Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The auction lasted for ten days.

The first five days were for low-level cultivators, with ten groups bidding simultaneously, mainly focusing on Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment items.

Tickets were extremely difficult to obtain, and countless cultivators were queuing outside.

Lin Zhao naturally didn't need tickets; he led Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao directly into the inner area.

The private room on the third floor was thirty feet square, covered with a luxurious carpet, and decorated with spiritual tea and fruits.

There is a one-way barrier in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, so that people outside cannot see inside, but people inside can see the entire auction hall.

A maid dressed in the uniform of the Immortal City stood at the door, head bowed, ready to be at his beck and call.

The third floor is the treatment reserved for Core Formation cultivators.

Lin Zhao is strong enough, and with his status as a disciple of the Holy Sect, the Immortal City will naturally give him face.

A spot was reserved for him well in advance.

The fourth floor is for late-stage Core Formation cultivators and powerful factions. The high-ranking members of the Azure Sea Chamber of Commerce are there, as are the Core Formation cultivators of the Cloud Sea Azure Sea Sect.

As for the fifth level, legend has it that only Nascent Soul True Monarchs are qualified to enter, and Tongming True Monarch will personally accompany them.

However, no Nascent Soul True Monarch descended this time.

Tongming Zhenjun only made a brief appearance on the last day, just to go through the motions.

Nothing particularly good has happened in the past few days.

Lin Zhao leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes to rest, and his spiritual sense idly swept across the auction stage below.

Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao were quite energetic. The two squeezed together by the window, their heads close together, pointing and discussing the items at the auction.

"That robe is nice, a top-grade first-tier item, better than the one you're wearing."

"Too expensive, the starting price is only eighty mid-grade spirit stones."

"What's there to be afraid of? It's not like your uncle is short of money."

Lin Zhao smiled slightly, but didn't open her eyes.

He overheard most of their whispered conversation.

Most of the discussion revolved around auction items: which magical artifact offered the best value, which elixir was suitable for one's current cultivation level, and which talisman could be kept as a valuable keepsake.

Occasionally, they might wander off to other places.

"I wonder how Luo Yu is doing."

"Senior Yan should be fine with him."

"He mentioned wanting to buy that set of talismans last time; I wonder if he managed to snag one."

"Who cares about him?"

"I was just asking..."

Lin Zhao opened her eyes and glanced at Ye Xiaoxiao.

The girl was staring out the window, the tips of her ears turning slightly red.

He looked away and closed his eyes again.

In the past few months, Ye Xiaoxiao and Luo Yu have become too close.

He wasn't against it, but he felt that a cultivator's life was incredibly long, and matters concerning Daoist partners should be approached with caution.

For the first five days, Lin Zhao didn't film anything.

Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao got more and more comfortable filming. The two of them were considered wealthy among Qi Refining cultivators, with several hundred mid-grade spirit stones on them, comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Ye Xiaoxiao bought a bottle of second-tier auxiliary cultivation pills, which cost fifty mid-grade spirit stones. She felt a little pained, but she still gritted her teeth and paid for it.

Lin Zhao saw it all but said nothing.

He now understands the sects somewhat; they only provide assistance at crucial stages of cultivation.

In daily cultivation, you mostly have to rely on yourself. The sect will provide the channels for obtaining resources, but how much you gain depends on your own abilities.

This is the way sects operate.

On the sixth day, the auction entered its second phase.

The ten sets were combined into one group, and the rest were all high-quality items.

Lin Zhao opened her eyes and sat up straight.

There was one thing he had his eye on: three sets of Azure Jade Spirit Water.

Each set contains ten drops, all of a jade-green color, packaged in a transparent jade bottle, shimmering with spiritual light.

He had previously "found nine drops" of this at Zhenhai Cliff.

With the magic treasures given by the master and the nurturing of the third-tier spiritual vein, a third-tier spiritual creature can be cultivated within thirty years.

One hundred drops are combined to form a complete spiritual object, which normally takes more than twenty years.

Now, with these extra thirty drops, the time can be shortened to a little over ten years.

