"Yes, Sovereign Lord." The yellow-bearded man named Tai Peng immediately produced a ring and handed it to the gray-robed man.
The gray-robed man sighed, but did not take the ring. He simply said in a calm voice, "Take a look at the ring yourself."
Tai Peng immediately sent his divine sense into the ring, and his face turned pale, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. For a Sixth Step powerhouse to sweat in fear meant he knew his fate would be grim.
The atmosphere in the grand hall grew oppressively strange. After more than ten breaths, Tai Peng finally managed to steady his voice. "Sovereign Lord, I did not touch anything inside. I..."
Tai Peng was already prepared to have his Dao forcibly stripped and perish. He understood all too well how terrifying this Sovereign Lord before him was. Yet if there was even a sliver of hope, he would rather self-destruct than have his Dao forcibly torn away.
He knew Ezra Hu all too well. Since coming to the Grand Way Path star domain, countless powerhouses had died by his hand. Any reason could become an excuse for Ezra Hu to kill.
Originally, the controller of the Starhaven City auction was not Ezra Hu. It was only after Ezra Hu lost to another powerhouse over the price of a top-tier material during an auction that things changed.
Enraged, Ezra Hu killed the rival who had outbid him right there at the auction, then opened the man's world and took everything inside.
You think that was the end of it? Far from it. The auction house intervened to stop the incident—after all, causing trouble at someone else's auction is bound to be opposed.
But after Ezra Hu killed the rival, he challenged the entire auction house. Eventually, he seized control and became the sole overlord of the Starhaven City auction.
Tyler Peng knew the origin of that Vast Iron Crystal just as clearly—it belonged to a late Sixth Step powerhouse. That cultivator had possessed the crystal for ages, but somehow, word of it leaked out, and Ezra Hu killed him outright to seize it.
When Ezra Hu first arrived in Starhaven City, he was only at the early Sixth Step. Now, he has reached the Sixth Step's peak and stands as one of the city's three Saintmasters. His rise is owed to ruthless plundering and the spoils gained from the auctions.
Truthfully, if Ezra Hu wanted to enter the Ascendant Gate, he could have done so long ago. For reasons unknown, he has remained here, never crossing into the Ascendant Gate.
Ezra Hu's tone remained calm. "Describe what happened at the time."
"Yes..." Tyler Peng replied respectfully. "Once I confirmed everything in the ring was intact, I immediately stored it in my own world. After that, I never checked it again with my divine sense."
Normally, even if someone stored a ring in their world, within a few breaths it would be handed over to Ezra Hu—and they would still sweep it with their divine sense.
But Tyler Peng was confident he hadn't made a mistake; everything in the ring was accounted for. More importantly, he feared Ezra Hu deeply. He knew that even a trace of divine sense left in the ring could enrage Ezra Hu.
"Sigh, you're useless..." Ezra Hu let out a breath, then brought his palm down.
With that slap, the space around them solidified, and the rules shifted in an instant.
Almost simultaneously, Tyler Peng activated a talisman within his sea of consciousness. Black mist erupted around him, and in the next instant, a crack split the hall's space—Tyler Peng vanished without a trace.