Leonardo seems to be an expert of the Heaven Domain and practices a type of breathing technique that conceals his real cultivation by many levels. To Ryu, this type of trick would never work though.

“Come on drink bro! It’ll be on me.” Leonardo said as he patted Ryu’s back. With a wave of his hand, all the tables that have been overturned by their fight was placed back to their original place.

“If you insist.” Ryu said with a smile. Something about Leonardo’s behavior made him seem trustworthy. It’s like he has nothing to hide. At least Ryu didn’t sense anything malicious about this Leonardo so he decided to hang around for a bit.

The shop owner of the stall quickly came and thanked the two. He was an old man in his sixties that was full of smiles. Obviously he was grateful for the two to step in. Usually cultivators are too proud to lower themselves to kill ordinary humans. Especially cultivators from a sect since it’ll lower their reputation. However if they did want to kill an ordinary human with no backing, no one will stop them.

“Gentlemen, let me bring out the finest dishes and wine we have.” The owner who’s also the chef said. He’s name was Min-Wa. His two daughters who worked as waitresses also came to thank them.

“You must be from out of town “Dragon” and you might want to pick a better nickname haha. You may call me big bro if you like. Are you here to spectate or compete for the sword crafted by the greatest swordsman?” Leonardo said as he smiled brightly at Ryu. It seems like he earnestly wants to have a good chat.

“You must be kidding. With so many experts going, how could I hope to compete?” Ryu replied politely. Ryu was shy by nature and had a bit of difficulty speaking to strangers.

“That might not be the case. There has been instances in the past where it was merely a test of talent and skills. After looking around for so long, you are the first decent expert I’ve seen. Putting down a Heaven Domain disciple in less than a second is not even something I could do. Also to look this young, little bro over here must be extremely talented.” Leonardo said as he raised a cup of wine towards Ryu. Ryu reluctantly did the same and forcefully gulped down the wine.

“There’s three weeks before entry to the Thousand Swords Graveyard opens. Have you found a place to stay yet? No? Stay with me then. I’ve booked a five bedroom room with a few friends.” Leonardo rambled on. Leonardo was the talkative type and didn’t even wait for Ryu to reply. “Tonight there’s actually a big auction going on at The Xin’s Auction house in this city. All the major powers in town will be attending in hopes of getting an advantage at the competition. Let’s go together!”

“Well I…” Ryu had no reason not to go but he would prefer to be in a less crowded space.

“Rumor has it that a Three-Colored Lightning Fruit and Dragon Hawk Berserk pills will be there. This fruit is extremely practical for lightning practitioners and the pills can raise your level up by four if you are in the Heaven Domain and two if you are in the King Domain. Even if you don’t want to bid, it’ll be fun to watch!” Leonardo exclaimed as he drank more wine. Ryu politely refused his attempts at refilling his bowl.

Although Leonardo did most of the talking, the longer they chatted the more Ryu like this Leonardo person. He was very open and had a lively personality. The food from the stall was also quite exceptional, Ryu hadn’t had a proper meal in a long time since as a cultivator he could already convert Qi into calories. He just needed a few sips of water and small bites of fruits every now and then.

After half an hour of chatting, eating and drinking. More disciples from the Resilient Gaia Sect came to look for their seniors. These disciples were only in the Master Domain and were most likely brought along to be servants. Their jaws dropped so low that it looked like it dislocated. Two seed disciples from the core court were knocked unconscious on the ground. One was even buried a meter deep.

“Hey, bring these two losers back to your sect and tell them not to cause any more trouble.” Leonardo shouted as he threw them a crystal. “I got copies of that! If they dare make trouble then I’ll distribute it everywhere!”

It turns out that Leonardo was secretly filming what was happening with an image crystal. It clearly showed that the two from Resilient Gaia Sect was out of place, if they come back for revenge then their reputation will be smeared. These crystals were expensive and usually cost a few thousand gold. Leonardo acted like it was nothing and said that between the two storage rings he retrieved from the two defeated core disciples, he’ll get his money back and more.

