Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Xia Jin laid out the items in his hands, including the unremarkable piece of metal ore. He looked up at the old man opposite him: "This is my first time in Longyuan City, it wouldn't be right for me not to take something back with me. I'll take these. How much do you want?"

The old man glanced down at the items Xia Jin had picked out, a hint of a smile flashing in his cloudy eyes.

He considered these things to be worthless trinkets; frankly, even if given away, no one would necessarily want them. Now that a sucker had suddenly appeared, he figured he had to take a cut of him.

He didn't speak, but simply held up three fingers to Xia Jin.

Xia Jin frowned, but he was too lazy to ask. He simply took out a storage bag from his pocket and tossed it over without even looking at it.

The old man caught the storage bag, scanned it with his divine sense, and his smile deepened. The contents of the bag far exceeded his asking price.

"Take your things!"

Xia Jin smiled and nodded, then put the items away.

"Thank you, sir." Xia Jin cupped her hands in thanks and turned to leave.

He walked in the same direction he had come from.

"Young man," the old man's voice sounded from behind, "if you want to leave Dragon Abyss City, the small path at the back will be faster."

Xia Jin paused slightly, turned around, changed direction, and walked towards a small alley behind the market.

The old man's gaze followed Xia Jin's retreating figure until it disappeared around the corner of the alley. Only then did he slowly withdraw his gaze, lower his head, and lean back against the wall.

"An interesting kid. I wonder if he's tough enough..."

In the alley, Xia Jin quickened his pace. At this moment, his heart was pounding so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He could no longer contain his excitement, and his mouth was practically stretched to his ears.

"I got it! I really got it!" he shouted wildly in his heart, wishing he could roar three times to the sky.

That piece of metal ore, that piece of metal ore that made Donghuang Zhong tremble continuously, is now in his arms!

He never expected things to go so smoothly.

He had originally planned to test the old man; if he couldn't buy it, he'd have to play the villain. But then that spoiled young master—no, I should say spoiled young lady—suddenly appeared and caused this commotion, which actually made everything much simpler.

The old man clearly thought he was deliberately trying to save face, buying a few worthless items as a show before quickly leaving Longyuan City. So he didn't even ask for a higher price and sold them to him casually.

Little did he know that what he truly wanted was precisely that seemingly insignificant, broken stone.

"It seems that the young lady from Longyuan City wasn't entirely without her advantages," Xia Jin muttered to herself as she walked quickly. "At least, she let me get this treasure so easily."

"Whether he's male or female, we've already offended him. The most important thing right now is to find a safe place and study this stone carefully to see what secrets it holds."

After turning a corner, Xia Jin suddenly stopped.

"Since there's no one here, let's examine this metal ore to see what's so special about it!"

Xia Jin looked up at the courtyard wall on her right, then lightly touched the ground with her toes and landed steadily in the courtyard.

Xia Jin's divine sense instantly spread out, enveloping the entire courtyard. After a moment, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. The courtyard was empty, and the surrounding houses were also deserted, making it appear to be an abandoned residence.

"This is it."

Xia Jin walked quickly to the largest locust tree in the courtyard and sat down with her back against the thick trunk.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the Eastern Emperor Bell continued to rotate slowly.

Ever since he obtained that piece of metal ore, the broken ancient bell has never stopped trembling. Waves of longing surged in, so intense that Xia Jin almost thought the Eastern Emperor Bell was about to send him flying out of his sea of ​​consciousness.

"Don't rush, don't rush," Xia Jin muttered to herself.

With a flick of his right hand, the fist-sized piece of metal ore appeared in his palm.

When Xia Jin actually held the stone in her hand, she could clearly feel a warmth emanating from inside the stone, as if something was slowly pulsating beneath the stone's surface.

The Eastern Emperor Bell in his sea of ​​consciousness trembled violently, more intensely than ever before.

Xia Jin didn't think any further. With a thought, she directly stored the metal ore into her sea of ​​consciousness.

The moment the metal ore appeared in his mind's eye, Donghuang Zhong pounced on it like a hungry tiger.

The enormous ancient bell emitted a deep rumble, and the golden light around it intensified, dyeing the entire sea of ​​consciousness a brilliant gold.

The metal ore, enveloped in golden light, hovered in front of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

The next moment, something happened that left Xia Jin speechless.

The gray-black stone skin on the surface of the metal ore began to crack. As the stone skin peeled off piece by piece, the true appearance inside was revealed.

It was a piece of metal that was entirely dark gold in color.

The Eastern Emperor Bell roared once more, its body trembling violently as a powerful suction force erupted from it. Drawn by this force, the dark golden metal slowly flew towards the bell, eventually settling against a broken edge on its side.

The dark golden metal seemed to liquefy, slowly flowing and filling the broken part of the Eastern Emperor Bell. The golden light, like molten iron, firmly welded the old and new parts together, fusing them into one.

This process lasted about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

As the golden light gradually faded, Xia Jin eagerly opened her eyes and looked at the Eastern Emperor Bell in her sea of ​​consciousness.

He was stunned.

The Eastern Emperor Bell remains incomplete; this has not changed. The large gaps in the bell's surface are still there.

However, the cracks that originally existed on the bell had completely disappeared!

The original Donghuang Bell resembled a piece of porcelain that had been shattered and glued back together; though pieced together, the numerous cracks were shocking to behold. Now, however, those cracks seem to have never existed; the surface of the bell is smooth as new, appearing as a single, seamless piece.

Those parts that have been merged together no longer show any trace of splicing, as if they were originally a single, complete piece.

Xia Jin stared blankly at the scene, unable to come to her senses for a long time.

He originally thought that this piece of metal ore was a missing fragment of the Eastern Emperor Bell, and that by incorporating it, the Eastern Emperor Bell would become slightly more complete.

But he never expected that this piece of ore would have such a miraculous effect. It not only filled in the missing parts, but also perfectly fused the fragments that had already been pieced together!

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Xia Jin finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

What a steal! This time it's a real bargain!

"No wonder Donghuang Zhong was so excited." Xia Jin laughed, then let out a long breath.

But he quickly frowned, noticing that the token at his waist had suddenly become hot.

Immediately afterwards, the familiar voice of the Grand Hall Master came from the token.

"Xia Jin, come to the City Lord's Mansion."

The voice was brief and disappeared as soon as it was finished, and the light on the token dimmed as well.

"The City Lord's Mansion?" He murmured the three words over and over again, the scene that had just happened in the market involuntarily flashing through his mind.

"No way..." Xia Jin's expression became somewhat subtle. "Could it be that that young lady complained to the city lord? Is the Grand Hall Master asking me to go and apologize?"

He thought about it again and realized that something wasn't quite right.

The other person probably doesn't recognize me.

"Then why would I go to the city lord's mansion?"