Spirit Lake City

Spirit Lake City

Zhou Tong moved as fast as lightning, swift as a streak of light, like a purple sword beam soaring through the air—sharp beyond measure and utterly unstoppable.

He was cultivating one of the Ten Evils Treasure Arts—the Grass Character Sword Art.

One of the Ten Fiends, the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass, bore nine leaves, each one like a sword. It usually rooted itself in the earth and rarely moved, but once it did, sword qi could sweep across hundreds of millions of miles.

Although Zhou Tong could not yet match the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass of the late Immortal Ancient Era, whose sword qi spanned hundreds of millions of miles, his body was like a sword. With a single step, he could shoot forward a hundred and sixty or seventy zhang like a flying sword beam, faster even than riding a rainbow through the sky.

One step covered a li. Ten thousand steps in a day meant more than ten thousand li.

For small nations in the Southern Region of the Eastern Wasteland, such as Yan Kingdom, Zhou Tong could cross four or five of them in a single day.

Of course, the Southern Region of the Eastern Wasteland was simply too vast. Countless towering mountains and ridges filled it, along with endless ancient forests and strange, precious beasts. Some even possessed the strength of the Four Extremities Realm, and even Zhou Tong had to spend some effort dealing with them.

After traveling for three straight days, Zhou Tong finally arrived at a city.

Spirit Lake City was built on a plain beside the water and took its name from a nearby Spirit Lake.

Beneath this Spirit Lake lay a water vein rich in spiritual qi. As a result, cultivators gathered here in great numbers, making it exceptionally prosperous. This city could be considered one of the ten greatest cities in the Southern Region of the Eastern Wasteland.

At noon, Zhou Tong arrived in this great city. Walking along roads paved with bluestone, feeling the wisps of water-vein spiritual qi around him like mist, and watching the bustling crowds and hearing the endless cries of vendors, he suddenly felt a strange sense of time flowing past.

Zhou Tong looked around curiously.

Along the bustling streets, sprawling palaces appeared from time to time, with carved beams and painted rafters, resembling ancient imperial palaces. Occasionally, pavilions floated in midair, looking rather elegant.

"These must be the cultivation world's inns and restaurants!" Zhou Tong studied the palaces and floating pavilions with great interest.

The cultivation world really was different!

Even the restaurants floated in the sky. Without sufficient cultivation, one could not even get up there!

After walking for only a short while, a vast emerald-green lake suddenly appeared before Zhou Tong. Its waters were jade-green, like a huge emerald set into the heart of the city.

Many cultivators sat by the lake, breathing in and out as they cultivated.

"Cultivating here?" Zhou Tong was somewhat puzzled.

A middle-aged man beside him chuckled. "Young man, this is your first time in Spirit Lake City, isn't it? This place is known as Small Spirit Lake and connects to the Spirit Lake outside the city, so its waters are filled with spiritual qi. Many cultivators of the Dao Palace Realm come here to draw in spiritual qi and temper their Dao Palace!"

"I see!" Zhou Tong nodded.

So they were all poor cultivators. Those who truly had money would surely cultivate directly with Source. Of course, there were also cultivators with exceptionally weak constitutions, unable to withstand the impact of too much source qi...

After circling around Small Spirit Lake, Zhou Tong turned through several winding streets and soon reached an unnamed old alley. This was a free market, bustling beyond compare.

Before long, Zhou Tong spotted many good things.

Profound Yin True Water, Green Copper Gold Essence, Purple Spirit Jade Marrow, Demon Blood Wood, Star Sand, Three Yang Warm Jade... all kinds of precious materials were available.

Jade Snake Orchids, Dragon Blood Grass, Seven-Leaf Red Vines, Azure Moon Divine Lotuses, White Jade Dates, Purple Sun Spirit Ginseng... countless rare medicinal herbs filled the air with fragrant aroma.

"This really is a good place. There are quite a few fine goods here!" Zhou Tong could not help sighing.

"Young brother, buy a piece of Heavenly Star Stone! This is top-grade material for refining Magic Artifacts. Many Magic Artifacts belonging to Saint Lord Great Powers are refined from this material." An old man looked at Zhou Tong with a smile. "Young brother, your forehead is full and broad, your bearing heroic, your divine radiance soaring to the heavens. You will surely become a Saint Lord Great Power in the future!"

Zhou Tong glanced at the old man and immediately laughed. "You praise me so highly that Saint Lord Great Power must not be my limit. If I am refining a treasure, naturally I should refine a Dao Proving Treasure. Do you have any Immortal Metal for sale?"

"What are you thinking, young brother? How could a place like this possibly have Immortal Metal for sale?" The old man curled his lip, looking speechless. "I've done business here my entire life, and I've only ever seen Immortal Metal auctioned once. It was merely a thumb-sized piece of Dragon Pattern Black Gold, yet it was bid up to an astronomical price!"

"That was ten years ago... That piece of Dragon Pattern Black Gold was bought by the Feng Clan. Who knows which divine weapon they refined it into." At the mention of that auction, the old man grew excited and began boasting without pause.

"Where is the largest auction house in Spirit Lake City?" Zhou Tong asked curiously.

"The largest auction house in Spirit Lake City is naturally Yaoguang Holy Land's Yaoguang Treasure Hall!" the old man replied. "If you want to go take a look, young brother, it will be easy. Five days from now, Yaoguang Treasure Hall will hold a grand auction. I hear there will even be a King's Divine Weapon this time!"

"Oh? A King's Divine Weapon! That is rather interesting. Thank you, sir. I'll look around some more."

Zhou Tong smiled, left the stall, and continued wandering through the free market. He saw many good things, but did not make a move, because he... had no money!

I need to get some money!

Zhou Tong wandered about before heading straight toward the vicinity of Yaoguang Treasure Hall.

Yaoguang Treasure Hall was an enormous palace floating above Spirit Lake City. Zhou Tong casually put on a mask, then soared into the air and arrived directly at the entrance of the treasure hall.

Clouds and mist churned around layers of palaces. Spatial Dao patterns had been set up here, making the place far more expansive than it appeared from below.

In particular, the enormous palace at the center stood tall and majestic, like a mountain rising from the middle of the complex.

This was Yaoguang Treasure Hall. It could easily accommodate over a hundred thousand people.

Zhou Tong walked straight through the gates of one of the palaces.

As soon as he entered, Zhou Tong approached an attendant and asked, "I have something I need to auction here. Are there any procedures?"

The attendant glanced at Zhou Tong. She was already accustomed to people entering while wearing masks.

She immediately replied, "Just place the item you wish to auction here for registration. Very soon, Yaoguang Treasure Hall will send specialized personnel to appraise your auction item."

"I want to auction a scroll of scripture. Can you make that decision?" Zhou Tong asked in return.

If one asked what Zhou Tong possessed the most of, the answer was undoubtedly all kinds of scriptures.

With the Reincarnation Mirror in hand, he could freely peer into cultivators' past lives. Naturally, the number of scriptures he had mastered was terrifying. Throwing out any random scroll would earn him a large amount of Source.

"A scripture?" The attendant was immediately startled. Anything worthy of being called a "scripture" could serve as the inheritance of a clan or sect. At the very least, it would be a cultivation path created by a peerless Great Sage. Any auction involving a scripture was bound to be major business.

"Please wait in a private room for a moment. Someone will soon come discuss the matter with you!" The attendant did not dare neglect him and immediately led Zhou Tong to a private room in a side hall.

Then she hurried away.