The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

This city was located in the Heaven-defying Empire, near the border of the Lost Nation, and had existed for countless years.

Back when the descendants of the Nine Empires defeated the Moonwatch Sect, they had made a clear demarcation of a border in this city. It could be thus said that the location of this city was unique.

Now, the Heaven-defying Empire also mustered their armies in this city for consecutive attacks on the Lost Nation.

The soldiers who returned from battle often brought back tools of the wizard tribe as trophies, and some of them would openly put those items on sale in the market, so it was often possible to find tools of the wizard tribe here.

Having made up his mind, Su Yu headed for Yongzhen City immediately.

Along the way, Su Yu kept using the Milky Way Star Sand to extract the sorcery energy from Yongye Chuxue so that the outbreak could be delayed.

Five days had passed. Su Yu had used the Yin Yang Wings of Supreme Pole almost ten times and finally arrived at Yongzhen City in record time.

Large troops of soldiers were garrisoned at Yongzhen City, and the somber atmosphere of gearing up for an imminent war filled every corner. All around, martial artists still arrived in continuous streams.

Many martial artists would take the chance to wipe out the scattered wizards in the Lost Nation after the war. They would either capture them or kill them, and rob them of their wealth and property, hence leading to the birth of a profession known as the Wizard Hunters.

A visitor like Su Yu caught no one’s attention at all in Yongzhen City.

However, it was not as easy to find tools of the wizard tribe in Yongzhen City as Su Yu had expected, which slightly confounded him.

Doubtful, Su Yu chose a restaurant bustling with people, where he could possibly obtain news from many sources.

“Have you heard? The Eldest Prince won the battle again. It is said that he has fought the Saint of the Moonwatch Sect in person!”

“Tsk tsk, the Eldest Prince is a worthy heir of our empire indeed. There is no war he can’t win and no attack that he doesn’t succeed in!”

“I heard that he has seized many wizards and amassed a large amount of wealth.”

“It’s a pity that all those treasures have to be handed to the Prince’s Mansion and cannot be released to the market.”

“That’s for sure! Those are all tools of the wizard tribe. If they are secretly purchased back by the Moonwatch Sect, isn’t it a provision for the enemy?”

…

As he listened to their conversations, Su Yu was enlightened at once.

He knew now that the tools of the wizard tribe had been sent to the Prince’s Mansion for handling.

It seemed like there were only two ways to find the tools of the wizard tribe: one, barging into the Prince’s Mansion to look for them, and two, purchasing them from the hands of the Wizard Hunters.

As he considered this, the second method seemed more suitable.

“Waiter!” Su Yu called out.

The waiter was a seasoned man. Despite his young age, the stern, formidable air that Su Yu gave off was unmistakable, hence the waiter dared not slack. “How can I help you, sir?”

Su Yu said, “I have some questions for you. Have you any idea where the Wizard Hunters most often gather in this region?”

As he spoke, he tossed out an expensive jewel.

The waiter bowed subserviently. Hurriedly, he answered, “Sir, the Wizard Hunters are everywhere, but if you were to find the most famous ones, surely you must look for the Condor Wizard-hunting Alliance!”

“Most of the powerful Wizard Hunters gather in this Alliance, and among them, the Alliance Master is a powerful Level Four deity. He is extremely capable and had actually killed a Level Four wizard by himself. Even the people of the Prince’s Mansion admire him.”

Su Yu thought about it. “Then there must be a lot of the wizard tribe’s tools in their hands, right?”

Upon hearing that, the waiter replied, “That is for sure. All their trophies are placed in the Alliance Hall, waiting to be picked by the customers.”

Was that so? Su Yu touched his chin and said, “Alright.”

When he finished, he got up to leave.

As he watched Su Yu leave, hints of scorn flashed across the waiter’s good-natured face. “Another ignorant doom-seeking fool.”

Su Yu walked down the stairs and ran into an ordinary-looking man in a white robe along his way. He had a gentle, placid manner, and was not eye-catching in the least bit.

Su Yu didn’t notice him at first, but when the man brushed past Su Yu’s shoulder, he stopped in his tracks and shot a slightly surprised look at Su Yu.

The stare made the hidden sorcery energy in Su Yu’s body surge and roil, nearly spilling. Su Yu was taken aback, and could not help but take a glance at the man.

The white-robed man flashed him a gentle smile and went on upstairs as though nothing had happened.

Su Yu was secretly surprised. What was it about the white-robed man?

After a moment of pondering, Su Yu shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He headed straight for the Condor Alliance.

The Condor Alliance was situated in a suburban area that was rather remote but bustling with people. A great flurry of activities was going on there.

Su Yu entered the great hall and found many tools of the wizard tribe just as he expected. They were displayed in wide aisles and marked with clear price tags.

The spell that Su Yu intended to perform was a sort of magic named the Soul-subduing Spell, which required a rather convoluted set of wizard tribe tools.

After he browsed around for a bit, Su Yu felt slightly relieved. He found most of the items he needed, except for a fruit named the Wizard Dragon Fruit.

“What are you looking for, sir?” The Wizard Hunter of the Alliance in charge of sales asked, smiling.

Su Yu said, “The Wizard Dragon Fruit.”

Upon hearing that, the Wizard Hunter’s eyes flickered stealthily, but he replied, “The Wizard Dragon Fruit? This fruit is very rare, and even thee Grand Wizards hardly own any, but from what I know, the Great Alliance Master does have a few Wizard Dragon Fruits in hands.”

Su Yu said, “Money isn’t a problem. When could we settle the transaction?”

The Wizard Hunter replied, seemingly troubled, “The Great Alliance Master is currently on a wizard hunt in the Lost Nation, and is not expected back until next month.”

Su Yu could not afford to wait that long.

