Promise!

Chapter 234, Explosion

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the annual state-level Class B auction was held at the Zhaixing Tower, which was under the jurisdiction of the Xuantian Division.

Tonight, the stars shine brightly, and the starlight is transformed into a celestial canopy by the Hanging Mirror, slowly rotating. The Star-Picking Tower is also cleverly designed, with seven floors spanning this celestial canopy. All the stars in the sky pass through the walls and fall into the tower. Being here, surrounded by stars, is an incredibly dreamlike experience.

The auction stage is in the center of the seventh floor, with seats spiraling upwards, and the topmost seats are the private rooms for the Venerable Ones.

When Mu Bai arrived for the first time, he was so excited that he was like a country bumpkin. He subconsciously reached out to touch the floating stars around him and found it extremely magical. When he touched them, the stars scattered, and when he raised his hand away, they gathered again. Like a child seeing a new toy, he played with them for a while with great interest. When Yan Xiuxian looked at him, he was embarrassed and coughed twice to cover it up.

Yan Xiuxian, being understanding, came to his rescue, saying, "Although I come from a second-rate family in the city, this is my first time visiting the third floor of the Star-Picking Tower. Everything is new and exciting!"

"Haha, what a coincidence, this is my first time too. To be honest, I was able to come here thanks to my brother-in-law."

Mu Bai then invited the other party in, saying, "Miss Xiuxian, please have a seat."

Yan Xiuxian glanced at Mu Bai, thanked him, and sat down. Mu Bai had some connection with Zhuang Jin, and as a concubine's daughter from a second-rate family, she didn't think he was unworthy of her.

However, when my family encountered difficulties back then, we sought help from the Ascension Pavilion... This matter is not easy to talk about, but if we don't talk about it, we are worried that it will leave a bad impression.

……

Ji Gongji from the Ji family and Teng Zushou from the Teng family also arrived and sat in the front row.

This area is mostly occupied by top-tier families, and is home to many martial artists from the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

However, those who managed to get an invitation and sit here all have their own connections. No one is rude or looks down on anyone. They greet each other and often exchange name cards.

Everywhere you look, there are martial artists at the Nascent Soul stage, dressed in fine clothes. They are all prominent figures in the city, truly a place where "no commoners are seen."

……

Zhuang Jin naturally attended today's auction.

Four people also came from the small circle: Cen Zhanshan, Hong Baoshu, He Zhaoyi, and Bi Boyi, some for themselves, some for their families, and some to broaden their horizons like Zhuang Jin.

Feng Qingyin, Min Zhongmin, and Leng Kui had already witnessed this many times before. They didn't have anything to auction, or rather, they knew they couldn't afford to bid for what they truly needed, so they didn't come.

"Brother Bi, let's go our separate ways!" With the auction time approaching, Zhuang Jin bid farewell to Bi Boyi, who had come with him, and entered his private room.

……

The auction began soon, and the host, Zhuang Jin, recognized Yu Linglong, the owner of Tongfu Teahouse. Today, she was dressed in a fiery red dress, making her even more beautiful than the dress itself, like a blooming peony. Her appearance caused a slight stir in the audience, demonstrating her popularity.

Wow!
A beam of light shone down on the stage.

"I am well-known to all of you, so I will not say much. Now, please look at the first item up for auction. This is a secret medicine made from the core of a rare beast at the Five Viscera Realm. It can help martial artists who have reached the Perfection of Fetal Breathing awaken their innate spiritual light..."

The selection of this first item for auction was clearly carefully considered; it was both precious and extremely practical, appealing to both innate masters and those below the innate level within the family, thus sparking bidding and enlivening the opening atmosphere.

"I won't go into much detail about Linglong. The auction price for this item is a fixed amount of 300 gold carp vouchers, with a starting bid of 1 million contribution points!"

