Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 336 The Arrival of the Venerable One
The three major families of the Sishui Chamber of Commerce are the Yuan family, the Hao family, and the Jia family.

Hundreds of years ago, the Sishui Chamber of Commerce was tricked due to poor management. The Chamber went bankrupt, sold off its ancestral land, and fell apart. In the end, Grandpa Jade Flute Master led his lineage to the Tiancang Domain to start over.

Meanwhile, the Hao and Jia families remained in the Wanshang Domain, barely surviving.

Until a hundred years ago, Master Yuxiao, relying on his accumulated wealth in the Tiancang Domain, finally returned and repurchased his ancestors' property by taking advantage of the war in the central region.

During the return journey, both the Hao and Jia families played crucial roles.

Therefore, True Man Yuxiao fulfilled the promise of his ancestors and maintained the three-family co-governance model.

"Thank you for your concern, Chairman Jia. This is my first time attending such a grand event. I'm more curious than anything else, and I don't have any particular goals for the time being," Li Ji'an replied with a smile.

Having been in Wanshangyu for five years, he had basically no interaction with other people in the Sishui Chamber of Commerce, and he quite enjoyed this situation.

"Over the years, I, Jia, have been busy preparing for this grand auction and haven't had much time to care for the elders in the association. I've finally had some free time these past two days, and I'm sorry to have troubled Elder Huang." Jia Yuanqing suddenly bowed solemnly to Li Ji'an.

Li Ji'an's heart stirred slightly, and he looked at the other party with some surprise.

"To be honest, I only learned about Elder Huang's situation over the past five years in the last few days. I thought that you had inherited the master's teachings and should have been able to achieve great things, but I never expected..." Jia Yuanqing sighed and shook his head again, looking guilty.

Sure enough, the gang was full of all sorts of strange and eccentric members.

Li Ji'an chuckled inwardly.

It is unclear whether the ambition stems from the enormous potential of the qualification to host this auction, or whether they have been holding back all along.

“President Jia misunderstands. Mr. Huang is naturally undisciplined and too lazy. He really has no great ambitions. That’s why I like him so much.” Li Ji’an decisively rejected his attempts to win him over.

He was already very content to have such a third-tier independent training ground in the Wanshang Domain, where he could cultivate undisturbed, and he had no desire to get involved in these power struggles.

"Oh? Hehe, Elder Huang still doesn't trust me, does he? It's alright, time will tell." Jia Yuanqing shook his head and smiled.

The fact that he took the initiative to seek out Li Ji'an today was naturally because he had observed for five years and confirmed that Jade Flute Master and Li Ji'an were genuinely at odds, and not just putting on an act.

At the same time, through the manager of Sishui Tower, he confirmed Li Ji'an's expectations for high-grade talisman materials.

A talisman master who desires high-grade talisman materials is naturally someone who aspires to further improve his skills in the talismanic arts. How could he be content with his lot as he claims?

Li Ji'an ignored him and turned back to focus on the auction items.

On the first day alone, the items up for auction had already impressed Li Ji'an.

Second-tier offensive spirit talismans are all auctioned in sets.

The chessboard formation capable of trapping a Core Formation cultivator was also set up without any hesitation.

High-quality magical treasures appeared frequently. After a sixth-grade magical treasure was successfully auctioned, the person in charge revealed in public that a third-grade magical treasure, which could only be fully unleashed by a Nascent Soul True Monarch, would be auctioned on the last day, arousing the curiosity of countless people.

……

These spiritual resources would never appear before the public in the Heavenly Azure Domain, since they were all entities that posed a threat to the rule of the upper sects.

Similarly, if it were obtained by a thief, it would pose a great threat to the safety of cultivators within the domain.

Unfortunately, after waiting for several days, not a single spiritual material was auctioned off. Apart from a few early-stage third-tier spiritual herbs, almost all the items were finished products.

Li Ji'an wasn't in a hurry; he just considered it an opportunity to broaden his horizons.

Moreover, the quality of the items auctioned at the later stages is also higher.

There are very few rune masters in the entire Wanshang Domain who are confident in drawing rune materials similar to those in the mid-to-late stages of the third tier. There must be some.

