Risk and Reward

When Deon announced that he would only exchange the demon tattoo spirit recipe for definitive evidence of a demonic inheritance, the auction immediately fell silent. As the auction lord predicted, nobody was either willing or able to provide such evidence. Like this, Deon could not sell the recipe to anyone else, whilst there was also no suspicion that he might have sold the recipe to the auction lord, which people would have suspected had he simply refused to sell it after returning from their meeting.

"If nobody is able to provide this, then that's that. Moving on, I wish to sell the remaining two spirits individually." Deon calmly spoke out.

After a moment of silence, the hall erupted into clamour once again.

"30 3-Star drop spirits!"

"50!"

"55!"

…

In the end, he gained 72 3-Star drop spirits and another 1-Star demon type spirit that he could not identify, in exchange for his remaining two demon tattoo spirits. The individual who gave away his gold class 2-Star spirit in exchange for three of Deon's demon tattoo spirits felt quite aggrieved; he had certainly paid a much higher price compared to anyone else!

After receiving and storing away his payments, Deon didn't have the heart to pay much attention to the remainder of the auction. There was nothing else that particularly caught his eye anyway. To be honest, many of these sales were extremely dubious

For one, all of the recipes being sold were unconfirmed, so weren't they all almost definitely scams? As for the various details regarding demonic inheritance sites, none of this was even close to being properly confirmed, so he suspected that these details were also completely fabricated.

Whilst anonymity was essential to hide their identities, it also made people grow more bold and willing to offend others, since the offence would never be traced back to them.

The organisation behind the auction also ensured the participants' safety in another way. Once the auction came to its end, everyone was escorted away from the underground hall, either individually or in the group they came in, three minutes apart from one another. Once they got outside, everyone would quickly run back home, whilst some even directly left the city.

As for Deon, he also ran back alongside Terros. Terros was extremely on edge, repeatedly cursing under his breath as they took various twists and turns, but Deon seemed to be unusually calm. Seeing this, Terros only cursed even more profanely.

"You brat, you have no idea what you just did! Selling something so suspicious and desirable, we'll definitely be targeted! Maybe the auction lord themselves will come after us!"

"Perhaps." Deon nodded. He was keeping an eye out, but for the most part, he remained unhurried. "The auction lord is obviously a powerful 3-Star shaman…if they plan to follow us, do you think there's anything we could do to lose them?"

Terros's face grew darker as he realised that Deon was right. The difference between 2-Star and 3-Star was too big, especially considering that the two of them were only barely above average within the rank of 2-Star. Compared to peak stage 2-Star shamans, they were still lacking, not to mention those at 3-Star! If a 3-Star powerhouse truly wanted them dead…

Well, they would be screwed. Deon's calmness stemmed from the fact that they could do nothing to change this, whilst Terros felt anxious for the very same reason.

Deon now understood why Terros had urged him not to get involved with the demon type spirit trade. Everyone involved in this trade was an unscrupulous individual, whilst the underground nature of the market made it impossible to ensure their safety.

Still…

'I made such a huge profit! If I survive today, then this was absolutely worth it!'

Deon couldn't help but feel a sense of exhilaration as they returned to their lodgings in the outer region. Compared to all other trades he had engaged with, this was by far the most profitable endeavour!

Neither the spirits sold by Terros nor the origin souls sold by Shi could compare. Those sales weren't negligible of course, but he earned ten times as much in a single exchange with the mysterious auction lord!

Deon's entire perception of money had undergone a drastic change during this trip. A week ago, a single 3-Star drop spirit was a serious sum of wealth for him, but now, it was basically spare change!

However, he quickly calmed down, sitting down alone in his room to think. After returning home for two hours and meeting no stalkers, assassins or others sent to monitor or kill him, he felt more assured that the mysterious masked person did not plan to take his life. Perhaps, they really did want him to join them on the 4-Star demonic inheritance exploration.

So, he wasn't in imminent danger, and he had accrued a massive amount of wealth…but what next?

Deon was tempted to go out and buy the remainder of the resources he wanted from the stores recommended by the Spirit Pavilion, but he realised that this carried a big risk.