Unlike the ordinary auctions Zhuang Jin knew, this Class B state-level auction of the Xuantian Division had two parts for the auction payment. One part was a fixed amount of vouchers. For example, this secret medicine had a fixed amount of three hundred gold carp vouchers. This meant that if the auction was successful, three hundred gold carp vouchers had to be paid. The other part was contribution points. Just like in ordinary auctions, bidding was conducted and the highest bidder won.

In other words, if there are not enough fixed-value tokens in the token, the holder is not even eligible to bid.

— Vouchers can be combined and split, with a multiplier of ten. For example, one Black Serpent Voucher is equivalent to ten Golden Carp Vouchers, which is equal to one hundred Silver Carp Vouchers.

'These three hundred Golden Carp Certificates would take a normal Nascent Soul martial artist ten years of hard work to accumulate. Such high-end resources are truly a powerful tool for reaping rewards!' Zhuang Jin sighed inwardly as he looked down.

Bidding is done via tokens, which eliminates the need for verification. After a bid is placed, the token number with blurred last digits will be displayed on the central public light screen along with the bid, and then announced by Yu Linglong.

Two million contribution points!

"Two and a half million!"

"Two million seven hundred thousand!"

……

Ultimately, this secret medicine was sold to a Xiantian Venerable in the private room for 4.2 million contribution points.

Next up is a set of Meridian Opening Pills.

A group of third-rate families are fighting over it.

Then came a Mystic Pill.

This time, many first- and second-tier families have joined in.

For items like the Opening Meridian Pill and the Profound Enlightenment Pill, the Innate Venerables in the private room merely watched the people in the outer seats bid and did not participate, because they had their own channels for these resources, which were much more cost-effective than those offered at auctions.

Watching the people below scramble for the food, he felt superior and amused, like scattering a handful of millet grains and watching a swarm of ants rushing to grab them, which gave him a great sense of superiority.

……

After twenty lots were released, and about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the enthusiastic atmosphere in the room subsided slightly. At this moment, Yu Linglong's voice on stage changed, becoming melodious yet passionate.

"The following item is a Condensing True Qi Pill. As we all know, there are three levels in the Innate True Qi Realm. This Condensing True Qi Pill can help martial artists in the Innate True Qi Realm to condense their true qi, break through the bottleneck, and enter the second or third level of the Innate True Qi Realm."

Yu Linglong paused here, saying, "This item is similar to the Meridian Opening Pill and the Profound Enlightenment Pill. It has a certain probability of assisting in a breakthrough. If you do not succeed in breaking through after taking it, do not come looking for Linglong... Of course, if any of you innate venerables want to come looking for me, Linglong can only obediently accept it."

A burst of good-natured laughter came from below. The Innate Venerable in the private room understood the other meaning behind those words. His smile was meaningful. Many people understood the implied meaning and thought about having a long chat at the Ascension Pavilion after the auction tonight.

"The auction price for this Condensing True Essence Pill is set at 300 Mystic Serpent Certificates, with a starting bid of 2 million contribution points!"

"three million!"

"Three million two hundred thousand!" "Three million eight hundred thousand!"

……

This time, the Innate Venerables in the surrounding private rooms frequently made their moves.

Looking at this scene, Zhuang Jin suddenly wondered if the Innate Qi Realm and Innate Corpse Slaying Realm martial artists in the private room were looking at these Innate True Qi Realm martial artists who were bidding for the auction with the same mentality as they had looked at the first, second, and third-rate families below the Innate Realm before.
That's probably it.

He sighed inwardly, thinking, "One True Essence Pill is equivalent to three hundred Mystic Serpent Certificates. Even a fully-fledged Innate Martial Artist would normally need ten years of missions to accumulate that amount."

In other words, if a martial artist at the Innate level wants to bid for these high-end resources, just like the martial artists below the Innate level before, they will ruthlessly rip you off!