Twenty days later, a demon core of a mid-stage Tier 3 saber-toothed beast appeared at the auction, finally kicking off the high-level auction of this year's event.

A mid-stage third-tier demon is comparable to a mid-stage True Core cultivator in the human race. Even a Core Formation cultivator might not be confident in killing it, especially since it can prevent the demon from having the chance to self-destruct its demon core.

Normally, these demon cores are traded from Nascent Soul True Monarchs in the Central Ten Domains by the Wanshang Domain.

Demon cores can be used in medicine and weapon crafting. They are also a key material for many beast cores and are essential resources for the survival of the fittest in the demon beast world, where the strong devour each other to improve their strength. They are very attractive to demon beasts of the same level.

However, very few people in the entire Wanshang Domain have the resources to use demon cores of this rank.

When Li Ji'an saw the demon core, he also considered buying one for Guagua to help him recover.

Unfortunately, the attributes of this demon core are incompatible with Guagua.

Ultimately, this demon core was obtained by an old man in hiding, who defeated the Fierce Tiger Merchant Guild's offer with 150,000 spirit stones plus a third-tier hermit's hide.

This process also caused quite a stir.

Everyone paid special attention to the old man who had concealed his identity, speculating about his identity and the purpose of using the demon core.

However, I wasn't particularly surprised.

The Wanshang Domain places great importance on personal privacy. No matter which immortal city it is, no one will deliberately pry into the privacy of others. Therefore, there are many reclusive masters in this domain.

Moreover, this grand auction is renowned throughout the cultivation world of Daze, and many mysterious people from other regions come here.

After the mid-stage third-tier demon core, the addition of a late-stage third-tier longevity peach brought a small climax to this auction.

Whether in the mortal world or the cultivation world, treasures that extend lifespan are always highly sought after.

Even without refining it into a high-level third-tier longevity pill, a longevity peach at the late stage of the third tier can still extend one's lifespan by more than thirty years.

If one can refine a high-grade third-tier longevity pill, a fine one at that, it can extend one's lifespan by at least fifty years.

This is extremely attractive to old folks who don't have much time left to live.

Wu Yishan of the Jinhua Chamber of Commerce was the most excited this time, showing a determined attitude.

He had already taken too many first-, second-, and even early and mid-stage third-tier longevity pills, so they could no longer extend his lifespan. Only the advanced third-tier longevity pills were still effective.

In the end, this high-grade third-tier longevity peach was auctioned off for a sky-high price of 300,000 spirit stones.

Only in the Wanshang Domain can such a premium be found; if it were placed in the Tiancang Domain, it would be worth at most 100,000 spirit stones.

After Wu Yishan won the bid for the longevity peach, he immediately offered a reward on the auction stage to a third-level advanced alchemist, as long as he could guarantee two genuine third-level advanced longevity pills.

Two high-grade third-tier longevity pills, even if they are genuine, can extend one's lifespan by sixty years.

The remuneration they offered was also quite substantial, which tempted Li Ji'an.

Unfortunately, his divine sense had not yet broken through to the late stage of Core Formation, and the little fire spirit's inner fire was still somewhat insufficient to compare with the inner fire of a Core Formation master, so he was willing but powerless.

However, when Wu Yishan won the bid for the longevity peach, Li Ji'an inadvertently caught a glimpse of the expressions of Wu Chengzhi, Wu Yehua, and Wu Miaozhen in the Jinhua Chamber of Commerce's private room, and they all seemed unhappy.

Perhaps Wu Yishan's process of refining the longevity elixir will not be too smooth.

After the high-grade third-tier longevity peaches created a small sensation, high-grade spiritual materials began to appear one after another.

Almost all of them are precious materials that even the master craftsmen of the business alliance themselves would find difficult to consume.

The most eye-catching piece is a piece of serpentine purple gold that has clearly been forged in the mid-stage of the third tier.

Although it is only at the mid-stage of the third rank, it can be used as the main material for crafting mid-grade three magic weapons. However, the crafting difficulty is very high, and it is difficult for anyone other than a high-level third-rank weapon refiner to succeed.

