The Demon God Smithy's sale of Low-Grade Spirit Artifacts had also caught the attention of Emperor Zhu Xuan of Great Feng.
After reading the report brought to him, Zhu Xuan considered it for a moment, then said to the shadows, "Go investigate the Demon God Smithy."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Prince Rong's residence.
Princess Zixue, Zhu Tingting, stood in a stone pavilion, once again remembering the events of that night in the Green Demon Mountain Range.
For the past several days, she had found herself thinking about that night in the Green Demon Mountain Range almost every day.
"Princess." Just then, her maid hurried in and said, "Haven't you been wanting to replace your sword with a Low-Grade Spirit Artifact? I just heard that a smithy is going to sell a Low-Grade Spirit Artifact sword."
Princess Zixue was astonished. "A smithy is selling a Low-Grade Spirit Artifact?"
"Yes," her maid replied. "It's a smithy called the Demon God Smithy, and they're selling two Low-Grade Spirit Artifacts—a sword and a saber."
"The Demon God Smithy said the highest bidder before six this evening will get them."
At once, Princess Zixue said, "Come on, let's go take a look." Then she headed for the Demon God Smithy with her maid.
When she arrived, she saw that the Demon God Smithy was already packed with people.
Looking through the crowd, Princess Zixue spotted a familiar, towering figure.
She froze when she saw that familiar, towering figure, then grew visibly excited. Wasn't that the senior who had saved her in the Green Demon Mountain Range that night?
Excitedly, she made her way through the crowd to the shop entrance and approached Qin Meng, who wore a mask. She bowed respectfully. "Senior."
Recognizing Princess Zixue, Qin Meng gave a slight nod.
"Thank you for saving my life that night, Senior," Princess Zixue said again, her face full of gratitude.
Qin Meng shook his head. "I told you, if you want to thank anyone, thank my young master."
Princess Zixue couldn't help remembering the figure wreathed in demonic energy.
The Demon God Smithy?
Was it opened by that person?
Princess Zixue gathered her thoughts and looked at the sword and saber hanging in the shop. "Senior, how much are these Low-Grade Spirit Artifact weapons?"
"Bidding starts at ten thousand gold taels. The highest bidder before six this evening gets them," Qin Meng replied.
Ten thousand gold taels—equivalent to one hundred thousand silver taels.
But Princess Zixue wasn't surprised by the price. An ordinary Low-Grade Spirit Artifact was generally worth ten thousand gold taels, while a better one could fetch as much as twenty thousand.
Time passed.
Six in the evening.
In the end, Princess Zixue bought the sword.
The saber was bought by the Third Prince of Great Feng.
During the bidding, two Xiantian Grandmasters tried to seize the sword and saber by force, but Qin Meng cut them both down with a single stroke.
After Qin Meng revealed that he was a Xiantian Seventh Level Grandmaster, some of the onlookers abandoned the idea.
After the Four Great Dharma Kings of the Demonic Cult had been killed by a masked expert wielding a long saber, the cult had spent the past few days gathering information. Soon, a cult member reported the news about Qin Meng to Prince of Southern Ming.
Prince of Southern Ming's eyes turned icy. "Xiantian Seventh Level. His weapon is a long saber."
"Cult Leader, I've confirmed that Wei Zheng of the Saber Sect wasn't near Ghost Mound when the Four Great Dharma Kings were killed," Demon Dragon General, the foremost of the Twelve Demon Generals, said coldly. "This expert from the Demon God Smithy matches the killer we're looking for in height, weapon, and strength."
Prince of Southern Ming fell silent for a moment. "Left Envoy, sorry for the trouble. Make the trip."
Demon Face Left Envoy, who was in the late stage of Xiantian Level Nine, stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Rest assured, Cult Leader. I'll bring him back."
Prince of Southern Ming said in a low voice, "Also, find out who owns the Demon God Smithy, and bring back Zhou Wei's head while you're at it."
Demon Face Left Envoy nodded and withdrew.
