The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

The so-called secret shop is a semi-underground auction house that does not have a sign. Outsiders cannot enter and can only be introduced by Feng Xingzi. Although most of the treasures sold are of dubious origin, the quality of the treasures is absolutely guaranteed. They are all top-quality items that are rarely seen outside.

After considering for a moment, Yang Qingyuan asked, "When will this secret shop open?"

Wang Ziling explained, "This shop only holds an event once a month, and the next one will be in seven days."

Upon hearing this, Xin Ruyin parted her lips slightly and said, "Young master, I happen to need to make some magic artifacts for setting up formations at the weapon-refining shop. Why don't we wait here for seven days?"

"Alright." Yang Qingyuan instructed the red-faced shopkeeper, "Put the cost of the array-setting magic artifacts on my tab as well, and settle the accounts with Luan Guqin later."

"Yes, yes." The red-faced shopkeeper bowed repeatedly and led Yang Qingyuan and Xin Ruyin, mistress and servant, towards the backyard.

Seven days later, at dusk, Prince Ling arrived as promised and informed him that the secret shop was about to open.

Since Xin Ruyin and her servant were also unable to leave due to the matter of refining array flags and array plates, Yang Qingyuan went alone.

Prince Ling led Yang Qingyuan through the market, making several turns, until they arrived at a secluded and dilapidated hut.

The door to the house was tightly closed, and there were no markings on it; it looked very inconspicuous.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Ziling raised his hand and rhythmically tapped the wooden door a few times.

The next moment, the door opened inwards, and a woman in her thirties came out.

This woman was of average appearance and her cultivation level was only around the sixth or seventh level of the Qi Refining stage, similar to that of Prince Ling.

Upon seeing the woman, Wang Ziling immediately smiled obsequiously and bowed, saying, "Madam Zhang, I have brought another distinguished guest, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, who will also be attending this trade fair."

"Huh?" Madam Zhang looked Yang Qingyuan up and down, noticing the powerful aura emanating from him. She smiled slightly and said to Wang Ziling, "Well done, kid. You're getting better and better at getting things done."

"Another distinguished guest, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, has been introduced."

"Please come in, senior!"

Wang Ziling bowed to Yang Qingyuan and said, "Senior, I can only take you this far. After all, with my status, I am not qualified to participate in the auction of this secret shop."

"However, it would be best if you found some masks to cover your face and wore them."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan patted his storage bag, took out Wang Ping's silver ghost face mask and the black hooded robe, put them on, and followed Madam Zhang into the house.

The room was somewhat cluttered, with some low-grade materials for crafting weapons and alchemy scattered around.

Immediately afterwards, Madam Zhang walked to a corner of the room, raised her delicate foot, and stepped on a blue brick.

The next moment, the nearby floor slowly sank down, revealing a blue stone step.

"Senior, please follow me!" Madam Zhang called out to Yang Qingyuan and went down the steps first.

Yang Qingyuan followed closely behind and entered the tunnel. After walking about a hundred steps, he saw a stone door in front of him.

Two men in black stood on either side of the stone gate, each wearing a mask resembling a demon, and their auras indicated they were at the early and middle stages of Foundation Establishment, respectively.

"Senior, these two are guards of the secret shop," Madam Zhang introduced. "With these two Foundation Establishment stage guards here, you don't need to worry about any cultivators daring to cause trouble in the upcoming auction."

After saying that, Madam Zhang pushed open the stone door.

But behind the stone gate was a magnificent hall.

The hall was oval-shaped, with an area of ​​several tens of feet square. The floor was covered with a vermilion carpet, and the surrounding walls were made of snow-white jade, making it look extremely luxurious.

Inside the hall, there were seven or eight rows of wooden chairs, and more than thirty monks dressed in various styles were already seated.

These cultivators either wore masks or bamboo hats, concealing their true appearances. More than half of them were at least at the Foundation Establishment stage. They all remained silent, quietly waiting for the auction to begin.

Opposite them was a solitary auction table.

