Cultivation of Immortality: Start by Improving Spiritual Root Qualifications

Chapter 897 Celestial Delicacies, Blood Spear Heavenly Lord!
Su Yuanqing's eyes sparkled, and a faint smile played at the corners of her lips.

Zhou Xun's eyes flickered slightly: "I'd like to hear the details."

“Three months from now, the ‘Wanzhenlou’ in the west of the city will hold an underground auction,” Su Yuanqing said in a low voice. “As far as I know, one of the items on the auction is a ‘Hundred Illusions Mystic Spirit Flower’.”

As she spoke, she took out a gilded jade slip and pushed it in front of Zhou Xun:

"This is an invitation to the auction. You must present this to enter."

Zhou Xun scanned the jade slip with his divine sense and found that it contained a detailed record of the time and location of the auction, with a partial list of auction items attached at the end. The "Hundred Illusions Mystic Spirit Flower" was prominently listed among them.

"Since Pavilion Master Su is so enthusiastic, he must have something to ask for?" Zhou Xun put away the jade slip with a half-smile.

Su Yuanqing covered her mouth and chuckled: "Fellow Daoist Zhou is indeed insightful. To be honest, I observe that you possess an extraordinary demeanor, and I would like to ask you for a small favor."

With a flick of her fingertip, a soundproof barrier instantly enveloped the elegant room:
"At this auction, Wanzhenlou has a fragment of the *Taixu Danjing* that I am determined to acquire. However, the owner of Wanzhenlou and I have some past grievances."

Zhou Xun immediately understood: "Sect Master Su wants to use me to bid?"

“Exactly.” Su Yuanqing took out a storage ring.

"Here are ten spirit crystals, enough to bid on the alchemy manual. Fellow Daoist, you only need to do the bidding. Regardless of the final transaction price, the remaining spirit crystals will belong to you."

Zhou Xun fiddled with the storage ring, pondering, "Isn't Pavilion Master Su afraid that I'll abscond with the money?"

"Fellow Daoist is too kind." Su Yuanqing's eyes were deep.

"Someone who can casually take out five million spirit stones to rent a cave dwelling would not be greedy for such a small profit. Besides..."

She suddenly smiled:
"I observe that you are only a little over three hundred years old, yet you have already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. With such talent, you surely will not ruin your future."

Zhou Xun felt a slight chill; this woman had a sharp eye. However, he didn't put away his storage ring.
"Please send someone to deliver these spirit crystals on the day of the auction, Pavilion Master Su!"

Su Yuanqing was slightly taken aback, then covered her mouth and chuckled:

"Fellow Daoist Zhou has thought things through very well." With a flick of her jade-like finger, she put the storage ring back into her sleeve.

"At that time, I will send someone over!"

Zhou Xun nodded, then left the place with the auction invitation.

Next, Zhou Xun went to several other shops in the city, but none of them had that 'Heavenly Origin Star Epiphyllum'.
Including the Hundred Illusions Mystic Flower,
Zhou Xun had no choice but to abandon the idea of ​​buying it directly.

"Looks like we'll have to wait for the auction!"

Suddenly, Zhou Xun found himself standing in front of a building called "Zhiweilou," and a faint, delicate fragrance wafted through the air.

Zhou Xun couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Is this... a restaurant in the celestial realm?"

"Very well, let's try the delicacies of this immortal realm and see what's so special about them!"

Zhou Xun stepped into Zhiweilou.
"Senior, would you like to have a meal?" A Foundation Establishment stage servant quickly stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Zhou Xun nodded slightly: "Are there any private seats available?"

"You've come at the right time, senior. There are still seats available in the 'Star-Picking Pavilion' on the top floor," the servant said solicitously, leading the way. "This pavilion offers a panoramic view of the entire city, and it even has a fourth-tier spirit chef in charge."

Ascend the floating staircase carved from spirit jade to the ninth floor, and a breathtaking view unfolds before you.

The entire pavilion had no walls, only a dazzling array of lights serving as a barrier, allowing a panoramic view of the myriad lights of Beishan City.

