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But what is the purpose of the small cauldron next to it?

Li Shen felt a pang of doubt and shifted his gaze from the ancient silk book to the small blue cauldron.

The small cauldron was simple and ancient in shape, with intricate cloud patterns carved on its body, attracting the attention of many cultivators.

Li Shen's heart sank; he hadn't expected that the ancient silk book would be sold bundled with this small blue cauldron.

This is troublesome.

Selling ancient silk manuscripts is very risky; there's a real possibility that you'll lose everything.

However, if it is sold together with a small tripod that has a clear purpose, the risk is reduced considerably.

Originally, it was about buying silk books; the outcome would either be a huge loss or a huge profit.

Now, the deal is to buy a tripod and give away a silk book as a gift. The silk book is useless, so it's still a small loss.

Li Shen clenched his fists, knowing he could only wait and see.

"An ancient silk manuscript and a high-grade elixir cauldron."

The female cultivator in the cheongsam had a clear and melodious voice:

"As instructed by the fellow Daoist who provided this silk scroll, you must also bid for this alchemy cauldron to acquire it. The silk scroll was obtained from the remains of an ancient cultivator. The contents of the silk scroll are obscure and profound, and it seems to point to some kind of secret technique inheritance. The starting price for both items is four hundred spirit stones, and each bid must be at least twenty spirit stones."

A brief silence fell over the room.

Antiques of unknown purpose always carry significant risks.

Although this alchemy cauldron was of superior quality, its effects were limited, and the starting bid of four hundred spirit stones was considered by many cultivators present to be somewhat overpriced.

Contrary to expectations, Li Shen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he still waited patiently and would not speak until the female host announced that the item had failed to sell.

After a short silence, the gray-robed cultivator, who was quite a distance away from Li Shen, slowly spoke:

"Four hundred and forty."

Before long, another one followed:

"five hundred."

The bidding slowly climbed, but it was always the same few people, clearly all aiming for the cauldron.

Upon seeing this, Li Shen's worries vanished completely.

Only when the price stopped at the five hundred and eighty spirit stones initially quoted by the gray-robed cultivator, and it seemed no one else was bidding, did he calmly speak:

"I'll offer 680."

His voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

By directly increasing the price by one hundred spirit stones, they were trying to discourage their competitors.

The others who had made the earlier bids all turned to look at him, but Li Shen remained calm and composed, his face expressionless.

The gray-robed cultivator who was most interested paused for a moment, but ultimately did not make another bid.

The others also hesitated before giving up, since this was only the middle of the auction and there would definitely be more valuable treasures to come.

"Six hundred and eighty, once."

"Six hundred and eighty, twice."

The female cultivator in the cheongsam swept her gaze across the entire room, and just as she was about to make a decision, a voice suddenly rang out from not far to Li Shen's left:

"I'll offer 720."

Li Shen frowned slightly and glanced at the stranger out of the corner of his eye. The stranger was a completely unfamiliar cultivator who hadn't bid at all.

The opponent concealed his aura extremely well; even with Li Shen's divine sense comparable to the late stage of Qi Refining, he couldn't fathom the opponent's true strength.

He steadied himself. Although he didn't know what the other party meant, he could still afford to pay 720.

"I'll offer 740."

He didn't add another hundred as he had done before.

Previously, it was because there were many competitors; if it's the same this time, it might arouse suspicion from other cultivators.

If the premium is too high, it's hard not to turn attention to the ancient silk book.

If things get chaotic, it will be difficult to control.

The unfamiliar cultivator who had raised the price from the side seemed quite hesitant, showing no intention of competing with Li Shen to the end. He paused for a few moments on Li Shen's head before coldly saying:

"Fine, fine, I'll give it to you."

The woman in the cheongsam smiled and swept her gaze over the crowd, saying:

"Seven hundred and forty spirit stones, deal."

After saying that, she pushed the two auction items along with an empty wooden box in front of Li Shen.

