When one indulges in cultivation wholeheartedly, one wouldn't notice time flying by. With both Duncan and Leia concentrating on cultivation, the remaining days until the auction began went by quickly.
After the increase in her senses, Leia got her wish of experiencing Duncan's ministrations under heightened senses the very night she introduced qi into her body. What she felt at that time was so wonderful and fulfilling that Leia was even more motivated to cultivate further.
Even her improvement in understanding the principles that governed alchemy also rose sharply. It was like being injected with chicken blood. Leia fell in love with cultivation and just couldn't get enough of it.
If not for Duncan forcing her to practice swordplay, she wouldn't even waste time with martial arts. Alchemy was where her interests lay. That and improving her senses. But, Duncan refused to listen to her and made her practice martial arts regularly.
Duncan, on the other hand, was bemused by how involved Leia had become with alchemy. He realized that with such interest, it would only be a matter of time before she could become a certified alchemist. And he didn't think she would take that long for that as well.
The material he had bought for her to study was only at the entry-level. Even though she had enough knowledge of herbs to satisfy entry-level requirements, that was only up to the initial grade of entry-level. There were different grades even among entry-level alchemists.
The material he had brought to her could satisfy the knowledge required to completely master all grades at the entry-level. She also only had knowledge regarding herbs and how to mix them. Apart from that, there are other knowledge requirements to become an alchemist like heat control, pill concoction, material processing, and so on.
So, Duncan wasn't worried that Leia would run out of material to study any time soon. But, looking at her enthusiasm, Duncan didn't think it would take long for her to master everything he had given her. At most a year, Duncan didn't think she would need more time than that.
But, Duncan also knew that it wasn't just enough to be proficient in alchemy. This world was inherently dangerous. If you don't have enough abilities to defend yourself, you can only end up getting bullied. Moreover, there was someone in the shadows eyeing her as well.
So, Duncan didn't allow her to slack off in martial cultivation. Strength was the foundation of everything. He could only hope that she doesn't stop practicing after he leaves. It was clear to him that unlike him, her heart was never in martial techniques.
Apart from forcing Leia to practice, Duncan was also consolidating his foundation further. He had assumed earlier that his cultivation couldn't be consolidated further anymore. But, he had been wrong.
After utilizing the <Coiling Dragon Sutra>, Duncan realized that there was a blindspot in his cultivation. He didn't strengthen his body to the maximum. His focus has only been on his qi cultivation. He had never thought much about his body.
Normally, it wasn't much of an issue. Most cultivators rarely focused on increasing their body strength to the maximum at each level. Unless they are body cultivators, most cultivators were content with the strength of their body and never focused particularly on increasing their body strength.
However, Duncan wanted to establish a legendary foundation while stepping into the Violet Palace realm. So, he didn't want such an obvious blindspot to exist in his cultivation.
Furthermore, Duncan remembered the time when he had used that steele in the Grotto Heaven to test his body strength. At that time, he had tried to increase his body strength to be above average. And it had aided him well during his battles in the Grotto Heaven.
Remembering that tidbit, Duncan wanted to increase his body strength as much as possible in the coming week. Unfortunately, he didn't have a technique to increase his body strength. The various methods he used to increase in the Grotto Heaven were already outdated and had no impact on his current body. The only thing he could use currently to increase his body strength was the <Coiling Dragon Sutra>.
Duncan wasn't shy of using it either. Because of this reason, he took as much time as possible each night to increase the duration of cultivating <Coiling Dragon Sutra>. It was Leia who bore the burden of his increased practice. But, it didn't look like she was complaining about it.
After practicing <Coiling Dragon Sutra> all night, Duncan used the morning to consolidate his cultivation regularly. Apart from instructing Leia and consolidating his gains from the night, Duncan also spent some time trying to understand the various martial arts he had in his possession.
After enriching his martial arts knowledge, Duncan planned on giving these techniques to Leia. So, he was pretty busy every day as well. Duncan also took some time one day and tried to test his theory about people still keeping tabs on Leia's location.
He took her out one evening and roamed the city hiding their identity under the masks. Sure enough, he could feel someone watching them from a distance. Duncan didn't tip the other party off. He calmly spent the time with Leia and returned to the courtyard.
