fairy family

Chapter 264 A Kind Invitation, An Opportunity on the Immortal Mountain

A bidding war for the evil energy soon broke out in the courtyard.

Many people have their eyes on those three superior streams of malevolent energy.

After observing for a while, Yu Que immediately called out:
"A fifth-rank ghost or deity!"

The shout reached the ears of Ling Yunzi, who was presiding over the auction, and immediately attracted his attention.

When the man saw that it was Yu Que bidding, he immediately smiled and nodded to Yu Que.

"This fellow Daoist's bid has reached the fifth rank, which is already considered slightly high. Are there any other Daoists here who would bid higher than this one?"

These words, spoken by Ling Yunzi, the auctioneer, immediately elicited a strong reaction from many people.

Some people, having recovered from the excitement of the auction, resisted the urge to continue bidding; others suddenly felt that Lingbao Pavilion was quite good, as it didn't keep pushing up the prices of the goods, but instead offered a reminder to everyone.

Yu Que's expression was the most surprised.

Ling Yunzi's words were clearly meant to help him, to prevent someone from bidding too high a price and causing him to suffer heavy losses.

So he looked at Ling Yunzi and nodded slightly, indicating that he had remembered the other party's good deed.

At the auction, after some discussion, many people gave up competing for the Yuanbai Magnetic Aura.

After all, a fifth-grade ghost god is equivalent to a cultivator in the late stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. Using such a commodity to exchange for a wisp of Qi, even if it is of high quality, is already considered to be a premium.

As a result, the auction proceeded without any unexpected events. When Ling Yunzi clapped his hands, the Yuanbai Magnetic Fiend was successfully acquired by Yu Que.

A servant immediately came over to hand over the goods to him.

Yu Que decisively took out a fifth-grade ghost god that he had refined while wandering overseas.

This ghost was originally only of the sixth grade, but it had the little black gourd in its hand and was a refiner.

Refining it into a fifth-rank ghost god was not a difficult task for him.

Besides this one, Yu Que also has two other fifth-rank ghosts in his hands.

Including the one that was just traded, he prepared a total of three fifth-grade ghost gods for this trip to the sea market. They were all painstakingly accumulated and refined by him over the past six months.

In order to accumulate this little bit of wealth, his number of Six Ding and Six Jia has remained at four so far, without adding another one.

Having obtained the malevolent energy, Yu Que immediately placed his divine sense into the white jade jar.

He examined it carefully, and then secretly used the Avici Demon Pearl to directly absorb the evil energy in the jar into the pearl.

After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the jar of malevolent energy, he was delighted and felt much more relaxed.

"I've come to the right place. This market hasn't even officially opened yet, and I've already obtained a second suitable aura of malevolence. Obtaining another one shouldn't be too difficult."

He pondered to himself, then raised his gaze to the spirit cloud pieces on the stone mountain chessboard, hoping that the goods the other party would release next would still have a malevolent aura.

Unfortunately, after a whole day, even including the cultivators who temporarily offered goods in exchange, Yu Que still hadn't encountered any more baleful aura that suited his taste.

Among them were several moderately potent malevolent energies, barely enough to catch his eye.

If the market is already halfway through its operation and time is tight, those with limited resources might try to secure the goods first and compete for them.

But since he had already easily acquired the Yuanbai Magnetic Qi, he naturally didn't want to settle for less and waste money and resources on a medium-grade Qi.

In order to retain his money and supplies, Yu Que also took a fancy to several secret manuals and a robe/magical artifact during the meeting.

He only participated in the first few bidding rounds. When the prices of several items exceeded the value of a sixth-grade ghost god, he stopped bidding and just watched quietly.

At midnight, Ling Yunzi stood on the chessboard and stopped the auction.

The other party cupped their hands in greeting to the crowd:

"That concludes this year's pre-city meeting."

I know that you fellow Daoists surely have even more money, food, and treasures at your disposal. Please use them in the upcoming mirage.

Not only my Lingbao Pavilion, but all shops in the market welcome fellow Daoists to buy and sell!

Lingyunzi bowed deeply:
May all fellow cultivators prosper and their cultivation increase daily!

The cultivators in the courtyard also exclaimed, "May Boss Ling also prosper!"

"Wishing your business great success!"

After a few simple words, the nearly one hundred people present dispersed.

After bowing to Ling Yunzi, Yu Que mingled with the crowd, intending to return to the inn and properly study the Yuanbai Magnetic Fiend he had obtained that day.

However, just as he was about to step out the door, a servant stopped him in time and bowed respectfully, saying:
"Master Xu, please wait a moment. Senior Brother Lingyunzi invites you."

The surname "Xu" was a false surname that Yu Que adopted for himself while mingling in the Shifang Haishi.

His full pseudonym was "Xu Youzhi".

