Selling Treasures, Enormous Wealth

Lu Yuan gathered everything up first. Too many eyes were watching here, and he didn't like that — he'd go through it all properly once he was back.

He turned to Yeye and Small White with a grin.

"Let's go."

Yeye gave a calm nod. "Mm."

A flash of dark light appeared before her and the Night Sky Fiend materialized, spreading its wings with a thunderous roar.

The Gene Warriors nearby flinched at the creature's aura and stumbled back several steps.

All three of them climbed onto the Night Sky Fiend's back — it had gotten used to carrying Lu Yuan by now.

Then the Night Sky Fiend shot skyward and left the plaza behind.

The Gene Warriors who remained watched it disappear into the distance, buzzing with chatter before finally dispersing in their own directions.

News of Lu Yuan's challenge would spread fast — that was inevitable. After all, a change at the top of the Prodigy Rankings was no small event for the entire White Cloud Star Domain.

None of that concerned Lu Yuan at the moment.

After leaving with Yeye and Small White, they first went out for a celebratory meal at Yeye's insistence. Lu Yuan could tell she just wanted an excuse to eat, but he indulged her regardless.

Afterward the three parted ways, and Lu Yuan returned to his rented room.

Only then did he take out all his newly acquired treasures and examine them carefully.

The Wasteland Blood Spirit Fruit he consumed immediately. The effect was excellent — it boosted his physique by roughly as much as a King Grade Transcendent Gene would.

The Starry Sky Essence enhanced Mental Power, with a comparable effect, on par with a King Grade Transcendent Gene though naturally skewed toward the mental aspect.

For the Fifth-rank Sovereign Grade Gene Armament, he naturally chose a weapon. For a Gene Warrior, weapons always came first; battle armor and robes came second; everything else after that.

As for the Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene, he pulled up its information and his eyes widened slightly — he was genuinely surprised.

It was an unusual Transcendent Gene called *Shadow Legion*.

Its ability allowed the user to harness dark power and manifest Shadow Clones.

Each clone's strength was roughly one-tenth of the user's, but the number that could be summoned was far from trivial. The maximum depended on the user's Spirit Power and Mental Power — insufficient Mental Power meant they couldn't be controlled, while insufficient Spirit Power meant they couldn't be formed at all.

For Lu Yuan, this Combat Technique seemed remarkably powerful.

After all, his base strength was already formidable — one-tenth of his power still put each clone roughly on par with a same-level warrior who had inscribed several King Grade genes. He had inscribed nothing but Emperor Grade genes, and virtually all of them were fully tempered. If he summoned a Shadow Legion, each clone would carry combat power comparable to a top-thirty prodigy on the Rankings.

And since his Spirit Power was effectively limitless — replenishing as fast as it was spent — the number of clones he could sustain, given sufficient Mental Power, would be staggering.

More importantly, the clones could handle tasks that would otherwise take him far too long alone.

This...

Honestly, he was tempted.

Shadow Legion seemed to have broader applications than Wind Thunder Fury, didn't it?

He had originally planned to inscribe Wind Thunder Fury, which would have dramatically boosted his burst damage and made his single-target attacks devastating. But if he chose Shadow Legion instead, his raw burst power would fall short of Wind Thunder Fury — though his overall combat style would become far more unpredictable and versatile.

Both options had real merit...

Lu Yuan's gaze flickered. He couldn't quite make up his mind.

Oh, and there was also Ice-Sealed Coffin from before — that one wasn't bad either.

Heaven Thunder Body he wasn't even considering.

This was genuinely difficult. *If only I had more empty Gene Chain slots.*

He couldn't help but sigh.

He decided to shelve the problem for now and figure it out after his breakthrough. He put all the Transcendent Genes away and turned to the other items.

Five hundred Purple Heart Fruits, added to what he already had, brought his total to just over a thousand — worth over a million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals. A solid haul. That was roughly enough to temper a moderately powerful Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene, though for Sacred Light — which required considerably more — it wasn't even half of what was needed. He'd hold onto them for now; if he ever ran short on Enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid, these could fill the gap, and any surplus he could sell to Amy and the others.

Then there were the Fifth-rank Departure Crystals. These were precious — the higher the rank, the scarcer they became, and a scarce item that could save your life was worth holding on to. Lu Yuan kept them for himself.

