Taoist cultivation begins with being a miner

"Who is this guy? How dare he try to steal from Master Fan?" People nearby whispered among themselves after hearing Lu Yan's offer.

"I don't know, he just looks familiar, like I've seen him somewhere before. But since he dares to compete with Master Fan for something, and is so wealthy, he's probably an alchemist too."

"No way, judging from his appearance, he's so young. At most, he's just a low-to-mid-level first-tier alchemist. Where would he get so many spirit stones? He must be a young master from some noble family."

"One thousand nine hundred low-grade spirit stones." Although Fan Zhenghong's face remained calm, his palms were already sweating.

Although he was also a first-level advanced alchemist, he was still relatively inexperienced and not very wealthy. This time, in order to obtain an alchemy furnace to improve the quality of his pills, he borrowed a lot of spirit stones, and the price had already slightly exceeded his expectations.

Looking at Lu Yan, she realized she didn't know him and felt a little annoyed.

"One thousand nine hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones." Lu Yan raised the price, bringing the total to nearly two thousand spirit stones, which also pained him greatly.

Bai Jing on the stage was overjoyed to see this; the more the two competed, the higher the profits for Wuyou Pavilion became.

"Two thousand low-grade spirit stones." Fan Zhenghong gritted his teeth and said this number. This was all his wealth. He had already given up everything for this alchemy furnace.

"Two thousand and fifty low-grade spirit stones." Lu Yan felt a pang of heartache at the price. Although he had more than four thousand low-grade spirit stones, it didn't mean he wanted to be ripped off.

"Two thousand and fifty low-grade spirit stones per attempt~"

Seeing that no one was competing, Bai Jing then began to call out the numbers.

"Twice~"

"Three times, deal done. Congratulations, fellow Daoist." Bai Jing congratulated Lu Yan.

"It seems like you overpaid." Qing Hualian asked Lu Yan with a puzzled look, seemingly noticing the different looks from those around them.

"Hmm, it was indeed overpriced, but this alchemy furnace has been a great help to me, so it was worth it." Lu Yan had no regrets whatsoever.

After this alchemy furnace is auctioned off, we'll move on to something even more advanced.

Second-tier talismans, second-tier pills, top-grade magic weapons, martial arts techniques for Foundation Establishment cultivators, as well as some rare medicinal herbs, special pill formulas, and so on.

Lu Yan was extremely envious.

My own wealth is really nothing here.

Moreover, as soon as these things appeared, the Foundation Establishment cultivators on the second floor began to fight over them.

Lu Yan had learned that the price of this top-grade magic weapon was between one thousand and five thousand low-grade spirit stones. It was basically used by Foundation Establishment cultivators, and several thousand low-grade spirit stones was still a lot of money for Qi Refining cultivators.

"Three low-grade second-tier healing pills, starting bid 200 low-grade spirit stones, bidding now begins." This time, Bai Jing took out three low-grade second-tier healing pills.

Second-tier alchemists are extremely rare in Wuyou City, but there are quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators. Therefore, the pills they refine are in high demand and short supply, so the auction house has to purchase some second-tier pills from outside for auction.

"Two hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones," a cultivator on the first floor said.

"Two hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones."

"Two hundred and seventy low-grade spirit stones."

"..."

In a short time, the price had already broken through to three hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Healing pills are necessities; if used properly, they are equivalent to a second life for cultivators, so many cultivators are vying for them.

"Three hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones." After thinking for a moment, Lu Yan also entered the fray to compete.

"You lecher, you don't actually need to buy it. I can recover on my own," Qing Hualian, who was standing to the side, guessed Lu Yan's plan and advised him.

"It's alright, Fairy Qing. Your family must be worried about you being away for so long. The sooner you recover, the sooner you can come home to see them," Lu Yan replied with a smile.

"Three hundred and seventy low-grade spirit stones."

"Three hundred and ninety low-grade spirit stones."

"Four hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones."

"..."

In the end, Lu Yan won it with five hundred low-grade spirit stones.

The auction items became increasingly expensive, and they were mostly contested by Foundation Establishment cultivators, while Qi Refining cultivators had no chance to participate due to their limited financial resources.

Lu Yan and Qing Hualian stayed until the auction ended before leaving.

At this point, he only had a little over 1,700 low-grade spirit stones left.

Now that he had the alchemy furnace, Lu Yan began to go to the market to buy medicinal herbs to refine pills.

Qinghualian, on the other hand, recovered from her injuries with the help of second-tier pills.

Over the next few days, Lu Yan began learning how to refine first-grade high-level pills.

There are only a few that are truly practical.

Advanced Spirit-Nourishing Pills, Advanced Healing Pills, Advanced Spirit-Returning Pills, Blood-Replenishing Pills, and Beauty-Nourishing Pills, etc.

……

While Lu Yan was living a routine life in Wuyou City, undercurrents were surging in the Great Yan Kingdom.

Disciples from various sects who had gone out to work mysteriously disappeared, including some Foundation Establishment cultivators.

At first, everyone didn't think much of it, but with the fall of a Core Formation cultivator, the sect began to panic.

Someone capable of killing a Core Formation cultivator without leaving a trace is certainly no ordinary person.

As the various sects conducted in-depth investigations, they discovered traces of the Holy Heaven Sect's activities and, after capturing and rigorously interrogating some members, identified their target.

For some unknown reason, the Holy Heaven Sect has dispatched a large number of its protectors, deacons, and followers to attack disciples of various sects.

So far, they have killed over a thousand Qi Refining stage disciples and a hundred Foundation Establishment stage disciples.

After investigating the matter, the leaders of the various sects were furious and bewildered, wondering what the Holy Heaven Sect was up to.

The two sides have fought before, and each time they would first concentrate their firepower to launch a surprise attack on the sect's higher-ups, and then let the lower-level followers cause trouble. But this time, the roles have been reversed.

However, they didn't think much of it and actively organized the major sects to launch a counterattack. For a time, the two sides fought back and forth, resulting in many casualties.

Not only within the Great Yan Kingdom, but also more than a dozen desolate cities near Qiongyi Ridge were attacked.

The situation here is slightly better, with only a few members of the Holy Heaven Cult appearing, but it still causes considerable panic. After all, the name of the Holy Heaven Cult is too deeply ingrained in people's minds, and who knows when they will launch a large-scale invasion.

The prices of talismans, elixirs, and magical artifacts began to rise, and as these three items increased in price, other items followed suit.

The higher-ups naturally didn't care, and the merchants made a fortune. It was just a pity for the lower-level cultivators like Zheng Qu and his group.

……

After many days of effort, Lu Yan was able to refine three relatively simple first-tier high-grade pills: Advanced Spirit Nourishing Pill, Advanced Healing Pill, and Advanced Spirit Recovery Pill.

The quality is only low-grade. After all, although his soul is relatively outstanding, his strength is still too weak. He probably has to wait until he breaks through to the late stage of Qi Refining to refine a better quality pill.

Even so, Lu Yan was quite satisfied. Every day, besides refining pills, he would make talismans, while Qing Hualian had been in seclusion since obtaining the second-tier healing pill.