Murong Tian was stunned when he saw Shun Long's appearance as he remained silent for a few seconds, while a look of unconcealed shock and surprise had covered his face.
Finally, a few moments later, a serious look appeared in Murong Tian's eyes as he said solemnly
''Who are you?''
No matter how he thought about it, Murong Tian was certain that he had never seen Shun Long before.
Even if this young man in front of him really was a middle-stage Sovereign realm expert, Murong Tian was confident that Shun Long wasn't someone from the northern part of the central region.
After all, as the patriarch of the Murong family, he was already familiar with most of the Sovereign realm experts of the northern part of the central region, and Shun Long definitely wasn't one of them.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long put on his black robes again and waved his hand, as he took out a plain-looking scroll from his spatial ring and placed it on the table in front of Murong Tian before he said calmly
''Who am I isn't what's important. Murong Tian, the reason I have come to find you today is to resolve an old grudge.''
''Resolve an old grudge?'' Murong Tian was perplexed when he heard this, as he looked at Shun Long with a confused look in his eyes, before he turned his attention towards the plain-looking scroll on the table in front of him.
At the same time however, his vigilance was raised to the max, and after a moment of hesitation, he didn't stretch out his hand to take a look at the scroll and simply waited for Shun Long to continue explaining.
Although he didn't remember meeting Shun Long in the past, let alone having a grudge with him, Murong Tian understood that since Shun Long had just said so, things could be tricky between them.
Shun Long nodded his head and answered calmly
''Indeed, there is an old grudge between us, but it is nothing that cannot be resolved through normal means.''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long finally circulated his 'Monarch's Hourglass', causing his eyes to immediately turn golden before his cultivation at the early rank 2 of the Dao King realm exploded outwards.
The moment that Murong Tian sensed Shun Long's cultivation, a look of disbelief colored his face as he mumbled in shock
''You... are a Dao King..?''
At this moment, Murong Tian even started to doubt his own senses.
He couldn't understand how the person in front of him who could even conceal his cultivation base from Sovereign realm experts could possibly be a Dao King, but Murong Tian was forced to believe that it was true.
After all, even late-stage Sovereign realm experts couldn't possibly fool a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like him by emitting an aura at the Dao King realm when they were at the Sovereign realm.
Shun Long didn't deny it as he then said
''Indeed, I am a Dao King. In fact, I only recently broke through to the Dao King realm. As for the reason why I have come to find you today... it is to get revenge for Huo Wuyi.''
''Huo Wuyi?'' Murong Tian was momentarily stunned when he heard this familiar yet also unfamiliar name, before a dangerous glint flashed through his eyes soon after.
Scenes of him meeting Huo Wuyi for the first time started to resurface in Murong Tian's mind, causing a wave of killing intent to burst out from his body and completely envelop the black-robed Shun Long in a single moment.
And yet, Murong Tian didn't make a move against him right away and simply stared at Shun Long silently as he waited for him to continue.
Although this person in front of him was definitely nothing more than a Dao King, and was akin to an ant in front of him, Murong Tian was still quite vigilant and wasn't in a hurry to make a move against him.
After all, to dare face a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like him and even sit there calmly, Murong Tian was certain that Shun Long must have had something to back him up.
After a moment of silence, Murong Tian finally said
''It doesn't look like there are any Sovereign realm experts watching after you. Even if there were any, they wouldn't be able to completely conceal their auras in front of me unless they were using a special technique like you. Could it be that you have a defensive artifact that you rely on to protect you? Or is it be that you have an offensive artifact that can even harm a peak Dao Emperor?''
Murong Tian asked calmly, but the look of killing intent in his eyes hadn't lessened as he stared at Shun Long.
Of course, Murong Tian didn't really expect Shun Long to answer and was only trying to probe for information.
If Shun Long had any abnormal reaction, Murong Tian could then guess what he was dealing with.
And yet, Shun Long who had covered himself with his black robes again didn't seem to react to his probing, as he shook his head and said
'It's useless to try and probe me. Since I came here to see you, I am confident that you can't do anything to me, otherwise I could simply bide my time and come deal with you in the future after I am strong enough.''
Murong Tian's eyes narrowed dangerously but he didn't deny this since he knew that it was true.
Indeed, if Shun Long really wanted to deal with him he could simply wait until he was stronger before he came to take revenge. Since he had already shown his cards to Murong Tian, it meant that he was probably willing to compromise.
Of course, this didn't mean that Murong Tian was afraid of Shun Long returning to deal with him in the future.
After all, Murong Tian was extremely talented and wasn't inferior to anyone else in the northern part of the central region.
Even throughout the entire central region as a whole, he was still considered a genius.
Putting aside whether Shun Long could really become strong enough to surpass him in the future, he had to catch up to him first.
