Cultivating immortality begins with formations.

have to say.

The arrival of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect has elevated the status of Jiuling Market by at least one level.

In the past, even if magical artifacts appeared at auctions, they would only be brought out when the auction reached its climax and emotions ran high.

Nowadays, the starting point is a low-grade spiritual weapon.

"I'll offer 810 low-grade spirit stones."

"I'm 850."

Soon, bids began to be made sporadically.

More than half of them were monks sitting in the stands, not in the VIP rooms.

The Frost Sword is suitable for mutated ice spirit roots or water spirit roots that specialize in killing, both of which are rare.

Therefore, there were not many bidders.

After reaching nine hundred spirit stones, only two people took turns bidding.

Finally, this low-grade magic artifact was won by a cultivator in a black hat and mask on the platform for 960 low-grade spirit stones.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but glance at him sideways.

The monk wearing a black hat and a black hood sat about ten feet away from him. His entire body was covered by a black robe, so his height and weight were unknown.

"Could this person have a mutated ice spirit root?"

Lu Yuan couldn't help but wonder, but then he saw the other party suddenly release a bit of his aura, revealing that he was actually at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

He quickly cupped his hands in apology, a smile that he thought was gentle appearing on his old face before he looked away.

He was afraid the other party would think he had malicious intentions.

Seeing this, the black-robed cultivator ignored him and turned to look at the auction hall.

then.

The second item was then brought out for auction.

Sun Qi held up a porcelain bottle made of mutton fat jade. The bottle gleamed with a warm luster, attracting the attention of all the cultivators.

"The second item up for auction is a high-quality Foundation Building Pill."

As if time had stopped, the scene remained still for a few breaths, and then an uncontrollable uproar erupted.

"..."

"Congratulations to VIP Room B for winning the first Foundation Establishment Pill of this auction with 7,500 low-grade spirit stones. Just a reminder, there are still nine more Foundation Establishment Pills waiting for you fellow cultivators."

All the cultivators' eyes fell on the VIP room number B.

Seven thousand five hundred low-grade spirit stones—this is an enormous fortune that many cultivators could never obtain in their entire lives.

The Foundation Building Pill has only one effect.

Increase the success rate of cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Ordinary Foundation Building Pills contain only about 20%, while premium Foundation Building Pills contain as much as 35%.

Lu Yuan believed it.

If this Foundation Establishment Pill were taken to a place like Xuan'an Immortal City, its price would be even higher. It seems that in order to promote the Nine Ridges Market, the Nine Lotus Sword Sect is not afraid to sacrifice some meager profits in the early stages.

At this moment, in VIP room number B.

Hearing Sun Qi's congratulations, Zhou Qingyun finally felt relieved.

Undoubtedly, this Foundation Establishment Pill was prepared for him.

He had been at the ninth level of Qi Refining for ten years. He had never tried Foundation Establishment before, all because the Foundation Establishment Pills he had obtained were not of the highest quality.

It is important to know that once you fail to establish your foundation, your dantian will be damaged, and you will be unable to establish your foundation again for at least ten years.

So he had been searching for high-quality Foundation Building Pills, and now he had finally gotten his wish.

"Patriarch, something's not right. It seems that forces from Xuan'an Immortal City are involved in this auction."

A member of the Zhou family looked at the several VIP rooms and reported with a frown.

After a moment of excitement, Zhou Qingyun calmed down and his expression turned solemn: "Change the original plan and do everything we can to obtain three Foundation Establishment Pills."

Originally, this was according to the Zhou family's plan.

They were preparing to show Jiuling Market just how terrifyingly wealthy a cultivation family, which controlled more than half of the market's spirit rice production, was.

Their goal is five Foundation Establishment Pills.

The expectation is that at least two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators will be added to the Zhou family.

However, the resistance encountered in this first bidding for the Foundation Building Pill far exceeded expectations.

"Yes."

The Zhou family member said regretfully, "It's a pity that there are many good items at this auction; I'm afraid we'll have to give them up."

"There are gains and losses. At this stage, nothing in the Zhou family is as valuable as the Foundation Establishment Pill."

Zhou Qingyun said in a deep voice.

His gaze was fixed on the VIP room next door, number C, where people were coming and going without any attempt to conceal themselves; it was the residence of the Immortal Cultivation King family.

……

The auction continued.

The subsequent auction items also caused quite a stir, but compared to the Foundation Establishment Pill, they were far less impressive.

"The next item up for auction is a complete first-tier array called the Starfall Array. This array can be used with array plates and has only thirty-six array patterns, allowing it to be set up in a short time. I wonder if any array masters present are interested in this array?"

"Starting bid: 1,000 spirit stones."

Sun Qi had barely finished speaking.

"One thousand and ten spirit stones."

"One thousand twenty spirit stones."

"..."

In a short while, only two people remained, taking turns bidding.

One was the VIP room numbered C, and the other person, Lu Yuan recognized, was the array master he had met when he was an apprentice at the Treasure Refining Hall, named Zhang Su.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

This Qi Refining Hall array master, at the eighth level of Qi Refining, has, to his knowledge, mastered three sets of arrays.

The other party clearly needs this Starfall Array. Once they successfully learn it, they will be considered to have successfully entered the ranks of first-tier array masters.

The level of importance attached to someone who calls themselves an array master is completely different from that of a first-tier array master.

VIP room number C.

The rather wealthy-looking, fair-skinned patriarch of the Wang family asked, "Who is bidding against us?"

Immediately someone replied, "It's Zhang Su, the array master from the Refining Treasure Hall in the market. He's at the eighth level of Qi Refining. I heard he's missing one more array to have a chance to become a first-tier array master."

Upon hearing this, the Wang family patriarch pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said to the person beside him, "Second Uncle, our primary objective this time is the Foundation Establishment Pill. We cannot waste too many spirit stones on other items..."

"I see."

An elderly man in his seventies standing beside him stared at the jade slip in Sun Qi's hand with cloudy eyes. Although his face was full of resentment, he was helpless.

The head of the Wang family nodded, then waved his hand: "Give it to him."

After the array master from the Treasure Refining Hall quoted 1,200 spirit stones, he was overjoyed to find that no further bids were being made from the VIP room…

"One thousand two hundred and fifty spirit stones."

Suddenly, an old voice rang out from the audience.

"Um?"

"Are there array masters here?"

Lu Yuan's offer attracted several glances.

The black-robed monk sitting next to him also glanced at him sideways, just as he had done earlier.

As stipulated in the auction brochure, once inside the auction, one is no longer allowed to use divine sense to probe for any information.

Therefore, even among the people in the VIP room, no one dared to disobey.

Therefore, in the eyes of the cultivators, the one who made the offer was just an elderly cultivator who looked somewhat stooped.

Zhang Su thought the Starfall Array was already his for the taking, but unexpectedly, another cultivator raised the price, throwing him into a state of panic.

Upon discovering that the other party was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he couldn't help but sweep his gaze over with a fierce look.

He did not violate the rule against using divine sense, but his eyes were full of threat.

Sun Qi, standing on the auction stage, surveyed the entire room. His smile turned slightly cold as he calmly asked, "Is there anyone else raising the bid?"

These words, spoken lightly, struck Zhang Su's heart like a heavy hammer.

He was shaken to his core, his eyes filled with terror.