Beyond that, there wasn't much more to note.

All in all, his push for rank one on the Prodigy Rankings had been an overwhelming windfall — roughly over twenty million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals' worth of rewards.

Right — it was time to auction off his treasures.

His eyes lit up. He was exempt from broker fees, after all. He wasted no time leaving his lodgings and heading straight to the Auction House in White Cloud City.

After consigning everything stored in his Battle-mark Space, he still felt unsatisfied. He made a trip to the Aier Mechanical Ruins, methodically extracting all the treasures from the core area and bringing them back to consign as well. The combined reserve price of everything from the core zone of the Central Floating City alone exceeded one billion Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals. With broker fees, he would have hemorrhaged over a hundred million in commissions.

The Auction House in White Cloud City operated on two models. The first was the instant listing — similar to the Red Maple Empire's online marketplace. Items were posted the same day, the seller set their own auction duration and could add a buyout price to close things early, and any Gene Warrior at the Auction House could view all listings in real time through the light screens. Sellers could also opt to conceal their identity. Almost every major power in the White Cloud Star Domain kept dedicated agents stationed here, ready to snap up anything of use.

The second model was the live auction event — the kind held in Sandy Rock City back in the starting regions, where consigned items were presented to a gathered audience of bidders in person. This format was reserved for genuinely rare pieces — typically King Grade or above — and even attending required meeting a minimum threshold of wealth and cultivation rank.

Lu Yuan naturally chose the instant listing. He simply handed everything over to the Constructs for consignment, set a two-month auction window, and let the highest bidder claim each item. If someone hit the buyout price first, it would close early. His volume was considerable, but White Cloud City was the largest Land of Origin city on the entire White Cloud Continent — he had no doubt the market could absorb it all. Dropping this much onto the market would barely cause a ripple.

After that, he thought it over and used Mechanical King to commandeer a large number of the Mechanical Guardians throughout the Aier Mechanical Ruins, then systematically cleared out every First-rank and Second-rank treasure inside. He listed them in batches through the instant auction, setting shorter one-week windows and deliberately low buyout prices — volume over margin.

Clearing and consigning the entire Aier Mechanical Ruins kept him occupied for nearly a month. During that time, much of the First-rank and Second-rank inventory he had listed early on had already sold through — the pricing was too good to pass up. Even though individual items only fetched a few thousand, tens of thousands, or at most a few hundred thousand in First-rank or Second-rank Spirit Crystal value, the sheer quantity more than made up for it.

All told, Lu Yuan had netted roughly nine hundred million in Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals.

The sum was staggering — and that was before counting the more valuable Third-rank items he'd also put up.

It made clear just how significant his broker-fee exemption really was. At a ten-percent commission rate, he would have owed ninety million in fees alone — more than many Battle King Rank warriors earned in their entire lifetime, let alone kept in savings.

Every single bit of it was money he got to keep.

During this period, Yeye, Amy, and Si Tingxue all asked him to list items on their behalf, wanting to take advantage of the exemption and save on commissions. Lu Yuan didn't mind at all. Li Qinghe, Si Tingyu, and Shuangyue even made their way back to White Cloud City from the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin, bringing King Grade and even Emperor Grade items for him to consign.

Li Qinghe kissed him on the cheek, calling it a reward.

Si Tingyu's expression beside her was thoroughly strange. Shuangyue, meanwhile, kept teasing Li Qinghe — daring her to go for a proper kiss on the lips — until a mortified and furious Li Qinghe turned and chased her across the room.

Lu Yuan noticed that for all her elegant appearances, Shuangyue was actually bolder than Li Qinghe. It made sense; the two were close friends, after all. His mentor, Si Tingyu, maintained her composure regardless of what was happening around her.

What a shame, though. After all that consigning, only Li Qinghe had given him so much as a peck on the cheek — no one else offered any such appreciation, and Lu Yuan couldn't help feeling a little sorry for himself. He even briefly wondered whether he should drop a hint or two.

Then he thought better of it and shook his head. *I'm not that kind of person.*

Beyond Li Qinghe and her group, the Li Family, Shuangyue's Jade Family, the Tianluo Family, the Si Family, and several others all came to ask for his help with consignments. For the battle-Emperor-tier families like the Li Family, he accepted a share of the proceeds in return, and didn't make a fuss about it. For closer friends — Maige, Yang Ping's family — he helped without charging anything. The combined value of what they listed wasn't even a fraction of what he'd earned himself, so it cost him nothing and did them a favor.