"I managed to fool the Spirit Pavilion into thinking I was a 4-Star shaman lord by acting and displaying the terror of the ancient demon spirit, and detonating my concealment spirits to create a flashy light show…but they're sure to have their doubts after spending a couple of days thinking on it. On top of that, I caused some commotion when those disciples saw me. If the elders are aware of this matter, they'll definitely put two and two together…"

Deon pondered his options and frowned, not sure whether he should take this risk or not. Whilst he had been disguised during his exchange with the Spirit Pavilion, there was an issue.

"I shouldn't underestimate the investigatory methods of 3-Star shamans. The Spirit Pavilion has a rich background and multiple 3-Star shamans, someone might have the ability to track me down based on traces I left behind…but that is unlikely, since even after a day and a half, they have not yet approached me. What is very likely, is that they have contacted the various shops they recommended I visit for my materials. If I really go to those shops and search for what I need, I will probably get caught right away…"

As for why Deon believed that the Spirit Pavilion would go out of their way to harm him, there were multiple reasons. Firstly, he had displayed too much.

All of the mythril class body tempering spirits and the platinum class suffering for time spirit, appearing in the hands of a single shaman? If he were truly a shaman lord with 4-Star strength, then that was that.

But if he was a shaman so weak that he needed to put on airs, pretending to be strong in order to preserve himself? Even if they did belong to the righteous path, how could they not be filled with greed towards capturing him to extract his secrets?

The 'righteous' were not saints, they were merely those who believed that there was a great benefit to be found within a law abiding society!

The most important point was that Deon had displayed his core spirit. Demon type spirits were hated by the righteous path, because each and every one of their refinements involved the infliction of suffering and death upon countless living beings, disrupting the normal order of society. Not only that, but Deon's ancient demon spirit was particularly terrifying…

Combining these two key issues, the Spirit Pavilion would have no qualms about kidnapping someone like Deon and torturing his secrets out of him, before killing him like a stray dog.

"It seems that I can't risk searching for those remaining materials." Deon sighed and shook his head, feeling that it was a bit unfortunate. If only he was able to obtain a few of those materials, he would be able to refine many more useful spirits!

Deon had a larger appetite for risk than any normal or sane person, but he understood the concept of a risk to reward ratio. Deon was able to accept a much greater proportion of risk compared to others, but going out and searching for these last few materials crossed his limit. If he did this, there was an extremely high chance that he would be captured, tortured, and finally killed.

Honestly, he was already taking a big risk by remaining within the city, but since the Spirit Pavilion had not yet come knocking on his door, they were unlikely to do so at this point. When Deon thought about this matter, he concluded that their lack of action could be due to one of three reasons.

Firstly, they still believed that he was actually a shaman lord. Secondly, they had seen through his façade, but they did not have any clues to work with in order to track him down. Thirdly, they had already made the connection between Deon and the strange person sighted by the two disciples in the sect's gardens, but even with evidence such as Deon's spilled blood, they still lacked a sufficient method to track him down.

Deon felt that the second reason was the most likely. The elders were too far removed from some ordinary outer disciples, it was entirely plausible that they simply did not know about the incident where he was briefly seen within their gardens.

"Either way, it's too dangerous for me to continue showing myself in this city. I will spend the remaining time before the auction refining the final spirits that I want to take back to the kingdom, then after the auction, I will leave immediately."

Even though staying was risky, Deon was too curious about the city's main auction. He also needed to attend this auction in order to procure the 2-Star higher activation spirit, which would allow him to open the 3-Star storage spirit provided by the Spirit Pavilion. So, he would take the risk for now…but he needed to prepare himself.

The Spirit Pavilion would be present at the main auction. In case they managed to identify him during the auction, he needed an escape plan, no matter how difficult it might be to escape from a 3-Star shaman.

And so, Deon secluded himself away in his room, refining spirits whilst Terros and Shi made their own preparations for the auction.

Meanwhile, at the Spirit Pavilion…

On the top floor of the pavilion, in the elder hall, the six high elders of the sect were facing one another with serious expressions. Each of the Spirit Pavilion's high elders was a 3-Star shaman, meaning that this organisation possessed a total of six 3-Star shamans!

