This auction had gone fairly well overall for the people of Grand Heaven Mountain.
After the gathering ended, the others returned to the inn to pack up and prepare to return to the sect.
Xu Zimo, however, hadn't left yet, he had already been targeted by the monk Kuwu.
"You all go ahead," Xu Zimo waved his hand and said to Jiang Changsheng and the others.
"What about you?" Ye Xuan asked worriedly from the side.
"I'll handle it," Xu Zimo replied.
Jiang Changsheng knew Xu Zimo’s strength and didn’t insist. Lin Feng, on the other hand, had long been displeased and naturally didn’t care to get involved.
Watching everyone leave, the monk Kuwu came up to Xu Zimo and said, "Where's the meridian technique?"
"Too troublesome to explain it character by character. I can demonstrate it while explaining my insights," Xu Zimo said.
"You better not try anything," Kuwu warned.
Kuwu led Xu Zimo to a secluded alley in Bright Flame City.
The alley was deserted, with an entrance on the left and a dead end on the right.
"I’ll give you two hours. If I don’t learn it by then, I’ll kill you," Kuwu said.
"Won’t take that long," Xu Zimo waved his hand and said, "Watch closely. The first move of the Six Cuts of Ghost Zen is called 'Law Without Cause.'"
As his words fell, Xu Zimo waved his hands, and countless ghostly shadows swirled around him.
Some were skeletal heads, others were bloody skeletons crawling out of a sea of blood, surging toward Kuwu like zombies.
Shrill screams echoed all around.
"What are you doing?" Kuwu frowned slightly.
"Didn’t you want to learn? I’m giving you a demonstration," Xu Zimo smiled. "This first move corresponds to the eye among the six human senses. Don’t panic, everything you see is an illusion."
"An illusion?" Kuwu said warily.
Before he could react, the skeletons were already frenziedly lunging at him.
He tried his best to dodge, but the alley was now packed with skeletons.
Surrounded by them, it wasn’t long before he was torn to pieces, hands, feet, head, and body, nothing left intact.
A breeze swept through, and the skeletons vanished. Only Kuwu’s corpse remained stiff in the alley.
His body looked completely unharmed, no wounds at all, but his breathing had stopped, and his pupils were dilated, he seemed to have suffered inhuman torment before death.
Xu Zimo walked up to the corpse, shook his head, and sighed, "You wanted to learn, and yet you died before enduring even the first move. Pathetic."
After speaking, he looked toward the depths of the alley and said, "You've been following me all this way. Not planning to show yourself?"
As his words fell, a woman in a conical hat slowly walked out.
Xu Zimo recognized her, she was the one who had bid against him for the bell at the auction.
"Who are you?" Xu Zimo asked.
"You don’t need to know. Just hand over that God Race bell, or you’ll be in grave danger," the woman said.
"I’d like to know what kind of danger," Xu Zimo asked with interest.
The woman in the conical hat snorted coldly and didn’t bother speaking further, she struck at Xu Zimo.
Wearing a gray robe, the black cloth of her hat fluttered as she moved with elegant grace.
She launched a palm strike at Xu Zimo’s chest.
Xu Zimo remained calm, allowing her strike to land on him.
He wanted to test just how tough his body had become after all his tempering.
With a boom, the palm exploded on his chest, golden spiritforce coiling around her hand.
Xu Zimo stood motionless, while the woman was sent flying backward.
"World Paragon Realm? I expected more," Xu Zimo shook his head slightly.
However, when that golden energy entered his body, it triggered a rejection response in his Hell Suppressing Demon Physique.
"You…" the woman looked at Xu Zimo, too shocked to speak. "Since when were Nine Heavens Imperial Sect disciples this strong?"
"Now I’m actually interested in you," Xu Zimo smiled, raised his right hand, and slammed down a massive palm.
He sealed all the meridian gates in her body using the Power of Creation.
But as he did, he clearly felt that the golden energy within her seemed to have consciousness, struggling against the seal.
And its intensity was quite high.
Xu Zimo gently removed the conical hat from her head, revealing a stunningly beautiful face.
Her skin was fair as snow, flawless and soft.
With a fine, straight nose, elegant brows, a lock of hair fluttering near her ear, and especially those eyes, like stars and moonlight, they gave her an ethereal, breathtaking aura.
Though she wore a gray robe, her beauty still radiated. A faint, elegant fragrance lingered around her.
"Talk. Who are you?" Xu Zimo asked.
The woman turned her head away, ignoring him.
"It’s fine if you won’t speak. I have plenty of ways to make you talk," Xu Zimo said calmly. "For example, I know a soul-searching technique that can strip your memories. Anyone subjected to it suffers soul damage and becomes mentally crippled. Then I’ll sell you to a brothel. With your looks, you’d fetch a high price."
"You shameless bastard," the woman turned her head, furious.
"I’ll ask just once, who are you?" Xu Zimo said.
"If I tell you, will you let me go?" she asked, looking up.
"Sure. You’re of no use to me anyway," Xu Zimo nodded.
"Remnant of the God Race. Jiu You," the woman said coldly.
"Remnant of the God Race? What’s that?" Xu Zimo frowned.
"After the God-Demon War, the Ancient God Race was nearly wiped out. We remnants are those who still carry God blood in our veins," Jiu You explained.
"So there was a war caused by the Ancient Demon Race in this world too," Xu Zimo frowned and muttered to himself. Then he asked, "What do you want the bell for?"
"After the war, many God Race treasures were abandoned on the battlefield. We remnants are naturally searching for them," Jiu You replied.
"Then why did you give up during the auction?" Xu Zimo asked.
"Broke," Jiu You replied bluntly.
"How do you use this bell?" Xu Zimo took out the bell and asked.
"You can’t use it. It requires God power to activate," Jiu You replied. "And if I’m not mistaken, this bell isn’t just any God Race treasure. It’s one recorded in our ancestral records."