Chapter 1623 – Target
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“Compete with me for the Dragon Contract?” Lin Ming’s heart chilled. Although he appeared to remain calm, his mind was racing as he considered this blue-clothed man’s words.
“Their words and actions… seem to be targeting me, probing me…”
Lin Ming slyly smiled. Within the inner Asura Road, this sort of massive treasure fair that had all sorts of top quality pills, divine runic symbols and Empyrean spirit treasures for sale would attract influences from all over.
At this treasure fair, there were more Divine Lords than dogs, Holy Lords walked everywhere, and there were even a massive number World Kings. Even half-step Empyreans were hidden amongst the crowds. If one were to casually provoke someone, they might end up being someone with a powerful background.
The Dragon Contract refined with the jade dragon horn cost a minimum of 500 million points. This was not a price that the average person could put forth.
And this blue-clothed man and black-cloaked old man had come from nowhere and then signaled that they were going to compete with him for the Dragon Contract; it was clear that their origins were great!
Lin Ming couldn’t help but find this a bit strange. Ever since arriving at the Inner Asura Road he basically didn’t make any enemies. Yet, these two people came from out of nowhere and also originated from a great influence, so just how were they connected?
After sifting through his memories, Lin Ming still couldn’t find a clue as to who they were. So, he simply put this line of thinking to the side.
Lin Ming nonchalantly glanced at the black-cloaked old man. This old man seemed to have a familiar atmosphere to him, the atmosphere of a divine runic master…
Different situations called for different measures. If these people were probing his financial situation, he absolutely could not show the slightest hint of weakness. Otherwise, once these people discovered what his financial bottom line was they would bide their time until the auction began and then make targeted bids against him. This would be extremely disadvantageous for him.
“You also want the Dragon Contract?” Lin Ming’s eyes were indifferent. He lifted his gaze and looked at the blue-clothed man. Although his voice wasn’t loud, it held the tone of inevitable victory.
Duke Fullmoon’s eyes flashed as he welcomed Lin Ming’s gaze. A taunting smile curved up his face. “Yes, there are many things I am interested in at this auction. And of those things I am interested in, there is nothing I cannot obtain.”
Duke Fullmoon’s words were similarly sharp.
Xiao Moxian watched on from the side, her eyes filled with loathing and disgust as she glared at this Duke Fullmoon. To be fair, this duke’s words weren’t too hateful, but the tone in which he spoke and the contempt in his eyes was far too aggravating. If this were the Divine Realm she might have already dug this dog’s eyes out.
But this was the Asura Road and her situation was different to how it used to be. They had no backing here and their wealth was also limited.
Xiao Moxian could only puff out her cheeks and glare at Duke Fullmoon with eyes that could kill.
“See you in a month then.” Lin Ming lightly smiled. His eyes slowly swept over Duke Fullmoon and Shadow Overflow’s faces as he imprinted them deep in his mind.
In any case, these two people were hostile to him, so remaining a bit vigilant was always good.
After leaving behind these words, Lin Ming took Xiao Moxian’s hand and left. The moment he turned, he frowned. This was a bit of a headache… to think that there would actually be competition that appeared. At the time of the treasure fair, he feared that it would be hard to obtain the things he wanted…
Points! He had to earn some more points!
“This smelly brat really has no manners, to think he would dare to take the last word against the Duke. It seems he doesn’t know how high the heavens are.” Junior-apprentice Sister Qing leaned against Duke Fullmoon’s shoulders, sending a disdainful glance at the fading Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian.
“According to what he said, it seems he believes that he’ll win against you at the treasure fair.”
Duke Fullmoon smiled. “Win against me? They are far from enough!”
In that brief probe just now, although Lin Ming was airtight and didn’t reveal anything, Duke Fullmoon’s intuition told him that Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian weren’t people with deep backgrounds nor were they too wealthy.
The Dragon Contract required over a billion points to win, and that was the bare minimum. That was a massive amount of wealth, and even as a Duke of the Divine Void Divine Kingdom, taking out all of that at once was still painful.
In regards to Lin Ming’s words, he hadn’t taken them to heart. But, his gaze was a bit sharper. He didn’t know why, but the way Lin Ming looked at him and the apathetic disdain in his eyes caused him to not be too happy.
“This brat can endure.” Shadow Overflow walked over. His eyes stared at Lin Ming’s departing back, flickering in the dark of his cloak.
“Send some people to keep an eye on him and keep looking up any information on him. It's impossible that he’ll be a good little boy and hand over the secrets of his divine runic arts inheritance. We must be prepared.” Duke Fullmoon thoughtfully said.
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The air around the grand and splendid Divine Rune City was filled with mysterious fluctuations of energy.
All year long, the only season was a warm spring. Gentle sunlight fell down from skies, falling onto the buildings and creating mottled shadows.
Wandering through the city, Xiao Moxian could feel the warmth of the person hugging her wrap around her. Even though she couldn’t be called happy, her earlier anger and worries diluted a great deal.
