Chapter 2031 – Bait

Eight hundred billion years was a very, very long time ago. It would be given a primordial descriptor in the chief worlds. A sword left by a demon outsider from eight hundred billion years ago? Now that was a bit interesting.

Based on Lu Yun’s understanding, the combat arts and dao methods of the outside were far superior to the ones in this world. The sacred supreme himself had killed the outsider? What was a sacred supreme? Was it the cultivation level above empyrean supreme?

And what did they call themselves? The Three Thousand? Three Thousand??

Lu Yun focused on deducing what he’d just learned, but all he saw were hazy shapes in front of him. The existence of a sacred supreme was out of his current reach. Evidently, that was a personage that even the Disordered Empyrean Supreme feared.

A sword glinting with frosty light was presented on the auction block. Lacking a hilt and sword guard, it was just a singular blade that was one third of a meter long. It shimmered like a water ripple.

Lu Yun’s heart spasmed painfully when he saw the sword and an inexplicable agitation rose from the bottom of his heart. His long dormant sea of sword intent stirred with intent. If he obtained this sword, his sword dao would soar to the heavens like a tiger granted wings!

But the young man quickly forced his turbulent emotions down. He primarily cultivated hell dao combat arts these days and was gradually transforming them into arts under the dao of reincarnation.

Sword dao was useless to him now.

If the great dao of reincarnation took shape, it would be the equivalent of all methods in existence and be able to manifest all combat arts.

“This is a trap.” Lu Yun’s lips curved into a smile. The sword was certainly bait. By now, he’d spent roughly a month in Cardinal Sacred City. He’d visited a variety of treasuries and broken through all of their defenses, no matter how rigorous. Any he visited was left completely empty when he walked out.

He was robbing Cardinal Sacred Palace right beneath its nose. If they still hadn’t realized it, they might as well end themselves and save everyone the trouble.

As it turned out, the faction had indeed discovered the thefts, but didn’t raise a fuss. Some of them guessed that the outsider roamed among them.

He’d awed half of the Three Thousand after demonstrating Vast Dragon Seaturner in public. In many people’s minds, the outsider was a genius sword cultivator focused squarely on the sword.

Therefore, how would sword cultivators resist such a wondrous sword as the one on the auction block?

Thus, the auction commenced with the sacred palace knowing full well that the outsider would come. They could guess what he was thinking—that while the treasures in the vaults were precious, they were just leftover stock held in reserve. The real treasures would be with the powerhouses or traded through the market.

Such as this sword.

Thus, Ark Auction House brought out this sword whenever a new face entered it. Anyone who bought it was killed. The sword would then be returned to the auction house for its next sale.

Such was the Cardinal Sacred Palace style—they would rather kill innocents than let a potential suspect slip through their fingers.

“Good thing they only know that I have sword dao and not that I’m skilled in formula dao. This kind of trap? Heh.” Lu Yun curled his lip, but displayed a flicker of interest on his face. He shook his head with a sigh as he looked at the spear in his hand.

It was an act masterly done and perfect projection of disdain for the sword on sale. After that, he paid no attention whatsoever to the lot.

Cultivators of the Three Thousand weren’t interested in treasures from the outside. They rejected these items with every fiber of their being, just like they rejected the demons from the outside.

The auction failed and the proceedings moved on to the next lot.

Su Muzhou was the owner of the auction house and the empyrean supreme surveilling the premises. His brows were slightly furrowed as he’d been focused on Lu Yun. However, the young man only showed a hint of curiosity before dismissing the sword.

“This stranger has lingered in Cardinal Sacred City for ten days, is he really not the demon outsider?” Su Muzhou leaned against the shoulder of the man next to him.

The muscular man gently caressed his face before murmuring back, “It’s just as well that he’s not. Who knows what kind of trouble would develop if the outsider really is among us?”

“Mm.” Su Muzhou nodded and fell silent.

....

Lu Yun wasn’t able to detect the consciousness of empyrean supremes, but he wouldn’t give anything away, not with his level of alertness. Thankfully, while the Cardinal Sacred Palace would rather kill innocents than let a potential suspect slip through, they weren’t deranged to the point of killing every single stranger that visited the city. That would turn it into a ghost town.

With how vast the Three Thousand were, not even the sacred supreme knew everyone. Thus, they had to employ a variety of methods to probe everyone. As outdated as their dao methods were, they were no fools. They wouldn’t repeat past mistakes after once encountering a stumbling block.

At the same time, neither was Lu Yun an idiot. His remaining one thousand and seventy-nine replicas had quietly left the city to avoid overexposure. Having already detected his presence, the sacred city would be under heavy guard. It would be a complete disaster if he accidentally revealed the formation that he’d painstakingly set up.

When more treasures that caught his eye appeared, Lu Yun struck swift and true. He won each of them at a price that was three to five times higher than their worth, angering everyone who bid against him.

Su Muzhou had been in dejected spirits and paranoid of every new face he saw, but broke out in a large grin when he saw the newcomer spend dao crystals like water. The muscular man next to him was so delighted that his cheeks were spasming from smiling so much.

They’d completely forgotten the purpose of this auction. In their eyes, the demon outsider would never be able to obtain so many dao crystals.

The auction soon concluded with Lu Yun’s racing heart. He’d obtained true treasure—treasure that was even more effective than the spirit herb with a hint of opposition. It would help him swiftly become a grand supreme!

He picked up the pace and sought to leave the city as soon as possible. Of course, he’d already sent the treasures to his primary body. His replica was just putting on a show.

....

“Kid, hand over all of your dao crystals!” boomed a rough voice. A burly man six meters tall with knots of muscle all over his body had stopped Lu Yun. He was the man next to Su Muzhou.