Death… And Me

Agis didn't seem to mind as he said.

"It's fine. We can simply use the Dimensional Realm to leave this place, can't we? As long as we have this card, nothing can hold us back."

Rean shook his head, replying.

"I'm not worried about that, but the fact that we might not be able to sell more things here. Maybe they won't even give us the Spirit Stones from my weapons."

Frandin couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, they might be telling the truth about the rule of not leaving till the very end. After all, we never really checked the auction's practices. I'm sure you've noticed that not even a single Zasfin has left the auction house so far, nor did those human slaves."

Agis and Rean nodded.

"Well, that's true. It might be just because they want to watch till the end too. Anyway, let's wait and see. They should send us the Spirit Stones any moment now."

Sure enough, they were right. They heard knocks coming from their door a minute later before the Zasfin guy from before entered.

"Thank you for waiting, esteemed customers. Please, check the Spirit Stones."

Frandin nodded and quickly sent his Spiritual Sense inside the bag of Spirit Stones. After making sure that the amount was correct, he smiled at the auction employee with a satisfied expression.

"Very good. You already discounted your part and the price of the items I bought. The numbers are correct."

The Zasfin guy nodded, replying.

"Very well. The auction should be over soon when the fight for the last item is done. With that, I shall take my leave."

The employee left right after without causing any problems. Seeing that, Rean couldn't help but say.

"Well, perhaps I was only imagining things."

Frandin and Agis agreed with him.

The arguments between the city's powers for the Spatial Bracelet got even more heated as the auction continued. Seeing that they weren't getting anywhere, two of the powers decided to ally up, putting their Rank Four Spirit Stones together. Once they acquired the Bracelet, they could reach an agreement between themselves. 

In the end, the Spatial Bracelet was sold for 6500 Rank Four Spirit Stones, which was a ridiculously high price. Unlike the exchange rate between Rank Two and Three Stones, the rate between Rank Three and Four Stones was much higher. First of all, almost no one would ever exchange their Rank Four Spirit Stones to start with. Obviously, Rank Four Spirit Stones were even more important here than they were back in Sunkan Planet.

"Congratulations to the Lamal and Asume Clans for your victory. The Bracelet will be handed to the two of you in a moment."

The host then looked in everyone's direction before saying.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming to today's auction. With this last item, the auction is now over. You may now leave as you see fit."

Rean's group sighed in relief and immediately packed their things. Following that, they stepped out of their room and made their way out through a hidden passage. After all, the chambers were supposed to keep everyone's identity hidden as long as they didn't want to show themselves to others.

However, as soon as they reached the exit, a strong Spiritual Energy Pressure came from above, pressing them against the ground. Naturally, that took Rean's group by surprise. Rean's group then did their best to look above, just to see a man floating there with a dark expression.

"So, it seems these are the odd ones this time around?"

He came down from the skies and stopped right in front of Rean's group. Rean could have used his connection with the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm to leave straight away. However, it didn't seem like that guy planned to attack. That being said, he decided to wait and said the same thing to Frandin and Agis. He wanted to know why this guy came for them.

Frandin then did his best to talk.

"What is.. ha... penning?"

The man got close to him as he looked at Frandin with his Soul Power.

"As I thought, a Rank Five Bloodline Mark. The first time you came to this auction house, you showed a Rank Two Bloodline Mark. How come you've got a Rank Five Bloodline Mark now? Unless you went through a trial, there's no way such a thing is possible. You're the one who invaded our Trial Grounds and destroyed the Soul Altar, right?"

Rean's group was taken aback. Indeed. The first time they came to the auction house, Frandin had a Rank Two Bloodline Soul Mark. However, they didn't show his bloodline mark once they arrived in the auction house this time. How did they know it changed? 

"I see... it's not like you knew it was me, but that my presence was odd. I'm not someone from here, but I still brought out so many high-quality pieces of equipment. This is the Imperial Auction House, and the Bloodline Trials are guarded by the Imperial Guards. It isn't strange that you got ahold of information of me."

The man was surprised to hear that. Indeed, that was how they found Frandin and his humans.

"Smart. However, that won't help you. Tell me, who are you? Also, how the hell did you pass through our defenses and formations to enter the Bloodline Trial? Not only did you enter and did the Trial, but you also left without anyone noticing."

Frandin smirked in response, saying.

"How about you answer my question first? Who are you? I don't talk with just anyone."

*bang!*

The man kicked Frandin, slamming him against the wall.

"You better be careful about how you talk, idiot. Even if you came from a Celestial Land, it wouldn't help you. Well, it's not like it's a problem to tell you my name. You can call me Firmel, the leader of the Imperial Guardians in this Bloodline Trial Ground. Also, a descendant of the Imperial Household."

Rean found something was off from the very start.

'Imperial Household? That makes no sense. Aren't the Imperial Family Descendants Rank Seven Bloodline Mark owners at the very least? How come he's only a Rank Five Bloodline Mark owner?'

However, Rean decided to ignore that for now. Instead, he paid attention to Firmel's cultivation, as well as another thing.

Soul Transformation Realm. Rean was absolutely sure that this was the Imperial Guardian's level. It definitely wasn't something they could deal with. However, he didn't need to. He only wanted to understand how they were discovered, and he got the answer to that.