Bai Yunfei aimed a punch onto Jing Mingfengâs shoulder to laugh at him, âYouâve some first-rate acting, you know that? If not for the auction house, I really wouldâve thought you were somebody else.â
âOf course,â Jing Mingfeng snorted, âtake a good look at who I am. Master of disguise! How could I possibly be discovered so easily?â
He held his hand out. âSo whereâs my soul armament, olâBai? Hurry up and give it to me.â
âHey, youâre a really blunt one.â
âHehe, of course! Iâve been waiting for this soul armament for so many years now! Let me tell you, I was about ready to leap out my window when I saw that commotion of yours the other day! I really did want to go then, but you had so many people coming your way. Soul Kings one after another! So I stayed in my room.
âBut enough about that, hurry up and let me see how powerful my soul armament is.â
Deciding not to keep him in suspense any longer, Bai Yunfei took out the dagger he had made for Jing Mingfeng to look at. âItâs a high-heaven tier soul armament and is similar to how your âBlackwind Daggerâ was refined. Try it yourself. I also gave it the name âBlack Phantomâ.
âBlack Fandom ?!â The first thing Jing Mingfeng did was take the dagger into his hand. The second thing was to stare at Bai Yunfei in shock, âDamn!! Why did you give it such a specific name like that?!â
âWhat?â Bai Yunfei blinked. âItâs an ordinary name, whatâs so âspecificâ about it?â
âHow can this not be called specific?! Youâre singling out a specificâŠâ Almost bewildered by the reaction he got, Jing Mingfeng looked away from the dagger to glare at him.
âOhâŠBlack PhantomâŠâ
âWell, yeah. Black as in the color, and phantom as in the being of darkness. What were you thinking about?â
âAhâŠitâs nothingâŠâ Embarrassed by his slip up, Jing Mingfeng concentrated on the dagger in his hand. He had noticed a small design of a cloud and two words etched on the hilt of the dagger. âBlack Phantomâ.Â
This was a habit Bai Yunfei picked up as of late. Heâd inscribe a small cloud on the soul armament whenever he crafted one. A name would also be given if it was particularly powerful.
The words Bai Yunfei said to Jing Mingfeng caught up to him. Snapping his head up, Jing Mingfeng cried out, âHold on!! OlâBai, can you repeat what you just said? ThisâŠthis soul armament isâŠhigh-heaven tier?!â
âYeah. Itâs barely a high-heaven tier in strength, but it still classifies as being one.â
âThatâsâŠthatâsâŠâ Jing Mingfeng was speechless. He couldnât possibly be hearing things wrong, could he?
âYou managed to craft a high-heaven tier?!â
âOf course. Take a good look at who I am. Master of crafting! How could I possibly not be able to craft a high-leveled soul armament so easily?â
âYeah butâŠthis is too âhighâ even for youâŠI thought it was âonlyâ a mid-heaven tierâŠâ Jing Mingfeng was still struggling to find the right words to properly communicate how he was feeling.Â
He took in a deep breath before barking out with laughter. âHaha!! OlâBai, youâre alright! A high-heaven tier!! A damn high-heaven tier soul armament! Kickass!!â
âAlright alright, you can do that when youâre all by yourself later. This soul armament has a particularly special ability, so listen up. Iâll only say it onceâŠâ Bai Yunfei interrupted.
âOh? Special ability? What is it?â Ceasing in his laughter, Jing Mingfeng gave his friend an excited smile of anticipation.
Carefully, Bai Yunfei explained the mechanics of how the daggerâs +10 additional effect worked. He also talked about the equipment effects. By the time he was done listing all the effects, Jing Mingfengâs eyes were as bright as shooting stars.
Done with that matter, Bai Yunfei took out the wind immortal grass from his space ring and handed it over to Jing Mingfeng. âAnd take this as well.â
Jing Mingfeng took the wind immortal grass and stowed it away with a smile. âIâm not comping you for your low-heaven tier soul armament. Canât be as âgenerousâ as you are.â
âHow rude you areâŠâ Bai Yunfei laughed.
âHehe, who let us become brothers? Who else am I going to take advantage of but you?â Jing Mingfeng laughed as well, but the gratitude in his eyes was clearly obvious to see.