"Three sets of Azure Jade Spirit Water, to be auctioned as a package. Starting bid: three thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

Bidding calls rose from the second floor. Five thousand five, six thousand, seven thousand...

Lin Zhao pressed the auction jade token on the table.

"Ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

The room fell silent instantly.

Ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones for thirty drops of second-grade spirit water? That price is actually quite cheap.

But no one said much.

Because the floor being auctioned was the third floor.

That's where Core Formation cultivators reside. Unless there's an urgent need, ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn't dare compete with the cultivators on the third floor.

The auctioneer struck the gavel three times, and the sale was finalized.

Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao sat beside them, dumbfounded.

Ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

Their combined wealth amounted to only a few hundred mid-grade spirit stones, which was already top-tier among Qi Refining cultivators, making them even richer than ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But Lin Zhao's first move was ten thousand—

"Uncle..." Lin You swallowed hard. "Are you really that rich?"

Lin Zhao remained expressionless.

He certainly doesn't lack those spirit stones now.

The two storage rings belonging to Princess Blood Phoenix and Xuan Yinzi, along with the resources they've accumulated over the years guarding Cangyun Mountain,

He currently possesses over 700 high-grade spirit stones and over 30,000 mid-grade spirit stones.

Three magical artifacts and three and a half spiritual objects.

An ordinary Core Formation cultivator might not be as wealthy as him.

He held the bottles of jade spirit water, looking down at the bustling auction hall, and suddenly became somewhat distracted.

He suddenly remembered his first time attending an auction.

It was a similar occasion, except he was below, not above.

Liu Yifeng deliberately disrupted the auction, raising the price of the item he wanted by more than 30%, causing him to spend dozens of spirit stones more than necessary.

Dozens of spirit stones.

At that time, he was only a mid-grade first-level talisman master, and his income of a few dozen spirit stones was more than a year's worth of earnings.

A single thought from someone in a position of power can erase a year's worth of hard work.

He was so angry that he felt murderous intent towards someone for the first time.

Looking back now, how naive I was.

But that naiveté was also the beginning of his true integration into the world of cultivation.

Before that, he always had a feeling of being detached, like looking at the world through the surface of water.

That murderous intent, like a needle, pierced through that barrier.

Later, he learned the first-tier superior Gengjin sword qi talisman, which indirectly drove Liu Yifeng to the brink of despair, ultimately causing him to fall into the demonic path and become neither human nor ghost.

Lin Zhao seized this opportunity to become a sword cultivator, later creating the Celestial Sword Path, greatly increasing his strength, and eventually joining a sect...

Step by step, we've come this far.

Lin Zhao shook his head, shaking off those distracting thoughts.

-----

Over the next few days, he set his sights on several things.

The first item is a third-tier spiritual item with a metallic attribute.

On the auction stage, the fist-sized golden crystal floated within the barrier, its surface covered with fine patterns resembling miniature mountains.

A radiant light emanated from within the crystal, bathing the entire auction stage in a pale gold hue.

"A third-tier metal-attribute spiritual item, Golden Dawn Crystal. Starting price: 200 high-grade spirit stones."

Lin Zhao called out 240 high-grade spirit stones, and someone else followed suit with 260.

Lin Zhao directly ordered three hundred high-grade spirit stones.

The hammer fell.

The magical item has been obtained.

He already possessed the Heart of Green Wood, Earthly Jade Marrow, and Blazing Sun Crystal. With this Golden Dawn Crystal, he had four of the five elements.

The remaining Azure Jade Spirit Water is only a matter of time; it will take him at least another ten years to cultivate to the peak of Foundation Establishment.

The resources for Core Formation are almost complete.

As for the pills needed to form the core, he planned to exchange them with sect contribution points—in the sect, pills were easier to obtain than spiritual items.

Core Formation and Foundation Establishment are different.

Foundation Building primarily relies on Foundation Building Pills, supplemented by Foundation Building Spiritual Items.

Core formation primarily relies on third-tier spiritual objects, supplemented by elixirs.

This is the reason why he has been tirelessly searching for third-tier spiritual items all these years.