Almost none of the items displayed auctioned caught Wu Guang's attention. There were a pair of interesting herbs, but their price quickly went over what Wu Guang would pay, so he decided to ignore them. As for if he could? That was resolved by a holding pouch he had just received a few moments ago from Zhen Gan. The latter also explained via qi transmission that their deal with Yi Ma was closed up successfully.

A deposit of 5000 gold coins was paid in exchange for the maps, while a bonus would be paid for every vein they confirmed. He would not disclose anything about what he learned or heard about Wu Guang as well. And the bonus would be paid by the Fiery manor as soon as they finish scouting the areas in the maps. Wu Guang did not expect to receive much in any case, so he directly said that if a bonus surfaced, it would go to the Elders. It could be called a generous move, but in reality, it was simply because of two things.

First, the bonus would be paid after the scouting, something that would take a long time, time that they maybe would not have because of the impending war. And secondly, even if the war was resolved, the Fiery Manor would require a year or so to fully scout the areas and explore the veins, and Wu Guang planned to leave the plane before that time limit anyway.

In any case, he was five thousand gold coins richer and could now compete with anyone in the auction house. Which he started to do after the 27th lot of the Auction was announced. It was a pair of chakrams. Not only they could be used as a throwing weapon, but they would be useful in close-quarter combat as well. Adding that they were covered in 6! sets of runes, they could compete even with Spirit weapons in terms of power. The starting price was also staggering, 200 gold coins. Likely one could buy at least three such rune weapons for that price. Still, as they were a paired weapon and came along several techniques meant for them, it was no wonder that the price was as such.

Wu Guang waited until most of the smaller bets were made and the price raised to a point where only a few people could compete, before directly adding 50 coins to the higher bet.

"320 gold coins"

"320 offered by the 1st VIP balcony. Does anyone have any better offer? No? Then, 320 one, 320 two... and sold!" The auctioneer quickly closed up after hearing Wu Guang's bet.

Such a quick closing was something that Wu Guang had already seen when Yuan Taotu and Kuang Jing bid on pills before. Zhen Gan also noticed it and knew why it was so, but in any case, he had openly refused the bribe. So if the auction house wanted to still help them as to get into his good graces, why would he refuse?

The auction lasted four hours and everyone present on the balcony except for Lan Yanzhi had bought something. Wu Guang obtained the chakrams and also the main star of the auction, an engraving pen that cost him almost a thousand gold coins. Engraving pens were requisite to engrave runes on any surface, and as he was interested in practicing runes, he bought them without caring for the price. Such price was understandable, after all, engraving pens could be made only by Rune and Refining Grandmasters working together, and Half-Island had only one of the second category. With no real Rune Granmasters currently residing on the island. Granted, there were people like Elder Shishi, but they were simply highly reputed Masters, with their skills being not enough to be considered true Grandmasters.

Afterward, the group moved to a tavern to celebrate both what they obtained, and also the fact that all matters in the city had been finished. Zhen Gan and Elder Di did not accompany them this time, preferring to retire to the mansion. So Wu Guang's team, Lan Yanzhi, and two disguised elites remained under the protection of Elder Yanshi while they drank and partied. Originally there were five elite disciples, but the two strongest ones had left a pair of days ago, while the fifth one had left on this morning, to transport Chun Fang to the sect. The Elders hoped that the latter could be used to make Chun Zemin speak, as torture would be fairly ineffective against someone from an organization like the Black Eagles.

________________________________________________________________________

The next morning as the caravan departed, neither Zhen Gan nor Wu Guang left alongside it. This change was something unexpected for the latter, albeit he quickly understood the reasons behind it after Zhen Gan mentioned they would rush towards the Sect right away.

Even at Wu Guang's level of cultivation, if he gave up his all, traveling less than 200 miles would not take more than three hours. Granted, they would not use movement techniques for this, so it took them almost five.

As expected when they arrived, both of them met up with Elder Mo.

The latter had a few questions about Wu Guang's experiences and thoughts, but they were nothing out of the ordinary. In the end, the main reason for this sudden recall was the treasures in 'Earth Cry's Ridge'. Wu Guang was the only one who could open the door, so it was logical that he would be needed to start moving the resources, and then to allow people inside to start mining the qi shards.

Before the theme could be touched, Wu Guang explained his point of view, which was that all the resources should be treated as part of the agreement. Meaning that he would give the Sect half of them. Well, all of them except the Fiery Rocks, which would be left for his cultivation.

Considering that Wu Guang reaching the Soul realm was something that Elder Mo wanted at least equally as the former, this was quickly agreed upon.

