Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

As I pushed open the door, she stood up to greet me.

She wore a snow-white long dress, untouched by dust.

Her dark hair was loosely tied up with a simple white jade hairpin, with a few strands falling down her cheeks.

She wore few accessories, yet possessed an air of aloof elegance—almost exactly the same as she had been in Qingfeng Market more than twenty years ago.

"Senior Brother Lin, it's been so many years, how have you been?"

She spoke, her voice clear and melodious, like a mountain stream flowing over blue stones.

Lin Zhao nodded: "Thank goodness, it's alright. Senior Sister Su, what's wrong..."

A faint smile flashed in Su Qianxue's eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

A lecture lasting one day is considered complete if the speaker leaves normally.

She, on the other hand, keeps bringing it up as a serious relationship.

That ability to take advantage of others is still the same old trick.

However, he didn't expose him.

The two sat down, and Su Qianxue personally poured tea for them.

The leaves unfurled into complete buds in the hot water, the tea soup was clear, and it carried a very faint, cool fragrance—somewhat like the scent on her body.

We chatted for a while about our experiences over the years.

Su Qianxue spoke calmly, but Lin Zhao could tell that her journey through Xuan Chen Valley had not been easy.

Although she successfully became a disciple of a Core Formation True Person in Xuan Chen Valley, there were more than a dozen disciples under her master, and she was not the most favored. She had to earn her own resources.

The hope of forming a Golden Core... she didn't say, but Lin Zhao understood that it wasn't high.

"Back in the market town," she suddenly said, "I knew you were no ordinary person. Later, when I heard you had joined the Cloud Sea Azure Sea Sect, I thought to myself, 'I knew it!'"

Lin Zhao waved her hand: "Luck."

"Luck is also a part of strength." She paused. "When I came out, Master Mo Chen was still in Qingfeng Market. Later I heard that he had passed away."

Lin Zhao's silence is indeed somewhat related to him.

"Senior Sister Su," Lin Zhao put down her teacup and looked directly at her, "Just tell me what's wrong. I'll help as much as I can."

Su Qianxue was taken aback.

He addressed her respectfully as "Senior Sister".

Something flickered in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

She stood up and bowed deeply to Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao stepped aside.

"Since you say so, Junior Brother, then Senior Sister will not stand on ceremony." She straightened up. "I am about to break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and I need a few Spirit Gathering Pills."

The Immortal City Auction is too high-profile. I'd like to know the list of items to be auctioned in advance so I can prepare. I heard that my junior brother works in the Sky Patrol Guard, I wonder...

Lin Zhao didn't speak, but took out a jade slip from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"One mid-grade spirit stone, at cost price."

Su Qianxue was stunned again.

She picked up the jade slip and probed it with her spiritual power—a densely packed list of auction items, complete with grade, reserve price, consignor, and estimated selling price range.

It was completely different from the information she had previously inquired about.

"This..." She looked up, "From what I've heard, the price is at least ten times that. Some people in the sect have even offered fifty mid-grade spirit stones."

Lin Zhao shook her head: "This is the price."

This information is theoretically not to be leaked; even if it were, only a small portion of the intelligence would be transmitted.

But the Sky Patrol isn't exactly innocent; surely no one would actually mistake them for security guards.

Is the Sky Patrol essentially a "weapon" used to counterbalance local forces?

How did they get information about Lin Zhao?

Cui Jun, that guy, casually slipped this to me a few days ago when he invited me for tea. It was spirit tea at cost price, one low-grade spirit stone.

Almost everyone in the Sky Patrol team received one.

Some people even threatened people inside the auction house in an attempt to obtain more intelligence.

They were reported, but nothing happened.

The current chaotic situation in the city is partly due to their efforts.

Su Qianxue bowed again, and Lin Zhao stepped aside once more.

Lin Zhao said, "This thing is worthless here, but it's valuable to you. If we switched places, you would give it to me anyway."

Su Qianxue looked at him, then suddenly chuckled and said, "Junior Brother is insightful."

Next, it was Lin Zhao's turn to ask a question.

He inquired in detail about the situation in Xuanchen Valley and the surrounding situation of the Nanli Dynasty.

Su Qianxue spoke frankly and without reservation.

She was quick-witted and knew it was time to repay the favor.

When the two of them talked about the Zixuan Dynasty next to the Nanli Dynasty, Lin Zhao's heart skipped a beat. One of the pieces of information Lan Jingchi had given him was...

Legend has it that the Core Formation Ancestor of the Zi Xuan Dynasty is nearing the end of his life and has no successor capable of achieving Core Formation. Furthermore, the dynasty has been plagued by internal strife in recent years and is on the verge of collapse.

Lin Zhao narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself that this might be an opportunity to obtain a third-tier spiritual item.

Su Qianxue, being so astute, inquired, "Junior Brother, do you wish to get involved?"

Lin Zhao did not answer directly: "Let's see."

Su Qianxue gave him a deep look and didn't ask any more questions.

Several hours later, the meeting ended and he left.

The auction was held as scheduled.

-----

Lin Zhao maintained order inside the venue.

The auction hall was bustling with noise, and the bidding voices of many cultivators rose and fell.

He glanced at the second-tier magic artifacts and third-tier spiritual materials displayed on the stage occasionally, his expression remaining calm.

Three Tier 3 spirit items have been produced this year.

A third-grade, mid-level "Millennium Warm Jade" has a starting price of 120 high-grade spirit stones.

A low-grade, third-tier "Fire Essence" item has a starting price of eighty coins.

There's also the grand finale, the "Azure Profound Fruit," which is said to be the main ingredient for refining pills that enhance cultivation during the Core Formation stage. The starting price is a whopping 300 high-grade spirit stones.

The third-tier spirit item transactions all use high-grade spirit stones.

Lin Zhao's foundation was ultimately too shallow; he didn't even have a single high-grade spirit stone in his possession.

Even disregarding the difference in the purity of high-grade spirit stones and mid-grade spirit stones, the difference in light spirit power alone is a hundredfold.

In theory, one hundred mid-grade spirit stones can be exchanged for one high-grade spirit stone, but as the saying goes, cultivators who can afford a large number of high-grade spirit stones are not short of mid-grade spirit stones.

If you want to exchange it, it usually costs several times more. Over the years, Lin Zhao has accumulated nearly 10,000 mid-grade spirit stones, which is a hundred times more than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, these can only be exchanged for a maximum of thirty to fifty high-grade spirit stones, and that's through the sect's channels. Outside, you'd be lucky to get twenty high-grade spirit stones.

Some things are just so helpless. Like the auction information, what he had was worth a low-grade spirit stone, while Su Qianxue had a mid-grade spirit stone.

But in the hands of those who need it, it's worth fifty mid-grade spirit stones.

Moreover, Lin Zhao could clearly see from the outside that only a few people participated in the bidding for those third-tier spiritual items—Core Formation members from the core of the Immortal City, elders from the Void Heaven Pavilion, and representatives from two Core Formation sects.

They exchanged a glance, each getting what they wanted, and ended things amicably.

It was decided in advance.

Lin Zhao looked away and continued his work.

As the event ended, an old Sky Patrolman approached him: "Young man, did you understand?"

Lin Zhao nodded.

"Good that you understand." The old Sky Patrolman patted his shoulder. "In this world, resources above the third tier are all owned. Those that aren't owned are not for us."

He left, leaving Lin Zhao standing there, lost in thought.