The Trading House and the Five Merchant Group were of similar strength, though the Trading House's economic prowess was much greater.

Compared to the Kingdom of Restari, every one of these groups was vastly superior in terms of strength and wealth! In fact, even though the Fan Kingdom now had their own 3-Star shaman, they could not compare to these three sects.

All three of these sects operated within Flat Mount City, but they also had their own territories outside of the city, on the nearby few mountains. Usually, a few of their 3-Star shamans would be positioned elsewhere, with around half keeping watch over their business in the city, and half guarding their private territories. However, during the annual auction, almost all of the 3-Star shamans would come together within Flat Mount City!

Compared to the Kingdom of Restari and the Fan Kingdom who had to fight over a single smaller mountain, these three sects were clearly much better off.

Yet, despite their majesty which left others in the city feeling awestruck, right now, all six high elders of the Spirit Pavilion were busy discussing a single 2-Star shaman.

"Everyone, we have dragged out this disagreement for far too long, we need to come to a decision shortly." The oldest of the bunch stated calmly. This person wore a white robe, on the back of his robe there was a drawing of a 12 floor pavilion, this was the emblem of the Spirit Pavilion.

The Trading House's emblem was a nine floor temple, whilst the Spirit Pavilion's was a 12 floor pavilion. The Spirit Pavilion was actually created by an exiled elder of the Trading House. It was clear that he held some distaste for the Trading House, since his sect's emblem was a blatant provocation towards the Trading House. Now though, the creator of the Spirit Pavilion was long since deceased.

The old man who spoke was called Elder Freedrick, he was the Spirit Pavilion's sole peak stage 3-Star shaman, so his words carried some weight amongst the others. Throughout their debate, he had also remained neutral in his stance, not giving his opinion either way.

As for the reason they were having this heated argument?

It was Deon!

Ever since Deon's spectacular exit, leaping from the 12th floor and disappearing into the night, the elders had been arguing about whether or not they should pursue this matter.

They all felt suspicious of him, but some were more certain than others that Deon's performance as a shaman lord was indeed just that, a performance. These elders wanted to investigate him, since he was clearly a demonic path shaman with deep secrets!

The others, whilst also suspicious, were simply too afraid. If they investigated this person and he turned out to be a shaman lord, wouldn't they be courting their own deaths? If they enraged a demonic path shaman lord, he might just wipe out this entire city on a whim!

Actually, this debate had been ongoing ever since Deon departed. Because of this, the elders had not paid much attention to the other matters within the sect, so they had no idea about the reported incident wherein two outer disciples witnessed an injured person stumbling through a hedge in their own back garden!

If they knew about this, they would certainly connect the dots and this debate would not need to continue.

"We must investigate this suspicious person! In the first place, why would an esteemed shaman lord bother with this small city? And if a demonic path shaman lord desired something that we have, would they not just steal it?" A female elder, both younger and bolder than anyone else present, stated.

A middle-aged man frowned, his beard shaking slightly as he scowled at his junior elder.

"Elder Gina, you are being far too rash! What you say is likely to be true, but if it is not true and we end up investigating an actual demonic path shaman lord, it will bring a calamity to our sect!"

"You-"

"Enough!" Elder Freedrick cut the two off, preventing them from continuing on with this cyclic argument which had pained his ears for the past day and a half. "You are just repeating what has already been said! We all know the potential risks and benefits, there is no need to discuss any further. Let us have a vote, we will go with the majority. Does this satisfy everyone?"

The other high elders all nodded, accepting this. They were also sick of this argument, no matter what they did, they needed to act.

In the end, three elders voted to pursue the 'shaman lord', two voted to leave this matter alone. Everyone turned to Elder Freedrick, waiting to hear his opinion.

Elder Freedrick remained silent for a moment. Frankly, he also wasn't sure what the best choice here was…

But since three of the other high elders wanted to pursue this matter further, he decided to side with the majority.

With this, one day before the main auction, their investigation began.