Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Next are resources related to spirits and souls.

This was his second target at the auction.

Lin Zhao's spiritual sense is currently stuck at the peak of Foundation Establishment. According to normal time calculations, it will take him more than ten years to break through to the Core Formation level.

This speed is already quite fast, but he is still somewhat unsatisfied.

If we could obtain a treasure related to the divine soul, this time could be greatly shortened.

With a breakthrough in divine sense, the range of his Dharma Domain can expand from ten miles to fifteen or even twenty miles. Combined with the three magic treasures in his hands, he can even fight a Core Formation True Person head-on in the outside world.

However, spiritual items related to spirits and souls are ridiculously expensive.

"A third-tier spirit item with divine soul attributes, Ghost Soul Jade Marrow. Starting bid: 400 high-grade spirit stones."

Lin Zhao stared at the number and remained silent for a while.

"five hundred."

"Six hundred."

"Seven hundred."

The price jumped all the way up, and in the blink of an eye it exceeded eight hundred.

He glanced at his spirit stone balance—just over four hundred.

Barely enough to meet the starting bid.

He stared at it for a long time, gritted his teeth, and thought, "I'm still poor."

In the following rounds, he bid on some second-tier top-grade soul pills.

More than ten bottles, costing two hundred high-grade spirit stones.

The pills were stored in white jade bottles, each one gleaming with a faint silver light, and just one whiff of them made one feel refreshed.

However, the pills are only second-tier, which is a whole tier lower than third-tier spiritual items.

Lin Zhao put the jade bottle away and glanced at the balance in her storage ring.

More than two hundred high-grade spirit stones, and thirty thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

The flowers are blooming so fast.

In the following days, he couldn't help but make a few more moves.

There are so many great things at the auction; some things you can tell at a glance are things you'll never see again if you miss them.

What excited him most was a second-tier top-grade magic weapon.

"Heavenly Spirit Mirror. A second-tier top-grade auxiliary magic artifact, capable of detecting spiritual energy fluctuations within a radius of twenty to thirty miles, with an accuracy comparable to the divine sense of a Core Formation cultivator. Starting price: twenty high-grade spirit stones."

Lin Zhao sat up straight.

What might be just a supplementary magical artifact to others is a qualitative leap for Lin Zhao when used in conjunction with the Golden Phoenix Bow.

"Forty high-grade spirit stones." He pressed the jade talisman.

Transaction.

When he got the mirror, he looked at it over and over again.

The palm-sized bronze mirror has a surface as smooth as water, and the back is engraved with a circle of ancient runes.

Infused with spiritual energy, a faint halo appeared on the mirror's surface, like ripples on water.

This thing is as valuable as a near-magical artifact.

The Crimson Flame Demon Blade in his hand is also of this caliber.

tenth day.

The atmosphere in the entire auction hall was completely different.

The lights in the VIP room on the fourth floor were all on, and several figures could be vaguely seen in the water mirror.

The private rooms on the third floor were also full, all occupied by Core Formation cultivators.

The ordinary cultivators on the second and first floors didn't dare to breathe loudly, sitting quietly and watching.

Lin Zhao also sat up straight.

Today, the True Lord of Enlightenment will be here.

In the afternoon, the door on the fifth floor opened.

A person came out and sat down in the chair in the center.

He was a scholar in his thirties, dressed in an ordinary long robe, with a fair complexion, no beard, and a gentle demeanor, like a schoolteacher.

When he sat down, the entire auction house fell silent.

Lin Zhao glanced at him.

You can't see anything.

There was no spiritual pressure, no imposing aura, and one couldn't even sense that he was a cultivator.

Just like an ordinary person, sitting there drinking tea.

But the more this is the case, the more terrifying it becomes.

Tongming Zhenjun glanced at the entire audience, nodded slightly, and signaled to begin.

The real auction for Core Formation level cultivators has begun.

Tier 3 materials, Tier 3 pills, Tier 3 magic weapons... one after another they were brought out.

The price skyrocketed from a few hundred high-grade spirit stones to several thousand.

