Immortality begins with upgrading buildings

Chapter 139 Second-Tier Spirit Beast Bag

Qingye City is located east of the Shuilong Sect.

If you are traveling by water, you can go out from Yunyuze along the boundless marshland of the Water Dragon Sect, arrive at the Falling Star River, and then go downstream to reach your destination.

Because it is located on the bank of the Falling Star River, and is also an important port of the Falling Star River.

It is said that occasionally a Golden Core cultivator from the Water Dragon Sect would be stationed here.

Previously, a third-tier water beast from the Falling Star River came ashore with the intention of destroying Qingye City, but was ultimately killed by that Golden Core cultivator wielding a sword.

Overall, Qingye City is considered safe.

Very few cultivators dare to cause trouble here.

Ji Yuanlai felt at ease. He obediently disembarked from the flying boat at the city gate and looked up at the seventy or eighty-meter-high city wall. Not only were the stones of the city wall ingenious, but upon closer inspection, one could also see the array patterns on the city wall.

As an alchemist, talisman master, and array master, Ji Yuan naturally had some understanding of the intricacies of the matter.

If I'm not mistaken, the formation in Qingye City should be a third-order formation. Ji Yuan had seen a second-order formation plate in the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, and it wasn't that complicated.

Damn it, if my Misty Island had a third-tier formation, I would definitely stay inside until I reached the Golden Core stage before coming out.

Once I reach the Golden Core stage, I shouldn't be chased by anyone anymore, right?

Ji Yuan, full of fantasies, followed the flow of people into the city. He had been to several such large cities before, such as Black Mountain City where he used to raise pigs, or Red Leaf City, but none of them were as big or as beautiful as Green Leaf City.

This Qingye City is clearly well-planned; not only are the streets neat and orderly, but the numerous shops are also uniform and there are no oddities or strange features.

As for monks... there are many.

This was something Ji Yuan had never seen in other cities.

The streets were packed, if not shoulder to shoulder, but at least teeming with people.

As Ji Yuan walked through it, he also encountered many strange and unusual cultivators.

For example, a cute little girl who isn't very tall, but carries an enormous gourd of wine on her back.

There was also a female cultivator in red with a red-chained snake wrapped around her shoulder.

There was also a tall man with two heads, whose cultivation had reached the Foundation Establishment stage. He walked around the street in a swagger, and his two heads would occasionally scare the cultivators next to him.

But no one actually took action.

Often, when he saw a cultivator fall to the ground in fright, his two heads would burst into laughter.

All of these things have been observed in great numbers.

No wonder Du Wanyi was able to make a lot of spirit stones here. With this much foot traffic, she could easily make a fortune... Ji Yuan thought to himself.

She even felt a rare spark of attraction.

But I guess it's because the auction is about to start that there are so many cultivators; there definitely wouldn't be this many on ordinary days.

Ji Yuan followed the flow of people to a tall building in the middle of the city. The building was nine stories high, arranged in a ring, and occupied a huge area.

A plaque reading "Qingye Auction House" hangs high above the door, and the Water Dragon Sect's logo is also engraved on the plaque.

This signifies that this is the official auction house of the Water Dragon Sect.

It is both a matter of credibility and a deterrent.

Ji Yuan stopped at the entrance, glanced at it, and then followed them into the auction house.

Compared to the noise outside, it was much quieter inside. Firstly, the auction hadn't started yet, and secondly, there were far fewer people. Most of them were in their respective rooms, inspecting the items to be sold to see if their value was good enough for the auction.

There are still 6 days until the auction opens, and the hall will be locked in the last 3 days.

When that time comes, we will no longer accept items for auction.

Aoba Auction House also needs to prepare for the final auction.

Guided by the staff, Ji Yuan arrived at the room on the right. Inside the room sat a Foundation Establishment cultivator, who was there to verify his immortal potential.

That makes sense, since most of the people who come to bid at this kind of auction are probably Foundation Establishment cultivators.

If we leave a Qi Refining cultivator here, firstly, it would be disrespectful, and secondly, the cultivator would lack the knowledge to judge the value of certain items.

"Greetings, senior."

Upon entering, Ji Yuan bowed to him with his hands clasped.

The gray-haired man in blue smiled, posing no threat whatsoever. "Sit down, sit down and let's talk."

"Hehe, what are you planning to sell, young friend?"

After Ji Yuan sat down, the blue-robed cultivator asked with a smile.

"Foundation Pill."

Ji Yuan didn't waste any words.

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, the blue-robed monk immediately became interested and perked up.

"Young friend, you possess such a treasure?"

