As they moved through the many hallways, his thoughts were in turmoil. He kept analyzing his past actions and all that brought him to this place. He wondered where it began to go wrong. Which choice he made had been bad? Certainly, he had been foolish many times but he was always careful and on guard...

When he went to the secret auction, he had many back-up options and he was certain that he had not been followed by anyone. He was not found out by anyone.

But here... Was it the choice to go to this island that was wrong? Unfortunately, there were not that many touristic spots within this oceanic area. There were not many islands with such a concentration of people and constant activity. Relatively speaking, it was the best choice when it came to hiding himself.

Many people coming and leaving every single day... It was perfect.

As long as his disguise held.

And he trusted it. He believed strongly that he hid his identity well enough. Some stories spoke of heroes who could hide their identities simply by putting on an accessory and such... It was wrong to believe so, obviously, but he certainly did not. He did his best. All he could think of... He did.

When it came to risks, he tried to leverage them according to the rewards.

And yet...

"Where did I go wrong?"

Lost in his own thoughts, he did not notice the many things around him as they moved. Beautiful and rare items were everywhere... It was only as the man in black opened a big double-door and entered that his mind returned to reality.

The room was immense.

There were dozens of cultivators in a black robe with a golden G inside. There were men and women, either standing or seating alone or together. Some being lewd, others being loud... It was quite an impressive display of all kinds of personages. They all had more than one thing in common though.

What stroke the most fear within Jin's mind was that they all looked beautiful and were youthful. Clearly, all of them were high-level cultivators. He stood rooted at the entrance until the man next to him grabbed him by the shoulder and made him move forward.

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He did not stop to salute anyone in the room, indicating that he was at least of equal footing as them. He stopped just short of reaching the balcony and went down on one knee. Jin looked at the balcony. It towered over the entire island and offered an unique and unparalleled vantage point.

The sight was astonishing.

However, what attracted Jin's attention was not the scenery but the lone man looking down at it.

He had his back to Jin and wore a golden robe with a black 'G' in the back. His hair, the same color as his robe, flowed down to his waist.

Clearly, he was the so-called 'owner' and Jin did not need an introduction from anyone to guess that much.

The kneeling man spoke reverently: "Owner, I brought him as per your request"

The man in gold did not turn around. He spoke a few words slowly but loudly: "Everyone but the cadres, leave"

Regardless of what the cultivators had been doing in the room, whether fooling around or meditating, they all made a move. The cadres walked towards the balcony while everyone else left.

In the end, adding the kneeling man, there were ten cultivators that remained behind.

Only then did the man in gold turn around.

Jin did not recognize him.

His facial features were perfect like any other powerful master but he was someone he could never have forgotten if they had met. That was because this man had peculiar pupils, likely the product of his cultivation. Instead of the color white, his pupil was surrounded solely by a shine of gold. It surrounded the blue iris encasing a gold pupil.

As the man turned around, he smiled, exposing a lining of teeth that seemed made of diamonds.

He first spoke to the kneeling man: "Rodolph, get up. Thank you for bringing my guest all the way here"

The man, Rodolph, got up as he gave a martial salute in answer, placing a fist within a palm. Then, he retreated slightly to stand with the other nine cultivators.

Jin faced the golden man and decided to speak first. He had many questions and regardless of his attitude, his fate was sealed. If he ended here, then, at least, he wished to know who was behind his fall and how he managed to do it.

So, he asked: "Who are you and how did you recognize me?"

The golden man chuckled while his smile never left his face. He spoke: "You don't need to know either answer. You only need to know that I brought you here to make a deal with you, Jin. Of course, you won't and can't refuse"

Jin frowned. This man gave him a very bad first impression. Not like it could have been different considering the situation. It did not faze the 'owner' though as he continued: "I will take a small strand of your soul and give you an item in exchange. I believe we have a deal"

Jin could not even retort before he felt something grasping at his soul. His soul was already damaged slightly back then. While the man stated that he would only take a strand, what was a strand of one's soul? How much of it was it?

Jin did not know but the short procedure that lasted only a few seconds was painful enough to bring him down to his knees panting.

None of the ten cultivators behind reacted in any ways. As for the golden man, he held something within his hand. It was a blue shining strand. A strand of Jin's soul.

From his spatial ring, he took out a rock. It seemed like an ordinary pebble that could be found anywhere.