Jiang Tianfang was momentarily surprised when he heard Shun Long's words, before he followed his line of sight soon after, as his gaze landed on the patriarch of the Murong family barely a moment later.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and said solemnly

''Nephew Shun, you should be careful then. I will be waiting for you in the Northern Sovereign's city.''

Of course, Jiang Tianfang didn't know what Shun Long wanted to do with Murong Tian in the first place. Even in his wildest dreams, the idea of Shun Long dealing with a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor didn't even pass through his mind.

At most, Jiang Tianfang thought that Shun Long may have needed Murong Tian's help, or that his target was someone from the Murong family.

At the same time that Jiang Tianfang left Shun Long's private room, Murong Tian handed over the 3.4 million high-grade spirit stones to the experts of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' before he received the purple-colored earth flame and placed it inside his spatial ring.

Although earth flames were rare and unique treasures, they were still inanimate objects and could be stored inside spatial rings just like any regular treasure.

The only reason why the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' had a powerful Dao Emperor openly suppress the earth flame instead of putting it inside a spatial ring, was simply to let the experts present take a look at the earth flame itself.

The experts inside the private rooms were all about to leave now that the auction had finally ended, when suddenly, a deep, hoarse voice resounded from one of the private rooms, immediately attracting their attention.

''Patriarch Murong, can we have a talk?''

Whether it was the white-robed, silver-haired woman from the 'White ice city', Zhuan Jie from the 'Black mist valley', senior Xiao from 'Lord Zhu's garden' or even the 7th general from the Northern Sovereign's army, Zi Hu, the 4 Sovereign realm experts all halted their steps as they turned their attention towards Shun Long's private room soon after.

In the eyes of these 4 experts, the black-robed person inside that private room was a complete mystery.

He was someone that none of them could see through as he had completely concealed his own cultivation base, and yet such a person had come to participate in the auction without even trying to bid for the earth flame once.

This was why after they heard Shun Long suddenly addressing Murong Tian, the 4 Sovereign realm experts were all surprised.

Of course, it wasn't just these 4 Sovereign realm experts who were surprised, as Murong Tian himself was also stunned as he stared at the silhouette of the mysterious black-robed person inside that private room.

Naturally, as the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Tian wouldn't just meet with everyone who asked to meet him. However, Sovereign realm experts were a different matter, and Murong Tian understood this as well.

Murong Tian knew that this was even more so for the black-robed person who had just spoken to him.

After all, Murong Tian himself was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor who was only a step away from breaking through to the Sovereign realm.

In fact, if he wanted to, he could even attempt to breakthrough to the Sovereign realm at any time.

The only reason he had yet to begin his breakthrough, was because he was still waiting until he was fully confident that he would succeed.

With his current level of strength, Murong Tian was confident that even most early-stage Sovereign realm experts like Zi Hu couldn't fully hide their cultivation bases from him, unless they were training in an immortal-grade cultivation technique that allowed them to perfectly hide their strength from others.

Thus, in Murong Tian's eyes, Shun Long was either someone who was training in such an immortal-grade cultivation technique, or he was a middle-stage Sovereign!

Regardless of whether this black-robed person was a middle-stage Sovereign realm expert or not, Murong Tian knew that his Murong family couldn't afford to ignore him,

After a moment of silence, Murong Tian cupped his hands at Shun Long and said in a calm manner

''Fellow daoist, since you wish to talk with me, how can I possibly refuse? Why don't you follow me back to the Murong estate? I will gladly hold a banquet for you so we can become better acquainted with each other!''

Contrary to Murong Tian's expectations however, Shun Long merely shook his head and rejected this suggestion before he answered

''There is no need. I won't stay for too long in the city, so there is no need for a banquet. Let's just go to a random restaurant instead. You can choose the place.''

Shun Long hoarse voice was filled with calmness as he stared at Murong Tian.

Indeed, the moment that Shun Long rejected his offer to go to the Murong estate to hold a banquet, Murong Tian's eyes narrowed without saying anything.

After all, the main reason why Murong Tian had suggested for them to go to the Murong estate, was because of how safe that place was.

Even if Shun Long was a middle-stage Sovereign, he wouldn't be able to leave the Murong estate completely unharmed if anything happened.

After all, the Murong estate was the place where the old ancestor of the Murong family and the other experts of the family cultivated.

The moment that Shun Long rejected his offer, Murong Tian was about to shake his head and return back to the Murong estate, but after he heard the second part of Shun Long's sentence, the patriarch of the Murong family fell silent before he responded a few moments later

''In that case, let's go to the 'Burning noble restaurant'.''

-

Author's note: 1

/5 (4 more chapters will be ready in the next 26 hours to make up for the missing few chapters the last couple of days, while on Christmas we are having a mass release of 10 chapters as well.)