Chapter 251.3: Lu Changsheng Single-Handedly Crushes Ten Earthly Saints and Three Deity Transformation Cultivators! (III)

The month soon passed, and the day of the auction finally arrived. Lu Changsheng went straight to the Secret World Pavilion.

"Honored guest, please come this way," said a Martial Saint.

The Martial Saint led him into the auction hall, where private suites had been prepared exclusively for Earthly Saints. Human Saints filled much of the main seating area below.

The coordinates of the unclaimed secret world was not the only thing being auctioned that day. The Secret World Pavilion had prepared numerous other treasures too, many of which were especially useful to Human Saints.

Lu Changsheng had come for only one thing, so after taking his seat in the private box, he simply watched the earlier bidding with mild interest.

There were plenty of treasures that were being auctioned. Many could greatly benefit Human Saints, and there were even several enchanted treasures used by Immortal Dao cultivators. However, none of these interested Lu Changsheng, so he simply waited.

Time gradually passed, and after twenty-nine items had been sold, the auction finally reached its thirtieth and final lot.

The auctioneer looked across the hall. "The final item of today's auction is the coordinates of an unclaimed secret world. According to the assessment of our Secret World Master, its energy-level response is only at the Dao Foundation level. As everyone knows, the lower the energy level of a secret world, the easier it is to establish the Martial Dao there, which also means a greater chance of obtaining Martial Dao fragments."

The atmosphere in the auction hall shifted at once. Many of the Earthly Saints who had remained quiet until now turned their full attention toward the stage.

The auctioneer continued, "I am sure everyone here understands the value of such a secret world, so I will spare you the unnecessary introduction. The starting bid is ten deity fragments."

Bids immediately rang out from the private boxes.

"Twenty!"

"Twenty-five!"

"Thirty!"

Within moments, the price had tripled to thirty deity fragments, yet the competition showed no sign of slowing.

Lu Changsheng remained silent. There was no reason to join the bidding so early. He simply waited and watched as the price continued climbing.

Once it reached forty deity fragments, however, the pace finally began to slow. Forty deity fragments was already an enormous sum, far beyond what most Earthly Saints could readily produce. The number of bidders dwindled, and those who remained began increasing their offers only one fragment at a time.

By the time the price reached fifty, only five bidders were left.

And this was when Lu Changsheng finally spoke. "Sixty!"

The hall fell quiet. Everyone turned to look at the man who had raised the price by ten deity fragments in a single bid as they tried to determine who he was.

After a short pause, another voice came from one of the other boxes. "Sixty-five."

Lu Changsheng answered without hesitation. "Seventy."

The other bidder refused to give up, and the price continued to rise. Neither side backed down easily, but as the bids climbed higher, Lu Changsheng's reserves gave him the advantage. In the end, when the price reached eighty-two deity fragments, no further bids came.

In the end, Lu Changsheng won the bid.

"Whew..." He let out a sigh of relief. At last, it's mine.

The price had been steep. Of the ninety-two deity fragments he had brought with him, only ten remained. But the secret world was his now, and that made every fragment spent worth it.

A Martial Saint soon came to Lu Changsheng after the auction.

"Honored guest, the winning bid was eighty-two deity fragments. Please settle the payment."

Lu Changsheng handed over the eighty-two deity fragments without hesitation. Given the reputation of the Secret World Pavilion, he never worried for a moment about being cheated out of those fragments.

After receiving the payment, the Martial Saint's smile grew even warmer. "Honored guest, please follow me."

He led Lu Changsheng into a spacious secret chamber.

"This is one of the Secret World Pavilion's cultivation chambers," the Martial Saint explained. "Everything needed to enter a secret world can be prepared here, and we also provide various treasures to assist with the process."

He began introducing them one by one.

"For example, this is the Soul-Enhancing Incense. Burning a stick strengthens the consciousness and divine soul, making it easier for your consciousness to enter the secret world.

"We also have the Dao-Enlightenment Incense, which sharpens Perception continuously as it burns, so that even once your consciousness has entered the secret world, your senses stay amplified. Each stick costs only one deity fragment..."

The Martial Saint went on and continued describing several other treasures, and as Lu Changsheng listened, he had to admit that the Secret World Pavilion knew how to run a business.

Selling secret world coordinates was only the beginning. Once a customer had bought the coordinates, the Pavilion offered an entire range of supplementary treasures to help them enter the world, cultivate there, and establish the Martial Dao as quickly as possible. They had even bundled everything into a discounted package for twenty-eight deity fragments.

Lu Changsheng was genuinely tempted. Unfortunately, after spending eighty-two deity fragments at the auction, he had only ten left. Twenty-eight was simply beyond his means.

"Just give me a Secret World Manual," he told the Martial Saint.

"Certainly. Please wait a moment, honored guest."

A Secret World Manual cost a single deity fragment, and it was definitely worth that fragment. It gathered together the common knowledge and precautions any cultivator needed before entering a secret world, the kind of thing that could save considerable time once inside.

After bringing him the manual, the Martial Saint explained the circumstances of the Secret World Lu Changsheng had purchased.

"Honored guest, the coordinates you won belong to what we call Secret World No. 18. It will make brief contact with our Immortal Martial World in ten days, which will be your ideal window to enter. We'll send word and activate the formation when the time comes.