"It was a gift from my ancestor, originally intended for me to use when I was building my foundation. However, I currently owe too much gambling debt, so I have no choice but to sell it to cover the losses."

Ji Yuan sighed and said.

Upon hearing this, the blue-robed cultivator's smile became even more genuine.

An ancestor who can give away Foundation Establishment Pills, and a playboy who owes so much gambling debt—it all makes perfect sense.

If that's the case, the deal is probably 98% done.

Moreover, if the Foundation Establishment Pill is of slightly better quality, such as a two-pattern Foundation Establishment Pill, it would be a treasure worthy of being auctioned off as the final item.

Since it's handed over by myself, I'll get a bigger cut.

"Young friend, aren't you afraid of being punished by the ancestor if you sell the Foundation Establishment Pills?"

Just to be on the safe side, the blue-robed cultivator smiled and asked another question.

"It's alright, at worst I'll get a beating. Do you think the patriarch would want to kill me?"

Ji Yuan spoke nonchalantly, and took out the Foundation Establishment Pill given to him by "Ancestor Jianzong".

As soon as the pill was presented, the blue-robed cultivator immediately shut up. He took it with both hands, carefully uncorked the bottle, and a rich medicinal fragrance immediately filled the entire room.

Smelling this long-lost scent, the blue-robed cultivator had basically made up his mind.

This is a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Out of professional custom, he still took it out by hand and examined it carefully.

Good heavens, it really is a second-grade pill. With this quality, this final auction is going to be even more exciting... The blue-robed cultivator put the Foundation Establishment Pill back into the bottle.

"How is it?" Ji Yuan asked.

"The quality is excellent; it's good enough to be the final item in this auction."

The blue-robed cultivator placed the jade bottle back on the table, then took out a contract shrouded in a restriction and placed it on the table.

"If you are sure you want to auction this Foundation Establishment Pill, simply sign your name and leave your aura on this contract. If the auction is successful, our auction house will only take a small portion as the cost of the auction."

"How many?"

Ji Yuan looked at the contract but didn't rush to sign it.

"One-fifth is removed."

That's 5%, which is no different from other auction houses, so it meets expectations... Even so, Ji Yuan still checked the contract to make sure there were no problems before signing it.

He didn't trust the contract itself, but rather the reputation of the auction house and even the Water Dragon Sect.

The Water Dragon Sect has little credibility when it comes to harming rogue cultivators.

However, the six major immortal sects of Shangdong are all highly reputable when it comes to auctions.

They understood the principle that if one meal is full, then every meal will be full, and even if they cheated Ji Yuan out of this, they still wouldn't be full.

After signing the contract, the blue-robed cultivator carefully put away the Foundation Establishment Pill.

He then handed Ji Yuan a token, which was the "admission ticket" for this auction.

Because Ji Yuan's Foundation Establishment Pill was the final item in the auction, he also received the treatment of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and instead of sitting in the first-floor hall, he could go to a room upstairs.

Seeing that Ji Yuan had put it away, and since no one else came in, they saw that Ji Yuan had put it away.

The blue-robed cultivator chuckled and said, "I just saw your real name, young friend. Your surname is Qiu. That doesn't seem to be a surname common in our southern region."

Shangdong was divided into north and south by the falling star river.

The blue-robed cultivator had previously seen Ji Yuan's real name, "Qiu Qianhai." He considered himself quite knowledgeable, but he seemed to have never heard of a large family with the surname Qiu within the Water Dragon Sect's territory.

"No, I came from the north."

Ji Yuan said quite matter-of-factly, "I dare not sell Foundation Establishment Pills in the north. Many of those auction houses know my ancestor. If they find out, I'm afraid I'll be in deep trouble."

The blue-robed monk burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Young friend, you do seem to have a cautious nature."

"Alright, I'm too lazy to argue with you. I've been in Qingye City for a few days now, and I know where the good places to go are. Let's go have some fun."

Ji Yuan waved his hand impatiently and went out the door, as if he were selling a Foundation Establishment Pill as if he were selling a low-grade magic weapon.

The blue-robed cultivator watched Ji Yuan leave until he saw him go out the door, at which point the smile on the Foundation Establishment cultivator's face disappeared.

"Such behavior suggests that he is probably a young master from a Golden Core family. As for the Qiu family... I don't recall hearing of any Golden Core cultivators with the surname Qiu in the north."

"So be it. Canglu is vast and full of hidden talents. Who cares? As long as there are spirit stones to collect, that's fine."

"..."

