“Dragon Valley is sealed? Only the Dragon Race themselves should be able to do that, right?” Starlight was somewhat surprised.
“It’s not clear yet, but Leaf-Cutter believes it might be due to some kind of external interference. They are currently trying to find other ways to enter Dragon Valley.”
Moen shook her head and continued, “There’s another piece of information related to us. Senior You successfully sensed Lian’s bloodline aura in the direction of Dragon Valley a day ago.”
“What? That’s great! As long as Senior and the others can successfully enter Dragon Valley and rescue her, then the majority of this mission will be considered complete!” Starlight felt very happy upon hearing this news, but Moen’s next words quickly doused his excitement.
“Don’t celebrate too early. Just a few hours after Senior You sensed Lian’s aura, her presence vanished from Dragon Valley again. As of the time Leaf-Cutter sent their reply, they haven’t figured out what exactly happened. They haven’t ruled out the possibility that the Night Elves might try to force their way into the valley.”
“Vanished... Could it be!? No! It can’t be! I can still perceive that Lian’s life force is stable!” Starlight was initially startled, but he reacted quickly and performed a rapid sensing check.
“So, nothing has happened to Lian yet! I see, it seems something else affected Senior You’s perception. We must quickly convey this message to Leaf-Cutter!”
After Moen finished speaking, she immediately took out an identical leaf from her storage space. Once she had recorded the message, she handed it to the little bird beside her, sending it off into the night.
However, given the speed of the communication birds, the earliest Leaf-Cutter could receive the message would be a day later. Starlight felt somewhat worried about this.
“Let’s go. We should inform Po Kong and the others. If no clues appear at the auction soon, we’ll need to take our next steps.”
“Alright!”
The two of them finished their brief exchange and prepared to take Little Gold back to the private box.
But at that moment, Little Gold suddenly stopped. His nose twitched slightly as he whispered, “Wait, I think I smell something strange... It’s that guy from before!”
“A strange smell? Which guy?” Starlight and Moen both looked at Little Gold, their eyes filled with confusion.
“Hmm... it’s a bit like a dragon aura, but also different. It’s that fat guy!” Little Gold frowned, his gaze sweeping toward the other end of the corridor. “It’s coming from over there.”
Starlight and Moen exchanged a look, a hint of vigilance rising in their hearts.
Just as they were pondering how to act, a massive, spherical figure emerged from the shadows of the corridor.
The obese figure, dressed in an emerald-green robe, almost took up the entire width of the corridor. Surprisingly, his footsteps didn’t make a single sound, as if he were gliding across the floor.
“Sure enough, it’s that scent from before! I didn’t expect you to actually follow me here! You’ve got some nerve!” The fat man looked down at the three of them and spoke, his voice carrying an inexplicable sense of pressure.
“Oh no!”
Starlight suddenly remembered that in order to let Po Kong and the others communicate while under surveillance, he had left Noah in the box.
Now that they were out, their auras had returned to normal without the concealment of Noah’s soul power.
This change wouldn't mean much to an ordinary person, but if the opponent was an expert sensitive to auras or a special creature, it was a different story.
Starlight quickly stepped in front of Moen and Little Gold, his eyes fixed warily on the fat man before them.
“Who are you, sir? We haven't done anything to offend you!” Starlight asked in a low voice, his tone full of caution.
The fat man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he used his deep eyes to look Starlight’s group up and down, a meaningful expression playing across his lips.
“Who I am isn't important. What’s important is... you have something I’m interested in.” The fat man’s voice rumbled like low thunder, making one’s skin crawl.
“Something you’re interested in?” Starlight frowned.
“That’s right, especially this little fellow...” The fat man’s gaze fell on Little Gold, a strange glint in his eyes. “He carries a scent that I simply cannot ignore.”
Little Gold felt uncomfortable under the man’s gaze and instinctively shrank behind Starlight.
“What do you want?” Moen asked coldly, her wrist flicking slightly as a gleaming dagger appeared in her hand.
“Don’t be nervous. I just want to make a deal with you.” The fat man smiled. “Hand that little fellow over to me, and I can guarantee you’ll leave here safely.”
“In your dreams!” Starlight rejected the proposal without hesitation, reaching out to grab Moen and Little Gold.
“Is that so? How truly regrettable... In that case, I’ll just have to do it myself.”
The fat man shook his head, the smile vanishing from his face. A terrifying aura suddenly surged toward the three of them like a tsunami.
“Hold on tight, let’s go!” Starlight shouted, preparing to use instant movement to take the three of them away.
He believed that in a setting like this, as long as the opponent wasn't a complete madman with nothing to lose, they wouldn't use any high-destruction skills, as the auction inside was still only halfway through.
Although he didn't know the fat man’s identity, the House of Red would never allow a stranger to disrupt such a grand event.
Furthermore, according to Sui Yun, there were at least ten Saint Rank experts in the venue. Even with the strength of someone like Angela or You, it should be impossible to deal with the three of them silently.
However, just as Starlight was about to pull the two into the spatial void, he discovered to his horror that the surrounding space had solidified like a block of hard granite, making it impossible to cut through.
“What is this!?”
Starlight looked up at the fat man in shock. He didn't understand when the man had used a spatial lock.
This was different from disrupting space during a battle. In his memory, the only person capable of this was his Martial Uncle Eventador. But wasn't Eventador the only Saint Rank Time Archmage on the entire continent? What was with this fat man!?
“Hahaha! Don’t bother showing off such trivial tricks like instant movement in front of me!”
The fat man let out a muffled laugh and raised a hand the size of a washbasin. In the next instant, Little Gold was yanked from Starlight’s grasp and suspended in mid-air, unable to move.
“Little Gold!” Starlight cried out, quickly raising his hand to hurl a light spear at the man’s wrist.
To his surprise, the light, which should have been intangible, was caught in the palm of the fat man’s other hand. With a gentle squeeze, it dissolved into elemental particles.
“Magic doesn't work!?”
As the light spear was crushed, Moen reacted immediately, her dagger stabbing toward the fat man’s unguarded stomach like a bolt of lightning.
But the fat man seemed to have anticipated this. The dagger stopped just millimeters from his body, unable to advance further. Moen herself was pinned against the corridor wall by an invisible force.
“Damn it! Let her go!” Panic surged in Starlight’s heart as he hurled two more fireballs at the fat man.
Naturally, these spells cast in a panic had no effect; the two spheres of flame suddenly froze in mid-air.
“Hmph!”
The fat man let out a cold snort through his nose. The stationary fireballs immediately extinguished, and Starlight was simultaneously bound by a powerful spatial power, rendering him unable to move.
“Behave yourself, kid!”
The fat man ignored Starlight and Moen, turning his gaze back to Little Gold in his hand.
“Such a peculiar scent. How is it I didn't know such an anomaly had appeared among the Dragon Race? Or rather... are you just a piece of trash who stole the bloodline of the noble Dragon Race?”
The fat man scrutinized Little Gold, seemingly trying to see through him completely.
Rate on N.U.