With only five days left until the final auction, Li Ji'an finally saw a high-grade talisman material that he needed.

The talisman paper was made from the root of half of the Icefield Fire Mulberry.

It was also partially used, probably because it failed, so the remaining half was used to recover losses.

The root bark of the Icefield Fire Mulberry is an absolute Tier 3 high-grade talisman material. Moreover, due to its dual ice and fire attributes, it is the best material for drawing Tier 3 high-grade ice and fire dual-heaven spirit talismans.

Of course, because it is filled with both ice and fire attributes, it requires a high level of skill from the talisman master.

Most talisman masters would downgrade their level in order to attempt to draw a third-tier intermediate ice and fire talisman.

Because it's only half a piece, the starting bid is relatively low.

"Ten thousand," Li Ji'an immediately offered.

However, before he could bid again, the price was quickly raised to 50,000.

"Elder Huang, if you are short of spirit stones, I do have some spare spirit stones." After Jade Flute Master left temporarily, Jia Yuanqing spoke again.

“Thank you, Chairman Jia, but I do have some spirit stones left.” Li Ji’an refused again. Jia Yuanqing was slightly taken aback, then glanced at the item whose price had been raised by another five thousand spirit stones, and chuckled to himself.

Li Ji'an has been with the Sishui Chamber of Commerce for five years. Apart from the title of guest elder and an annual salary of three thousand spirit stones, he has received almost no additional income.

Since he had stopped accepting talisman-making tasks long ago, he only received the salary of three thousand spirit stones for three months.

Besides that, all he knew was that Master Yuxiao had paid him 10,000 spirit stones to secretly contact Liu Qingyun at the Jinhua Chamber of Commerce.

Most importantly, Jia Yuanqing knew that he came from the Tiancang Domain, and he also knew the value of a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the Tiancang Domain.

Let alone 50,000 spirit stones, even tens of thousands of spirit stones would be an astronomical figure for them.

After waiting a moment and seeing that the atmosphere among the bidders had cooled down, Li Ji'an raised his bid again: "Sixty-six thousand."

Jia Yuanqing was secretly surprised.

He didn't think Li Ji'an was unaware of the rules of the auction, so the fact that he could call out such a price proved that he must have that kind of wealth.

"Could it be that Yuxiao secretly provided financial assistance?"

"Eighty thousand!" Just as I was wondering, Li Ji'an called out the price again.

This time, Li Ji'an finally acquired his first high-grade talisman material with 80,000 spirit stones.

Jia Yuanqing watched as the maid brought up the talisman materials, and Li Ji'an paid the corresponding spirit stones in person.

"You really did provide financial assistance! Eighty thousand spirit stones is no small sum. You've certainly got a generous hand!" His eyes narrowed slightly, and he decided to go back and thoroughly investigate the Chamber of Commerce's accounts.

However, before he could calm down, Li Ji'an saw a second talisman material.

This time, it was a flawless early-stage third-tier fire-type demon beast hide, which Li Ji'an acquired for 50,000 spirit stones.

The fact that 130,000 spirit stones were spent in the blink of an eye shocked Jia Yuanqing even more, and he was almost convinced that it was the secret assistance from Master Yuxiao.

His desire to win over Li Ji'an vanished instantly, and he identified Li Ji'an as a member of the Jade Flute Immortal's faction.

In the following days, no more high-level talisman materials appeared, but several main materials for Crystal Condensation Pills did.

One of the fragments was among the items Li Ji'an traded to the Liehu Chamber of Commerce, but Li Ji'an did not bid for it.

As expected, the Fierce Tiger Chamber of Commerce won the bid at any cost.

The remaining few plants that were not on the debris were taken by Li Ji'an's security department.

The final day of this auction is fast approaching.

As is customary, the last day is always the day with the most anticipated items, so everyone's expectations are heightened on this day.

As expected, the first item up for auction that day shocked everyone present.

"This item was unexpectedly acquired by our merchant alliance from a small cultivation domain in the southeast. It may look like just an insect net, but it is an indisputable Dao artifact."

"With just a little magic power, the opponent can be bound instantly."

