Wu-Ming patiently explained what else he knows to Ryu as they navigated their way through the endless masses of people. The Thousand Swords Graveyard under the iron clad leadership of the mythical swordsman has always been an enigma, no one has challenged him successfully and survived. To all swordsmen, he will always be the pinnacle that they will attempt to surpass. The number one swordsman has no ambition of conquering and always secluded himself in his territory. He is also the undisputed number one blacksmith on the whole continent. He is able to forge weapons suitable for any experts, each one is a masterpiece that’s able to grow along with its user. This is one unique characteristics that separates him from the rest of the blacksmiths on the continent. Producing a weapon with an essence is already a great accomplishment but producing one that’s sentient and have the ability to level up with its owner is a completely separate matter.

For a small fee, the greatest swordsman always allow all major powers to contend for his creations every now and then. Throughout the passage of time since he began this odd tradition, only a single item was up for grab. Usually only the top experts from each power would compete for it so what’s happening this time was unprecedented in history. According to Wu-Ming, his clan along with any significant people with power have gotten an anonymous tip that hundreds of items made by Musashi, the invincible swordsmen himself, will be up for grabs. The prizes will be decided by special events that have yet to be announced. This was suspicious enough that Shaolin and Wudang which never bothered with the greatest swordsman’s affairs sent a group of delegates over to observe. With the majority of the continent’s experts gathering, a slight mishap could start a bloody war that could devastate the whole continent.

Ryu and Wu-Ming entered the crowd of anxious cultivators waiting for the opening of the Thousand Swords Graveyard. There were countless experts out there already so their arrival made no difference, no one paid any attention to them. Wu-Ming said that there is a strict no fighting policy at the border, any of the guards from the Miyamoto Clan can ban you from entering if you cause a disruption!

“Did you hear? A few sects have declared war on the Obscure Shadows Thief Guild!”

“I heard it’s because that thief guild secretly robs their clients and even kidnaps some for extortion!”

“Bleh, it is buyer’s remorse I tell ya. The Obscure Shadows Thief Guild released all the transactions it had done with the accusers. Take that Limitless Moon Sect for example, it was buying slaves from them apparently.”

“Who knows what to believe?”

“This is no laughing matter. Three of the corpses turned out to be elders from my sect! Our headmaster is furious! If it wasn’t for the non-fighting rule issued by the Miyamoto clan, my Bloody Rose Sect would fight that damned guild to the death!”

Ryu walked by that particular group of people without commenting. Ever since Ryu ruined Wu-Feng’s operation on robbing and killing off his own guild’s client, his indecent acts must have been revealed. Naturally there would be outrage and revolts. It seems like the victims’ backings and the guild are having a massive falling out.

[Ryu stopped some rogue members of the Obscure Shadows Thief Guild from killing their clients, revealing their diabolical actions to the world in the process]

“Let’s go look at the market place organized by the Miyamoto Clan!” Wu-Ming suddenly said as they walked by a huge structure. “I didn’t manage to take a good look around last time since my treacherous clan members lured me into a trap but there are some rare treasures you won’t find even in auction houses.”

The market itself was actually inside a small castle they just walked by. It was specially made just for this event. The gate itself was already two hundreds meter wide with dense masses of people going in and out chaotically.

“Over there are the Miyamoto clan guards. They take twenty percent commission of all the items sold. That’s why there is no entrance fee.” Wu-Ming explained. “This whole area belongs to the legendary swordsman so naturally they are guarded by his clan. Only someone who’s tired of living would cause trouble here.”

“Ah I see.” Ryu said with a nod. There was quite a few groups of people in azure kimonos and loose pants with a badge on their chests patrolling around. Ryu could sense instantly that the purple badge was not an ordinary item, it seems a thread of Qi is linked to the badge from the earth itself.

“That purple badge is not an ordinary item. Within the Miyamoto Clan’s territory, that badge will have a restraining ability which can lower the target’s cultivation immensely. So it’s best not to anger the guards.” Wu-Ming explained.

“Anyways, this fortress has five floors. With each floor comes rarer items but you’ll have to demonstrate your wealth and background to enter it.”

