"72,990 Primordial Pills." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"An astronomical price!"

The Seventh-rank Divine Weapon ’God Slaying Spear’ was finally auctioned for the astronomical price of 72,990, obtained by some unknown power.

Feiyu Trading Company is skilled in maintaining confidentiality; they have never leaked any buyer information in the Jinze Region unless the buyer exposed themselves.

In this regard, Feiyu Trading Company is trustworthy, which is the main reason hundreds of Divine Generals and various powers feel confident bidding at Feiyu’s auctions.

Safety first.

Other auction houses in the Jinze Region mostly couldn’t keep up, or even if they could, they couldn’t grow big. The primary reason is the lack of confidentiality and security. Once credibility is broken, there’s no turning back.

"The ’God Slaying Spear’ has found an owner."

"Only three ’Fire Bud Crystals’ remain now."

Yan Chuan awaited the auctioning of the last set of items and made his bid immediately: "61 Primordial Pills! I am Loose Cultivator ’Luo Feng.’ It’s a rare opportunity today, and I suggest we gather after the auction to exchange ideas and discuss the Dao. The location will be at the ’Wind Snow Mountain Temple’ in the west of the city. Everyone interested, feel free to come!"

With a skill honed from long martial arts lectures, Yan Chuan spouted a lengthy speech in a second.

"..."

"..."

"..."

As the words fell, silence reigned.

Feiyu Trading Company had been hosting auctions in the Jinze Region for some years, but it was the first time they encountered a buyer like Yan Chuan. Even the auctioneer on stage paused for a moment, but with a high level of professionalism, he continued: "61 Primordial Pills! Is there anyone higher?"

He chose to ignore Yan Chuan, simultaneously notifying someone to cut off the external sound from Yan Chuan’s booth, preventing him from further disrupting the auction with nonsensical words.

But Yan Chuan didn’t care.

Once he finished speaking, his goal was already accomplished; now he just waited for the auction to end!

...

"Luo Feng?"

"Who is he?"

"I know a Martial Arts Fool named ’Luo Feng,’ known as ’Luo the Madman,’ with masterful saber skills and movement techniques. He’s a Fifth-rank Divine General and a Loose Cultivator. Could it be him?"

"It’s not me!"

After Feiyu Trading Company’s auction ended, many people were indeed interested and headed toward the Wind Snow Mountain Temple in the city’s west. Along the way, several Divine Generals gathered and discussed what kind of person Luo Feng might be. Someone guessed linked to a namesake ’Luo the Madman,’ only for ’Luo the Madman’ himself to brush past them—

"Sorry, sorry."

"It was purely a guess."

Xing Feng hastily apologized, as he was the one who mentioned ’Luo the Madman,’ and he had indeed heard of ’Luo the Madman.’ This person was truly a madman, constantly mingling in dangerous places, either in secluded cultivation or fighting with people and Alien Beasts, never stopping. This was a Martial Arts Fool whose strength progressed rapidly and had already become a top figure among Loose Cultivators, a Fifth-rank Divine General.

Xing Feng initially thought the ’Luo Feng’ at the auction was indeed this ’Luo the Madman.’

But now, it evidently wasn’t.

Looking at this ’Luo the Madman,’ he seemed to be only twenty-four or twenty-five years old, with handsome features and elegant manners, with a slight mustache on his upper lip and under his chin.

He had an air of nobility and courtesy.

Not a trace of the origin of the name ’Madman’ to be seen.

Luo the Madman laughed and said it’s fine: "I’m also curious about the origin of that ’Luo Feng.’ Farewell, everyone."

Luo the Madman cupped his hands, conversing with an affable demeanor, disappeared in a blink.

"Hiss!"

"That movement technique!"

Xing Feng and the others gasped; the movement technique Luo the Madman just showcased already exceeded their understanding.

Fifth-rank?

Was Luo the Madman really just Fifth-rank?

...

"Luo Feng?"

"Who is Luo Feng?"

"Luo the Madman, is it you?"

Outside the Wind Snow Mountain Temple, the quickest batch of Divine Generals had already arrived, everyone looking for Luo Feng but couldn’t find him. When Luo the Madman arrived, everyone turned to him, but he shook his head: "I am Luo Feng, but that Luo Feng is not me."

