naturally the previous sudden mood swing from lilia, drew the attention of practically all the new additions to the group, namely, iris, layla, the three maids, as well as lieze and of course valentina.

    with valentina''s exception, all the others saw how lilia went wild back at the spatial port and happily destroyed those spaceships with her bare hands, not to mention that they had seen her summon a transcending gate but not use it, meaning that she was just playing around.

    so, they didn''t know what to think of lilia, she was a "mystery", her real strength was unknown, the only thing that practically all the girls knew was that she was alice''s mother and that she was one of aster''s lovers, the self-claimed main wife who competed with sarina all the time

    of course, some of the initial members of the group did know that she was also aster''s mother, like felicia and her family or camila, but they didn''t mention it to the others, since that was up to aster, who really didn''t especially hide it from them, he was had to tell the group about their family background sooner or later after all.

    anyway, while enjoying the delightful sensation of lilia''s smooth skin rubbing against his face, aster agreed to her request, not without saying.

    "sure, but you''ll be good and share with the others, okay?", aster wasn''t just teasing her, judging by lilia''s glowing red eyes, she has been strangely excited lately be it due to her dragon self-influence or maybe because she is eager to reunite with her sworn sisters, so it was better to make sure that she won''t fight with the others to "protect" her food.

    "mm~", lilia was surprisingly cooperative, very much to sarina''s jealousy, she could feel lilia''s provoking gaze on her as if she was saying "i''m the number one".

    ''humph, i won''t let you have things your way'', thought sarina as she leaned herself against aster''s body, resting her head on his shoulder.

    "i also want to try that dish, husband", aster had to admit that listening to the motherly blond sarina calling him "husband" while she acted cute and clingy had a really high destructive power.

    aster could see the sparks flying between those two who were competing for his attention, luckily the little angel sitting on his lap, helped him out.

    "big brother i also want to try it, that salad was really tasty~", said kana to which aster smiled as he patted the little girl''s head.

    "of course, let''s buy enough for everyone", he said to then change his focus to the stage, the auctioneer actually hadn''t even explained the dish in question, mainly because just by showing it to the attendants of the auction, was enough for them to start gossiping and murmuring among themselves.

    "i hope our esteemed guests are satisfied with the main dish prepared for the opening auction night, a steak prepared by the famous spirit chef lord butcher from the bloodline tower, the meat itself comes from a law integration realm rock bison, a spirit beast with an innately high vitality and it was marinated in a mix of soft nature ingredients called among which a rare blood cotton ganoderma was included".

    "the previous made possible for anyone within the transcending realm to eat it safely, while the ingredients combined can still benefit even early-stage heavenly realm cultivators, as per lord butcher''s request, we''ll tell you the specific benefit beforehand unlike the usual dynamic in food auction, because it only has one but it''s a rather special one...", the auctioneer took a second to then gaze at the private rooms on the second floor before saying.

    "it has a certain chance to awaken dormant lineages and enhance active ones, of course this effect isn''t guaranteed but unlike pills or elixirs with similar effects, it doesn''t have any side effect".

    "each portion weights exactly four hundred grams, there are forty portions and the format will be the same as the previous dish, the initial price for the batches of ten portions will be of five hundred thousand spirit jades and each bid must increase the price by fifty thousand jades at least, as for last ten portions which will be auctioned the individually, they will be instead traded with resources, benefits or treasures".

    at valentina''s private room, aster chuckled, that auctioneer was quite cunning, most rogue cultivators lacked in terms of spirit jades since they used them for cultivation or other services as soon as they got them, however since they moved around a lot, they were prompt to find rare and valuable resources, treasures and the like.

    so, this way, she gave them a chance to actually compete with those young masters, who probably only brought spirit jades to use as currency, of course the auctioneer wasn''t doing it out of the kindness of her heart, she wanted to milk the rogue cultivators dry.

    also, this dish was obviously prepared for the young members of the fey family, more accurately for fawn, those merchant families surely did their homework, though they might have committed a grave mistake, well it depended on one''s perspective.

    "one million spirit jades", as aster expected the initial bid came from the original room number one and directly doubled the initial price, but this time other buyers didn''t get intimidated so easily.

