novelraw Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Even though he had expected it, Wang Yu’s breathing still grew heavy.
“How much is the asking price?”
Tower Master Qian did not reveal it directly but began to introduce instead.
“The Everlasting Vitality Treasure Branch is a tender sprout that fell from the legendary Ancient Tree of Life. For cultivators practicing wood-attribute techniques, it is an ultimate Core Formation treasure. With it, forming a core is almost guaranteed, with virtually no chance of failure. Even if someone offered three high-grade Core Formation Pills in exchange, no one would agree.”
This was the usual custom. Before selling a treasure, whether the story was fabricated or true, people would always find ways to inflate its value.
To be honest, this thing was beyond Wang Yu’s expectations.
One million spirit stones was only the base price. Such an amount was absolutely insufficient to obtain it. At the very least, he would have to compete with the final auction price to have any hope of securing it.
As for killing and seizing the treasure… unless he had gone mad.
Golden Abundance Tower’s Nascent Soul cultivators were not easy to deal with. These were the kind of people who dared to issue spirit stone loans openly in Jade Spirit City. They had ten thousand ways to track him down.
Taking a deep breath, Wang Yu spoke in a heavy tone.“Two million low-grade spirit stones. I want it.”
Tower Master Qian shook his head.
“This is an ultimate treasure. Five million.”
“Three million.”
“Five million.”
“…”
The atmosphere turned silent. Three million was Wang Yu’s absolute limit. The two pieces of ice-attribute spiritual material he had just purchased had already cost him five hundred thousand. He would have to sell off a large portion of the City Lord’s Mansion’s artifact reserves to raise that much.
Five million… unless he borrowed against the high-grade spirit stone mine that was about to be excavated. Only then might he gather the funds, but that was nearly impossible.
Gazing at the radiant branch before him, glowing with vigorous life energy, Wang Yu’s heart sank. He sneered coldly.
“Tower Master Qian, are you trying to deceive me? You are only a Foundation Establishment peak branch master. How could you get your hands on such an ultimate Core Formation treasure? If it were just an ordinary Core Formation item, I might have believed it.”
Tower Master Qian did not mind that Wang Yu refrained from addressing him as ‘brother.’
He calmly explained.
“You misunderstand, brother. My dao companion is one of the Jin clan’s direct descendants. This treasure came through her connections, not mine.”
Wang Yu still shook his head.
“The logic does not add up. If your dao companion’s status were truly so high, why would she choose you? Forgive me, Tower Master Qian, but you do not match a direct descendant of the Jin clan.”
This time Tower Master Qian grew somewhat irritated.
“Could it not be for love?”
“Love?”
Wang Yu let out a sound of surprise, his expression clearly saying: do you expect me to believe that?
Let alone love, even if the rice had been cooked into burnt crust, this pair of old shoes would not have been yours to wear.
Just as the atmosphere grew darker.
“Clap, clap, clap.”
Applause came from behind the copper coin screen to the side. Wang Yu frowned, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.
His divine sense, comparable to late Foundation Establishment, had detected nothing unusual.
“City Lord of Jade Spirit truly is remarkable. If not for Qian Zhong’s greed, you would not have noticed anything.”
From behind the screen stepped out a tall and voluptuous beauty. Her makeup carried a sharp, forceful aura. She wore a cheongsam-style golden silk undergarment, with a fox-fur cloak draped over her shoulders.
Her full, snow-white legs were partly exposed, encased in sheer stockings that made her skin appear even more lustrous.
Wang Yu’s expression remained cold as he snorted.
“So this is how Golden Abundance Tower does business? Deceiving me, a small city lord who has worked hard to accumulate his wealth?”
“You misunderstand. The rules of Golden Abundance Tower cannot be broken, not even by Nascent Soul cultivators, much less by a mere woman like me.”
As she spoke, the newly arrived female cultivator turned her cold, killing gaze toward Qian Zhong.
