Chapter 427: Chapter 427- The Auction House

The marketplace stank.

Not subtle—proper, throat-clenching stink. Blood mixed with sweat, piss soaking into dirt roads nobody bothered cleaning, and something rotting near a vendor stall Tianlong couldn’t quite place.

His nose wrinkled but he kept walking, boots crunching gravel underfoot while the morning sun beat down on his crimson robes.

Around him, the tribal zone sprawled like a living thing—chaotic, loud, alive in ways that made even the Ancient Realm’s other territories look organized. Stalls lined both sides of the wide street, each one crammed with goods that ranged from mundane to bizarre.

Dried meats hanging from hooks, their surfaces black with flies. Weapons forged from beast bones, still carrying traces of marrow. Fabrics dyed colors that hurt to look at.

And everywhere, ’everywhere’, women.

They dominated the scene completely. Tall warrior types with muscles that could crush skulls, shorter merchants with calculating eyes, even children running between stalls—all female.

They walked with purpose, with authority, with the casual confidence of people who’d never questioned their place at the top.

The men, though…

Tianlong’s golden eyes tracked one as they passed a side alley.

Naked from the waist up, collar around his throat, chains connecting to a post. Kneeling. A woman stood over him with a whip, leather strips already red with fresh blood. She brought it down across his back with a wet ’crack’, and he jerked, screaming.

“Count!” she barked.

“E-eighteen, Mistress!” His voice cracked.

Nobody stopped. Nobody even looked twice. Just another day in the market.

Tianlong felt Yuna press closer to his right side, her latex suit creaking softly. Her red hair brushed his arm as she leaned in, her cat ears flat against her skull.

“This is… normal here?” she whispered.

“Seems like it,” he said.

Ahead, another scene. A wooden platform raised above the crowd, maybe ten feet across. Three men in cages—proper cages, the kind you’d keep animals in—their bodies on display. All three were muscular, well-built, probably warriors before whatever led them here.

A woman in leather armor stood beside the cages, shouting prices.

“Fresh stock! Peak Bronze Body cultivation! Perfect for breeding or labor! Starting bid—”

One of the caged men reached through the bars, grabbing her ankle.

She didn’t even blink. Just pulled a dagger from her belt and slammed it through his hand, pinning it to the platform floor.

His scream cut through the market noise.

“Touch me again, I’ll take the whole fucking hand,” she said, twisting the blade before yanking it free. Blood pooled around the wound as he clutched it, sobbing.

The crowd barely reacted. A few laughs. Someone made a joke Tianlong couldn’t quite catch.

Yu Xiang walked on his left, her tight black dress drawing stares from every direction—not just because of how it clung to her curves, but because of ’how’ she walked. Confident. Unbothered. Like she owned the street and everyone on it.

Her violet eyes swept the marketplace with clinical interest, taking in details the same way someone might study insects.

“Efficient system,” she murmured. “Brutal, but efficient.”

“You sound impressed,” Sabrina growled from behind them.

Tianlong glanced back. The tiger-kin walked with her arms crossed, golden eyes narrowed, her tail swishing in clear agitation. Every few steps, her gaze would track another act of cruelty—another whip crack, another man bleeding—and her jaw would tighten.

“Not impressed,” Yu Xiang corrected without looking back. “Just observing. There’s a difference.”

Akane floated beside Tianlong’s left shoulder, her nine tails swaying lazily. She seemed the least bothered by everything, her fox ears perked with curiosity rather than concern.

“Husband,” she said, tilting her head, “this world really does reverse everything, doesn’t it? In the lower realms, men treated women like breeding stock. Here, women do the same to men.”

“Yeah.” Tianlong’s eyes tracked a young boy—maybe twelve—being dragged past by his hair. He wore nothing but a loincloth, his body already marked with old scars. “Different cage, same fucking concept.”

Sylvea walked on the outside of their group, her emerald eyes wide, her pale green skin somehow looking even paler. She’d been quiet since they entered the market, her hands clasped together so tight her knuckles were white.

She flinched when they passed a stall selling… ’parts’.

