Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 216 Using a Borrowed Knife to Kill: Zhou Chun's Dream [Please Subscribe]

The Dust-Leaving Pill is a rare elixir that helps in the formation of the Golden Core.

After Su Yunniang on the auction stage finished introducing the details of the last item up for auction, the entire auction hall fell silent.

All eyes were drawn to the jade box in her hand.

Even those Golden Core cultivators who had already formed their cores for many years were now staring intently at her.

"They've even put the Lichen Pill, which helps with Core Formation, up for auction! The three major sects are really going all out this time!"

"Such a precious pill is far from being consumed internally, yet they're willing to offer one for auction!"

At the table where the Zhou family members were seated, Zhou Mingde stared in astonishment at the jade box in Su Yunniang's hand and sighed.

The appearance of a treasure like the Lichen Pill caused them to stop discussing how to delay the Jiang family's Purple Mansion cultivators' seclusion and breakthrough, and instead focus their attention on this item.

Although they all knew that such a treasure was not something that ordinary people could buy, they still wanted to know who would get it.

"One Li Chen Pill, starting bid 100,000 spirit coins, minimum increment 1,000 spirit coins!"

On the auction stage, Su Yunniang held a jade box containing the Lichen Pill in her jade-like hands and announced the starting price in an enticing tone.

The starting bid of 100,000 spirit coins is the highest starting bid to date.

But no one would think it's expensive.

Because the true value of the Lichen Pill is far more than 100,000 spirit coins!

"110,000 spirit coins."

Soon, a late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator shouted out his bid.

But less than three breaths later, someone else shouted, "I bid 115,000 spirit coins."

"120,000 spirit coins!"

"125,000 spirit coins!"

"I will offer 130,000 spirit coins!"

One after another, high prices were shouted out.

In order to compete for this Lichen Pill, many late-stage Purple Mansion cultivators directly bid and borrowed money from other friendly families on the spot.

Originally, due to the dangers of Core Formation, many late-stage Purple Mansion cultivators did not dare to attempt it.

However, the appearance of the Lichen Pill has given these people some hope.

Even if they take the Lichen Pill, their chances of successfully forming their core are probably less than 10%.

But often they lack something that gives them confidence to encourage themselves.

However, even if they could borrow the money, the chances of buying the Lichen Pill were extremely slim.

As the price climbed to over 150,000 spirit coins, even Golden Core cultivators joined the bidding.

Tens of thousands of spirit coins—a cultivator at the Purple Mansion stage would generally be unable to produce that many spirit coins on their own.

However, it's different for Golden Core cultivators.

Golden Core cultivators have long lifespans, and their methods and abilities to make money far surpass those of Purple Mansion cultivators, not to mention that they all control a large family force.

If a Golden Core family can't even come up with two hundred thousand spirit coins, then they don't deserve the title of "Golden Core Family".

So soon, the Purple Mansion stage cultivators who were bidding all disappeared, leaving only six or seven Golden Core stage cultivators still bidding.

"Three hundred and fifty thousand spiritual coins!"

When a Golden Core cultivator called out an even higher price, all other bidding finally ceased.

Three hundred and fifty thousand spiritual coins!

This is absolutely astronomical!

Given the Zhou family's current situation, even if all the welfare benefits for the clansmen were withheld, it would still take them more than ten years to save up this amount of money.

Even Zhou Chun, a cultivator who had seen many grand occasions, was stunned by this astronomical price.

The final transaction price for the Lichen Pill was set at this number.

"350,000 spirit coins, sold for the third time! Congratulations to Senior Wei on becoming the new owner of this Departure Pill!"

On the auction stage, Su Yunniang, a beautiful woman, was also filled with excitement as she loudly announced the auction results.

It's obvious that as an auctioneer, she felt a great sense of accomplishment when her team managed to auction off such a priceless treasure.

Next, Bi Qiuyue, a Golden Core cultivator, personally handed over the Li Chen Pill to the Wei family Golden Core cultivator.

After the valuable item was handed over, Su Yunniang bowed respectfully to all four directions with a beaming smile, saying, "This auction has now come to an end. I would like to express my sincere gratitude once again to all fellow Daoists for your support and patronage!"

After speaking, he and the three Golden Core cultivators left the scene first.

At this moment, Zhou Mingde's lips moved slightly, and he began to communicate with someone telepathically.

After a short while, he nodded to Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoyi and said, "The matter has been settled. Senior Li has agreed to it!"

Then he moved swiftly and suddenly walked to the side of the Jiang family members who were getting up to leave, saying, "Fellow Daoist Jiang, please wait. I have a few words I would like to say to you."

"Oh, what would Fellow Daoist Zhou like to discuss?"

A strange light flashed in the eyes of the mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivator from the Jiang family, and he replied calmly.

"This is not the place to talk. Would Fellow Daoist Jiang and I be willing to go to a quiet room in the teahouse to discuss this in detail?"

As Zhou Mingde spoke, he raised his hand and gestured for them to proceed.

