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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Divine Trade Bazaars could be found everywhere in the Inner Circle and the Core Circle. There were even cities named the City of Heavens, which directly referred to the powers above.
Theoretically speaking, any cultivator with a sufficient amount of Contribution Points could enter the Vault of Providence and purchase anything they wanted through the Divine Opportunity Column. In reality, few people would spend their Contribution Points frivolously because it was a rare currency.
The reason the Divine Trade Association was a cultivator’s first choice of trading and not the Vault of Providence was very simple: the Divine Trade Association traded in Spirit Stones, not Contribution Points. Generally speaking, cultivators only spent their Contribution Points during emergencies or when they were purchasing rare items.
Regardless, the existence of the Divine Trade Bazaar and the City of Heavens made trading extremely convenient for cultivators. They also gave the independent cultivators the freedom they yearned for and the mortals a place to live.
This Divine Trade Bazaar was pretty huge, though the same could be said for all Divine Trade Bazaars within the Core Circle. It was because most of the cultivators in the Core Circle had already changed to a Heaven-Grade cultivation technique and so could afford to spend more, which in turn made the Divine Trade Association quite wealthy.
In the Outer Circle, the attendants were generally weak in terms of cultivation level. But here, everyone was at least a Seventh or Eighth-Order cultivator. More importantly, they were extraordinarily good-looking. Few people could walk into a building and feel unwelcomed.
Today, a female attendant was walking up to a young man and greeting him earnestly when suddenly, her smile froze on her face. That said, she quickly recovered and said with a polite bow, “Greetings, senior brother. Are you here to buy or sell?”
“I am here for both.”
“I see. This way please.”
A moment later, a manager who looked to be in his forties or fifties entered a private room. Although he was only a Ninth-Order cultivator, his Spiritual Power was pure and bright. It was clear that he was an old school Ninth-Order cultivator. Heavens know if he would ever be able to ascend to the Cloud River Realm.
The manager clasped his hand respectfully and said, “Greetings, Fellow Cultivator Yi Ye.”
The young man in the room was none other than Lu Ye. He was sipping a cup of tea before the manager came in.
By now, Lu Ye was used to being recognized at first glance. The Thousand Demon Ridge had spread his image across the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield since ages ago. Of course the Divine Trade Association would recognize him as well.
“May I know your surname?”
“I am Zhou.”
“Fellow Cultivator Zhou.”
“This Divine Trade Association is most honored by your arrival, and we would be even more honored if you would accept this gift of ours, Fellow Cultivator Yi Ye,” Manager Zhou said smilingly while pushing a Storage Bag toward Lu Ye.
Lu Ye was puzzled. This wasn’t the first time he had visited the Divine Trade Association, but it was certainly the first time he had received a gift from them.
Manager Zhou explained smilingly, “The Divine Trade Association is but a humble business place, and not a place of war or an asylum. You may see this as our token of apology.”
Now Lu Ye realized what was going on. The manager must have thought that he had come here to shelter from the Thousand Demon Ridge.
“Your humility is unbecoming, Manager Zhou. I am aware how powerful the Divine Trade Association is. Also, the Divine Trade Bazaar and the Cities of Heavens have always been places of peace and occasionally, shelters to people who wish to lie low a little. Why am I an exception to the rule?”
Manager Zhou replied, “That’s because you and the others are not the same, of course. As you said, we have sheltered plenty of people who seek to hide from their enemies, but none of them have ever singlehandedly triggered the Grand Sky Coalition and the Thousand Demon Ridge to mobilize at such a scale before you came. But of course, if you must hide in our humble abode, then the Divine Trade Association will accept your patronage. We promise that no one will be able to lay a finger on you so long as you remain within our premise. The Divine Trade Association promotes peaceful trading, but we are not afraid to use violence to enforce said peace.”
His statement was phrased in a way that was neither servile nor domineering. While the Divine Trade Association would rather stay out of trouble, they weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty if necessary.
Since the beginning, Lu Ye had thought that the Divine Trade Association was no simple organization. You could tell this from their chosen name alone. “Divine Trade Association”? “City of Heavens”? There were countless sects and groups in the Jiu Zhou, but no one had ever dared to name themselves by the powers that be except the Divine Trade Association. Not even Grand Sky Coalition or Thousand Demon Ridge had the balls to do so.
“Don’t worry, I am not here to seek shelter,” Lu Ye pushed the Storage Bag back to Manager Zhou.
The middle-aged man exclaimed in surprise, “My apologies for being presumptuous then.”
Lu Ye then handed him two Storage Bags and a jade slip before saying, “I would like to sell some stuff and to purchase some items.”
Manager Zhou accepted the items and checked them briefly. Despite his composure, he was unable to stop his eyes from twitching in shock when he saw the contents of the Storage Bags. Just how many people did Lu Yi Ye kill to amass this much loot? They were quite varied too.
At least the contents of the jade slip were pretty normal. Most of the items listed in the jade slips were common items such as ward flags. They had more than enough such items to fulfill his demand.
“When would you like to collect your items, fellow cultivator?”
“When would you like me to leave? It might surprise you, but I don’t want to be trapped in this premise either. I’ve had enough of that for the past two months!”
“Understood. Please give us a moment,” Manager Zhou said before turning to leave.
“One more thing. I would like to use your Divine Opportunity Column.”
“Of course, fellow cultivator. Please, follow me.”
Lu Ye followed Manager Zhou out of the private room. A female attendant then escorted him to the Divine Trade Association’s Sanctum of Providence.
