Steady Mortal Path: Starting from Obtaining the Golden Core Inheritance

The room quickly quieted down after the woman announced the start of the auction.

A young maidservant presented the first treasure of the auction on a tray.

It is a mid-grade first-tier flying magic artifact.

Flying magical artifacts have always been rare and difficult to forge.

The price will be one level higher than other magical artifacts of the same tier.

This can be considered an appetizer for the auction.

After the female host finished her introduction, several small families made bids one after another, and the prize was eventually won by a family cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Condensation.

Then, the auction gradually got on track.

Various magical artifacts, elixirs, spirit insects, and spirit beasts were auctioned off one after another.

Perhaps influenced by the generations of beast-taming in the Nangong family, the practice of beast taming is prevalent here, with nearly a third of the items in the auction being related to beast taming.

Lin Changsheng also intervened midway, purchasing several spiritual items that could enhance the cultivation of demonic insects and birds.

Midway through the auction, a special item caught Lin Changsheng's attention.

A fragmented legacy of a second-tier puppeteer.

"The owner of this incomplete second-tier puppet inheritance item wishes to exchange it for any first-tier inheritance such as alchemy, weapon crafting, talisman master, or array master. Interested parties may later negotiate the details with the owner under the supervision of this Chamber of Commerce."

The woman's clear, sweet voice slowly explained the owner's requirements for the item.

"A fragmented second-tier puppeteer's legacy? It's really hard to estimate its value."

"That's right. How incomplete is it? There's no specific description! If it's just a 'quasi-second-tier' puppeteer's inheritance, it's not even as good as a complete first-tier mainstream crafts like alchemy, weapon crafting, array formation, and talisman crafts."

"That's true. Puppetry is easy to learn but difficult to master. Most puppeteers can only produce low to medium-grade puppets after years of study. Moreover, they are expensive and easily damaged, which is far less cost-effective than using the same resources to cultivate spirit beasts."

Since the master of the inheritance required a barter system, the rogue cultivators present lost interest in it.

Those who could speak up and discuss were basically the 'craftsmen' in the front row, as well as members of cultivation families.

However, the other party made it clear that they would only exchange the inheritance of four skills: alchemy, weapon crafting, array formation, and talisman crafting.

Today, we are able to sit here with artisans who possess one of the four types of traditional crafts, and almost all of them have made significant achievements in their respective fields.

After a moment's consideration, everyone abandoned the idea.

While this second-tier inheritance is tempting, the art of puppetry is not among the mainstream of the myriad arts of cultivation.

In addition, since Thousand Crane Immortal City is within the sphere of influence of the Nangong family, the practice of beast taming is prevalent, making it even more difficult for the art of puppetry to spread in this place.

It's not worth sacrificing the inheritance of four mainstream crafts—alchemy, weapon crafting, array formation, and talisman crafting—for a worthless second-tier inheritance that's neither worthwhile nor easy to discard. It might even create competitors for the future.

The remaining family cultivators were interested in obtaining this second-tier puppet inheritance so that it could be passed down within their families.

Unfortunately, these small families do not have the four mainstream crafts of alchemy, weapon crafting, array formation, and talisman making passed down.

They could only look on with envy and sigh.

"The owner of this item said that if any fellow cultivator is willing to exchange it, he is willing to subsidize some of the rare Tier 1 materials."

Seeing that no one responded and the second-tier puppet inheritance was about to go unsold, a maid hurriedly stepped forward and whispered a few words in the ear of the woman in charge.

Upon hearing this, the latter added again.

Upon hearing this, Lin Changsheng pondered for a long time before raising his hand to sign up.

"My name is Lin Changsheng, and I am a talisman maker at the 'Lin Family Medical Talisman' shop in the north of the city."

Amidst the gradually quieting scene, a calm voice rang out, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"So he's the owner of the 'Lin Family Medical Talisman' in the north of the city?"

"Hmph, it seems this person has gotten used to the smooth sailing of his talisman business, which has made him unable to see the situation in the city. His time and effort in cultivating the art of puppetry is wasted, and he has also been leaking his own talisman master heritage and cultivating competitors."

"Is that Lin, the talisman master who made the 'Rejuvenation Talisman'? I must get to know him later."

The onlookers, including independent cultivators, fellow artisans, and members of cultivation families, all had their own opinions about Lin Changsheng.

"Alright, Master Lin has volunteered. After the auction ends, someone will take Master Lin to meet with the owner of the auctioned item. The owner has just promised that he will not let the fellow Daoist who agrees to the exchange suffer a loss."

Upon seeing someone sign up, the woman smiled sweetly and spoke to Lin Changsheng in a soft, gentle voice.

Lin Changsheng nodded without saying anything more.

The "Rejuvenation Talisman" and "Rejuvenation Talisman" that are now displayed in his shop are actually made using the same method as other similar talismans.

The core essence is still the magic power of the "Eternal Spring of the Withered Tree" and the insights gained from triggering the "Heaven Rewards Diligence" effect after countless talisman-making attempts.

The leakage of a mere ordinary first-tier rune master's inheritance would not impact his business.

On the contrary, although his main cultivation technique was miraculous, he was ultimately not good at combat and lacked supporting offensive and defensive methods.

Therefore, for Lin Changsheng, the more means that could increase his chances of survival, the better.

Even without the memories and experience of the 'Heavenly Poison Master', mastering these inheritances would not be difficult for him, given his talent of 'Heaven rewards diligence'.

In the following period, Lin Changsheng also purchased some rare Tier 1 Body Tempering Spiritual Items.

Among Qi Condensation cultivators, very few are willing to spend a lot of money to cultivate their bodies as well.

Firstly, most independent cultivators have almost no spare resources outside of their daily cultivation.

Secondly, the cost of tempering the physical body is too high, and the results are not worthwhile compared to the resources spent.

If the goal is simply to improve protection methods, there are many other more cost-effective approaches.

Only a small number of Foundation Establishment cultivators, who have a little extra money, will consider cultivating some physical tempering techniques as well.

Therefore, Lin Changsheng faced little competition in purchasing these body-tempering spiritual items.

The second half of the auction gradually reached its climax.

Two 'Foundation Building Spiritual Items' were produced.

They are a 'Heart-Nourishing Pill' and a 'Mind-Calming Incense'.

Although they are called Foundation Establishment spiritual items, in reality, these two items are not as effective as Foundation Establishment Pills in helping cultivators break through to the Foundation Establishment realm.

But who can blame them when the Qi Condensation cultivators are the most numerous?

Anything related to the word 'foundation building' will command a high price.

A single Heart-Nourishing Pill was eventually auctioned off for nearly nine hundred spirit stones.

Lin Changsheng also made a bid midway through, but the crowd was too enthusiastic about the 'Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object', so he gave up after some consideration.

On the contrary, the calming incense has the effect of calming the mind and making it less likely to have distracting thoughts. It is a means of breaking through to the second half of the Foundation Establishment stage and fighting against inner demons.

Although rare, they occasionally appear on the market and are not uncommon.

Lin Changsheng readily agreed and spent over four hundred spirit stones to acquire it.

Just when Lin Changsheng thought the auction was about to end, an item appeared that greatly surprised him.

In a jade box lined with exquisite silk, there was a handful of gray sand.

"That's Illusionary Heart Sand!"

Lin Changsheng, who had been somewhat nonchalant, felt a sudden jolt in his heart when he saw what was inside the jade box.