Chapter 123: Narrow Paths for Rivals

“Hey, come on, let’s go in quickly!” In less than a moment, Lucy appeared in front of him, out of breath, waving the two admission tickets in her hand. There were drops of sweat on her nose, and her face was red—whether from excitement or the crowd was unclear.
Under Lucy’s lead, Rod struggled greatly before barely managing to squeeze into the trading hall. It was astonishingly large, capable of holding at least a thousand people at once! Yet even so, it was almost fully occupied, showing just how popular this trading hall was.
Frowning slightly, Rod scanned the area but saw no seats available. He sighed inwardly—clearly, he should have come earlier. Lucy was right; arriving sooner wouldn’t have been a mistake.
“What are you looking at? Come on, follow me! I’ll guarantee a good spot!” Lucy’s voice came as Rod was still struggling to find a seat.
He felt her pull his hand and lead him upstairs. Moments later, they reached the second floor. If the first floor was for the general public, the second floor was clearly for elites—each private room was luxurious and opulent.
Rod looked at Lucy in confusion, unsure what she was thinking.
“I got a private room thanks to you today. Hehe, isn’t it great? Hurry up!” Sensing Rod’s puzzled gaze, Lucy smiled nervously without further explanation and pulled him forward.
At the same time, a group from the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagle clan was walking toward them. The young clan leader and the third elder who had fought him before were among them. Seeing Rod and Lucy there, they showed surprised expressions, which quickly turned cold and unpleasant.
Without wasting time with them, Rod followed Lucy, passing by the group and heading further back. More people filled the second floor, including members of the demon race!
Suddenly, Rod noticed a change in Lucy beside him. She tightened her grip on his hand and paused, turning to look. Her expression now seemed strange.
“Hurry up, let’s go!” She pulled his hand anxiously, speeding up their pace.

With a hint of confusion, Rod followed Lucy’s gaze. At that moment, on the stairs across from them, a group of people came into Rod’s sight—each one appearing noble and elegant. There were six of them: two elders and three middle-aged men, all exuding great power. Rod was secretly shocked. Indeed, this was the source of darkness, filled with experts. These people must have already reached the divine realm.

Turning back to Lucy, he wondered if this girl had some connection or feud with them. Why did she change so much after seeing that group?

“Phew…” Letting out a sigh of relief, she opened the door to the private room. Lucy seemed relieved and quickly pulled Rod inside. “Alright, we’ll sit here today. Hehe, how’s it? Pretty nice, right? I told you, following me won’t disappoint! I paid a lot for this room. Without your pass, I wouldn’t have been able to get it even if I paid heavily!” As she murmured, she led Rod inside and quickly closed the door. Rod, who had been paying close attention to Lucy, didn’t miss her last expression—a look of slight panic as she glanced at the people across from them.

Though puzzled, he was sure Lucy must have some kind of relationship or grudge with those people. But since no one else intended to explain, and Rod himself wasn’t very curious, he decided not to ask. Nodding slightly, he went straight to their seats and waited for the trade fair to begin.

……

“Sloke, what’s wrong?” At that moment, one of the middle-aged men in Rod’s group suddenly glanced this way the instant Lucy closed the door. His gaze was fierce. An elder beside him noticed this and asked, “Lucy, I think I saw her over there!” The man’s eyes remained fixed on the private room where Rod and Lucy were.

“Lucy? Is she there? Those bastards must have taken her hostage. Elder, I’ll go get her out!” Hearing Sloke’s words, another middle-aged man’s expression changed instantly. With a murderous look, he shouted and rushed toward the private room.

“Fidel, come back!” Seeing the man’s impulsiveness, both elders frowned. The elder who had remained silent until now finally spoke up. “Second Elder! Lucy has been missing for three days. You…” Called back, Fidel looked at the elder anxiously.