As for everyone else who came asking, Lu Yuan wasn't hurting for Spirit Crystals and had no interest in spending his time as a middleman for people he barely knew. That time was better spent training.

Once the Aier Mechanical Ruins had been completely cleared out, Lu Yuan returned to the Training Hall and settled back into cultivation.

The moment he stepped into the Gravity Room, he felt like he was home. He let out a long breath and got to work.

Another month passed, and all the core-area treasures he had listed finally sold through. The total came to over two billion Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals. Combined with the nine hundred million from before, his overall income stood at roughly over three billion Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals — and that was after setting aside a small portion of the most valuable pieces, which he intended to exchange for Credits at the Talent Camp.

Beyond the Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals, the Enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid and other miscellaneous gains added another billion-plus in Fifth-tier equivalents, or over a hundred million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals.

More than enough to reach Battle King Rank.

Reaching Battle Emperor, on the other hand, felt less certain. Once he broke through to Battle King Rank, he would need to evolve all his Transcendent Genes to the Battle Emperor tier, and fully tempering each Emperor Grade gene to perfection would require at least one to two million Seventh-tier Spirit Crystals apiece — more for Spatial Type and Light Type genes. Over a hundred million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals translated to roughly ten million Seventh-tier Spirit Crystals, and that might genuinely not be enough.

Of course, supplementing with lower-tier Spirit Crystals could bridge the gap, just at a slower cultivation pace. Or he could invest in higher-tier cultivation Spiritual Items — seventh-rank spirit fruits and the like.

He was going to need to start making more Spirit Crystals.

Two more months passed. After spending close to three million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals, Lu Yuan finally tempered Sacred Light to perfection.

The moment it reached full temper, white mist surged and the fifth Gene Lock materialized before him — a dense web of chains wound tightly together, sixty-two in total.

A chill of surprise ran through him. That was more than three times the eighteen chains he had faced when breaking through to Battle Venerable Rank.

But when he reminded himself that every gene he had inscribed was Emperor Grade, it made sense.

He now had a full hundred and sixty Fourth-rank Origin Stones — consumption wasn't a concern. He began absorbing them one by one, shattering each chain in turn.

When the last chain finally broke, white mist billowed and the Battle King Rank Gene Chain fully manifested.

A wave of ease washed over him — profound, deep-reaching comfort unlike anything before. This elevation of his very being surpassed every breakthrough he had ever experienced.

He had always heard that Battle King Rank and Battle Venerable Rank were fundamentally different — that even the nature of one's life changed at the threshold. Now he knew it was true.

He found his control over his own body had become effortlessly precise. He could consciously govern every part of it — accelerate his stomach's contractions to speed digestion, quicken his heartbeat to push blood faster through his veins, and more. And beyond that, a single thought was enough to defy gravity and lift off the ground. No Combat Technique. No special ability. He could simply fly.

His overall strength had risen proportionally across the board, and a new empty Gene Chain slot had opened — room for one more Transcendent Gene.

He had already made his decision during the months of training.

He was going to inscribe Shadow Legion.

Wind Thunder Fury would have significantly boosted his direct burst power, but in all honesty, that was already his strongest suit. He also had Heaven-Sundering Slash — an Emperor Grade Spirit Technique that, even without reaching full temper, already pushed his burst output beyond any King Grade Combat Technique. With Earth Spirit Body and Black Steel Force both active and every card on the table, Heaven-Sundering Slash would be devastating.

Shadow Legion, by contrast, opened avenues he simply hadn't had before. His toolkit would no longer be limited to direct confrontation.

He could lurk in the shadows and send wave after wave of clones to wear down an opponent — his Spirit Power was limitless, so the clones could be sustained indefinitely. Against enemies he wasn't confident he could defeat head-on, he could probe their techniques with clones, drain their Spirit Power, then step in himself to deliver the killing blow. Not a bad strategy at all.

Clones could also gather intelligence. Darkness clones could conceal themselves in shadows, and they shared their senses with him in real time — a capability that extended far beyond combat.

As things stood, Shadow Legion was clearly the superior choice.