Lu Han's appearance immediately stirred an uproar among the surrounding crowd. Clearly, both the Sword King Yuansu and Lu Han were names that rang in their ears like thunder.
The Sword King Yuansu was one of the few King Realm sword cultivators here. Moreover, he was an extraordinary sword cultivator who had comprehended nascent Sword Intent to perfection, standing just one step away from comprehending Sword Intent. Once he did, he would rank alongside top experts such as the Linyue City Lord. Even now, without Sword Intent, his strength far surpassed King Realm experts such as the master of the Dusk Moon Auction House.
Countless people wished to become his disciples, but the Sword King Yuansu's standards were exceedingly high. To date, he had taken only two disciples, and Lu Han was one of them.
At Lu Han's words, many people cast envious looks at Su Lianxin.
This girl truly was fortunate. Now it remained to be seen whether she could withstand a single sword strike from Young Master Lu Han.
As the Sword King Yuansu's second disciple, Young Master Lu Han possessed exceptional talent in the sword Dao. Never mind cultivators of his own realm-even those whose realms exceeded his were not necessarily his match.
Withstanding one sword strike from him sounded simple, but it was anything but.
Watching the youth begin talking as though everything had already been settled the moment he arrived, Su Lianxin was utterly speechless.
When did I ever say I wanted to take your master as mine?
Looking straight at him, Su Lianxin slowly said, "First, I don't know who your master is, and I've never considered becoming his disciple."
"Second."
Her words stopped abruptly, replaced by a vast streak of sword light that suddenly slashed past Lu Han's side. The biting gale scraped painfully across his face.
The sudden sword strike silenced everyone on and below the platform.
On the platform, Lu Han stared blankly at the white-robed girl a short distance before him, the horror in his eyes almost spilling out.
That strike... he had not even had time to react.
In other words, if that strike had been aimed at him, he would already be dead.
Of course, that was not the most important part. What mattered most was that within that streak of sword light, Lu Han had actually sensed Sword Dao True Intention beyond his understanding...
That trace of Sword Dao True Intention made his hair stand on end. Even the sword at his waist trembled, as though it had encountered something utterly terrifying.
As a sword cultivator, he could not have been more familiar with that trace of Sword Dao True Intention.
It was precisely what he dreamed of comprehending... Sword Intent!
Not nascent Sword Intent, but true Sword Intent!
The feeling that trace of Sword Dao True Intention gave him was countless times stronger than his master's!
His master, the Sword King Yuansu, had already comprehended nascent Sword Intent to perfection. One step further would bring him to true Sword Intent.
Within the streak of sword light Su Lianxin had unleashed, he had clearly sensed Sword Dao True Intention far above his master's. What did that mean?
It meant that what the white-robed girl before him had comprehended was not a nascent form of the sword Dao, but true Sword Intent!
A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl, with Sword Intent?
Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Lu Han would never have believed it.
After all, even his master, a King Realm sword cultivator, had yet to comprehend Sword Intent!
This white-robed girl, whose realm was comparable to his own, had actually... comprehended Sword Intent, something even his master, the Sword King Yuansu, had yet to comprehend!
At that moment, never mind Lu Han-even the Sword King Yuansu in the pavilion shot to his feet, the teacup in his hand already crushed to powder.
The Sword King Yuansu was scarcely less shocked than his disciple.
The closer one came to comprehending Sword Intent, the more one understood how difficult it was. Outsiders might say that he, the Sword King Yuansu, was only one step away from comprehending Sword Intent, but only he knew how difficult that final step was.
So many people were stuck at this stage. Most sword cultivators remained trapped there their entire lives, dying without ever comprehending Sword Intent.
Yet what had he just seen?
A girl of merely fifteen or sixteen had actually comprehended Sword Intent...
What kind of monstrous prodigy was this?
And how could such a monstrous prodigy appear in the Seven Moon-Reflecting Kingdoms?
"Genius" could no longer describe her.
"One sword strike?"
"Become a disciple?"
After unleashing that strike, Su Lianxin turned and left, but the two questions she left behind cut deeply into both Lu Han and the Sword King Yuansu up in the pavilion.
The laughable part was that the Sword King Yuansu had actually presumed to take her as his disciple.
Who should be taking whom as a disciple?
