Yuan Sect Disciples!

The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King immediately unleashed purple lightning at the million-year level.

Dense bolts of lightning struck the inside of the Deep Sea Sky-Swallowing Beast's mouth.

The Deep Sea Sky-Swallowing Beast did not pause at all.

The purple lightning did not even pierce the membrane lining its mouth.

Its enormous maw snapped shut.

The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's massive, two-hundred-meter-long body was swallowed straight into its belly.

A violent explosion erupted on the sea's surface.

The Deep Sea Sky-Swallowing Beast's enormous body crashed back into the water, raising a tsunami hundreds of meters high.

It swung its tail and dove straight into the depths of the Chaotic Demon Sea.

The entire process lasted less than ten seconds.

Sea God Island.

The scepter in Bo Saixi's hand fell to the ground.

Her eyes widened, and her body went rigid.

"A Million-Year Soul Beast..."

"The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, just one step away from becoming a god..."

"Gone, just like that?"

Bo Saixi felt that everything she knew had been completely overturned.

The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had not lasted even a single exchange.

The million-year lightning attack he unleashed had not even caused that otherworldly sea beast any pain.

Life Profound Realm Perfection.

A creature at this realm treated a Million-Year Soul Beast from the Douluo Continent as the most ordinary of snacks.

All the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardians on Sea God Island sank into terror.

The sea they had always revered was as safe as a puddle compared with that world's Chaotic Demon Sea.

The image on the heavenly screen changed again.

[Number Five Explorer: Deep Sea Demonic Whale King.]

[Status: killed in action on the spot.]

[Current identity: reduced to a meal in the belly of a Demonic Beast of the Chaotic Demon Sea.]

As the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's fate was announced,

the light screen's perspective shifted to Number Three Explorer.

[Switching to the perspective of Number Three Explorer, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Master Ning Fengzhi.]

The image lit up.

Dressed in an elegant white robe, Ning Fengzhi appeared on a street in an extraordinarily prosperous, enormous city.

The street was paved with neatly laid bluestone slabs.

The surrounding buildings were tall and magnificent, and powerful fluctuations of Yuan Power radiated from every passing pedestrian.

[Location in the Martial Universe: Eastern Xuan Region, Yuan City, the principal city under the jurisdiction of the super sect, the Yuan Sect.]

Ning Fengzhi stood in a corner of the street.

He held his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul in his hand.

Seven-colored light flowed across his palm.

He was a purely support-type Soul Master with no offensive power whatsoever.

On the Douluo Continent, he had enjoyed an exalted position thanks to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's immense wealth and the protection of Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo.

But now, he had come alone to this completely unfamiliar world.

Ning Fengzhi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"The people here are extremely powerful."

"I can't expose the fact that I have no offensive power."

"I must first learn about the common currency and the distribution of forces here."

Ning Fengzhi put away the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

He straightened his clothes and headed toward a large shop beside the street.

He had only taken a few steps.

Three young men in black-and-white clothing approached him from ahead.

Each of the three young men had a peculiar "Yuan" emblem embroidered on his chest.

They were outer disciples of the Yuan Sect.

The three Yuan Sect disciples chatted as they walked.

The disciple in the lead casually swept his gaze over Ning Fengzhi.

His gaze suddenly stopped at Ning Fengzhi's waist.

An exquisitely crafted, seven-colored jade pendant hung at Ning Fengzhi's waist, a symbol of his identity as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's master.

The Yuan Sect disciple stopped and blocked Ning Fengzhi's path.

"You. Stop."

The leading Yuan Sect disciple spoke arrogantly, pointing at the jade pendant at Ning Fengzhi's waist.

Ning Fengzhi stopped, his brow furrowing slightly.

Maintaining the composure of a sect master, he asked in an even tone,

"Young heroes, what can I do for you?"

The Yuan Sect disciple looked Ning Fengzhi up and down.

"Not even a trace of Yuan Power fluctuations inside you. Utterly useless."

"That thing hanging from your waist contains a faint trace of spatial fluctuations."

"Hand it over. I'll trade it for a few Pure Yuan Pills."

The Yuan Sect disciple held out his hand, directly demanding Ning Fengzhi's sect master jade pendant.

Ning Fengzhi's expression changed slightly.

The jade pendant symbolized his identity and also stored the Gold Soul Coins and defensive items he carried with him.

"Young hero, this is merely a family heirloom ornament. It isn't worth much."

Ning Fengzhi tried to negotiate.

"So much pointless chatter."

A flicker of impatience crossed the Yuan Sect disciple's eyes.

He raised his right hand, powerful Yuan Power surging into his palm.

He swung a slap toward Ning Fengzhi's face.

The Yuan Sect disciple's palm whistled sharply through the air as it flew straight toward Ning Fengzhi's face.

Ning Fengzhi had no fighting ability whatsoever. He could not possibly evade this incredibly swift blow.

At that hair's-breadth moment,

a faint light flashed from the seven-colored jade pendant at Ning Fengzhi's waist.

