After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

Manager Liu's gaze swept over the four men, and he said, "I already know why you've come, so let's not waste any more time on small talk. Who wants to go first?"

The four looked at each other, and after a brief silence, the head of the Gu family stood up first: "I'll go first."

He took out a sandalwood box from his storage bag. The box was engraved with a few simple spirit-sealing patterns and was obviously quite old.

He opened the wooden box and carefully took out a yellowed ancient book.

He presented the ancient book with both hands.

Old Liu casually took it, flipped through a couple of pages, and the paper made a soft rustling sound under his fingertips.

The head of the Gu family stood to the side, his eyes fixed on the hands that were turning the pages of the book. He was terrified, and a thin layer of sweat involuntarily seeped from his forehead.

This manual has been hidden in the Gu family for countless generations. It's only because it's of a high grade and well-preserved in the spirit-sealing box that it's been destroyed. Otherwise, given the force with which Steward Liu flipped through the book, an ordinary book would have been shattered to pieces long ago.

The item hasn't even been sold yet, so who's responsible if it's broken?

He gritted his teeth and swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

After flipping through it once, Elder Liu casually placed the ancient book on the table and nodded: "A mid-grade Earth-level body-refining technique, of decent quality, and well-preserved."

Just as the Gu family head was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he heard him continue, "However, this cultivation method has extremely demanding requirements on the cultivator's spiritual root and comprehension."

"Only those with exceptionally high-grade golden spiritual roots can cultivate this technique, and the cultivation process requires tempering the body with heavenly lightning. Ordinary cultivators would find it difficult even to begin. If the Gu family truly had someone capable of cultivating this technique, they wouldn't have remained until now."

The Gu family head, his thoughts exposed, showed a hint of embarrassment and said with a wry smile, "Steward Liu has keen insight. To be honest, this secret manual has been passed down in the Gu family for several generations. It's not that no one has tried it, but there is simply no one in the clan who is qualified."

"Instead of letting it continue to gather dust in the warehouse, we might as well take it out and exchange it for a suitable price, or we could trade it for a treasure of the same quality."

He hesitated for a moment, then added, "If we could exchange it for a cultivation method suitable for the children in the family, that would be the best."

Manager Liu nodded and put the ancient book away: "Although its grade isn't high, its rarity makes it a good candidate. Let's put it in the first half to warm up the audience."

He turned his head and whispered a few words to the attendant beside him, who took the wooden box with both hands and respectfully withdrew.

The Gu family head, who had been anxiously waiting for most of the day, finally felt relieved. He thanked them repeatedly and returned to his seat with light steps.

With the Gu family head leading the way, the other three felt more confident.

Next up is the Xie family.

The items that the Xie family head took out were quite ordinary: a few good-quality spiritual herbs, plus a piece of ancient jade engraved with incomplete array patterns. They weren't rare treasures, but they were quite old.

Manager Liu flipped through it and accepted it.

These items don't qualify for auction, but they can be bought on the black market for spirit stones and then resold later for a small profit.

Although the Xie family head was somewhat disappointed, he figured it was still worth it to exchange it for ready-made spirit stones, so he nodded in agreement.

After the Xie family came the Liu family.

The head of the Liu family took out a cold jade box from his storage bag. As soon as the lid was opened, a chilling aura filled the hall.

The other three stood up in surprise.

Old Liu has such good stuff?

Inside the box lay a sleek, crystal-clear short sword, its blade covered in intricate runes, with faint flashes of lightning emanating from its edge.

Manager Liu picked up the short sword and examined it for a moment, raising an eyebrow slightly.

It is of the upper-grade Earth rank, just one step away from the Heaven rank.

Unfortunately, there is a very fine crack on the blade, probably because the heat was slightly off when it was forged.

The Liu family head quickly explained, "This sword was forged by my Liu family ancestor a thousand years ago, and the crack was there from the beginning. Although it has a flaw, it does not affect its use."

Manager Liu asked curiously, "This sword was just one step away from reaching the Heavenly Rank, and you're willing to give it up?"

The head of the Liu family said helplessly, "We are reluctant to part with it, but there is nothing we can do. No one in our Liu family can use it, and we cannot find suitable materials to repair the cracks. Keeping it is useless. We might as well find it a suitable owner."

Manager Liu nodded. "It's good that you can see things clearly. So many people cling to something inanimate and refuse to let go, only to end up with nothing."

"I'll accept this for now, and I'll definitely find him a suitable match when the opportunity arises."

The head of the Liu family nodded and sat down.

Next up was the head of the Wen family.

He stood up and took out a jet-black jade box from his storage bag.

The box is engraved with intricate sealing patterns, indicating that it is of high quality.

He took a deep breath and slowly opened the box.

Inside the box lay a black ant-like insect, about the size of a thumb. Its body was as black as ink, with a pair of transparent wings as thin as cicada wings on its back. Its six legs were curled up, its antennae trembled slightly, and its body emitted a faint, eerie light.

"These are the Devouring Ants." The Wen family head's voice was very low, as if he was afraid of disturbing the things in the box.

The other three family heads looked at each other in surprise, as they had never even heard of this name before.

A strange glint flashed in Steward Liu's eyes: "Could it be the Devouring Ants, which don't eat flesh and blood, but instead gnaw on the mind and its distracting thoughts?"

Patriarch Wen nodded hurriedly: "That's exactly it. When cultivators are undergoing tribulation, they are most afraid of being haunted by inner demons. If one has a Mind-Eating Ant, one can draw the distracting thoughts and inner demons into the ant's body, thus gaining a moment of clarity of mind."

The other three family heads' eyes lit up. There were such good things?

Wouldn't that be an invaluable life-saving treasure during a breakthrough?

Then the patriarch said, "However, this thing is extremely uncontrollable. If a cultivator's will is not firm enough, once it loses control, the Devouring Ants will devour both his reason and his Dao heart."

The three of them looked sad.

They said, "If the Wen family had such good stuff, how could they possibly take it out?"

Manager Liu nodded.

The advantages and disadvantages of this thing are very clear. Ordinary cultivators would never dare to touch it. Only those powerful beings with extremely strong willpower would dare to use it in order to break through tribulations.

Moreover, the Devouring Ants will explode and die after absorbing the inner demons, and each one can only be used once.

But precisely because of this, this item is extremely rare, with a price but no market. It would definitely sell at an auction, making it the best-selling item among the items brought out by these family heads today.

When the head of the Wen family saw that Steward Liu nodded, he felt more confident.

He obtained this thing by chance when he was young. He has been raising it for so many years, and the special spirit sand he has used to keep it alive has cost him a lot of spirit stones. He can hardly afford to keep it anymore.

Instead of continuing to support this bottomless money pit, it's better to replace it with something usable as soon as possible.

But the head of the Wen family also had a condition. He didn't want spirit stones; he only wanted to barter.

He carefully considered his words and tentatively asked, "I've heard that there's a pill on the black market that can force cultivators to break through to the Golden Core realm, up to three levels in a row. I wonder if I could exchange this Devouring Ant for three of them?"

Manager Liu calculated in his mind that there were indeed a few bottles of Breakthrough Pills left in the black market's inventory. Although these pills were precious, they were not rare in the black market.

Exchanging a rare treasure for three Breakthrough Pills was a worthwhile deal, and arguably the most profitable one he had negotiated that day.

He was about to nod in agreement when a lazy voice suddenly transmitted into his ear, "We won't accept his things."