Chapter 1387: Chapter 1387: An Auction

This was the Breeze Sword School, one of the six sword schools under the Sword Manor. Warriors could obtain eight-star and nine-star tokens through here.

And according to Zen's estimate, the ideal scenario would be for him to acquire the nine-star token in a single day.

After all, it didn't take him long to travel through various sword schools in the process of obtaining one-star to seven-star tokens. But after midday, when Zen and Freya finally arrived at the entrance of the Breeze Sword School, it had already closed its doors.

“Seems like I have to stay for one more day,” Zen said as he smiled helplessly.

Many martial artists spent years obtaining the one-star to nine-star sword tokens. Such was the path a swordsman had to take in order to grow.

At these different sword schools, warriors improved themselves. When one's understanding of swordsmanship reached a certain level, they would naturally earn the right to enter the Sword Manor.

For this reason, the Sword Manor attracted many of the independent warriors.

The Sword Manor imposed no restrictions to them. So long as one focused on the path of swordsmanship and reached that standard of understanding, the manor selflessly opened its doors to them.

Tens of thousands of people would kneel before some of the tenth-grade sacred places, as they weren't allowed to enter. Such a scene wouldn't happen to the Sword Manor's entrance.

But Zen wasn't one of those swordsmen. He managed to obtain the seven-star sword token in a mere day.

“We need to find a place to stay tonight. We'll return tomorrow,” Zen said.

“Can we take a walk around the city?” Freya said timidly, her voice soft.

Upon hearing her small request, Zen smiled. “Why not?”

With that, Freya's face turned somewhat joyful. She was a naturally shy person, not used to expressing her feelings openly. But she was beyond happy at this moment.

Soon after, Freya heard of a market in the city and suggested they visit.

Ever since Zen had ascended, he never understood the human culture of the Upper World. This was probably the first time he even had the chance to wander around the market.

Although he asked Lavender if she wanted to join them, he earned no response.

At the market, the place was bustling with noise and excitement. Almost all the people there were independent warriors.

The warriors of the large forces and sacred places had the support of pills and cultivation methods. With these benefits, they could concentrate on cultivation with the price of helping the large forces or sacred places complete missions. But the independent warriors were different.

The independent warriors had no such benefits. They had to work hard on everything themselves. Some explored the secret places and collected items that they could use for trade on the market. 𝐫Ä𐌽Ö𝐛ΕŠ

As he walked through the market, Zen didn't seem all too interested. But Freya's head was turning left and right, buying many small, interesting items. They usually cost several supreme life vitality crystals.

After circling the market a few times, Zen realized that the size of the market went beyond his expectations.

Many of the warriors were at the Life and Death Realm, and some were at the Soul Sea Realm. Along the way, he met several Spirit Supreme Realm warriors. After walking around, Zen guessed that Freya took him to that market because it was one of the more high-end in the city—there were even some warriors trading divine weapons.

Suddenly, a hubbub of noise came from ahead.

“The auction is about to begin! Let's go!”

“It should be the last three nine-star sword tokens for this month. If we miss this chance, we won't get another.”

“But the price is ridiculously high. Where can we even collect so many life vitality jades?”

As the warriors rushed toward the commotion, Zen and Freya glanced at each other, both with doubt filling their eyes.

They could buy nine-star sword tokens with life vitality jades?

From the previous sword schools, Zen also knew that a sword token was an acknowledgement of a swordsman. He couldn't believe that someone could buy a nine-star sword token in the auction. As Zen silently moved through the crowd, Freya followed close behind him.

Zen's silhouette seemed to flicker as he silently moved through the crowd.

A tall platform stood in the middle of the market. On it, there were three Spirit Supreme Realm warriors. Seeing that almost everyone was here, the leading Spirit Supreme Realm warrior shouted coldly, "The four hundred and ninety-seven nine-star sword tokens of the five hundred were already sold out. If you missed out on this opportunity, you'd have to wait until the next month.

The starting bid is a hundred life vitality jades."

As the echoes of his voice faded, the warriors below all began bidding.

“One hundred and ten!”

“One hundred and fifteen!”

“One hundred and twenty!”

Basically, the bidders were all warriors at the Soul Sea Realm. There were a few warriors at the Spirit Supreme Realm who also called out a price.

