As renowned as Hua Fengwen was throughout the Hongmeng, there were very few who truly understood him. What the Dragonsea city lord spoke of—she’d learned from Dragonhollow Mountain as well.

  The great battle between Hua Fengwen and Hua Fengzhan had long since concluded. No victor had been determined, and the brothers had parted ways.

  None of the kings present had anything to say. A sixth step king slay a seventh step king? “Genius” was insufficient to describe the man, he was a perverse talent! The gap between mid and high level kings was so great that it couldn’t be bridged by personal strength alone.

  Qing Yu and the little fox exchanged glances, both reading shock in each other’s eyes. They hadn’t thought that the usually irreverent fellow who spoke of ants at the drop of a hat would be someone so incredible!

  Eighth in the Hongmeng?

  How many geniuses were there in the realm? As many as carp in the river and too many to count!

  Though Qing Yu and the little fox had set foot into ninth step kinghood upon their ascension, they both knew full well that one of them had benefited from Violetgrave’s legacy and the other from the Hongmeng Tower cheating for them. Their strength when in the superior realm ranked among ordinary geniuses—a far cry from Hua Fengwen.

  What Lu Yun and Qing Ting were accomplishing together in Dragonsea City would’ve been achieved by Hua Fengwen alone a hundred thousand years ago. Setting aside Qing Ting, Lu Yun’s current achievements were the function of fortune and luck.

  From the world of immortals until now, it wasn’t until Lu Yun incorporated the hellfire of order into his sword dao and formed the sword dao of order that he truly set foot onto his own path. Only through that did he make all of his fortune and luck into his own.

  The auction continued at a rapid pace and identity tokens exchanged hands at every moment. No one dared wait or just sit back and observe. There were only so many identity tokens available and each one sold meant one less available. If any of the auctions failed, the Champion Duke really would destroy the token on the spot!

  No one doubted his words.

  Even more important was that they would receive his protection after purchasing a token. They wouldn’t have to worry about someone else taking it from them! This imparted new hope to the weaker cultivators who ardently wished to participate in the Dragonling Assembly.

  A hundred premium crystal veins were the entire wealth of an ordinary king, but none of the cultivators present were backed by ordinary characters!

  The benefits they would glean if they could participate were beyond imagination. Thus, cultivators who’d previously remained on the sidelines joined the fray and furiously bid on the tokens, causing many Azure Dragon cultivators to squawk with outrage.

  Near the end, numerous kings in the audience began bidding themselves. They couldn’t take action in the city, but they could talk and bid on an identity token for their juniors.

  Other than the one thousand premium crystal veins that Dragon Butterfly offered, the cheapest token went for two hundred crystal veins and the most expensive went for five hundred. Lu Yun’s seed storage swiftly filled to capacity. He held more than one million premium crystal veins now!

  Some high level kings eyed him covetously. If they weren’t within Dragonsea City, they would’ve already attacked the young duke and taken his purple crystals.

  Qing Yu and the little fox also looked on nervously. They were tensed to act and would kill anyone who dared make a move.

  “I wonder if the Champion Duke will make it back to the Trueriver Sect.” Dragonfeather swallowed hard and looked gleefully at the Trueriver King, then carefully at Qing Yu and the Intrance King. Perhaps only these two women would be able to protect a madman like the Champion Duke.

  Lu Yun saved four identity tokens for Azureclad and the others, and another one for the pitiful Qing Di. He’d also wanted to save one for his convenient disciple, Dusksnow Morningstar, but the latter was at a crucial moment of comprehending the sword diagram and couldn’t spare attention for anything else.

  Lu Yun earned nine million premium crystal veins at the end of the auction, neatly replenishing all of the purple crystals that the Immortal Pagoda had traded for ghost crystals over the past year.

  He didn’t plan on sharing them with Qing Ting or Coiling Dragon City—they wouldn’t be able to retain such a level of wealth. What Qing Ting had obtained thus far was the limits of their ability to keep and protect.

  Lu Yun could also sense dense malice circling in the air. Regardless of what the Dragonling Assembly results were, he would be attacked as soon as the gathering was over. High level kings were sure to move against him.

  The combined total of nearly a thousand premium crystal veins was the equivalent of an enormous mine. Even the current Redbud Mountain didn’t possess so many minor crystal veins. But Lu Yun didn’t care about this. If any of them dared attack him, he’d let them know what the true Ten Valleys of Evil were!

  With the conclusion of the auction, everyone who’d purchased a token huddled quietly next to Lu Yun and Qing Ting, receiving their protection.

  “Should we charge a protection fee?” Qing Ting suddenly asked. “Why don’t we blockade the bridge to Dragonhollow Mountain in a bit and force them to pay a toll!”
Her idea sent shudders of horror through everyone.

  “Let’s not,” Lu Yun chuckled. “We have enough wealth now and should avoid overdoing things. If our greed knows no bounds, a tribulation will strike us.”
“Okay then.” Qing Ting was slightly unhappy, but quickly forgot about it when she thought of the purple crystals and treasures she now owned.

  The other cultivators relaxed with relief as well; Lu Yun felt a massive cloud of goodwill burst from them and flow into his body to be absorbed by the Karmic Tree. The bald tree swiftly budded a hundred and eight thousand karmic fruits that weren’t ripe yet.

  “I’m… obviously the villain here, so why are they thanking me?” Lu Yun didn’t really understand it. He’d robbed the entire city and taken all of their belongings, then forced them to spend even more money to buy back what was theirs…
He definitely wasn’t running a charity here.

  The identity token was a right to participate, a hope, but that didn’t mean they were guaranteed benefits from the Dragonling Assembly.

  “I don’t get it… not at all. Forget it, I’m not thinking more about that.” Lu Yun stood on the eastern city walls and looked to the Hongmeng Sea in the east.

  Instead of being a shade of blue, it was hazy purple and stretched on without end. Fog drifted over its surface, obscuring its true appearance.

  The kings in the city stared longingly at Lu Yun, deeply wishing that he’d somehow lose his mind and visit the shore. They couldn’t move in the city, but the shores of the sea were outside Dragonsea City.

  Lu Yun was no idiot.

  “Aoooou!” A piercing dragon croon traveled from the Hongmeng Sea as an enormous dragon of seven colors surged out of it and rushed for the city. It turned into a massive rainbow bridge when it reached the city walls, connecting Dragonhollow Mountain and Dragonsea city.

  Lu Yun’s identity token dissolved into rainbow radiance the moment it appeared, lifting him up to the bridge.