A useless person with five spiritual roots? I sacrificed the proud daughter of heaven.

I wonder how my mother is doing now...

As Sheng He was lost in thought, a withered, wrinkled hand suddenly blocked his way.

"Young lady, I can see you're a cultivator too. I have a treasure here, the Void Soil! I personally dug it up from the far north, it's guaranteed to be genuine! I'll give you a discount if you want it."

Upon hearing the words "Tai Xu Tu," Sheng He instantly snapped back to reality.

The Taixu Soil is buried deep in the far north and is a treasure for refining earth spirit roots. In her previous life, she went to the far north to search for it but failed and returned empty-handed. She never expected to encounter it in this market.

Before Sheng He could even feel happy, he glanced at the old man in front of him, and his heart sank to the bottom again.

The old man in front of her was about seventy or eighty years old, with a full head of white hair and cloudy eyes looking at her with a fawning smile on his face. In this late autumn, the old man was only wearing a linen shirt.

Most importantly, there was no spiritual energy emanating from this old man.

It should be noted that the far north is covered in ice and snow all year round and is sparsely populated. Even ordinary cultivators cannot stay in the far north for long, let alone an old man like him.

Sheng He then looked at the handful of black soil that the old man was holding in front of him. It looked ordinary, and although there were traces of earth elements attached to it, it was definitely not Taixu soil.

Sheng He originally wanted to refuse the old man directly, but for some reason, she thought of her mother and what would happen if she died or something happened to her.

When Mother gets old, will she also be like this, wearing only a thin shirt in the cold late autumn, forcing a smile, just to fill her stomach?

Sheng He took out a silver ingot from his sleeve: "Is this enough? Buy all your Taixu Soil."

"Enough! Enough! We don't need so much. Fairy, wait for me. I'll go exchange some loose silver."

The old man carefully wrapped the Taixu Soil in a clean handkerchief and handed it to Sheng He.

"Don't worry, fairy. My husband embroidered this handkerchief. I washed it with clean water before I left home. It's guaranteed to be clean."

After the old man finished speaking, he took the silver and jogged into the crowd.

Sheng He looked at the handkerchief in her hand. It was embroidered with the cheapest white gauze, and the orchids on the handkerchief were blooming crookedly.

"Young lady, you've been fooled by that old man!"

A young monk rushed over, holding a handkerchief similar to the one in Sheng He's hand. Seeing that the old man had already run away, he angrily threw the black soil in his hand on the ground.

"What 'Primordial Void Soil'? I just had it appraised, and it's just ordinary black soil! I don't know what method this old man used to add some spiritual energy to it, and he actually dares to sell it as 'Primordial Void Soil'!"

Seeing that Sheng He's expression didn't change, the young cultivator pointed at the old man's back and said, "You've really lost out. Believe it or not, that old man will definitely not come back!"

Sheng He put the black soil into his storage ring, looked up at the young cultivator, and smiled, "How much did you spend? I'll compensate you for him."

The young cultivator frowned as he looked at Sheng He. He had never seen anyone in the world willing to pay money out of their own pocket. Could it be that there was something mysterious about this black soil?

The young cultivator glanced at the scattered black soil, then at Sheng He, and finally waved his hand impatiently.

"Forget it, it's just a matter of a few strings of cash. Consider it my good deed."

After the young monk finished speaking, he carefully picked up the black soil from the ground with his handkerchief and muttered to himself, "I paid for this anyway, so I can't waste it."

Sheng He chuckled lightly, looked away from the young cultivator, and turned to leave.

In fact, she didn't care whether the old man would come back or whether she had been scammed.

She just hoped that in a couple of days, when the weather would get colder, the old man would have a couple more layers of clothing.

It was still early, and Sheng He strolled leisurely through the city, occasionally buying some novel foods to try.

It wasn't until almost midnight that Sheng He straightened his clothes and headed towards Miaoxiang Tower.

Miaoxianglou is the largest restaurant in Cangshan City. It is said that the owner of Miaoxianglou cleared out the entire top floor to use as a venue for the Wanbao Auction House auction.

When Sheng He arrived, a long queue had already formed in front of Miaoxianglou.

Sheng He searched carefully and found no trace of Mu Yao and Yun Qianshan, guessing that they had long forgotten about it.

Sheng He didn't hesitate. After paying a mid-grade spirit stone as the entrance fee, he casually found a seat and sat down.

The auction had not yet started, but many people had already arrived at the venue. Sheng He immediately spotted Zhao Yanran and Chu Heng sitting a few rows in front of her and perked up.

Because the entrance fee was too high, and the amount of spirit stones she could receive each month was not much, Sheng He did not participate in this auction in her previous life, but she remembered that Zhao Yanran did participate.

Moreover, after returning from the auction, Zhao Yanran's cultivation level suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds, directly breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, becoming the fastest Foundation Establishment disciple in the history of the Qingyun Sect.

Excluding other reasons, the most likely explanation is that Zhao Yanran obtained some kind of opportunity at this auction.

As more and more people gathered, the doors to the venue slowly closed as soft music began to play.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the auction at Wanbao Auction House. I am Xu Ze, the auctioneer for this auction."

"Once the auction begins, I will announce the starting price. If you are interested in the item, you can place your bid directly. The transaction will be successful when the highest bid is received and no one else raises the price."

"Please note that all payments must be settled in full on-site at this auction. Otherwise, Wanbao Auction House reserves the right to permanently refuse to cooperate with you. Therefore, please bid carefully. Finally, we hope that everyone present will be able to bid for their favorite items. Good luck."

On stage, after a man wearing a dark blue robe and a half-face rabbit mask finished explaining the auction rules, the room gradually quieted down.

"Next, please welcome our first item for auction."

Xu Ze waved his hand, and a wolf demon slowly walked up carrying a tray in both hands, immediately eliciting a murmur of whispers from the crowd.

"Wolf demon!"

"Is this a wolf demon? How could a wolf demon be here?"

"Is this your first time attending an auction held by Wanbao Auction House? This is a wolf demon raised by Wanbao Auction House itself, specifically to deal with cultivators who can't afford to pay their bills."

"How dare they? This place is near the Qingyun Sect!"

"What's wrong with the Qingyun Sect? Paying back debts is a matter of course. These wolf demons haven't been released to hurt people at will. Even the Qingyun Sect turns a blind eye to it."

……

The audience murmured amongst themselves, but Xu Ze remained silent with a smile throughout.

By the time everyone realized something was wrong, several wolf demons had already taken up positions in various corners of the venue, their emerald green eyes fixed on the cultivators who were speaking, as if they had found prey.