Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Just then, a faint fragrance wafted by, and a figure naturally sat down in the empty seat next to him.

Lin Zhao turned her head and saw that it was Qiao Yanran.

She was still veiled today, but there was a faint smile in her clear eyes.

"What a coincidence, Fellow Daoist Lin, we meet again. What treasure are you planning to acquire today? Let me give you my opinion," Qiao Yanran said softly.

Lin Zhao gave a wry smile. "Miss Yanran, you flatter me. I'm only here today to buy a few bottles of pills. It's no trouble for you."

"But why is Miss Yanran on the first floor? Given your status, you should be on the third floor."

Qiao Yanran glanced up and said meaningfully, "It's too 'lively' up there. It's quieter down here, and you can see things more clearly."

She paused, then whispered, "The water's deep today, be careful."

Lin Zhao felt a chill run down his spine, nodded his thanks, and Qiao Yanran smiled gently before rising and gracefully departing.

The auction officially began, and the first few items were all materials and ritual implements, with bidding prices being relatively moderate.

The atmosphere in the room clearly changed when a box of "Mind-Calming Incense" was placed on the display stand.

The Mind-Concentrating Incense is a treasure specifically designed to assist cultivators in refining their spiritual consciousness. It can nourish the spirit and resist inner demons, making it a rare and invaluable item.

"Three hundred spirit stones." A pale-faced young man from the Tianfeng Demon Hunting Team on the second floor was the first to bid.

Liu Yifeng leisurely sipped his tea and gestured for his attendant to raise a plaque: "Four hundred spirit stones."

"You!" The pale-faced youth stood up abruptly, his face ashen. "Liu Yifeng, are you determined to make trouble for Tianfeng?"

"At the auction, the highest bidder wins."

Liu Yifeng set down his teacup, his smile gentle. "If Tianfeng can't afford the price, why bother coming to this auction house?"

In the end, the box of Mind-Concentrating Incense was sold to the pale-faced youth for 700 spirit stones, 30% higher than the previous auction price.

Similar scenarios played out one after another. The batch of refining materials that the Tiger Hunting Demon Team had their eye on had their price increased by 50% by Liu Yifeng.

The price of healing pills, which were urgently needed by several demon-hunting teams, skyrocketed due to his involvement.

Similarly, the items that Liu Yifeng had his eye on also had their prices inflated by several percent.

The atmosphere in the second-floor private seating area was tense, with various factions glaring at Liu Yifeng, but unable to act out due to the auction house's rules.

Lin Zhao witnessed everything from downstairs. He had no connection to the conflict between these forces on the second floor, yet he was inevitably affected.

Whenever Liu Yifeng bid against other forces, those pills were ultimately left for the cultivators on the first floor.

The starting bids have already been driven to an unreasonable level.

He originally planned to acquire the Yellow Dragon Pill and the Everlasting Spring Pill, but he only managed to purchase them with spirit stones at a price 40% higher than the market price.

The spirit stones his father gave him, plus the spirit stones he had saved up, were almost exhausted.

As for the Hundred Herbs Pill that he wanted most, it was because Liu Yifeng and other forces had repeatedly raised the price in the early stages.

This resulted in a terrifying final price, which made him lose the courage to even participate in the bidding.

Lin Zhao sat in a corner on the first floor, sensing the few spirit stones left in his storage bag.

A chilling rage rose from the depths of his heart. He had no direct conflict with Liu Yifeng, and the latter might not even know of his existence.

But it was precisely this feeling of being casually affected by those in power and suffering huge losses for no reason that made him feel extremely humiliated.

Every extra spirit stone he spent felt like a thorn piercing his heart.

Considering Xuan Jie's situation, he could better understand her choice.

In the eyes of those in power, lower-level cultivators are nothing more than pawns to be sacrificed at any time. Anger and humiliation are meaningless.

Murderous intent, like a seed in winter, quietly sprouts beneath the cold soil.

Some grudges may only be resolved through more direct and ruthless means.

He looked up, his gaze piercing through the crowd, locking onto the white-clad figure on the second floor, imprinting it deeply in his mind.

Just then, Liu Yifeng seemed to sense something and suddenly looked down. Their eyes met in that instant...

He sensed that Lin Zhao only had the cultivation level of the fifth level of Qi Refining, and a hint of undisguised contempt flashed in his eyes.

He curled his lips slightly, as if mocking his overestimation of his abilities, then turned away nonchalantly, no longer engaging in conversation or laughter with those around him.

"President, what are you looking at?" The attendant followed his gaze.

"He's just a kid I met once," Liu Yifeng said dismissively.

Over the years, there have been at least eighty or a hundred people who have tried to kill him. At the mere fifth level of Qi Refining, it would take him at least ten years to catch up with him.

As for ten years from now, he has no idea what level he will have reached.

Lin Zhao silently withdrew her gaze and turned to leave.

Today's events taught him a lesson: in the world of cultivation, even if you are indifferent to worldly affairs, disaster can still strike from the sky.

Unbeknownst to anyone, several mysterious figures dressed in black robes sat on the first floor throughout the entire auction.

They quietly photographed several pills labeled "suitable for the late stage of Qi Refining," such as "Jade Liquid Pill" and "Breakthrough Pill."

The value of these elixirs far surpasses that of Huanglong Dan and Baicao Dan.

As they quietly left, Liu Yifeng glanced at them as if it were an unintentional act.

This is his real goal today. His previous arrogance was both a way to strike at his opponents and...

It's also a smokescreen to cover up their true intentions.

He drove up the overall prices at today's auctions.

But that also means that as long as you have enough spirit stones, you can buy what you really need.

With the help of these elixirs, he will soon be able to break through to the eighth level of Qi Refining.

How could someone like him not know his current situation?

A battle for supremacy?

Who is the hunter and who is the prey remains to be seen.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, but a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Inside a private room bathed in spiritual light on the top floor of the auction house, the Qiao family patriarch took in everything that happened downstairs.

He glanced at Qiao Yanran beside him: "Do you understand now?"

Qiao Yanran said softly, "Liu Yifeng deliberately raised the price today. On the surface, he was dealing with various forces, but in reality, he was doing it for the old ancestor's benefit."

He was using spirit stones to buy the patriarch a chance not to interfere.

The old man nodded slightly. The auction house takes a cut based on the final price; the higher the price, the greater the profit for the Qiao family.

He welcomes this kind of "healthy" competition as long as the rules aren't broken.

The world of cultivation is inherently cruel. The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is the norm.

When Lin Zhao returned to the Lin family's talisman shop, it was already late at night.

The shop door was ajar, letting in a warm light.

He pushed open the door and went to the backyard. Lin's father was hunched over his worktable, his brows furrowed, his talisman pen hovering in mid-air, hesitant to put it down.

A specially made talisman was laid out on the table, and several pieces of failed crafting remnants were placed beside it.

Those were traces of drawing a first-tier high-grade talisman, the [Fire Separation Talisman]. Clearly, Lin's father was attempting to draw a first-tier high-grade talisman.

"You're back. How was the auction?" Lin's father looked up.

Watching Lin Zhao carefully take out the pills he had won, Lin Zhao's expression remained unchanged.

But Lin's father still keenly sensed the growing coldness emanating from his son.