"Please take a look, senior." The servant handed over a jade slip. "This is the menu of this establishment."

Zhou Xun swept his divine sense across the area, and even with his vast experience, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

The menu was full of unheard-of delicacies: steamed "Azure Dragon Tendon", braised "Mysterious Fire Sparrow Tongue", and charcoal-grilled "Golden-Winged Roc Claw". The cheapest dish cost several thousand spirit stones.

"As expected of a celestial restaurant, just the name alone is intimidating!"

Zhou Xun was greatly intrigued.

"Give me a 'Nine-Turned Exquisite Soup' and a pot of 'Millennial Drunken Immortal Wine'," Zhou Xun ordered more than a dozen signature dishes.

Before long, the dishes were served.

The "Nine-Turned Exquisite Soup" was served in a white jade bowl. The soup was amber in color, and the nine kinds of spiritual ingredients swirled slowly in the soup, forming their own array.

Zhou Xun scooped up a spoonful and immediately felt a warm current flow through his limbs and bones, and his spiritual energy became more active.

Just as Zhou Xun was savoring the exquisite taste of the "Nine-Turned Exquisite Soup," a violent surge of spiritual energy suddenly erupted in the city. The entire Zhiwei Tower trembled, and ripples spread across the soup in the jade cups.

"boom--"

A deafening roar came from the east of the city, followed by two figures soaring into the sky.

An elderly man in purple robes held an ancient bronze sword, its blade radiating a light that stretched for hundreds of feet.

Another man in a green robe was surrounded by nine crimson pearls, each radiating a scorching aura as if burning the heavens and boiling the seas.

"You surnamed Zhao, today it's either you or me who dies!" the purple-robed old man roared, his sword light cascading like a silver river.

"Afraid of you? I'm not afraid!" the man in the green robe sneered, and the nine precious pearls transformed into a fire dragon that swirled around him.

The two Nascent Soul cultivators clashed with all their might, and the aftershocks swept in all directions. The buildings in the city lit up with protective barriers, and the cultivators on the streets hurriedly took cover.

Zhou Xun stood at the edge of the Star-Picking Pavilion, watching the battle with great interest. Such a level of combat was a rare sight even in the cultivation world.

Just as the battle was escalating, the sky suddenly darkened.

A gigantic golden hand, obscuring the sky, appeared out of thin air, its palm lines as clear as ravines, radiating a suffocating pressure.

"presumptuous!"

A cold snort boomed like thunder.

With a gentle clench of the golden giant hand, the hundred-foot-long sword beam and the nine fire dragons shattered instantly. The purple-robed elder and the green-clad guest were struck as if by lightning, simultaneously spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Before they could react, a second giant silver hand descended from the sky.

With a single clasp of the two giant hands, the two Nascent Soul cultivators were crushed into dust before they could even scream, their bodies and souls annihilated!

The entire city of Beishan was completely silent.

High in the sky, a golden-armored warrior stood on the air, his face shrouded in dazzling divine light, with only a pair of cold and ruthless eyes vaguely visible.

A blood-red spear hovered behind him, its tip dripping blood that stained the clouds dark red.

"Private duels are forbidden within Beishan City." The golden-armored general's voice echoed in every corner.
"Those who disobey the order will be killed without mercy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the blood-red spear trembled slightly, and the remaining flesh and blood essence of the two Nascent Soul cultivators were completely devoured, leaving them no chance to reincarnate and start anew.

Zhou Xun's pupils contracted slightly, his heart filled with dread: "A Nascent Soul Warrior... what domineering methods."

He secretly thought that if he wore the Heavenly Origin Battle Armor and fought against this person, he would be able to hold his own against him!

The golden-armored general coldly surveyed the entire city, and wherever his gaze fell, all the cultivators lowered their heads.

When that gaze swept over Zhiweilou, Zhou Xun clearly felt it linger on him for a moment longer.

“Interesting.” Zhou Xun raised his glass in a toast and drank the ‘Millennial Drunken Immortal Wine’ in one gulp.

The golden-armored general nodded slightly in response, and then his figure gradually faded away.