Just like the other sects, the Divine Trade Association had their own Divine Opportunity Column. Even better, anyone regardless of affiliation could use their Divine Opportunity Column, though Lu Ye did hear that the user must pay a certain amount of Contribution Points to use it. In other words, there was a usage fee.
The Sanctum of Providence was completely empty. Lu Ye walked up to the Divine Opportunity Column and connected to the Vault of Providence immediately.
As expected, it cost fifty Contribution Points to connect to the Vault of Providence using the Divine Trade Association’s Divine Opportunity Column. It might not be a lot of Contribution Points, but it definitely wasn’t a small amount either. If he were to calculate it based on cultivator lives, he would have to kill a few Heaven-Grade cultivators to accumulate that amount.
Speaking of Contribution Points, he currently had nine thousand, eight hundred and forty three Contribution Points. This was after the usage fee was deducted.
He had spent four thousand Contribution Points when he purchased the ward flags at the Three Sages School. In less than three months, he had more than doubled that number.
He did not think there was anyone in the history of the Spirit Creek Battlefield who could match his earning speed.
There were many reasons why he was able to accumulate this many Contribution Points in the past, but as of late, it was because he had slain a lot of enemies. This was especially true when he was still a Heaven Seven cultivator. While killing a Heaven Seven cultivator only awarded ten Contribution Points, he was awarded twenty two Contribution Points for killing a Heaven Eight cultivator, and thirty six for a Heaven Nine cultivator.
The Heavens had always rewarded cultivators handsomely for killing enemies beyond one’s cultivation level.
Lu Ye considered his options for a moment before spending eight thousand Contribution Points to purchase forty Flame of Earthen Spirits. Now, he only had one thousand, eight hundred and forty three points left.
Right now, the biggest use of Contribution Points to him was buying Flame of Earthen Spirits to feed the Tree of Glyphs and unlock more Glyphs.
He did not spend everything he had because he had to save some for emergencies. In fact, he almost never spent everything he had unless the circumstances were unusual.
When he walked out of the Sanctum of Providence, he noticed that Manager Zhou was already waiting for him outside. They were definitely working fast in order to send Lu Ye away as soon as possible.
Manager Zhou handed the two Storage Bags back to Lu Ye and said, “These are the ward flags you have ordered, fellow cultivator. Please confirm that that is the case.”
Lu Ye opened the Storage Bags and probed its contents. A second later, he nodded in satisfaction.
He did not bother calculating if the ward flags he bought were of equal value to the items he sold. Considering the current circumstances, the Divine Trade Association would be crazy to try and scam him and risk delaying his departure even further. They were all hoping he would leave before the Thousand Demon Ridge and the Grand Sky Coalition decided to turn their premise into a battleground.
Lu Ye put away the Storage Bags and began striding toward the exit. Naturally, he was aware that a few pairs of eyes were glued to his back. They were obviously Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators who caught wind of his appearance and decided to check if the information was true.
He only counted five of them in the hall, but then again, it had only been half a tea time since he entered this premise. Hordes of Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators must be rushing to this bazaar at full speed right now. He would be surrounded if he did not leave as soon as possible.
The moment Lu Ye walked out of the building, he immediately summoned his Spirit Boat and blasted into the sky.
He had just taken off when the five Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators did the same thing and gave chase. At the same time, more Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were closing in from outside the bazaar.
For a while, auras of all colors and sizes streaked across the sky. While chasing after Lu Ye, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators did not forget to message their friends and allies.
Suddenly, someone cried out in warning, “Watch out! He’s coming after us!”
A group of Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators looked up and saw that that was indeed the case. Lu Ye had turned around and charged straight toward them.
They outnumbered Lu Ye at least dozens to one, but they couldn’t help but panic anyway. These people had participated in the aerial battle of Myriad Poison Forest and so were aware exactly how powerful the young man was. If even a thousand people were unable to stop Lu Ye from playing them like a fiddle, how could they hope to do anything with just dozens?
Avoiding combat was impossible though. The bastard flew faster than even a sword cultivator. To avoid combat was to be taken down one by one without resistance.
So, the Heaven Nine cultivator leading the group shouted, “Prepare for battle!”
They immediately spread out into formation and waited nervously for Lu Ye to enter their range.
As usual, the flying weapons and the spells were the first things to fly his way. Lu Ye nimbly weaved through the attacks while blocking those he couldn’t with Protection.
Standing at the forefront of the group were several body-tempering cultivators. They were all holding their defensive Spirit Artifacts with grim expressions.
Lu Ye slammed loudly into the body-tempering cultivator with the weakest cultivation level before bringing down his flame-wreathed saber, causing the poor guy to fall toward the ground like a meteor.
The worst part was that the collision didn’t slow him down in the slightest. Not only that, he passed through the enemy formation like they did not exist and drew a trail of blood with the Inviolable.
Even more people fell toward the ground after the body-tempering cultivator.
That single exchange had already cost them a few lives. Their expression grew even grimmer.
The Heaven Nine cultivator growled, “Do not panic! He can’t keep this up forever!”
Although they had lost several people, Lu Ye had withstood a good amount of attacks as well. The only reason he was unhurt was because they were blocked by Protection. Not only that, a fight like this cost him a ton of Spiritual Power. No one here was an idiot. They all knew that he could not remain unstoppable forever, not to mention that reinforcements would arrive if they could delay him long enough. It would be worth it if they succeeded.