Zen's frown deepened at the sight.

Previously, he had held a trace of admiration toward the Sword Manor. It was a righteous deed to open up the manor to all swordsmen in the universe.

As the saying went, “A person who selects a sword as their weapon has an air of righteousness.” But this event had him doubting.

“My friend, what do you mean by auctioning a sword token? Isn't the sword token something that we obtain through a swordsmanship competition?” Zen asked the warrior beside him.

When the martial artist next to him heard his words, he released a cold laugh and said, “You're talking about an old time and age. A nine-star token enables a warrior to enter the Sword Manor. How could there even be such a good thing in the world?”

“But isn't this the rule of the Sword Manor? If they do this, wouldn't it mean that they are plotting against the Sword Manor for their own benefit?” Zen asked once again. Initially, he thought that he'd be able to enter the Sword Manor in the following day. But judging from the current situation, it wasn't that easy to obtain a nine-star sword token.

Although he wasn't raising his voice, the Spirit Supreme Realm warrior on stage could hear him. This warrior stared angrily at Zen before raising the nine-star sword token in his hand. He walked to the edge of the platform and looked down at Zen. “My friend, you must be joking. The nine-star sword tokens were given to us by the Sword Manor. What's it to you if we auction them?”

To that, Zen raised his head and coolly asked, “Then, if I were to compete in the Breeze Sword School tomorrow, wouldn't I be left unable to obtain a nine-star token?”

This earned a sneer from the other party. “Of course not. If you want to obtain one from the sword school, then you have to wait another month. There are ten nine-star sword tokens warriors can obtain through competition. That will depend on whether or not you even have the ability to. Haha!”

With the rise of Supreme Lord Sword, the name of the Sword Manor spread far and wide, drawing in more and more martial artists to train there. Not only were there many independent warriors, but there was also quite a number of swordsmen from great powers as well.

But only five hundred warriors could enter the Sword Manor every month. These five hundred nine-star tokens were all in the hands of the six major sword schools. Initially, they could follow the rules, but with the disappearance of Supreme Lord Sword, the warriors of the Sword Manor grew greedier. So while the rules laid out by Supreme Lord Sword were still there, no one followed them anymore.

“You're breaking the rules of the Sword Manor!” Zen exclaimed icily. He respected Supreme Lord Sword, after all. Zen had comprehended the Gods-intimidating Strike first and had been personally trained by Supreme Lord Sword in the Hall of Causality—he could be counted as Zen's half-a-master. Supreme Lord Sword definitely wasn't aware that the warriors of the Sword Manor could easily sell the sword tokens for money after he had disappeared.

The warrior standing on the high platform originally wore a smile on his face, but after hearing what Zen said, his expression turned cold. “Kid, this is the Sword Manor. You'd better watch your mouth. If you don't have money, then scram. Be an eyesore somewhere else!”

The rude words were a sign that he didn't take Zen's cultivation at the Spirit Supreme Realm seriously at all.

Another warrior on the high platform let out an eerie laugh. “The price of a nine-star sword token is hardly expensive. It usually costs only two or three hundred life vitality jades. If you're so desperate for it and you don't have money, just give me that Soul Sea Realm servant girl. I'll give you enough life vitality jades for a nine-star token.”

The martial artist's greedy eyes fell right on Freya.

There weren't many female warriors who had reached the Soul Sea Realm and there were even fewer women among the independent warriors. The warrior had clearly taken a fancy to Freya's looks. When he saw how she followed behind Zen, a devious idea came to mind.

Zen's gaze turned cold instantly and faint killing intent flashed across his eyes when he heard the warrior's venomous words.

The martial artists that were initially participating in the auction had immediately stayed away from Zen as much as they could. These independent warriors were smart enough to know that Zen was in deep trouble.

All the while, they wondered who this young man was.

For someone who was just at the Spirit Supreme Realm, he behaved so arrogantly. Anyone could guess that he would end up in a miserable state.

Most of the independent warriors thought the same as they looked at Zen.

These guys were all swordsmen. Some of them had even gone bankrupt crossing over supreme worlds just to get here. It was all to enter the Sword Manor and climb up a level in the swordsman's path.

But much to their dismay, they realized that they had to spend money to earn the qualifications needed to enter the Sword Manor. It was quite a disappointment.