"Understood," Lang Kuang replied with understanding.
Dai Lin and the others also showed in-depth looks, but none seemed interested in losing focus on their objectives. He Xiu's eyes glared in the direction of the Crypt Sorcerer's, showing a vague amount of killing intent, but she didn't do anything rash and calmed her emotions.
By this time, Liao Xinyan and Feng Yu's party had arrived within the main sector.
"Junior Brother Hai, Pan Shin, and Pan Mang, let me formally introduce you all; beside me is our benefactor Crimson Mask and his allies, they are the helpers I mentioned prior." Liao Xinyan said as he gestured to Feng Yu's party.
Pan Shin and Pan Mang stared at the party and replied, "We disciples greet the savior of our young miss."
"It was nothing; her plan naturally led to my escape as well. If anything, I should be thanking her." Feng Yu said with a smile.
Pan Shin and Pan Mang smiled, thinking that Feng Yu was a bit more amiable than they heard. Tao Shen looked over and nodded, but Hai Jinren had a flicker in his eyes as he stared at the party zoning in onto Feng Yu before he nodded.
Feng Yu's group cupped their hands in greeting before moving to their assigned areas, standing with He Xiu at their direct center.
He Xiu felt a bit nervous, but Feng Yu gave her a wink causing her to blush slightly, regaining her calm. Naturally, this didn't go unmissed by Miren Fei, but she only glared in silence, not saying anything.
Liao Xinyan, after seeing that everyone was in position, gave Hai Jinren the signal. Hai Jinren then clapped his hand, causing a wave of energy to get everyone's attention as he spoke in a loud voice, "Welcome everyone, welcome to today's exchange!"
The previously uncertain air turned a bit better, as those who primarily came to purchase their rare textiles looked forward to this scene. However, those in the dark had smiles as if everything from this point onward was only a game.
Chapter 306
Danger from all Sides, The Disturbance
As Hai Jinren's words sounded about the entire space, the Grand Exchange had officially started. Quickly, those from the Weaver's Enclave unveiled assorted items from the crates.
Tao Shen naturally took charge of the exchange as by the rules laid out by their master, he stood at the central most position as he addressed the audience.
"This time's selection has a variety of specialty made cloth with a few tweaks as compared to the normal brands from our earlier products. Some of them can more easily resist the Element Storm, while others have been given the capabilities to increase one's combat power. Naturally, each effect is not without its costs. If one doesn't have an astounding amount of energy to provide for their functions, then each of these clothing will be no different from your everyday wears."
When Tao Shen spoke, he made sure to eye the audience, ensuring to note the various faces that showed traces of excitement.
Jin Teng had an excited look in his eyes as he heard Tao Shen's words; he couldn't help but speak to Rui Wen, "Haha, it's even better, they took out such a large bundle simply because of their current predicament. Old Rui, it looks like we'll be earning a fortune for free this time."
Rui Wen chuckled at this as his fat shook when he thought how they would soon be able to increase their commerce's wealth.
From the Fox Lion Commerce side, a white-haired lady with a foxtail stared at the items with thoughtful eyes, as did many other trade unions from various forces.
Tao Shen smiled at this as he then spoke, "Good, let us trade. First up is the Iron Cloth Set. This cloth has been refined by a special kind of material with rich metallic essence energy, making it such that even Low-Rank Earth Grade weapons cannot pierce through its surface. By feeding it energy, the wearer can project a barrier around their skin, further protecting them from the Element Storm."
Leon, who listened to those effects, had a flash in his eyes as he watched in silence. Feng Yu looked at him and spoke, "What of it? Is it that good?"
Leon nodded as he replied, "Indeed, I did a bit of reading from their study, and I must say the properties of their textiles are quite something. I'm even beginning to get a bit of inspiration, maybe I can forge a few artifacts with similar principles, but I first need to rekindle my Will of Forgery."
Feng Yu looked at him while thinking before he spoke, "Hmm, what's the quickest way for you to achieve that effect?"
Leon gave him a look and answered, "I'd need to be in a place with people who do forging, skillful persons at the very least."
