Fire Virtue Immortal Clan

Chapter 217 The auction begins

After Lu Cheng'an and the Golden Core cultivator completed the transaction, they each needed to pay a handling fee of 500 spirit stones, and the other party also needed to pay 500 spirit stones.

This means that every time two Golden Core cultivators complete a transaction, True Person Jin Gu will receive one thousand spirit stones.

Don't underestimate this amount. If all Golden Core cultivators traded with many Golden Core cultivators like Lu Cheng'an did, Lu Cheng'an alone would have to pay nearly 10,000 spirit stones.

After Lu Cheng'an completed all the transactions with the other Golden Core cultivators, Master Gu Hong rushed back, fearing that Lu Cheng'an might suddenly leave.

Master Gu Hong brought two high-grade third-tier spiritual flames and one portion of top-grade third-tier fire elemental energy. The value of these three spiritual materials was only comparable to that of the Cold Moon Divine Sand.

After Lu Cheng'an completed his transaction with Master Gu Hong, he did not linger at Jingu Zhai and he and Shi Ningyu quickly left.

"We two really made a splash at the trade fair this time, and we've attracted the attention of many Golden Core cultivators. We need to shake them off as soon as possible!"

Lu Cheng'an secretly communicated with Shi Ningyu, and the distance between them gradually increased. At the same time, the two secretly used the Minor Transformation Technique to slowly change their aura, figure, and facial features.

Lu Cheng'an and Lu Cheng'an have mastered the Minor Transformation Technique to a high level. Unless one is a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage or above, no one can see through their true nature.

Even though it's late at night, the Poison Swamp Immortal City is still bustling with people.

After Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu separated, they blended into the crowd. Relying on their minor supernatural ability, the Minor Shapeshifting Technique, they quickly evaded the cultivators who were tracking them.

Not long after, Lu Chengan and Shi Ningyu returned to the cave they had rented, but it was no longer the same cave they had rented before.

The two of them had made preparations when they entered the Poison Swamp Immortal City, renting three temporary cave dwellings in different locations within the city, with the aim of dealing with the current situation.

"There aren't many kind-hearted Golden Core cultivators in this Poison Swamp Immortal City. The spiritual materials we trade with them all have tracking methods left behind by them!" Lu Cheng'an said angrily.

"Have all the tracking methods they left behind been neutralized?" Shi Ningyu asked, frowning.

"I stored all those materials in the Sky Palace, which was enough to isolate them from all of their tracking. However, Gu Hong and Jin Gu still left tracking methods on me, which took me a lot of effort to dispel, and that's why it took me so much time!"

Both of them were Golden Core cultivators who had lived in the Poison Swamp Immortal City for a long time, so they were naturally not good people.

Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu, with only the early stage of Golden Core cultivation, displayed such a large amount of wealth, which naturally tempted them greatly.

Unfortunately, they were unaware of Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu's strength. Although the tracking device they left on Lu Cheng'an was extremely well hidden, it was still immediately detected by Lu Cheng'an.

Such tracking objects are usually some kind of divine imprint. Lu Cheng'an might not be able to easily dispel them using other methods, but dispelling divine imprints is relatively simple for him.

Although he and Shi Ningyu were at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, their spiritual power was stronger than that of many cultivators at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

Lu Cheng'an was able to dispel the divine imprint left by Jin Gu Zhenren in a short time. However, the difference in cultivation between Gu Hong Zhenren and Lu Cheng'an was too great, and Lu Cheng'an had to expend a lot of effort to dispel the divine imprint left by Gu Hong Zhenren.

This experience also gave Lu Cheng'an a sense of urgency. Once he purchased the treasures that nourished his soul at the auction half a month later, he immediately began to cultivate the Great Sun Soul Refining Technique, a secret technique for cultivating the soul.

The Great Sun Soul Refining Technique is far more powerful than the Void Yang Soul Strengthening Technique; it can rapidly strengthen the soul.

The cultivation process is relatively dangerous, which is why Lu Cheng'an has not yet begun to cultivate this divine soul technique.

“We’ve had a good haul this time, but we’re still missing a lot of materials. We’ll continue to participate in the trade fair among the Golden Core cultivators of Poison Swamp Immortal City. However, we need to split up for the next trade fair; the two of us together would be too conspicuous!” Lu Cheng’an said in a deep voice.

There are many Golden Core cultivators in the Poison Swamp Immortal City, but it is rare for both husband and wife to be Golden Core cultivators.