âWhereâs your grandfather? Did he not join in on the auction?â
âOh, he had something else to do. I came here to meet with you and get the wind immortal grass, but Iâll be going to meet up with him in a bit.â
The smile on Jing Mingfengâs face receded and the humorous mood in his eyes wavered just enough for Bai Yunfei to notice it. âMingfeng, are you sure you donât need me to help?â
âDonât worry, itâs nothing major, you donât need to get involvedâŠâ Jing Mingfeng waved his hand. âIn any case, shouldnât you be ready to leave Swallow City soon?â
âAh? Howâd you know?â
âHaha, youâre the talk of the city right nowâŠyou sly dog, you didnât tell me last time because you wanted to save the Qin some face?â
âBut.â Jing Mingfeng grew serious. âYouâd better be careful now that people know. Iâm sure someone will come after you. Itâs best that you leave as soon as you can.â
âYeahâŠâ Bai Yunfei sighed, âItâs not a good thing to stay here. I was planning to leave tomorrow, but the auction ended earlier than I thought. Xinyun and I will be leaving this quarrelsome place after this.â
âAlright! Then weâll say our goodbyes here, I have to go find my grandfather.â Jing Mingfeng scoured the place around them cautiously. âSince weâre both in a bit of a spot, letâs reminisce another time. See you soon!!â
âSounds good, see you soon!â Bai Yunfei bumped fists with Jing Mingfeng before watching the latter disappear down into the street.
âWe should be going too, Xinyun.â Bai Yunfei turned to Tang Xinyun.
âYes.â She nodded and started to walk with him.
âBai Yunfei!â
A voice from the other end of the street suddenly called out to him.
Freezing up, Bai Yunfei turned to look as a male and female couple came rushing up to him. When he and Tang Xinyun got a good look at who they were, the two of them looked surprised.
âBrother Xiao Nan? Sister-in-law? What brings you two here?â Bai Yunfei wasnât expecting to see either of the two people here today.
These two people were instructors of Tianhun Academy, Xiao Nan and his wife Zhao Jie.
Bai Yunfei had noticed two people come within range of him earlier when he was talking with Jing Mingfeng, but he didnât pay much attention to him. Somehow, those two people were actually acquaintances of his.
âHaha, our traveling brought us here of all places. We even managed to take a look at the auction.â
âI seeâŠâ Bai Yunfei nodded. âXinyun,â He beckoned to her, âthis is brother Xiao Nan, youâve seen him before. And this is his wife.â
âSister-in-law,â He turned to Zhao Jie, âthis is my fiancee, Tang Xinyun.â
Zhao Jie smiled. âIâve been hearing about the two of you recently. You are as beautiful as the rumors say, miss Tang.â
Tang Xinyun blushed. âIâm not worthy of being called beautiful. Youâre far more beautiful than I am, sisterâŠâ
âAh?â Something in Xiao Nanâs aura caught Bai Yunfeiâs attention. âYouâve become aâŠSoul King?!âÂ
Xiao Nan nodded. âIt wasnât too long ago actually, haha. ButâŠshould I be the surprised one? Yunfei, youâre already a Mid-stage Soul King. Thatâs far more shocking if you ask meâŠâ
  âŠâŠ
While Bai Yunfei and Xiao Nan were talking, there was a commotion back in the auction house.
âWhat did you say?!â
A voice so furious that it echoed off even the furthest corner of the hall boomed. The aura of a Soul King came descending down onto the place with such anger that everyone in the hall became frightened and started to sweat.
The person who was yelling was Qin Pingzhi, Early-stage Soul King of the Qin. In front of him now was a shivering servant of the Qin. Cowed by Qin Pingzhiâs devestating aura, the man could hardly relate the message he had to say before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fainted!
âWhatâs wrong, grandfather?â
Startled by all the sudden clamor, Qin Shouhao came rushing over. He had rarely seen his grandfather in such a state.
âSomethingâs happened back in the manor! Send a message to your father to come home!!â
The look on Qin Pingzhiâs face was truly dreadful to look at. Disappearing as soon as he gave Qin Shouhao that message, the man took off in a blast of wind.
As bewildered as Qin Shouhao was, the man knew something was going wrong. Turning about, he headed up the stairs to call for Qin Shoufeng so they could return home at once.
But when he arrived at the room Qin Shoufeng and his friends had been inâŠ
No one was inside!
[1] Original joke was é»é (Hei Mei), an abbreviation for é»èČé ćœ± (Dark Phantom). Jing Mingfeng hears this as é»ćŠč (Hei Mei), or Black Sister.Â