“There’s no need to rush, Sloth. Are you sure you saw Lucy?” The Second Elder replied indifferently to Fidel’s words.
“Yeah, I’m sure. There’s no mistake—I could sense that pure aura!”
“Nasai, go and check out the identities of the people in that private room. Don’t alert them! Lucy should be fine for now. I’ll go find her after the trade conference ends!” With a frown, the Second Elder said to another middle-aged man, his brows showing slight confusion as he glanced at the private room across from them.
It wasn’t easy to secure a private room at such an annual trade conference—those who had one must be of high status. Even with money, it was hard to get one, and he was well aware of this. So, before understanding the situation, he couldn’t act rashly. A careless move could trigger a fierce conflict, even a war between two families—something no one wanted to see.
As Nasai left, the group went straight into their private room.
“Second Brother, you know how important Lucy is. Whether we attend this trade conference or not doesn’t matter to us. That colorful glass isn’t that valuable either, but Lucy…” The Third Elder said anxiously to the Second Elder once they entered the room.
“Third Brother, since when have you become so impatient? Have you forgotten what the Eldest Brother told us? Don’t worry—Lucy will be fine. No one can hurt her. They can’t afford the price in blood. Nasai has gone. Everything will be fine!” With a sigh, the Second Elder replied firmly. He understood Lucy’s importance and would never allow anything unexpected to happen. He also knew Nasai’s strength, so he wasn’t worried.
…
Sitting in his private room and looking down, he saw that the number of people in the trade hall had reached an alarming level. Not only was it packed, but even the open spaces were crowded with people—truly a massive gathering. From time to time, groups of people came in from outside. More people would arrive before the conference started.
Just then, a stir arose among the crowd. In the next moment, the once noisy trade hall fell silent as everyone’s gaze turned toward the entrance.
Seeing this, Rod, who was slightly puzzled, also looked in that direction. A group of about seven or eight people entered the trade hall. Upon recognizing their faces, Rod’s expression froze.

A wry smile appeared on his face. Truly, fate brings strangers together—meeting those people here was unexpected. It seemed today’s situation would be tricky. weren’t the people entering now the two women he had met by the lake that day along with their guards? He hadn’t expected them to come as well, but then he realized that such a deal surely had enough appeal to draw them here! It was obvious these people were of high status; they must have come for that colorful glass as well.

The two women were undoubtedly beautiful—one pure and innocent, the other charming and alluring—so it was inevitable that the men’s hearts would be stirred.

Soon, the group arrived at the private room on his side through the corridor. Rod shook his head in frustration, hoping that this room would allow him to hide from those people. He had managed to escape by luck that day, but not today. With five god-tier warriors blocking his path, who could claim they could handle them? Even those at the later stage of the god tier wouldn’t dare make such claims.

Besides, where was this place? This was Dark Moon City, the territory of the demons. This was the Trade Hall, the annual trade gathering. Without a proper identity card or pass, and without enough money, no one could enter. If even the members of the Dragon clan faced such difficulties, one could imagine what would happen if he were discovered here—those surrounding him would definitely not be just those five god-tier warriors. Maybe… Thinking of this, Rod’s head ached, and he carefully moved back, hiding his face completely behind the window before finally feeling a little relieved.

As Rod was lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Lucy’s expression suddenly change, showing signs of anxiety. She stared outside, looking uneasy. “How did they get here? Were they discovered?” she murmured to herself.

Each of them was preoccupied and ignored the other’s change. Time passed slowly in the oppressive atmosphere. After a long while, Rod and Lucy were pulled back to reality by sounds coming from downstairs.

“Thank you all for coming to our trading hall today to attend the annual trading conference. That’s right, today is this year’s trading event. I hope everyone will leave here with what they need! Now, I declare that this trading conference begins now…” An old man in his fifties, with a smile on his face, announced loudly to everyone from the stage below.
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd became lively, with everyone cheering in unison. Finally, the main event had begun. Rod also thought to himself that this old man’s strength must be at the middle stage of the divine level! Divine level? It seems it isn’t very valuable even in the Source of Darkness.