Ordinary Core Formation cultivators are completely helpless.

The bidders were all from the major powers on the fourth floor: the Bihai Chamber of Commerce, the Jiuding Chamber of Commerce, the Jinyu Chamber of Commerce, and some other powers that Lin Zhao couldn't name.

Finally, the grand finale was a sword.

The sword is three feet long, entirely silver-white, with a very thin line of blood running along its spine from the hilt to the tip.

Without a scabbard, it lay there on the tray—the Blood-Drinking Sword, a top-grade third-tier magic weapon.

It is said to be a magical artifact personally crafted by a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Starting bid: 3,000 high-grade spirit stones.

Prices have skyrocketed.

Five thousand. Six thousand. Seven thousand.

Finally, the price was quoted as eight thousand high-grade spirit stones.

The entire room fell silent.

The hammer falls. Deal closed.

Tongming Zhenjun stood up, nodded slightly to the audience, and turned to leave.

He didn't say a single word from beginning to end.

The auction in the Immortal City has ended.

Lin Zhao leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

In exchange for over five hundred high-grade spirit stones, I acquired a metal-attribute spiritual object, a pile of soul-refining pills, a Heavenly Spirit Mirror, and thirty drops of Azure Jade Spirit Water.

value.

But the heartache is real.

He stood up and looked at Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao beside him.

The two girls were still immersed in the atmosphere from earlier, their eyes sparkling.

"I'm leaving," Lin Zhao said.

The three of them left the private room, went downstairs, and joined the flow of people leaving.

It was already dark outside. Although the auction had ended, the liveliness of the Immortal City would continue for some time.

Lin Zhao walked in front, with Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao following behind.

A night breeze blew by, carrying the dampness of the river.

The streets were several times more crowded, with people discussing the grand finale auction, the third-tier top-grade magic weapon Blood Drinking Sword, and the appearance of the True Monarch Tongming.

Lin Zhao touched the storage ring on his hand.

He has almost exhausted his resources for Core Formation.

He looked up at the sky.

The moon was very round, hanging in the sky above the Tongming River, illuminating the river surface with a silvery white light.

"Go back," he said.

The three walked towards the inner city, their figures gradually blending into the night.

Three days after the auction ended, Lin Zhao returned to the sect once again.

For no other reason than to return the third-tier spiritual item that was photographed.

It's really unsafe to keep a third-tier spiritual item on your person.

It's truly convenient to have a teleportation array. It's a pity that there isn't one in the Cloud Mist Mountains, otherwise Lin Zhao could have gone back directly.

I wonder if Tianyun Market in the Yunxia Mountains has a teleportation array connected to the sect. If it does, that would be really interesting.

Lin Zhao shook her head, casting aside her own distracting thoughts.

Lin Zhao opened his cave dwelling, took out the spiritual items, and sealed them all inside.

The heart of the green wood is as green as jade, exuding a faint fragrance of grass and trees.

Earthen chalcedony is thick and yellowish-brown, with fine patterns on its surface resembling the veins of the earth.

The Blazing Sun Crystal is crimson and scorching, like a sealed blazing sun.

With this Golden Dawn Crystal, four of the five elements are complete. Only the water element is missing—the Azure Jade Spirit Water is still being nurtured in the deepest part of the cave.

Less than ten years have passed since the thirty-year period began, but with the thirty drops of replenishment at the auction, the speed can be increased considerably.

It will take him at least another ten years to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment.

We can wait.

Lin Zhao took one last look at the spiritual objects in the cave, then turned and walked out of the cave.

The stone gate slowly closed behind them, the array patterns lit up, and the array restrictions were reactivated.

Unless he comes to retrieve it in person, or Master Qianqiu intervenes, no one can get in.

He walked to the entrance of the cave and looked up at the mountaintop.

The cave dwelling of Master Qianqiu was still deep in the clouds and mist, its doors tightly shut, and there was no movement whatsoever.

They haven't cleared customs yet.

Lin Zhao withdrew his gaze and went down the mountain.

It was the fourth day when they returned to the Immortal City.