Feng Yu was puzzled about where he could find this, but Dai Lin, who stood at the side spoke, "I know a place."
"Oh, where?" Feng Yu asked.
Dai Lin gave them a look and replied, "It's the very place we have on our target lists, young master, the Hammer Valley of the Margerum Empire."
"Ah... that's right, the kingdom of forgery, I have forgotten about them for a while; it seems that revolting Wuqi Clan still clouds my head. Hmph! Fine, it doesn't change our plans much; we can discuss how we'll perform our main objectives there once we're finished here in the south." Feng Yu said, his eyes flickering with a sharp light.
Leon and Dai Lin nodded as they finished their discussion, but this time, Tao Shen, who had deliberately paused to create a build-up in excitement, spoke once more.
"Without further ado, let the exchange commence! Our enclave shall exchange this item at the base price of fifty thousand middle-grade essence stones."
Shortly after Tao Shen's words, there was a bit of silence as everyone's eyes shone when they discussed the effects, but it didn't take long for a few minor factions to start voting in large sums.
"Our Red Sand Dancers offers sixty thousand middle-grade essence stones!" A lady in red said from a team of red-clad women in sensual wears.
"Hmph! You Red Sand mongrels are as cheap as ever; our Blue Turban Faction offers sixty-five middle-grade essence stones!"
Another group said, only they were all men that wore blue turbans.
"Speak for yourself; all that cloth on your head must have clouded your mind. This Iron Cloth Set is coming with us! We offer seventy thousand middle-grade essence stones!" The lady said with a fierce tone.
"You..." The person from the Blue Turban Faction said in anger, ready to make a comeback, but there was a change before he could do so.
"Our Fox Lion Commerce offers one hundred thousand middle-grade essence stones!"
A short white-haired beauty spoke in a soft but oddly audible tone, stirring the hearts of those who heard it. A few couldn't but frown as they glanced in her direction while speaking in hushed tones.
"That woman... she's that Bai Zan whose been turning waves in Easthaven's market recently. Darn, it's so troublesome that she made her way all the way here. How can we procure anything good with her in this damn place?" A person from a different faction said.
"I know, right? Tsk! It looks like we should give up on the idea of bidding. It wouldn't make sense." Another group said.
"Damn!" Both the lady from the Red Sand Dancers and the man from the Blue Turban Faction said as they knew trouble had arrived.
As the different factions conversed with discontent on their faces, Bai Zan, though far away, could still hear most of their words, a smile formed at the corners of her lips as she thought to herself.
'Money, I have far too much of it; they should give up on taking anything valuable here.'
Feng Yu and the others were currently standing a little distant behind Liao Xinyan and the others, calmly observing the proceedings.
When they heard Bai Zan's bid, Dai Lin couldn't help but glance in the direction, his face hidden by his Qilin Mask as he sent a mental message to Feng Yu.
'Young master, it seems that this woman might be connected to the high levels of the Fox Lion Commerce. What should we do?'
Feng Yu already had his attention on Bai Zan; he pondered a bit before he replied with a mental message.
'Let it be, for now, she doesn't know who we are, and we can
't yet mark the entirety of the Fox Lion Commerce as our enemies.'
Dai Lin nodded with understanding, no longer putting the matter on his head.
Bai Zan naturally sensed when others were staring at her; she looked towards Feng Yu and Dai Lin's direction, her eyes glowed with a dim light as if she was trying to use some method to spy behind their mask. Still, as she saw two completely unfamiliar faces underneath it, she didn't pay them any more mind.
Feng Yu and Dai Lin made a faint smile as if they sensed her abilities just now, but neither said anything acting as if it was only air.
The exchange continued, and while many others were bidding, the only ones who remained silent were none other than the Pill Pavilion's beautiful Pill Queen Wan Ru, the Desert Shaolin Temple's Master Duan, and those belonging to the hostile forces.
Jin Teng smirked at this as he spoke under his breath, "Haha, look at them, they don't even know what's about to throw down... all their goods will be meaningless if they died."
