Ye Chen was dumbfounded. "You actually consummated the marriage with the bride?"
"No, no—" Will hurriedly waved his hands. "I couldn't possibly ruin a girl's innocence like that. I forced myself to sober up and ran away!"
"Just like that?"
Ye Chen didn't believe that such a thing would provoke a peerless Old Antique at the half-step Sovereign level to personally hunt Will down. After all, matters that tarnish a bride's reputation and honor are generally covered up as much as possible, not spread far and wide with such a massive mobilization.
Will chuckled sheepishly, looking embarrassed. "Actually, the bride and I had already hooked up before her wedding. Later, she told me that if I didn't come when she got married, she would kill herself. So I went over to comfort her. I didn't expect we'd end up rolling in the sheets together, and in the end, the groom came in and discovered us."
"But you have to believe me, the moment we were discovered, I left immediately. It's just that when that kid blocked my way, I accidentally kicked and busted his little brother. Then the bride ran away with me. Word spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and just like that, it eventually alarmed that Old Antique, who personally came to hunt me down."
Ye Chen was left speechless, truly impressed by Will's troublemaking ability. Hooking up with the bride on her wedding day, getting caught in the act, and now being hunted by a peerless existence at the half-step Sovereign level.
"It's fine, don't worry. Once I hook up with the Imperial Maiden, what's a half-step Sovereign? Even if an Ancient Monarch comes, I won't be afraid. I'll just take a supreme Emperor's weapon and send an Ancient Monarch to directly suppress and kill him." Will was brimming with confidence.
"......" Ye Chen couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was worried that instead of hooking up, Will would bring down the Imperial Maiden's wrath, even alarming the entire Alchemy Emperor Clan.
"Will, you'd better not go. Just stay out of trouble," Ye Chen said.
Will said seriously, "I know what you're worried about, but I have a plan this time. Just wait for my good news tonight, don't worry."
Ye Chen shook his head, but he couldn't restrict Will's actions, nor could he stand by and watch him die. "If you encounter an unresolvable difficulty, contact me directly."
"Good brother, you really move me," Will said, deeply touched. "Believe me, if I'm truly in a dead-end situation, I'll definitely find you."
Ye Chen felt like he had gotten himself into a huge mess and rubbed his aching temples. "When are you making your move?"
"Tonight, when the moon is dark and the wind is high—the perfect night for a heist," Will said, enunciating each word.
Will wasn't in a hurry to leave and carry out his plan to 'heist' the Imperial Maiden. The two had met again after a separation of over a hundred years and naturally needed to catch up properly.
"Little Yue, you came to this Tianyi Market at just the right time. There really are quite a few treasures hidden here. We might even discover something as heaven-defying as Chaos Immortal Gold," Will said.
Ye Chen was slightly surprised. Was this Tianyi Market really that extraordinary?
"Don't underestimate this place. You've seen for yourself that many forces from across the Ancient Universe have come for this Alchemy Grand Ceremony. They're all using the lively scene of the ceremony to conduct transactions, trading for the treasures they want. After all, grand events that affect the entire Ancient Universe are rare, occurring only once in who knows how many years." Will clearly knew a lot of inside information, and Ye Chen nodded frequently.
"Of course, the real main event is tonight's auction. That's what's truly eye-catching. It's also a grand auction for the entire Ancient Universe, riding on the momentum of the Alchemy Grand Ceremony." Will said seriously, "Some of the treasures being auctioned have values far beyond your imagination."
"That impressive?"
"Of course. I'd even believe it if a lone handwritten manuscript of a Supreme One appeared." Will said.
Ye Chen stroked his chin. He really wasn't very familiar with these matters.
But if, as Will said, the items at the auction were all priceless treasures, he would need to prepare well to see if he could bid for some peerless rare treasures.
"Let's go, let's stroll around the Tianyi Market. We might really discover some pleasant surprises."
The two companions walked together through the Tianyi Market.
The Tianyi Market had all sorts of vendors, from food, drink, and entertainment to gambling dens, from tomb-raided antiquities to divine materials for artifact forging. There were even descendants of great demonic beasts and great terrors with primordial bloodlines for sale, and even enchanting beauties from some races were being traded. It could be said to have everything one could imagine, a dazzling array that left one's eyes struggling to keep up. Even Ye Chen found himself lingering, reluctant to leave.
The Tianyi Market, as Will said, was akin to a black market, concealing far too many treasures within.
At this moment, the two arrived at one of the street stalls. On it were many ancient items: War Halberds, spears, armor, ancient vases, jade pendants, and so on, all bearing the marks of time, all quite ancient artifacts.
Clearly, these artifacts had been stolen from a tomb. The middle-aged-looking stall owner before them was a tomb raider.
Tomb raiders were a profession that existed in both the mortal and cultivation worlds.
Moreover, based on what Ye Chen had learned, this tomb raider stall owner had discovered a deeply hidden tomb in the starry sky two months ago. It was accompanied by countless fearsome formations and guarded by a peerless great terror, suspected to be the peerless great tomb of an Ancient Monarch.
He had gone through life-and-death struggles, charged into the peerless great tomb, and fought against all sorts of malevolent beings before finally obtaining these items before them, all brought out from the peerless great tomb. Each one was of immeasurable value, related to an Ancient Monarch.
Precisely because of this, every antique on the stall was exorbitantly expensive, priced in terms of millions of catties of divine spirit sources, with no bargaining allowed.
However, when Ye Chen saw this stall owner, he just smiled. Because the other party was, at best, only a Heavenly King. While that gave him the qualification to dominate a life-bearing ancient star, with just that level of cultivation, daring to charge into the peerless great tomb of an Ancient Monarch to rob it was purely suicidal.
Therefore, Ye Chen directly concluded that this stall owner was nothing but a swindler.
Will also muttered, "What peerless great tomb of an Ancient Monarch? If he said it was a Great Power's ancient tomb, I might somewhat believe it. An Ancient Monarch's tomb is purely a scam."
Even so, both of them felt that there were indeed some extraordinary antiques on the stall that made them linger.
At the same time, an old man in plain clothes walked over and even squatted down to carefully examine these tomb-raided antiquities.
"Old sir, your eyesight is excellent. These are all antique artifacts from the peerless great tomb of an Ancient Monarch. Each one is a truly priceless treasure. Strike while the iron is hot, buy while you have the chance. If you miss today, you won't have this opportunity again." The stall owner hurriedly tried to sell to the old man, describing how wonderful the antiques on his stall were in every possible way, spinning a fantastic tale, truly like a melon seller praising her own melons—self-praise.
The old man also seemed tempted. He picked up an ancient sword covered in bronze rust, intending to examine it carefully. However, at that moment, the bronze ancient sword cracked with a snap and, for some unknown reason, suddenly shattered into a pile of bronze rust powder on the ground.