    "one million and a hundred thousand", said a voice coming from the room number two, only for the guys at the room number one to directly say.

    "one million and five hundred thousand".

    "...", the other bidder remained silent, it was clear for everyone that the people at the room number one were set on buying the first batch, unfortunately for them before the auctioneer could start the countdown a casual voice came from the other room number one.

    "two million spirit jades".

    "damn, it''s that guy again, is he going to also buy the three batches like before?", said one of the many rogue cultivators, since they couldn''t participate in the bidding war they were enjoying the show.

    "two million and three hundred thousand...", before the guys at room number one could finish their bid, aster directly raised it.

    "three million".

    there was no need for aster to use his dragon eyes to peek on whoever was bidding, he could feel that guy''s anger, unfortunately for him, he didn''t care, since no one was saying anything else the auctioneer sealed the deal.

    "the first batch has been sold to the esteemed guest from the private room number one at the left", she added the location this time, since she also called the other private room as the number one.

    aster paid and like before the food was sent to them inside a spatial ring through a formation, this time however it was lilia the one who placed the dishes on the table and she directly munched on one right away, not without offering a piece of steak to aster with her fork.

    aster had no other choice but to accept her offer, he was positively surprised by the food, the thing was filled to the brim with vitality, the blood enhancing effect had near to zero chances of helping any of them, since they all have drank elixirs created using the purified version of his blood, but the taste was really good and lilia craved for it as it contained a ton of vitality.

    seeing lilia licking her lips after finishing a portion of the steak, aster helped her clean her mouth with a napkin before focusing on the auction again, that dragon mother of his clearly wanted more than one portion and sarina was the same since she was going to use one as an object of study.

    ''luckily i am filthy rich for individual standards and we don''t really need to use spirit jades to cultivate unless we are talking about a major breakthrough, otherwise providing for these two would be tough without resorting to actively robbing other people'', thought aster as he inwardly sighed, thanks to the valley''s good location and eris''s formations the family didn''t need to use spirit jades for cultivation, so aster could save all his earnings from the store, not to mention all the riches he has obtained from his dead enemies.

    aster returned to the real world, when he heard a different voice coming from room number one.

    "three million spirit jades, the friend over there, could you show us some face and let us from the fey family have this batch?", while this time the one speaking was much more respectful, the previous was a blatant threat and a violation of the rules of an auction, pressuring others using one''s background was prohibited, of course a minor mention like this one could be overlooked for the greater picture and the auctioneer did exactly that.

    "where was my face when you took my seat, five million", aster''s answer was clear and short, he didn''t give a damn about the face of those guys, he never goes out of his way to mess with others, but that doesn''t mean he is afraid of trouble, one has to flex from time to time, otherwise others will think they can trample upon you.

    "well, well, well, it seems you are set on messing with us, fine let''s play, i dare you, eight million".

    "you are free to leave, but aster stays, he is the holy son of the myriad occupation sect after all, in terms of status he is only below the ancestors, like older cousin", said agnes with a sharp voice.

    at the mention of the word "cousin" the sly man stopped smiling and a tinge of fear could be seen in his eyes, the one who created this temporary city was aster''s fey godmother and all the big families and forces who wanted to set up a store or business here, first had to discuss it with her, valentina only took over after she had left.

    evidently this guy had met aster''s godmother and she left a lasting impression on him, as in he was afraid of her.

    the young members of the fey family on the other hand, turned their attention towards aster, as they scanned the talent which was being "scouted" by the opposition, all of them with the exception of fawn who had already met aster earlier.

    "so, you are the guy who killed the prospect chosen by the stall family, you two cousins should be careful who you hang out with, otherwise the fey family will lose face", said the void manipulation guy from the ocean aquamarine, only for his mocking smile to freeze when he heard aster saying.

    "the next time you appear uninvited you''ll lose more than face".

    a sepulchral silence fell in the room, before the glasses guy snorted.

    "you lowlif...", his words stopped midway, when his glasses were cut in half and his face paled as if he had seen a ghost, the void manipulation guy saw his brother being attacked without him reacting and he immediately stood in front of them.

