The garden inside the manor was lush, the cold chilly gusts had been reduced to mild breezes that made the flowers blossom all around. This close to the castle, I could feel the Azure Dragon’s aura much more clearly, and for a moment, I almost felt like the heavens were rumbling in the skies, disgruntled at my presence.I smiled wryly, wondering if I had just imagined the noise, but feeling amused nonetheless at the thought of the heavens being annoyed that I had managed to arrive at the heart of their reign unscathed.As my carriage shuddered to a stop, I pulled the door open, stepping out onto green grass. Even though I had my problems with the existence of this city and the cost it asked, I could not deny enjoying the pleasant sensation of spring that emanated within this place, especially after I had nearly died in that winter storm just recently.Everyone else stepped out of their carriages one by one as well, followed at the end by the Lord. Servants were already moving about an

Jinyue nodded, putting the bowl of ice-cream back inside as she closed the door. “I admit, I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. The weather of the Azure city is perpetually wonderful, but ice is a rare delicacy that even the emperor himself cannot always have. They bring it from the north, using fast carriages and cultivators that keep it cold using many arts. But this device… I think even the royal court would want to have this.”“Oh, I’m not trying to auction just this device,” I said.“There are more?” Jinyue looked at me, eyes wide.“Not yet. But there can be a bunch more. I’ll be selling this, along with the blueprint on how to make this,” I replied.“Will the craftsman who made this be okay with that?” she asked. “And will they be willing to create more?”“You’re speaking to him,” I replied.Jinyue looked at me in surprise, before bowing her head. “Forgive me for my ignorance. I did not know you possessed such skills, baron,” she replied.“Raise your head, I didn’t t

He continued to walk, not changing his stride or demeanor much, just enough to look a little more nervous, and a little smaller than he was. His weak cultivation would help him out here.As he passed by the group, one of them turned to look at him, before elbowing another man nearby.“Ay, brother, where you headed? You look lost,” a man called out from behind.All his instincts told him to keep walking, and to ignore the man. Only a fool would stop here.But he had to play the part today, and so he froze in his steps. He felt an arm around his shoulder as one of the men grabbed him, leaning in close. “You know you can’t just be heading through these alleys for free, brother. It’s dangerous out here, haven’t you heard?”One of the other men snickered around him.“No, I’m new in town,” Su Lin replied, feigning ignorance as he looked at the man. “What’s so dangerous?”“You must be really new then, my brother. There’s a tax in place, you gotta pay up to use these streets,” the man said, a

Yan Yun didn’t correct the man on his misunderstanding, trying to navigate that conversation would add far too many things to explain, and she would rather get this done and over with as soon as she could. So instead, she simply gave him a stiff smile.“No wonder you didn’t want to be married off to the Zhou’s brat. Your ambitions are not small— a quality your grandfather had shared, but it seems he could not understand it within you,” the Patriarch said. “So, tell us. What exactly do you seek from us?”“I had a few requests, Patriarch. First… I wanted to know if you had heard of the whereabouts of my grandfather. Many thought he died in the battle recently, but… I know he’s alive. I just don’t know where he went,” Yan Yun said.The Patriarch hummed to himself. “You are indeed correct, he’s still alive. We got word from Yan Xian roughly seven weeks ago. At the time he’d been in seclusion, cultivating in a location only known to him. He’d asked if we could aid him in recapturing his se

Days passed in the blink of an eye, and soon the day of the auction had arrived. I watched Jinyue make some last minute arrangements, as her men moved about, setting up refreshments and making sure everything was in perfect condition for the event. Alongside the Lord’s men, my own sect members, the Cloud Peak sect had also sent people, taking care of the last batch of ruffians. Ash had been prowling around like a death specter, and as a result, crime rate had dropped to an all time low around this part of the city, leaving people rather pleased.That had been a somewhat unintended effect, but public opinion being good regarding the auction could only serve to help me. Afterall, people were what I wanted, more than anything else. To Jinyue’s chagrin, I’d asked her to make the auction public in its true sense. Besides the invited people who would be bidding for the items and buying them, I’d also asked her to set out an outer area for watching, which had some simple snacks available for