["If you can't afford it, steal it. If you can't steal it, scam someone into giving it to you." – Wu Feng]
-
Two days after the Inner Trial, a rare thing happened at Broken Root Sect: a closed auction was announced.
It wasn't public, of course. Only those who "proved their merit" during the trial received sealed invites—handed personally by Elder Ming's inner circle.
The items up for bid? Leftover techniques, spiritual fragments, damaged artifacts, and rare cultivation manuals pulled from failed sect branches.
To the sect, this was a formality—a way to thin the hoard.
To Wu Feng?
It was opportunity incarnate.
But,
Each participant needed:
A valid Sect Jade Identity Seal
An invitation scroll
And at least 1,000 spirit stones as deposit
Wu Feng had:
No jade identity
No invitation
3 spirit stones
But he did have:
A full set of forgery tools
A blank elder-grade seal from the Petty Shop
And one recently mastered stealth movement scroll
"I may not be invited," Wu said, flipping a brush between his fingers,"but I've always had a talent for writing my own story."
Step One: The Identity
He forged a disciple persona:"Gu Yao – Assistant Disciple under Elder Weng of Pill Division."
Why Pill Division?
Because those disciples never fought, rarely showed up, and no one knew what half of them looked like.
Using the Narrative Seal Crafting Token, he etched a jade plate with a subtle spiraling signature that mimicked Weng's formation authority. At a glance—and even to a mid-level elder—it looked real.
Then he used a heat-reactive dye to 'age' the invitation scroll and pressed his new identity mark into the corner.
He wasn't Wu Feng anymore.
He was Gu Yao.
A forgettable face in the system.
Step Two: The Entrance
The auction was held inside the Stone Root Chamber, a sect meeting hall buried beneath the meditation peak. Guarded by two inner elders, warded by array inscriptions, and filtered for qi signature patterns.
But they were filtering for spirit cultivators.
Not a ghost.
Wu walked past the outer barrier using Silent Wind Movement, presence reduced to footfall echoes.
The elder at the entrance checked his scroll, frowned slightly at the Pill Division seal, but didn't speak.
Wu bowed low and entered.
Inside the Auction Hall
Twenty-three disciples sat in two curved rows facing the main dais. Elder Ming sat at the head, beside an inventory clerk. Scrolls and boxes lay on jade platforms behind them.
Disciples ranged from late Qi Gathering to early Core Formation. Several core disciples wore expensive robes, radiating passive qi pressure like second-hand perfume.
Wu took the last seat in the second row, silent, head lowered.
He wasn't here to impress.
He was here to extract.
And the Target
He didn't care about the typical bids. Combat scrolls, fire rings, thunder blade tokens—too flashy.
But one listing made him pause:
Lot 9 – "Nameless Artifact: Rejected Fragment from Fallen Heaven Sect Ruins"Origin: Unverified. Aura resonance unstable. Believed cursed. Discarded in vault since Cycle 4021.
That's what caught his eye.
Cursed? Discarded?
That meant: undervalued. Unwatched. Easily twisted into a story.
The Plan,
He had no stones to bid. So instead:
Let someone else win it.
Intercept the item.
Replace it with a forged fake and slip the real one out.
Blame everything on the Heavenly Meme Cult if caught.
"Sometimes the best way to steal," Wu whispered, "is to let someone else do the buying."
[+10 PP – Auction Scheme Initiated]
The Auction Begins
Lot after lot passed.
Disciples raised tokens, whispered bids to servants, and flexed family resources. One core disciple used a transmission jade mid-bid to call his elder brother for extra stones.
Wu said nothing. Just waited.
Finally: Lot 9.
The jade box was carried forward and set on the stone stand. Faint black mist curled at its edges. The clerk didn't even touch it—he used a metal tong to hold it in place.
"Unverified cursed item," the clerk said flatly. "Starting bid: 50 stones."
Immediate silence.
"No buyers?"
A hand went up.
Bai Zhen, Inner Sect genius. Known for collecting strange items. Loved mystery.
"One hundred."
"Accepted."
Wu's heart thudded once.
Perfect.
Step Three: The Switch
After the auction, successful bidders were escorted to a side hall to retrieve their prizes. Servants carried the sealed boxes, opened only once identification and bid confirmation was approved.
Wu waited in the shadow corridor near the servant's prep room.
He triggered Foot Shadow Echo—his step mimicking that of the servant ahead of him. He slipped behind the third attendant and tapped his wrist with a Bluff Talisman.
The servant blinked.
Wu leaned in and whispered, "Box switch protocol, authorized by Weng."
The servant nodded, half-hypnotized by the talisman's weak charm array.
Wu took the original box and handed over a replica—inside was an old cracked jade ring dusted with illusion powder and faint shadow qi ink.
Bai Zhen would open it later and find nothing. Or worse: a story.
"Let him believe he's cursed," Wu said, vanishing down the inner corridor.
[+30 PP – Artifact Switch Without Detection][+10 PP – Used Bluff Talisman on Sect Servant][+5 PP – Deliberately Replaced Item With Trash]
Later That Night – Wu's Quarters
He examined the stolen artifact.
It was… strange.
The surface was black jade, smooth but pulsing irregularly. No inscription, no seal, no clear use.
But the aura?
It twitched at his presence. Not like rejection. More like recognition.
He fed a trace of spiritual energy into it.
The object flared.
A wisp of light emerged. Then text.
"To manipulate the truth, first become the lie."— Technique Fragment: Displaced Persona Method – Vol. I
Wu blinked.
Then grinned.
New Technique Acquired
Displaced Persona Method – Fragment IA cultivation technique that allows the user to create a false identity strong enough to fool spiritual formations, oaths, and memory-linked devices.Mastery allows creation of fake qi signatures, legacy echoes, and elder-tier forgeries.
System Effect: Identity Layer Integration UnlockedYou may now store one alternate identity at a time, usable for cultivation disguise and artifact access.
[+50 PP – Artifact Successfully Recovered and Activated]
Elsewhere – Fang Kai's Courtyard
Bai Zhen screamed.
The fake artifact he received had begun leaking dark smoke into his room. His qi spiral destabilized temporarily. Three servants passed out from spiritual backlash.
The inner ward guard arrived to find the jade ring spinning midair, projecting a fake Heavenly Meme Cult symbol and a one-line message:
"You were never the target. You were the lesson."
Bai Zhen fainted.
Sect Rumors Intensify
Internal messages flagged the Meme Cult as "possibly active within sect grounds."
Elder Han requested an investigation into movement techniques unaccounted for.
Li Qingyu began pulling personnel records of every participant in the auction.
Wu Feng sat under a Lantern Tree
He sat cross-legged, rolling the artifact gently in his hand.
"They hold auctions for treasure and trade their pride."
He tucked the real fragment into a hidden pouch and looked toward the horizon.
"They don't know it yet... but I'm just getting started."