Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

Three months later, the Tianbaoge auction was held as scheduled.

Xuanyu City was exceptionally lively that day.

Before dawn, the main street in the south of the city was already crowded with people, some there to attend the auction, some to watch the excitement, and others to set up stalls to sell their wares.

A long queue formed at the entrance of Tianbao Pavilion.

Jiang Shi changed his appearance, becoming a cold-faced young man, revealing his cultivation level at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

He was dressed in a black Taoist robe and blended into the crowd, not standing out at all.

With Jiang Shi's cultivation at the Golden Core stage and the storage bracelet on his wrist, the steward at the door glanced at him and handed him a jade token, granting him a VIP seat on the second floor.

He went up to the second floor, found a corner seat, and sat down. From there, he could see the lobby on the first floor and the VIP seats opposite.

The lobby on the first floor was full of people, mostly Foundation Establishment cultivators, but also some rogue cultivators in the early Golden Core stage.

The VIP seating area on the second floor is less crowded, and each seat is separated by a screen, offering better privacy.

The third floor houses private rooms reserved for top-tier individuals; the doors and windows are tightly closed, making it impossible to see inside.

Jiang Shi glanced at the third floor; the doors of those private rooms all had different markings engraved on them.

He recognized one of them as the Chen family's mark, another as the Fang family's, and the third as the mark of the Beast Taming Mountain.

He withdrew his gaze and waited quietly.

Half an hour later, the auction began.

An elderly man with white hair walked onto the stage. He was a Golden Core cultivator in the early stage and the chief auctioneer of Tianbao Pavilion.

He made a few brief opening remarks and then announced the start of the auction.

The first item up for auction is a high-grade magic weapon, a fire-elemental longsword, with a starting bid of one hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

After several rounds of bidding, it was sold to a Foundation Establishment cultivator for two hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

The next few items were all second-grade pills and magical artifacts, which Jiang Shi had no interest in, so he closed his eyes to rest.

He opened his eyes when the sixth item was brought up for auction.

"One bottle of Grade 3 Lower-level Five Elements Spiritual Liquid, containing ten drops, can refine the Five Elements True Essence and stabilize the foundation of the Golden Core. Starting bid: 500 mid-grade spirit stones."

Jiang Shi sat up straight.

The Five Elements Elixir was effective for him.

Although his foundation was already very solid, the Five Elements Spiritual Liquid could help him accumulate true essence faster and shorten the time to break through to the middle stage of the Golden Core realm.

Jiang Shi didn't rush to bid. He waited until the price reached eight hundred before raising his paddle: "Nine hundred."

"Nine hundred, the second floor bids nine hundred," the auctioneer called out.

"One thousand." Someone in the VIP section across the way made a bid.

Jiang Shi glanced at it; it was Chen Xuan.

He sat in the VIP section on the other side of the second floor, with Chen Boyuan and two guards beside him.

"One thousand one." Jiang Shi held up the sign.

"1200." Chen Xuan raised his sign again.

The two went back and forth, and the price rose all the way to 1,800.

Chen Xuan hesitated for a moment, then did not raise his paddle again.

He didn't seem very interested in the Five Elements Elixir, he just casually called for it a few times.

Jiang Shi bid 1,800 mid-grade spirit stones for the Five Elements Spirit Liquid.

The auctioneer brought down the gavel, and the transaction was complete.

A waiter came over with a tray and handed Jiang Shi a bottle of Five Elements Elixir.

Jiang Shi examined it and confirmed that it was indeed a lower-grade third-rank item with abundant spiritual energy. He then paid with spirit stones and put it into his storage bag.

The auction continues.

Jiang Shi didn't participate in the auction of several items; he just watched.

When it came to the last item, the auctioneer's voice rose several decibels.

"The last item up for auction is a fragment of a Grade 3 superior Five Elements Source Stone."

