Chapter 55: The Young Master Wan San

The seven days and nights of secret realm exploration left Lin Chuan's entire body sore and aching, but the heavy harvest in his universe bag kept a smile perpetually hanging at the corners of his mouth.

When the final spiritual material was successfully traded at the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce in the black market, looking at the extra ninety-one million low-grade spirit stones resting in his universe bag, Lin Chuan could not help but let out a low whistle.

"Little Fatty, at this rate, if we were simply to sweep through all the spirit-grade secret realms connected to Heavenly Fortune City, we could easily amass billions of low-grade spirit stones!" Lin Chuan communicated with Little Fatty inside the Blood Spirit Ring.

"Hmph, merely a few billion low-grade spirit stones are enough to make you this happy?" Little Fatty's voice carried a hint of disdain. "Back in my day, a single fart of mine was worth more than tens of billions."

Lin Chuan curled his lips, having long grown accustomed to Little Fatty's "back in my day" style of boasting.

He deftly navigated the winding alleys of the black market, changing his route frequently to ensure no one was trailing him.

Turning a corner, Lin Chuan swiftly removed his black mask and cloak, stuffing them into his universe bag.

He smoothed out his ordinary cyan long robe, making himself look entirely like a standard low-tier cultivator.

Just as he was about to head back to the Earthfire Courtyard, a sudden commotion erupted at the end of the street.

"Young Master Wan San is arriving, all commoners make way!"

A resounding shout accompanied by the synchronized thunder of hooves drew closer from afar.

Lin Chuan raised an eyebrow, looking up out of curiosity. At the end of the street, nine massive earth dragons were slowly advancing. Each earth dragon was draped in magnificent harnesses inlaid with precious gems, their thick limbs producing dull thuds as they stepped upon the bluestone pavement.

"Good grief, what an extravagant display..." Lin Chuan muttered to himself.

"Nine early-stage Revered Martial realm earth dragons used as mounts?" Little Fatty's voice chimed in abruptly. "Kid, the person inside that carriage is no ordinary figure."

A shock ran through Lin Chuan's heart.

Early-stage Revered Martial realm? Those were already top-tier powerhouses within Heavenly Fortune City, second only to the city lord, capable of establishing their own sects in the city—yet they were being used to pull a carriage?

He narrowed his eyes, carefully scrutinizing the luxurious carriage led by the earth dragons.

The carriage was forged entirely from dark gold, its body carved with intricate runes that shimmered faintly under the sunlight.

Four bells hung from each corner of the roof, producing crisp chimes as the carriage moved forward. Most eye-catching of all was the heavily gilded character for "Wan" stamped upon the carriage door, encircled by nine auspicious cloud motifs.

"That carriage..." Little Fatty continued, "is a supreme heavenly-grade spiritual treasure. Anyone below the peak Emperor Martial realm cannot possibly breach its defenses. Furthermore, it can completely block divine sense detection below the Saint Martial realm."

Lin Chuan drew a sharp breath.

A supreme heavenly-grade?

The spiritual treasures of the Azure Mysterious Continent were graded from low to high into spirit, mysterious, earth, heavenly, saint, and divine tiers, with each tier further divided into lower, middle, upper, and supreme grades.

Certain impoverished Saint-realm powerhouses could only afford supreme heavenly-grade spiritual treasures, yet this Wan San was riding in a carriage of that exact caliber!

He could not help but whisper, "Just what kind of background does this Young Master Wan San have?"

"You don't even know Young Master Wan San?" A middle-aged cultivator nearby looked at Lin Chuan with astonishment. "Little brother, you must have just arrived in Heavenly Fortune City, haven't you?"

Lin Chuan's eyes shifted, and he instantly put on a modest expression.

"Indeed, senior. I've only been here for three months and know very little about the happenings in the city."

With that, he retrieved ten low-grade spirit stones from his universe bag and discreetly slipped them into the other man's hand. "I humbly ask senior to enlighten me."

The middle-aged cultivator weighed the spirit stones in his palm, finding Lin Chuan quite sensible and savvy, and nodded with satisfaction.

