As Ding Fan closed his eyes to rest, time slowly passed. By now, quite a few cultivators had gathered in the alley, mostly those who appeared to be wealthy, including young men and many middle-aged men. Soon, the auction time arrived.

At this moment, the cultivators who had been waiting for a long time in the alley began to line up at the gate, entering the courtyard in turn. The crowd occasionally whispered to each other, unable to hide the excitement on their faces. Clearly, this auction was not an ordinary one, but a slave auction.

Moreover, most of them were beautiful female cultivators from the Immortal Sects, which was a deadly temptation for these scheming male cultivators. Of course, for these bidders, what they were really looking forward to was the so-called "Beautiful Qing".

Ding Fan quickly joined the line. When it was his turn, he paid the entrance fee of five hundred Spirit Stones without hesitation. Many cultivators had suspected he wouldn't be able to afford it, but to their surprise, Ding Fan handed over the stones without any reluctance.

Upon entering the courtyard, Ding Fan found himself in a large hall where many cultivators had already taken their seats. He soon found a spot and sat down. In no time, the hall was filled, with many cultivators still gathered outside, indicating that the auction was about to begin!

Soon, a middle-aged man appeared on a round platform in front of the crowd. He was at the late Nascent Soul Stage. With a mischievous smile on his face, he graciously addressed everyone:

"Welcome, everyone, to this auction. I presume you all know this is not an ordinary auction. It's filled entirely with handsome men and beautiful women! Of course, the women outnumber the men, and they are all former beauties of the Immortal Sects. I hope you'll find a slave to your liking. I wish for all of you to have joy in coming and satisfaction in leaving! Now, I declare the auction officially open!"

After the middle-aged man announced the start of the auction, the cultivators below could not contain their cheers and whistles, evidently having long anticipated this auction...

Ding Fan sat calmly, his heart as calm as still water, though there was a trace of anger within. Although the Cultivation World is one of the survival of the fittest, all cultivators should be equal. There should not be anything like slavery, but this was the norm in the Cultivation World. Ding Fan was dissatisfied, yet powerless to change it.

Take the previous incident with the Dayang Sect, where those disciples captured by the Wild Wolf Gang were made slaves in the Great Wilderness Mountain. If Ding Fan hadn't rescued them, those Dayang Sect disciples would be like these slaves about to go on stage. Ding Fan couldn't help but sigh softly, feeling a sense of pity in such circumstances...

Soon, the first female slave was pushed onto the platform with handcuffs, disheveled, and covered in dirt. The female slave looked to be just over twenty. Though her face had smudges, she was still quite a beauty, evoking a feeling of tender compassion.

"Our first female slave is Xiao Fang, known as the most beautiful junior sister in the Immortal Sect. Take a look, everyone. The starting price is five hundred Spirit Stones! Each bid must increase by at least fifty Spirit Stones. Begin now!"

The middle-aged man on stage addressed the crowd, giving the girl a fierce glare. The girl's brows furrowed in tension. Reluctant as she was, fear compelled her to turn around, forcing a stiff smile.

Seeing this, the crowd below cheered. Some of the men were already growing restless, evidently attracted to Xiao Fang, whether by her face, delicate features, curvy figure, or full bust and hips, causing them to nearly drool...

"Six hundred Spirit Stones!"

"Seven hundred and fifty!"

"One thousand Spirit Stones!"

...

"Three thousand Spirit Stones!"

In no time, the girl's price was bid up to three thousand Spirit Stones. Seeing this, the hosting middle-aged man felt quite satisfied. When it seemed no one was bidding higher, he reluctantly but energetically asked:

"Now this gentleman has offered three thousand Spirit Stones. Is anyone else willing to bid higher?"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man respectfully gestured toward a somewhat corpulent, extravagantly dressed man sitting near the front. At this point, this man, with eyes filled with lust, was staring intently at Xiao Fang, unwilling to look away for even a second.

The middle-aged man continued:

"You must know, this is our first female slave at the auction. Consider well the quality, everyone. I know you're all eagerly anticipating the 'Beautiful Qing', but our Xiao Fang is also quite good. Just take her home and with a bit of schooling, she's sure to bring tremendous pleasure!"

The middle-aged man spoke to the crowd with a sense of seduction, clearly hoping to drive the price higher. Sure enough, soon a young-looking cultivator seemed to make up his mind and called out to the middle-aged man:

"Three thousand five hundred Spirit Stones!"

"Good, good, good! This young man has raised the bid to three thousand five hundred Spirit Stones. Is there anyone else who wants to compete? Sir, won't you continue bidding?"

