"You will handle this! The target is only a Crystallized
The King of Blue Mountain said indifferently.
"I understand, Grandfather!"
The patriarch nodded, bowed, and left.
Having obtained intelligence, he would first let these prisoners sell off their contraband here, then hunt them down and kill them to claim the bounty. This practice of fleecing both seller and buyer was nothing new to him.
The primitive accumulation of capital was either painfully slow or brutally bloody. Without such methods, even though the King of Blue Mountain was a Morning Star Wizard, the Oakheart family could never have developed so rapidly.
The Oakheart patriarch's heart burned with excitement. He hurried to a side control room and rubbed his fingers together.
"How many Morning Star Wizards will attend this private trading session? I'm quite looking forward to it..."
"This is the central control room — command the sub-units to transmit all collected images!" He pressed a crystal and issued his order.
Soon, numerous fragmented projections formed a grid of small screens, each displaying the appearance of a wizard attending the exchange, with their true faces shown alongside.
For particularly beautiful female wizards, there were even full-body images — naturally, the unclothed variety.
The patriarch's eyes gleamed with excitement.
What he failed to notice was that on one screen in a corner, the character Leilin was playing had already shifted to a completely unfamiliar face.
The so-called exchange was being held in an enormous underground cavern.
The ground was covered with powerful runic engravings, radiating terrifying waves of energy.
The mask on Leilin's face also emitted a layer of black glow that resonated with the magical array on the ground, completely concealing his figure within the dark radiance.
From the outside, the wizards who entered appeared as nothing more than black orbs of light — it was nearly impossible to even tell their gender.
Moreover, the power of the magical array was something Leilin had never encountered before. He immediately commanded the Chip to record these patterns.
Obviously, this was a magical array that only a Morning Star Wizard could construct. It could even block spiritual power detection from wizards of the same rank.
This had been verified by the many wizards who had previously attended these private trading sessions.
What they didn't know was that while the Oakheart family hadn't tampered with the array itself, they had already deployed deadly covert agents on every participant.
A beetle smaller than a speck of dust — even if it landed on someone, they would never detect it.
Not to mention that these Star Shard Bugs possessed an innate talent for concealment and disguise.
Through the Oakheart family's cultivation and specialized training, these Star Shard Bugs had become terrifying spy instruments, capable of uncovering everything about every wizard attending the private exchange.
"A pity..."
Leilin walked along with the numerous black orbs of light, a hint of regret in his mind.
So far, his research into these insects hadn't progressed deep enough — he could only use them to conceal his own identity. As for tracing signals back, or even stealing other image data from the central control room, it wasn't impossible, but it would require considerable time to crack. He would even need to breed his own Star Shard Bugs and infiltrate them into the system.
All of this required time! And he only had three days at the auction. Achieving even this much was already remarkable. Hadn't all those Morning Star Wizards failed to discover the Star Shard Bugs' secret, laying their identities completely bare?
When the black orbs of light in the cavern had gathered in greater numbers, a crisp bell suddenly rang out, drawing all the wizards' attention to a circular platform at the center.
There, amid shimmering light, appeared a middle-aged wizard with golden hair.
"Many of you may know me, and some may not — please allow me to introduce myself. I am
Leo's face was wreathed in an enthusiastic smile.
"I won't waste time with pleasantries, since the private exchange lasts only one evening. I don't want to take up your valuable time. This session has two parts. First, those wizards with items to exchange may come up to the platform in order, present what you have to offer, and state what you wish to receive in return — three items per person maximum! After this public presentation period, we move to private trading, where you may negotiate freely among yourselves. However — fighting is strictly forbidden here, and once you step outside the cavern, the Oakheart family will bear absolutely no responsibility for your exchanged goods!!!"
Leo's final words carried a sharp, threatening edge, and as if to underscore his statement, a powerful aura suddenly surged from the magical array on the ground, pressing down like an enormous mountain.
"Rest assured — we all know the Oakheart family's rules..."
A low voice came from among the watching wizards. Clearly, some had been here more than once or twice.
"Very good!" Leo nodded and stepped aside, yielding the platform.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The moment he stepped down, three streaks of black light immediately rushed toward the platform.