The Desert Hunters and Burning Totem Palace members also shared similar opinions, as both Su Jiang and Mu Leng had looks of mock in their eyes as they observed with calmness.
Melcraze didn't have any change in expression at this time, and even if he did, one couldn't tell due to the cloak and wrappings around his entire body. His eyes showed a trace of humbleness as he glanced to his side at a mysterious cloaked person.
This person had a strange aura, his body wearing a stylized red and black robe patterns of tombstones as an odd casket wrapped by dense cloth with the symbol (半七)rested on his shoulder.
‘I can sense it. The goal of our mission is already here…’
The man thought as his head tilted at an angle, barely revealing one unusual looking eye with a glowing skull symbol, the other eye remained somewhat normal as it only had a baleful red glow.
As if the person sensed Melcraze’s stare, he glanced in his direction, causing him to gulp a bit nervously. He then looked at him with indifference and asked with a mental message.
‘How far are the preparations?’
Melcraze replied with a slightly respectful tone, "Replying to the Grand Preceptor, it’s already finished. But for even the Crypt Child and that… Entoph, I think that I can—"
"They are not your concern, if I see the need, I will deploy them, do make sure to work together with Entoph, I cannot afford to have both of your silly rivalry ruin this plan. Now them, inform the others, you will act once they reveal its location."
The Grand Preceptor said, his glowing eyes underneath the hooded cloth turning towards Liao Xinyan with an ominous look.
"As you wish," Melcraze replied with a mental message as he made a hand sign, an invisible ripple of power scattered about the room before vanishing, leaving no trace.
After finishing his words, Melcraze glanced to the side again, but this time, the Grand Preceptor had disappeared as if he was never there. In fact, no one even seemed to have noticed his presence prior.
Not bothering to ponder his hidden whereabouts, Melcraze turned his attention to Liao Xinyan as he smirked.
Naturally, Liao Xinyan sensed his gaze; he looked at him with an indifferent smile as he thought to himself, 'You want that thing? Then I suppose we'll have to show it to you. That way, we can speed up this entire affair.'
As Liao Xinyan finished his thoughts, his eyes shifted to He Xiu, who stood at the center of Feng Yu's party. He then glanced at Hai Jinren and sent him a mental message; this caused Hai Jinren to become even more stern as he messaged the others.
'Looks like they are starting, be ready for combat, guys.'
Feng Yu said to the others through mental message.
Dai Lin, Lang Kuang, and the others nodded as they replied, 'As the young master wishes.'
The bidders soon felt a strange mood as no one spoke for a while, but Jin Teng's and Rui Wen's eyes lit up as they sat in the neutral section. Even more for the strange man from the Iron Blood Union that sat within his congregation of slaves.
"Keke… I should be able to gather a fine collection of slaves through this time’s ordeal," The well-dressed middle-aged man murmured as if speaking to himself, giving a chill to his slaves that sat around him as his fingers fiddled with their chains.
At this time, Bai Zan, who was previously bidding for a new item, had an odd look on her face as she contemplated, 'Is it finally starting? Good, if my hunch play’s out correctly, I can finally take a step forward, even against that bastard in the south.'
As Bai Zan's thoughts reached here, a small white pendant around her neck glowed in dim light as a voice sounded in her mind.
‘It's time; this is your objective, bring that item back to us.’
With those words, the image of a box similar to He Xiu's appeared in Bai Zan's field of vision, causing her to frown as she stared at the scene with interested eyes a small smile formed at the corner of her lip.
Unlike those with different agendas, Pill Queen Wan Ru had a different look in her eyes as she spoke in a soft voice, “There's already so many of them surrounding this place. It looks like I'll need to take action after all.”
Following her voice, her eyes glanced around at the various corners of the room before she shifted her eyes onto Master Duan, who nodded.
"Everyone, be ready." Master Duan said.
"Yes, Master Duan." The Desert Shaolin’s replied.
As everyone readied themselves, Tao Shen, who was previously naming various items halted, he stared at everyone with a look filled with an apology as he spoke in a calm tone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid that I'll have to offer you all an apology, you might all need to join us for a little show in a bit, but you can all rest assured, as soon as the conflict is over, we shall once more continue with our exchange."
