"Are you interested in this Calming Stone?"
"Oh?"
Ming Qi's expression remained calm. He didn't know how the girl had seen through him, but he couldn't immediately betray his need for the Calming Stone, so he simply replied with a meaningless single word.
At this moment, in a VIP room on the second floor, someone had already called out a price of 1.1 million. Then, several people began to raise their bids. Within minutes, the Calming Stone's price had risen to 3 million.
"3.5 million."
Ming Qi also offered a price at this point, but he knew it was impossible to buy it at that price. His current assets only amounted to around 7 or 8 million. Hearing the price continue to rise, he felt he couldn't afford to compete with his current financial resources.
"Six million."
Ming Qi, holding his wine glass, his eyes fixed on the Calming Stone on the obsidian display below, his bids rising continuously.
The price of the Calming Stone has already reached six million, and it's clear many won't give it up easily.
To put it another way, the mere effect claimed by Zhuiyue is already incredibly tempting. Add to that the information about the Twilight Clan, the mysterious Caixia Mountain, and even the traces of the Eternal Spring Maiden. Finding any of these traces would be worth far more than a few tens of millions of low-grade Yuan Crystals.
For innate masters, low- to mid-grade Yuan Crystals are incredibly valuable, but for masters of higher realms, they become as insignificant as gold and silver.
"I don't think you can buy this Calming Stone anymore."
Just as Ming Qi was staring intently, closely monitoring the price fluctuations, the girl next door spoke again.
She always seemed to be able to see through Ming Qi's thoughts, which made Ming Qi, despite repeated surprises, even more wary. If she harbored malicious intent, it would be a very difficult situation.
"Oh?"
Ming Qi replied with a single word, expressionless and meaningless, just like the last time.
"Hehe, I guessed it right!"
A mischievous laugh echoed from the next room, and then the girl said, "But I can help you."
Ming Qi simply smiled and said nothing.
He knew it was best not to speak at this point. According to common sense, he would have asked her how he could help, and that would have implicitly proven that he truly didn't have the financial resources to purchase the Calming Stone.
"Don't be so stubborn! I love you so much, how could I possibly harm you?"
This statement was earth-shattering, leaving Ming Qi even more confused and bewildered. It was just too much.
"Uh..."
Ming Qi put down his glass and turned to look through the small hole in the wall at the round-faced girl with long, golden hair across from him. Within seconds, he was convinced he had never seen this girl before. Absolutely never. A complete stranger!
After a moment's silence, Ming Qi spoke, "Thank you for your kindness. I appreciate it, but I can't."
"Why not?"
The girl smiled curiously, her large eyes gazing at Ming Qi through the hole in the wall.
At that moment, Ming Qi noticed that her eyes were pure, beautiful, and full of spirit, imbued with a faint aura of majesty.
These eyes...?
Ming Qi was stunned. Such eyes, in his memory, were quite unique. Beautiful and full of spirit, that wasn't strange; the strange thing was the faint sense of pressure that filled them.
Suddenly, Ming Qi thought of someone: the captain of the Star City Private Dragon Mercenary Group, the mighty and imposing woman wielding a long sword, who had been surrounded and attacked outside the trading area in the Azure Sky Mountains.
The woman left a deep impression on Ming Qi because of her seemingly innately commanding presence. From her eyes to her swordsmanship, her entire being exuded an unfathomable aura of dominance.
But Ming Qi also knew that the captain of the Private Dragon Mercenary Group was a Celestial.
At this moment, what about the girl next door? Could she, with the same eyes and domineering demeanor, also be Celestial?
If so, then the continuous appearance of Celestials on the Central Continent seemed to have completely overturned the ancient records and iron laws. Why was this?
Ming Qi suddenly had many thoughts, but he didn't intend to question them all. He simply locked eyes with the girl for a second, then asked calmly, "You're Celestial, right?"
"Ah!"
As expected, the girl's expression of surprise after his suspicions was met with a look of deep solemnity.
The most significant change was her eyes. A powerful aura suddenly emanated from them, locking onto Ming Qi through the small hole in the wall.
"What are your origins?"
Ming Qi helplessly took a sip of his wine and said, "Don't be nervous. I've seen Celestials like you, so I can infer your origins. But don't worry. Whether you're Celestial or not, it doesn't concern me."
