As Zhang Lie anticipated, his article rapidly set the hunters of the Blacksteel settlement abuzz.

Several of the leaders of the expedition, like Yun Bing and Chu Feng, had even replied confirming the accuracy of the article. After all, what it described was essentially identical to what they had experienced. In fact, some parts of it went into even more detail than even they were aware of. The moment they read through the article, they were certain that the anonymous author had been at the scene during that fateful night. 

Most importantly, it had detailed how Qin Xiao had pushed Zhou Qian out of the cave to save his own life, so Yun Bing and Chu Feng would naturally support the article and spread it on their own. 

The six clans began hunting for this mysterious author, but to no avail. 

Every hunter in the settlement was guaranteed their privacy by the Blacksteel settlement's artificial intelligence. Without any authorization, it was impossible for anyone to break apart a hunter's anonymity. It was for this reason that Zhang Lie had dared to reveal such crucial information. He would be able to maintain his own anonymity while drawing out his enemies.

After satisfying himself, he began to browse the trading post again.

Zhang Lie believed that the Qin and Wang clans would have quite a lot of issues to contend with in the future. They wouldn't be able to spare the time or attention to deal with a nobody like him.

And as for him, well, he was going to keep amassing his fortune. Most of the things that he had listed on the trading post had already sold. The soulshards owned by Qin Xiaotian and his team were grabbed almost as soon as they were listed.

After all, the dimensional world was quite unlike reality. Except in the settlements, individual power dominated over everything. Even if Qin Xiao's own soulshards were somehow stolen and listed on the marketplace, some enterprising hunters would still buy them all.

As a result, Zhang Lie earned another pile of points, though it paled in comparison to what he had obtained from betting on himself.

What had caught his attention was a reply he had received on his request searching for water-attuned techniques. The reply came from a user with the alias Daffodil. She intimated that she had multiple water-attuned techniques, all of surpassingly high quality, but was afraid that Zhang Lie didn't have enough points for them.

Her words would likely have stopped the Zhang Lie of a few days ago from enquiring further. After all, how could he have afforded those techniques? But now, he was filthy rich.

He immediately replied, "Show me what you've got! Rather than worrying about whether or not I can afford it, you should be worried about whether your techniques are high-quality enough to be worth my attention."

To his surprise, she replied instantly. "Excellent timing! I'm auctioning the techniques off right now."

This reply immediately enticed Zhang Lie: any techniques that were put up for auction were generally high quality. Inferior goods wouldn't be worth the fee that the marketplace would take.

Zhang Lie accessed the auction following her instructions, entering a virtual space with a raised circular stage and seats all around that stage. 

A woman, whom Zhang Lie assumed was this Daffodil, stood on stage in a pale white dress, gracefully showing off her goods. Surrounding the stage were the virtual avatars of countless buyers.

Up on stage, beside the woman, a robot was demonstrating a water-attuned polearm technique. In a clear, crisp voice, she explained the technique that the robot was using.

"[Seacrest Blade], a high-grade technique buoyed by the force of the sea. Its patterns are as erratic and unpredictable as ocean waves, sure to confound your opponent. This water-attuned technique would be a valuable addition to any hunter's repertoire, and it has a starting bid of 7,000 points. Might anyone here be interested?"

"10,000 points!"

"12,000!"

"I bid 15,000!" 

Before Zhang Lie could even react, the price had doubled to 15,000 points, leaving him quite surprised. 

However, given that price, most hunters had sat back down again, unwilling to bid further. Even a particularly good high-grade technique was only worth 10,000 points at best.

From Zhang Lie's perspective, while the waves that the technique generated were eye-catching, the actual bladework itself didn't seem like anything special. Furthermore, as a sword user, he had no interest in it.

Sensing the lack of continued interest, the woman rapped her knuckles against the table. "[Seacrest Blade], sold for 15,000 points! Next up, one of the centerpieces of this auction, the pinnacle-grade water-attuned technique, [Fists of the Silent Sea], a fist-based technique with immutable force!"

This time, the woman only provided a concise explanation before motioning to her robot.

The robot struck with one fist, sending ripples of genetic energy through the air. It was a gentle movement, like the caress of wind over the water's surface, but with an undeterrable strength that could still even the roiling waves of the sea.

A gentleness that belied its strength, a strength that could not be overcome. Dominating, overwhelming—it certainly deserved its classification as a pinnacle-grade technique.

This technique was undoubtedly superior to even most pinnacle-grade techniques. 

He wanted it.

"The starting bid for this technique will be 50,000 points!"

The moment Daffodil announced the price, a red-clothed man sitting near the front immediately raised his hand and shouted, "55,000!"

"Are you broke, to only raise the bid by 5,000? I'll bid 70,000 points!" a man taunted from a sectioned-off area of the virtual hall, likely restricted to VIPs.

"Only 70,000? Song Yi, it looks like you're running out of points! This technique's compatible with my sister's framework, and I'll bid 100,000 points!" Another voice spoke up, from a man dressed in blue not too far away.

"100,000 points for a pinnacle-grade technique is a bargain! I bid 120,000 points!"

The man in blue scoffed. "If you want a bidding war, I'm happy to accompany you. 150,000 points!"

He was starting to smile amidst the other party's silence when Zhang Lie stood up. "300,000 points!"