Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

Auction hall.

After the controversy surrounding the "Myriad Manifestations Armor" secret technique subsided, the auction finally returned to normal order.

He had originally planned to acquire a few top-quality magical artifacts, but with this set of "Myriad Manifestations Armor," he could put those aside for now.

With no further needs, he treated the remaining auction items as mere entertainment, though he would still take a closer look at the occasional unusual item that caught his attention.

For example, these few Sumeru worms in front of us may seem insignificant, but it is said that once they recognize a master and refine them, they can transform from solid to ethereal. Not only can they be integrated into oneself to assist in the execution of various techniques and secret arts, but they can also hide and attack enemies. They are invisible and intangible, making them difficult to defend against. For some cultivators who practice insect-repelling techniques or special secret arts, they have endless uses.

As soon as the auction began, it sparked a bidding war among the cultivators present, and the price soared to 25,000 spirit stones. Most of those who were not financially capable were unwilling to back down, but there were still two cultivators who were unwilling to give up.

In the end, it was the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain who decided the outcome with a high price of 37,000 spirit stones, leaving the other person with no choice but to give up, even though he was unwilling.

Later, some rare and exquisite items appeared, which also caused some competition. However, such rare items as the Sumeru Insect never appeared again.

However, a batch of Yi Ling Xiang made by a certain master drug maker still piqued Lin Zui's interest.

It is said that once one is poisoned by this strange poison, the body will not have any abnormal reactions, but once a fierce battle begins, the spiritual power in the body will be rapidly lost. Even a Foundation Establishment expert cannot last more than a short while. It is definitely an excellent weapon for ambushing and scheming.

Lin Zui was overjoyed and immediately spent the last five thousand spirit stones he had on him to buy one of the boxes.

Fortunately, there were ten boxes in this batch, otherwise he might not have been able to snatch them from the others.

After the auction ended, Lin Zui did not leave Qingfengfang directly, but went to Huangfeng Valley's residence there to inquire about the Foundation Establishment cultivator Huang Ming from Manager Liu.

After all, if you embarrass someone in public, there's no guarantee they won't retaliate. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the only way to prevent trouble before it happens.

He was shocked to discover that Huang Ming's family was actually the number one cultivation family in Tianque Fort, and their ancestors even included Nascent Soul cultivators.

Although it has declined somewhat, its overall strength is still comparable to that of the so-called number one cultivation family in Yue Kingdom, Yan Family Fortress.

However, because it belongs to Tianque Fortress, compared with Yan Family Fortress, a pure cultivation family that is independent and does not rely on other factions, it always gives people the feeling of being a bit weaker.

As for Huang Ming, he was a ruthless man with a rather fierce reputation. It is said that he was bloodthirsty even when he was in the Qi Refining stage, and his temper only became slightly more restrained after he successfully established his foundation.

However, in recent years, after advancing to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he has started to resort to unscrupulous means in order to increase his chances of forming a core. He has even snatched opportunities from his fellow disciples on several occasions. If it weren't for the protection of the Huang family, he would probably have been dealt with by Tianque Fortress according to the sect rules long ago.

Manager Liu recounted the information he knew in detail. If he hadn't been in charge of market affairs for many years and had come into contact with many people, he wouldn't have known so much.

Lin Zui frowned slightly. Huang Ming's character was so despicable that he really didn't dare to leave the market. If the other party had left some kind of hidden tracking mark on him, he would most likely ambush him on the way, which would be too risky.

"Prepare a quiet room for me; I need to rest."

"Yes, Master!"

Upon hearing Lin Zui's instructions, Steward Liu nodded in agreement. Occasionally, members of the sect would stay here temporarily, so there were naturally several quiet secret rooms available.

Lin Zui's decision to go into seclusion was naturally to resolve any potential troubles.

Among the countless secret techniques of the Five Elements Transformation Technique, there is a minor method called "Spirit Detection Technique," which is said to be able to detect the unusual magical power within a person.