"No matter how high their cultivation level or how strong their physique, once they are bound by this insect net, there is absolutely no chance of escape!"

……

As the person in charge took out a net of insects that appeared to have no spiritual energy fluctuations, everyone knew that it must be a Dao artifact.

In the Wanshang Domain, everyone is familiar with Dao artifacts, and some people have even compiled a list of known artifacts.

Moreover, the use and effects of Dao artifacts are basically common knowledge.

However, when the person in charge explained the effectiveness of the insect net, a burst of amazement still erupted from the audience.

"It can be activated with just a little magic power?"

"Is there a limit to the opponent's cultivation level?"

"What about the backlash?"

……

As soon as the person in charge finished his introduction, people began to ask questions.

"Please be patient, everyone, and let me demonstrate for you."

After the person in charge finished speaking, a fake alchemist walked onto the stage.

"Go!" A faint trace of magic flowed from the elder's fingertips, and the insect net wrapped around the other party without any trace or delay.

The fake Core cultivator then unleashed his maximum power on the spot, trying to break free, but no matter how he tried to activate it, the insect net remained completely still.

He himself was also unable to move an inch from the spot.

"Wow~ It's truly a treasure!" The audience was thrilled by the results.

"However..." Seeing that the atmosphere had reached its peak, the person in charge finally brought a turning point.

"However, this Dao artifact is only effective against opponents whose cultivation level is lower than yours."

"Moreover, it only depends on cultivation level. If you are in the late stage of Foundation Establishment and the other party is in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, then it will definitely be a binding force. However, if you are in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment and the other party is in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, then it will not work."

"As for the backlash, once the insect web binds the opponent, their movements will become slow if they are not in contact for a long time." The person in charge explained it clearly in one go.

"Can it only be used on those with lower cultivation levels than oneself?"

"Heh~ If the opponent's cultivation level is lower than mine, why would I need to use this item?"

"The backlash is significantly more severe compared to other Dao artifacts."

……

For a moment, many people in the hall shook their heads in disappointment.

"That's not right. This insect net only considers cultivation level, not combat strength. You are only at the Pseudo-Core stage, but what if you were to face Lei Qianchuan of the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce?" However, some people could see the extraordinary nature of this thing.

Upon hearing this, the man suddenly realized: "That's right. If I were to face a prodigy like Lei Qianchuan, I would undoubtedly be defeated. But if I had this item, even if Lei Qianchuan were exceptionally talented, his cultivation level would be inferior to mine, making it difficult for him to break free!"

"It truly is a treasure for preventing attacks from being of a higher level!"

……

After understanding the purpose of this artifact, Li Ji'an was also somewhat tempted.

But after thinking about it, it seemed to be of little use to him. He was now in his third life in the cultivation world. With the accumulation of his previous two lives, he could not only defeat those of the same level, but also those who were at the false core stage. He also had trump cards to deal with those who were at the early stage of the true core stage.

Moreover, the further he goes, the more profound his past life's foundation becomes, so he no longer needs such a treasure that uses cultivation to suppress others.

Of course, this isn't something he can just take on at will.

After the person in charge finished the introduction, the bidding started one after another, and soon the price was driven up to the sky-high price of 100,000 spirit stones.

Of all the Dao artifacts that have appeared in the Great Swamp Cultivation Realm, almost none of them are beneficial to cultivation. Most of them are auxiliary in nature and contain certain laws of power.

This is also why cultivators in this world believe that Dao artifacts were formed from fragments of Dao principles after the collapse of the ancient heavens.

"150,000 spirit stones!" Just as the competition in the arena was fierce, a faint and distant voice suddenly came from the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce's private room, accompanied by the pressure of a Core Formation cultivator.

"Not Master Tong."

"The Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce has sent yet another esteemed figure to oversee things. Could it be that they invited him from the Ten Central Regions to provide protection and support for this auction?"

"A Core Formation cultivator is actually interested in this kind of Dao artifact?"

……

Amidst the lively discussion at the scene, Li Ji'an felt a sudden tightness in his chest.

Because he was familiar with that voice!

(End of this chapter)