    "the senior hiding, we are from the fey family are you sure you want to antagonize us?", he said to the empty spaces in the room, making aster laugh at him.

    since he couldn''t tell the origin of that attack nor feel it before it happened and even his instincts didn''t react, it was similar to what happened earlier when the metallic number 5 was shaved from the wall, his supposition was that it was the work of a soul king.

    "i should have expected it from that woman, of course she secretly prepared some tricks, since we aren''t welcomed here, we''ll take our leave, enjoy your dinner cousins", said the void manipulation guy.

    but as they were about to leave, valentina''s voice made them stop in cold.

    "you can leave, but that guy has to stay, i need an explanation regarding my private room being handed over without my consent after all".

    the sly middle-aged man was about to refute, but valentina was faster this time.

    "it''s that or your group can leave my private room right now, you decide wade".

    the void manipulation guy, also known as wade, who was annoyed by how things resulted, gazed at the middle-aged man to then say.

    "we will be returning to our room, lord teles please solve this misunderstanding with our cousins".

    with those words and while ignoring the surprised gaze of the middle-aged man, the fey family group left the room in a hurry, wade didn''t want to stay in a closed-up space with an unknown enemy, especially one that could avoid detection like the imaginary soul king he believed was there observing from within the shadows.

    the middle-aged man felt valentina''s glare on him and his smiling fac?ade disappeared from his face.

    "i already apologized for my mistake, i hope miss fey isn''t expecting any other kind of compensation from me, if there isn''t anything else, i''ll be taking my leave, also holy son or not, that kid is banned from entering my auction house", he said.

    "those are some bold words, considering that even we from the marius family who are the majority owner, wouldn''t dare to claim that the golden scale auction house is our property", a newcomer who knocked on the door that was left open by wade and his group earlier, interrupted.

    "miss fey, i''m sorry for all the inconveniences, i was busy trying to get an answer for you, unfortunately i was too late to prevent a certain idiot from offending you even more", added the newcomer, a chubby man with an honest expression on his face.

    valentina gestured at the newcomer, to tell him that he was welcomed to enter the room.

    "ahem, i don''t want to take too much of your time, so i''ll go straight to the point, i have a verdict signed by the treasure guardian in turn, which states that omar telles acted outside of his authority and as a punishment, the telles family will pay a fine of three hundred million middle grade spirit jades".

    "what!!!", omar telles nearly tripped down as he heard that, now imagine his expression when the chubby man added.

    "said amount has been immediately given as credit for miss fey to use in any of our auction houses, to compensate for our mistake", the chubby man then showed a document with a golden scale emblem stamped on it and a signature that exuded a strong aura which aster recognized.

    it belonged to the half step heavenly realm cultivator, hidden in the depths of the auction house, in other words that was the "treasure guardian" mentioned by the chubby man.

    "donald, how dare you!", said omar, only for the chubby man to give him the finishing shot.

    "the old man said that a third part of the fine will be deducted from your salary, so if i were you, i would shut up and leave".

    "i''ll remember this!", with a shout, omar smacked the door and stormed out of the room, while the chubby man apologetically bowed his head towards valentina.

    "once again i am sorry by the inconveniences, a refund of the amount paid by your group so far will be delivered in a moment, also this room will be reserved for you for the rest of the time that our auction house stays here, the new number one room", he said as he left the room in a hurry.

    since earlier he felt as if a dangerous fierce spirit beast was eyeing, he wasn''t that far, lilia was angry that her time together with aster was interrupted by others, especially since he was personally feeding her.

    outside of the room, the chubby man met omar who clearly wanted trouble, but he was only told.

    "if you want to die, don''t drag others down".

    omar telles was reminded of the soul king mentioned by wade, but he ultimately snorted as he walked towards the room number one.

    "we''ll see who laughs last, marius, i still have those spoiled brats who are like walking wallets, not to mention that while that old man is affiliated to your family, the mercenaries i hired will arrive tomorrow", he mumbled once he had put enough distance between himself and the room number 15.

    unaware of the fact that aster was spying on him wit his spirit sense, combined with his dragon eyes.

    ''mercenaries huh, so auctions aren''t their only interest here'', thought aster, a half step heavenly realm cultivator was more than enough to keep the auction house safe, so whatever reason those mercenaries were hired for, wasn''t protection.