Although it may not be effective against certain sophisticated methods, these so-called sophisticated methods are only for the big shots in the immortal realm. In Lin Zui's opinion, even the methods of Nascent Soul cultivators in the human realm may not be enough to catch the eye of the big shots, let alone a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Fortunately, this minor spell is not difficult, but it requires him to simultaneously utilize the five elements of magic power to assist each other, which is something that ordinary cultivators cannot learn.

However, when he actually detected traces of foreign magic on his body, even with his good self-control, he almost cursed out loud.

Because the magical imprints on his body were not just one place, but four, four places with completely different magical properties!

Huang Ming obviously couldn't do such a thing, nor was there any need for him to, which can only mean one thing.

Huang Ming wasn't the only one with his own agenda; there were four!

Lin Zui couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. He had already clashed with Huang Ming and been schemed against by him, which was bad enough. But what were the other people doing, trying to harm him for no reason?

However, upon further reflection, it wasn't entirely without reason; it was most likely the consequence of Huang Ming revealing his cultivation level.

A Qi Refining cultivator with such a substantial fortune—who wouldn't covet it?

Do you all think I'm easy prey?

Lin Zui sneered, then used his Five Elements magic to envelop the strange magic and began to slowly decompose and remove it.

This is another wonderful application of the "Five Elements Transformation Technique". All magical power in the world comes from the Five Elements. Even the magical power of different spiritual roots such as wind, thunder, ice, and darkness is derived from the fusion and mutation of several of the Five Elements.

Therefore, under the interaction of the five elements' magical power, these alien magical powers were decomposed back into the most basic spiritual energy molecules. With the magical power gone, Huang Ming and the others' divine senses had nothing to reside in, so they naturally could not track them down.

However, this decomposition was quite time-consuming, and those who left these marks were all Foundation Establishment cultivators whose magical power was far superior to his. Therefore, it was not until three days later that these seemingly insignificant marks were completely erased.

Imagining the furious looks on those guys' faces when they discovered the traces had been erased, Lin Zui smiled smugly.

Without pausing for a moment, he activated the Shrinking Earth Talisman and teleported outside the market. Only then did he calmly activate the Invisibility Talisman and fly towards the direction of Yellow Maple Valley.

Several hours later.

A remote corner of the Taiyue Mountains.

Lin Zui huddled behind a giant rock, trembling with fear. He watched as two cultivators and five or six high-level spirit beasts, clearly not ordinary creatures, fought fiercely in the distance, and inwardly groaned in despair.

He never expected that he would be caught up in the battle between two Foundation Establishment cultivators when he was just tired from traveling and wanted to find a place to rest.

He had only intended to take a look from afar, but the speed of Foundation Establishment cultivators fighting was too fast. Before he could react, the battlefield had already shifted from a distance to near where he was hiding.

At this point, it was too late to escape. Even if one used the Shrinking Earth Talisman, there would still be slight fluctuations in spiritual energy when the talisman was activated. At such a close distance, it would definitely not escape the divine sense of these two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Left with no other choice, he could only try his best to control himself, not daring to reveal any aura, for fear of being detected by the other party.

However, as he got closer, he finally saw who the two people were, and to his surprise, he knew both of them.

"I never expected that the one who fought with these cultivators from Spirit Beast Mountain over the Sumeru Worm at Seven Star Tower was actually him. But what does he want the Sumeru Worm for?"

The two people in front of them were the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators from Spirit Beast Mountain who had previously acquired the Sumeru Insect. As for the other person, he was their Yellow Maple Valley's most outstanding array genius in the past hundred years, Uncle Yu, who had exchanged his Foundation Establishment Pill for the "Yu Feng Array Explanation"!

However, the once refined and scholarly Uncle Yu had undergone a complete transformation. His refined demeanor was gone, replaced by a fierce and murderous aura. His body was covered in spiritual energy runes, and his aura had surged from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage to the late-Foundation Establishment stage.

Moreover, perhaps due to the enhancement of the array formed by the spiritual energy runes within his body, his combat power was incredibly strong. Without activating any magical artifacts or talismans, he simply used punches and kicks to defeat a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and five or six Foundation Establishment spirit beasts.