Elder Mo also mentioned that as Wu Guang brought the Sect so much wealth of his own volition, the latter should be rewarded. In place of proposing anything, he asked directly

"The Sect is very grateful for such gift, but we could not accept them without giving something in exchange. Don't refuse and simply tell me what do you want. It can be anything which the sect currently possess"

"If Elder Mo insists, then I will be blunt" Wu Guang had made the gift in hopes of first guaranteeing that the rest would be safely stored for him, and secondly to get a few things. So he did not restrain himself and mentioned all of them.

"Hmm, so young friend Wu Guang wants only this in exchange for half of the resources that are present in the cave?"

"Yes"

"Then it will be so"

As for what Wu Guang asked, it was pretty easy to guess if one looked at his objectives. First, he needed free access to all the techniques, skills, and training methods or lessons in the sect.

Secondly, he would need a manner to access the secret or limited elemental training places of the sect. He did not know if they existed, but he had already found that the Sect's elites were simply on a different level from what one could reach by relying on the things disclosed openly. Ignoring the inaccessible pocket realm, the Sect indeed had two forbidden training zones, and now Wu Guang was granted unlimited access to them.

The third thing he requested was a single item. The item in question? The storage ring on Lord Liao. Although it was valuable as no one in the sect had something like it, its value was simply incomparable to Wu Guang's gift, so it was an easy decision to make.

________________________________________________________________________

For the next three days as the caravan travelled towards the Sect, Wu Guang made ten round trips to the 'Earth Cry's Ridge'. Each of the journeys consisted of him and several trusted aides and elders from the Sect with everyone carrying several dozens of holding pouches. Normally it would be done by the Head Treasurer, Deng Zian, but the latter had not yet returned. So the overall operation was under Elder Chen and Head Enforcer Zhen's protection and leadership.

The first nine journeys were to move all the precious ingots and ores located in the cave, as for the tenth one, it was to let in a dozen Masters and Apprentices of the Refining Hall. They would remain in there for a month and mine all the qi shards. They were given all the possible commodities, but the door would remain closed and so they would have no chance to contact the outside world. They were led there in secret and only explained the truth when they saw the boulders that contained the shards. This was mainly done to avoid any possible trouble, after all, who could restrain himself before such wealth?

When this was finished, Wu Guang met up with Elder Mo again. The latter had asked for him to come as there were several matters to discuss. First Wu Guang got all his rewards in full. Lord Liao's ring was used by him to transport resources before and he found that it was indeed something great, after all, the storage space inside it was almost a hundred square feet! Wu Guang could store a house inside and still have space for all his possessions! Well, if the latter did not include the ores and ingots that now were safely stored in the Sect's treasury.

Still, before giving him the identity badge that would give him access to all the zones, Elder Mo had to confirm with Wu Guang an important detail.

"As you remember, we had agreed that you would become the personal disciple of a high elder to guarantee your safety and access to all places. But as we added the restricted zones to it, it leaves us with no choice but to make you the personal disciple of someone from the council"

"Elder Mo means?"

"Only we from the Council have unlimited access to the forbidden training zones, logically, only our disciples could be granted it. The thing that I need to confirm with you, is whose disciple you will become. But! Don't decide too quickly as this will also involve the place where you will have to live and cultivate"

"I can not stay at the rented residence?"

"Well, we will have to make it this by the rules as even the Headmaster has to follow most of them, so no. Plus, your real value just increased by half a million gold coins"

"Understood, but what does Elder Mo mean with choosing?"

"Well, the choice is very small. Even though all this is pretty much fake, you can not become a disciple of the Palace Masters as that would require you to complete missions for the Palace and restrict, at least openly, your access to the other palace grounds. Head Elder Di and I won't divulge our statuses to anyone, so we are also out of the question. So that leaves us with only three options"

"Head Enforcer Zhen, Head Treasurer Deng, and... the Hall Master?"

"Indeed"

"I have not met the Hall Master yet, so it would be a bit sudden to become his disciple. As for Head Treasurer Deng, I would very much like to, but has he returned?"

"No"

"Then it's not a choice, but more like a single option. I will become the disciple of Head Enforcer Zhen. At least in name"

"Mmm... That's the right mindset. I have supposed that it would turn like this, so here you go" As Elder Mo talked, he took out a steel badge from his holding pouch.

The badge design reminded Wu Guang of the iron badges that the Enforcers carried, but this one had nothing except his name written on it. As Wu Guang received it, he gave Elder Mo his own Inner Disciple copper badge. He also inwardly rebuked the Elder "If there was nothing to decide, why even ask? You had even prepared the badge beforehand". But this thought was quickly replaced by surprise as he instinctively checked the contribution points balance on the badge...