Yet Li Xuan had invited them.
He didn't fear them.
He intended to use them.
Inside the newly forged Mirror Pavilion, carved from the karmic blackstone of three annihilated kingdoms, a circular auction stage hovered in silence. It was surrounded by concentric rows of seats—forty-nine reserved for his elites, seven raised thrones for his generals, and an invisible seat of judgment for himself, far above in a shadowed loft.
No one could see Li Xuan.
Everyone knew he was watching.
"Begin the introductions," ordered General Yan, dressed in a midnight-blue ceremonial robe stitched with silver karma runes.
A gong sounded—its tone not of metal but of soul resonance.
A robed woman stepped forward, her aura distorted, as if she walked between life and death. "Hollow Sect of the Forgotten Earth presents three offerings: a cursed Enlightenment Bell, a Karmic Flame Seed, and the broken will of an Ancient Monarch."
A murmur swept through the hidden guests.
The Karmic Flame Seed alone could burn through karmic contracts. The broken will of a Monarch—if reconstructed—could be used to imitate a true Ascendant for a short time.
Next came a skeletal man riding a coffin.
"Corpse Altar of the Withering Abyss offers the Ebon-Blood Pledge, a ten-thousand-death rebirth formation, and the ashes of a Nine-Eyed Crow Saint."
General Wu's eyes flickered. "Rare. The ashes can be refined into soul incense or weapon cores."
On it went. Sect after sect revealed horrors, forbidden treasures, and extinct legacies—all cast upon the auction table like bones before a starving beast.
Then came the auction proper.
The system Li Xuan had created glowed in the air above each participant's head. Bids were not measured in spirit stones or raw power—but in karmic weight. Each sect was bidding with their own sins, their own legacies, their own soul-bound oaths.
General Wu announced, "Opening bid for the Karmic Flame Seed: one lineage betrayal and two ancestral karma pledges."
A black hooded figure raised a hand. "We offer the soul-devouring pact of our last three patriarchs."
Another responded, "We bid the destruction of a karmic debt owed to a Saint of the Upper Realms."
Even the generals were impressed.
Above, Li Xuan watched without speaking. But within his mind, the system calculated everything:
[Karmic Threads Absorbed: 43,871]
[Forbidden Lineages Subjugated: 7]
[Auction Influence Extended: 0.3 Realms]
More. He needed more.
"Let them bleed their sins dry," he muttered. "Only then will their roots be mine."
Halfway through the auction, something unexpected occurred.
The chamber dimmed. The shadows deepened.
An unfamiliar rift tore open—not one of the invited sects. All the generals instantly tensed. Even Wu's normally frigid expression shifted.
From the rift came a child. Or something that wore the shape of one. Its skin was porcelain-white, its eyes pure black. It hovered above the auction floor without touching it.
"I am the representative of the Thousand-Eyed Oracle," it spoke in a voice too ancient for its form.
Gasps erupted.
Even General Yan stepped forward. "That faction is from the boundary between the Lower and Upper Realms. Why have they descended now?"
The child smiled.
"We bring no offer. Only a bid."
It raised a single finger—and in doing so, created a ripple of karma that cracked the air.
"I bid the collapse of a future you will create, Auctioneer."
The chamber fell into stunned silence.
Some guests vanished instantly, fleeing through spatial talismans. Others whispered prayers. Even the generals glanced at the hidden loft where Li Xuan watched.
But Li Xuan… chuckled.
"So they've started noticing me."
He sent a command.
General Wu nodded and stepped forward, her voice calm but laced with killing intent. "Your bid has been noted. We will accept it."
The child grinned and disappeared into smoke.
Silence returned.
The rest of the auction continued without delay.
As the final item—a Fragment of the Boundless Void Contract—was placed for bidding, the system chimed:
[Karmic Saturation Threshold Reached]
[Heaven Auction Authority Level: Advanced]
[Auction Influence Covers: 1.0 Realm]
Li Xuan's eyes flickered.
A full realm under his karmic dominion.
At last.
He stood in the hidden loft, the Black Mirror floating behind him, and looked down upon his empire of sin and desire.
The Lower Realms were no longer chaotic.
They were his marketplace.
And he was no longer just a ruler…
He was the Auctioneer of Destiny.