Immortal Life: Starting with Daily Last Words

Chapter 90 The Du Family of Nanling

"The next item in the auction is the Flowing Red Gold Marrow."

""

"This treasure is extremely effective for both tempering spiritual weapons and flying swords, and for cultivating metal-based techniques. It can even be used as the core material for one's natal flying sword."

"There is only one of these items. Fellow Daoists who are interested should seize this rare opportunity."

As the jade box was slowly opened, a dazzling golden light burst forth, and a sharp, chilling aura swept in all directions, causing some cultivators to gasp in surprise.

Yu Daoxuan suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them, and fixed his gaze on the jade box.

Inside the box was a piece of Flowing Crimson Gold Marrow, about the size of an infant's palm. It was entirely crimson gold, gleaming with a pure, sharp golden aura.

"The starting bid is six thousand spirit stones, and each bid must be at least one hundred spirit stones higher."

As soon as the presiding monk finished speaking, the bidding erupted like a tidal wave, one after another.

"Six thousand one hundred spirit stones!"

"Six thousand three hundred spirit stones!"

"Seven thousand spirit stones!"

In a short period of time, the price of Flowing Red Gold Marrow soared to seven thousand spirit stones, and the bidding remained fierce.

Yu Daoxuan did not rush to bid, and only slowly opened the bid when the bidding in the room gradually slowed down and stopped at 7,500 spirit stones.

"Eight thousand spirit stones."

He directly increased the price by 500 spirit stones, which drew the attention of many cultivators.

After a moment of silence, a cultivator dressed in the robes of the Zhanlu Sword Sect slowly spoke from the second-floor stands: "Eight thousand two hundred spirit stones."

Yu Daoxuan recognized this person as Wei Zhaolin, the "Sword Prince," a seed of the Purple Mansion sect of Zhanlu Sword Sect.

"Eight thousand five hundred spirit stones."

Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Daoxuan raised the price by another three hundred spirit stones. His tone remained calm, yet it conveyed a sense of unwavering determination.

Seeing Yu Daoxuan's aggressive price increase, Wei Zhaolin pondered to himself.

The later grand finale items are more important to him. If he spends a high price to bid for the Flowing Cloud Crimson Gold Marrow now, he will find it difficult to compete with the other Foundation Establishment cultivators when bidding for the grand finale items later, which would be a loss.

Upon realizing this, Wei Zhaolin gave up the bidding.

Seeing this, the presiding monk called out the bid three times. When no one raised the price further, he announced loudly, "Congratulations to this fellow Daoist for successfully bidding on the Flowing Cloud Crimson Gold Marrow. You may proceed to the backstage area to complete the transaction procedures afterward."

Yu Daoxuan got his wish, but his face remained calm, as if he had only bought an ordinary spiritual item.

At this moment, he had gathered all the treasures he needed to cultivate the Five Elements Foundation Establishment.

After a year or two of refinement, once the practice is complete, one can prepare to establish the foundation.

Not long after, the final major item was brought out.

With his substantial wealth, Wei Zhaolin outmaneuvered several Foundation Establishment cultivators present and successfully won the bid.

As a potential cultivator of the Purple Mansion realm from the Zhanlu Sword Sect and born into the Wei family, his wealth far exceeds that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, so it is not surprising that he won the grand prize item.

"Fellow Daoists, this auction has now come to an end. The second auction will officially begin tomorrow at noon. Please pay attention to the time and do not miss it."

The auction concluded, the presiding monk announced loudly, and then orderly arranged for the monks to leave.

Yu Daoxuan immediately got up and went to the backstage of the auction to complete the transaction procedures.

"Fellow Daoist, this is the Flowing Cloud Crimson Gold Marrow. Examine it carefully. If you have no objections, you can pay the spirit stones."

A white-haired cultivator dressed in the robes of the Zhanlu Sword Sect handed a jade box to Yu Daoxuan with a gentle smile and a respectful tone.