Once Ji Yuan left the auction house, he put the matter out of his mind and waited a few days to come and collect the spirit stones.

I'll also check if there's anything I need while I'm there, and I'll take a picture of that too.

He wandered around the streets and finally sold Emperor Jianzong's top-grade magical artifact flying boat in a shop called "Chongbaoge".

They acquired 18 mid-grade spirit stones.

Now that we've come to Qingye City, it's impossible not to visit Du Wanyi.

Ji Yuan turned left and right to make sure no one was following him before following the address Du Wanyi had given him last time and arriving at the front of a courtyard.

The courtyard is located on Fulu Street, and there are no shops nearby, only residential areas, so the environment looks excellent.

Du Wanyi's courtyard gate was locked; she must have gone to her post.

Ji Yuan wasn't in a hurry, so he found a teahouse nearby, drank two pots of tea, and waited for the sun to set before seeing Du Wanyi return.

Upon seeing her return, Ji Yuan didn't rush over. Instead, he leisurely finished the pot of tea before finally arriving at her door.

The other person just got home from get off work; they should be allowed to rest for a while, shouldn't they?

Ji Yuan stepped forward and knocked on the door. Soon, footsteps could be heard coming from inside the courtyard.

"Who...Fourth Brother?! What brings you here?!"

Du Wanyi was initially a little annoyed when she opened the door, but when she saw who was standing outside, she was overjoyed.

"My second sister came over here, but I haven't visited her yet."

Ji Yuan smiled.

After she entered the house, Du Wanyi said, "Could it be that you came to attend this auction and then remembered to stop by and see me?"

Ji Yuan wasn't embarrassed at all after being exposed.

"Second sister, just tell me if I came or not."

"Here it comes, here it comes."

Once inside, Du Wanyi poured tea for Ji Yuan and served him fruit.

Ji Yuan didn't say a word during this time because he noticed that Du Wanyi seemed to have something on her mind.

She was indeed very happy to see Ji Yuan, but her brow remained furrowed with worry.

After she sat down, Ji Yuan asked, "Second Sister, have you encountered some trouble?"

"what?"

Du Wanyi seemed surprised that Ji Yuan would ask such a question, and after a slight pause, she shook her head.

"It's nothing serious, just that I've been busy with the auction lately, and there have been a lot of miscellaneous things to do, so it's been a bit of a hassle."

Ji Yuan kept looking at her as she spoke.

Based on Ji Yuan's understanding of her, it's not hard to see that she's lying and not telling the truth.

Du Wanyi had her reasons for not speaking, and Ji Yuan couldn't force her to.

So for the next few days, Ji Yuan stayed at Du Wanyi's place, just waiting for the auction to begin.

Du Wanyi had planned to ask for a day off to explore Qingye City with Ji Yuan, but due to too many things going on lately, she couldn't ask for leave, which made her increasingly irritable.

But she was still very happy when she came back and spent time with Ji Yuan every day.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Three days before the auction begins, Aoba Auction House stops accepting consigned items for auction.

Two days before the auction began, the auction house released the list of items to be auctioned.

Du Wanyi was the first to send back Ji Yuan's list. After sending it back, she left in a hurry and couldn't come back for the next three days until the auction ended.

When you're on duty at Shuiyitang, you can be really idle when things are quiet, and really busy when things get busy.

Ji Yuan looked at the auction list in his hand.

"First item: Two thousand-year-old Qinghui grass plants."

Ji Yuan: "???"

Wow, it seems like coming to this auction was definitely the right decision!

Unexpectedly, the first item auctioned was a thousand-year-old green orchid.

But if this Foundation Establishment Pill weren't put up for auction, Ji Yuan wouldn't be able to afford the Thousand-Year Green Orchid Grass even if he saw it today. But now...

Ji Yuan already considered it his for the taking.

"Second item: Low-grade spiritual weapon - Red Dust Sword."

"The third item: a second-tier formation - the Spirit Soil Anshan Formation."

"..."

The final auction featured five items.

However, the auction house did not reveal the specifics, leaving it as a mystery.

Ji Yuan knew about one of them, but not the other four.

"I've heard that those with even slightly stronger connections can find out what the final item in the auction is, and thus prepare their spirit stones in advance..."

Ji Yuan was obviously no longer involved, but even looking at these ordinary auction items, he liked them more and more.

If he had more spirit stones, he would have bought them all at once.

After watching the whole thing, aside from the two thousand-year-old Qinghui grasses at the very beginning, Ji Yuan also took a liking to two other things.

Another treasure, named "Crimson Marrow Thunder Jade".