“Does anyone else have it?”

“No one else.”

Su Yu frowned. How would he get a Wizard Dragon Fruit?

Right at that moment, a man in the attire of a Wizard Hunter ran inside, panting. “I have an urgent mission to announce!”

The Wizard Hunter tending to Su Yu turned away from him immediately, his eyes gleaming. “The pay for urgent missions is double the usual.”

“Money isn’t the best part. There are also extra rewards upon completion of the mission,” the man said, sounding quite anxious.

Wizard-hunting Alliances would accept missions to earn some income when manpower was adequate.

The Wizard Hunter who had attended to Su Yu said, “Tell us the pay first.”

The man thought for a second and retrieved some items from the pouch on his waist. There was a wide assortment of newly obtained wizard tribe tools.

“The ones who accomplish the mission could choose one item from these.”

Su Yu took a glance at the array and his pupils constricted slightly at the sight of a purplish-black fruit shaped like a dragon. It was the Wizard Dragon Fruit.

The shop-keeping Wizard Hunter looked at the Wizard Dragon Fruit and was startled for a moment. He told the man, “This customer over here is very interested in the Wizard Dragon Fruit. Would you be willing to sell it to him?”

The man shook his head. “No way, out of the question. I need many men to help me complete the mission. These items are rewards and not for sale.”

The shopkeeper shrugged at Su Yu, helpless.

Su Yu thought for a moment, and said, “May I know what mission it is and whether I could participate?”

The man took a look at Su Yu and shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. Participants must be at the level of deities unless they have some unique strengths.”

Su Yu smiled. “I have loads of unique strengths. Which one would you like to see?”

The man chuckled. “It seems you’re quite confident. Show me any of your skills, and if you can impress me, you’re in.”

Su Yu’s eyelids fluttered and he said, “For example, I see three hidden treasure maps that you’re carrying. One of them is stained with blood. Am I right?”

The man’s smile froze on his face. His expression changed dramatically and he clutched his chest. Shocked, he looked at Su Yu. “How in the world did you know that?”

“Some see-through techniques that I have. Seems like you’re impressed,” Su Yu smiled.

The man gazed at Su Yu for a long time and heaved a helpless sigh after a long while. “Fine, you get a place in the group. I hope you are able to pull your own weight. We will gather here two days from now. In the meanwhile, I need to recruit more men.”

After negotiating with the man a bit longer and making sure that the reward for the mission would be the Wizard Dragon Fruit, Su Yu finally left.

He found an inn to take a respite for the time being. While waiting for the mission to start, Su Yu worked on healing Yongye Chuxue’s wounds.

The happenings in the Northern Xue Nation had reached the empire with the speed of an earthquake.

The Northern Xue Nation had rebelled and acceded to the Heaven-defying Empire.

With the upheaval in the South and civil unrest yet to be appeased, it struck the Empire of Darkness like a bolt out of the blue.

“Nitian Guyun!” Yongye Jiuyang was fuming with rage and hatred as he squeezed the messenger jade pendant into pieces.

Yongye Wuheng said, “Calm down, Father! It is not the first time that the Northern Xue Nation turns out to be disloyal to our Empire. It was always only a matter of time before it detached from us.”

“However, they were audacious enough to attempt to kill Chuxue in order to seal their rebellion with her blood…”

Yongye Wuheng could not help but laugh. “Nonetheless, the outcome is that all the royal heirs of the Northern Xue Nation have been slaughtered by Chuxue, apart from Prince Yun and Xue Xiaoman, who are still alive. It made them a laughing stock, I guess.”

Only then did Yongye Jiuyang smile. That was the most pleasing part.

The Northern Xue Nation failed to kill the Princess and got nearly their entire family killed.

They would look weak and ridiculous as a result of their betrayal, and the adverse impact on the Empire would thus be minimized.

“Chuxue has fled to the Yongzhen City of the Heaven-defying Empire. Send someone to fetch her back,” Yongye Jiuyang ordered.

Then his eyes flickered. “Besides, settle that matter. It would be inappropriate for me to arrive in person, and it would attract the three of them too. Thus you should deal with it by yourself.”

Yongye Wuheng seemed troubled. He replied in a deep voice, “Yes, Father.”

Two days later…

Su Yu arrived at the gathering place as was agreed.

The man he had spoken to before was waiting for him, and there were three other people, all of whom apparently belonging to the group that would go on the mission.

One of them was an elderly man clad in yellow clothing. He gave off a creepy, ferocious air, which kept people away from him.

Another one was a fair young man who looked bold and arrogant. He had the air of a seasoned warrior despite his youth.

They were both Level Six deities.

Seeing Su Yu, the man greeted him with a smile. “We were waiting just for you.”

Upon hearing that, the haughty youth looked Su Yu over from head to toe and questioned with displeasure, “Is he the one you mentioned, the one with see-through ability? Shouldn’t our companion be at least a Prospective Deity, huh? A fourth-realm Mortal Fairy… isn’t he going to hold us back?”

The elderly man said nothing but glanced at Su Yu without any expression.

The man in charge of the mission said, “You can be sure that his see-through ability will come in handy during this mission. As for holding you back, our mission this time isn’t particularly dangerous, so he won’t be a hindrance.”

Only then did the arrogant youth relent. He snapped, “Fine. Could you tell us about the mission already?”

The man chortled. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Liang Kuan, and I’m a Wizard Hunter. Three days ago, when I was hunting for wizards in the Lost Nation all by myself, I found something strange.”

“While I was staying at a villa, I found out that the creatures in the villa have all been contaminated by sorcery energy. Thus, I suspect that there are people of the wizard tribe in the villa, who disguise themselves as creatures of the Ancient God Realm!”

The arrogant youth mused. “Could you be talking about the Evil Fending Villa?”