Chapter 54: Who Robbed Whom?

"Fight! Fight!"

"Someone’s challenging the ranking!"

"Let’s see who wins!"

The surrounding disciples immediately became excited. Some even rushed toward the battle platform to watch.

The Inner Disciple Ranking Tournament wasn’t merely about rewards.

The higher one’s ranking, the greater one’s reputation within the sect.

The top disciples would receive valuable cultivation resources, pills, spiritual weapons, and powerful techniques.

More importantly, they would attract the attention of the sect’s powerful elders.

If one was lucky enough to catch the eye of a powerful elder, becoming that elder’s personal disciple was entirely possible. Therefore, every inner disciple was doing their best.

Many Outer and Core disciples had come to watch the tournament.

For them, witnessing the strength of the sect’s most outstanding inner disciples was also a rare opportunity.

Long Feng stood quietly among the crowd. His gaze swept across the surroundings. He searched through the crowd for several familiar faces.

Ye Wuxie and the other people he had been keeping an eye on, but none of them appeared.

Long Feng wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t planning to test himself yet, either. There was no need to reveal his strength this early.

Besides, a protagonist-like figures usually appeared at the very last of a tournament and immediately dominating the ranking. There was no need for him to rush.

The good show always came later!

Long Feng glanced at the enormous ranking board one last time before went back.

But instead of returning to his residence, he walked toward another part of the inner sect. There was something else he needed to take care of first.

After leaving the bustling tournament grounds, Long Feng headed in another direction.

He soon arrived before a familiar building.

The Treasure Tower.

The seven-story building stood quietly amid the surrounding structures, its ancient walls covered with countless mysterious formations.

Although Long Feng had visited this place before, he couldn’t help but look at it with a trace of awe.

The Treasure Tower gave off a feeling similar to the enormous ranking board and the Azura Sky Pillar, ancient and profound.

Long Feng walked through the entrance. Compared to the tournament grounds, the Treasure Tower was unusually quiet. Only a few disciples could be seen inside.

It seems that most of disciples had rushed toward the Inner Disciple Ranking Tournament, leaving the Treasure Tower relatively empty.

That was precisely why Long Feng had chosen to come here now.

His gaze swept across the interior. Several counters were arranged along the hall, with disciples and elders sitting behind them.

Some disciples were discussing what they wanted to exchange, while others were carefully examining the treasures displayed before them.

Long Feng didn’t immediately approach the counter. Instead, he slowly walked through the first floor lobby, carefully observing the people here.

Every item in this Treasure Pavilion had a corresponding value, and exchanging something from here required sufficient sect contribution or possessing treasure pavilion’s token.

But there was another thing that happens here, and that was an exchange.

Just like he did before with the Tyrant Blood Yang Pill. Trading one precious treasure for another item of equal value. And he had come here precisely to do that.

Long Feng’s gaze eventually turned to a familiar old man.

Compared with the other elders, that old man looked almost out of place.

While everyone else was carefully examining treasures, he was practically sleeping behind his counter.

It was an old man, sitting behind one of the counters, leaning against his chair with his eyes half-closed. He looked exactly as lazy as the last time Long Feng had met him.

Long Feng hesitated for a moment before walking over.

As he approached, the old man lazily opened one eye. He glanced at Long Feng once before his eyelid drooped again. It was as if Long Feng wasn’t even worth paying attention to.

But Long Feng didn’t mind. He calmly took out a jade bottle from his storage ring. The bottle was tightly sealed, with several layers of restrictions covering its surface.

"I want to exchange this." He carefully placed it on the counter.

The old man’s eyes opened slightly. He reached out and picked up the bottle. Then, to Long Feng’s surprise, the old man brought it close to his nose and took a sniff.

Long Feng’s face darkened.

"This bottle is completely sealed. Not even a trace of its energy can leak out. How can you smell anything from inside?"

The old man ignored him and sniffed again before finally glanced at him. His lazy expressions were replaced by a trace of interest.

"A fine piece of Stantite, at least a thousand years old."

Long Feng’s pupils contracted as he stared at the old man in astonishment.

How had he determined its age so easily?

He had personally added several sealing restrictions to it before coming here. The purpose wasn’t merely to prevent the contents from leaking out. It was also to prevent others from determining exactly what was inside.