Before this, Li Shen's fingertips flickered with spiritual light, and he had already counted out the full amount of spirit stones.

After the money and goods were exchanged, Li Shen put the small tripod and the ancient silk book into his storage bag.

The auction continued, and after a few more items were sold, the woman in the cheongsam announced the end of the auction.

The monks began to leave one after another, silently and swiftly.

Li Shen blended into the crowd and quickly left.

Once outside the small building, he released his divine sense, and sure enough, several people were quietly following behind him.

He deliberately took a detour and changed his position several times, but he still couldn't shake off the other party.

Li Shen felt a sense of helplessness and had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​shaking off the other party, and headed straight for the exit of the black market.

Once outside the passage, the mask disappeared from his face.

Without hesitation, Li Shen summoned a mid-grade concealment talisman and hid in a corner.

The people who had been quietly following behind him revealed their true identities.

There were three people in total, two of whom were at the late stage of Qi Refining.

They really think highly of me.

Li Shen chuckled inwardly. Dealing with them would be a bit troublesome, so he had no intention of taking them into the Yin Soul Banner.

He left quietly, leaving the three of them looking at each other in bewilderment.

It was unbelievable that two late-stage Qi Refining cultivators could lose track of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator in just a moment.

Li Shen walked towards home.

A strange noise suddenly came from not far ahead.

This road was the only way back. Li Shen frowned and silently continued forward.

He quickly got a clear look at the situation ahead.

There are three cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refining who are pursuing a female cultivator at the third stage of Qi Refining.

Under the bright moonlight, the female cultivator's face was completely exposed to Li Shen's eyes.

"Why is it Lin Xiaoxiao! What's she doing at the black market when she's only at the third level of Qi Refining?"

Li Shen couldn't figure it out for a moment, but now was a good time to improve his favorability.

Seeing that the three cultivators were about to succeed, Li Shen slowly stepped forward, carefully choosing his words, and said coldly:

"Isn't it a bit too much for the three of you to bully someone who's only at the early stage of Qi Refining?"

Li Shen stood in Lin Xiaoxiao's shadow, and the three approaching cultivators immediately stopped a short distance away.

Li Shen's expression was indifferent. This was the first time he had ever done something like rescuing a damsel in distress, and he didn't know if what he had just said was awkward.

Li Shen glanced back and, amidst Lin Xiaoxiao's shock, whispered a reminder:

"Fellow Daoist Lin, leave this to me with peace of mind. You can go back without worry."

"Fellow Daoist Li..."

Lin Xiaoxiao struggled with her thoughts for a moment, her eyes still filled with fear. Suddenly, she sensed the aura of a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator emanating from Li Shen, and seeing his calm expression, she finally gritted her teeth and bowed.

"Thank you for your help, Fellow Daoist Li. Please be careful, Fellow Daoist Li. I will repay you handsomely in the future."

Li Shen nodded slightly and waved to her casually, signaling her to leave quickly.

The methods he was about to use were not suitable for people to watch.

"Leave it to me."

Li Shen turned his head and whispered.

Lin Xiaoxiao immediately understood and ran towards home without stopping.

The three cultivators exchanged glances, one of them even considering circling around to pursue them again.

Li Shen immediately unleashed two mid-grade ice cone talismans, which released a burst of cold energy to block the path.

"Trying to deal with this separately is underestimating me."

"A mere fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator dares to play the hero and save the damsel in distress?"

Among the three, a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator grinned maliciously, his killing intent fully revealed, and with a flick of his wrist, he drew a crimson longsword:

"Since you're courting death, I'll start with you!"

The other two, one at the fourth level of Qi Refining and the other at the fifth level, saw that their leader was about to make a move, and took out their magical artifacts one after another. The three of them approached Li Shen in a triangular formation.

It's a pity to let one escape, but if we can capture this fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator, it's not a loss.

Li Shen stood still, his expression indifferent. A gentle breeze stirred his sleeves, and his divine sense had already quietly locked onto the auras of the three people.