“I see… wait, tens of thousands of cities?!” Lu Yun shuddered.
There were at least several billion citizens in a regular minor Hongmeng city—the Enforcer Alliance had to have been thoroughly enraged to strip the dragon of its dao rule and gift it to the Firmament Pavilion!
“Are we buying it?” Qing Ting gently tugged the corner of Lu Yun’s shirt.
“We’re buying it.” Lu Yun nodded. “It’s a good sword that’s a rare match for you.”
“Yippee!” Though her goal wasn’t the Azuresky Sword, she was thoroughly entranced by the weapon when she took a proper look at it. “I don’t need you to pay this time, I got it!” she declared with gusto. “Hmm… my sword is nice too, it’s much better than Qing Yan’s current king grade flying sword. I’ll give it to him instead.”
Quietly observing off to the side, Azureclad’s expression darkened. “She’s paying for it? When did the lass get so many crystals? That’s a hundred premium crystal veins!”
He couldn’t believe what was playing out in front of him.
“But her current sword is indeed better than mine.” He stroked his chin.
“Your Grace,” Leng Che said quietly. “It’s still that kid paying for the items.”
“Eh?” Azureclad paused with confusion.
Heilin was likewise dumbfounded. These guests really were buying the Azuresky Sword! The little princess was already refining it.
“Why are there only ninety crystal veins here?” She was further surprised when she looked down.
“The treasures on this floor are mostly for show. You can’t really sell them, can you?” Lu Yun flashed a grin. “Our first and final offer is ninety crystal veins. If you accept, we can conclude the deal.”
Heilin agreed with a rueful smile. It was true, none of these items could find a ready buyer. A treasure that cost hundreds of premium crystal veins was useless to high level kings and unaffordable to low level ones. The Firmament Pavilion still came out solidly ahead with a discount of ten crystal veins.
Qing Ting cheered to see the transaction complete and quickly stored the sword she’d initially refined into her body.
“When did the little princess of House Qing become so rich?” Heilin put away ninety premium crystal veins with a smile. A treasure like the Azuresky Sword was indeed more decoration than anything else, on display to demonstrate the deep pockets of the Firmament Pavilion. They’d never thought to actually sell it—but of course, it would be most ideal if they could. As it were, no one in the pavilion had any use for the sword. Selling it meant earning several years of revenue in one go.
“Welcome, Azureclad Duke and Sir Leng Che!” Heilin happened to catch sight of a glowering Azureclad and rushed over in greeting.
“Go about your business, Leng Che and I are just going to have a look around.” Azureclad waved her off.
“But of course.” Noticing the foul mood he was in, Heilin had no desire to run afoul of the duke at this time.
……
Qing Ting tugged Lu Yun up to the thirty-second floor. There were also king grade treasures here, but they were the cream of the crop. Take Qing Ting’s new sword—it only had one dao rule within. The treasures here, however, contained six or even seven.
The more dao rules a king grade treasure encompassed, the stronger it was. Naturally, this was also how king grade treasures were ranked. Whether it was the Immortal Pagoda or Haotian Tower, the treasures they sold contained only one dao rule. Additionally, treasures with the same number of dao rules could be further categorized. The one in Qing Ting’s new sword was far superior to her previous sword both in terms of power and quality.
“That’s…” Lu Yun’s attention was immediately caught by something as soon as he set foot onto the thirty-second floor.
“How is this possible, why would something like this exist in the Hongmeng?!” Meditating in the Purple Stellar Mountain, Dragon Butterfly awoke with a start. When she looked closely at what was exhibited in the center of the thirty-second floor, she shrieked with disbelief.
“That’s what I want to buy!” Adoration filled Qing Ting’s eyes as she gazed upon a foggy purple bead. It was only the size of a fist and crystalline throughout, exuding wave upon wave of incredibly profound pulses.
An ultimate treasure of the Hongmeng!
One of these precious masterpieces was on the thirty-second floor of the Firmament Pavilion!
It was very different from any other treasure, as if it nurtured a complete world within.
“No, this isn’t a complete treasure of the Hongmeng. What a pity, it was only a step away from becoming an ultimate treasure. The world inside of it is just a seed instead of a finished result. This treasure wouldn’t be placed here otherwise.” Lu Yun sighed softly after a careful round of observations. What a shame.
Ultimate Hongmeng treasures were connate treasures nurtured by the realm’s great dao instead of being created by others. The Hongmeng great dao they contained within was boundless in its might. Even ninth step kings would fight for such a treasure if they saw it.
