Cultivating immortality begins with formations.

Remembering the regulations in the promotional brochure, Zhang Su instantly became alert, bowed to the stage in apology, and then continued to bid.

"One thousand three hundred spirit stones."

"One thousand three hundred and ten spirit stones."

"One thousand three hundred and twenty spirit stones"

"One thousand four hundred spirit stones."

Lu Yuan was determined to win, so he raised the price by eighty low-grade spirit stones in one go.

Zhang Su didn't look over again, and lowered his head, lost in thought.

He naturally still has leverage to make an offer.

But judging from their attitude, they are not willing to give in easily.

With his current Qi Refining Level 8 cultivation, he is not far from reaching Level 9. He also wants to acquire one of the ten Foundation Establishment Pills at this auction.

After a moment's thought, he decided to make one last bid.

"1,500 spirit stones."

"One thousand five hundred and fifty spirit stones."

Lu Yuan continued to follow.

Zhang Su gave up.

In the end, he chose cultivation over formation and did not make any further bids.

Upon seeing this, Sun Qi on the stage stood silently for a moment before raising and lowering his hammer.

"Snapped!"

"Congratulations to this fellow Daoist for winning the first-tier Starfall Array with 1,550 spirit stones."

"The next item to be auctioned is..."

It went much more smoothly than I expected...

Lu Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had a vague idea that the other party had given up because they wanted to pursue the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but chuckle.

So, I've actually benefited from having a low cultivation level?

Because he only has the mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation level, he doesn't need to worry about Foundation Establishment at all, which is why he can invest a large number of spirit stones into the formation.

Overall, the Meteorite Array has been obtained.

One of the objectives has been achieved. Now, we can only wait for an opportunity to acquire the other formation along with the Longevity Pill.

He was secretly pleased.

Suddenly, water stains appeared on the ground in front of him, and a line of words emerged...

"Fellow Daoist, if you know fire-based formations, I sincerely request that you come here..."

Ok?

Lu Yuan was startled and looked around. He saw the black-robed cultivator beside him nodding slightly.

Lu Yuan did not respond; his aged face was full of wariness.

The black-robed cultivator had obviously anticipated this, and then another line of text appeared on the ground in front of Lu Yuan.

"If I harbor any ill intentions towards you, my life and cultivation will be annihilated, and I will never be able to recover."

Seeing this, Lu Yuan nodded in response.

He was secretly thinking, "Fire-type formations are very common. Why would he be willing to make an oath to gain my trust?"

……

After Lu Yuan won the bid for the Starfall Array, the auction proceeded in a completely different manner from what he had expected.

Perhaps Sun Qi also noticed it.

As long as the remaining nine Foundation Establishment Pills are not all sold, none of the other auction items will fetch a high price.

And so.

In the following period, the bidding for the nine Foundation Establishment Pills became very regular.

One Foundation Establishment Pill would be offered for every other item in the auction.

Lu Yuan was equally anxious.

He didn't care who won the Foundation Establishment Pill; he only wanted the Longevity Pill and the other set of formations to be available after the Foundation Establishment Pill was sold.

The ninth Foundation Establishment Pill was auctioned off for a high price of seven thousand low-grade spirit stones by the VIP room of Class A.

Sun Qi smiled slightly and took out another porcelain bottle.

"Ten Longevity Pills can be auctioned separately, with a starting bid of 850 low-grade spirit stones per pill."

Lu Yuan made a decisive offer.

He won a Longevity Pill by bidding 1,200 low-grade spirit stones.

But he also knew.

The remaining set of formations was not for him.

at this point.

The auction was no longer his concern. Taking advantage of the crowd's frantic scramble for the last Foundation Establishment Pill, Lu Yuan got up and left.

We arrived backstage.

By handing over his identification badge and the spirit stones he had bid on, Lu Yuan obtained the longevity pill and the Starfall Array that he had been longing for.

He arrived at a secluded corner, quickly transformed his appearance into that of a burly man, and blended into the crowd outside the pavilion.

Looking up at the top floor of the attic.

"Wow, a whole ten Foundation Establishment Pills!"