A pale blue Soul Power barrier instantly activated, shielding Ning Fengzhi.

This was a Defensive Soul Tool specially made by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, capable of withstanding a Soul Emperor's full-powered strike.

Bang!

The Yuan Sect disciple's palm struck the blue barrier.

The barrier shook violently, its surface instantly covered in cracks.

Although it did not shatter, it exhausted all the energy stored within.

The tremendous impact drove Ning Fengzhi back five or six steps, slamming his back into a wall beside the street.

"Oh?"

The leading Yuan Sect disciple withdrew his hand, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes before his greed deepened.

"Not only does it have spatial fluctuations, it even comes with a defensive formation?"

"In the outer city, this thing could sell for at least a few hundred Yang Yuan Stones."

The Yuan Sect disciple drew the longsword at his waist and pointed its tip straight at Ning Fengzhi's throat.

"Old man, my patience has limits."

"Are you taking it off yourself, or am I cutting off your hands and taking it myself?"

Faced with the threat of death,

Ning Fengzhi displayed the exceptional mental fortitude of a sect master.

He did not cry out in panic.

He knew perfectly well that in this world, he had no means of resisting.

Trying to reason with them or putting on airs would only get him killed very quickly.

Ning Fengzhi slowly raised both hands, his movements remarkably steady.

He took the initiative to remove the seven-colored jade pendant from his waist and offered it with both hands.

"Young heroes, I'm merely an ordinary merchant who has fallen on hard times."

"I have no Yuan Power, and this jade pendant was left to me by my ancestors."

"Since it has caught your eye, young hero, please take it. Consider it my way of making a friend."

Ning Fengzhi's tone was exceedingly humble, his manner as deferential as possible.

The leading Yuan Sect disciple snatched the pendant.

Without any courtesy, he channeled his Yuan Power and forcibly broke through the weak Soul Power seal on the pendant.

Clatter.

The contents of the pendant's storage space were dumped straight onto the street's bluestone slabs.

A large pile of gleaming Gold Soul Coins rolled across the ground.

Besides the Gold Soul Coins, there were several hundred-year medicinal herbs precious on the Douluo Continent.

Looking at the Gold Soul Coins on the ground, the Yuan Sect disciple's face filled with disdain.

"Mundane gold and silver. Too hard even to wipe your ass with. What a pauper."

With a single kick, he sent those Gold Soul Coins, worth a fortune on the Douluo Continent, straight into the filthy ditch nearby.

Then he picked up the hundred-year medicinal herbs from the ground and sniffed them.

"The medicinal potency is so thin, they don't even qualify as spirit medicines."

The Yuan Sect disciple stuffed the herbs and empty jade pendant into his robe.

He glanced at Ning Fengzhi, who was leaning against the corner of the wall.

"At least you know what's good for you."

"Get lost. Don't be an eyesore on Yuan City's inner streets."

The three Yuan Sect disciples could not even be bothered to kill an ordinary person without Yuan Power and simply swaggered away.

The Douluo Continent.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's main hall.

"Bastards!!!"

Sword Douluo Chen Xin's hair bristled with fury, and his Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul burst straight out of his body.

Terrifying sword energy carved countless deep sword marks into the hall's bluestone floor.

"A few otherworldly brats still wet behind the ears dared to humiliate the sect master like this!"

Bone Douluo Gu Rong's eyes were also bloodshot, his clenched fists cracking.

Ning Fengzhi was the sky holding up the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the person they respected most.

Yet now, on a street in another world, a few small fry had held a sword to his throat and forcibly seized the jade pendant he wore.

He had even been forced to humbly call himself an ordinary merchant.

This humiliation hurt worse than killing them.

But after their extreme rage, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Those three Yuan Sect disciples on the light screen were merely people at the very bottom.

Yet the Yuan Power fluctuations they casually displayed were no weaker than those of Soul Saints on the Douluo Continent.

If Ning Fengzhi had refused to hand over the jade pendant, he would absolutely have been slain on the spot.

"The sect master did exactly the right thing."

Bone Douluo took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger.

"In that world, staying alive is what matters most."

"The sect master's wisdom and forbearance are far beyond those who know only how to swagger and fight."

The Martial Universe.

On a street in Yuan City.

Ning Fengzhi looked at the Gold Soul Coins that had been kicked into the filthy ditch but did not retrieve them.

He straightened his rumpled white robe and slowly continued along the edge of the street.

He began carefully observing this enormous city called Yuan City.

The street was exceptionally broad, wide enough for more than a dozen carriages to travel abreast.

The buildings on either side commonly stood dozens of meters tall, built entirely from hard black stone, with even faint formation patterns inscribed on their surfaces.

As Ning Fengzhi walked, he observed the pedestrians on the street.

This was his greatest advantage as the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Exceptionally keen observation and intelligence-gathering abilities.

He noticed the ordinary vendors here, the farmers carrying shoulder poles laden with vegetables.

