Chapter 1724 (Raw 1735): Special Auction Hall
"Martial Uncle, why do you think Zhen Yuan would betray his temple when he was doing so well?" Ling Yu felt very confused and filled with questions.
Zhen Yuan was the most outstanding disciple the Profound Light Temple had had in three hundred years. In the three blessed lands, he had the best prospects among the outstanding talents of the various sects.
No matter how Ling Yu looked at it, Zhen Yuan's potential was unlimited. He would definitely end up famous throughout the Grave Sea Cluster and maybe even all the way to the Central Great Realm. Betraying his temple was a huge sin. Everything would be ruined.
Not only would there be no place for Zhen Yuan in the Grave Sea Cluster, but in the future, when he went to the Central Great Realm, he would also be hunted by all of the Buddhist sects.
Zhen Yuan's future would not be good. How could he cultivate in peace when he had to keep scurrying around and hiding?
Xiao Chen said calmly, "He had been the strongest of the three blessed lands for more than ten years already, right?"
"Yes. It is ten years, or more accurately, it is more than ten. About ten-odd years ago, when Shangguan Lei and Wang Yueming made their debut, they were already no match for him. These years, he had grown even further. As he rarely fought with Shangguan Lei and Wang Yueming, no one knows how strong he truly is."
Xiao Chen sighed softly, "That's it. He had already reached the top in the Profound Light Temple, but he did not go to the Central Great Realm. Clearly, he was not confident enough and was very nervous. Now, he saw an opportunity; his taking a risk after being stifled for ten-odd years is not strange."
It looked like Zhen Yuan had already planned this out long ago. He knew that he could not openly snatch the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique's manual from Xiao Chen.
So, Zhen Yuan informed the Venerable Xuan Bei to use the Profound Light Temple to obtain the saber manual from Xiao Chen.
After that, Zhen Yuan suddenly made a move to steal the saber manual in the Profound Light Temple. Everything was meticulously planned and tightly interlinked.
Zhen Yuan probably started planning it the moment he left the Fiendish Demon Battlefield.
This person was truly terrifying. If Xiao Chen ran into him again in the future, he would have to keep an eye out and not be careless.
"What opportunity?" Ling Yu asked, finding it strange since he did not know about the saber manual.
Xiao Chen smiled and did not say much more. "We'll leave this matter here. Let's go to the Soaring Dragon Great Realm."
"Alright, let's go."
At the mention of going to the Soaring Dragon Great Realm, Ling Yu revealed an excited expression. That bustling place was much more interesting than the boring blessed land. Unfortunately, he was not strong enough or rich enough to go there frequently.
Now that his martial uncle was around to go with him, Ling Yu finally got his wish.
The Purple Flame Sect had an astral transportation formation directly connected to the Soaring Dragon Great Realm. However, it drained a lot of resources to operate. Not just anyone was qualified to use it.
The two were in no rush and were too embarrassed to use Ye Zifeng's name. So, they headed for the Soaring Dragon Great Realm the normal way.
There were three huge ports in the vast Grave Sea.
Each port had all sorts of peak astral ships that docked there, traveling between various places in the Great Thousand Realms.
Such enormous ships that were used specially for traveling in the Starry Heavens could carry more than a thousand people at once. Furthermore, they were very fast.
The fastest liners could even rival the speed of a Sovereign Personage flying in the Starry Heavens.
Hence, many Cloud Sea experts would still choose to ride on these astral liners to save their energy.
Furthermore, no one could predict what danger one would run into in the boundless Starry Heavens. Even Cloud Sea experts did not dare to say that they could travel alone without fear.
Taking an astral liner was definitely the safest and most efficient method without a doubt.
Of course, if one were well connected and rich, one would use an astral transportation formation. But that would be a different story altogether.
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Half a month later, the ship finally arrived at the Soaring Dragon Great Realm.
Someone rousted Xiao Chen and Ling Yu, who were in closed-door cultivation. It was like they took a nap; when they opened their eyes, they had arrived at the Soaring Dragon Great Realm.
After they disembarked from the astral liner, the silhouette of a majestic city appeared at the limits of their vision.
The city appeared indistinct, hazy, and imposing amid the sand and dust. It looked like a huge coiling dragon.
A strong spiritual pressure came from that city even though it was still a distance away.
Both Xiao Chen and Ling Yu felt this pressure.
"What strong pressure! Even if a Sovereign Personage wanted to attack this Soaring Dragon City, he would have to think twice."
Xiao Chen secretly felt surprised. The accumulations of Soaring Dragon City were deeper than he expected.
This was just an external conferred land of the Yanwu Dynasty, and it was already so grand and imposing.
He wondered how grand the true marquis's residence in the Yanwu Dynasty was.
This was not Ling Yu's first time here. He explained softly, "Soaring Dragon City was built in the center of this great realm. It takes in Qi from all directions, absorbing the Luck of the entire great realm. After more than ten thousand years, it is not strange for it to look so imposing."