Fortunately, they have mastered the Lesser Transformation Technique to a high level, so even if they transform into cultivators of the opposite gender, it is difficult for other cultivators to tell the difference.

However, to be on the safe side, it's better for them to act alone, as this will make them a smaller target.

Shi Ningyu naturally had no objections.

After discussing their plans, Lu Cheng'an and Lu Cheng'an first organized their gains from the trade fair, and then left their cave dwellings separately to look for new underground trade fairs to participate in.

The Golden Core cultivators who organize the trade fair in the Poison Swamp Immortal City hope that more Golden Core cultivators will participate in their underground trade fair, as this will bring them more income.

Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu were both Golden Core cultivators. They didn't even need to speak; after revealing their Golden Core cultivation, the cultivators who organized the underground trade fair would take the initiative to invite them.

Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu did not refuse the invitation. During the period when the large-scale auction in Poison Swamp Immortal City was underway, they participated in nearly ten trade fairs.

This brought them great rewards; they had basically collected all the materials needed to refine magical artifacts and cultivate minor supernatural abilities.

During this period, they also used the Minor Transformation Technique to change their identities nearly ten times without revealing their true identities.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and soon there was less than a day left before the start of the grand auction in the Poison Swamp Immortal City.

At this time, both Lu Chengan and Shi Ningyu received invitations to the auction, which included information about the various items to be auctioned.

The materials they are missing will all appear at the auction; these are all materials for crafting magical artifacts.

Although they are relatively rare, their quality is not high, and their starting prices are relatively low.

"This auction in the Poison Swamp Immortal City will be auctioning off more than a dozen Foundation Establishment spiritual items. Should we make a move on these Foundation Establishment spiritual items?" Lu Cheng'an asked with a frown.

They have just obtained a lot of Five Elements Spiritual Fruits, and now the Lu family and Dan Ding Sect are not lacking in Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects.

However, the Lu family and the Dan Ding Sect will definitely flourish in the future, and their demand for Foundation Establishment spiritual items will be huge.

At most, in another ten years, those Foundation Establishment spiritual objects will be completely exhausted.

The mid-grade third-tier Five Elements Spirit Fruit Tree has been successfully transplanted to Crimson Smoke Mountain. Although it survived, it lost a lot of its vital energy and will need several years to recover.

This mid-grade third-tier Five Elements Spiritual Fruit Tree will take thirty years to produce new Five Elements Spiritual Fruits, and the Lu family and the Dan Ding Sect certainly cannot wait that long.

The auction in Poison Swamp Immortal City will now feature over a dozen Foundation Establishment spiritual items, presenting them with an opportunity. Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu are both Golden Core cultivators; their bids for several Foundation Establishment spiritual items will not attract the attention of other Golden Core cultivators.

“Then let’s each bid for two Foundation Establishment spiritual items!” Shi Ningyu said.

There are definitely many Golden Core cultivators in the Poison Swamp Immortal City who are interested in those Foundation Establishment spiritual items. They will stop after bidding on at most two Foundation Establishment spiritual items, otherwise they may arouse the dissatisfaction of other Golden Core cultivators.

Before the auction began, Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu had a serious discussion. After deciding on the items they wanted to bid on, they left the cave and went to another cave he had rented.

A day passed in the blink of an eye, and the large-scale auction held every six months in the Poison Swamp Immortal City took place as scheduled.

The auction house in the Poison Swamp Immortal City is very large; it's a circular auction house, big enough to accommodate thousands of people.

The auction stage is located at the circular center of the auction hall, and rows of seats surround it.

Above these unshaded seats are enclosed rooms, which are also auction venues. Monks can have a panoramic view of the entire auction house from these rooms, making them the best locations in the entire auction house.

These rooms are only accessible to cultivators at the Golden Core stage, and only those Golden Core cultivators with substantial wealth can enter.

Lu Chengan and Shi Ningyu both meet these conditions. They are both extremely wealthy now, even though they have already spent a lot of resources in the previous underground trade fair.

However, all of these were obtained from Ding Heng and his six Golden Core cultivators. They still have a lot left to sell.

After entering the auction house, Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu were led into their respective rooms by the Foundation Establishment attendants.

This time, Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu acted separately as well.

The room wasn't very large, but its interior layout was quite oppressive, and it contained spiritual tea and spiritual fruits.

