I was born a god, the son of the Demon Lord.

Wu Qiyue and Xiao Shitou followed obediently behind.

The auction house of Canglan Pavilion is not located within the city.

After leaving the east gate of Illusion Sea City and walking along the coast for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a huge crystal palace stands on the sea cliff, half-suspended in the blue waves. The entire building is made of deep-sea crystal, and seawater flows through the bottom, refracting layers of blue light.

Xu Yuan gave me a private room number.

The top floor, the most expensive one.

The attendant glanced at her and then at the children behind her—but asked nothing and respectfully led her upstairs.

The private room was spacious, with three transparent crystal walls overlooking the entire auction hall. It was packed with people, and a muffled buzzing sound came through the crystal walls.

This was the first time Xu Nanyi had ever seen such a scene.

She darted to the window in a flash, pressed her upper body against the crystal wall and looked down, the bells jingling incessantly.

"So many people!"

Shen Xizhou was jolted off her shoulder by her sudden movement, and his tail quickly wrapped tightly around her arm, while his dragon whiskers shook in dissatisfaction.

The hall below was brightly lit, and cultivators from all races gathered together.

Compared to their private room, it was like being squeezed into a cowshed. This place was large and bright, with four or five plates of spiritual fruits on the table, steaming tea, and a soft couch covered with sea silk.

clang--

With a clear sound, a person walked out from the high platform in the center of the hall.

No, it's not a "person".

A mermaid woman stepped onto the stage, her long, light blue hair cascading down to her waist, her eyes a pale lake blue. She was draped in a pearl-embroidered gauze robe, and as she moved, tiny specks of light scattered from the hem of her skirt, like a moving shallow sea.

Xu Nanyi pressed herself against the crystal wall, her eyes wide open.

"What a beautiful lady!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind came from behind him.

Wu Qiyue, who was originally nestled on the soft couch eating spirit fruit, had somehow appeared beside her, her almond-shaped eyes wide open and juice still smeared on the corners of her mouth.

"I've never heard anyone compliment me! Aren't I pretty?!"

Xu Nanyi turned around.

I took a good look at the face in front of me.

Her almond-shaped eyes were round and light-colored, and her skin was so white it was almost translucent, a cold white that had never seen the sun. A few strands of purple highlights were mixed in with her black hair, half of which was tied up with a light purple hairband, while the other half fell loose over her shoulders. Her bangs were curled into soft arcs. She wore a light purple long dress, which made her look like a lily of the valley that had never been exposed to the sun.

Xu Nan nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"Beautiful! The most beautiful woman in the Nine Netherworlds!"

Wu Qiyue's ears turned visibly red. She pounced on Xu Nanyi and rubbed against her arm a couple of times, but said, "Then I'll still be second. Yi is the number one beauty."

Xu Nanyi was about to say something modest when she caught a glimpse of her left side—

Xu Yuan lay on her side on the soft couch, one hand supporting her chin, winking at her.

He even coughed softly.

Xu Nanyi instantly understood: "The most beautiful demon in the demon realm!"

Xu Yuan smiled contentedly.

Then Xu Nanyi felt another gaze, a strange one, coming from the right.

Shen Jiuyuan sat on the other side, holding a teacup, his face expressionless, but his eyes clearly said—hmm?

Xu Yuan rolled her eyes at him. What a copycat.

Just as Xu Nanyi was about to speak, her ear suddenly tickled – it was Shen Xizhou on her shoulder, the little dragon was brushing her earlobe with the tip of its tail.

Okay. I want them all.

Xu Nanyi took a deep breath and spoke rapidly: "Father is the most handsome man in the Demon Realm, Xiaozhou is the most beautiful dragon in the Monster Realm, and Little Stone is the most beautiful monster in the world!"

I finished speaking in one breath, feeling a great weight lifted off my shoulders.

Everyone praised it; it was impartial and perfect.

Shen Jiuyuan paused in his tea-serving hand, glancing at Shen Xizhou, who had also been praised.

The little dragon was holding its head high with an air of arrogance.

The father and son locked eyes for a moment, and that subtle competitive spirit of seeing a replica of themselves resurfaced.

Little Stone stood in the corner, clutching his dusty sleeves, his round eyes shining brightly.

Lord You actually hasn't forgotten him.

His true form is a stone.

When Xu Nanyi found out, she immediately gave the four of them a group name—Demons, Monsters, and Ghosts.

Wu Qiyue is a ghost, Xiao Shitou is a monster, Shen Xizhou is a demonic dragon, and most of her bloodline is demonic.

On the platform below, the merman woman had already taken her place.

Her voice was clear and melodious, with the characteristic watery tone of the merfolk, echoing throughout the hall.

"Fellow Daoists, the 317th Canglan Pavilion Sea Abyss Auction is here!"

She raised her hand, and the curtain behind her slowly rose, revealing the first item up for auction.

"Let's begin."

Xu Nanyi lay on the crystal wall, her eyes fixed on the tray enveloped in spiritual light. The bells fell silent, and even Shen Xizhou craned his neck.

The first nine lots were unremarkable.

Three thousand-year-old seaweeds, a piece of unrefined deep-sea black iron, a few fifth or sixth-grade spiritual artifacts... Xu Nanyi lost interest after reading the beginning, after all, it was far inferior to what was in the Demon Emperor's treasure vault.

She shrank back onto the soft couch and shared a plate of spiritual fruit with Wu Qiyue.

Shen Jiuyuan kept his eyes fixed on the scene, while Xu Yuan fiddled with the withered phoenix tail orchid in her hair, without urging him on.

The truly good stuff comes later.

"The tenth lot—"

When the mermaid woman's voice rang out again, the curtain behind her was lifted, and a long whip with a cold, eerie blue light floated silently above the spiritual energy tray.

The whip's body meanders like a snake's skeleton, each segment of its bone spikes radiating a chilling icy blue. The whip's tail splits into three strands, each tip adorned with a deep-sea ice pearl, emitting an extremely faint hum when suspended.

"This whip is called 'Shattering Ice'. It was forged by melting and refining the entire spine of a dragon for 49 days. It contains the essence of millennia-old mysterious ice and the water of a deep sea cold pool. It has dual attributes of ice and water and is a high-grade eighth-rank whip."

The merman woman raised her hand and flicked her fingertips, causing the whip to unfurl on its own, drawing an arc in the air, with chilling air seeping in from outside the crystal wall.

"Starting bid: 10,000 top-grade spirit stones; each bid must be at least 5,000 higher."

A few signs were scattered around the lobby below.

An eighth-grade spiritual weapon is considered a treasured possession of elders in various sects outside, but at this auction, who among those present isn't aiming for the grand finale? They need to be careful with their spirit stones.

"Fifteen thousand."

"Twenty thousand."

Thirty-five thousand.

Xu Nanyi lay on the crystal wall counting heads, tugging at Wu Qiyue's sleeve and whispering, "This is for Xiaozhou, right? It has both ice and water attributes—"

The little black dragon on his shoulder suddenly curled its tail, and its whole body straightened up.

Wu Qiyue peeked over, then shrank back to munching on the fruit. As a ghost cultivator, she had no particular attachment to weapons.

Prices are slowly climbing.

Sixty thousand. Seventy thousand. Eighty thousand.

The number of bidders dwindled from a dozen to five, then to three. Most people were indeed conserving their resources.

Ninety thousand.

"Room No. 2 in the 'Heaven' section - 110,000."

I added 20,000 in one go.

There was a moment of silence. The remaining two bidders exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

"110,000 top-grade spirit stones, room number two in the Heavenly tier, anyone else bidding?"

The mermaid woman waited for three breaths.

"make a deal."