Their physical constitutions were all extraordinarily powerful, and faint energy fluctuations accompanied every breath.

On the Douluo Continent, this was at least the physical strength of a Soul Grandmaster at level twenty or thirty.

As for the warriors carrying weapons and wearing fitted combat attire.

Pick any one of them, and the pressure of their energy rivaled that of a Soul Emperor or even a Soul Saint on the Douluo Continent.

They aren't on the same energy level at all.

Ning Fengzhi silently assessed the situation.

The energy on the Douluo Continent is too thin, leaving martial masters with an extremely low physical ceiling.

The Heaven and Earth Energy here is exceptionally dense. Even without deliberately cultivating, ordinary people's bodies are nourished until they become extraordinarily strong.

He continued forward.

He passed a massive shop called the Hundred Medicines Workshop.

Ning Fengzhi stopped at the entrance, his gaze turning toward the trading board hanging inside.

The prices of various medicinal ingredients were written on it.

[Grade-three spirit medicine: fire ganoderma. Price: five hundred Pure Yuan Pills.]

[Grade-four spirit medicine: profound ice grass. Price: two thousand Pure Yuan Pills.]

"Pure Yuan Pills..."

Ning Fengzhi recalled what the Yuan Sect disciple had said earlier.

He immediately deduced that this world's common currency was not gold or silver, but a type of pill condensed from pure energy.

Money had no purchasing power here.

Only resources that could directly increase one's strength served as hard currency.

Ning Fengzhi continued wandering the streets.

He saw the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, which sold weapons.

He saw the Mercenary Guild, which specialized in posting bounty missions.

For a full half day.

Relying on his exceptional intelligence, without asking anyone a single question.

Through sheer observation of transactions on the streets, conversations among passersby, and notices in shops.

Ning Fengzhi pieced together Yuan City's most basic rules of survival.

Strength reigns supreme. The weak are meat for the strong.

There is no rule of law, only the rules of the sects.

Ning Fengzhi walked into a deserted alley and leaned against the wall to rest.

He had expended a great deal of physical stamina.

I have no offensive power. I can't hunt Demonic Beasts outside the city to obtain resources.

Nor do I have the skills to refine medicine or forge.

A calm light flickered in Ning Fengzhi's eyes.

My only advantages are my perspective and my mind.

Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda can't be used to fight in this world.

Its innate treasure-appraisal ability is my only bargaining chip for gaining a foothold here.

Ning Fengzhi stood up.

He walked out of the alley, his gaze locking onto an enormous building at the end of the street.

The building occupied a vast area. Carriages and horses streamed past its entrance, and everyone coming and going was either rich or influential.

A huge sign bearing gold lettering hung directly above the building.

Myriad Gold Auction House.

The Douluo Continent.

Inside the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Seeing Ning Fengzhi head toward the auction house, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo both breathed a sigh of relief.

"The sect master has finally found his direction."

A trace of admiration flashed in Sword Douluo's eyes.

"This is what's so formidable about the sect master."

"Any other Soul Master transported to a world under such immense pressure, stripped of their Martial Soul's advantages, would probably have broken down long ago."

"But the sect master figured out that world's economic system in just half a day."

"He's going to the auction house to put his greatest strengths to use: treasure appraisal and business operations."

The field at Shrek Academy.

Watching Ning Fengzhi's actions, Tang San could not help nodding as well.

"Sect Master Ning really is clever."

"With no ability to protect himself, he's attaching himself to a large commercial organization and using his mind to create value."

"That's the most rational way to survive."

In the images on the sky screen.

Ning Fengzhi strode up to the entrance of the Myriad Gold Auction House.

Four guards in heavy armor stood at the entrance.

All four had reached the Earth Origin Realm in cultivation.

On the Douluo Continent, this was equivalent to having four Soul Kings guard the door.

Ning Fengzhi showed no timidity whatsoever.

Maintaining his refined bearing, he walked straight toward the entrance.

"Stop."

One guard extended his spear, barring Ning Fengzhi's way.

The guard looked Ning Fengzhi up and down.

"This is the Myriad Gold Auction House. Unauthorized people are not permitted inside."

"Show your proof of assets or an invitation letter from the Myriad Gold Merchant Association."

Ning Fengzhi's expression remained unchanged.

He looked at the guard, his tone measured yet carrying a note of confidence.

"I have no invitation letter."

"But I possess an exceptionally rare special ability, and I would like to make a deal with your auction house's manager."

The guard sneered.

"Plenty of people come to the Myriad Gold Auction House every day hoping to bluff and swindle their way in."

"You don't have so much as a trace of Yuan Power. What special ability could you possibly have?"

"Get going. Don't force us to act."

Ning Fengzhi did not retreat.

He knew this was his only chance.

He directly activated the Martial Soul within his body.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.

The seven Soul Rings were not released.

But a crystal-clear, seven-story pagoda radiating seven-colored light floated directly above his palm.