“Everyone.” After a few seconds, Daomaster Skybearer’s voice rang out. “Let us continue.”

In the air, ten treasures glimmered with treasure light. Even the simulacrum of Daomaster Floatingcloud’s East Imperial Bell hadn’t been retrieved.

“Give an answer, alright?” Daomaster Titanspirit yawned, seemingly bored senseless. “I’ve been out for so long. I’m tired too.”

Eleven gazes converged on Xu Yangyi’s body. His sight fell to the eleven magik treasures. If he took the East Imperial Bell simulacrum, would he then have to send a Minister pill to Ancestor Floatingcloud… but then again, wasn’t he getting a godly assist?

Thinking it over, Xu Yangyi decided to let it go. This would possibly cause Daomaster Floatingcloud to personally come and bestow him a palm strike. It was unendurable bullying!

The auction house continued in silence. Even now, Hundredtongues couldn’t make a decision on these objects. Likewise, he used an expectant gaze to look towards Xu Yangyi.

Any one of these items were difficult to accept… Xu Yangyi’s gaze streaked over each treasure. If these treasures were set outside, perhaps they would’ve long since started a war between clans. Yet at the moment, he could reach out and touch them.

In his heart, he hesitated for several seconds. Finally, he resolved his heart, gritting his teeth and cupping his hands. “Seniors and Ancestors. Junior is only at Qi Condensation. I don’t have an understanding towards these treasures at all. However, before Junior’s auction, my friend told me something.”

“To the greatest possible extent, select items related to heavenly treasures.” He lifted his hand. “So…”

The floor below was dead silent, empty of the slightest noise. Many Foundation Establishment cultivators deeply memorized Xu Yangyi’s name in their hearts. The preceding events could be said to be an auction’s normal development, but in the end, among a few remarks and Core Formation arcane combat, it could even be stated that his move of “it was Daomaster Floatingcloud” had ignited this fuse!

His daring courage could shroud the heavens, yet he had firmly grasped the equilibrium on both sides of this steel wire. The one who had lost was Daomaster Floatingcloud, and behind him, Daomaster Ancientpine was standing even more staunchly! 

“Congratulation, Daomaster Yue for drawing the first ticket.” Xu Yangyi had weighed the issue for a long time and finally decided to pick these five tree leaves. A baby leaf and four mature leaves. In the end, it was a pity that Daomaster Yue still wasn’t willing to pluck a flower.

If it weren’t for the silkworm, he wouldn’t have anything in the future. He wouldn’t have discovered the snake shadow in the sky, and he furthermore wouldn’t have confirmed it to be Ancestor Floatingcloud. Although the creature’s effect was a total mystery, it still brought a nice surprise.

“Hmph!” Daomaster Titanspirit’s cold snort was heard in the air.

Daomaster Ancientpine timely said, “Fellow Daoist, this isn’t a decision that young friend Xu made rashly.”

Xu Yangyi appeared to be respectful as he stood on the master stage. Yes, in the past, he wouldn’t have even dared to choose these tree leaves, but now he ventured to do so.

“Congratulations, Daomaster Yue!” Below, a mountainous domain of congratulations boomed. 

Daomaster Yue laughed heartily, “A reward!”

In an instant, a shower of spirit stones flew down. All of them were high-grade spirit stones! One piece per person; all observers would have a share.

Xu Yangyi made a meaningful look of the eyes at Hundredtongues. The following items were all normal medicinal pills. No longer did he wish to stay here further. The tallest wave had already passed and remaining for an extended period yielded no benefits. The rest only needed to be slowly fermented. Even he wasn’t required to push forward. This event was bound to be like a storm blowing all over the entire cultivation world!

It was just that before he left, he notified Grandmaster Fivetastes and Grandmaster Knowledge. The trio’s departure didn’t attract too great of a billow. After two hours, Grandmaster Fivetastes’s and Grandmaster Knowledge’s expressions were excited as they clasped their hands and bid farewell. At the same time, Xu Yangyi had grasped a good few pill formulas in his hand.

