King of Ten Thousand Years

Chapter 64: Chapter 63: One Hook to Lock the Soul

"Aren’t you a little impatient? Haven’t you heard of first come, first served?"

Luo Tian’s brow furrowed, and he replied, displeased.

He didn’t recognize the three of them, but he could sense their deliberate hostility.

"Heh," one of the three, a pretty young woman, chuckled, not bothering to hide the disdain on her face. "The rule on this street is ’highest bidder wins.’ Senior Yan Lei’s bid was higher than yours, so he didn’t violate any of the Martial City’s rules."

’Panshi Martial Mansion? Looks like we’re in for a good show!’

The fat stall owner’s eyes swept over the trio’s attire, and he recognized their origins.

The Panshi Martial Mansion was ranked fourth among all the Martial Mansions in the Azure Cloud Kingdom, second only to the Three Great Holy Mansions.

It could be said that they were the strongest Martial Mansion below the Holy Mansions.

Rumor had it that the Panshi Martial Mansion had coveted a position among the Holy Mansions for a long time and was always looking to challenge the authority of the Three Great Holy Mansions.

This was especially true since the Panshi Martial Mansion and the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion were located near each other, leading to frequent friction and conflict.

’Excellent! Students from two rival Martial Mansions, young and full of vigor. It would be best if they drive the price sky-high!’

The fat stall owner’s heart burned with anticipation.

Unfortunately, Luo Tian didn’t give him what he wanted and refused to get into a prideful bidding war with the three.

He had just joined the Holy Mansion, and this was his first trip out. He had never even heard of the Panshi Martial Mansion.

He only found it strange that these people seemed to hold some animosity toward him.

Luo Tian’s main interest was the whip; the shell was just a secondary thought. Besides, he needed to save some money to purchase a Sword Martial Skill, so he couldn’t be bothered to get into a bidding war with Yan Lei.

Seeing Luo Tian back down, the fat middle-aged man was disappointed.

As for Yan Lei and his two companions from the Panshi Martial Mansion, they looked on with arrogance, a sense of superiority glinting in their eyes.

’So, a student from the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion is nothing special. We put him in his place easily enough.’

"Thirty Spiritual Essence Coins."

Luo Tian completed the transaction with the stall owner and took the hooked leather whip.

"Thirty Spiritual Essence Coins for that piece of junk?"

Yan Lei couldn’t help but shake his head.

He had browsed this stall earlier and only the shell had caught his eye, though he hadn’t decided to buy it.

When they saw a student from the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion trying to buy it, the three of them decided to take a gamble. They pooled their money to snatch the shell and, in the process, knock the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion down a peg.

In any case, the shell’s material was so tough that not even a Treasure Artifact could damage it. Buying it wouldn’t be a significant loss.

And if they managed to open it, who knew what earth-shattering secrets they might uncover?

"Spending thirty Spiritual Essence Coins to buy a useless weapon? Is this guy out of his mind?!" the short-haired youth next to Yan Lei couldn’t help but jeer.

Luo Tian paid no mind to their ridicule.

This whip could devour his Spiritual Sense; it was clearly no ordinary item. Even Spirit Sea Realm experts lacked Spiritual Sense, so there was no way these people could have noticed.

Luo Tian weighed the leather whip in his hand. ’I could probably wear this as a belt.’

’But what’s with the hook at the end?’

’For fishing?’

’But the hook isn’t sharp at all. It’s dull and covered in rust spots.’

WHOOSH!

Luo Tian infused the leather whip with his True Qi, but nothing happened.

Suddenly, Luo Tian felt a pulse from the Divine Vein within him; it seemed to be stirring restlessly.

HMM!

The power of his Nether Dragon Divine Vein was uncontrollably sucked into the drab, gray leather whip.

Immediately after, his Spiritual Power was also drained away at a frantic pace.

’Heh, a useless, discarded whip I bought for only eight Spiritual Essence Coins, and he’s actually treating it like some Ancient Divine Weapon?’

Seeing Luo Tian trying to activate it, the fat middle-aged man sneered inwardly.

Just as contempt filled the fat stall owner’s heart...

VWOOM!

The leather whip in Luo Tian’s hand suddenly erupted with dark, glowing patterns. It shot out, extending ten to twenty meters, and the Crescent Hook at its tip swelled to the size of a scythe.

SWISH!

The dark, hooked whip shot out in front of the fat middle-aged man, and the massive hook instantly snagged him.

"AARGH..."

The fat middle-aged man howled. Once caught by the hook, the qi and blood in his entire body froze. Even his consciousness was sealed, rendering him unable to move.

From a dozen meters away...

WHOOSH!

The fat middle-aged man’s body, weighing hundreds of pounds, was yanked in front of Luo Tian.

Instantly, their faces were nearly touching.

