Chapter 1896: Myriad Treasure Grand Supreme
“Let’s go.” Lu Yun was hardly ruffled by the Starcatch Tower’s abrupt presence and demand.
One of their flight treasures carrying a full complement of geniuses had been destroyed en route to Darkstar. The mysterious a.s.sailant easily murdered the supreme among the flight crew and rumors were thick on the ground. Starcatch Tower had listed a high reward for any information.
Geniuses taking the vessel gradually made their way to Darkstar, but the supremes of Rising Sunriver were even swifter. Thus, no one dared speak of the truth to this day. They, at most, sent tips to the spirit paper. None of the geniuses were fools; whoever spoke of this matter would die and even endanger the factions behind them.
Since they’d bought pa.s.sage on a flight treasure, that meant they weren’t important enough to be escorted by one of their supremes. Of course, Nightmare and Xu Che were exceptions. Yet, how many like them existed in the vast expanse of the chief worlds? Two seeking pa.s.sage on the same flight treasure were incredible odds.
Having prospered in the realm for countless eons, Starcatch Tower was a merchant company behemoth in the chief worlds. Their business ran the gamut of all territories and flight treasures were only one of their wares.
The first flight treasures were used for trading instead of public transportation. After demand grew from sequence cultivators paying to occupy empty cargo s.p.a.ce, the Starcatch Tower went ahead and offered ma.s.s transportation as a standalone service.
Once they set the precedent, other merchant companies followed suit and some banded together to demarcate transportation-only lanes. These flight lanes were called merchant roads and connected the chief worlds to each other. As the name indicated, they were paths created by merchant companies, so flight treasures that traveled along them were labeled merchant vessels. Those that belonged to Starcatch Tower were called Starcatch merchant vessels, and so forth for their respective merchant companies.
Lu Yun’s understanding of the chief worlds came from the Myriad Spirit Grand Supreme and whatever was reported in the spirit paper. However, the realm was so incredibly expansive that not even the grand supreme could see it all clearly. Hence, Lu Yun ended up underestimating how much Starcatch Tower valued the merchant roads and vessels.
Although void raiders also attacked merchant vessels, they avoided the more important roads—such as the ones leading to the Dark Worlds.
In fact, other factions of the chief worlds had to pay a hefty sum of enigma stones if they wished to use the merchant roads. These were steady streams of easy revenue for the merchant companies, particularly one that traveled to a Dark World. If they didn’t get to the bottom of this matter, then this road was as good as defunct.
Jiang Lu never imagined that a casual hijacking of a merchant vessel would lead to such severe consequences. Others in Rising Sunriver, however, realized the ramifications. Once reports started appearing in the spirit paper, they tirelessly searched out and killed pa.s.sengers on that merchant vessel.
……
“Not bad.” There was a Starcatch branch in Darkstar. Lu Yun looked around after they entered and proclaimed his approval.
After their messenger led them to a private room, the supreme left to make his report.
“Indeed, but it’s still less than your Wind and Cloud PaG.o.da,” Nightmare nodded. Since her name was written into the Tome of Life and Death, she knew many of Lu Yun’s affairs, including the auction house that Lu Feng had created.
“My apologies for keeping my guests waiting!” A merry young man dressed in golden robes walked in. He raised cupped fists to Lu Yun and Nightmare. “I am Sikong Myriad Treasure and the grand overseer of Starcatch Tower on Darkstar.”
“You’re the Myriad Treasure Grand Supreme!” Nightmare shot to her feet and bowed to the newcomer.
“A grand supreme!” Lu Yun jumped with shock. He really had thought that all of the grand supremes in the realm had gone to the tomb of the empyrean supreme. Surely they were obsessed with a chance of breaking through to the next level! It was why he’d dared start a heaven-shaking war and conquer the major worlds of the outside realm.
Yet here he was, only a few days into his latest trip to the chief worlds and he’d already met two grand supremes!
Thank goodness there’s a whole crew of powerhouses holding down the fort in the World of Immortals… and that they’ll take action if need be. Lu Yun swallowed hard.
“Ah, so it’s the little girl of the Ghost King. I wondered who was brave enough to address the issue,” Myriad Treasure’s eyes twinkled when he smiled. He then turned to Lu Yun. “This young friend must be Myriad Spirit Grand Supreme’s beloved disciple, Zhu Lingyan?”
“I am,” Lu Yun nodded.
Myriad Spirit was Leize’s disciple and far stronger than the grand supreme in front of them and the Ghost King who was the sect master of the Ghost Sect. Lu Yun had no need to fear Sikong Myriad Treasure.
“Surely the grand supreme isn’t meeting with us for just this minor matter?” Lu Yun smiled and sat back down.
The grand supreme started. An issue having to do with a merchant road and vessel was very important to supremes and high supremes, but it didn’t warrant the attention of a grand supreme.
Myriad Treasure had probably known beforehand that Lu Yun and Nightmare would arrive on this world; he was only posturing otherwise. Jiang Lu was looking for Ghost Sect cultivators, so Sikong Myriad Treasure was likely here for Nightmare too.
“The Dark World is about to open,” the grand supreme responded candidly. “Its emergence has shaken the chief worlds and many sealed off secret realms or hidden treasures are manifesting.”
Lu Yun raised an eyebrow. He’d thought that Yun Yi had ignited the s.p.a.cetime tide ahead of time and that the Sea of Creation had appeared due to other reasons. It would seem that this was all due to the tomb, and that the Dark World was the latest addition to the list.
He naturally knew that the world was about to open. Why else would the Ghost King have requested the world heart?
“While ghost cultivators can bring greater strength to bear in a Dark World, I’m sure that doesn’t mean anything to a faction as formidable as Starcatch Tower,” Lu Yun chuckled.
Perhaps Jiang Lu needed a ghost cultivator to do her bidding, but the merchant company absolutely didn’t. Someone as mighty as Myriad Treasure wouldn’t meet with them just for this matter—not even when Nightmare was the daughter of the Ghost King.
“Indeed, it does not,” Myriad Treasure chuckled ruefully. The young man in front of him seemed to be able to read his mind. He was growing curious about Myriad Spirit’s disciple as even Nightmare seemed to take her cues from him. She didn’t interrupt when he spoke.
“Nightmare is different from other ghost cultivators, however. I can lend her our greatest treasure. It will enable her to deploy the strength of a high supreme in the Dark World.”
“A high supreme!” Lu Yun’s eyebrows shot into his hairline. “What’s the price?”
Myriad Treasure looked at Nightmare.
“Tell us, what would you have me do? The world heart is very important to my sect, so I will not give it to you even if you help me use the strength of a high supreme,” she responded. Only one world heart was available when a Dark World opened, which was why she’d chased Xu Che away.