After confirming his guess, Duncan let go of his worry about Leia's safety after he leaves.
As for when he was planning to leave, Duncan initially wanted to leave on the day of the auction. But, after heading out and listening to the news in pubs one night, he realized that showing himself when all these bigshots from various sects are gathered was not an ideal thing to do.
The situation in the Greenwood Forest had changed drastically that, it had alarmed almost every sect in the region. They were all keeping an eye on the situation. His presence there had been an accident, but by now every faction would know about his presence in that area before things went to shit.
He didn't want some random Golden Core elder of some sect to become suspicious of him and take action. His plan for obtaining enough slaughter qi hinged on luring away those so-called young talents and slaughtering them. Getting noticed by the elders will only be detrimental to him.
He already had a very simple but effective plan in place. He didn't want to jeopardize it by being hasty. So, he decided to wait for a few more days for all these big shots to leave the city and head towards the Greenwood Forest.
After all, everyone was now currently concerned about the development of the issue at Greenwood Forest. If not for this auction that already announced Millenium Spirit Milk as one of the products that was being sold, Duncan was sure that the elders of various sects would have gone there already.
Once the auction ends, these people will surely head towards the Greenwood Forest. Once they are away from the city, he will implement his plan and slip through the cracks.
So, Duncan postponed his departure by a few days and waited patiently for the auction to end. It was not as if he wasn't enjoying his stay in the city either. Leia was simply incredible company to have. If possible, he wanted to stay for some more time as well.
Thus, the day of the auction arrived and the entire city was in a festive atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Duncan and Leia acted as if all the excitement outside had nothing to do with them. They went about their day like they usually did. Neither wanted to break their schedule and join in the fun outside.
Only when the evening came did Duncan take Leia outside to stroll the city and collect news. While he knew that the auction had nothing to do with him, Duncan was also curious as to what other surprises were unveiled during the auction. Moreover, he wanted to know if the big shots had left the city as well.
The major auction that everyone had been talking about ended smoothly without any complications. Not that anyone ever doubted the auction would go off without a hitch. After all, the power of the Blue Wind Society Hall was there and even the Dark Star City had a vested interest in ensuring the success of the auction. So, no problems arose with the auction.
However, a piece of major news came from the auction hall and ended up being the biggest talking point that everyone discussed. Even the auctioning of rare treasures like Millenium Spirit Milk, heaven-grade weapons, and other eye-catching news was overshadowed by a single announcement made by the Blue Wind Society Hall during the auction.
At the end of the auction, the Blue Wind Society Hall announced that similar grand auctions will be held henceforth in major cities all over the world every month. That single announcement shook the hearts of everyone who heard the news.
One has to understand how rare it was for the Blue Wind Society Hall to hold such a major auction. But now, they announced that similar auctions were to be held every month in all the major cities all over the world.
The amount of treasures that were required to hold auctions of such level alone made everyone's heart beat erratically. Moreover, if a faction had such a large amount of treasures, why did they even need to conduct auctions like this? Wouldn't it be better to use it to increase their own power?
Such a strange announcement made everyone break their heads trying to understand what was going on. Even Duncan's eyes shrank in surprise and his mind started whirling after learning about this news. He found it hard to believe that Blue Wind Society Hall was being generous with no purpose.
While everyone broke their heads trying to figure out what caused such a change, the news gradually broke that this was the joint effort of all the hegemonic sects and major powers from all over the world. The reason for them to do such a generous act was because of the Grand Event that was going to be held in seven years.
This was the first time Duncan heard about the Grand Event that was going to be held in seven years. He was really curious to know more about what kind of event would cause all the major powers in the world to unite and be this generous. Even his master hadn't mentioned such a rare event that was going to happen soon.
Seven years wasn't long for cultivators.
Duncan wanted to know about this Grand Event very much. Alas! There wasn't any more information about the Grand Event forthcoming. All everyone knew was that the major powers across the world paid great importance to this event and this was one of their ways to prepare for that event.
Regardless of everything else, Duncan noted down this Grand Event in his mind. If possible, he wanted to see what kind of Grand Event could cause such an uproar in the cultivation world.
