At this moment, the male cultivator appeared to have only reached the Early Nascent Soul Stage. He didn't even give Ding Fan a glance before impatiently driving him away. Another cultivator was visibly displeased, yet inadvertently raised his head and looked in Ding Fan's direction.

When this cultivator saw Ding Fan, he was momentarily stunned, as if his entire body had been frozen, standing there stiffly, immobile.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" The earlier Early Nascent Soul Stage man, seeing his companion's odd expression, couldn't help but ask curiously.

"It's him, it's him..."

The cultivator standing there stiffly heard the Nascent Soul cultivator's words and stammered a bit as he spoke.

Right then, this Nascent Soul Stage cultivator curiously looked over at the cultivator he had impatiently driven away earlier. When he saw Ding Fan, he was equally dumbfounded. He hadn't expected that the cultivator who inquired about something would be this young man.

Clearly, these two cultivators had been present at the auction. They were just middle-class cultivators, yet witnessing Ding Fan casually discard three hundred thousand Spirit Stones like waste during the auction had left them in utter shock. One must know that those were three hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Just thrown on the ground, discarded like that—how extravagant could one be? Even more shocking was his bold declaration, vowing to accompany anyone to the end who dared compete against him for a beauty like Qing Mei. It was almost unbelievable. How many Spirit Stones must this person possess to speak with such confidence?

The scene of Ding Fan at the auction lingered in the minds of these two insignificant figures who were still deeply shaken by it. Although they were ordinary people themselves, their purpose in visiting the auction house wasn't necessarily to procure something but to catch a glimpse of beautiful women, after all. Even combining their Spirit Stones might not be enough to buy a single female slave.

Although these two cultivator men were quite ordinary, they discerned that Ding Fan was no ordinary existence. Otherwise, how could a mere youth casually produce three hundred thousand Spirit Stones, even disdainfully casting them to the ground? Each of his actions revealed one truth.

That is, he surely wasn't the son of an ordinary family. Such a person was unquestionably not someone to provoke. For ordinary cultivators like themselves, offending such an individual was absolutely out of the question.

"Young Master, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I failed to recognize a person of great talent. If there's anything you want to inquire about, I'll reveal all I know!"

"Yes, yes, we'll reveal all we know!"

At this moment, the two cultivators said with flattery to Ding Fan. Clearly, neither had anticipated that the person inquiring at the gate would be such a figure, with the Early Nascent Soul Stage man especially filled with regret over his earlier offensive words towards Ding Fan.

Ding Fan, observing their demeanor, was unbothered and simply asked directly:

"Did the Immortal Sect Master's daughter appear at the auction?"

"Yes, yes, she did!"

"Yes, yes, we both saw her!"

Hearing Ding Fan's words, the two cultivators responded respectfully and truthfully, without a hint of concealment.

Upon hearing this, Ding Fan's brows furrowed. Since Bai Her appeared at the auction, she was likely purchased by someone, which posed a significant problem. Subsequently, Ding Fan continued inquiring:

"Did anyone purchase the Immortal Sect Master's daughter?"

"Yes, yes, a burly middle-aged man bought her, spending several thousand Spirit Stones. But I'm not exactly sure who he is, although he seemed quite formidable!"

One of the male cultivators, recalling the auction scene with respect, replied to Ding Fan.

"What distinguishing features did that middle-aged man have?" Ding Fan asked further.

"Features? Um...he seemed quite burly and was dressed rather lavishly. But as for who he is, I really don't know..."

The cultivator, struggling to recall, answered apologetically, genuinely unfamiliar with the middle-aged man who bought the Sect Master's daughter. At this moment, the other male cultivator seemed to remember something and exclaimed to Ding Fan:

"Ah! I remember now! He was the middle-aged man who competed against the Young Lord for Qing Mei earlier!"

"Yes, yes, that's him!"

As soon as one of the earlier men heard his companion's words, he remembered too and hurriedly confirmed.

"It's him!"

Ding Fan heard the words of the two people and remembered when he was competing for Qing Wen. There was indeed a burly middle-aged man competing against him. The opponent even offered a hundred thousand Spirit Stones to try and win Qing Wen, but later Ding Fan bid two hundred thousand Spirit Stones. The opponent then bid two hundred and ten thousand Spirit Stones, and Ding Fan finally offered three hundred thousand Spirit Stones to successfully bid for Qing Wen.

Ding Fan did not expect that it would be that person. At the time, Ding Fan naturally didn't take the opponent seriously, but he did remember his appearance. It seems he needs to meet that guy. If the opponent hadn't kept raising the stakes and competing, he wouldn't have spent three hundred thousand Spirit Stones to finally win Qing Wen.