Upon seeing this, the Jiang family cultivator at the Purple Mansion stage raised an eyebrow slightly, then said to the other early Purple Mansion cultivator and the other Jiang family cultivators, "You all wait for me in the inn."

Having said that, he flicked his sleeve and said, "Then let's go. I, Jiang, would like to hear your brilliant ideas!"

The two left the auction house and soon went to a teahouse in the market.

Afterwards, the two talked privately in a quiet room of the teahouse for nearly half an hour before leaving the teahouse together.

When he came out, the Jiang family's Purple Mansion cultivator clearly had a look of joy on his face, as if he had encountered some happy event.

When he returned to the inn and saw the Jiang family members, the early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator from the Jiang family immediately said, "Fifth Uncle, that fellow Daoist from the Zhang family of Tiantai Mountain also came here just now. He wants to know what you and the Zhou family discussed. What do you think we should say to him?"

It turns out that right after the "Hundred Clans Conference" ended, the Zhang family of Tiantai Mountain, who discovered that the Jiang family and the Zhou family also had a grudge, immediately approached the Jiang family, wanting to join forces with them to deal with the Zhou family.

At the time, the Jiang family naturally accepted this ally who came to their door without hesitation and readily agreed.

The Zhang family had also noticed Zhou Mingde's visit to the Jiang family after the auction. As a result, Zhang Kaida, the head of the Zhang family, was worried and asked a Purple Mansion cultivator from the family to come to the Jiang family to inquire about the situation.

Upon hearing the younger generation's words, the elder from the Jiang family's Purple Mansion said, "Ignore the Zhang family for now. Tell them that after obtaining the Crimson Sun Flowing Pearl Pill, I will first go into seclusion to break through to a higher level. We'll discuss dealing with the Zhou family after I successfully break through!"

"Why 'after a while'? Didn't you say you'd go into seclusion to break through after you got back?"

The Jiang family's early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator's eyes flashed, as he keenly sensed the key point in his elder's words.

Upon hearing this, the elder of the Jiang family's Purple Mansion smiled and said, "Zhou Mingde of the Zhou family has come to speak with me this time to seek peace, and his sincerity is quite evident!"

"After some thought, I believe that if they can truly demonstrate that sincerity, then the feud between Shixian and others might be resolved!"

After saying that, he told this younger man about his private conversation with Zhou Mingde in the quiet room of the teahouse.

It was clear that the early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator from the Jiang family quickly showed a look of joy after hearing his words.

But then, as if remembering something, she suddenly looked surprised and said, "But would the Zhou family really be willing to give up such a benefit? Could this be a delaying tactic? They also managed to bid for that Ice Jade Soul Silkworm this time!"

"Shicheng, your concerns are not without merit, but even if it's just a delaying tactic by the Zhou family, it's still greatly beneficial to our Jiang family!"

"As long as they dare to sign the transfer agreement with us in front of the people of Qinglian Temple, even if they go back on their word afterward, our Jiang family can openly and legitimately annihilate their Zhou family!"

At this point, the old man from the Jiang family's Purple Mansion revealed a sly smile, saying, "By then, won't the Zhang family still be willing to join us in dealing with the Zhou family?"

"Fifth Uncle is truly wise; I admire him greatly!"

The early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator from the Jiang family relaxed, immediately smiled, cupped his hands in a salute to the elder in front of him, and began to flatter him.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The old man from the Jiang family's Purple Mansion burst into laughter, feeling extremely happy and cheerful.

Although the Jiang family unfortunately lost in this "Hundred Clans Conference" and failed to enter the top 30.

But who would have thought that they would ultimately benefit from being among the top 30!

Moreover, after learning from the Zhou family the true purpose of the three major sects convening the "Hundred Clans Conference," the Jiang family will have more time to prepare for this war.

"Hahaha, just as you said, Zheng Chun, that old bastard from the Jiang family agreed to my proposal without hesitation as soon as he heard that we were willing to transfer the benefits of developing and expanding the settlement to them!"

Where the Zhou family cultivators were waiting, Zhou Mingde returned and quickly began to laugh as he recounted the details of their secret conversation in the teahouse to Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoyi.

When he got to the crucial part, he laughed so hard his beard shook and he was out of breath.

"Not surprising. Greed blinds people. Who wouldn't be tempted by such a huge benefit falling into their laps out of thin air?"

Zhou Chun smiled faintly, not surprised by the result.

He then frowned slightly, saying with some worry, "The plan is half successful now. Next, it depends on Lin Hongyu's reaction. If she doesn't take the bait, we'll have offended the Jiang family even more!"

Hearing this, Zhou Mingde confidently replied, "Lin Hongyu will most likely make a move; it seems like she's guaranteed to profit from this!"

After saying that, she suddenly changed the subject and looked at Zhou Daoyi, saying, "Of course, even if she really doesn't make a move, as long as Daoyi also successfully opens his Purple Mansion, our Zhou family may not be afraid of the Jiang family!"

"That's true. As long as the clan leader successfully opens his Purple Mansion, then there's nothing to fear!"

Zhou Chun nodded, expressing his deep agreement.

"Alright, let's head back to the family now, so as not to keep Senior Li and the others waiting."

