May I seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, and live a long and prosperous life.

There are countless rare and wondrous treasures in the cultivation world, but magical artifacts that use lifespan as fuel are truly rare. They seem to be magical artifacts used by evil demons and heretics to deceive people.

What good is strong defense?

Using it once could shorten one's lifespan by decades; one might die before even harming a powerful enemy!

The leaders of the three major gangs in the front row also had different expressions at this moment.

A hint of disdain flashed across Xiao Shuo's sinister face: "What's the use of this thing? Just a simple activation costs twenty years of lifespan? I doubt even the God of Longevity would dare bid on it! Wanbao Pavilion, how do you select your items?"

Xiao Shuo then closed his eyes and stopped looking.

Su San Niang frowned slightly and said, "It's better not to bid on such an item. Bidding on it will only make you angry."

Yang Xiao shook his head and sighed, "Wanbaoge has become increasingly desolate in recent years. They're even putting up these lackluster items—is it because they have nothing else to bid on?"

The auctioneer smiled bitterly to himself; he knew this would happen.

This Bloodstained Armor had been lying in the deepest part of the warehouse for nearly thirty or forty years, and all the successive pavilion masters regarded it as a hot potato.

If it weren't for the recent strict order from the headquarters of Chixia Mountain Wanbaoge to clear out the backlog of unpopular inventory and recover funds, he would never have taken this thing out.

Five thousand spirit stones? It would be a miracle if it could be sold at all; I'm afraid it will likely go unsold today.

Finally, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and announce according to procedure: "The Bloodstained Armor of Burial, starting price five thousand spirit stones, bidding now begins!"

At first, no cultivator made a bid; everyone was waiting to see Wanbaoge make a fool of itself.

Just as the auctioneer was about to announce that the item would go unsold, a calm and even voice suddenly rang out in the auction hall.

"Five thousand one hundred spirit stones."

The sound came from a secluded corner in the southwest of the venue.

All eyes turned to that direction.

A seemingly unremarkable middle-aged man in a gray shirt with graying temples had opened his eyes at some point and slowly raised the number plate in his hand.

His face was ordinary, and his breath was weak. He was Li Heng, who had been resting with his eyes closed in the corner for a long time.

The auctioneer stared, speechless for a moment: "This... fellow Daoist, are you... are you sure?"

Li Heng nodded and repeated, "I'm sure, five thousand one hundred spirit stones!"

Dead silence.

The entire Wanbaoge auction hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

At this moment, all sorts of complicated gazes in the hall were focused on the middle-aged man in gray who had announced "five thousand one hundred spirit stones".

After a full three breaths, an even louder uproar suddenly erupted.

"This...is someone really buying it? This cultivator must be a bit out of his mind."

"Is he just rich and stupid? Or is he some rich kid from a powerful family?"

"I don't think he's a young master. Look at that cultivator, his temples are already gray, and he's only at the early stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining. He must be a good-for-nothing and a hothead who doesn't know how precious lifespan is, haha."

"Hehe, let's just watch. It's none of our business anyway. You won't run into a fool like that for years."

"Five thousand one hundred spirit stones for this deadly contraption? Those spirit stones must have fallen from the sky!"

"This person looks a bit like Alchemist Li from Hundred Herbs Pavilion? That makes sense; most alchemists are eccentric and extravagant!"

In the venue, some cultivators who had previously traded pills at Baicao Pavilion recognized Li Henglai.

In the front row of the auction hall, Xiao Shuo reopened his eyes, turned his head to look southwest, his sinister gaze lingered on Li Heng for a moment, then turned back and closed his eyes again.

Su San Niang's beautiful eyes flickered, and she also turned to look at Li Heng, a hint of curiosity and amusement flashing in her eyes.

Yang Xiao also glanced back at Li Heng, then teased him:

"Today's trip was truly worthwhile. The auction was so spectacular. Fellow Daoist from the southwest, if you have any spirit stones to spend, you can give them to me, and I might be able to offer you a position within the Black Fiend Gang."

Li Heng seemed oblivious to all of this.

He simply held up his bidding paddle calmly, his gaze sweeping over the numerous cultivators before landing on the blood-red armor on the auction stage. A glint of light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Does it require the infusion of life force to activate it?

To outsiders, this is a fatal flaw, an untouchable taboo.

But for someone with an inexhaustible lifespan, this is precisely his greatest advantage, the most perfect "fuel".

What he lacks is not lifespan, but a way to convert lifespan into power.

This "Burial Blood Armor" set seems to have been tailor-made for him!

The auctioneer finally recovered from his shock and quickly announced, "Good! This fellow Daoist has bid five thousand one hundred spirit stones! Any further bids? Five thousand one hundred spirit stones per round!"

No one made a bid.

Who would bid against a "madman"?

"Five thousand one hundred spirit stones twice!"

"Five thousand one hundred spirit stones for three times!"

"make a deal!"

The hammer fell, sealing the deal.

Thus, a "miracle" transaction, worthy of being recorded in the auction history of the outer area of ​​Chixia Mountain, was completed.

On stage, the auctioneer from Wanbaoge continued enthusiastically, shouting, "Let's welcome the next item!"

The next item was quickly brought to the auction.

……

Soon, another hour passed.

The auction has officially come to an end.

Although many good items appeared in the subsequent auctions, none of them were what Li Heng wanted.

The last item in particular was a truly top-grade magical artifact, the Xuanbing Blade.

This top-grade magic artifact attracted many cultivators to vie for it.

In the end, it was won by Yang Xiao, the wealthy and powerful leader of the Black Fiend Gang, at a record high price of 60,000 spirit stones.

Xiao Shuo, the leader of the Blood Slaughter Sect, was so angry that he couldn't beat Yang Xiao that he stormed off.

The auction officially ended, and the cultivators who did not win any items left the auction hall.

The cultivators who bid on the items must go to the Wanbaoge's delivery area to make payment and then hand over the goods.

Li Heng deliberately lingered in his seat for a while, waiting until all the cultivators in front of him had finished their transactions before slowly walking towards the transaction area.

The delivery process is very simple.

The person in charge of the handover was a thin old man in a green robe, and he looked at Li Heng with an unusually strange gaze.

It was as if Li Heng, in his previous life, had the same eerie expression a doctor in a mental hospital would have when looking at his patients.

Although the old man had a strange look in his eyes, his actions were decisive. He quickly counted the spirit stones that Li Heng handed over, and soon the count was complete, with the number exactly as he had counted.

Immediately, the thin old man put the heavy black iron box into a simple storage bag, and then handed the storage bag to Li Heng.

"Fellow Daoist, this armor is dangerous; do not attempt it lightly. Unless you are absolutely certain, it is best to never touch it," the old man warned Li Heng.

He has said all he could say; he has already made an exception.

Li Heng took the storage bag; it was lighter than he had expected.

He nodded slightly: "Thank you for your kindness, fellow Daoist."

After saying that, Li Heng turned and left without any hesitation, quickly disappearing behind the side gate of the delivery area.

Watching his departing figure, the thin old man shook his head and sighed:

"This kid isn't very bright; he probably won't live long!"

What Li Heng didn't know was that undercurrents only began to stir after the auction ended.

Outside Wanbaoge, many hidden cultivators kept their eyes fixed on the various entrances and exits of Wanbaoge.