“Big Brother Lin, those people were just disgusting! I just wanted to take a stroll around the treasure fair… but now even my mood is ruined by them…” Xiao Moxian said, twisting her lips. She hung her head down, nestling into Lin Ming’s warm chest, feeling weak and not wanting to leave.
“Just treat them as nothing.” Lin Ming smiled, letting go of the playful and beautiful girl.
Xiao Moxian chuckled and then coldly snorted as she thought of the events again. A faint killing intent rolled off her. “Humph, if this was the Divine Realm I would have already killed them. To dare speak to my Lin Ming like that…”
Lin Ming shrugged. To him, the events of today were only a small interlude. He simply didn’t take it to heart.
However, this small event did remind him that there would be many more hardships than he thought if he wanted to obtain the treasures he wanted from the treasure fair a month from now.
He needed to earn more money! He needed to make more preparations!
After flying straight back to the Divine Runic Masters Guild, Lin Ming strode directly into his seventh grade divine runic room.
Because he had successfully produced the Nirvanic Tribulation Flame Symbol and caused the reputation of the Divine Runic Masters Guild to rise to new heights, his fame was completely different from before. The guards all treated him with respect and didn’t stop his movements.
“Mm?”
At the entrance of the seventh grade divine runic room, he could see a familiarly enchanting figure standing there.
Wearing a dress with a plunging neckline, Suya’s bombastic figure was outlined in a soul-stirring manner. Her black hair hung down like a waterfall, shining with a gorgeous brilliance in the sunlight. Her collar was lowered to the point of revealing her collarbones and downwards to the deep and snowy valley of her chest.
In addition to the sensual atmosphere that surrounded her, she exhibited a unique charm.
Suya’s eyes shined as she saw Lin Ming. She had already been waiting here for some time.
Her eyes glanced over at Xiao Moxian happily walking as she held onto Lin Ming’s arm. She didn’t know why, but a faint feeling of jealousy appeared in her heart.
But she quickly suppressed this feeling and a welcoming smile appeared on her face. “Sir Lin is indeed burdened with a myriad of affairs every day. I’ve already been waiting here for you for six hours. I wonder if Sir Lin has any available time; we’re in need of another batch of divine runic symbols…”
Before she finished speaking, Lin Ming had already brought Xiao Moxian and rushed past her like a breeze of wind.
He threw back some faint words, “I’m not available for the time being.”
Suya froze in place as she heard the door to the divine runic room open and then slam shut.
She couldn’t help but bitterly smile. What should she do now?
Ever since Lin Ming had finished the first batch of Nirvanic Tribulation Flame Symbols, the Extreme Star Holy Lands’ dependence on Lin Ming increased with every day. These past days, Lin Ming seemed to be making some big movements within the seventh grade divine runic room. The surging power of divine runic arts within was much stronger than before.
One couldn’t help but think that he was creating a new divine runic symbol. The Extreme Star Holy Lands had already tasted the benefits so they wanted to monopolize these new divine runic symbols if possible. And Suya was the only person who could probe the situation for them.
But now, Lin Ming hadn’t even given Suya the chance to speak.
This was the first time that Suya ever felt powerless and frustrated in front of a man.
“This man…” Suya looked unwillingly at the tightly shut door of the seventh grade divine runic room. She bit her lips, her thoughts rapidly turning…
To be honest, Lin Ming really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Suya. The treasure fair was only a month away and his points were far from enough!
If he mass produced divine runic symbols for the Extreme Star Holy Lands, he clearly wouldn’t make enough points in the time he had.
His greatest hope was to invest all of his efforts into the two divine runic symbols he had been researching – the improved Heavenly Fire Symbol and Heretical God Symbol.
These two divine runic symbols were far stronger than the improved Havoc Flame Symbol he first created. He would definitely be able to exchange them for more points.
Upon entering the divine runic room, Lin Ming went into a quasi-enlightened state. His entire being was immersed in recalling the comprehensions of the Asura Heavenly Dao Laws.
In front of him, Xiao Moxian was skillfully bringing out the materials that Lin Ming needed to draw up the improved Heavenly Fire Symbol. Her actions were practiced and familiar as she lined up the mountain of various materials, placing them on the spirit stone table near Lin Ming.
Xiao Moxian had a deep tacit understanding with Lin Ming, nearly reaching a state where their hearts and minds were connected. With just a glance, without needing words, she could accurately make out what he was thinking as if she could read his thoughts.
After the preparation of materials was complete, Lin Ming’s eyes flashed with a brilliant light. His hands flew out as a blue spirit root flew into his grip. He began to carefully extract the juices, not even relying too much on the array formations in this room.
Although these seventh grade array formations were astronomically expensive and useful, there were still some crucial materials that needed to be handled by Lin Ming. This was because the requirements for drawing up the Heretical God Symbol were far too high. Even a seventh grade array formation wasn’t enough. The only materials that Lin Ming would allow the array formations to process were the ones that weren’t important.