Shun Long didn't decline and allowed the young woman in front of him to lead him to the fifth floor.

A few moments later, Shun Long noticed, that the fifth floor of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' only comprised of the auction venue itself.

More than half of the normal seats below were already occupied, while experts were still arriving in droves.

''Esteemed guest, this way please.'' The young woman smiled and gestured for Shun Long to follow her, as she walked past a certain corridor that 2 golden-armored guards were guarding and headed towards one of the private rooms there.

The white-robed young woman stopped in front of the entrance of a certain room a few moments later, and bowed towards Shun Long before she continued

''Esteemed guest, you can go ahead. I will be right here if you need anything, so don't hesitate to call me.''

Shun Long nodded and thanked the young woman for leading the way, before he took a few steps forward and entered the room.

As expected, the quality of the private room itself wasn't any inferior to the 'Intelligence room' where Shun Long had met Liao Huo.

A luxurious couch and a jade-white table were placed at the center of the room, facing the main stage of the auction venue, as well as the people who were seated in the normal seats down below.

With just a glance, Shun Long could also see the rest of the private rooms around him, but he couldn't make out the appearance of any of the people present in those rooms and could only see their silhouettes instead.

Clearly, there was some sort of formation set up by the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' within every private room, as it obscured the appearance of the people inside.

Naturally, this was done by the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' to let everyone bid freely, without the need to feel afraid that their identity would be exposed and that they would end up offending someone during the auction.

However, just as Shun Long was about to sit on the couch and wait for the auction to begin, a dozen different soul senses suddenly entered his room and swept past his body, before they moved towards the rest of the private rooms a few moments later.

Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he sensed this but his body didn't seem to have the slightest bit of reaction to it, as he calmly seated himself on the couch a few moments later and took out a wooden barrel of wine from his herb garden, placing it on the jade-white table in front of him.

At the same time, inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', a dangerous glint flashed inside Little Black's deep azure eyes when he sensed this sudden intrusion in Shun Long's room, before the black dragon's serious voice resounded in Shun Long's mind a moment later

''Master, it seems that this 'White tiger chamber of commerce' has managed to attract quite a few people. There are at least a dozen late-stage Dao Emperors, as well as 4 Sovereign realm cultivators present in this place.''

4 Sovereign realm experts!

If the people inside Murong city knew that there were 4 Sovereign realm experts who had come to the auction of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' today, they would be sitting on pins and needles.

Even the Murong family, the overlord of Murong city only had 2 Sovereign realm experts backing them and they could do whatever they wanted in the city.

It was almost certain that if those 4 Sovereign realm experts started fighting, the entire Murong city would be razed to the ground!

And yet, Shun Long wasn't too surprised when he heard this.

After all, even Sovereign realm experts would want to get their hands on any earth flames that appeared, and this was even more so for the rarer earth flames with special attributes.

Although most people didn't know about this matter, Shun Long was perfectly aware that each earth flame was unique and had its own properties. Some earth flames purely had the element of fire inside them, but there were earth flames with the element of wind, the element of lightning, and even the element of ice, along with many other elements.

There were even some earth flames who focused on the special attributes of a person's soul.

When an expert absorbed an earth flame, they would then have the chance to gain insights on the element inside the earth flame, increasing their strength even further!

This was why, more often than not, even experts who weren't alchemists or formation masters would do everything they could to get their hands on an earth flame!

-

At the same time that Shun Long sat down on the couch and started to drink some of his wine while completely ignoring what was going on in the rooms around him, in one of the private rooms that was just a few meters away from his own, a silver-haired middle-aged woman in white robes narrowed her eyes as she mumbled to herself in a curious voice

''Who is this person? Someone that even I can't see through their cultivation base...? Don't tell me that it's a middle-stage Sovereign? But the people from the 'Northern Sovereign's city', the 'Black mist valley', and 'Lord Zhu's garden' are already here and none of their middle-stage Sovereigns have come to Murong city! It's not the old ancestor of the Murong family either...

Perhaps this person belongs to another power that's not from the northern part of the central region...''

The 3 white-robed women who were standing next to the silver-haired middle-aged woman all had looks of shock on their faces when they heard this, before one of them asked

''Master, didn't the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' tell us that there were only 4 Sovereign realm experts who had come to Murong city, including master herself? How come there is another one now?''

After a moment of silence, the silver-haired middle-aged woman shook her head and answered in a calm manner

''Perhaps this person hid himself too well, or he has a special relationship with the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' which is why they kept this a secret. Regardless, it doesn't matter who he is. The only thing that matters is who will get their hands on the earth flame in the end.''

The 3 white-robed women nodded without saying anything else, as they all turned their attention to the main stage of the auction venue as they waited for the auction to start.

Finally, a little more than an hour later, the seats in the audience below, as well as the private rooms up above, were all filled to the brim with people, before a beautiful young woman in yellow robes finally appeared on the main stage of the auction venue, causing the entire crowd to immediately fall silent.