This

 was the two grand masters’ greeting gifts. What he put forth wasn’t a lot, merely a promise of no more than a single pill each month. Regarding the Dao of Pills, he didn’t wish to disregard the outside world and act impulsively at all, to build a cart behind closed doors. Although pill-elixir was already destined to fall, for good or bad, these two industries were immersed in medicinal ingredients for over a century. Concerning the research of all kinds of ingredient attributes, it was far stronger than he, a Qi Condensation cultivator who had the destiny of coincidentally knocking open the door to the Pill Dao. 

Perhaps… he could later on use the pretense of the “pill master’s” identity to ask a few difficult questions. He understood very well that as long as he pulled over this tiger’s skin, these questions would be akin to tossed bait. Even if the two grand masters were unwilling, they were sure to give him an explanation in the end. 

As for what he asked for, it was the Spirit Summoning Art and the Nascent Soul Pill! Holding a cup of tea, he gently pursed it to his lips, only feeling the tea aroma enter his lungs. It was refreshing and pure.

This time, his harvest was extremely great. Spirit stones were still secondary. The Spirit Summoning Art, the Nascent Soul Pill, and the five tree leaves were of paramount importance!

“No… the spirit stones still can’t be considered secondary…” He smiled as he tapped his teacup. “5,000 high-grade spirit stones really is a handsome sum. As expected, a Core Formation master is wealthy. There’s no lie that their wealth is equal to a whole nation.”

“Especially…” A wisp of scorching heat flashed through his gaze. “As soon as ten days to half a month passes, the entire cultivation world will know of this event… Then will be the Xingtian Legion’s opportunity to take flight!” 

At this time, a male Qi Condensation cultivator entered. As he looked at Xu Yangyi, his gaze carried a burning fervor. “Commander Xu, Hall Master requests your presence.”

“The auction’s over?” Xu Yangyi questioned, and his gaze flickered.

“It ended half an hour ago.” As he mentioned this, the man’s complexion immediately blushed red. On his chest, there was a badge of a golden ingot, illustrating that he was an official cultivator of the Golden Dipper Hall. Suppressing his excitement, he said, “Accounts were settled an hour ago. All payment has been satisfactorily completed. H-Hall M-Master is inviting you to take a look at the accounts!”

The male cultivator spoke quite tactfully. Xu Yangyi faintly smiled. “Really, you can be blunt about it.”

“Huh?” The male cultivator hadn’t regained his wits.

“Splitting the spoils.” Xu Yangyi chuckled heartily, “I like this phrase better.” Through his journey, his steps were like the wind. As he thought about how so many things were on the verge of entering his pocket, even his heart blazed hotly without end in sight.

“Young friend Xu.” The Golden Dipper Hall’s hall master was the fat cultivator Qi Zongkai. At this moment, his face was already spread with a smile as he stood before a pavilion. He burst into loud laughter, “You’ve finally arrived. Come, I’ll bring you to take a look at today’s harvest!”

He enthusiastically pulled on Xu Yangyi’s hand and entered his office. Xu Yangyi was somewhat uncomfortable, symbolically testing. The fatso’s hand was gripped very tightly like a mountain without edge or the heavens and earth united together, venturing to never part with the gentleman like a smitten maiden.

[1]

Regarding Xu Yangyi’s weak probing, Qi Zongkai seemed to have never discovered it. He chatted energetically, simply absent of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's airs. The fatso gently waved his hand, and a sky-blue qi vortex sprang into view before a bookshelf. 

“This is the Golden Dipper Hall’s greatest temporary depository,” Qi Zongkai laughed and looked at Xu Yangyi. “Even a couple branch hall-masters haven’t come here, but young friend Xu, I felt you to be a kindred spirit at first sight. Go in, go in, allow me to broaden your horizons.”

Can he stay quiet?

 The crook of Xu Yangyi’s mouth curved, and he helplessly followed Qi Zongkai in. In the instant he entered, an expanse of misty treasure light illuminated his eyes with flowers! It caused him to reflexively shut his eyes!

Simultaneously, he seemed to enter an ocean of qi! Even a high-grade Spirit Focusing Formation hadn’t give him this kind of sensation! As if the heavy impurities within his body were being washed clean, his soul obtained refinement. Each one of his pores had stretched wide open, enjoying this ocean of qi!

