"Hey, what’s with you? You’ve already sold us the technique—why are you still selling it to others?" One of the young women glared at Ian Song, clearly displeased.
"Why shouldn’t I keep selling it?" Ian retorted.
"Of course you shouldn’t! Who sells the same technique twice?" the girl argued, as if it was obvious.
"Then tell me—when have you ever seen a King-Grade technique go for just one tael of gold?" Ian replied, a little annoyed.
The girl was instantly speechless. She had to admit, a King-Grade technique at auction would fetch at least twenty million gold taels. Buying one for just a single tael was basically picking up treasure for free.
The woman in red spoke up again: "Young Master Chu, this technique isn’t one of the three you bought from the Grand Xia Auction House, is it?"
"That’s right." Ian nodded.
"Then why are you doing this?" the woman in red pressed.
"Because I feel like it."
Hearing Ian’s infuriating answer, the two young women grew even more upset and were about to lash out, but the woman in red stopped them with a look. She continued, "Then I’m willing to pay twenty million gold taels for this technique. Young Master Chu, could you please not sell it to anyone else?"
"I don’t need gold," Ian replied coolly.
"How can you be so unreasonable!" The girl in the green dress finally couldn’t hold back and shouted at Ian.
Ian didn’t care at all. Instead, he turned to the woman in red and said, "I know what you’re planning, but the technique in your hands—I’ve already sold it countless times. So even if you pay a fortune, you can’t keep it to yourself."
"So that’s how it is!"
The woman in red immediately understood, and even felt a little grateful to Ian. If she’d really spent twenty million gold on a technique that everyone else already had, she’d regret it for sure.
"In that case, we’ll take our leave." The woman in red put away the manual and prepared to go. Even though she couldn’t monopolize the technique, it was still a huge help for her.
"Wait."
Ian suddenly called out.
"Does Young Master Chu have more advice?" The woman in red looked at him and asked.
Ian reached out and, with a grab, produced ten more technique manuals. He smiled, "I’ve got plenty of King-Grade techniques here. Interested?"
The three women were stunned.
After a moment, the woman in red was the first to recover. She stared at the ten manuals in Ian’s hand and asked, "Are all of these King-Grade techniques?"
"That’s right!" Ian nodded, then handed one over and introduced, "This Supreme Sunflame Canon is especially good for women. If you want to buy it, I’ll give you a discount—just one million gold taels!"
The woman in red frowned, feeling like the name Supreme Sunflame Canon sounded familiar. After thinking for a moment, she remembered—it was the Scarlet Flame Sect’s famous King-Grade technique! Recalling the recent theft from the Scarlet Flame Sect, she blurted out, "Wait, isn’t this the technique you stole from the Scarlet Flame Sect?"
"That’s right." Ian admitted directly, then pulled out another manual. "If you’re worried about trouble with the Scarlet Flame Sect, you can buy this Iceflame Canon. I bought it legally from the Grand Xia Auction House—same price, one million gold taels."
In this world, martial artists treated techniques like treasures—like their very lives. But Ian didn’t care much; he cultivated Emperor-Grade arts, so these King-Grade techniques were basically useless to him.
"Alright, I’ll buy it. From now on, the Falling Goose Sect owes Young Master Chu a favor!"
The woman in red was truly grateful. The Falling Goose Sect had once been glorious, but at its peak, it was ambushed by enemies, its experts killed, and its King-Grade technique stolen.
Only this woman in red had barely escaped with her life. Her greatest wish was to rebuild the Falling Goose Sect, but her technique was incomplete, so she’d been stuck at late Sigilforge for ages. That’s why she was desperate to find a King-Grade manual to break through to Sun-Soul.
As long as she reached the Sun-Soul Realm, she could rebuild the sect.
"No need for favors—it’s just business!" Ian waved her off, clearly not caring about her gratitude.
The deal done, the woman in red hurried away with her two juniors. She needed to find a place to go into seclusion and try for Sun-Soul as soon as possible.
The stall was set right in the middle of a busy market, so plenty of people saw Ian’s successful sale.
Curiosity finally brought a few onlookers over.
"Young man, could you let me take a look at that technique in your hand?"
The speaker was an elder just past fifty, with early Origin Core cultivation.
"Here you go!"
Ian casually tossed him a copy of the Zhu Family’s Bloodflame Canon. The elder thanked Ian and buried his head in the manual. After just a moment, his face lit up with excitement—he realized this really might be a genuine King-Grade technique.
After reading a little more, the elder closed the manual and stared at Ian. "Young man, you’re really selling this for just one tael of gold?"
"No tricks—just one tael. If you want it, pay up. If not, hand the manual back!" Ian said impatiently.
"Alright, I’ll buy it!"
The elder said seriously, then handed Ian a hundred-tael gold note and hurried off.
"Whoa, did I see that right? That was Hall Master Wu from Xuanhuang Martial Hall! If he’s buying, this technique must be real, right?"
"Yeah, yeah! Hall Master Wu is an Origin Core expert. If even he’s buying, it can’t be ordinary. Even if it’s not King-Grade, it’s at least a top-tier Mortal-Grade technique!"
In no time, the crowd surged toward Ian, asking if he had more manuals for sale.
"One tael of gold per copy! First come, first served!"
Ian simply pulled out a hundred identical Bloodflame Canon manuals from his Storage Ring.
"I’ll buy one!"
"Me too!"
"Don’t push, I want one too!"
...
In less than half a quarter of an hour, all hundred Bloodflame Canon manuals were sold out. But Ian just waved his hand and produced another hundred copies.
By midday, Ian had sold over ten thousand copies of Bloodflame Canon in this city alone. Researchers confirmed it was a genuine, complete King-Grade technique. Those who missed out regretted it bitterly and wanted to buy more—but Ian was already gone.
Soon after, Ian popped up in another city and started selling Bloodflame Canon again.
At first, nobody bought it, but once it was verified as a real King-Grade technique, buyers flooded in.
In just a few days, Ian sold nearly a hundred thousand copies of Bloodflame Canon. It hadn’t reached every cultivator yet, but the Zhu Family’s dream of reclaiming it was completely shattered.
The Zhu Family was furious, itching to tear Ian apart. But no matter how many people they sent, they couldn’t catch him. Every time they heard he was in a city, he’d already moved on to the next.
While the Zhu Family was running around in a panic, Gavin Zhu received word that the Supreme Elder of the Scarlet Flame Sect had arrived for a visit.