Yu Que raised an eyebrow, not taking the servant's invitation too seriously, assuming that Ling Yunzi wanted to get to know him better and strengthen their relationship.

He had just received a helping hand from the other party.

Yu Que nodded in agreement: "Please lead the way."

When he returned to the courtyard of the Lingbao Pavilion's back hall, he found that he was not the only one there; there were quite a few people in the courtyard, nearly twenty.

Compared to him, the others did not seem to disperse, but lingered in the courtyard chatting with Ling Yunzi.

Seeing Yu Que approaching, Ling Yunzi quickly stepped forward and introduced him to the others:

"Fellow Daoists, this is the fellow Daoist Xu Youzhi that I have mentioned to you."

This fellow Daoist possesses a refined and profound aura, and his true energy is as powerful and formidable as that of the true disciples of our Ten Directions Immortal Sects. He is likely also a successor of an ancient Daoist lineage.

Upon hearing Ling Yunzi's introduction, the others immediately became quite interested in Yu Que.

Someone remembered what happened at the auction, and on a sudden impulse, asked:
"This Fellow Daoist Xu just now bid a high price for the Yuanbai Magnetic Fiend during the small gathering. Could it be that the Dao lineage he cultivates belongs to the sword cultivation?"

Yu Que surveyed the people present and found that of the nearly twenty people who had temporarily stayed here, seventy percent were at the Condensation of Qi cultivation level, while the remaining thirty percent each exuded an aura that he could not easily discern.

Realizing that this was likely a very small meeting, attended by true elites from overseas immortal sects, he didn't hold back and readily agreed:

"Indeed, I am a practitioner of the sword."

呲呲.

Without even flicking his fingers, he exhaled softly as he spoke, and streaks of sword energy, like snakes and insects, meandered through the air, circling several times before finally being inhaled into his mouth and nose as he finished speaking.

Everyone present was knowledgeable and immediately recognized that Yu Que's breath was sword energy, and of exceptionally pure quality, rarely seen in the world. Some of the more knowledgeable among them even recognized that Yu Que's ability to casually exhale sword energy indicated that he had reached the legendary "Sword Breath" realm, a rare feat even among sword cultivators.

Someone exclaimed in surprise, "He actually turned his breath into a sword! What kind of Dao lineage can nurture such a seed of swordsmanship in today's world?"

Some people, after realizing what was happening, immediately praised it:
"Wonderful! With such sword energy, Fellow Daoist Xu must be a member of our ancient cultivation lineage. Perhaps our ancestors were once among the ten immortal sects mentioned in the book."

Lingyunzi also smiled and said:
"Who knows, the lineage that Fellow Daoist Xu inherited might be related to my Lingbao lineage. After all, the lineage passed down by my Lingbao Immortal Sect is quite similar to that of sword cultivators."

Immediately, some people at the scene started to cheer: "Haha, since that's the case, why don't the two of you quickly become sworn brothers?"

Laughter and conversation filled the courtyard for a time.

Yu Que was also chatting casually with the other person.

During this time, someone inadvertently asked him a few more questions about the lineage he was passing down.

Yu Que did not directly reveal the name of the Taiyin Sword Sect, but he did discuss the profound mysteries with the other person based on the contents of the sword manual.

Through some details, the attendees immediately realized that the profound meaning of Yu Que's cultivation path was indeed no less than that of any of the Ten Directions Immortal Sects, which made them completely convinced that Yu Que's origins were not simple.

As for what lineage Yu Que belonged to, and who else was in his sect, none of the attendees asked any further questions.

This surprised Yu Que, who suddenly realized that his prepared remarks had become useless.

It wasn't until he had a casual chat with Ling Yunzi that he learned that even the Ten Great Immortal Sects overseas didn't have many disciples, and some sects had even fallen to the point of having only one disciple.

And there are several other sects, which were inherited by overseas cultivators from the caves of their predecessors ten thousand years ago, thus reviving the Dao lineage.

If the Ten Great Immortal Sects are in such a state, the situation of other Daoist lineages overseas is undoubtedly even more difficult. They often have a large number of servants, but very few are actually capable of inheriting the Daoist teachings.

Therefore, when faced with a Dao lineage successor like Yu Que, whose origins are mysterious, these people not only did not feel strange, but also felt a sense of closeness.

Having learned all this, Yu Que's mood became strange for a moment.

He thought to himself, "Why does it feel like the Immortal Sect is more amiable and helpful to each other than the Central Plains?"

Regardless of what Yu Que was thinking, after discussing with everyone, Ling Yunzi returned to the chessboard in the courtyard and bowed to the crowd:

"All of you here are the elite of our Immortal Sect, some are true disciples and some are direct disciples. Some of you know the purpose of my keeping you here today, while others do not. Please be patient and allow me to give a brief explanation."