Xu Yangyi felt his cultivation surprisingly advance by a hair! Even with the Eternal Alchemy Canon’s infinite growth and multiplication, he was able to advance a bit, just as he stepped in for a few seconds. It was obvious what level of abundance the qi inside had reached!

Once he adapted to it, he slowly opened his eyes. On his first glance, he was given a fierce “jolt” by the scenery before him!

This was an extremely large room. With a rough estimation of the eyes, it was reckoned to be 400 to 500 meters in radius. At this moment, the center was filled with mahogany trunks. There were no less than over 400! Densely packed together, they were like a honeycomb!

Each mahogany trunk was uniformly opened. They were approximately a meter long and eighty centimeters wide, and the insides were split into a ten-by-eight lattice. In each lattice division, a kaleidoscopic spirit stone overflowing with color was placed!

From what he could see here, it was like overlooking the First Emperor Qin’s terracotta army from a high balcony! Multicolored and auspicious qi ascended into the air and treasure light flashed, rendering one simply unable to shift their eyes away!

[2]

Such a sensation was akin to a person suddenly standing in the United States Treasury and facing chests of gold bars! Qi Zongkai beamed with a happy smile as he walked in front of a trunk and gently waved his hand. The cover soared into the air and there were likewise rows of spirit stones below! All of them were middle-grade spirit stones! His breathing had become faintly rushed. As far as the eye wandered, how many spirit stones were there?

“This auction’s total of 283,400 middle-grade spirit stones are all here.” Qi Zongkai’s voice was incomparably envious. Even such a large auction very rarely passed through his hands! 

In particular… these 283,400 middle-grade spirit stones were still only a portion! The worth of the four leaves, the Spirit Summoning Art, and the Nascent Soul Pill were fundamentally difficult to evaluate!

Only the Dao of Pills held such enchantment, causing things such as the Spirit Summoning Art and the Nascent Soul Pill formula to go from being worthless trash in the last second to the collective ascendance of pill formulas in the next. 

“Also…” Qi Zongkai pushed down on his fluctuating mood and snapped a finger. A rumbling noise suddenly echoed from the ceiling.

Xu Yangyi had just regained his wits from the shock of the spirit stone ocean, and raised his eyes to look forth. To his astonishment, he discovered there were unexpectedly eighteen gigantic dragons carved on the ceiling!

At this twinkling, every scale of these gigantic dragon sculptures emitted a kind of bewitching radiance. These scales, no more than several thousand, were actually even more dazzling than the spirit-stone ocean below! They were even more attractive!

It was quite difficult to explain what this feeling was, similar to a thousand stars on the ceiling. The treasure light below was reflected on the ceiling, and the spirit stones radiated a rainbow color. Mutually shining on each other, the stones made this ordinary room seem to construct a rainbow indoors.

“That’s… a high-grade spirit stone!” Xu Yangyi’s gaze flickered, and he gently beckoned. A spirit stone in the gigantic dragon’s mouth floated down and fell into his hand.

Buzz…

 Just as he touched it, a sensation completely different from a middle-grade spirit stone penetrated through from his fingers to his brain. It was akin to the twenty-seven days after the winter solstice—said to be the coldest days in a year—and a broiling hot wave of fire. It almost caused him to moan in comfort!

Closing his eyes to experience this for a full several seconds, he then released the spirit stone and carefully studied the first high-grade spirit stone he had looked upon in his life.

Pure and sparkling, it was like the ocean’s heart was below this stone’s surface… Inside, the qi was almost solid! It was far from comparable to a middle-grade spirit stone’s elixir. If said that a middle-grade spirit stone appeared like the flowing liquid of icy jade, then the high-grade spirit stone in his hand contained a sun! A nigh solid flame shockingly burning within the spirit stone!

A kind of majestic spiritual-force left one hard-pressed to forget upon touching it. Nonetheless, the burning-hot temperature was confined within the ice-cold spirit stone, an incarnation of nature itself.

1. “Mountain without edge or the heavens and earth united together, venturing to never part with the gentleman”. This is somewhat of a strange line, but it originates from a Chinese folk song. It is usually used in a sense of absolute love (describing things that are impossible (a mountain without edge) or the idea of never letting go). Here it is used in a much more physical sense.

2. Reminder: First Emperor Qin/Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of China. That is what Qin Shi Huang literally means.

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