This item originates from the relics of an ancient master of the Five Elements, containing the primordial energy of the Five Elements. It can be used to forge spiritual weapons and also to aid in the cultivation of Five Elements supernatural powers. Starting bid: 2,000 mid-grade spirit stones.

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The fragments of the Five Elements Source Stone were brought out and placed on a jade plate.

The fragments were about the size of a fist, five colors in color, and emitted a faint spiritual light.

The light faintly revealed traces of the five elements flowing within it, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary object.

Jiang Shi was very tempted. The Five Elements Source Stone fragments were more valuable to him than the Five Elements Spiritual Liquid. If he used them to cultivate the Five Elements Divine Power, their power could be increased by at least 30%.

But he did not make a bid.

It's not that I don't want to buy it, it's that I can't afford it.

He only had less than three thousand mid-grade spirit stones left, while the price of this fragment was at least five thousand, which was beyond his reach.

Sure enough, the bidding became fierce as soon as it started.

Someone bid 2,500 on the first floor, someone bid 3,000 on the second floor, and someone also bid for a private room on the third floor.

"Four thousand." Chen Xuan raised his plaque, his voice loud and full of determination.

"Five thousand." A voice came from a private room on the third floor, the gender of which was indistinguishable.

"Six thousand." Chen Xuan's expression changed slightly as he spoke.

"Seven thousand." The third-floor private room refused to budge.

Chen Xuan's face turned ashen. He hesitated for a long time before finally deciding not to raise his paddle again.

The Five Elements Source Stone fragments were auctioned off in a private room on the third floor for 7,000 mid-grade spirit stones.

The auction ended, and the crowd began to disperse.

Jiang Shi didn't rush to leave. He remained seated, watching Chen Xuan and his entourage leave the VIP section and head downstairs. Chen Boyuan followed behind him, expressionless.

Jiang Shi got up and followed.

Chen Xuan boarded the carriage and headed north of the city.

Jiang Shi followed at a distance, keeping a steady pace.

After traveling for a while, Chen Xuan's carriage suddenly turned into a small alley.

Jiang Shi stopped in his tracks, not daring to follow rashly. He hid himself at the alley entrance and waited in the shadows.

The alley was deep, with high walls on both sides and no side roads. The carriage stopped ahead, and Chen Xuan got out, followed by Chen Boyuan and two guards.

Chen Xuan did not walk forward, but turned around and looked at the alley entrance.

"You've been following me for so long, come out now." His voice wasn't loud, but it could be heard clearly in the alley.

Three figures emerged from the darkness.

The leader was a burly man who wore a mask, revealing only his eyes.

He was dressed in black, exuding a powerful aura, and the ground trembled slightly with every step he took.

Late stage of Golden Core.

Two people followed behind him, also masked, their auras weaker than the leader's, but still at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

The four people faced off, creating a tense atmosphere.

Chen Boyuan stepped forward, blocking Chen Xuan's path, and said in a deep voice, "Who are you people? How dare you touch someone from the Chen family? Don't you value your lives?"

The leader in black did not answer, but simply stared coldly at Chen Xuan.

"Hand over your belongings, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse."

Chen Xuan's expression changed, and he subconsciously took a step back.

Chen Boyuan snorted coldly, his aura surged, and his late-stage Golden Core true essence surged out like a tide.

"If you want to harm any member of the Chen family, you'll have to get past me first."

He struck first, unleashing a palm strike. His earth-yellow true essence condensed into a large hand, reaching out to grab the black-clad leader.

The leader in black didn't waste any words and raised his hand to meet him.

Two late-stage Golden Core cultivators clashed, their spells colliding and creating a tremendous roar.

The walls on both sides of the alley were shaken open and cracks appeared, with gravel falling down in a flurry.

The two fought further and further apart, from the alley to the sky, and then from the sky to a distant place, restraining each other so that neither could break free.

In the alley, only Chen Xuan, two guards, and two black-clad men at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm remained.

The two men in black exchanged a glance, then pounced on Chen Xuan from the left and right.