Even a cultivator with powerful spiritual sense would find it difficult to inspect the contents without breaking the seal.

Yet this old man had merely smell it for a moment before identifying it with its approximate age.

Today he realized why elders say that you should not judge someone by their appearance.

The old man casually asked, "What do you want for it?"

"I want a peak Earth-rank technique."

Long Feng considered for a moment before answering. His tone was noticeably more respectful than before.

He had already decided to stand opposite side of Ye Wuxie.

If he wanted to deal with a protagonist-like figure, he needed to prepare himself properly.

Since his cultivation couldn’t be forcefully increased, then he would have to think about other methods to increase his strength.

Powerful treasures were another option, but treasures couldn’t be used everywhere. More importantly, displaying an extraordinary treasure could easily attract greedy eyes.

A powerful technique, however, was different.

As long as he didn’t reveal its origin, it would simply become another part of his strength. Therefore, improving his techniques was currently the safest way to increase his combat power.

And the thousand-year-old Stantite was the only valuable item he currently had that he could exchange with the sect for a powerful Earth-rank technique.

But the old man snorted upon his words.

"Mmph- You’re thinking too much, kid. This thing is worth a low-grade Earth-rank technique at most."

Long Feng’s mouth twitched. He took a breath and start his formidable bargaining skills.

"How about a mid-tier Earth-rank technique."

He had already decided what to say if the old man refused, but all his hopes came to nothing.

"Deal." In the next moment, the old man replied without any hesitation.

The answer came so quickly that Long Feng was stunned. He stared at the old man and old man looked back at him.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Long Feng felt completely robbed, especially after witnessing the old man’s face collapse into a supreme, shit-eating grin that sent a wave of accordion wrinkles rippling across his forehead.

But before he could resort anything, the old man casually took out a token and threw it toward him.

"Take it."

Long Feng looked down at the token.

It had a small tower engraved on its surface, similar to the token he had received from the Treasure Tower before.

However, this one was slightly different. There were three stars engraved beneath the tower, with two of them were golden and one silver.

Long Feng immediately understood what it meant.

The token represented his permission to enter the Technique Pavilion. The number of stars represented the floor of Technique Pavilion he could go. And the color of stars shows the exact level of technique he was permitted to take.

In other words, his highest accessible level was the mid-grade Earth-rank.

Long Feng looked back at the old man, leaning back in his chair again, looking completely uninterested.

Forget it!

He couldn’t change what had already happened. Having no option, he silently put the token away and turned around to left.

The Technique Pavilion was another important place within the Azura Heaven Sect.

Unlike the Treasure Tower, which stored various treasures, the Technique Pavilion contained the sect’s countless cultivation arts and martial techniques.

It was located several hundred meters away from the Treasure Tower.

When Long Feng arrived, he saw another enormous ancient building standing before him.

The pavilion was shaped like a towering pagoda, with nine visible floors rising into the sky. Ancient formations covered the entire building. Every formation seemed to be connected to the others, creating a powerful protective barrier around the pavilion.

Long Feng couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The foundation of a Great Sect truly wasn’t ordinary.

He stepped inside. An elder was sitting behind the entrance counter. He took out the token and handed it over.

The elder examined it carefully. His eyes paused briefly when he saw the two golden stars and one silver star.

"You can enter up to the third floor."

"Thank you, Elder."

The elder returned the token.

"Remember the rules. You can only select techniques according to the authority granted by your token. Don’t attempt to force your way into restricted areas."

"I understand."

Long Feng nodded and walked inside. A staircase appeared before him. He slowly climbed upward.

The first floor contained Spirit-rank techniques. The second floor contained Profound-rank techniques.

The higher the floor is, the more powerful technique it had.

Long Feng stepped onto the third floor. His eyes immediately brightened. Rows upon rows of jade shelves filled the enormous room.

Countless ancient scrolls were arranged neatly upon them. Every scroll contained the aura of a powerful technique.

Some were sword techniques, some were palm techniques. There were body-refining arts, movement techniques, defensive arts and even techniques that focused on controlling spiritual energy.

But the only common thing among them was that all of them were Earth-rank.