Hearing Tao Shen's strange words, those of the audience that didn't understand what was going on had puzzled looks on their faces.
Some even felt a dark chill in their souls as they noticed that as Tao Shen said those words, a few auras had begun to fluctuate from the side of those belonging to the hostile forces.
"Not good, something is about to happen, we have to get away n—" One person was about to say something, but sadly for them, it was already too late.
Bang! A loud sound resounded as if a cage had fallen from the sky. Looking around, one would see that surrounding the entire open space was a giant metallic-like barrier that had glowing runes on its surface.
The audience looked at this in alarm, but this was only the beginning of their shock.
"Practitioner Tao, what's the meaning of this? Do you intend to trap us all?" A person from the Blue Turban group said.
"Hurry and release this formation array!" The lady from the Red Sand Dancers said.
A few others also made an outcry, but Tao Shen said nothing; instead, the person who acted was Liao Xinyan, who snorted, sending a ripple of power around the room to quell their anger. Feeling a tinge of fear, everyone looked at him in silence.
"Since you all came here, you should have already expected the current scene; I know full well that most of you had only come here to gain some advantage, while others merely wanted to watch the fun. You have no one to blame but yourselves. Now listen up; this barrier has no means of exit; the only person who can let you out is a mighty one at the True Soul realm. Naturally, we wouldn't trap you all in here to force you to fight in our battles; those who don't want to take part only needs to stand at the farthest corners, and the formation will protect you in its protection field."
When the audience heard those words, many had changes in expression, while few had a dark look. After a moment, most of them went towards the corners of the room, choosing to avoid the current conflict, leaving behind only a few special forces.
Other than those of the Crypt Sorcerers, Desert Hunters, Burning Totem Palace, Black Sand Commerce, Fox Lion Commerce, and the Iron Blood Union. No other forces or guests remained, they hurried over to the edge of the meeting gr
ounds where a barrier had formed to shield them.
"Hmph! Blood Thread Liao, do you think that such a thing could stump us? You're in for a rude awakening! Everyone, come out!"
Melcraze's' voice sounded as soon after, dozens of swooshing sounds resounded at all corners of the room. Looking closely, one would notice that each of these newly arrived persons were faces that had vanished from the crowd on the outside.
Amongst them were the overwhelming duo with pale white skin, wearing grim reaper robes. A large muscular man with chains on his body, an iconic scar on his chest, and two different sized calabashes strapped to his waist. Lastly, a middle-aged woman dressed like a witch, she had a large bumpy nose and black robe, standing together with a small group of similarly dressed women.
When the audience saw the new arrivals, they were shocked, as some couldn't help but exclaim.
"What the hell? Those two with the reaper robes, they're the Grim Dust Brothers, Lex and Gram, famed throughout the Black Dunes for their cruelness. To think they'd show up here!"
"They're not the only ones, look, that large fellow, he's Zan Jin, that brute from the Essence Sealer Tribe!"
"Eh? That lady, she's the Dune Witch Elma, that sorcerer from the Dark Witch School."
With the words of the audience, the other parties grew solemn as they felt that a true disaster was now unfolding; each of the characters mentioned was one to bring havoc wherever they went loose.
Many became fearful, but as for those of the Weaver's Enclave, they remained at ease, though their eyes had a tinge of anxiousness they knew that their enemies would have come prepared.
"All hunters, get ready to hunt!" Mu Leng said as the Desert Hunters rose from their seats, looking at everyone threateningly.
"Everyone related to my master's enemy must die!" Su Jian said as her members from the Burning Totem Palace rose to their feet, erupting with a burning power over their bodies, their tattoos on their skins glowing in an amber-like hue.
Melcraze had a sinister grin on his face as he stared at Liao Xinyan and spoke, "You think that a trap of that standard could do anything to us. You are truly naive, just like that master of yours. Hurry and hand over the Spiral Palace Seal, and we might consider sparing everyone here."
Dual Sword God: Book 7: The Crimson Devil of the Redlands Page 16