To upgrade the [Talisman Room] by level 2, you need one of these items.

Ji Yuan didn't know much about it before, but now he actually encountered it at an auction... This Crimson Marrow Thunder Jade is probably not very common.

If that's the case, then we probably have to take it down.

The Water Dragon Sect's Treasure Pavilion might not have this item. If we miss it this time, who knows when we'll have to wait for the next one.

Another item that Ji Yuan had his eye on came from the Yulingmen sect in the north.

Its name is "Spirit Beast Bag," and it is considered the signature skill of the Spirit Control Sect.

This particular item at the auction is a second-tier spirit beast pouch, which, as the name suggests, can be used to store second-tier spirit beasts.

Ji Yuan planned to buy it to keep as a spare for the big toad.

If I need to go to any dangerous places in the future, such as to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I can bring the giant toad with me.

Release it at the crucial moment for a surprise attack!

This has the effect of making a final decision.

Of course, this is all what Ji Yuan wants, but whether he can actually buy it is another matter.

The remaining two days passed even faster.

Ji Yuan practiced for a while, and the day of the auction had already arrived.

The auction started at Chenshi (7-9 AM), and Ji Yuan set off at Maoshi (5-7 AM).

When he arrived at the auction house, he found it was already too late; there were hardly any people left at the entrance.

He stepped forward and took out his token. Only one female cultivator came forward and led him through the main gate to the third floor.

Ji Yuan had already learned that those sitting in the lobby on the first floor were all in the Qi Refining stage.

Most of the people in the rooms on the second and third floors are in the Foundation Establishment stage, or in the Qi Refining stage like Ji Yuan.

As for the eight individual rooms on the fourth floor, they were said to be prepared for Golden Core cultivators.

However, an auction of this caliber is clearly not good enough for a Golden Core cultivator; those who came to bid were at most Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Ji Yuan was assigned to room 306. Once inside, tea, wine, fruit, and everything else were prepared.

Moreover, from the windows on the third floor, you can see directly into the auction hall on the first floor, but you can't see what it looks like inside from the outside.

The arrangements were extremely well thought out.

For Ji Yuan, participating in the auction was not much different from buying things on Wanwu Island. He would just bid on whichever item he liked, and if the price exceeded his expectations, he would not buy it; if it was within his expectations, he would choose to buy it.

He didn't bring any spirit stones with him this time, so he could only rely on the two-pattern Foundation Establishment Pill to consume them.

At this auction, the starting price is 500 mid-grade spirit stones. Based on past data, Ji Yuan estimates that the final transaction price will be around 800 mid-grade spirit stones.

Therefore, he set the upper limit for this auction at 700 mid-grade spirit stones.

I'm afraid I won't be able to afford the price if I pay too much.

The first item auctioned, the two thousand-year-old Qinghui Grasses, was ultimately acquired by Ji Yuan for 160 mid-grade spirit stones.

He eventually acquired the Crimson Marrow Thunder Jade he had his eye on, spending a full 49 mid-grade spirit stones.

Fortunately, not many people were bidding for it, and the starting price was only 40 mid-grade spirit stones.

Ji Yuan was satisfied with this.

The remaining second-tier spirit beast bag attracted many people, as it could be used to carry living creatures as well as second-tier spirit beasts.

The starting bid was set at 100 mid-grade spirit stones.

In just a short while, the price was raised to 300 yuan.

After reaching this price, the number of people bidding gradually decreased, and Ji Yuan also started bidding. After the price reached 350, only Ji Yuan and the last two Foundation Establishment cultivators were competing for it.

Ji Yuan's assets amounted to only 700 yuan. After deducting the two items he had previously purchased, he had 490 yuan left, so he was quite confident in his pricing.

Moreover, the grand finale auction hasn't started yet, so those two Foundation Establishment cultivators don't dare to bid too aggressively.

In the end, Ji Yuan successfully acquired the spirit beast pouch for 385 mid-grade spirit stones.

For the first time, he experienced what it meant to spend money like water. Hmm... these 385 spirit stones should also be attributed to the big toad. When we get back, we'll send it out to hunt monsters.

Until this indenture is paid off, we will not provide spirit pigs!

Having obtained everything Ji Yuan wanted, he could now simply watch the show unfold.

With Ji Yuan winning the bid for the second-tier spirit beast pouch, the auction finally reached its grand finale.

What Ji Yuan didn't expect was that the very first and most important item he would present was a... talisman!

-

(The plot of the auction won't be filled with unnecessary details; it'll be glossed over in just a few words, so don't worry.)

(End of this chapter)