The auction finally entered its final stages.
Lu Tiandu's eyes were drawn to the rare treasures he found, but he dared not bid.
Snow Spirit Water, Skyfire Liquid, Level 4 Monster Materials, Level 5 Demon Pills, Talismans, Copper Essence, Iron Essence, Centennial and Millennium Elixirs, and other rare treasures were all offered. Several late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and Golden Core cultivators were eager to bid, leaving a group of Qi Refining cultivators exclaiming, "What a great fortune!"
The last Dingyan Pill Lu Tiandu had bid for fetched a hefty 1,900 spirit stones, going to a female cultivator in the late-stage Foundation Establishment stage. After confirming the pill's identity with Tianyue Tower, she paid the spirit stones and immediately consumed it,
sparking envy among the many female cultivators observing from behind.
Lu Tiandu had originally planned to leave the auction after acquiring the Purple Lightning Bag, but unexpectedly, so many rare treasures appeared, truly opening his eyes. In the end, he had no choice but to join the crowd.
After wandering around the market for a few rounds and confirming he was unstalked, Lu Tiandu returned to the Stone Pearl World, changed his attire, removed his ethereal bamboo hat, and booked a room at Miaoyu Tower, the best inn in the Yanyue Sect's market.
While most people might immediately return to their clan or sect after a bounty from the auction, Lu Tiandu opted for the opposite approach, planning to stay a few days longer.
He wanted to avoid the large crowds leaving to avoid ambushing and robbing the treasure. With hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators in attendance, he couldn't afford to be careless. He also needed to hand over the proceeds from the Dingyan Pill auction to Tianyue Tower.
Two days later, Lu Tiandu successfully visited Tianyue Tower and, after verifying the ring token and key with the person in charge, received the Dingyan Pill proceeds.
As for the invitation from the two leaders to participate in the grand auction, which would take place every twenty years in five years, Lu Tiandu expressed strong interest.
However, he remained silent on any further details.
After deducting the 10% handling fee, the three Dingyan Pills yielded a total of 5,490 spirit stones, bringing Lu Tiandu's total to 30,000 spirit stones for the first time.
This trip concluded perfectly.
Next, he would head to Spirit Beast Mountain to test an idea he had in mind. Then, he would go to Tainan to meet Han Li and sell talismans to earn some spirit stones. After that, he would head to the Ascension Conference, pick up a ride from a cultivator from Huangfeng Valley, and return to Huangfeng Valley to await the trials in the Blood Forbidden Land.
Everything was going according to plan, and he was filled with joy!
...
Five days had passed since the auction ended. Not only had the flow of people into Tianyue City decreased dramatically, but even the number of idlers lingering outside the market town had decreased significantly.
This time, Lu Tiandu didn't launch a shuttle, but instead wielded his Suifeng Sword towards the nameless mountain cave he had explored upon his arrival.
Over an hour later, as he watched the nameless mountain approach, Lu Tiandu's tense mind finally relaxed.
Despite having a life-saving trump card, the two or three hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators and several Golden Core cultivators still put immense pressure on him. He
could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as Lu Tiandu was flying through a dense forest, the aftermath of a clash of magical weapons startled him, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Oh no! These are Foundation Establishment cultivators fighting!"
Feeling the aftermath of the spiritual energy ripples caused by the battle, Lu Tiandu's face changed.
If he flew straight ahead, he would surely be shot down.
If he were normally running ahead, he could confidently distance himself and escape the battle. But with these people ahead of him, escaping would be difficult.
Furthermore, Lu Tiandu had no idea how many people were fighting on either side; being surrounded would be even more disastrous.
Just as he was debating whether to launch the shuttle and retreat, a beam of light suddenly flew north, right in his direction.
Lu Tiandu's face changed, and he instantly retracted his flying sword, descending straight down.
Just as he was about to land, his figure suddenly vanished.