Jars filled with murky liquid. Floating inside—fingers, tongues, organs Tianlong couldn’t identify. All male, based on the vendor’s shouted advertisements.

“Fresh today! Alchemical materials! Penis still functional for potions—”

Sylvea made a small gagging sound.

Tianlong kept walking.

The street widened ahead, opening into a circular plaza. At its center stood a fountain—water cascading down tiers of black stone carved to resemble screaming male faces. Nice touch. Really set the mood.

Beyond the fountain, dominating the entire plaza, rose the auction house.

Massive. Four stories tall, maybe five. Built from dark red stone that looked almost like dried blood under the sunlight. Pillars wider than Tianlong’s torso supported the entrance, each one carved with scenes of women conquering, subduing, breeding males of every species imaginable.

Windows lined the upper floors, but they were tinted—impossible to see inside from out here.

And the doors. Twin slabs of reinforced metal, each one easily twelve feet tall, covered in script formations that hummed with power. Security measures. Serious ones.

A steady flow of people moved in and out. Mostly women, some leading chained men, others empty-handed but carrying the kind of money pouches that meant business.

As Tianlong’s group approached, the crowd parted.

Not dramatically. Not like they were afraid. Just… ’noticed’. Eyes tracked them, conversations paused mid-sentence, heads turned.

Because they looked wrong.

Five women—Akane, Yu Xiang, Yuna, Sylvea, Sabrina—all following ’behind’ one man. Walking in his shadow. Deferring to him.

That didn’t happen here. Ever.

A few pointed. Whispered to their companions.

“Are those immortals?”

“—nobility from the inner circles?”

“Why aren’t they in a carriage?”

“Foreign delegation, maybe? Those outer-realm types are weird—”

Tianlong ignored it all. His attention had shifted inward, his divine sense unfurling like an invisible wave, sweeping across the entire district in an instant.

Hundreds of presences registered immediately. Most were weak—Bronze and Silver Body cultivators, barely worth noting. A handful of Gold and Platinum scattered through the crowds. Diamond Body cultivators in the auction house itself, concentrated on the upper floors.

And then…

’There.’

Third floor. Private chamber. A presence that made his instincts prickle.

Not stronger than him—nothing here was—but ’refined’. Dense. The kind of cultivation that came from centuries of careful advancement, not brute force breakthroughs.

Peak Diamond Body, maybe early Death Gate. Hard to tell with the formations masking the upper floors.

Female. Obviously.

And she was watching him. He could ’feel’ it, the way her attention locked onto him the moment his divine sense touched her aura.

A smile pulled at his lips.

’So you’re the one who sent the invitation.’

They reached the entrance.

Two guards stood flanking the doors—both women, both wearing identical leather armor that left their muscular arms and thighs exposed. One had short black hair, the other a blonde ponytail. Both carried spears that radiated faint qi signatures.

Gold Body cultivation. Decent for door guards.

The black-haired one stepped forward, raising her spear horizontally to bar the way.

“State your business,” she said flatly. No hostility, just procedure.

Tianlong stopped a few feet away, his hands clasped behind his back. He didn’t speak immediately, just looked at her—not intimidating, not aggressive, just ’looking’.

Her grip on the spear tightened slightly.

“I said—”

“I heard you.” His voice was calm. “I’m here for the auction.”

The blonde one’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t look like—”

A sound from above cut her off.

’Ting-ting-ting.’

A small bell, barely audible over the plaza’s ambient noise. But both guards went rigid immediately, their expressions shifting from professional wariness to something closer to shock.

The black-haired one lowered her spear so fast she nearly dropped it.

“My apologies!” she said quickly, stepping aside. “Please, this way. VIP entrance.”

The blonde guard was already moving, pushing open a smaller door set into the left wall—not the main entrance, but something separate, hidden unless you knew where to look.

Tianlong’s smile widened fractionally. “Lead the way.”

They entered.

The VIP corridor was a different world.

Where the main auction house likely led to crowded halls and open bidding floors, this route took them down a narrow passage lined with smooth black stone. Lighting came from formations embedded in the walls—soft, ambient, designed not to blind.

No windows. No side doors. Just one path forward.

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