Chapter 1053: Rainbow Lights
Xiao Chen’s destination was clear. He flew directly to Ten Thousand Treasure City. The instant he took to the air, he felt a formless might and pressure.
This might and pressure came from the sculpture. Without the strength of a Martial Sage, one would not be qualified to enter this Ten Thousand Treasure City.
The higher one flew, the greater the pressure. If one wanted to fly to the very top of the sculpture, one would have to be a quasi-Emperor.
However, flying to Ten Thousand Treasure City on the palm naturally posed no difficulty at all for Xiao Chen. To him, the pressure was no different from air.
In just an instant, he arrived above the palm. When he lowered his head, he could see the entire exquisite and bustling city.
On top of the sculpture’s five fingers were palaces, one for each of the five City Lords of Ten Thousand Treasure City.
The palace on the thumb was the largest and most majestic. This was the dwelling of the first City Lord, the residence of the one known as the Treasure Master.
The identity of the Treasure Master was very mysterious. He held a highly respected position and wandered the world. He rarely showed himself. Currently, his grandson handled all matters—both major and minor.
The palace on the pinky belonged to the Fifth City Lord; the one on the ring finger, the Fourth City Lord; the index finger, the Third City Lord; the middle finger, the Second City Lord.
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“This person broke through the Ten Thousand Treasure City’s pressure in one breath of time. At such a young age, he already holds immense wealth. This is a valuable customer. Zi Ying, go and receive him personally. Do not slight him or neglect him. Do your best to pull all his business to the merchant association that we control.”
An old man in the palace on the pinky suddenly opened his eyes and peered through fifty kilometers, clearly seeing the white-clad Xiao Chen.
“This person seems to be only a grandmaster-level Martial Sage. Is there a need for your own daughter to go personally?”
This girl called Zi Ying looked dubious. When great grandmaster-level Martial Sages or even quasi-Emperors appeared, her father never opened his eyes.
“Haha! Quick, go. If you are late and the other City Lords react, we will lose this chance.”
The old man smiled gently. His tone was gentle, but it contained a strong might. It was not an order, but it caused one to obey.
Zi Ying’s heart lit up in joy. Since her father put it like this, it was definitely correct.
Aside from the mysterious Treasure Master, the other four City Lords were merchant associations from outside. They were evaluated once every ten years. If the benefits that the merchant association brought to Ten Thousand Treasure City were too low, they would lose their right to be City Lords.
This was the rule set by the Treasure Master. No matter how powerful a merchant association one was from, once they came to this Ten Thousand Treasure City, they had to obey the rules.
The Nine Cauldron Pavilion’s branch in Ten Thousand Treasure City was not as profitable as it had been ten years ago. Her father had since fallen from Second City Lord to Fifth City Lord.
If profits kept declining, he would even lose the right to be the Fifth City Lord. One large order would ease a lot of Zi Ying’s pressure.
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Without any warning, a seven-colored bridge stretched out from the distance and arrived at Xiao Chen’s feet just as he was about to land.
The rainbow light flickered, and a magnificent rainbow bridge hung in the air, looking extremely beautiful. Vibrant and brilliant five-colored heavenly flowers drifted down.
Many eyes in Ten Thousand Treasure City immediately looked up into the air.
Five-colored heavenly flowers and a seven-colored rainbow bridge. Everyone wondered which valued guest this was, for one of the five City Lords to send out a welcoming reception of the highest honor in advance.
The cultivators in the city were Martial Sages at the very least. Focusing their Mental Energies into their eyes, they could make out the distant Xiao Chen very clearly.
Everyone saw a white-clad grandmaster-level Martial Sage with a delicate appearance holding a white fan. This person looked to be no more than thirty. When everyone studied his face, they did not recognize it.
Several people instantly felt suspicious. How could an unknown outstanding talent receive such a grand reception from the Nine Cauldron Pavilion?
“The Nine Cauldron Pavilion probably made another wrong decision. These days, their business is going downhill. After this Ten Thousand Treasure Festival, they will probably get ousted from the City Lord position.”