Lu Tiandu, who had already hidden himself in his gauze cloak, used the dense forest as a backdrop as he drifted southward, thanking the good fortune of wearing the white gauze cloak.
Otherwise, he'd have no choice but to evade the Stone Bead World.
Unless absolutely necessary, Lu Tian wouldn't enter the Stone Bead World from the outside world.
This was due to his low cultivation level. The precious stone bead he'd brought from Earth had only been initially refined and wasn't yet fully his, posing the risk of it being stolen.
Furthermore, because it wasn't full refined, he'd returned to the same spot he'd entered and exited. Fortunately, once he entered the Stone Bead World, the bead's true form would disappear from the void; it would dissolve into a speck of dust.
However, Lu Tian had no idea if someone with a powerful spiritual sense would notice the abnormality of this dust. After all, he didn't even know the spiritual sense limits of a cultivator in the Core Formation or late Foundation Establishment stages, so he had no way to prevent it.
Therefore, he had to be extremely cautious.
"
Zhang, are you really going to kill us all?"
A tall, burly man, clad in a black robe and with several black animal hide bags wrapped around his waist, was now covered in blood, his mouth black. He commanded his shield to protect his entire body, and with resentment, he glared at the two men surrounding him.
He had clearly sensed someone passing by, yet he desperately flew over to pull the man down, only to let him slip away. How despicable...
"Junior Brother Wang, I have no other choice. If you can only hand over the secret of your rapid cultivation advancement over the years, we two might spare your life!"
A portly man, his chest exposed, grinned from behind.
"You joined later than I did, and your talent isn't as good as mine, yet your cultivation has improved so rapidly over the years. I'm truly curious. And, did you already buy the Snow Spirit Water and Sky Fire Liquid at the auction this time?"
The man, toying with a black trident, a flicker of jealousy crossed his eyes as he spoke.
At this moment, he merely cast a magical shield and didn't attack, looking as if he had the man in front of him ready to defeat him.
The tall, burly man's expression grew even uglier. Gritting his teeth, he looked at the other man and said,
"Junior Brother Liu, I've treated you well over the years. I never expected that the one who would finally do this would be the one I trusted the most..."
Junior Brother Liu, of medium build and delicate features, now had a flash of shame on his flushed face.
He spoke with a hint of helplessness, "Senior Brother, I know I owe you a big favor, but... Senior Brother Zhang has even bigger leverage over me, and I was forced into this..."
"If you had just given Senior Brother Zhang what he needed, why would things have come to this?"
Hearing Junior Brother Liu's words, the burly man surnamed Wang felt even colder. He wiped the dark blood from the corner of his mouth with his finger and sneered,
"If I hadn't trusted you and let you get close, could you have attacked me by surprise? With him? Pah..."
"And do you really think your good senior brother would let you leave unharmed after learning my secret?"
"A secret is a secret because it can only be known by one person. Haha... Junior Brother Liu, you're about to die, and you still haven't realized it!" He glared at the handsome man with his large, bell-like eyes.
Hearing Senior Brother Wang's words, the handsome man looked timid, afraid to look directly at him. A hint of alarm crossed his face, and he glanced at the bare-chested Senior Brother Zhang, his thoughts unclear.
"Junior Brother Liu, don't believe these nonsense. The relationship between you and me is incomparable... Junior Brother Wang is deeply poisoned, and death is imminent. We just need to prevent him from being a complete disaster... The promise I made to Junior Brother still stands. I only want that secret, and Junior Brother has everything else..."
Although the bare-chested Senior Brother Zhang despised Junior Brother Liu for betraying his benefactor, he saw the matter was about to be concluded and didn't want to cause any more trouble. He quickly comforted the handsome Junior Brother Liu.
As for the secret being known by both of them, that was easy. Just one of them would have to die.
The fat man sneered in his heart, having already sentenced this Junior Brother Liu to death. Thinking of this Junior Brother Liu's flirtatious Taoist partner, his heart was even more fiery!
(End of this chapter)