Yunmeng Immortal Clan

The cultivator vying for the "Three Corpses Puppet Refining" secret technique at the Yunmeng Immortal Gathering was clearly none other than Du Ziruo, a member of the Xilin Du Clan who had recently invited Song Daoxuan to participate in the Yunmeng Immortal Gathering.

Du Ziruo possesses the aptitude of three spiritual roots. Once a member of the Du clan of Xilin reaches the age of twenty, regardless of their cultivation level or spiritual root aptitude, they can directly enter the Zhuxi Sect, the largest cultivation sect in the entire Yunmeng Prefecture, and enjoy the best cultivation treatment.

Although Du Ziruo's cultivation level was not high at the entire Yunmeng Immortal Gathering, only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, his advantage lay in his youth. Given time, Du Ziruo's path to Foundation Establishment would be relatively easy.

Unlike Song Daoxuan, a minor cultivator from a family that cultivates immortality through foundation building, even achieving foundation building is considered one of the greatest fortunes of his life.

Immortal Hui first presented the Five Thunder Dao Talisman for the opening price of four thousand low-grade spirit stones. This immediately chilled the hearts of even the Foundation Establishment cultivators present.

At this moment, almost all the Foundation Establishment cultivators present adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

But unexpectedly, at this moment, a man dressed in a simple black robe and wearing a mask spoke up: "I want this damaged talisman, five thousand low-grade spirit stones!"

"What magnanimity! He didn't utter a single word throughout the entire auction, but when he did, he spent a full five thousand low-grade spirit stones. Does this mean spirit stones are so cheap in the cultivation world now?"

"This person is extraordinary! To spend four thousand low-grade spirit stones on a single consumable item, just how powerful must they be? They must have some powerful backing!"

Song Daoxuan mingled among the vast crowd of the Immortal Gathering, not daring to utter a single word. What right did he have to judge these Foundation Establishment cultivators? Logically speaking, he wasn't even qualified to participate in an Immortal Gathering of the Yunmeng caliber.

As for the Five Thunder Dao Talisman and the puppet technique that followed, although he somewhat desired them, he knew that his current cultivation level was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, so he gave up that unrealistic desire.

However, to everyone's surprise, Du Ziruo, a member of the Du family of Xilin, then displayed the astonishing wealth of the Du family and began to compete with the masked man in a black robe for the item.

However, when the price reached 6,500 low-grade spirit stones, this person still wanted to raise the price further.

Then, the gray-robed elder patted him on the shoulder and transmitted a message: "Young Master! Although talismans are precious in the cultivation world, the puppet technique you're about to learn is a secret technique passed down through our Corpse Demon Sect. You absolutely cannot lose it!"

Upon hearing this, the man in the black robe and mask reconsidered his plan to further increase the price.

And this Five Thunder Dao Talisman Treasure eventually came into the possession of Du Ziruo.

After accepting the incomplete talisman, Du Ziruo said happily, "Father is a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his birthday is coming up. Even with his immense power, this Five Thunder Dao Talisman will likely unleash astonishing power in his hands. I'm offering this treasure to Father; I'm sure he'll be very happy!"

When the next puppet technique was unveiled, the man in black robes and a mask made a bid. However, to everyone's surprise, Du Ziruo, a disciple of the Xilin Du Clan, threw out a hundred extremely rare mid-grade spirit stones in front of the group of cultivators!

"What! This is a mid-grade spirit stone!"

In the world of cultivation, spirit stones are classified according to their magical properties into metal, wood, water, fire, earth, as well as rare spirit stones such as wind, thunder, and ice.

Based on the purity of the magical power within the spirit stones, they are divided into low-grade, medium-grade, high-grade, and top-grade, with an exchange ratio of one to one hundred spirit stones between each grade.

Normally, a mid-grade spirit stone can be easily exchanged for one hundred low-grade spirit stones, but no one is willing to exchange one hundred low-grade spirit stones for one mid-grade spirit stone. This is because the higher the grade of the spirit stone, the rarer it is in the cultivation world, and it is usually priceless.

"Damn it, who exactly is this Du Ziruo? He's so wealthy! My plans for the puppet technique and talisman treasures have all fallen through. My father will definitely be furious and won't let me off the hook!" The man in the black robe and mask gritted his teeth in anger, clenched his fists, and slammed them hard on the table.

The cultivators nearby, upon hearing this, all scoffed, "Fellow Daoist, you are truly ignorant! This Du Ziruo is a member of the Xilin Du Clan, and his father is none other than Du Ruilin, the fourth-ranked elder of this Golden Core Immortal Clan!"

Upon hearing this, the man in the black robe and mask was lost in a memory: a battle between two cultivation forces, where Nascent Soul cultivators retreated to the background and Core Formation cultivators took the stage. The battle between the Core Formation cultivators of both sides was evenly matched, and they each went back to heal their wounds.

Afterwards, Foundation Establishment cultivators entered the fray, and a great battle ensued between the two sides. One side suffered a crushing defeat, while the victorious side captured a beautiful female cultivator from among them.

"I was only three years old that year when my mother was forcibly abducted by a man. Flames were everywhere. Fortunately, I had a treasure given to me by my father that could conceal my aura. Relying on this treasure, I buried my entire body in a mud pit, thus escaping the cultivator's detection! Otherwise, I would have been a skeleton long ago!"

"After my mother was forcibly captured by this man, I, who was lucky enough to survive, sent many people to inquire about her. After being captured by this man, my mother suffered all kinds of torture, and he even carved words on her body! In the end, she was humiliated to death."

"My father is a high-ranking hall master with countless wives and concubines. I wanted to use his power to avenge my mother, but he refused my request on the grounds that the other party was a Golden Core Immortal!"

"I may forget my father, but I cannot forget Yin Huaqing. I have engraved the surname of my enemy deep in my palm for twenty years!"

Upon thinking of this, the man in the black robe and mask glanced at the three characters engraved into his left palm. They were none other than Du Ruiling, the fourth elder of the Xilin Du Clan!

Unexpectedly, Du Ruiling, whom they had been desperately searching for, was not able to kill them. However, by sheer coincidence, they encountered Du Ruiling's descendant.

A murderous intent welled up in his heart, but he suppressed it.

This is Yunmeng Market. Killing is forbidden in Yunmeng Market. Otherwise, if the person behind you makes a move, no matter which path of cultivator you are, as long as you break the rules, you will surely die.

Any transaction within the Yunmeng Market has absolute authority, which is why cultivators throughout Yunmeng Prefecture love to conduct business openly and honestly within the Yunmeng Market.

"Send someone to follow him. It's inconvenient to make a move inside the market. Once we get outside the market, I want to capture him alive and teach that old man a lesson about how his dearest son is tortured!" the black-robed, masked man ordered the old man beside him.

"Yes! It's just the young master; this person also has a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator as a guard behind him..."

"Old man Mi, aren't you a cultivator at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage? You're just a mere early-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Fine, you just need to keep this mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator occupied. I'll deal with him personally!"