“A hundred premium crystal veins?? That expensive?!” The city erupted at Lu Yun’s words.
A hundred premium crystal veins was indeed too expensive… ridiculously so!
The group of kings looked askance at each other, not understanding what the Champion Duke wanted to do.
“Thank goodness we killed quite a few ghost kings during this time and earned a lot of premium crystal veins from the Immortal Pagoda. We should be able to afford an identity token,” some kings thought with relief, but didn’t say anything out loud. Kings were forbidden to take action in Dragonsea City—they would suffer severe consequences.
……
“You think it’s too expensive? That’s fine, this is an auction. I’m not forcing you to buy them,” Lu Yun responded, unconcerned. “I now give you one hour to prepare the crystal veins. I only want crystal veins or their equivalent in purple crystals. Nothing else will be accepted.
“Only one token will be up for sale at any given time, and each auction will last for only ten breaths. Whoever is the highest bidder after ten breaths will win the token. If there is no one bidding after ten breaths, then it will be considered a failed auction and the identity token will be destroyed on the spot.”
His explanation sent shudders of dread through the cultivators present before they left without another word. As expensive as a hundred premium crystal veins were, it was still feasible given their background. However, there were more than ten thousand cultivators in Dragonsea City and only three thousand tokens.
“Aren’t you… aren’t you afraid of being mobbed by the entire city?” Azureclad and Crimsonclad asked with bewilderment.
“They’re a bunch of losers that we already beat, so who cares about them?” Qing Ting snorted. “If they dare do anything, Champion Duke and I will just rob them again!”
She looked at her brother as she spoke. She’d beaten him more than once in broad daylight and taken all of his treasures. When Qing Ting and Lu Yun’s identities were first revealed, the city’s cultivators had initially vented their fury on Azureclad and the others.
But when they saw that he and his friends were treated the same by the Robber Couple, their fury turned to pity. He would’ve been beaten to death by the crowds otherwise.
Lu Yun shrugged and said nothing.
“Then, our identity tokens… can we…” Azureclad asked hesitantly.
“Don’t worry, I won’t make you guys pay, but I also can’t give them to you right now. If I do, someone will definitely beat you to death as soon as you leave or at the very least, rob you.” Lu Yun compressed his lips while Azureclad smiled ruefully.
He finally understood the gap between him, the Champion Duke, and Qing Ting. The two had dared to rob all ten thousand cultivators of Dragonsea City and beaten them so thoroughly that their victims quailed with fear, unwilling to even think of resistance.
And now, they were openly auctioning off the identity tokens they’d taken!
This wasn’t just boldness of execution from supreme skill, but boldness of execution from Hongmeng-level skill!
“Cousin… cousins! What about me?” weakly called out Qing Di from the city gates.
“You?” Qing Ting snorted and didn’t answer.
The cultivators that’d left had gathered their crystal veins, but they didn’t dare come close. Qing Ting and the Champion Duke were invincible as long as the kings stayed away. The cultivators were afraid that they’d be robbed again.
“Champion Duke and the little princess of Coiling Dragon City… we’ve collected the purple crystal veins, but you won’t rob us again, will you?” someone asked. He was hiding in his sect’s stronghold and didn’t dare show himself.
“The time for robbery is over, it is now the time of auction,” Lu Yun declared. “Feel free to come. Qing Ting and I won’t be attacking any further.”
“Really?” Some skepticism remained.
“Who do you think I, the Champion Duke, am? Not only do I represent Coiling Dragon City, but I also represent the Trueriver Sect and Immortal Pagoda. How could I possibly go back on my word?” Lu Yun snorted with laughter. “Qing Ting is the little princess of Coiling Dragon City—do you not trust her?”
Relief overcame the others in the city when they heard his words. They could be skeptical of Coiling Dragon City and the Trueriver Sect, but they would never be skeptical of the Immortal Pagoda!
The pagoda had thoroughly won the realm over after setting a bounty for ghost crystals. No scandal had ever appeared in this matter, and the rate of exchange had never differed.
Though many felt that the Immortal Pagoda was filled with fools that possessed more money than brains, it couldn’t be denied that their sterling reputation had been made on the basis of this bounty.
“One hour is up, we begin the auction now!” Lu Yun took out the first identity token.
“One thousand premium crystal veins!” came a clear call. A young man roughly sixteen years old with red lips and white teeth squeezed through the crowd.
“One thousand premium crystal veins?!” Cultivators choked on their own spit. This wasn’t how auctions were conducted!
The young man was the disguised Dragon Butterfly.
“It’s yours.” Lu Yun tossed the identity token to the young man while he took out a storage ring in return. There were one thousand premium crystal veins inside.
Though the Redbud King had gifted all of the minor crystal veins in Redbud Mountain to Lu Yun, Dragon Butterfly still held many in storage since she was the mountain’s big dragon.
Gazes so hot that they almost spat fire centered upon Dragon Butterfly upon seeing this upstart spend one thousand premium crystal veins to purchase an identity token. It would already be insane if the tokens were bid up to two hundred crystal veins, but this random brat raised the price ten times over with the first auction!
“Champion Duke, look at how viciously everyone looks at me after I’ve bought one of your tokens… Shouldn’t you protect me?” Dragon Butterfly said piteously.
“Alright then.” Lu Yun nodded. “Stand over here. I’ll rip apart anyone who tries to take your token.”
His promise set off uncontrollable shaking in the crowd. The Champion Duke was never one for empty promises.
“Can we all receive your protection after we buy a token?” Unrest shuffled through the crowd. There was still most of the day left—those who purchased an identity token could very well be attacked by others.
“Yes.” Lu Yun nodded. “The second token!”
“One hundred and fifty premium crystal veins!”
“One hundred and eighty!”
“Two hundred!”
……
The Dragonsea city lord and others looked wordlessly at the auction. They’d expected to see a bloody struggle between the strongest of the younger generation, a struggle that would become more ghastly and harrowing the longer it dragged on. The city itself might even be dyed red…
But now, it was a farce because of those two strange characters!
“Though these two aren’t on par with Hua Fengwen of a hundred thousand years ago, they’re not that far off,” the city lord commented meaningfully. “It’s up to the fights on Dragonhollow Mountain to see if they can reach his heights.”
“Is Hua Fengwen that strong?” the little fox asked.
“Very,” nodded the city lord. “He slew a fifth step king before he became a titled king and successfully fled from a seventh step king. After he became a titled king, the first target he hunted down was the seventh step king who’d once pursued him.
“Do you think his title of the Eighth King is a joke? No! It means he is eighth in the Hongmeng, the eighth of the realm’s wondrous geniuses!
“He accomplished that feat without fortuitous encounters or heaven-sent luck.”