"Luo the Madman wouldn’t dare to act without taking responsibility, right?"

"I believe in Luo the Madman’s character. He’s humanitarian with a strong sense of justice; if it were truly him, he wouldn’t deny it."

"Then what was that Luo Feng’s intention in luring us here?"

"Be cautious of trickery!"

...

Most were Independent Divine Generals, typically very wary. Only a few revealed themselves, with many more lurking in the concealed four-sided dense forest around the temple, quietly waiting for the situation to unfold.

At this moment.

Someone laughed heartily, "Why bother with Luo Feng or not Luo Feng? Since he does not dare come out, why should we care! Didn’t he say this was for mutual exchange and discussing the Dao? Exchanging goods, I can’t trust you, nor you me, so let’s forget it. But discussing the Dao and making friends through martial arts, this can be done. My name is ’Qin Yu,’ ranked 6473 on the ’Divine General List of the Hunxi Territory,’ everything is verifiable. Let’s start by discussing the Dao and martial arts!"

That ’Qin Yu’ was a robust man, with hair disheveled, wearing beast skins, revealing muscles seemingly about to burst, with a scraggly beard and a tuft of chest hair —

Truly rough.

He straightforwardly began speaking about martial arts —

"What I practice is named ’Nine Yin Scripture.’"

"The Dao of Heaven decreases surplus and supplements deficiency, thus the empty triumphs over the real, the lacking triumphs over the surplus. Its intent is vast, its reason deep, its interests profound. The phenomena of heaven and earth divide, the signs of yin and yang align, the reason for changes is expressed, the signs of life and death manifest, unplanned yet traces are the same, unrestrained yet obscurity and clarity match, examining its words produces subtle meanings, testing it in practice shows no discrepancies, truly the core doctrine of the supreme Dao, the beginning of nurturing life."

"This skill is vast and profound, among which is a set ’Nine Yin White Bone Claw’ —"

’Qin Yu’ spoke fervently, combining the various Absolute Skills and core meanings of the ’Nine Yin Scripture’ he practiced, putting them forth for open discussion.

People from the crowd occasionally spoke up and discussed, men and women, appearing unfamiliar, but with tens of thousands of Divine Generals in the Jinze Region, not knowing some was quite normal.

Many smiled knowingly, finding ’Qin Yu’ to be a nice person, making complex problems simple, laying the groundwork and drawing others in, quickly achieving the main purpose of the many doubting Divine Generals who came to this place —

They came!

Wasn’t it exactly for what Luo Feng said about ’mutual exchange’ and ’discussing the Dao’?

Indeed, ’mutual exchange’ carries risks.

But ’discussing the Dao’ is beneficial and costless, this is a safe bet!

With ’Qin Yu’ leading, the Divine Generals settled their hearts and stopped worrying about where Luo Feng was or who he was; they too prepared to discuss the Dao. Yet it turned out that ’Qin Yu,’ who paved the way, had such a loud voice that it penetrated their ears and hearts, making them listen involuntarily, and upon listening, they were instantly absorbed—

"Suppose heavenly opportunities burst forth, and profound understanding emerges, forming plans as if belonging to innate knowledge, with distinctive attributes nurtured by cultivated training, never having an action not guided by purpose, never emerged without being produced. However, by deliberately probing and refining, perhaps achieving comprehension of true essentials, leaving no whole to appear, thus action achieves success, as if divinely inspired, whereby odd talents of the time emerge from it.

Marvelous!

Luo the Madman also listened, initially hearing Qin Yu talk about ’Nine Yin White Bone Claw.’ He practiced saber skills, focused solely on saber skills, with no distractions, naturally having no interest in claw skills.

Unexpectedly, after listening for just a few sentences, there was a spark and budding in his long-stagnant saber skills, making Luo the Madman startled, instantly focusing to listen carefully—

"The Essence Energy of the Five Internal Organs and Six Hollow Organs rises into the eyes and becomes its essence. The essence of the case forms the eye, the essence of bone forms the pupil, the essence of sinews forms the black eye, the essence of blood energizes the network..."