Qian Zhong suddenly knelt, knocking his head against the floor as he wept bitterly.
“Miss, it was not my intention. It was Young Master Jin Lin who forced me. He ordered me to bring the Everlasting Vitality Treasure Branch to Jade Spirit City…”
“Silence. You still have the face to speak before Fellow Daoist Wang?”
Wang Yu frowned, not understanding what play these two were performing.
Not long after, two old men came up from below. Their auras were deep and terrifying, not easy opponents even among Core Formation cultivators. Without a word, they dragged Qian Zhong away.
This brought Wang Yu back to his senses. In the past, Golden Abundance Tower had never had Core Formation cultivators.
Once the room held only the two of them, the woman put away the Everlasting Vitality Treasure Branch and finally spoke.
“Today must have seemed laughable to Fellow Daoist. I am Jin Miaoshan, one of the current generation’s heirs of the Heavenly Pond Jin clan.”
Wang Yu was silent for a moment, then said.
“Regarding today’s matter, does Fellow Daoist Jin have nothing further to say?”
Jin Miaoshan smiled and shook her head.
“Family shame cannot be made public. These two third-rank spiritual materials can still be sold to you as agreed. As for the branch, it ends here. Qian Zhong did not have the authority for such things.”
“Today I have truly gained insight. So this is how Golden Abundance Tower does business. Wasting this city lord’s ten years of effort, only for such a heap of garbage. No wonder Heaven Treasure Pavilion is more popular with the younger generation.”
Wang Yu abandoned the materials and left without another word.
Whoosh.
Just as Jin Miaoshan was hesitating, one of the Core Formation elders who had appeared earlier suddenly appeared at the stairway, blocking Wang Yu’s path.
The elder’s voice was hoarse, his turbid eyes full of malice.
“Before the young lady gives the word, you cannot leave. Otherwise… I will kill you.”
“Hah?”
Wang Yu acted as if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world. As he was about to laugh, his body suddenly straightened, and his killing intent surged out without reservation toward the Core Formation elder.
“Kill me? Just you, a rotten old vegetable!”
Jin Miaoshan’s expression changed, and just as she was about to speak, she saw Wang Yu activate a silver talisman.
Third-rank Space-Evasion Talisman.
With a flash of silver radiance, Wang Yu’s figure vanished from the private room, leaving the Core Formation elder, who had been ready to crush him, stunned for a moment.
Wait.
From his tone, wasn’t he supposed to fight? Why did he run?
“Buzz—”
At that moment, a sharp droning sound echoed from the sky. Every being in Jade Spirit City felt their scalp go numb, and Wang Yu’s voice thundered like divine lightning in everyone’s ears.
“Hall Master of the Inner Sect Law Enforcement of the Blood Reversal Sect, by the command of the Ghost Fang Zhuo Clan, the Holy Mountain Yu Clan, and the Xianyin Zuoqiu Clan, I, Wang Yu, City Lord of Jade Spirit City, issue this decree.”
“Decree—”
“All who belong to the Exalted Sect or revere its prestige: from today, exterminate the Jade Spirit City branch of the Golden Abundance Pavilion. All responsibility will be borne by me, Wang Yu. All spoils belong to the taker, and none shall be reclaimed.”
The thunderous voice resounded three times throughout Jade Spirit City without pause.
At the same time, strange treasures—the Image-Projecting Stone and the Sound-Retaining Stone—began playing back in the sky what had just transpired inside the Golden Abundance Tower.
Family disgrace, quarreling, dismissals, threats… until the Core Formation elder’s malice and his killing intent were exposed.
“I will kill you.” That sentence was singled out and replayed repeatedly in a mocking, distorted loop.
The Everlasting Vitality Treasure Branch, a rare peerless Core Formation spiritual item, was also highlighted, radiating brilliance without end. Everyone knew exactly what Wang Yu intended.
But so what?