Obviously, these wizards were experienced — they knew that being first gave the greatest advantage. The item they needed might well be in the hands of someone below, and the sooner they acted, the easier it would be to secure a deal before their desired items were traded away.
"Heh... my apologies..."
The central streak of black light was the fastest, arriving a step ahead of the other two and claiming the platform. A mechanical voice issued from the black orb, impossible to identify as male or female.
Seeing this, the other two streaks of black light hesitated, then reluctantly withdrew. They knew the Oakheart family's rules well and understood the dire consequences of defying them. There was no thought of fighting or arguing over it.
"Fellow wizards! What I have brought to exchange today is a pendant from the 'Forbidden Ancient Bell.' As for what I want in return, I require..."
The moment these words left his mouth, the wizards below erupted in uproar.
"The Forbidden Ancient Bell? Isn't that the Lucca family's inherited treasure from the north? How did it end up here?"
"I heard several daring wizards infiltrated that family to steal it and then fled toward Blue Mountain — could it be him?"
Leo, watching from the side, was equally shocked. He hadn't expected the wizard to be so eager to offload it already.
His mind stirred, and a swarm of Star Shard Bugs silently crept over the wizard's body.
As long as those bugs were on him, there was no way the wizard could ever escape the Oakheart family's tracking.
"The Forbidden Ancient Bell? Chip!"
Leilin, in the audience, was momentarily stunned, then silently issued his command.
"Forbidden Ancient Bell: one of the wizardry artifacts passed down from ancient times. Rumored to contain the power of time. It is the supreme inherited treasure of the northern Lucca family!"
The Chip swiftly pulled up a section of data, along with an image — clearly a reproduction drawn on parchment, depicting a massive black pendulum clock. Its hands twisted and writhed, giving off a strange sensation of temporal distortion.
"The power of time?!" Leilin's eyes widened. "That's an extremely high-order dominion power — how could a low-level wizard possibly wield it..."
Many other wizards were also familiar with the legends of the Forbidden Ancient Bell, and numerous pairs of burning eyes fixed on the black orb atop the platform.
More precisely, on the item being displayed in the wizard's hand.
It was a round pendant that looked identical to the pendulum depicted in the image the Chip had provided — its surface was a dark copper color, without the slightest trace of anything unusual.
"Chip, scan!" Sensing something was off, Leilin immediately commanded a scan.
"Task established. Scan initiated. Ding! Interference from unknown force field — scan cannot be completed!"
On the Chip's interface, Leilin could see that around the edge of the black pendant, a strange blank zone had formed, actively resisting the Chip's scanning.
Since Leilin's advancement to Third-rank Warlock and the Chip's multiple upgrades, instances of force field interference blocking a scan had become exceedingly rare.
The only explanation was that this Forbidden Ancient Bell pendant was genuine — the power of time lay in a domain the current Chip simply could not probe.
"However, what the Chip can't detect doesn't necessarily mean it's the Forbidden Ancient Bell. It could be some other anomalous object producing a similar effect..."
Leilin stroked his chin and continued watching the platform.
Sure enough, the wizard proceeded to demonstrate several abilities that conclusively proved the authenticity of the pendant in his possession.
A wizardry artifact — especially one connected to the domain of time — even if it was merely a component, was enough to send wizards into a frenzy.
And since the wizard's asking price wasn't particularly high — accepting not only rare resources but even Magic Stones — the wizards on-site were practically red-eyed with greed.
This was an anonymous trading session. Even if someone acquired the item, the Lucca family might not be able to track them down. Wizards who thought this way were certainly not in the minority.
In the end, another wizard within a black orb of light offered a staggering price of fifteen billion Magic Stones, along with a trove of rare resources, overpowering all other competitors to claim the piece for themselves.
After securing the item, this wizard clearly knew not to linger and immediately hurried out, as did the wizard on the platform.
To fully protect their clients' privacy, the Oakheart family had set up random teleportation arrays here. Departing guests would be randomly teleported to any location near Blue Mountain City — even the Oakheart family itself didn't know where, eliminating any concern about tracking.
But clearly, all of this was merely for appearances. Leo had long since deployed Star Shard Bugs on the seller — and not only on the seller, but even on the wizard who had acquired the pendant.
The sensation of controlling others' fates was truly intoxicating to Leo.