Immortality begins with equipping a worn-out talisman pen.

Zhao Lingyue stared blankly in that direction.

Beside Li Mufeng, Liu Yan'er, dressed in a light green palace dress, with an exquisite face, sat side by side with him, and the two occasionally talked in hushed tones.

Across from him, the second young master of the Chen family was chatting and laughing.

Further away, Bai Lingxi, the darling daughter of the Bai family, would occasionally cast her gaze in this direction.

This scene suddenly gave Zhao Lingyue a strong sense of unreality.

They see each other all the time in the Dongfu District, and sometimes the other person will even greet them when they meet.

But now she suddenly feels that there is an invisible chasm between her and that neighbor.

It turns out that, at some point, they had become people from two different worlds.

Zhao Lingyue remained silent for a long time, then looked down at her Daoist partner beside her. Suddenly, she felt a dryness in her throat and was speechless for a moment.

......

The auction officially began shortly afterward.

On the high platform, a beautiful woman dressed in a purple palace dress slowly walked out.

The woman was about thirty years old, with a beautiful face and a graceful demeanor. Her cultivation had reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

She was clearly an auctioneer specially hired by the Bai family. Her demeanor was proper and her voice was clear and bright. As soon as she appeared, she attracted everyone's attention.

"Fellow Daoists, you have come from afar. I am Bai Qinglan, and I will serve as the auctioneer for this auction."

"Thank you all for gracing our Bai family's charity auction. Without further ado, let's present the first item for auction."

As she finished speaking, a maid carrying a jade tray slowly walked up to the high platform.

Inside the jade plate, a crimson pill lay quietly, its surface faintly shimmering with pill patterns and emitting a faint spiritual light.

"The first item up for auction is a premium Spirit Explosion Pill, a top-grade first-tier pill."

"After taking this pill, it can greatly increase a cultivator's mana and enhance the power of spells in a short period of time. Ordinary Spirit Explosion Pills are extremely potent, and those who take them will often be weak for more than a month."

"This Exploding Spirit Pill has already developed pill patterns, reaching the level of a fine product. Not only is its medicinal power stronger, but its side effects have also been greatly reduced. It only requires three days of rest to recover."

"Starting bid: 500 low-grade spirit stones; each bid must be at least 50 spirit stones higher."

This pill has a unique combat value; it can even save lives and change the course of a battle at crucial moments.

Therefore, it was snapped up by many cultivators as soon as it appeared.

"Five hundred and fifty."

"Six hundred."

"Seven Hundred"

......

The first item was eventually sold for 1,000 spirit stones to a monster hunter, which was a good start to the auction.

Li Mufeng sat in his seat and observed carefully. So far, his equipment system had not given any prompts.

And so it went until the fourth item appeared, when a maid from the Bai family slowly walked up the platform carrying a tray.

On the tray, a small black porcelain shard, about the size of half a palm, lay quietly.

It looks quite inconspicuous, but the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from it make people vaguely feel that this thing is extraordinary.

The auctioneer coughed lightly.

"The origin of this item is unknown. It was obtained by a cultivator from my Bai family from a ruin. After being appraised by a Foundation Establishment senior, its material far surpasses that of a spiritual treasure. It is very likely a fragment of a magic weapon. Its effects are rather vague. We only know that after soaking in water, it can enrich the spiritual energy in the water. When used to irrigate spiritual plants, it can greatly increase the yield by 30%. In addition, the fragment is hard and can withstand fatal attacks in critical moments. It is no problem even to withstand a blow from a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

Starting bid: 500 spirit stones.

Upon hearing this, the scene instantly fell silent. Five hundred spirit stones could buy a broken porcelain shard that could withstand one attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Keep in mind that a normal second-tier talisman only costs two hundred spirit stones and can also withstand the same attack.

Moreover, its defensive area is many times larger than that of the porcelain shard.

As for the effect of increasing the yield of spiritual plants after soaking them in water, it is even more useless. Not to mention how rare spiritual plant masters are, wouldn't it be better to just plant more land to increase the yield? It's not like increasing the lifespan of spiritual plants, that would be a miracle.

Li Mufeng's heart was pounding at that moment.

The reason was that a notification that hadn't appeared on his screen for a long time suddenly started vibrating violently.

A line of dazzling golden text appeared.

[Unknown Fragment - Gold]

[Effect 1: ???]

[Effect 2: ???]

[Effect 3: ???]

"Five hundred spirit stones."

A monk sitting in the VIP area took the lead in making the conversation. He spoke casually and acted relaxed, seemingly not caring at all, as if he had just casually bought a small toy.

Five hundred and fifty.

In the scattered area, a cultivator who looked like an old farmer had a glint in his eyes. For a senior spirit plant master, the value of such a treasure that could increase productivity was far beyond what could be compared to buying a few more spirit fields.

After several rounds of bidding, several more plant masters joined in, and even Zhao Lingyue couldn't resist making a move.

When the auction price reached one thousand spirit stones, the old farmer-looking cultivator sighed. After all, it was just a fragment of a magic weapon, not complete. Even with some added value, it wasn't worth bidding any higher.

The plant master who made the final bid breathed a sigh of relief. The item was already much more expensive than he had in mind, but since it would benefit his career development, he gritted his teeth and made this last bid.

"One thousand and fifty dollars."

Seeing that the situation had reached a fever pitch, Li Mufeng announced his price for the first time.

As he spoke, the gazes of a plant enthusiast focused on his location.

A guest of the Liu family?

That resident talisman master of Wanfuzhai?

Perhaps it was filmed on behalf of the Liu family. Oh well, the Liu family is now a rising dark horse Foundation Establishment force in the market, so it's best not to offend them.

The plant masters who participated in the auction began to speculate about the Liu family's thoughts, seemingly not believing at all that this move was Li Mufeng's own idea.

A moment later, they all put down their bidding paddles. Even the VIP cultivator who had made the first bid glanced silently at the Liu family patriarch and the newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivator behind him, and then withdrew from the competition.

In the end, Li Mufeng won the bid for the damaged magical artifact for 1,050 yuan.

This surprised him; he hadn't expected to acquire his desired treasure so easily on his first time attending an auction.

However, upon further reflection, he realized that a large part of the reason was the information gap among the people regarding this damaged magic weapon, and another part was that he had benefited from the Liu family's influence.

Having a family of cultivators protecting you makes a difference.

Before making an offer, those independent cultivators have to consider whether they can afford to offend you. Even some senior figures who have already achieved success and are sitting in the VIP seats are willing to give you face.

Li Mufeng quickly figured this out, and then his mind became even more active. Since he had the Liu family protecting him, didn't that mean he could be bolder at this auction and bid on more items? After all, others would think he was working for the Liu family anyway.

After several rounds, Li Mufeng finally heard the demon beast's inner core that he had been longing for.

"Next item: the inner core of a second-tier demonic beast, the Crimson-Bearded Tiger."