In Starspace Region, the Robber King had detonated an ultimate treasure to escape from Lu Yun’s king grade formation. Though it’d been only the lowest levels of ultimate treasures, it was still far superior to all king grade treasures.
“Is this what you want?” Lu Yun looked at the fist-sized purple bead in front of him and at Qing Ting.
“Yes!!” She nodded emphatically.
“It costs five thousand premium crystal veins,” he chuckled wryly.
“Can, can you lend me two thousand crystal veins? I’ll pay you back later!” Qing Ting proposed with unease.
“You’re borrowing two thousand crystal veins from him??” Azureclad could no longer hold it in when he heard the preposterous request. He flashed to their side in a fit of rage. “And how will you pay him back?? With yourself?!” He sneered frostily, “Champion Duke, is this your plan to own my sister when she can’t pay you back?!”
“Qing Yan!!” Qing Ting screeched.
“Shut up!” Azureclad whirled around with a roar. Qing Ting trembled and spoke no more. Though she regularly bickered with her brother, he’d never shown this much anger at her before. It petrified her with shock.
“The Azureclad Duke seems to have misunderstood something.” Lu Yun furrowed his brow slightly.
“Misunderstood?” Azureclad scoffed. “What I see is far from a misunderstanding! My sister is young and innocent—the excursion to Cloudexit City was her first journey outside of Coiling Dragon. I told her to keep an eye on you as a trial to temper her. Do you really think that I’d sell my sister for a sword?!
“Or do you think that sprinkling favors and offering presents will win my sister’s heart and permit you to marry into Coiling Dragon City?! You can take that ridiculous thought and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine!” Now that Azureclad looked at Lu Yun, he felt like he was looking upon a big bad wolf who specialized in seducing innocent girls. The little bastard’s shopping spree in Cloudexit had completely beguiled his sister!
“Marry into Coiling Dragon City?” A strange expression crossed Lu Yun’s face and he took a look at Qing Ting. The girl was so red that a painfully bright blush crept down to her neck.
“I already have a dao partner,” Lu Yun explained solemnly. “My intentions toward Qing Ting are… hmm, the same as yours toward the Crimsonclad Duke. We are friends forged through life and death, nothing more.”
“The same as me toward the Crimsonclad Duke?! You’re a debauched lecher alright!” Azureclad condemned.
“And you say you’re just friends with her,” Qing Ting muttered.
“Be quiet!” It was Azureclad’s turn to blush hotly and he glared at Lu Yun. “Speak! For what reason have you come to Coiling Dragon City?!”
“I want to participate in Dragonhollow Mountain’s Dragonling Assembly, but I’m not a citizen of Azure Dragon Region. Therefore, I’ve come to Coiling Dragon City to gain a spot,” Lu Yun said ruefully.
It was only natural that the Azureclad Duke be protective of his sister. Lu Yun was no naive child fresh on his first jaunt into society. He wouldn’t turn hostile toward the duke because of this attitude. Plus, he really did have a favor to ask.
“You can also see that my cultivation path is connected to the dragons. The Dragonling Assembly is very important to me.”
Dragonhollow Mountain’s azure dragon vein shook once every million years. The power of the azure dragon seeped out from that disturbance. As the ancestor of all dragons in the Hongmeng, the azure dragon’s power was very useful for the realm’s dragons, descendants, or cultivators practicing draconic combat arts.
However, one had to be younger than ten million years old to participate in the assembly.
Though there was no order of time in the Hongmeng, the Hongmeng qi that cultivators absorbed throughout their journey could be considered a degree of time. The accumulation of ten million years was enough to cause a qualitative change in their bodies—they wouldn’t be able to comprehend the azure dragon’s power after that.
It was incredibly difficult to participate in the Dragonling Assembly. There were multiple rounds of selection to pass and one’s strength had to be acknowledged by the mountain.
Citizens of Azure Dragon Region naturally possessed the proper qualifications, but cultivators in the outside world needed to be sponsored by certain Azure Dragon factions.
This grand assembly was one of the reasons why Azure Dragon Region was able to maintain its illustrious lineage of being in the top ten. Lu Yun wanted to enter not only to help Dragon Butterfly infiltrate the mountain, but to also see for himself what kind of power the azure dragon possessed.
“You want to participate in the Dragonling Assembly?” Azureclad blinked. “That’s why you’re scheming after my sister and want to marry into Coiling Dragon City?”
Lu Yun didn’t know whether he should roll his eyes or punch the guy.