This was the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain. Even if bloodshed had lessened over the past thousand years, its bones were still soaked in cruelty and malice. Demonic cultivators, at their core, were still those who walked extreme and shortcut paths.
Greed was in their nature, and slaughter was an instinct engraved in their bloodline.
Now Wang Yu had invoked the Blood Reversal Sect’s name, along with the authority of three great Nascent Soul families, essentially handing out a license to plunder. Whoever seized something kept it.
And the target was none other than the Golden Abundance Tower, a world-renowned merchant guild.
Who would not be tempted? Who would not rejoice?
Even knowing Core Formation cultivators resided in the building did not matter. With so many charging in at once, it surely would not be me who died. As long as one snatched even part of the treasures, the profit would be immense.
This was an opportunity. A heaven-sent opportunity… Many people, harboring thoughts of luck, would think so. Perhaps eight in ten would.
Moreover.
There was a fact that could not be ignored. Recently, the uproar caused by the ancient ruins had already drawn countless people to this region.
And Jade Spirit City was the closest city to that location. To purchase supplies, rest, or wait for companions before entering the ruins was only natural.
At this time, Jade Spirit City was a hidden-dragon, crouching-tiger place. There were surely concealed Core Formation cultivators, as well as many Foundation Establishment experts like Cultivator Qingyang, all gathered here for the chance at Core Formation.
Jin Miaoshan coming to the Jade Spirit branch may very well have been for the sake of the Eastern Extreme Capital, with Qian Zhong’s matter being only a side story.
The appearance of the Everlasting Vitality Treasure Branch only further ignited the adventurous spirit of these hidden experts.
A peerless Core Formation spiritual item. Even if one could not use it, it could be traded for something else, perhaps even exchanged for exactly the spiritual item one needed for Core Formation.
Their thoughts were no different from Wang Yu’s, identical in every way.
A grand feast was about to begin.
City Lord’s Mansion.
Because he had prepared spatial coordinates beforehand, the Third-rank Space-Evasion Talisman had transported Wang Yu directly to the formation nexus of the City Lord’s Mansion.
Having earned so many spirit stones, he naturally purchased many life-preserving items. He had heard of the Space-Evasion Talisman as early as his Qi Refining days, and once he had money, he never missed such things.
All were obtained through the Violet Gold Merchant Association at the Yanluo Ghost Market.
After all, the Jade Spirit branch’s authority was too limited to stock third-rank treasures regularly, while buying such escape items in the Ghost Market usually avoided unwanted attention.
With so many treasures for escape, who would dare to rob him? Most would simply give up. The danger was actually not high. He still had two Space-Evasion Talismans in hand.
After issuing the extermination decree through gritted teeth, Wang Yu activated the City Lord Mansion’s third-rank formation to its lowest level, ready to unleash its full might at any moment, avoiding delays from last-minute activation.
In addition, Jade Spirit City had a massive second-rank formation covering the entire city: the Jade Spirit Giant Mountain Formation.
It was similar to the setup in Withered Leaf City of the Taihu Spiritual Domain: it had flaws, and could not stop a determined Foundation Establishment cultivator from leaving, but it clearly conveyed his stance. Entry allowed, exit forbidden.
As the yellow spiritual radiance dome covered the whole of Jade Spirit City, cultivators who had hesitated broke into excited uproar.
“You are serious!”
“Hahaha, City Lord Wang, I love you to death. From now on, Jade Spirit City is my home!”
“Today is the day Han makes a fortune!”
“Brothers, who has a Barrier-Breaking Talisman? Throw it to me! Let’s tear down this arrogant building that bullies its guests!”
At the top floor of the Golden Abundance Tower, Jin Miaoshan looked down at the surging mass of people gathering both above and below. Though most were Qi Refining cultivators, Foundation Establishment cultivators were considered elites.
Yet hidden among them were several Core Formation auras.
And those were only the ones she could sense. How many more remained concealed?
Jin Miaoshan’s face was ashen.