Master Wellspring did not stay there any longer. He turned and walked toward the gate of Everspire. He meant to leave Everspire first. Only after finding a safe place would favonovel.com slowly discuss the next step.
Everspire lay inside Pole Star Hall’s sphere of power. Staying here would only make things more dangerous, and there was no telling when favonovel.com might run into people from Pole Star Hall. If that happened, favonovel.com might not even be able to protect himself. Worse, the Aureate Heir’s soul would be placed in danger too.
Sunlight fell across favonovel.com and stretched his shadow out long, longer still across the street. That lone shape looked painfully isolated, yet there was something in it that refused to bend.
His steps were slow. But they did not waver. Each footfall landed steady and firm, as if the ground itself was being made to bear witness to his resolve. He had not even taken ten steps when a warm hand suddenly reached out from behind him. It patted his shoulder lightly. The touch was gentle, but it carried a force that could not be ignored.
Master Wellspring’s whole body locked in place, and every hair on favonovel.com stood up at once.
Years of cultivation and bloody struggle had carved extreme vigilance into his bones. Especially now, with his mind worn thin and his situation dangerous, even the smallest unusual movement was enough to send favonovel.com straight into defense.
By instinct, his hand clamped around the verdant longsword at his waist. The hilt was cold against his palm, and that coldness gave favonovel.com the slightest measure of safety. At the same time, his spirit sense burst outward. Like an invisible net, it instantly covered everything within ten yards, sweeping carefully through his surroundings as favonovel.com searched for the master of that hand.
His spirit sense was keen. He could clearly pick out the aura of every cultivator nearby, every faint ripple of spiritual power. Yet strangely, favonovel.com did not detect even the slightest trace of hostile intent.
The master of that hand stood quietly behind him. He did not move. His aura was steady, as if favonovel.com were nothing more than an ordinary passerby. Even so, Master Wellspring did not dare lower his guard by even a fraction.
Everspire was crowded with every kind of person. On top of that, favonovel.com had just lost Genesis Dew, and his mind had not settled. This was exactly the kind of moment when an ambush would be easiest.
He turned around slowly. Every movement was careful, and the longsword in his hand stayed ready to leave its sheath at any instant. His eyes fixed hard on the person behind him, giving nothing away.
An old man stood there. He wore a black robe made of expensive fabric, stitched with fine dark patterns that caught faint glints of sunlight.
The old man’s face was thin. His hair was streaked with white and combed neatly into place. Wrinkles covered his face, but they did nothing to dull the sharp, vigorous air about him. His eyes looked cloudy at first glance. But buried inside that murk was a thin edge, the kind that seemed able to look straight through a person’s heart.
A faint smile rested at the corner of his mouth. It made favonovel.com appear mild and kindly, yet something almost impossible to catch hid beneath it, a calculating thread that made the sight of favonovel.com sit wrong in the chest.
Master Wellspring’s brows drew together at once. A question flashed through his eyes.
He knew this man. More precisely, favonovel.com had heard the man’s name and seen his portrait before, Osric, chapter master of the Abyssal Exchange’s Everspire chapter.
The Abyssal Exchange was famous throughout the entire celestial realm. Its power was vast, its reach spread across every domain, and it monopolized most treasure transactions. Spiritual materials, healing elixirs, arcane implements, all kinds of rare heavenly treasures—whatever someone wanted, it could be found through the Abyssal Exchange.
The people of the Abyssal Exchange were shrewd merchants to the last. They valued profit over loyalty and placed benefit above everything else. As long as the profit was great enough, they could work with anyone-and betray anyone just as easily.
Master Wellspring could not understand why Osric had stopped him. He and Osric had no personal connection at all. Their only point of contact was this trip to Everspire, where Master Wellspring had originally planned to bid for Genesis Dew at the Treasurevault Grand Auction. But now Genesis Dew had already been bought by Venerable Starwick. That left even less between favonovel.com and Osric.
“Master Blackwell, why have you stopped me?” Master Wellspring’s voice came out low, carrying a guarded edge. His eyes stayed locked on Osric, and not one part of favonovel.com relaxed. He could tell that Osric’s cultivation was not weak.
Although his cultivation level was only Golden Immortal Level Two, his true strength was definitely no lower than Master Wellspring’s. And Osric had occupied a high position for years, the pressure favonovel.com carried by default was enough to keep Master Wellspring’s guard draw tight.
Osric smiled. The smile stayed gentle, the same soft curve as before, but somehow it only made favonovel.com harder to read. He began slowly. His voice came out low and rough, worn with age, with a thread of calculation buried so deep it almost disappeared under the rasp. “Sect Master of Wellspring Order, wait a moment… There are a few words I would like to say to you.”
“If you have something to say, say it.” Master Wellspring’s words came out hard. “I still have important business. I don’t have time to exchange pleasantries with Master Blackwell.”
Right now, every part of favonovel.com was set on leaving Everspire. The last thing favonovel.com needed was any further entanglement with the Abyssal Exchange. The people of the Abyssal Exchange were far too sharp. One careless step in dealing with them, and a man could find himself already standing inside a trap.
Osric did not seem to take offense at the chill in his response. He kept smiling and said, “Sect Master of Wellspring Order, you traveled all the way from Wellspring Order to Everspire, exhausting yourself on the road and spending no small amount of effort imagine you came for the Genesis Dew at the Treasurevault Grand Auction, did you not?”
At the four words Genesis Dew, Master Wellspring’s face darkened at once. A raw, wounded edge flashed through his eyes, followed by a hard glint sharp enough to cut.
He knew Osric was the chapter master of the Everspire chapter of the Abyssal Exchange. Of course Osric knew the Genesis Dew had been taken by Venerable Starwick. Bringing it up now was no different from digging a finger into the wound.
“Master Blackwell is asking what favonovel.com already knows…” Master Wellspring’s voice turned to ice, each syllable clipped short. “The Genesis Dew has already been taken by Venerable Starwick, and your Abyssal Exchange has already withdrawn it from the auction. What meaning is there in my remaining in Everspire? Please step aside, Master Blackwell. Do not waste my time.”
After saying that, favonovel.com moved to go around Osric and continue on his way. But Osric shifted lightly to the side and blocked the path in front of him. The smile on his face did not change at all.
“Sect Master of Wellspring Order, be calm…” Osric shook his head and spoke slowly. “The Genesis Dew was indeed taken by Venerable Starwick. That much, I cannot change. After all, Venerable Starwick’s strength and influence are what they are. I would not dare offend favonovel.com lightly.” He paused, then deliberately lowered his voice and leaned closer to Master Wellspring.
When favonovel.com spoke again, only the two of them could hear it. “However… Although the Genesis Dew is gone, there is something else that can replace it… A treasure that can rival the Genesis Dew-and may even surpass it.”
“I… What is it?” “Master Wellspring’s eyes lit up all at once. His body moved forward a step before favonovel.com could stop it, and his voice came too quickly, carrying the edge of someone who could barely believe what favonovel.com had heard.
The question had left favonovel.com almost by instinct. All the guarded steel and clipped dismissal from moments earlier had been driven out in that instant, replaced by the thin possibility that had just opened before him.
The promised substitute?
A treasure that can stand in for the Genesis Dew?
For him, that was nothing less than a single thread of dawn at the bottom of a dead end. It was the Aureate Heir’s only chance to rebuild his body.
The moment Osric saw Master Wellspring lean in like that, a faint glint of triumph passed through his eyes. It vanished almost immediately, hidden again behind that mild face.
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