“Take whatever catches your eye, it’s on me.” Lu Yun grinned broadly after taking a look at Li Zhen’s expression. He wouldn’t treat his little fan any less.
“No need, just the ghost-headed blade is enough.” Li Zhen shook his head and caressed his weapon.
“Can I, can I choose a few items?” sounded a bashful voice by Lu Yun’s ears. A blushing Qing Ting appeared next to him, rather embarrassed by her request.
Lu Yun blinked, unable to reconcile the young girl in front of him with the one who’d ferociously faced down the ghost king outside the city.
“Of course!” Lu Yun nodded. “And Li Zhen, go find yourself a set of king grade armor. Sooner or later, your way of fighting like a madman is going to get you killed.”
“My master says that we cultivators should forge bravely forward and be straightforward without compromise. We should not leave any avenue of retreat for ourselves—”
Lu Yun kicked him away before he could finish.
“Your master’s dead, isn’t he?” He rolled his eyes.
“Yes.” Li Zhen’s expression dimmed. If his master still walked the world, Li Quan would’ve never dared openly take his blade.
“What’s the use of forging bravely forward when you’re dead? Things matter only when you’re alive. Eh forget it, what’s the point of saying all this to you? You’re not my son.” Lu Yun casually stuffed another king grade Detonation Talisman into his bag.
The talisman was valued at three hundred thousand premium purple crystals—not a high price since it was a consumable. In the Immortal Pagoda, this kind of talisman was priced at six hundred thousand crystals.
Out of all supplemental items, the great formations were the most expensive. When it came to king grade formations, their prices were listed in terms of crystal veins.
Qing Ting cheered happily and started rifling through the wares. The Azureclad Duke brooded when he saw his sister’s reaction. He asked with a blank look, “Did I commit a mistake in telling my sister to keep an eye on that Champion Duke?”
“Tell Qing Ting to come back, I’ll keep him under surveillance,” giggled the Crimsonclad Duke. “The Champion Duke is young, rich, and generous. He’s all that I could wish for.”
“Forget it, let it be. The lass can do whatever she wants,” Azureclad responded dejectedly. “Is the Immortal King a fool? Didn’t the Trueriver Sect just lose one of their territories? He compensated them with nine thousand premium crystal veins. It’s like he’s afraid the realm doesn’t know he has money.”
“The Immortal King isn’t a fool, but the Haotian Tower is. Everyone knows that it’s the Supplemental Dao Alliance behind them. With the relaxation of the monopoly over supplemental dao, everyone floods into Haotian Tower for bargains. However, credit for the situation is attributed to the Immortal Pagoda,” Crimsonclad sighed with emotion. “Without the Immortal Pagoda or the Immortal King, those greedy supplemental kings of the alliance would never give up their monopoly. The Immortal King truly is a great strategist who doesn’t bother with trivial matters.”
“I will meet him one day and see if he’s really got three heads and six arms,” Azureclad harrumphed.
“You?” Crimsonclad burst out laughing. “With his emotion formation, you won’t even get close to him. You’ll have to reach the heights of Hua Fengwen from a hundred thousand years ago if you want to challenge him—ascend to titled kinghood as a sixth step king.
“But, there’s already two sixth step kings hanging outside the pagoda doors.”
“Hmph!” snorted Azureclad. “They say that the Immortal King has some connection with the Ten Valleys of Evil. I wonder if that’s true.”
“The ten valleys? That’s not something the likes of you and I can touch. That includes the legendary Immortal Region, ancestral dragon nest at Dragonhollow Mountain, and the internal affairs of the Enforcer Alliance.” Crimsonclad shook her head, after which a bit of hope flashed across her stunning features. “If we become seventh step kings when we ascend to kinghood, we might catch their eye and be invited to join them.”
“Join them? That means you’ll have to bend your knee to another.” Azureclad curled his lip.
“Holding strong to that pride will mean you’ll never see the true Hongmeng. You can make titled kinghood now, but continue to accumulate your strength. Don’t you do so out of similar ambitions to see the real world?” Confidence gleamed in Crimsonclad’s eyes. “Hua Fengwen? He is indeed a genius, but I believe I can surpass him.”
She looked at Lu Yun. If she could obtain that sword and strengthen her foundation, it would increase her chances of ascending as a high level king.
“That sword is mine,” snorted Azureclad.
“You better watch your sister instead. She might run off with the Champion Duke,” Crimsonclad grinned merrily.
“My sister is no fool.” However, Azureclad’s jaw dropped when he looked at Qing Ting again.
A dazzling array of items hung on her body, an exquisite visual feast of a dozen pieces of jewelry, hairpins, jade pendants, and other strange oddities. With his level of strength, he could naturally tell that these items were all king grade defensive treasures!
Their total sum easily exceeded a few billion purple crystals!
Qing Ting had also changed out of her long azure robes at some point and put on a king grade silk dress. Just that dress alone was worth more than ten billion premium purple crystals—one tenth of a purple crystal vein!
“Uh, if this continues… I’d be too embarrassed to take his sword…” Azureclad gaped.
“Flashy new money!” Crimsonclad identified woodenly. “I definitely can’t keep him under watch! I’d be too embarrassed to rob him if he buys me so many treasures as well… but I really want to go!”
Though she was an important figure, she was unwilling to spend ten billion crystals to purchase a beautiful king grade dress.
Indeed, beautiful! As strong as the defensive treasure was, its beautiful lines were what mattered most to female cultivators.
Though Crimsonclad and Azureclad coveted Lu Yun’s Stellar Sword, they were people of principle. It wouldn’t be right to attack Lu Yun after receiving presents from him.
At least, their dao hearts wouldn’t be able to stand up to it.
“No matter, no matter, that’s my sister and not me! It’s my sister who’s accepted his gifts, not me. Not me!” Azureclad recited in monotone. “Wait a second, Qing Ting, what are you doing?!”
He jumped straight up when he saw the evil Champion Duke pick up a king grade flying sword—one of the highest in its category—and shove it into Qing Ting’s arms.
Grinning delightedly, she immediately refined it with her nascent spirit. That sword was worth at least twenty billion purple crystals!
Azureclad felt the world spin around him.
“Eh? Brother, what are you doing here?” Happily refining her new sword, Qing Ting quickly shoved it behind her when she noticed the duke’s arrival. The items she was wearing, however, weren’t so easily concealed.
Azureclad glowered ominously.
“Champion Duke, I want to duel you!” he roared at Lu Yun, feeling like his sister might truly run off with this kid.