Just before the two left, Leonardo generously paid the food stall’s owner three thousand gold coins. This was of course from the storage ring of the defeated Resilient Gaia Sect disciple. The food stall owner even got on his knees to thank them. Three thousand gold for a commoner could last them over a decade if they don’t spend lavishly.

“You might think I’m a thief but in this world people only acknowledge those with strength not those with kind hearts. Someone has to stand up for the little guys. I am plenty rich myself, I will be donating everything from this ring.” Leonardo said with a laugh. This straightforward answer had left a good impression with Ryu since he sensed no deception in his words.

The three Infinity Tomes had been playing with each other ever since they met by spinning around or playing tag. They couldn’t fly further than two meters away from Ryu though. After reaching the King Domain, the tomes also seemed to gain another level of sentience.

What do you think of this guy? Ryu asked mentally. The tomes instantly opened up and showed three check marks and went back to playing.

“Wow.” Ryu said as he glimpsed at the Xin’s Auction house. It was a grand mini palace that can probably house twenty to thirty thousand people. He had heard that only the larger cities, metropolises and capitals have them. The Xin’s family has a monopoly of the auction business, their fair reputation has been set in stone from millenniums of years in business. They have countless experts that usually rivals the city’s lord stationed at each auction house to protect the goods.

The dual paid an entrance fee of a hundred gold coins each and quickly took their seats. The auction house was already half packed. Leonardo handed Ryu a mask telling him that it’s best to conceal their faces in case they desire something.

“The auction house holds a few auctions daily but those are for the trivial stuff. For the more precious treasures, they auction them once a week such as today.” Leonardo explained as Ryu surveyed his surroundings. There were indeed a lot of experts in this hall. The weakest were Grandmaster Domain experts. The majority were in early Heaven Domain. There were even some in entry King Domain.

On the second floor there were VIP seats which only special guests that pay an exorbitant price could reside. After paying special attention to his surrounding, Ryu noticed special magical symbols embedded within the walls and even the ground beneath him.

This Xin family isn’t simple. The whole place has been fortified by an Enchanter! Ryu thought to himself. Enchanters are extremely rare. Only one out of a hundred thousand cultivators might have the potential to learn it but first they’ll have to find a master willing to teach them. Normal sects don’t have an Enchanter so they have to pay an excessive price to invite one over to fortify their main base.

There were many groups in this auction hall today. Some were from sects as per their badges. Some were odd people with spiky hair and weird costumes. There were foreigners with blond hair and bigger builds. Then there was a group on the bottom right that emitted an intense killing intent. No one else wanted to sit by them. Each member of that group was carrying large metal disks, an odd weapon that’s rarely seen. After one hour, the auction house was finally packed. The multiple discussions that were ongoing suddenly died down when a middle aged man in expansive robe walked on stage.

“There is only seven items to be auctioned today but I assure you, they are rare treasures that can’t be found by normal means. There’s rare materials from other continents, latest magical items crafted from mages, top medicinal from the Spirit Medicine Workshop, rank 7 martial arts, and much more. Without further ado, let’s begin!” The old man said calmly. His voice was backed by his deep internal energy which amplified his voice tenfold.

“That’s Qi-Yan, a King-Domain expert from the Xin family!” Leonardo whispered to Ryu. Actually without his explanation, Ryu easily sensed this person’s cultivation to be close to mid King Domain. Whoever attempts to create trouble in this auction house would be looking for death.

“The first item is an agility martial art called The Flashing Unicorn. It’s a rank 7 martial art skill, after mastering this art you’ll be able to move with the grace and power of the unicorns. This skill’s reputation speaks for itself, let’s get started” Qi-Yan shouted and banged his gavel. A female attendant in a fancy red dress held the manual in her hands for all to see.