The girl had clearly not recovered from the shock of having her identity revealed. The aura of pressure emanating from her eyes hadn't faded, still locked onto Ming Qi.
After a moment, she asked, "Who else did you see, and where?"
Ming Qi gave a wry smile and said, "I don't know her name, but from what she said, she seems to be from Kill Star City. I even fought her and nearly lost."
"Kill Star City?"
The girl frowned in thought, then suddenly asked in surprise, "She lost to you?"
Ming Qi nodded. In that battle, he had essentially cheated to defeat the black-clad woman with the long sword, so naturally, he had a stronger impression of the Celestial Clan.
"How did you know I was from the Celestial Clan?" The girl's expression remained solemn, clearly wary of having her Celestial Clan identity revealed.
"Originally, I was judging by the aura of divine punishment, but today I saw that your eyes are very similar to hers, and both are of a very special kind, so I figured it out."
The girl nodded in realization. Indeed, judging by the faintest aura in this VIP room was undoubtedly difficult. She had also been very careful to restrain her aura, so even the slightest hint of divine punishment would be diluted and almost imperceptible, making it impossible to judge by aura alone.
But the eyes were different. She had never thought that they would reveal her true identity, but when she failed to conceal them, the other party saw through them.
"Eight million!"
At that moment, Ming Qi named a price.
Eight million was basically his limit. If that didn't work out, he planned to put the remaining half of the Crimson Pearl Vine on the line. Although it was only half a plant, it was still very precious, and exchanging it for one or two million Yuan Crystals should be no problem.
Seeing that Ming Qi genuinely didn't seem to care about her identity, the girl finally retracted the intimidating gaze and returned to her normal self.
"Let's make a deal," the girl suddenly said.
"Hmm?"
"I'll buy the Calming Stone for you, and you'll keep this secret for me."
Ming Qi smiled and said, "That way, I'm getting a great deal. Even if you don't make any promises, I won't tell anyone your secret."
"That's different. I want a personal promise, one that lasts forever."
"Oh?" Ming Qi looked at the girl in surprise.
A personal promise, and one that lasts forever?
Ming Qi thought for a moment and said, "Then, answer me a question first."
"I don't understand. You're so rich, why do you keep asking me for money, and pretending to be like that?"
As Ming Qi spoke, the girl next door exclaimed again.
"Ah, you saw through me again! I thought I only had this gift for seeing through others."
Ming Qi knew without even asking. This girl was Mo Changli, the little old man he'd previously suspected of being from the Celestial Clan.
"Is your real name Mo Changli?"
Finding it quite interesting, Ming Qi casually asked.
The girl, Mo Changli, seemed completely defeated. She nodded absentmindedly and hummed.
"It's actually quite simple. When you were disguised as an old man, you had a faint aroma about you. It must have been vanilla. This hole in the wall is quite small, so I just barely managed to detect the same scent, which confirmed it was yours."
Seeing Mo Changli's somewhat frustrated look, Ming Qi explained his reasoning. It was simple enough: girls all liked vanilla. If the smell of the same vanilla wasn't enough to confirm her identity, then adding the mysterious Celestial Clan identity made it all clear.
"This..."
Mo Changli bit her lip, a rare moment of silence, before saying, "Consider this a secret of mine."
She had her reasons for her almost frantic attempts to get close to Ming Qi. And there was only one reason: Ming Qi possessed a mysterious aura that could suppress divine punishment!
Divine punishment was a never-ending nightmare for the Celestial Clan, and yet this man possessed the power to suppress it. How could Mo Changli let him go so easily?
She didn't want to say it now, simply because she didn't want him to think she was going to such lengths just to cling to him and use his aura to suppress divine punishment.
"Okay."
Ming Qi nodded. He had always been like that. He wouldn't ask about anything someone didn't want to talk about, no matter what it was.
Getting Ming Qi's permission, Mo Changli seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He blinked mischievously and said, "You won't blame me for something like that, will you?"
Ming Qi smiled and shook his head. Blame? Was that even necessary? In his opinion, it was clearly unnecessary.
"Well, let me tell you, that scent isn't just vanilla. It's something I've had since birth!"
Ming Qi suddenly realized, smiled at the girl, and thought to himself, "So it's a rare natural body fragrance. Could it be the Qiong Yao version of Princess Xiangxiang?"