"The Wan family is a renowned commercial family across our Azure Mysterious Continent, with businesses scattered across several hundred cultivation cities. They started out cultivating spiritual herbs and concocting pills, and now their apothecary shops span hundreds of cities, holding assets worth at least a trillion upper-grade spirit stones!"

"A trillion?!"

Lin Chuan almost bit his tongue.

After toiling for seven days straight, relying on both Elder Zi and Little Fatty as his cheats, he had only managed to earn ninety million, yet this family's assets were calculated in trillions—and in upper-grade spirit stones at that?

One had to remember that the exchange rate between upper-grade and low-grade spirit stones was one to a hundred. Converted into low-grade spirit stones, the Wan family's wealth amounted to a hundred trillion low-grade spirit stones!

Little Fatty scoffed in his mind.

"Did that frighten you? Let me tell you something even scarier—besides Wan San, inside that carriage sits an undying heavenly phoenix at the peak of the Revered Martial realm!"

"What?"

Lin Chuan nearly shouted out loud, quickly clamping a hand over his mouth.

"The Undying Heavenly Phoenix is a direct descendant of the divine phoenix beast, possessing a bloodline a hundred times more noble than the five-colored peacock," Little Fatty went on. "To forge a contract with such a demonic beast requires not only hundreds of billions of low-grade spirit stones as a 'betrothal gift,' but also family standing recognized by the Undying Heavenly Phoenix race itself—because there are several Divine Martial-level old hens sitting tight in the Phoenix clan."

Lin Chuan felt his worldview being thoroughly shattered.

He had originally thought that relying on Little Fatty as his cheat and his own business acumen to accumulate nearly a billion low-grade spirit stones from scratch in over three months was already quite impressive.

Now it seemed that compared to true wealthy magnates, he couldn't even be considered a nouveau riche.

Just as Lin Chuan was lost in thought, Young Master Wan San's procession had slowly rolled past, heading toward the inner district of Heavenly Fortune City.

The surrounding passersby bowed their heads in unison, not daring to gaze directly at the carriage.

"Senior, why would a big figure like Young Master Wan San come to a small 'star-tier' city like Heavenly Fortune City?" Lin Chuan slipped another ten spirit stones to the middle-aged cultivator, lowering his voice to ask.

The middle-aged cultivator looked left and right before leaning close to Lin Chuan's ear. "I heard he came for the auction at the main building of the Heavenly Fortune Tower. Word is that Young Master Wan San wants to open a Wan Family apothecary in Heavenly Fortune City and intends to purchase the land in the eastern district."

The auction!

Lin Chuan had originally planned to attend the auction alongside Zhang Lin and the others today to acquire that plot of land in the eastern district, but now, with the competition from Young Master Wan San, he instantly felt a crushing weight of pressure.

"Many thanks to senior for the guidance."

Lin Chuan cupped his fists in farewell, turned, and strode rapidly toward the Earthfire Courtyard.

As he walked, Lin Chuan's thoughts refused to settle.

The Wan family's immense wealth, the contract with the Undying Heavenly Phoenix, the supreme heavenly-grade carriage... All of these left him both awestruck and yearning.

"Little Fatty, when do you think I can reach that level?" Lin Chuan could not help asking.

The remnant soul within the Blood Spirit Ring fell silent for a moment. "With me and that old pervert around, within ten years, you too can own your very own Undying Heavenly Phoenix."

"Really?" Lin Chuan halted his steps.

"When has your old man ever lied to you?" Little Fatty snorted. "Though for now, you'd better figure out how to win that plot of land at the auction. Anything the Wan family sets their eyes on will surely have its price driven up to the heavens."

Lin Chuan nodded and quickened his pace.

When he pushed open the wooden door of the Earthfire Courtyard, Zhang Lin, Wang Tiezhu, and Zhang Yida were already fully geared up and ready to go.

"Brother Lin, you're finally back!" Zhang Yida was the first to spot Lin Chuan, waving excitedly. "We were just about to go looking for you."

"Apologies, I was delayed for a bit," Lin Chuan smiled as he walked into the courtyard. "Is everything prepared? The auction starts at noon; we need to head over early to secure good seats."

"Everything's been ready for ages!" Wang Tiezhu patted the storage bag at his waist. "I brought my entire net worth along. We are definitely securing that land today!"