Hide in the world of gods and demons

Chapter 222: Taking Chestnuts from the Fire
Chen Li frowned.

He had been coveting this for a long time, and he never expected it to reappear.

Spirit crystals are the essence of heaven and earth's spiritual energy. They can be used for direct cultivation and absorption, with effects comparable to being in a fifth-tier spiritual land. Even Golden Core cultivators fight over them. Because of this, buying one is extremely risky; you might be targeted before you even leave the house.

After much deliberation, Chen Li finally decided to buy it.

As long as you use a phantom body to do it, you are safe and there is basically no danger to your life.

The only risk is losing some spirit stones.

Losing such a large sum of spirit stones is painful, but it's not a serious blow, and the risk was worth taking.

"However, the Flying Cloud Sword cannot be auctioned at that auction house; it must be retrieved," Chen Li thought, feeling a bit of a headache.

He could indeed send multiple avatars with different appearances to participate in the auction.

But there's no guarantee that the Golden Core cultivator won't see through it.

If they were all captured in one fell swoop, the losses would be enormous.

Moreover, adding an illusionary body requires more effort and carries more risk.

It is not too late.

After thinking it over, Chen immediately went out and rushed to the auction house.

The Flying Cloud Sword can indeed retreat.

However, the item had already been put on the auction list, and returning it at this point would require compensating the auction house for its losses. Moreover, the compensation would be based on half of the item's estimated value, totaling eight high-grade spirit stones. Chen Li had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.

He walked out the door, found a secluded corner, changed his appearance again, and returned to the auction house. He spent a high-grade spirit stone to reserve a private room. Although a private room could not guarantee absolute safety, it was at least much safer than sitting in an open room.

Before the auction even started, Chen Li had already wasted nine high-grade spirit stones.

Fortunately, for Chen Li, who is now wealthy and powerful, this is all small change.

After leaving the house, Chen Li rushed to another large auction house to deliver the Flying Cloud Sword to be auctioned in half a month.

……

A few days later.

Chen Li formed hand seals, his mouth opening and closing silently, and soon he resonated with heaven and earth, his magical power appearing and disappearing.

"Disturbing the Spirit Illusionary Mist Technique"

A vast expanse of illusory mist instantly took shape, centered on itself, covering an area of ​​hundreds of meters in radius.

Inside, thick fog billowed, resembling milk.

Several small birds in the trees, startled, took flight, but as if disturbed by something, they flew around like headless flies, unable to escape the misty area.

This is a domain-type mental spell that releases a special illusory mist area to interfere with the enemy's vision and spiritual sense. Those within it become confused and lose all five senses, as if trapped in a maze. Even the spiritual sense of those at the Foundation Establishment stage is greatly disturbed.

However, Chen Li was completely unaffected by what he was doing.

This fog is essentially an illusion formed by his own spiritual consciousness blending with legal power, rather than a real fog.

The only problem is that, like the Soul-Seizing Technique, this technique cannot be leveled up using an illusionary body; it can only be practiced slowly using the real body. Fortunately, the Soul-Seizing Technique is almost maxed out, so adding another one won't be a burden.

Chen Li practiced for a while, then stopped and took a Guiyuan Pill to restore his spiritual power.

Then he sat cross-legged on a rock, closed his eyes, and focused his attention on the four phantoms outside.

The auction is about to begin.

……

At the entrance to the auction, a long queue of people waited to enter.

Chen Li's illusory body was not in a hurry, and carefully observed from the side.

One, two, three... twelve, thirteen.

With the help of the auspicious and inauspicious warning, Chen Li silently counted. These Golden Core cultivators, who seemed high and mighty in his eyes, were just like most Foundation Establishment cultivators. They were all veiled and had no air of immortality whatsoever. It was somewhat amusing to look at them, but the implications behind it were terrifying to contemplate.

Chen Li patiently waited for the crowd to enter until there was no one left at the door. Only then did he step forward and show his private room number. Soon, a beautiful maid led him through a secret door into the private room. After tea and snacks were served, he had barely sat down when the auction began.

"The Yin-Yang Umbrella, a mid-grade third-tier magic weapon, crafted by Master Wu Yue of the Fire Cloud Sect, combines offense and defense, and can emit yin and yang polar magnetic light... Starting bid is 1,200 high-grade spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than ten stones." "1,300."

"One thousand three hundred and fifty."

……

Scattered shouts could be heard coming from the private rooms on the upper level.

Chen Li's mind was not on this at all.

The other three phantoms, each with a different appearance, began to approach the auction house and took their positions.

Among the many Tier 3 auction items, spirit crystals were considered to be among the most prominent items. Chen Li had only been sitting for less than ten minutes when it was his turn.

"...The starting price is one thousand high-grade spirit stones, and each bid must be at least ten stones."

Chen Li's spirits lifted.

"One thousand one hundred".

"One thousand one hundred and fifty".

……

The price climbed rapidly, reaching 1,350 pieces in no time—the same price as the previous auction—but the bidding continued unabated.

"One thousand three hundred and sixty."

"One thousand three hundred and seventy."

……

Two people seemed to be at odds, and their tempers were clearly flaring.

"One thousand four hundred and fifty," Chen Li said loudly, his heart pounding with nervousness.

His entire savings amounted to only 1535 high-grade spirit stones. He kept the remaining 35 for emergencies, leaving only 1,500 spirit stones in his possession, and the price was already close to his bottom line.

Fortunately, no one else bid.

"One thousand four hundred and fifty, any higher bids?"

"Once, twice, three times, okay, deal!"

Chen Li finally relaxed, but then tensed up again, because the real test had only just begun.

Soon, a male and a female Qi Refining cultivator entered and brought the items for auction.

He opened the brocade box and began to examine it.

The spirit crystal was about the size of a pigeon's egg, and its interior was filled with wisps of smoke, like a cloud of mist. As soon as he held it in his hand, he felt an incomparably pure and rich spiritual energy surge into his illusory body.

"Great stuff, this money was well spent!" Chen Li thought to himself with excitement.

He quickly calmed down, settled the bill, and dared not linger there for even a moment. He left the private room swiftly, but before he even reached the door, a sudden sense of unease arose in his heart, and he thought to himself, "I was indeed being watched."

He tried to remain calm and composed, and continued walking towards the door.

Such auction houses are backed by powerful forces and have intricate connections with the Fire Cloud Sect. He was certain that even if the other party wanted to make a move, they wouldn't dare to do so in this area. He walked out of the door and then continued along the main road, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

The warning signs are growing stronger.

He suppressed the urge to run away and continued forward. A crossroads appeared ahead, and his second illusion emerged from around the corner, brushing past Chen Li's first illusion. The storage bag changed hands instantly, and the second illusion casually disappeared into the crowd.

"No, the warning signs have shifted to this illusory body." Chen Li's heart sank.

Fortunately, he had a contingency plan and came up with a different solution.

The third avatar in the distance immediately took action, found a deserted corner, quickly concealed itself, and headed this way. Under the cover of the crowd, the storage bag was handed over again.

Unfortunately, it still didn't work.

The max-level stealth spell, which had always worked perfectly, suddenly stopped working.

Chen Lixin grew increasingly depressed. He felt that his every move was being watched, and he had no secrets left.

"This person is definitely nearby."