Mockery rang out continuously in the city.
In providing such a grand welcome to a grandmaster-level Martial Sage, the Nine Cauldron Pavilion undoubtedly made the wrong decision, supplying material for ridicule and becoming the joke of this Ten Thousand Treasure Festival.
Ao Jiao explained the seven-colored bridge that came all the way to Xiao Chen, so he roughly understood what was going on.
This is really strange. I appear to be a grandmaster-level Martial Sage and have no fame at all, yet I can cause such a commotion.
This is good as well. With someone guiding me, I can save myself a lot of trouble.
Xiao Chen was quite confident in the Foundation Returning Art’s ability to hide his cultivation; only a few special Secret Treasures could expose it. Discovering his identity would be hard.
Even if he were discovered, it did not matter. With his peak Thunder Dragon Steps and the Freedom Wings, he was confident of fleeing even a Martial Emperor.
A pretty girl stood on the bridge, looking very elegant. This was Zi Ying, the one in charge of the Nine Cauldron Pavilion in the Ten Thousand Treasure City.
“This humble lady is the one in charge of Ten Thousand Treasure City’s Nine Cauldron Pavilion. Might I ask for Young Master’s noble family name and great given name?”
The girl called Zi Ying gave the impression of capability with one glance. Her aura resembled Ying Qiong’s in many aspects.
As the two spoke, she was natural and relaxed, radiating great charm, and showing respect. However, she did not give him the repulsive impression of obsequiousness and flattery.
Perhaps because this girl had a similar disposition to Ying Qiong’s, Xiao Chen had a very good first impression of her. Holding the folding fan in his hand, he performed a cupped-fist salute. Then, he said, “I don’t dare to say that my family name is noble or my given name is great. This humble self is Mo Yun. You can address me as you wish.”
As the two stood on the seven-colored bridge, it felt like flat ground. The seven-colored bridge slowly retracted, carrying them to the faraway palace. The journey went smoothly, and they descended towards the palace at the pinky.
After chatting for a while, Zi Ying found Xiao Chen’s style of conversation extraordinary. This firmed up her belief that her father had not misjudged him.
“Young Master Mo must have come because of the fame of the Ten Thousand Treasure Festival. I wonder if you have any special needs? The Nine Cauldron Pavilion is considered a front-runner in Ten Thousand Treasure City, ranked fifth. As for the backer of the Nine Cauldron Pavilion, it is considered a peak merchant association in the entire Heavenly Starry Ocean.”
After making some small talk, Zi Ying started to seamlessly transit the conversation to business. She paused for a while before continuing, “If Young Master has any requests, the Nine Cauldron Pavilion will definitely be able to meet them.”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and opened his folding fan. “I do indeed have some special requests. I need a large number of Secret Treasures containing dragon souls.”
Zi Ying felt somewhat disappointed. Even peak King Grade Secret Treasures with dragon souls were worth only about ten million Astral Coins unless they were special.
Even if Xiao Chen needed a large number, the total was still far from the large order that she hoped for.
As for his mention of a large number, she did not give it too much credence. Secret Treasures were meant to be used. Most cultivators would use only one or two, so it could not be many.
Even so, Zi Ying’s expression did not change. She had trained her mind well. This disappointment would not cause her to turn petty and nasty.
However, this time, she felt like she really embarrassed herself. The merchant associations of the other four City Lords would definitely mock her for a long time.
Zi Ying sighed in her heart, but she still smiled and asked, “What kind of Secret Treasure containing a dragon soul does Young Master Mo need?”
“I’ll give you ten million Black Astral Coins first, and you can help me get them. If you can handle this well, I still have goods worth ten million Black Astral Coins for disposal.”
At this moment, Xiao Chen did not know what Zi Ying was thinking. His tone had been calm when he spoke.
When Zi Ying heard that, even though she had seen various large transactions before, she was still somewhat stunned.