Ryu headed forward with Wu-Ming leading the way. Inside the fortress contained a huge open area that could let twenty thousand walk around without trouble. Having such a huge building made for the sake of taking twenty percent commission on the items sold shows how much profit they are making.

The majority of the people stayed on the first three floors. Obviously those items were more common and much cheaper than the ones on the fourth and fifth. When they were about to enter the fourth floor, they were stopped by the guards to show some proof they could actually afford to purchase such items.

Ryu was about to take out his storage ring when Wu-Ming put his hand forward, taking out a huge daunting battle axe. The blade was rectangular shaped with a simple handle at the bottom. Only a few letters were engraved on it ‘Unstainable Fierce Lion of the North by Hongo’. Ryu instantly felt a strange vibe from it, there must be an essence within this weapon! The essence felt like a wild beast thirsting for battle and blood.

“You are one of the Four Rising Stars? I heard that the infamous hermit blacksmith created a war axe with a lion’s essence just for you, it seems like the rumors are true.” The guard said with amazement. Excluding the legendary swordsman, there are only a handful of people that can craft weapons with essences. The hermit Hongo is one of them. Essences contains the Qi and spirit of a being that has reached Emperor Domain in the past at least, infusing them into items takes remarkable skills.

“Wu-Ming from the Golden Lion Clan? Of course you guys may enter. In fact, let me lead you straight to the fifth floor.” Another guard said humbly. From what Ryu could tell, Wu-Ming’s reputation is even more prestigious than he thought because the demeanor of the smug guards changed when they realized who he was. The pair were allowed through to the top instantly while others still have to produce their wealth to get by.

“Wow you are like a legend.” Ryu praised.

“Hahaha it’s no big deal. I am just a lucky person that got a little famous a recently.” Wu-Ming said with a modest smile. There were significantly less people on the fifth floor but the number of precious items increased dramatically. Even the customers’ cultivation spiked, the lowest were mid King Domain, making Ryu to be at the bottom of the pack.

Ryu was extremely surprised, everything on this floor were all rank 7 at least, King Domain items lying around everywhere! A lot of items containing essences were also on sale. The prices set were astronomical! The two walked around and Ryu realized that this was a rare experience for him to see the top experts of the continents along with valuable items that ordinary won’t show up anywhere. He can’t even imagine what he’ll witness at the battles for the priceless treasures offered by the legendary swordsman.

“Ohh Era Fervor Leafs from plants from the Desolate Continent? How much for these?” Wu-Ming asked one merchant as he finally set his eyes on something. A pile of ordinary grey leafs were on sale but Ryu could see that they were brimming with sharp traces of Qi. If the dried up leafs of this plant contained Emperor Domain Qi, Ryu couldn’t even imagine what the real plant was like.

“You have a good eye my friend. A hundred thousand gold coins each. These rare leafs were personally brought over by our guild master from the Britannica Continent, the journey took a hundred years! Natural ingredients are much better than those medicinal crap.”

“How about I buy ten for eight hundred fifty thousand?” Wu-Ming bargained.

“Make it nine hundred thousand and it is yours but only because I like you young man.”

“Haha alright thanks!” Wu-Ming took out the gold coins for the purchase. Wu-Ming then started bargaining for other ingredients that caught his eye. It turns out that Wu-Ming was also an alchemist.

During this time Ryu scouted around for any items that might help him out. Looking at essences overpriced at forty million gold, Ryu was surprised that a few experts were contemplating buying them. Essences will start leaking Qi once they are refined so usually a cultivator will have to go into secluded training for hundreds of years to finish refining one. The problem lies afterwards, after absorbing the Qi from an essence, unless your original Qi was compatible then your Qi reservoir will contain foreign Qi that can’t be refined. Thus slowing your leveling rate greatly. Even Ryu who can exponentially shorten the absorption process has a bit of trouble refining and conforming the foreign Qi into his own. This was definitely a risky and expensive cultivating method.

“I’m telling you, this is a peak Emperor Domain weapon! The essence within this dagger is unparalleled. Fifty million gold coins is already a big loss for me!” A young man holding a crimson red stiletto said. It was the first time Ryu had seen someone looking as young as him but also in the King Domain.