As Zhou Mingde spoke, he waved his hand and led the Zhou family members away from the courtyard where they were renting a room at the inn.

Not long after, the Zhou family and the Li family of Danyao left Xianyun Market and returned to Lanzhou with Li Jingxuan, a Golden Core cultivator from the Li family.

The Ice Jade Soul Silkworm is far too precious for the Zhou family, especially considering the Zhou family's recent prominence.

Therefore, when the auction ended, Zhou Mingde sent a telepathic message to Li Jingxuan, a Golden Core cultivator from the Li family, requesting that the other party give the Zhou family a ride along the way.

Li Jingxuan readily agreed to this favor without much hesitation.

As a Golden Core cultivator, he wouldn't be so incapable of protecting a single Ice Jade Soul Silkworm!

This time, Zhou Chun, Zhou Zhengyong, and others also got to experience what it's like to fly on a magical artifact.

Li Jingxuan's magic weapon is a crimson gold gourd that can grow to twenty or thirty feet long.

The Li and Zhou families, numbering forty or fifty people, sat there without feeling crowded at all.

Under the control of Li Jingxuan, a Golden Core cultivator, this magical artifact flew at an astonishing speed.

Zhou Chun made a special record and discovered that its flight speed had reached an astonishing 1,500 li per hour!

This is definitely not the fastest flight speed for a Golden Core cultivator!

After all, Li Jingxuan was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, and he brought so many people with him.

Generally speaking, the fastest flight speed of a Golden Core stage cultivator is achieved by using certain escape techniques specifically designed to increase flight speed.

Based on the speed at which he increased his speed after using the "Flowing Golden Rainbow" secret technique, Zhou Chun calculated that the fastest flight speed of a Golden Core cultivator, even if it was not as fast as the rocket in his previous life, could probably reach six or seven thousand miles per hour!

This almost means that if a Golden Core cultivator flew at top speed, it would take less than two hours to fly from Yunzhou, the southernmost part of Jing Kingdom, to Lingzhou, the northernmost part!

Golden Core cultivators are not the strongest cultivators known so far; there are Nascent Soul cultivators even higher.

Even if we only consider the speed difference between cultivators in the Purple Mansion stage and those in the Golden Core stage, the fastest speed of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator would probably exceed 15,000 li per hour!

"I originally thought that a country like Jingguo was already quite large, but it seems that even to Golden Core cultivators, Jingguo is just a slightly larger pond. For Nascent Soul cultivators, they could cross the country in the time it takes to eat a meal!"

"I wonder how those Nascent Soul stage cultivators view this!"

In a desolate place in Lanzhou, Zhou Chun, who had been put down from the magic weapon by Li Jingxuan, looked up at the rapidly departing crimson-gold gourd, his eyes filled with shock.

This should be the first time he has experienced the power of a Golden Core stage cultivator up close.

The result truly shocked him!

Based on the information currently available, although a Golden Core cultivator does not possess the extraordinary supernatural powers of moving mountains and overturning seas like the immortals of his previous life, it seems that traveling to the heavens and entering the earth, destroying mountains and peaks, and traveling to the North Sea in the morning and Cangwu in the evening are no longer difficult tasks!

"Once I swallow this golden pill, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens! That's actually quite plausible!"

Zhou Chun murmured to himself, a feeling of boundless longing welling up within him.

How wonderful it would be if he could form a golden core!

That way, he could truly travel alone across the mountains and rivers of this world, witnessing the various natural wonders and intelligent races, making his trip to this world worthwhile!

P.S.: If you're still not satisfied after reading this, and haven't read the author's previous work, "The Desert," you can click on the author's profile picture to read the author's completed work of the same genre, "Cultivation Begins in the Desert," which has 382 million words and is quite substantial!

Regarding the map in the book, some readers felt that the Jing Kingdom was too small. Actually, that's not the case. I carefully considered this issue before starting the book, debating whether to depict a country as tens or hundreds of millions of miles apart, like some other books, or to use the current map. Ultimately, I chose the current map. The reason is simple: if the map is too large at the beginning, it becomes too abstract later on, with each journey taking hundreds of millions of miles. This is something I only dared to use in the final stages of the desert arc, but in reality, it's far too exaggerated! I know the universe is vast, but if we carefully calculate the resource demands of a population, we'll know that if the map were that large, how many mortals could it support? How many cultivators? It wouldn't make sense unless there were Golden Core cultivators everywhere! After all, even if the success rate of natural Core Formation is only one percent, with a huge base and a lot of time, a large number of people would still emerge! Therefore, I feel that a reasonable comparison of the Jing Kingdom map with our real-world country is appropriate! After all, the Jing Kingdom isn't a particularly large country in the book! I anticipate that a large number of Golden Core cultivators will appear together later on, just like the great war between the Tiannan Allied Army and the Mulan people in Mortal Realm, with most of the Golden Core cultivators from a dozen or even dozens of countries gathering there! Actually, if you look back, the Tiannan cultivation world in Mortal Realm isn't actually that big!

(End of this chapter)