With a cold and yet scornful look in his eyes, Murong Tian then asked
''What is your relationship with Huo Wuyi? Since you came to take revenge for him, I believe that you have a general idea of the relationship between me and him.''
Nodding his head, Shun Long then said in a calm manner
''Since everything started with Yi Qianyu, let it end with her too.. Hand her over.''
792
''What did you say?''
Murong Tian no longer restrained his killing intent, as his aura at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm exploded out of his body, immediately submerging the entire 'Burning noble restaurant'.
It wasn't just the manager who was standing outside of the private room who was stunned when he sensed Murong Tian's aura, but every single person who was dining inside the restaurant, as they all started trembling uncontrollably.
The aura of a peak Dao Emperor was enough to stun every single expert inside the restaurant.
In fact, even a couple of early-stage Dao Emperors who were present were completely terrified, as they all turned their attention towards Murong Tian's location.
And yet, the target of this outburst, Shun Long who was just standing a few meters away from Murong Tian seemed completely unaffected, almost as if the aura of a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor had no effect on him.
Pointing at the plain-looking scroll on the table, Shun Long then continued
''Since I received Huo Wuyi's legacy, I know everything about you and him, as well as Yi Qianyu. Everything started with her, so I am willing to trade an immortal-grade cultivation technique for her.'' Murong Tian was momentarily stunned, to the point where even his killing intent subsided for a brief moment, as he turned his attention towards the plain-looking scroll on the table.
The moment that his eyes landed on the scroll in front of him, Murong Tian was taken aback, as he hurriedly stretched out his hand and grabbed it, while his eyes focused on the words at the very top of the scroll.
'Immortal-grade cultivation technique, Ice Kingdom'
Naturally, this was the same immortal-grade cultivation technique that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder, the 'Ice Kingdom'.
However, the difference between this scroll in Murong Tian's hands and the scroll that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder was the amount of information recorded in each of them.
After reading through the scroll, Murong Tian soon realized that more than half of the information needed was missing.
Of course, he understood that Shun Long would only give him the rest of it if he agreed to his terms.
Silence filled the private room soon after, as Murong Tian stared at the scroll in front of him with a deep look in his eyes before he turned his attention towards Shun Long.
As the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Tian knew very clearly how rare an immortal-grade cultivation technique really was.
Even the entire Murong family didn't have an immortal-grade cultivation technique for themselves.
The only one who owned an immortal-grade cultivation technique was the old ancestor of the Murong family, but even his own cultivation technique was one that the old ancestor had obtained through an expert's legacy and he couldn't transmit it to others.
At the same time, although it was possible to find some immortal low-grade cultivation techniques in the high-level auctions in the central part of the central region, Murong Tian knew that even the cheapest of those cultivation techniques would go for, at least 1 million high-grade spirit stones, and most of the time, their actual price would easily exceed what he had just paid for the earth flame by a substantial amount.
The Murong family had tried to obtain a cultivation technique through one of those auctions in the past, but each time, the price ended up going past 10 million high-grade spirit stones and they had to give up.
Although some of the peak powers in the northern part of the central region like the 'White ice city' and the 'Northern Sovereign's city' could afford that price, the Murong family wasn't capable of taking out 10 million high-grade spirit stones at once.
Even now that Murong Tian had managed to win the bid for the earth flame, he had ended up spending almost half of the total amount of spirit stones accumulated by the Murong family inside their treasury.
After a moment of silence, Murong Tian stared at Shun Long with a profound look in his eyes before he asked
''You want to trade an immortal-grade cultivation technique for Qianyu? Interesting. Even if you obtained Huo Wuyi's legacy, I am sure that the treasures that Huo Wuyi left behind aren't close to the value of a complete immortal-grade cultivation technique.
Fine then. Since you want Qianyu, you can have her-''
The moment that he finished speaking, Murong Tian suddenly lunged forward with his right arm stretched out in the shape of a claw, heading straight for Shun Long's neck.
It was obvious that Murong Tian was aiming to take Shun Long by surprise and kill him before he could activate any of his treasures.
In the first place, the private room wasn't big while Shun Long and Murong Tian were sitting opposite each other, making the distance between the 2 of them practically non-existent.
Forget about an early-stage Dao King like Shun Long, even a late-stage Dao Emperor wouldn't be able to react to a sneak attack from Murong Tian from such a close distance!
And yet, what Murong Tian didn't know, was that right before he made his move, Shun Long's golden eyes flashed with a bright blue light, before a scene of Murong Tian lunging forward had already appeared in his mind.
Shun Long could feel a large amount of his qi being sapped at that moment, but he didn't pay any attention to it, as he merely stared at the incoming hand that was filled with killing intent and was heading for his head,
At that moment, an enormous black claw covered in black scales seemed to have torn space apart, appearing in front of Shun Long seemingly out of thin air, as it blocked Murong Tian's hand.
BOOOOOOOOM!