Xie An was dumbfounded when he saw the table full of one-star, two-star, and three-star runes. "Don't tell me you carved all of these?"

Chu Tian initially wanted to admit it, but after reconsidering, he decided to keep a low profile and simply smiled. "It's a secret."

Xie An didn’t believe Chu Tian could pull this off. After all, he had spent over a century mastering this craft. There was no way someone could accomplish it in just a few days. He laughed, "You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought you really did it."

Chu Tian smiled without responding. Xie An then instructed someone to take the items for sale. Not long after, the merchant returned with over a billion spirit stones. Xie An handed it over with a smile. "Here you go."

Chu Tian was surprised by the efficiency and expressed his gratitude. "Thank you so much, Elder Xie."

Xie An chuckled. "No need to be so formal."

Chu Tian was beyond grateful for Xie An's kindness. As he pondered how he might repay the elder, the auction house’s chief guard entered the room with a grave expression. He looked at Xie An and said, "Manager, we have a problem."

Xie An frowned. "What is it?"

"The City Lord’s Mansion has issued an order to capture Young Master Chu. Right now, a squad of guards has gathered outside our auction house, led by Captain Qin Yue, one of the three squad leaders of the City Lord’s Mansion."

Both Xie An and Chu Tian were taken aback. Chu Tian was particularly puzzled. Why was the City Lord’s Mansion after him?

Xie An furrowed his brow. "Do you know the reason?"

The chief guard nodded. "According to our intel, the head of the Lin family offered some kind of benefit to the City Lord, which led to this order."

Xie An stood up immediately. "Let’s go check it out."

Chu Tian hadn’t expected the Lin family to wield enough influence to move the City Lord’s Mansion. However, he wasn’t particularly worried. If push came to shove, he had plenty of means to deal with them—even taking over the City Lord’s Mansion if necessary.

At the entrance of the shop stood a young man in silver armor, holding a silver spear. His icy eyes and pale complexion made him appear as cold as ice.

When he saw Xie An, the young man greeted him politely, "Boss Xie, I’ve already explained the situation to your chief guard. I hope you’ll cooperate and show some respect."

Xie An didn’t hold back. "I have an agreement with your City Lord. He is not to interfere with anyone or anything inside my auction house. If he wants to arrest someone here, tell him to come see me personally. Otherwise, if he dares touch my people, I won’t be polite!"

Qin Yue was stunned into silence and eventually left in embarrassment.

Chu Tian hadn’t expected Xie An to be so confident and capable of scaring off someone from the City Lord’s Mansion.

Xie An glanced up at the sky, then turned to Chu Tian. "It’s better for you to stay here for the next few days. If the City Lord’s people get another chance, they won’t let you go."

Under normal circumstances, Chu Tian might have agreed. But he knew he had to return to his sect soon because Feng Luo would likely be back any day now.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

So, Chu Tian politely declined with a smile. "Elder Xie, you’ve already done so much for me. I think I’d better leave for a while."

Xie An tried to persuade him to stay, but Chu Tian insisted and eventually left. Watching Chu Tian’s departing figure, Xie An sighed. "Let’s go to the City Lord’s Mansion!"

The chief guard nodded, and they left together.

Meanwhile, Chu Tian headed toward the city gates, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following him. When he entered a forest outside the city, he stopped and smiled. "Come out."

A middle-aged man with a bushy beard stepped out from behind a tree, carrying a massive axe.

The man, clad in silver armor similar to Qin Yue’s, had a fierce appearance. His dark face and wide eyes made him look like Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms.

Ding! Hostile entity detected. Ordinary enemy. Golden Core Great Perfection. Defeating him grants 20,000 experience. Severely injuring him grants 10,000 experience.

Chu Tian was delighted. This identification system was truly a treasure. However, he noticed something strange—his level-up progress hadn’t been displayed since he reached level 15. "Why isn’t my experience bar showing anymore?"

Just as Chu Tian was wondering, the system chimed in. Ding! Open the Level 15 Growth Pack to unlock the experience bar.

Chu Tian suddenly understood. "Open the Growth Pack!"

Ding! Congratulations, host, for acquiring the Nine Revolutions Golden Core Cultivation Technique and the Level 20 Growth Pack. Would you like to learn the cultivation technique?

"What? The Nine Revolutions Golden Core Cultivation Technique?"

Chu Tian knew that the "Nine-Nine Frenzied Demon" was for the Foundation Establishment stage, and this "Nine Revolutions Golden Core" must also be extraordinary. Overjoyed, he immediately responded, "Learn it!"

Ding! Nine Revolutions Golden Core successfully learned. Progressing to the Golden Core stage requires nine revolutions. Each revolution consumes 5,000,000 experience points.

Chu Tian gasped. Five million per revolution meant 45 million in total! The sheer amount stunned him.

The man before him, however, saw Chu Tian standing there in a daze and laughed arrogantly. "What’s wrong? Are you scared stiff just from seeing me?"

Chu Tian snapped out of it and smirked. "Scared? No, I was just wondering if you fell into a pit of dung to get that dark!"

The man’s face darkened. "You brat! How dare you insult me? Do you want me to make you wish you were dead?"

Chu Tian mocked him further. "Grandpa? No, you’re more like my grandson. You look like a black ghost!"

The man fumed. "You little punk! I am Luo Hei, Captain of the Second Squad of the City Lord’s Mansion! Do you believe I can crush you with a single swing of my axe?"

Ding! Rage level +1.

Chu Tian burst into laughter. "Luo Hei? Old Black, is it? And you think your axe can touch me? You’re just a bragging black ghost!"

"Enough!"

Ding! Rage level +1.

Luo Hei, enraged, hurled his axe. The weapon, a lower-grade spiritual artifact, gleamed with golden light and exuded a metallic aura. As it flew through the air, the surrounding leaves rustled and fell.

Chu Tian leaped onto a tree to dodge it. "A Golden Core Great Perfection cultivator, and you still can’t hit me?"

Infuriated, Luo Hei shouted, "I’ll kill you!"

Ding! Rage level +1.

Suddenly, Chu Tian vanished. Luo Hei’s face changed, but it was too late. Chu Tian appeared behind him, smirking. "Let’s see how you handle my sword."

A powerful sword aura struck Luo Hei’s back, exploding on impact. Luo Hei spat blood and staggered backward, barely managing to stay on his feet with the help of his axe.

"You!"

Chu Tian twirled his sword and sneered. "So this is all the City Lord’s Mansion has to offer?"

Luo Hei couldn’t believe Chu Tian, still in the Foundation Establishment stage, could be so terrifying. He gritted his teeth. "I won’t let you get away with this!"

Luo Hei crushed a talisman and vanished on the spot.

Ding! Severely injured the target. Gained 10,000 experience points.

Chu Tian sighed. "It seems I’ll have to deal a fatal blow to prevent escapes in the future."

Eager to test the effects of his first revolution, Chu Tian returned to the city. Using his remaining spirit stones, he purchased over a thousand common artifacts.

Instead of practicing four-star rune carving, he focused on carving three-star runes onto the artifacts. With a 100% success rate, this not only earned him experience but also provided items he could sell later.

Ding! Successfully carved a three-star rune on a common artifact. Gained 10,000 experience points.

Ding! Successfully carved a three-star rune on a common artifact. Gained 10,000 experience points.

...

Two days later, after crafting 1,000 items, Chu Tian had gained 10 million experience points—enough for two revolutions. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, "Let’s begin the first two revolutions!"