"Mmph..."

The fat middle-aged man struggled with all his might, but his consciousness and the qi and blood throughout his body were sealed by a sinister, cold aura, leaving him immobilized.

’What... the hell is this thing!?’

Staring at the greasy, fat face pressed right in front of his own, Luo Tian felt a wave of revulsion.

He was a little bewildered.

How did the whip suddenly get so long and thick? And how did the hook get so huge that it yanked the distant stall owner all the way over here?

THUMP!

Luo Tian kicked out, sending the disgusting fat man tumbling seven or eight meters away.

"No! That leather whip..."

After landing with a THUD, the fat middle-aged man let out a howl. He ignored the pain and stared intently at the leather whip in Luo Tian’s hand, his face a mask of bitter regret.

What just happened?

The nearby Martial Artists were all stunned, unable to process what had just happened.

All they saw was a blur, and then the fat stall owner, who must have weighed hundreds of pounds, was snatched away by Luo Tian’s whip.

That whip!?

The three students from the Panshi Martial Mansion were astonished. Their eyes, filled with greed and regret, were glued to the whip in Luo Tian’s hand.

They had seen the last scene with perfect clarity.

The fat man, a cultivator at the Peak of the Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening, had been snatched by that whip in a single instant.

Even a cultivator at the Seventh Layer of Meridian Opening wouldn’t be able to capture a man at the Peak of the Sixth Layer alive in the blink of an eye.

"How is that possible! I looked at that whip earlier—it was just a piece of junk! How did it turn into a treasure in his hands?!"

Yan Lei was fuming with envy and frustration.

The young man and woman beside him also looked grim.

They had just been mocking Luo Tian, calling him an idiot for spending thirty Spiritual Essence Coins on a piece of scrap.

But now, the whip in Luo Tian’s hand had revealed such miraculous power, a stinging slap to their faces.

"Haha! The stall owner didn’t lie to me after all. He said this whip was an Ancient Divine Weapon, and it looks like he wasn’t far off."

Luo Tian grinned, tying the now-normal-sized whip around his waist.

An uproar went through the crowd.

The surrounding Martial Artists finally snapped out of their shock, erupting into a clamor. Their faces were filled with envy and greed.

Actually, on this street of antiquities, someone would get a stroke of incredible luck every now and then, picking out a priceless treasure.

It was just that the odds of such a thing happening were incredibly low, and they had never expected to witness it firsthand.

"Sir, wait a moment..."

The fat stall owner’s heart was bleeding. He yelled out, trying to stop Luo Tian.

That hooked leather whip was definitely a precious Exotic Treasure!

With his Cultivation at the Peak of the Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening, he hadn’t even had the strength to resist after being hooked.

For such a powerful treasure to be bought by that kid for just a few dozen Spiritual Essence Coins... he’d stumbled upon the bargain of a lifetime!

"Haha! Until we meet again!"

Luo Tian moved like a Spirit Fish, and with a few nimble leaps, he vanished into the crowds of the Martial City.

"Hey! What are you waiting for? Go after him and bring him back!"

The fat middle-aged man ordered two shifty-eyed Martial Artists beside him to pursue Luo Tian.

"Follow that kid!"

A fervent glint flashed in Yan Lei’s eyes as he led the other two students, one male and one female, after Luo Tian.

However, Luo Tian was cultivating a Spirit Level Middle Grade Body Technique. It was graceful and unpredictable, and with the aid of his Spiritual Sense, he shook off his pursuers in mere moments.

In truth, Luo Tian wasn’t worried about being killed for his treasure within the Martial City.

The Martial City network spanned hundreds of nations across the Continent, backed by the Commerce Alliance and several superpowers. It was a true behemoth.

「Several hundred years ago.」

The Sovereign of a great nation, coveting the Martial City’s profits, attempted to subvert its order.

That great nation was more than ten times stronger than the Azure Cloud Kingdom!

As a result, that nation’s Royal Family was annihilated overnight. The very next day, a different family was put in charge.

From then on, no nation on the Continent dared to truly disrupt the Martial City’s order. Instead, they all actively sought to cooperate with it.

...

「An hour later.」

Luo Tian found a teahouse, ordered a pot of tea, and began to sip it leisurely.

On the surface, he was drinking tea, but his consciousness had already entered the Celestial Book in his mind.

"What is the origin and purpose of this leather whip?" Luo Tian asked.

He had consumed ten Spiritual Essence Coins to store up two pages’ worth of power in the Celestial Book, so answering a simple question should have been no problem.

"Inference target is of too high a level. Celestial Book Power is insufficient."

A line of text materialized on the page.

’Too high a level?’

Luo Tian touched the drab, gray, hooked leather whip at his waist, dumbfounded.

’It seems this thing is on another level entirely. Its origins must be anything but simple.’