“I heard that this skill allows you to move in a flash of light that is effective against dark elements. Are you interested Dragon bro?” Leonardo asked Ryu. One of the eight stances of the Drunken Dragon Fist is the Riding the Eight Dragons technique which is an unranked skill, meaning it has the potential to reach at least rank 15. Ryu didn’t need this agility skill.

“I don’t need it but you definitely don’t need it correct?” Ryu replied as he recalled Leonardo’s movements during the earlier fight. Leonardo replied with a smile as he dodged the question. The bid started from a thousand gold but escalated to a million within a few minutes. Rank 7 skills are something that only prestigious sects, noble families, famous clans or renowned experts would have. It ended up being sold to an independent expert in the peak Heaven Domain for nearly two million gold.

“The Xin’s family always have an inn nearby their auction house that charges a hefty price. They guarantee the buyer’s safety as long as you reside there. An ingenious business idea right? That’s also where I’m staying too.” Leonardo said with a chuckle. Ryu nodded, it was brilliant idea. If the buyer just walked out of here, he’ll probably be slaughtered the moment he’s out of eye sight from the auction house.

“The next item is a rank 7 armor from the infamous Black Heart Blacksmith of the Feng Province. Although this set of armor contains no essences, it can save your life against attacks from even King Domain beasts!” Qi-Yan shouted out.

This caused even more of an uproar then the earlier item. Mastering a rank 7 skill in three weeks was impossible but this armor could definitely give someone an instant advantage in Musashi’s competition. The bid shot up to over two million after ten minutes. Only two groups were bidding at this point. Ryu wasn’t paying much attention since he already has rank 7 armors from Alexis’s collection and it slows him down.

One of the group was about to win when the Infinity Tomes jumped in front of Ryu’s view to get his attention. The bidder that was winning at the moment was from the Resilient Gaia Sect! They are seated in the VIP booth above. Seeing how his previous encounters with the sect was unpleasant, Ryu decided to punish them a bit.

“Two million and one hundred thousand gold coins!” Ryu shouted suddenly. His voice was clear and backed by a steady stream of Qi.

“Who is that?” People around said as they whispered amongst themselves.

The head of the Gaia Sect, Xiao-Wang, seated in one of the VIP booths gritted his teeth and shouted with Qi infused in his voice, “Two million and two hundred thousand gold coins!”

For some reason Xiao-Wang was already agitated. It seems like he heard the news about his disciples getting humiliated in public.

“Two million and four hundred thousand gold coins!” Ryu replied calmly, he backed his voice with even more Qi to match Xiao-Wang’s voice.

“Two million and six hundred thousand gold coins!” Xiao-Wang angrily shouted back. He had pride as the master of the Resilient Gaia Sect, if he backs down now then he’ll be the laughing stock around town.

“Two million and seven hundred thousand gold coins!” Ryu replied in the same calm manner.

“Three million gold coins!” Xiao-Wang shouted as he slammed his hand down on the railings. Ryu simply smiled and stopped bidding. Ryu was actually using his specialization from the Mind Tome, Telepathy, to see where Xiao-Wang would draw the line. Because they are in a safe public place, Xiao-Wang didn’t guard himself completely with Qi so this skill worked.

“Going once… going twice…sold to the Resilient Gaia Sect for three million!” Qi-Yan said with a smile. The value of this armor is indeed a little over two million but thanks to a mysterious bidder, it was pulled up to three million.

It was only now that Xiao-Wang realized that he had been toyed. Everyone knows that a set of rank 7 armor is roughly only two million, maybe two and a half at most.

First my two stupid core disciples makes a fool of themselves, they can’t even bully people right. They even got recorded! Getting revenge is not even an option. Complete utter useless fools! Because they pissed me off so bad, I even got suckered into buying an overpriced armor! Xiao-Wang was seething in his mind.

“Wait… I want to see proof that the youth below actually has two million and seven hundred thousand gold coins.” Xiao-Wang yelled out. Qi-Yan frowned but complied, after all the Xin’s Auction house had the reputation of fairness.