The terrifying pressure that had enveloped the entire city dissipated, but the suffocating sense of oppression lingered. "Who was that?" Zhou Xun asked.
The servant, now a senior, slumped to the ground, his face deathly pale.

"That's the 'Blood Spear Heavenly Lord' who guards the Immortal City. It's said that more than a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators have died at his hands."

"Over a hundred, huh? He truly is a killing god!"

Upon returning to his cave, Zhou Xun immediately went into seclusion.

He began studying the 'Nine Palaces Profound Origin Array'.
Although he has already mastered the formation perfectly, further research could greatly enhance his understanding of formations.

Zhou Xun sat cross-legged, with 365 array flags floating in front of him, each radiating a mysterious aura.

He closed his eyes slightly, his divine sense surging out like a tide, carefully comprehending the profound principles of heaven and earth contained within the array flags.

“Nine Palaces as the foundation, Xuan Yuan as the guide,” Zhou Xun murmured to himself, tapping his finger lightly, and the array flags began to move according to some mysterious trajectory.

Several days later, Zhou Xun lowered the battle flags.
"Indeed, without the inheritance of a fifth-order formation, it is not so easy to understand its mysteries!"

Suddenly, he remembered the Tianxing Cave he had discovered in the South China Sea years ago.

"What's inside is at least a fifth-order formation inheritance!"

"Very well, I'll go when I find an opportunity!"

Just as Zhou Xun put away the array flags, he suddenly sensed an abnormal fluctuation in the spiritual energy within the cave.

He flashed and instantly appeared outside the quiet room where Sun Yuanxuan was in seclusion.

Above the quiet room, a vortex of spiritual energy had formed, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a ten-mile radius was flowing into the quiet room like rivers flowing into the sea.

The protective barriers surrounding the meditation room rippled under the impact of spiritual pressure.

"I'm about to break through." Zhou Xun's gaze narrowed slightly, and he formed hand seals, setting up another spirit-gathering array outside the quiet room.

Instantly, the speed at which spiritual energy gathered increased by three points.

Inside the quiet room, Sun Yuanxuan sat cross-legged on a jade platform, her face flushed. The spiritual energy in her dantian had been compressed to its limit, and a nascent inner core was forming.

"The Crystal Condensation Pill that you bestowed upon me, young master, is indeed miraculous."

Sun Yuanxuan looked inward and saw that within her dantian, spiritual energy was like mercury, and a white pill the size of a pigeon egg was slowly rotating.
At this moment, a sudden change occurred!
The inner core suddenly trembled violently, and fine cracks began to appear on its surface. Sun Yuanxuan was shocked and hurriedly circulated her cultivation technique to stabilize it, but she saw that the cracks were increasing.

"Not good!" Zhou Xun's expression changed outside the quiet room.
With his keen senses, he immediately noticed the disordered spiritual energy within Sun Yuanxuan's body.

At the critical moment, a beam of azure light flew out from Zhou Xun's sleeve; it was "Nine Heavens Cloud Dew." The spiritual liquid penetrated the restriction and precisely entered Sun Yuanxuan's mouth.

"Calm your mind and focus your spirit, hold fast to your original essence!" Zhou Xun's voice, like a resounding bell, echoed in Sun Yuanxuan's mind.

Sun Yuanxuan felt a cool current flow through her body, and her inner core, which was on the verge of collapse, began to repair itself.

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered above the cave, with faint flashes of lightning.

"In the Immortal Realm, even forming a Core Formation will attract a tribulation of lightning?"

Zhou Xun looked surprised.

"Boom!"

The first lightning strike came down, but Sun Yuanxuan easily deflected it.
However, the power of the second lightning tribulation suddenly increased, with purple lightning tearing through the sky like a dragon, causing the defensive restrictions of the entire cave to tremble violently.

Sun Yuanxuan's face was pale, and a trace of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She had just experienced the crisis of an unstable inner core, and now she had to face such a violent tribulation of lightning. Clearly, she was not up to the task.

Zhou Xun frowned slightly, raised his hand, and summoned the Thunder Pool.
Back then, he had grasped the true meaning of heavenly thunder and was able to use the thunder pool to share some of the power of heavenly thunder.