Yu Que and the others took their seats comfortably, and immediately, streams of spiritual light surged up around them, isolating the courtyard from the outside world to prevent outsiders from spying on them.

Lingyunzi said:

“The annual Haishi Festival is held at an auspicious time when the three immortal mountains open, and this year is no exception. Moreover, our Ten Directions Immortal Sect has already gathered enough blood and vital energy to worship the immortal mountains.”

"At that time, if any of you are interested, you may join my Immortal Sect disciples to explore the Immortal Mountain. We will not charge you a single penny."

Yu Que was both surprised and confused by these words, and his mind was full of doubts.

Fortunately, there were other cultivators like him present, and someone immediately exclaimed in surprise:

"I've long heard that the Ten Great Immortal Sects possess relatively safe methods for entering and leaving the Immortal Mountains, but the price is extremely high. Fellow Daoist Lingyunzi, are you truly not charging a single penny this year?"

Ling Yunzi flicked his sleeve and said affirmatively, "That's right."

He added with a smile, "We are overseas. Although the number of creatures overseas is not as high as in the Central Plains, there are advantages to being overseas. There are many foreign beasts and animals. We can easily gather enough by slaughtering a few."

"The blood offerings captured by our Ten Directions Immortal Sect this year are already more than enough; there is no need for you all to contribute further."

This matter was confirmed by Ling Yunzi, and several people looked pleased and immediately cupped their hands in greeting: "Great kindness from the Immortal Sect!"

Ling Yunzi nodded with a smile, then paused and reminded him, "Of course, once you enter the immortal mountain, if you make any gains and want to sell them, remember to consider our Ten Directions Immortal Sect's shops."

"Haha, of course."

"If it weren't for you all, we would have surely faced certain death if we had entered the sacred mountain on our own."

As Yu Que listened to the conversation, his surprise and doubt deepened.

But now he finally understood that the ten major immortal sects overseas had mastered a relatively safe method to send people into the three immortal mountains, and that the location of the annual sea market was also related to the three immortal mountains.

Yu Que suspected that the timing of the annual market was also related to the opening of the Immortal Mountain Cave.

In the courtyard, Yu Que listened to the enthusiastic chatter of the crowd, and his heart also began to fill with anticipation:
"Legend has it that there is an elixir of immortality in the immortal mountain that can help people become immortals. If I were to enter it, I would not seek to obtain the so-called elixir of immortality, but only to obtain as many spirit stones and spiritual items as possible to prolong my life, and that would be enough!"

As far as Yu Que knew, although the interior of the Immortal Mountain was fraught with danger, the most dangerous part was entering and leaving the Immortal Mountain.

Now that the overseas immortal sects have mastered the method of sending people in in small batches, the most dangerous part has been solved.

Immediately, Yu Que made the decision to get involved in the affairs of the Immortal Mountain.

However, he was also wary and planned to listen to the conversation in the streets and shops after the meeting to avoid any hidden schemes.

On the chessboard in the courtyard, Ling Yunzi noticed the changes in everyone's expressions, especially Yu Que, who was new to Hai City and was clearly interested. Ling Yunzi's face lit up with joy.

After discussing some details with the group again, the man bowed to them.

"In that case, please linger here after this year's mirage ends."

A month and a half later, we will enter the immortal mountain to gather elixirs! May we have boundless good fortune!

The people in the courtyard also cupped their hands and shouted:

May we all have boundless good fortune.

After the congratulations, the participants gradually dispersed.

Yu Que immediately paid his respects to Ling Yunzi. Seeing that the other party had no intention of keeping him, he followed the crowd and left Lingbao Pavilion.

But when he left Lingbao Pavilion and stood in the sea market, a chill ran through him as the sea breeze blew, and the elation he had felt in the pavilion vanished instantly.

Yu Que pondered the discussion among Ling Yunzi and the others, and realized something.

Although the so-called Ten Great Immortal Sects are much smaller in number compared to the Central Plains Dao Palace, they shouldn't be able to send out so few people when exploring the Immortal Mountains.

One possible reason for this situation is that entering and leaving the Immortal Mountain is not as simple as Ling Yunzi said. It is already quite good if the major immortal sects can send out even one true disciple.

Otherwise, if all the true disciples and direct descendants were to perish in the immortal mountains, even the ten great immortal sects would have to worry about the continuation of their lineage.

Secondly, the number of people entering and leaving the sacred mountain should not be too large, but rather carefully selected.

Moreover, with a relatively small number of people, the ten major immortal sects needed allies to scout ahead, and also invited powerful cultivators from overseas to join them in entering the mountains.

As Yu Que pondered, a look of anticipation suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Regardless of how those immortal sects dealt with him, entering the immortal mountain was a great opportunity for him!

(End of this chapter)