Of course, to Ding Fan, three hundred thousand Spirit Stones is nothing, but even if Ding Fan doesn't care, it's still Spirit Stones. After all, three hundred thousand Spirit Stones are equivalent to several years of income for some sects.

...

At this moment, the two men saw Ding Fan deep in thought and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, evidently feeling that their words seemed to have helped.

"Is that man still at the auction?" Ding Fan continued to ask.

The two men heard Ding Fan's question and directly responded:

"The auction is about to end now. That middle-aged man has already left. Maybe he saw that there were no attractive slave girls left,"

"I seem to have heard that they were going to some Panyang Mansion. The middle-aged man seems to be staying there."

The two cultivators couldn't help but supplement each other's words.

Upon hearing this, Ding Fan clasped his hands in gratitude towards the two, saying, "Thank you, both."

"You're welcome, you're welcome. It's our duty to assist you, sir…"

"Yes, yes, it's my honor to help you, sir. If there's anything else, we'll do our best… Left already?"

The two male cultivators bowed their heads, smiling sheepishly as they complimented Ding Fan. But when they looked up, they found that he was already gone. They exchanged a glance and finally let out a deep sigh of relief…

Now, Ding Fan directly headed to the Panyang Mansion mentioned by the two men. After some inquiries, he quickly found the Panyang Mansion. Ding Fan always thought the Panyang Mansion was like an inn, but upon reaching the gate, he realized that the architecture of the Panyang Mansion was indeed one of the best structures in Panyang Town.

At the entrance of the Panyang Mansion, there were soldiers clad in armor guarding it. Seeing this scene, Ding Fan understood that this so-called Panyang Mansion was likely an official establishment of Panyang Town, and it was evident that some important figures to Panyang Town resided there.

However, to Ding Fan, it didn't matter much, but getting inside was not an easy task. At this moment, Ding Fan noticed that the people entering and exiting the Panyang Mansion all held something like a pass. Ding Fan knew that without such a pass, he probably wouldn't be able to get in.

Ding Fan glanced at the guards, and it was evident that they were some cultivators in the Embryonic Breath Stage, with the highest cultivation being an Early Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. Such a cultivation level could easily be dealt with by Ding Fan, but he knew he couldn't do it that way. Breaking in forcibly would result in being hunted by the official forces of Panyang Town.

His own safety was secondary; it would expose his identity. Although Ding Fan was not afraid of any soldiers from Panyang Town, if the cultivators from the Wild Wolf Gang discovered his location, they certainly wouldn't let him go. Ding Fan had utmost confidence he could escape from the Wild Wolf Gang's cultivators, even if they were in the Spirit Severing Stage, or even the Transcendance Tribulation Stage.

But Ding Fan knew he wasn't alone; Gusu Qingwen was with him. Although he wasn't afraid of the Wild Wolf Gang, Gusu Qingwen couldn't handle it, and Ding Fan was here to save someone. If that happened, even if he managed to rescue someone, the three of them probably wouldn't get far before being found by the Wild Wolf Gang's cultivators.

While Ding Fan was mulling over this, he suddenly noticed a group appearing at the gate of Panyang Mansion. Among them, there were many cultivators, most of whom were at the Nascent Soul Stage, with one even at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. It was evident that this group of cultivators had a much higher level of cultivation than the guarding soldiers.

This group, in grand formation, led by a large carriage, had something like a huge box on the carriage covered by a black cloth. Ordinarily, people wouldn't be able to see what's inside, but for Ding Fan, it was a trivial matter.

But upon seeing the contents of the box, Ding Fan was taken aback. Inside was a Seven Star Elemental Beast. Ding Fan couldn't name the beast specifically, but he could feel its aura, confirming it was definitely a Seven Star Elemental Beast. That was equivalent to a Spirit Severing Initial Stage cultivator, possibly the highest power in Panyang Town.

Ding Fan couldn't help but marvel at this, as he hadn't seen any experts in Panyang Town. Even the official soldiers were mostly in the Embryonic Breath Stage, showing the overall power level of Panyang Town. Obviously, if a Seven Star Elemental Beast were to get loose, it might massacre the entire town.

Observing once again, Ding Fan realized that the box containing the Seven Star Elemental Beast was no ordinary box but had some formation restricting it. This made more sense to Ding Fan since a Seven Star Elemental Beast was not something that could be contained by just any ordinary means.

Clearly, formations were in place for the box, which explained the containment.

However, upon closer inspection, Ding Fan's eyebrows furrowed once more. He discovered that the box containing the Seven Star Elemental Beast was already on the verge of collapse. It seemed likely that the long journey to transport the beast had taken its toll, and the box was close to failing.