A steady stream of people appeared in the harbor and rushed towards Soaring Dragon City.
Xiao Chen glanced around. The cultivators who came here were all extraordinary. The older people were mostly Cloud Sea cultivators; Star Venerates were everywhere.
The people from Xiao Chen's generation were at least Minor Primal Core Venerates. Young cultivators like Hua Yunfeng and Shangguan Lei abounded.
No wonder Ling Yu previously said that this Soaring Dragon Great Realm was the center of the nearby astral clusters. That was indeed true.
"Martial Uncle, let's move out as well."
Xiao Chen nodded and stretched out his hand. Then, the Cycle Throne appeared from his clothes.
The Cycle Throne had already been through several rounds of alteration. Now, it was already equal to a peak Treasure Tool for travel.
Although the Cycle Throne could not compare to an astral liner when traveling in the Starry Heavens, it was very suitable for quick, short-distance travel.
It would save a lot of energy and was convenient to bring around.
Most importantly, the Cycle Throne was previously a Magic Treasure, made based on Immortal Equipment of the Immortal Epoch. In this Great Thousand Realms, it was unique.
"What is this?" Ling Yu asked in shock as he looked at the throne.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly, and the throne changed form, taking on the appearance of a horse chariot.
The two mutated flood dragons turned into black dragon horses. As they moved their hooves, they appeared powerful and mighty, radiating an extraordinary aura.
Xiao Chen entered the chariot and called out to Ling Yu, "Come on, then."
After entering, Ling Yu endlessly sang praises for the exquisite and luxurious interior of the chariot. This was especially so when he saw Xiao Chen gently touch a particular spot, and a small cabinet appeared on the wall.
This greatly surprised Ling Yu, a great eye-opener for him.
Cold Qi filled the wall cabinet, sealing the wine cups that Xiao Chen collected in ice.
Then, Xiao Chen took out a bottle of Thousand Year Flame, which he could not bear to drink, and filled cups for Ling Yu and himself before gently swirling the wine.
At this moment, the horse chariot moved. The two stallions pulled the war chariot onto the broad road and kicked up a cloud of dust.
"Martial Uncle, I'll bring you to a place. It is a special auction house. If you want an ancient cauldron, that auction house should be the fastest way. Otherwise, you will waste a lot of time and effort combing through the market." Ling Yu explained more about their destination to Xiao Chen.
"How special is this special auction house?"
Ling Yu chuckled and said, "Martial Uncle, there's no rush. You will know when you arrive."
Hearing this, Xiao Chen felt some interest.
Xiao Chen had been to several auction houses; all of them were mostly similar. He really wanted to know what was special about this one.
With the horses galloping, the war chariot moved quickly, kicking up clouds of dust.
Soaring Dragon City looked rather near. However, they only barely made it by sunset.
Of course, it was not because the war chariot was slow but because the distance was too great. Xiao Chen estimated that it had been close to five thousand kilometers.
That meant that even from five thousand kilometers away, people could still see the silhouette of Soaring Dragon City.
Just imagine how vast and grand this city was.
After Xiao Chen put away the Cycle War Chariot, the two joined the queue to enter the city, at the foot of the grand and majestic city walls.
Once they paid the entry fee, they entered the city, without receiving any obstructions at all.
The broad road swarmed with traveling cultivators. There were extremely few ordinary people. This was definitely a cultivator's city.
The bustling atmosphere was due to the peak cultivators from the nearby astral clusters.
Xiao Chen made some calculations. Just the Grave Sea Cluster alone had more than a hundred astral regions like the Purple Sun Region. Furthermore, the Purple Sun Region contained dozens of great realms.
If dozens of the nearby clusters centered themselves around this Soaring Dragon Great Realm, it was no surprise that this city was so bustling.
Ling Yu led the way, making many turns, bringing Xiao Chen to a desolate street.
This street had much fewer people in stark contrast to the earlier scene.
Xiao Chen's face immediately turned serious. He was surprised to discover that every cultivator on this street seemed to have a Great Desolate Eon bloodline.
This street was filled with the bloodlines of the Great Desolate Eon's ten thousand races, which were rarely seen.
The Azure Dragon bloodline in Xiao Chen's body seemed raring to go, as if it intended to compete. It was like a flashback to the Great Desolate Eon, the hot-blooded period when ten thousand races contested with each other.
"Ling Yu, the place you want to bring me to…?"
Ling Yu smiled and said, "That's right. Martial Uncle, only people with a Great Desolate Eon bloodline can participate in the auctions at the place I'm bringing you to. As for regular people, no matter how many Spirit Jades they have, they are not qualified to enter.
"This auction house is not open to the public, but it is the highest-scale auction house in the Soaring Dragon Great Realm. Let's go in and take a look first; see if there are any ancient cauldrons on auction. If there are, we will directly sign up for the auction."