Yu Daoxuan took the jade box, opened it to check that everything was correct, then readily paid the spirit stones and turned to leave.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

The white-haired cultivator strode forward, smiling as he handed over a cloud-patterned treasure token, saying, "Fellow Daoist, your demeanor is extraordinary; you must be one of the best among your kind. From now on, with this cloud-patterned treasure token, you can enjoy a 10% discount when purchasing spiritual items at Baoyun Tower, which is under our sect."

Upon hearing this, Yu Daoxuan casually agreed, accepted the Cloud Pattern Treasure Token, and turned to leave.

"Senior brother, this person looks unfamiliar. He doesn't seem to be a cultivator from our Nine Plains Continent. Should we send someone?"

"After Yu Daoxuan's figure completely disappeared at the backstage entrance, a member of the Zhanlu Sword Sect transmitted his voice."

At the same time, he made a throat-cutting gesture with his right hand, signaling to send someone to intercept and kill him, and seize the Flowing Cloud Crimson Gold Marrow.

Upon hearing this, the white-haired old man frowned instantly, the smile on his face vanished, and his expression became solemn.

He warned him with maturity and composure, "Junior brother, you must not be reckless. This person is only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, yet he was able to easily take out more than eight thousand spirit stones to bid for the Flowing Cloud Crimson Gold Marrow. He must have an extraordinary background."

"We should not act rashly on this matter for now. Let's send someone to find out his identity and background first, so as not to make a rash decision and get ourselves into trouble."

After leaving the auction venue, Yu Daoxuan did not linger in the market and headed straight for Tianquan Blessed Land.

However, halfway there, a scholar-monk with a fair complexion suddenly came to greet them.

It was the young monk who had asked him if he was a scholar of ancient literature.

"Du Shaohuan of the Du family of Nanling greets Fellow Daoist Yu."

"Would I have the honor of inviting you to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion for a chat?"

Du Shaohuan was polite and gentle in his manners, and his words were warm and soothing.

"The Du family of Nanling?!"

Information about this clan instantly flashed through Yu Daoxuan's mind.

The Du family was once one of the eight great immortal cultivation families in the Song Kingdom.

Because the last pseudo-core cultivator in the clan passed away a hundred years ago, no pseudo-core cultivators have been born since, and thus the clan has fallen to the Purple Mansion faction.

The family that replaced the Du family in joining the ranks of the eight great families was the Zhao family of Tianshui.

However, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

Although the Du family of Nanling has been downgraded, its foundation is far beyond that of ordinary Purple Mansion forces.

Considering the other party's extraordinary status and apparent lack of malice, Yu Daoxuan agreed.

At the same time, he had already guessed the purpose of the other party's visit.

However, he never went to places like the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, which was utterly worthless.

The two then moved to Zuixianlou.

In an elegant private room, Du Shaohuan generously ordered a table of spiritual food and two bottles of spiritual wine.

He personally poured Yu Daoxuan a cup and said politely, "Fellow Daoist Yu, I apologize for not being hospitable enough during this trip. If you ever visit Xuanyu Continent, you are welcome to try our clan's homemade Spring Breeze Wine," he assured him, "I guarantee you will enjoy it."

"The Nobleman's Spring Breeze Wine" is a unique delicacy of the Song Dynasty, which I have long admired and long heard of. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will certainly go and taste it.

Yu Daoxuan smiled and replied.

Hearing these words of praise, Du Shaohuan's smile grew even wider.

After exchanging a few words about their experiences in the cultivation world, Du Shaohuan finally revealed the true purpose of his trip.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, I have several pieces of Xuan Turtle Shell here, inscribed with an ancient script. I wonder if you can decipher its secrets?"

As he spoke, he took out a piece of Xuan Turtle Shell from his storage bag.

The tortoise shell was as big as an adult's head, and its surface was densely covered with winding and strange characters, which were the ancient script of the Great Wilderness.

Master Taiyuan has a fairly good grasp of the ancient texts of the Great Wilderness.

Therefore, after scanning the tortoise shell, Yu Daoxuan could recognize about 80 or 90 percent of it, with only a small part still requiring careful study.

The tortoise shell contains a magical technique called "Minor Five Elements Escape Technique".

This method uses the Five Elements as its foundation and borrows the principle of escape from heaven and earth. When cultivated to a high level, it can travel hundreds of miles in an instant, avoiding most restrictions and attacks.