Ripples spread across the surface of the Thunder Pool, absorbing the entire third lightning tribulation.

“This is…” Sun Yuanxuan stared in surprise at the ancient mirror floating above her head.

"Focus on overcoming this tribulation," Zhou Xun said in a deep voice.

With Zhou Xun's help, Sun Yuanxuan's pressure was greatly reduced. She bit her tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence onto her inner core, which immediately shone brightly with white light.

The fourth and fifth lightning tribulations fell one after another, but Zhou Xun dispersed some of their power. Although Sun Yuanxuan's clothes were torn, her eyes shone even brighter.

When the sixth lightning bolt struck, a sudden change occurred!

The lightning suddenly split in mid-air, transforming into nine electric snakes that bypassed the heavenly lightning and rushed straight at Sun Yuanxuan.

"Such a change!"

Zhou Xun's pupils contracted. This was clearly a special test from Heaven for those who defied its will. Before he could think further, he changed his incantation.
The Thunder Pool suddenly expanded, growing to a size of several hundred feet.

It completely enveloped Sun Yuanxuan. Nine electric snakes struck the Thunder Pool, producing a deafening roar.

Then they were all absorbed.
Finally, the lightning in the sky dissipated.
Although Sun Yuanxuan was in a sorry state, her inner core had been stabilized and was radiating a lustrous glow.

The tribulation clouds in the sky began to dissipate, and a seven-colored ray of light pierced through the clouds, shining on Sun Yuanxuan. Her damaged body recovered at a visible speed, and her aura rose steadily.

"It's a success!" Sun Yuanxuan opened her eyes, her gaze sparkling like stars. She rose and bowed deeply to Zhou Xun.
"Thank you for protecting me, young master."

Zhou Xun put away the broken Xuanhuang Bell and said calmly, "It's alright."

"I wonder what quality of inner core you have condensed so far?"

Zhou Xun asked,
Upon hearing this, Sun Yuanxuan's mind stirred, and a milky-white inner core flew out, hovering in front of Zhou Xun.

Looking at the faint golden light emanating from it, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Pity!"

"If you can fully withstand the tempering of the lightning tribulation, you might be able to transform into an immortal golden core!"

The tribulation of heaven and earth in the immortal realm, besides being a test for cultivators, is also a benefit, as it can temper their foundation.

Enhance its potential.

Upon hearing this, a hint of disappointment flashed in Sun Yuanxuan's eyes, but she quickly smiled again: "It's already a great fortune that I was able to condense a high-grade true core. If it weren't for your help, young master, I'm afraid even my inner core would have shattered."

"Moreover, a top-grade True Core is already the potential for Nascent Soul cultivation, and Yuan Xuan is more than satisfied!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xun nodded in agreement, and then with a wave of his hand, a light blue flying sword appeared in his hand.

"This sword is named 'Frosty Dragon,' forged from thousand-year-old cold iron and the essence of a water dragon in the Core Formation stage," Zhou Xun explained.

"A chilling sword aura is sealed within the sword, which can be unleashed in times of crisis. Its power is comparable to a strike from a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, making it a top-quality low-grade magic weapon!"

Sun Yuanxuan took the flying sword with both hands. The sword was as clear as blue water, with a faint cold light flowing from the tip, radiating a gentle water-attribute spiritual energy.

"Thank you for the treasure, young master!" Sun Yuanxuan bowed respectfully, her eyes filled with gratitude.

Zhou Xun waved his hand: "You've just broken through, and your magic power is still a bit unstable. Let's cultivate properly for a while first!"

"Yes!"

For the rest of the time, Zhou Xun studied the magic array in his cave. Meanwhile, in the human realm, Zhou Xun's true form...

He immediately left the Wangchuan Lake cave and headed towards the Tianxing Cave in the South Sea.

The Immortal Realm, the Cave of North Mountain City

Zhou Xun studied the magic array for several days but made little progress, so he had no choice but to put it away again.
Then they left the cave and headed to the Wanzhen Tower.
Today is the day the auction officially begins!
(End of this chapter)