"Our Secret World Master calculates that this period of contact should last roughly ten years, though if the world begins separating ahead of schedule, we'll close the formation at once and bring your consciousness back immediately. Treat ten years as an estimate, not a guarantee, and try to condense your Martial Dao as early as you can within it, so nothing unforeseen costs you the chance at obtaining Martial Dao fragments.

"After roughly three years, Secret World No. 18 is expected to collide more directly with the Immortal Martial World. That contact may last only a few hours, or perhaps one or two days. During that window, the formation lets you project the power of your true body into the secret world, which makes shattering the Martial Dao and claiming its fragments considerably easier.

"If your body within the secret world dies, your consciousness will normally be brought back to your true body through the formation, provided the secret world does not contain some special power capable of destroying consciousness itself. Under ordinary circumstances, your true body will suffer no harm.

"However, if you die and your consciousness is forced back, your connection to Secret World No. 18 will be severed, and you will not be able to enter it again. If you wish to try another secret world afterward, you will have to purchase another set of coordinates. So please make full use of this opportunity. Well then, I will leave you to prepare."

The Martial Saint gave Lu Changsheng a respectful nod, then turned and left.

Lu Changsheng carefully committed the Martial Saint's explanation to memory.

Three years from now, the formation will allow me to project the power of my true body into the secret world. Even if the connection lasts only a short while, the strength of my true body should be able to shatter the Martial Dao and obtain its fragments.

That means I need to establish the Martial Dao before that window arrives. Otherwise, once I miss the chance to draw upon my true body's power, I'll have to spend the remaining four to six years relying entirely on whatever strength I can cultivate within the secret world itself to get Martial Dao fragments. And that's going to be much more difficult.

Lu Changsheng understood just how demanding that timeline was. Establishing an entire Martial Dao within a secret world in only three years was an extraordinarily difficult feat. However, what was difficult for others was not necessarily difficult for him. His greatest advantage had always been his Perception, and with it, he was confident that three years would be enough.

The following days passed quietly. Lu Changsheng remained in the cultivation room, steeling himself and waiting patiently.

Ten days later, the Martial Saint's voice finally came from outside. "Honored guest, you may enter Secret World No. 18 now."

Lu Changsheng opened his eyes, and without delay, he activated the formation inside the cultivation chamber.

Buzz...

The formation hummed to life, and its power rapidly spread throughout the chamber.

Lu Changsheng immediately felt his consciousness being drawn out. It seemed to pass through layer after layer of folded space, until at last, a vast world that glowed with magnificent radiance opened before him.

Secret World No. 18!

The formation carried Lu Changsheng's consciousness toward the radiant world at tremendous speed. The instant he entered it, an icy sensation swept over him, as though his entire body had suddenly plunged into cold water.

***

Jade Dragon Kingdom, Pan City Hospital.

Inside the operating room, a young man lay surrounded by doctors and nurses as they fought to save his life. Outside, reporters crowded the corridor, waiting eagerly for news of whether he would survive.

"In the opening round of the Pan City Martial Arts Tournament, Lu Yuan, a third-year university student, was knocked unconscious by a Meridian-Severing Fist martial fighter[1] and rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

"According to members of the martial arts community, the meridian-severing force produced by this technique is particularly dangerous. Once it penetrates the body, it can sever the heart meridians, and victims rarely survive.

"Lu Yuan was previously hailed as a martial arts prodigy and became a martial fighter at a remarkably young age. And yet, he failed to make it past the very first round of the tournament and is now in critical condition. Some insiders have even claimed that his reputation was exaggerated, describing him as a manufactured prodigy with little genuine combat experience."

The reporters were practically falling over one another to get the biggest story. Lu Yuan had already been well known before the tournament, and if a celebrated young martial arts prodigy actually died during the first round, the resulting headlines were bound to be enormous.

Inside the operating room, however, the atmosphere had already gone quiet. The team of doctors and nurses stared at the flat line tracing across the monitor and shook their heads.

"He's so young.. What a pity."

"We did everything we could, but we couldn't save him..."

After confirming that there was nothing more to be done, one of the doctors instructed, "Ask the deputy director to announce that resuscitation was unsuccessful."

The doctors filed out looking thoroughly dejected. Lu Yuan was still so young. He had devoted himself to martial arts, entered a major tournament, and somehow lost his life in the very first round.

Soon afterward, the deputy director personally went outside to announce that Lu Yuan had died despite their attempts to save him. The reporters were not saddened by the news; in fact, their eyes lit instantly. The story they had been waiting for had finally arrived.

While reporters and doctors alike lost themselves in the frenzy that followed, back inside the operating room, the body on the table stirred. It was faint but unmistakable.

Then, the young man who had just been pronounced dead suddenly opened his eyes.

1. A martial fighter is a native term specific to the Secret World No. 18. It refers to a mundane martial artist in a setting that possesses Wu Shu (martial arts as physical technique and tradition) but lacks true Wu Dao (no cultivation system, no spiritual energy, and is strictly capped at the equivalent of a Dao Foundation ceiling). In essence, a martial fighter here is a practitioner of martial arts in the classic kung fu cinema sense—highly skilled and lethal by the standards of their home world, but ultimately incomparable to a true martial cultivator from the Immortal Martial World. ☜