At the same time that the rest of the sect was busy celebrating the new Domain Lord Realm Expert, a group of female disciples had gathered together in a small corner of the sect. Forming a small circle around a handsome young man, as they showered him in all kinds of praises.
"Senior brother Lu Wen is amazing, to think you managed to reach the Core Formation Realm at such a young age! Among the Inner Sect Disciples of the sect, you should be ranked first!"
"Yes, senior brother Lu Wen is amazing, I-If it isn't too much, how about teaching this junior sister?"
"What are you saying, why would he do that? Now that junior brother Lu Wen has reached the Core Formation Realm, isn't it much better for this junior brother to get some lessons from this big sister who is already in the Fourth Stage of the Core Formation Realm~? Hehe, this big sister will promise you a good time~"
"Go away you old hag! Don't think we have no idea what you plan to do to senior brother Lu Wen!"
"Yes, go away!"
"Evil senior sister, go away!"
"Hmph! You brats!"
As one of the older female disciples took things a little too far in the opinion of the surrounding female disciples, she was quickly expelled and pushed out before the female disciples once again started praising the senior brother called Lu Wen.
Another Domain Lord Realm Expert appeared in the sect… Maybe I will have a chance to meet this expert and become his personal disciple, that way my strength will improve even faster and-
Unknown to this group of female disciples, their senior brother in question, was lost in his own thoughts as he was thinking about the new Domain Lord Realm Expert and how he could get in contact with him and possibly become his personal disciple.
"Big brother Lu Wen! I was looking for you!"
Just at this moment, a voice called out to him from behind. Interrupting the female disciples who were busy trying to catch his attention, while also causing him to return to reality.
"Hm? Yi Xuan? What are you doing here?" Noticing that the owner of the voice, Lu Wen could not help calling out in a surprised voice before making his way over towards her. Completely ignoring the group of female disciples that had gathered around him in the process-
"This- Who is that girl!?"
"How dare she!"
"Ah! I know! She is the personal disciple of Elder Zu Fei!"
"Zu Fei!? As in the former vice sect master…?"
"Yes, that Zu Fei! No way I'm getting involved in any of this, I'm out of here!"
Resulting in the group of younger disciples who had been trying their best to catch Lu Wen's attention turning towards Yi Xuan filled with anger before quickly escaping upon finding out that Yi Xuan was related to Zu Fei.
Even if Zu Fei might not be a scary person in the eyes of Xuan Hao, she was quite a scary person in the eyes of most disciples of the Star Shattering Sect that had once been a part of the Flying Sword Sect in the past… And in turn, these disciples had spread the tales of her to the new disciples of the sect. Resulting in not only the former Flying Sword Sect disciples fearing her, but also the disciples of the Star Shattering Sect…
Not knowing what to say after seeing the female disciples all escaping from her like they had encountered the pest, Yi Xuan could not help feeling like she had been wronged. Even if her master was a bit scarier than the normal elders of the sect, it was a bit too much for them to run away the moment they saw her!
"Ehm… Lu Wen, I came here today because I had something important to inform you about!" Deciding not to think about the rude female disciples that had run away, Yi Xuan instead focused her attention back on to Lu Wen as she said this with a serious expression on her face. Doing her absolute best to look like a proper personal disciple of one of the strongest elders of the sect.
"So serious, what is it?"
"As you already know, a new Domain Lord Realm Expert just joined the sect… But what you might not know is that a large merchant group selling all kinds of antiques from all across the continent recently arrived outside the city at the bottom of the Ninth Star Peak!"
"A merchant group selling antiques… Are you sure this is not some sort of scam?" Hearing what Yi Xuan said, Lu Wen could not help rolling his eyes as he asked this. After all, it was not the first time since they had joined the Star Shattering Sect that this girl had come to him and informed him about some eccentric merchant group selling antiques from all around the continent.
Last time he followed her to one of these merchant groups, he ended up losing most of the spirit stones he had earned by completing sect missions to a normal Earth Rank Artifact, that he could have bought over a dozen times over with the spirit stones he had spent…
"It's not some scam! Before coming here, I heard that some of the senior disciples already went to visit it and came back with all sorts of rare and exotic artifacts that can't be found anywhere in the Sky Empire, one even getting lucky enough to get his hands on a Peak Soul Rank Artifact for only a few low-grade spirit stones! Now come, we need to get there early before all of the good artifacts are gone!" Puffing her small cheeks in anger as she said this, Yi Xuan started dragging Lu Wen towards the path leading down the Seventh Star Peak and towards the entrance of the sect.
"Fine, I will join you. No need to keep pulling on my clothes." Understanding that there was no way for him to convince Yi Xuan, Lu Wen decided to follow her to check out the antiques of merchant group that had suddenly shown up not too far away from the sect.
At least this way, he would be able to make sure that Yi Xuan didn't end up getting scammed, like what had happened to both of them in the past. Although, asking Yi Xuan about it, they didn't get scammed and just happened to be unlucky and pick the wrong antiques.
…
Not long after they had left the sect and arrived at the small market that had been set up outside the city at the bottom of the Ninth Star Peak, Lu Wen let out a sigh as he looked over the different antiques displayed all around him.
"Looks like this is another scam…" Shaking his head as he muttered this to himself, Lu Wen turned towards Yi Xuan, prepared to return to the sect… But did not take long to discover that the girl in question had already disappeared.
"How troublesome." Not knowing what to say at the sudden disappearance of Yi Xuan, Lu Wen was just about to take out a simple communication talisman to contact her-
"Hm? This is…"
When he suddenly noticed something special about one of the antiques right next to him, it was as if there was some sort of connection between him and the antique.
"Young man, does this little antique of mine interest you? Haha, that should be a given, this antique was an ancient relic that was found in the ruins of a long-lost ancient empire that once ruled most of the continent. Even being rumored to have immortal generals with power enough to snatch down the stars from above and rip apart heaven and earth! Anything found from that ancient empire is of immense value!" Not missing a beat, the merchant who was selling the antique immediately noticed this as he started bragging about how precious the antique was.
Even without knowing anything about the antique in question, it was obvious to Lu Wen that the merchant was lying and trying to make his antique sound more valuable… But given the weird connection he felt between himself and the antique, Lu Wen could not help feeling curious about the antique and why he had some sort of connection with it.
"How much do you want for it?"
"Don't worry young man, even if this precious antique is from a once power ancient demon beast clan, I will give it to you for cheap. Only 5000 low-grade spirt stones, I will also accept high grade spirit stones if you have any!"
"Wha- That is far too expensive! How can you expect a normal disciple to have that many spirit stones!? Can't you go a bit lower?" Not able to stop himself from exclaiming in surprise upon hearing the outrageous number of spirit stones that the merchant wanted, Lu Wen could not help asking for a lower price-
"Hehe of course, of course, I feel like you and the antique have a special connection, so I will lower the price and also accept any artifacts you might have as payment!"
Ultimately resulting in him falling into the merchant's trap…