Ten million Black Astral Coins meant one billion Astral Coins. Furthermore, there was another billion Astral Coins’ worth of goods to move. On top of that, Xiao Chen’s tone made it sound like one billion Astral Coins of Secret Treasures containing dragon souls was not sufficient.
This large transaction was on a totally different level. If she completed this transaction, the profits from it might even be sufficient to elevate the Nine Cauldron Pavilion to the position of Second City Lord.
“What’s wrong? Is that difficult?” Xiao Chen frowned. The dragon hid in the depths; the ocean contained dragons. It should not be too difficult to collect Secret Treasures containing dragon souls in the Heavenly Starry Ocean.
Zi Ying smiled and said excitedly, “No problem, none at all. Come, let’s go down and discuss the details.”
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Just at this moment, three seven-colored bridges streaked out from the horizon at the same time. Heavenly flowers fell above Ten Thousand Treasure City, drifting like snowflakes and giving off flowing rainbow light. Brilliant colors filled the sky.
Xiao Chen and Zi Ying, who were about to arrive at the palace at the pinky, turned their heads to look. They saw a group of outstanding talents as well as the Lunar Palace’s Holy Daughter appearing outside Ten Thousand Treasure City.
In that group, every one of their names was famous and glorious. The factions behind them could stir up the Southern Sea, even the entire Heavenly Starry Ocean.
“Whoosh!”
An even more resplendent and dazzling nine-colored rainbow bridge streaked across the sky, looking very brilliant. The Treasure Master at the palace on the thumb sent out an extremely rare invitation.
Instantly, the entire Ten Thousand Treasure City broke out in a tumult, completely forgetting about the seven-colored rainbow bridge that the Nine Cauldron Pavilion just sent out.
Clearly, the Treasure Master’s nine-colored rainbow bridge was for the Lunar Palace’s Holy Daughter.
Eight spirited treasure horses giving off flames pulled an ancient war chariot on the rainbow bridge, moving forward at a measured pace.
When the people of the other three City Lords saw the Treasure Master’s people coming out personally, they smiled faintly and tacitly took a step back. They went behind the golden war chariot and welcomed the Holy Daughter together.
Everyone casually glanced at Zi Ying with a faint trace of mockery on all their faces, laughing at her for making a misjudgment.
Zi Ying’s treatment of a grandmaster-level Martial Sage as a wealthy person made her a laughingstock.
However, now, the main character changed. It would be impossible for the various City Lords to bring the Holy Daughter’s group to their own merchant association; they could only try to entice one or two people.
There was a cold-faced youth with an extraordinary aura on the golden war chariot. He spurred on the eight horses and moved along the nine-colored rainbow until he arrived before the Lunar Palace’s Holy Daughter.
The cold-faced youth was precisely the Treasure Master’s grandson, Yi Ling. This youth, who was currently the administrator of Ten Thousand Treasure City, chatted with the Lunar Palace’s Holy Daughter.
Zi Ying smiled faintly. Now that she had such a huge client like Xiao Chen, there was no need to care about the gazes of others. It was better for her to gain great wealth silently.
When Xiao Chen saw Fu Hongyao beside the Lunar Palace’s Holy Daughter, he was slightly startled. If he did not guess wrong, the man beside her should be the strongest youth of the Sun Palace.
“Young Master Mo, we should discuss the details of the Secret Treasures containing dragon souls,” Zi Ying reminded in a soft voice, still smiling faintly.
Xiao Chen turned his head and smiled back. “Let’s go, then.”
In the VIP lounge of the Fifth City Lord, Xiao Chen asked about the market for Secret Treasures containing dragon souls, whether if it was as legends claimed.
The answer he received gave him a pleasant surprise. The saying “the dragons hide in the depths, the sea hides dragons” was not wrong at all.
Secret Treasures containing dragon souls were much easier to find in the Heavenly Starry Ocean than in the Kunlun Continent. Given this, the focus of the purchase would be placed on King Grade Secret Treasures.