Madam Zhang bowed slightly to Yang Qingyuan and said, "Senior, the trade fair is about to begin. Please wait a moment."

"I have to go greet other guests, so I won't keep you company any longer."

"You can find any empty seat and sit down."

After speaking, Madam Zhang left the main hall.

Yang Qingyuan casually found a seat and quietly waited for the trade fair to begin.

Seven more cultivators entered during this time, two of whom were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After waiting for an hour, four cultivators dressed in black entered the hall and closed the stone door.

Three of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators, dressed exactly like the guards at the entrance.

Upon seeing this, Yang Qingyuan and the others perked up and stared intently at the scene.

But then they saw four black-clad cultivators standing side by side behind the auction table.

The monk in the middle spoke in a low, hoarse voice, "It is truly an honor for our humble establishment that fellow cultivators have graced us with their presence."

"Since many of the guests attending this trade fair are here for the first time, I'd like to say a few words and explain the rules of the trade."

"Our shop will set a minimum price for the auctioned treasures, and then everyone will compete with spirit stones. The highest bidder wins."

"If you fellow cultivators do not have enough spirit stones, you may use items of equal value as collateral."

"As for the value of the pledged items, the three of us will jointly assess it!"

"Finally, after the auction of our treasures is over, everyone can trade freely."

"If you have any items to exchange or sell, you can come forward and display them yourself, and trade freely."

"Alright, let's begin the trading session!"

After saying this, three of them silently walked to the corner of the room and stood there watching, leaving only one man in black standing behind the auction table.

The man in black coughed twice, took out a three-foot-long fiery red flying sword from his storage bag, placed it on the auction table, and introduced himself to the crowd, "I am the auctioneer for this trade fair."

"The first item to be auctioned is this top-grade fire-attribute flying sword, the 'Fire Cloud Sword'."

"This sword is not only incomparably sharp, but it can also condense fire clouds to attack multiple people at the same time. It is an extremely rare flying sword, and fellow Daoists should not miss it."

"Starting bid: 200 low-grade spirit stones!"

No sooner had the words been spoken than impatient cultivators began to call out bids, causing the price of the flying sword to instantly exceed three hundred spirit stones.

Yang Qingyuan merely glanced at the Fire Cloud Sword before looking away.

Although the Fire Cloud Sword is a top-grade magic weapon, its forging technique is not particularly sophisticated, and the materials used in its forging are also ordinary. It cannot be compared with the seven flying swords, such as the Rainbow Sword and Thunder Sword, which have been infused with iron essence.

Yang Qingyuan has now established his foundation and doesn't even look at the Fire Cloud Sword.

However, he vaguely remembered that after Han Li reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he participated in an underground auction in the Tianxing Sect Market and accidentally stumbled upon the Thousand Bamboo Sect Protector chasing Huang Feng Valley Deacon. By chance, he obtained the first four levels of the "Great Evolution Technique".

The first item auctioned was the Red Cloud Sword.

"If I count on my fingers, Han Li should have reached the Foundation Establishment stage by now."

"Could he happen to be at this auction too?"

Thinking of this, Yang Qingyuan initially wanted to release his divine sense to scan the hall, but then he thought that there was no need for it, so he waited quietly.

Finally, the Fire Cloud Sword was auctioned off to a Qi Refining stage cultivator for four hundred spirit stones, and the transaction was completed on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, the auctioneer cleared his throat, poured out a crimson furnace about half a person's height from his storage bag, and introduced it, "The second treasure that our shop is bidding on is a weapon refiner's favorite."

"A top-grade weapon-refining furnace, called the 'Crimson Heavenly Furnace'."

"This furnace has been passed down through the hands of many master weapon refiners, and has been used to forge many famous and top-quality magical artifacts, such as the Illusionary Sound Sword and the Azure Dragon Banner."

"It is said that this furnace has a certain enhancement effect on the forging of magical artifacts, but whether it is true or not, our shop does not know."

Starting bid: 400 spirit stones.

Yang Qingyuan happened to be short of a weapon-refining furnace, and on a whim, he raised his hand to make an offer...