However, this method is incomplete; the remaining information should be found in the other pieces of the opponent's Xuan Turtle Shell.

Yu Daoxuan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and remained expressionless.

He had only a superficial relationship with Du Shaohuan, so he naturally wouldn't easily reveal his true nature.

However, he couldn't say he was completely unaware of the bronze tripod from before.

After a moment's thought, Yu Daoxuan said, "I can recognize the ancient script of the Great Wilderness on this tortoise shell, and I can even recognize several of the characters. As for the meaning of the whole text, I have no idea."

Upon hearing this, Du Shaohuan's face first showed a hint of sadness, then turned to joy, and he quickly said, "May I ask if you could teach me to read?"

Fearing that Yu Daoxuan might refuse, he hurriedly added, "Fellow Daoist Yu, rest assured, I will definitely offer you a reward that will satisfy you."

Yu Daoxuan glanced at the other person and could truly sense that this person genuinely loved classical literature.

In the end, he agreed.

However, the condition is that the ancient text on the tortoise shell must be copied.

Upon hearing this, Du Shaohuan immediately replied, "Of course, no problem. It is my good fortune to meet someone like you, Fellow Daoist Yu. I hope you will not hesitate to give me your guidance."

After saying this, he stood up and bowed solemnly.

"That attitude is truly respectful."

Yu Daoxuan thought to himself.

He originally only planned to teach six or seven classical Chinese texts casually to get by, but seeing the other party's sincere attitude, he taught about ten.

After finishing the lesson, Du Shaohuan bowed again to express his gratitude.

Yu Daoxuan quickly reached out to help him up, saying, "Fellow Daoist Du, I have important matters to attend to, so I will return to my residence first."

"Alright, Fellow Daoist Yu, please wait a moment."

After Du Shaohuan finished speaking, he immediately made a hand seal and copied down the ancient characters on the tortoise shell one by one.

After saying goodbye to the other party, Yu Daoxuan went to a shop in the market called "Tianzhilou" that sold information.

He purchased intelligence about Du Shaohuan.

After reading it, he couldn't help but say that this person was truly obsessed with classical Chinese literature.

After reaching adulthood, this person devoted himself to attending market fairs in various continents to collect ancient artifacts.

Whenever there is such news or spiritual objects, I will go to collect them.

Upon returning to Tianquan Blessed Land, Yu Daoxuan did not cultivate due to the incomplete nature of his escape technique.

Instead, he focused on figuring out the classical Chinese texts he didn't understand.

""

The following day, after the auction concluded, Yu Daoxuan left the auction venue as he had hoped.

He only made one bid at this auction.

He spent over four thousand spirit stones to bid for a second-tier low-grade array, the "Inverted Five Elements Array".

This inverted five elements array is primarily defensive. Once deployed, it forms an indestructible five-colored protective shield that is difficult for even Foundation Establishment cultivators to break through in a short time.

Now that the market assembly has ended, the cultivators who came and went are leaving like birds and beasts, which is the time when Tribulation Cultivators are most likely to appear.

Many cultivators from various sects took the opportunity to ambush and rob those cultivators who spent lavishly at the conference.

Therefore, Yu Daoxuan planned to stay at Tianquan Blessed Land for a few more days.

Wait until things calm down before heading back to Jiuyuan Continent to avoid being ambushed.

Before leaving, he left the cloud-patterned treasure token given to him by the white-haired cultivator from the Zhanlu Sword Sect on the table in his cave dwelling, without taking it with him.

Walking in this perilous world of cultivation, every step must be taken with extreme caution, allowing no room for carelessness.

Yu Daoxuan had his own considerations regarding the spiritual items given to him by cultivators he had never met before, knowing which ones he could accept and which ones he absolutely could not touch.

Therefore, after obtaining the Cloud Pattern Treasure Token, he examined it carefully.

Although no abnormalities have been detected yet, the cultivation world is full of strange and mysterious techniques, and no one can guarantee that there are no hidden secrets among them.

Being cautious by nature, he simply left the cloud-patterned treasure token in his cave, completely eliminating the possibility of being tracked down.