“I don’t know about this…” A middle aged man said slowly as he inspected it. This man was in the mid Emperor Domain and had a dashing white robe that gave off a holy aura.

“Do you have any emperor grade armor?” The young man asked and the middle aged man nodded as he partially revealed a blue scaled armor beneath his robe. Without a warning he slashed at the middle-aged man’s shoulder area and a soft clank could be heard. A piece of his armor fell on the ground almost immediately.

“This is…” The middle-aged man said in shock. The bystanders also gasped in surprise. The young man was only in early King Domain while the middle-aged man was in the Emperor Domain. What transpired just now shows that the dagger itself is already very lethal at the hands of an entry King Domain cultivator, what would happen if an Emperor Domain expert used it?

“Didn’t I tell you that this Gutripper of Reckoning is the best purchase you’ll ever make?” The young man said with a grin. He could tell that the deal has been sealed, the dagger will be sold.

Ryu slightly shook his head and walked away. Unbeknownst to the crowd, the young man’s cultivation was hidden very well. The dagger itself was actually a low grade Emperor Domain weapon with a very faint essence. It should not have been able to cut through the armor that was of superior quality. Through Ryu’s special vision he could tell that somehow during the execution of the slash, an unknown type of Qi was injected briefly into the blade. This happened in less than a millisecond so no one sensed it. It seems like there are some dishonest sellers here.

Every stall seemed to have attracted a few potential buyers except one, this piqued Ryu’s interest as he neared. Two purple robed figures were sitting over a plain black cloth with random items placed around them. Although nothing looked out of the ordinary, the crowd seemed to avoid the pair. Upon closer inspection, Ryu noticed the impossible prices asked for the items. The cheapest item for a single stick labeled as “Indigo Magic Wand” was selling for ninety million gold coins!

Ryu heard a few whispers as he walked near the stall.

“Are they even real magic users?

“Sheesh, I heard powerful magicians can read minds!”

“That’s just a myth isn’t it?

“By the off chance they are magicians, you shouldn’t offend them. They can fight off a group of fighters in the same domain with ease.”

“Why are magic items so expensive these years anyways? A few centuries ago the prices were more reasonable.”

“Haven’t you heard? There seems to be some sort of plague running rampant on the Magic Continent! The almighty Magic Continent appears to have fallen on hard times. They say that the Dark Continent had a hand in this.”

“Even those cocky magicians can’t do anything about it? Wow, what if it comes over to our continent?”

“They say that this plague of unknown origins only targets magic users! Retribution I tell you, magic users always think they are a cut above the rest of us.”

Pretending not to hear the gossips, Ryu arrived in front of the stall and parsed through the items. What Ryu was interested in was not the magic items that give versatile abilities which regular items don’t have. He was after the basics of magic, how to read incantations! From Alexis’s collection of magic manuals, a pseudo magician can cast magic by channeling Qi through certain magic spells. Alexis himself was not a true magician but with his profound cultivation, he was able to unleash devastating magic attacks. Ryu was extremely interested in magic but unfortunately he can’t read the incantations at all. Alexis did not leave a basic magic manual that teaches Ryu how to read any of the spells so he couldn’t practice magic.

Unfortunately there was nothing that taught magic so Ryu decided to inspect items that were worth over a hundred million gold coins for fun before leaving. The owners whose faces were hidden behind their hoods were silent the whole time. All of these magic items on display contained traces of essences but the overbearing aura that comes with the essences could not be found easily. No wonder not a lot of customers gave these magic items a lot of thought. Wu-Ming’s weapon earlier gave off an aura of a fierce wild beast similar to his own aura but the items Ryu held had a subtle gentle aura that made them seem deceivingly weak.

The last item that piqued Ryu’s interest was a stone tablet with a polished surface. On it contained hieroglyphics that look like random scribbles to most people including Ryu. In fact there were no traces of Qi coming from the tablet at all. Yet somehow Ryu was drawn to it more than the other items he inspected, something about the eccentric symbols was alluring. Before he realizes it, his hand brushed against the tablet and suddenly a brilliant white light lit up from the tablet and shot towards the ceiling. In less than a second, a series of strange symbols in blue appeared inside the white light.