Zhuang Jin somewhat understood the thoughts of the Suspended Heaven Division: If you, as a Xiantian martial artist, lie low, you can stand at the top of the state city's system and reap the benefits of the martial artists below you; but if you don't lie low and want to improve, you will still be the target of those who are being harvested!

'This is forcing innate martial artists to give up and not compete with them for the limited high-end resources at the innate level!'

Essentially, the conflict between the state government, the three great families, and other innate martial artists in Cangzhou is a conflict over high-end resources at the innate level and above. The state government and the great families, as pioneers, block resources for those who come later.

From the perspective of the aristocratic families, this loophole cannot be completely sealed off, lest the hopes of innate martial artists be completely dashed, otherwise something bad will happen. It is better to guide than to block. It is better to give them a glimmer of hope at the auction, but raise the conditions so high that even an innate venerable would have to risk their life for several years, or even more than ten years, to obtain these high-end resources at the innate level.

On a darker note, the fact that the imperial court and aristocratic families only released a small amount of goods at the auction, allowing innate martial artists to compete for them, might not be without the intention of sowing discord among innate martial artists.

While this strategy was clever, it was also a last resort. In essence, the state government and the three major families were unwilling to relinquish any high-end resources at the innate level. This could not be stated explicitly, but at the very least, they did not encourage innate martial artists to pursue further progress.

"The state government and the three major families are using various methods to force innate martial artists to submit. My voluntary submission, without accumulating credentials or contribution points, sets a great example."

There's no such thing as 'others accumulate credentials and contribution points, while you slack off and stand out, thus attracting attention.' Not to mention that the Suspended Heaven Division forces innate martial artists to lie down, and there are quite a few innate martial artists who have already done so. Even if someone like Zhuang Jin actively lies down and slacks off, the more you slack off, the happier the aristocratic families will be, and the more they will think you are a good comrade.

To reiterate, aristocratic families are happy to see innate martial artists like this, and they don't even care if you're faking it or not—human strength has its limits. Without accumulating credentials and contribution points to purchase high-end resources at the innate level, it's theoretically impossible to keep breaking through, and sooner or later you'll be stuck at a bottleneck.

Whether it's genuine or not, as long as you lie down and do nothing for the rest of your life, without competing with them for high-end resources, then you'll be a great role model!

It's like pretending to be a good person. If you can pretend for a lifetime, who would dare say you're not a genuinely good person?

Conversely, those who want to lie down but can't, who are hesitant and indecisive, will be disliked by the Heavenly Division. They will think that you need to be disciplined and completely dispel any thoughts of struggling.

And the idea that breaking through a cultivation level would immediately lead to suppression from the Heavenly Division is utterly absurd!
"If I'm not mistaken, the Suspended Heaven Bureau has its own rigorous evaluation system that comprehensively considers various factors to assess the degree of threat. For example, besides cultivation level, they probably also consider techniques, displayed character, and attitudes towards the state government and powerful families."

'The Celestial Bureau knows my aptitude and will have some idea of ​​what my breakthrough will be like. I don't need to hide anything. After the breakthrough, the threat level will be assessed comprehensively, and other aspects such as cultivation techniques will be deducted to balance the score.'

In Zhuang Jin's plan, after he broke through to the Gang Qi Realm, the three major families would see him as follows: a person with no ambition, who eats, drinks, and has fun, doesn't save money, doesn't compete for high-end resources, and doesn't climb the social ladder. He is a great role model, but because his potential hasn't been exhausted and he is still breaking through, he is cultivating the Black Fiend Technique, which means his future is destined to be limited, he will have difficulty having offspring, and he can't threaten them!
Such a person is intolerable even to aristocratic families. They would target him and do whatever they want, leaving him no way out. This would cause a sense of shared grief among those who are close to him, and would provoke the wrath of the entire innate martial arts community!

This also has another significance in Zhuang Jin's integration into the circle of innate martial artists.