At this moment, the hosting middle-aged man was immensely pleased and excited, encouraging the bidding youth while enticing the corpulent middle-aged man.

"Forty million spirit stones!"

The portly middle-aged man finally gritted his teeth and called out the price once more. The young man instantly looked deflated, like an eggplant hit by frost, losing all spirit. Evidently, the previous thirty-five hundred spirit stones was already a substantial sum for him, reaching his limit. Now that the other party increased it to forty million spirit stones, he naturally had no ability to continue bidding.

"Forty million spirit stones once!"

"Forty million spirit stones twice!"

"Forty million spirit stones three times! Sold! Congratulations to this gentleman for obtaining Xiao Fang!"

The middle-aged host, face full of excitement, finally announced the results of the first round of the auction. For just one female slave, bidding reached forty million spirit stones, which was certainly a great start!

At this moment, everyone sighed. To require forty million spirit stones for such a female slave was evidently a significant sum for everyone present. After all, even an entire sect's annual income would be only tens of thousands of spirit stones, and that refers to some smaller sects.

Just for a single female slave, forty million spirit stones. If they were to auction a dozen female slaves, even a small sect's annual income wouldn't suffice. It would strain some families even more.

Ding Fan sat there with a very calm expression, standing out among the crowd who wore lascivious, obsessed smiles. But in his heart, he had some understanding of the standard of this auction. Only four thousand spirit stones had already left many cultivators struggling to keep up.

It was evident that the bidding power here was quite ordinary. Compared to the Lan City auction that Ding Fan had attended, it was like night and day. In Lan City's auction, any magic artifact could easily fetch tens of thousands of spirit stones, and multi-million spirit stone bids occurred frequently.

Here, Ding Fan estimated that offering even tens of thousands would already be considered high. As for hundreds of thousands, that was unlikely. He understood; after all, this auction was for slaves. If a magic artifact were to appear here, the price would surely soar, and hundreds of thousands of spirit stones would be quite common.

Moreover, Ding Fan knew most cultivators here belonged to nearby families, small sects, or relatively affluent loose cultivators. Such strength was negligible in the vast seas of the cultivation world.

Ding Fan, having grasped the situation, continued to sit calmly, his face expressionless, distinctly different from the others. Many cultivators around him looked at Ding Fan with disdain, thinking him a pauper who came here just to indulge his eyes, seeing how calmly he sat there.

Ding Fan didn't mind. What he wanted to know was whether the so-called divine woman was indeed Qing Wen. In his heart, Ding Fan had a strong intuition that the divine woman was Gusu Qingwen. As the auction continued and each female slave was sold, Ding Fan grew more anxious.

Quickly, the auction successfully sold over a dozen female slaves, the highest price reaching ten thousand spirit stones, astonishing everyone. Clearly, no one expected there to be such a significant bid in this auction, spending ten thousand spirit stones to buy one slave.

...

Very soon, the auction's climax was about to arrive. The middle-aged host fixed the crowd with a cunning, sly look filled with allure as he said slowly:

"Next, the female slave about to appear is the heavyweight, the one everyone has eagerly anticipated. This female slave, whether in terms of beauty, body, voice, or cultivation temperament, is peerless, a sight rarely seen, and she is also reputedly a virgin. To maintain the auction's high quality, we have meticulously preserved this beauty without a single touch. Can anyone guess who she is?"

As soon as the host finished speaking, the crowd erupted in lively discussion. Clearly, most people were here for that one woman, the divine woman. The host mentioned that the upcoming slave was the one everyone most expected, meaning it could only be the divine woman!

"Keke... Is the divine woman about to appear? The thought is thrilling!"

"My divine woman, she's definitely mine! Hahaha..."

"Hmph! If you want the divine woman, show your strength. Today, I'll wager my entire fortune to win her!"

"Hmph, bring it on, I'm all in too!"

"Just thinking about obtaining the divine woman makes living a few years less worth it... Hahaha..."

"..."

The crowd burst into debate, incessant whistling, and shouting, stirred to restlessness, unable to contain themselves due to the host's tempting remarks!

If the next slave weren't the divine woman, the crowd might have torn the host to shreds. But fortunately, the host didn't show any tension, rather he appeared quite smug. A female slave soon took the stage, dressed neatly, with delicate features, eyes like crystal-clear lake water, shimmering and attractive; lips thin, sexy, invitingly alluring; an exquisite nose, simply tempting a bite, leaving pools of drool behind...