Someone who had comprehended only nascent Sword Intent actually presumed to take someone who had comprehended Sword Intent as his disciple?
It simply turned heaven's order upside down, leaving one speechless. Su Lianxin taking him as her disciple would have been more like it.
Three days later, the auction took place as scheduled.
The people of Linyue City could clearly tell that considerably more people were entering the city today than usual. They could even spot several King Realm experts among them.
Lin Xuan also took his two disciples to the auction house.
After presenting the token given to him by the auction house's master, Lin Xuan and his companions were very courteously escorted to a VIP box to await the start of the auction.
"This is the list of lots for this auction. Please take a look, young master." The attendant receiving Lin Xuan handed him a catalogue listing every item to be auctioned, including Lin Xuan's Purple Scorpion Demon King remains. As the grand finale, this lot had been placed at the very end of the auction.
Scanning it, Lin Xuan found quite a few good things. The Dusk Moon Auction House certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the largest auction houses here.
As time passed, the semicircular, tiered auction hall soon filled with people, signaling that the auction was about to begin.
As all the lights focused on the main stage, a beautiful woman with an elegant bearing slowly emerged from behind the curtain.
"Welcome, everyone, to the Mu Yue Auction."
"I am Suyi, the auctioneer for today's auction."
"Without taking up any more of your time, let us get straight to business. Our first lot is Spirit Gleam Grass. Spirit Gleam Grass is a fourth-tier intermediate-grade spiritual herb. It can serve as the main ingredient for refining Spirit Gleam Pills, and it can also be used for..."
After the auctioneer Suyi's introduction, bids rang out one after another from all corners of the auction hall. However, the Spirit Gleam Grass was merely the appetizer for this auction and did not spark particularly fierce competition. It was ultimately sold for three thousand six hundred Spirit Stones.
Lin Xuan did not participate in the bidding. This item was not among his targets.
But the second item to be auctioned caught Lin Xuan's interest.
"The second lot is a One-Pattern Spirit Gathering Pill, a fourth-tier high-grade pill and the ideal choice for gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and increasing cultivation speed. This pill was refined by Alchemist King Greenwood, who entrusted our auction house with its sale. The starting bid is eighty thousand Spirit Stones. Let the bidding begin!"
The first lot had sold for only a few thousand, yet the second opened with a starting bid of eighty thousand. The leap was considerable indeed.
Suyi did not introduce the pill at length. The name Alchemist King Greenwood was enough.
Sure enough, as soon as Suyi revealed that Alchemist King Greenwood had refined the pill, a commotion immediately swept through the auction hall.
"As expected of Alchemist King Greenwood. The moment he makes a move, it's Pill Pattern Grade."
Alchemist King Greenwood was a King Realm expert in the Dao of Alchemy. Not only was he immensely powerful, but his pill-refining techniques were also unfathomable. He was the only Alchemist here capable of refining Pill Pattern Grade pills.
"Ninety thousand!"
"One hundred thousand!"
"One hundred and twenty thousand!"
The appearance of the Spirit-Gathering Pill immediately sparked fierce competition among a great many cultivators.
A Spirit-Gathering Pill was already exceedingly precious. Add its Pill Pattern Grade quality and the fact that it came from Alchemist King Greenwood's own hands, and its buffs were fully stacked.
The price soon reached two hundred thousand Spirit Stones. By then, many had already given up, leaving only a handful still competing.
Two hundred thousand Spirit Stones was already a considerable price. After all, that was about the entire net worth of an ordinary Tribulation Realm cultivator.
"Two hundred and thirty thousand."
In VIP box twenty-six sat a man and a woman, with several attendants standing behind them. Every attendant was in the Tribulation Realm, showing just how distinguished the pair's identities were.
The one who spoke was the girl of the pair.
The auction hall fell silent after the girl called out her bid of two hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones.
Although a one-pattern Spirit-Gathering Pill was precious and rare, two hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones clearly exceeded its actual value.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand."
Yet just as everyone thought the One-Pattern Spirit Gathering Pill was certain to go to the girl, Lin Xuan's voice slowly drifted from VIP box sixty-seven.
Lin Xuan himself had little need for a Spirit-Gathering Pill, but if he used it as an investment, he might receive a precious pill he could use in return.