Of course, under normal circumstances, it would never come to this. The Suspended Sky Division did not know that Zhuang Jin had no bottleneck. Due to the information gap, based on the analysis of various existing intelligence, the specific threat level was not high enough to be targeted at that level. There would be those who would stand out more, those who would jump around more, or those who wanted to lie down but were too cowardly to do so, who would take the hits for him.

'This strategy has a time limit. It will likely still work at the Innate Qi Refining Realm, but at the Innate Corpse Severing Realm, due to the limited number of participants, it will attract significant attention. However, there will be a strategy for each stage. For now, we need to secure a window of opportunity and get to that point first.'

Zhuang Jin thought to himself as he looked down at the auction. The True Essence Pill was eventually sold for 8.8 million contribution points, leaving him speechless.

Next came a series of pills that helped those below the Innate Realm break through their bottlenecks, as well as rare and precious materials, such as the wild purple bamboo fruit that Zhuang Jin had obtained, which were then harvested from mid-to-high-level martial artists.

It wasn't until another item appeared—the Enlightenment Pill, which could aid in sudden enlightenment and break through martial arts bottlenecks—that Zhuang Jin's interest was piqued again.

"Shen Xianhong once said that the main ingredient of the Enlightenment Pill is the Profound Herb, and taking it might dull the spirit and soul, potentially hindering future advancements in cultivation. Therefore, I naturally wouldn't take it."

Zhuang Jin thought to himself, but then he thought of the Condensing True Essence Pill from before.

"The function of the Condensing True Qi Pill is to condense true qi and assist in breaking through bottlenecks. Theoretically speaking, it won't leave hidden dangers like in the pre-innate realm due to the medicinal power impacting the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians."

'But does this thing really have no side effects at all? The main ingredient of the Condensing True Essence Pill is the core of a strange beast, and the beast's will remains within the core. Taking too much might negatively impact the human spirit, making subsequent cultivation stages more difficult.'

'Among the core talents of the three great families, Shangguan Yunchang, breaking through the bottleneck of the Innate level, I wonder if it was due to consuming the Condensing True Essence Pill, or perhaps some other superior substance, such as an enhanced version of Cloud Hidden Tea, Vermilion Fruit, or the fruit of a truly rare plant?'

drop!
As Zhuang Jin was pondering, he sensed the token vibrating.

It turned out to be a message from Cen Zhanshan. He was worried that he wouldn't have enough Condensing Qi Pills for the final auction and asked to borrow some contribution points. He explained his usual spending habits and transferred all the remaining tens of thousands of points on his token, wishing the other party a successful auction.

With such thoughtful gestures, Cen Zhanshan was indeed slightly moved, and the slight grudge he had before the energy tide last month was instantly resolved.

"Today's final item, the Condensing Qi Pill, can assist martial artists at the third level of the Innate True Qi Realm in breaking through the bottleneck of the Innate Qi Realm. It can even be effective for martial artists at the Innate Qi Realm. The quota is 100 Black Python Certificates, and the starting bid is 10 million contribution points!"

"Thirty-nine million five hundred thousand!"

"Forty million!"

Forty-five million!

……

The Condensing Qi Pill was eventually sold for 60 million contribution points. Cen Zhanshan borrowed contribution points but also failed in the auction and had to return the borrowed points.

This person wasn't too disappointed, because he had been accumulating evidence for this for thirty or forty years. In the last five or six years, he had accumulated enough evidence and had been bidding every year, but he had failed every year. One more time wouldn't make a difference.

Upon hearing the situation, Zhuang Jin sighed with regret. Cen Zhanshan had probably become obsessed with this. He wanted to lie down but couldn't. That perfectly described the kind of person he was.

He was also very fortunate that he did not have any bottlenecks, which saved him a lot of resources, hard work, and trouble.

……

Just as the auction ended, Zhuang Jin and Bi Boyi returned together, having walked halfway home—

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
Within the Third Ring Road, multiple explosions suddenly rang out, and flames shot into the sky!
……

(End of this chapter)