Dusk.
Looking at the more than twenty thousand taels of gold piled in the courtyard before him, Zhou Cheng remembered how he used to wander around gold shops, wanting to buy something but unable to afford it.
Zhou Cheng picked up a gold ingot. How many rings could this make?
Night fell.
Zhou Cheng took Qin Meng and the others to the Green Demon Mountain Range.
Normally, this was when he would soak in a medicinal bath, but since he had already broken through to the Qi Refining Realm, the medicinal baths meant for the Body Refining Realm no longer did him any good.
After arriving in the Green Demon Mountain Range, Zhou Cheng began hunting demonic beasts at full speed.
After his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique broke through to the Mastery Realm, its rate of advancement had slowed considerably. Even with its automatic daily cultivation, it only improved by one percent a day. It would take around a hundred days to reach the Transcendent Realm. But killing a hundred Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts could raise it by one percent, so now Zhou Cheng spent most nights hunting demonic beasts.
Every hundred Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts he killed also raised his Demon God Garment and God-Slaying Saber by one percent each.
After hunting demonic beasts for a while, Zhou Cheng headed to the cave in the dead of night.
The fierce winds in the cave no longer affected his Wind-Facing Willow Steps, but he still came by each night to walk around.
Today, as Zhou Cheng entered the cave, he suddenly noticed another figure inside!
"Who's there?" Startled, Zhou Cheng swung his God-Slaying Saber. His Demon-Subduing Saber Technique unleashed three blades of light, slashing toward the figure.
The other man seemed surprised by Zhou Cheng's saber technique and praised him. "Fine technique!" As he spoke, he flicked a finger, sending Zhou Cheng's three blades of light flying.
Tonight, Zhou Cheng had brought only Qin Meng and Lin Ru with him. The two attacked at once, one with a saber and the other with a sword, their blades cutting through the moonlight as they struck toward the figure.
But the man merely flicked both hands, knocking aside Qin Meng and Lin Ru's weapons as well.
"Xiantian Seventh Level!" The man looked at Qin Meng and Lin Ru in surprise.
After knocking their weapons aside, he made no move to attack. Instead, he stood there calmly, completely at ease.
By the moonlight, Zhou Cheng made out the man's features. He was a thin, white-haired old man with bright, sparkling eyes.
Seeing that the man meant no harm, Zhou Cheng cupped his fists. "May I ask your name, Senior? How did you find this cave?"
"Find it?" The man chuckled. "The things in this cave were left here by me decades ago."
Zhou Cheng froze, not expecting the man to be the cave's original owner.
The old man smiled. "I'm Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect. And what should I call you, young brother?" He looked at Zhou Cheng amiably.
"You're Senior Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect!" Zhou Cheng exclaimed in surprise.
Saint Ancestor Taiming of the Great Feng imperial family, Chen Long of the Sun Moon Sword Sect, the Shaolin monk Ming De, Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect, and the Mongol Kingdom's State Preceptor were the five Supreme Grandmasters of Great Feng.
The old man before him was none other than Xing Yao, one of the five Supreme Grandmasters—and the founder of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect.
Seeing Zhou Cheng's astonishment, Xing Yao smiled. "That's right. This old man is Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect." Then he asked, "And what should I call you, young brother?"
Zhou Cheng cupped his fists. "I'm Zhou Cheng. My father is Zhou Wei."
Before he could finish, Xing Yao exclaimed in surprise, "You're Zhou Cheng, the one said to possess astonishing Buddhist nature and be the reincarnation of the Great Buddha?"
Zhou Cheng felt rather embarrassed. "That's just a rumor."
Xing Yao chuckled. "That youngster Huineng shouldn't be telling lies."
The two chatted back and forth, finding plenty to talk about.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Xing Yao suddenly asked, "Young Zhou Cheng, the Buddhist sect has many rules, and you don't want to join it. Would you be interested in joining my Ten Thousand Stars Sect instead?"
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