The servants did not leave the room, but continued to serve there.

Lu Cheng'an did not wait long after entering the room. Only about a quarter of an hour later, a middle-aged man dressed in a gray-white robe appeared on the auction stage in the center of the auction house.

The middle-aged man was tall and thin, but his cultivation level was at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

"Thank you all for attending this auction. I am Li Yufan, also known as the Thousand Poisons True Man!"

The middle-aged man smiled and began by introducing himself.

Upon learning that this person was the master of Poison Swamp Immortal City, Master Qiandu, Lu Cheng'an's face immediately showed a look of surprise, and then his gaze involuntarily fell on Master Qiandu.

In the Poison Swamp Immortal City, there are many Golden Core cultivators like Lu Cheng'an who have only heard of the name of the Thousand Poison True Man but have never actually seen him.

At the auction, after introducing himself, Master Qiandu solemnly explained the auction rules.

One of the key points he emphasized was fair competition; one cannot use force to suppress others, otherwise he would personally take action to settle scores.

Although Master Qiandu's cultivation level was at the Golden Core Perfection stage, in the Poison Swamp Immortal City, he was able to exert combat power no weaker than that of a Nascent Soul early stage cultivator.

Therefore, his words carried great weight, and he was also an extremely ruthless person.

If any cultivator dares to openly violate the auction rules, he really will kill them!
After explaining the rules of the auction, Master Qiandu did not waste any more time and directly took out the first item for the auction.

"The first item in this auction is a low-grade third-tier Golden Core. I believe many fellow cultivators have come for this item. The starting price is 100,000 spirit stones, and each bid must be at least 1,000 spirit stones higher. Bidding will now begin!"

The moment Master Qiandu finished speaking, a chorus of bids erupted in the auction hall.

Because Master Qiandu was right, many of the cultivators who came to the auction were there for Core Formation artifacts.

However, those bidding so far are all Foundation Establishment cultivators sitting outside; the Golden Core cultivators who are interested in this Golden Core have not yet made a bid.

A spiritual object that has reached the Core Formation stage has a high chance of creating a cultivator at the Golden Core stage, which shows its value.

Therefore, in less than a short while, the price of the Golden Core Pill skyrocketed from the starting price of 100,000 spirit stones to 200,000, doubling in value.

At this point, the bidding from the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the auction hall outside decreased significantly, while the Golden Core cultivators only began to exert their strength at this time.

Golden Core cultivators are far wealthier than Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the first Golden Core cultivator to bid directly increased his offer by 10,000 spirit stones.

However, this can only scare away cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, but not those at the Golden Core stage.

After the Golden Core cultivators participated in the bidding, they quickly raised the price of the Golden Core Formation stage from 200,000 spirit stones to 300,000, and the final transaction price was 340,000!
Lu Cheng'an was slightly taken aback; he hadn't expected that a Golden Core cultivator would fetch such an astronomical price.

If he hadn't obtained a Core Formation item by relying on Shi Ningyu during his breakthrough, given the Lu family's circumstances, it would have been virtually impossible for them to help him acquire such an item!
The first Golden Core pill instantly ignited the entire auction. After the auction of that Golden Core pill ended, Master Qiandu immediately brought out the second item for auction.

That was a high-grade third-tier defensive magic weapon, which was also an extremely precious treasure!

After Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu broke through to the Golden Core realm, they never had to worry about third-tier magic weapons, but that was because they were both very fortunate.

However, most Golden Core cultivators are severely lacking in third-tier magic weapons, especially third-tier defensive magic weapons.

Therefore, when Master Qiandu took out that third-grade high-quality defensive item, it immediately attracted the attention of all the Golden Core cultivators in the auction house.

The value of a third-grade high-quality defensive magic weapon is also very high. Its starting price was as high as 150,000 spirit stones, and by the end of the auction, the final price had risen to 480,000 spirit stones, which was more than 100,000 spirit stones higher than that Golden Core pill.

Lu Cheng'an was quite tempted after seeing it, but he did not think he had made a mistake in his previous decision and did not sell the extra third-tier magic weapon in the Poison Swamp Immortal City.

This decision was contrary to their thoughts before entering the Poison Swamp Immortal City. He made this decision now because he had witnessed the dangers of the Poison Swamp Immortal City.

If he were to unleash so many third-tier magical artifacts at once, he would certainly not be able to leave the Poison Swamp Immortal City smoothly.

(End of this chapter)