Five Internal Organs and Six Hollow Organs!

Essence Energy of the eyes!

These don’t just apply to claw skills; they can completely extend into saber skills.

"The muscle essence functions as a constraint."

"Enveloping and binding sinew, bone, blood and qi essence with the veins to form connections, ascending to the brain, emerging from the nape."

"So this is it."

"Sinew, bone, skin, and membrane."

"Essence of blood and qi."

"Meridians and acupoints."

"Saber!"

"Saber Skills!"

"Sword Intent!"

"My ’Sword Intent’ embodies Mad Demon; without madness, there is no survival. Embedding saber skills into sinew, bone, skin, and membrane alone is insufficient, far from sufficient; it must be more profound, more thorough."

"The saber is like a fierce tiger; a fierce tiger also has the Mad Demon."

"The saber is like a tiger spirit!"

"The saber can cut through waves!"

Luo the Madman immersed himself, developing countless insights from Qin Yu’s martial arts discourse, linking every aspect to saber skills, all applicable to his current dilemma.

Marvelous!

Everything clicked!

Luo the Madman is a Loose Cultivator, achieving today’s accomplishments mainly from the remnant Chapter of a ’True Skill’ scroll from his early years, relying entirely on self-dedication. While martial arts exchanges occurred, thoroughly listening to and receiving direction, this was his first time.

Twenty years of painstaking practice.

Years of stagnation.

On this day, while listening, it all melted away, like ice and snow dissolving, like Water to Channel—

"Sword Intent!"

"Mad Demon!"

Luo the Madman’s saber energy surged irrepressibly, yet amid the madness, a warm smile spread across his face as he, surrounded by the Mad Demon Realm, bowed toward Qin Yu: "My Way is fulfilled!"

On April 22 of the Danhu Calendar, Year 499.

’Madman’ Luo Feng at the Wind Snow Mountain Temple outside Five Blessings City realized ’Sword Intent·Mad Demon,’ broke through from Fifth-rank to Sixth-grade.

The Jinze Region welcomes another peaked Real Person!

...

"Congratulations, Master Luo!"

"Gaining an impression, reaching Sixth-grade, henceforth Innate Peak, the status of a War God is within reach!"

Luo the Madman’s advancement caused an enormous stir. When his saber energy receded, he was already a Sixth-grade figure, mastering the realm and ready to charge toward becoming a War God at any moment.

Achieving Real Person status.

All sides came to congratulate.

Tens to hundreds of Divine Generals gathered around Wind Snow Mountain Temple to offer their congratulations. Most were Loose Cultivators, the Sixth-grade an unattainable aspiration, most genuinely happy for Luo the Madman, also a Loose Cultivator, being able to reach the Sixth-grade, offering sincere congratulations, only a rare few felt jealousy or resentment, which was harmless.

"Thank you, everyone." Luo the Madman was humble and courteous, cupping his hands to thank everyone, but he particularly thanked ’Qin Yu’: "Brother Qin’s martial arts lecture moved me greatly, leading to my breakthrough, truly a great favor."

"Master Luo was already on the verge of breaking through; even without my martial arts lecture, you would have broken through soon. I was just fortunate to be here at the right time and dare not take credit." Yan Chuan waved his hand.

He truly hadn’t anticipated that with his impromptu idea to gather the Divine Generals for martial arts discussion after the auction, he’d give a lecture and unknowingly lead someone to become a Sixth-rank Divine General!

Sixth-grade?

Impression?

Yan Chuan himself hadn’t reached Sixth-grade or grasped the impression yet, let alone teach others? That’s nonsense!

He clearly understood that Luo the Madman must have already been on the brink of breaking through when he gave the martial arts lecture. ’Mutual Teaching and Learning’ boosted Luo the Madman’s understanding efficiency to 100%, connecting the dots and just helping him step over that last-minute hurdle.

In terms of credit, Yan Chuan deserved some.

But it was truly minimal.

Compared to when Ding Xiang and Ying Jifeng broke through Innate, Luo the Madman’s breakthrough owed much less to Yan Chuan.

...