"Jiulingfang Market is definitely getting better."

"I feel like I can already smell the fragrance of the Foundation Building Pill."

"That's the smell of dog poop on your shoes."

Although the group of low-level cultivators lacked the resources to enter the auction, they could still hear the commotion coming from the auction hall from time to time while standing in the Ascension Square.

For them, this is another way to participate in the auction.

Lu Yuan stayed there, shouting and hawking for quite a while, until the auction ended. Only then did he leave with a sense of pride, just like the other low-level cultivators.

After going through all that trouble, he returned home, breathed a sigh of relief, and collapsed onto the bed.

Although the process went smoothly and we were lucky, there were no unexpected events.

But from the moment he entered the auction until he left, he remained on edge.

Not to mention the unique thrill of spending thousands of spirit stones with a mere wave of his hand, which put him in a state of high excitement.

It was only after spending a long time outside the building, shouting and marveling at the spectacle, that I was able to release my excitement.

Lu Yuan considered it for a moment.

This trip cost him 2,760 low-grade spirit stones, and now he only has a little over 1,000 spirit stones left in his storage bag.

"Although the cost of living has increased, these thousand-odd spirit stones are barely enough, and I also have income."

"I need to use the Life Extension Pill to practice the Starfall Array, but I only have a little over a year left to live. If my lifespan is about to end and I still cannot break through, I will need the Life Extension Pill to extend my lifespan. Therefore, I cannot practice the Starfall Array for the time being."

"In this way, only after breaking through to the fifth level of Qi Refining and then cultivating the Starfall Array to perfection can we sell the Five Elements Mist Array, which has a higher profit margin."

"Hidden one formation, revealed another, without exposing our full strength, yet still showcasing our value to the Treasure Pavilion..."

"That's what we'll do!"

Having finalized his plan, Lu Yuan fell into a deep sleep under the protection of the Five-Star Mist Array in the courtyard outside.

……

a few days later.

The bustling scene at Jiulingfang Market, which had been fueled by the auction, gradually returned to its former glory.

It wasn't exactly deserted.

But unlike those days, when you would encounter Foundation Establishment cultivators just by walking through the inner city of the market.

However, in teahouses and taverns, there was a lot of discussion about the auction, especially the turmoil that followed.

Many independent cultivators without any connections ended up being targeted after leaving the auction.

Murders and robberies occurred one after another.

Moreover, many of those who made the move were at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The turmoil only came to an end after Sun Qi, an inner disciple of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect, arranged for the enforcement team to set a trap and kill a cultivator in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

Although the open turmoil had ended, Lu Yuan still felt a great threat in secret.

……

Zhang Su, who was at the eighth level of Qi Refining in the Treasure Refining Hall, was extremely angry and frustrated.

He won nothing at this auction.

He ultimately failed to capture the Foundation Establishment Pill.

As for the last set of formations, Ningcui Valley refused to yield an inch and ultimately missed out.

He couldn't blame the various forces competing with him for the Foundation Establishment Pill and the rogue cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining, nor did he dare to resent Ningcui Valley, which was bidding against him for the formation.

He could only direct his anger at the old man, Gu Lou, who appeared to have only reached the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Following the lead of the array master, Lu Yuan was then targeted by Zhang Su.

It wasn't that the old cultivator's disguise was exposed at the auction that day, but rather that his identity as a fourth-level Qi Refining Array Master was discovered.

While not extremely rare, array masters capable of consistently forming arrays are not numerous in Jiuling Market.

Zhang Su easily discovered that the Hundred Treasures Pavilion also had a formation master.

After personally going to inquire and investigate...

He was even more astonished, never expecting that this array master from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion was actually an apprentice in the Treasure Refining Hall.

Now, someone just like me is even calling himself a formation master.

He felt a little unbalanced, but didn't think much of it. However, he soon discovered that this array master named Lu Yuan happened to be at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Zhang Su first assumed that the other party had a magical artifact at the auction site that could disguise their appearance, which would make them even more suspicious.

therefore.

For the past few days, he had been secretly following Lu Yuan, quietly staying behind him without showing his face or making any moves, just observing him from the shadows.