Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

The tunnel was very short. After walking for about ten feet, there was a small wooden archway. Two men in black stood on the left and right sides of the archway, each wearing a blue ghost mask.

Zhang Li glanced at the two men and his expression immediately hardened. These two seemingly insignificant gatekeepers actually possessed the cultivation level of Qi Refining Perfection, and a faint aura of killing intent lingered around them, indicating that more than one cultivator had died at their hands.

This also shows that the organizer of the underground auction is someone with considerable influence.

Adhering to the principle of doing less and making fewer mistakes, Zhang Li raised his hand and waved, sending a storage bag and a wooden token to the two of them respectively.

The man in black on the left took the token but didn't rush to check it. Instead, he looked at the man in black on the right.

The man in black on the right nodded slightly, while the man in black on the left looked the token up and down before saying in a low voice, "Kang Jinlong."

"The water worm of Zhen." Zhang Li said in a hoarse voice.

"Please come in, guest."

After confirming that the secret code was correct, the black-clad monk returned the token and storage bag to Lu Chen before pushing open the wooden archway behind him.

Zhang Li put away the token and storage bag, then stepped inside.

As soon as you enter, your vision brightens up. Behind the door is a lavishly decorated hall, with palace lanterns hanging all around illuminating the entire hall.

The hall is circular, with a diameter of several tens of feet. In the pavilion, there are rows of wooden chairs that have been arranged in advance. Each chair is not connected but spaced apart. In the middle is a circular platform that is half a foot high.

Above the main hall are two separate private rooms, each with floor-to-ceiling windows on the inside, covered by a layer of white glazed jade walls. Several of the jade walls faintly glow, indicating that there are cultivators in the private rooms at this time, but it is not clear which cultivator is sitting inside.

At this moment, there were already twenty or thirty cultivators seated in the hall. When they saw Zhang Li enter, they couldn't help but glance at him.

"They are almost all cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining." After being swept over by these gazes, Zhang Li had a rough estimate of their cultivation levels.

Zhang Li then found a relatively secluded corner to sit down.

Seeing this, they all turned their gaze away and waited quietly. The entire hall was unusually quiet, filling the space with a tense atmosphere.

Like the other cultivators, Zhang Li arrived quite early. Since there was still some time before the auction officially began, he could only wait quietly in his seat for the auction to start.

About half an hour later, all the empty seats in the hall were filled by the arriving cultivators, and the jade walls inside the private rooms on the second and third floors lit up, indicating that everyone had arrived.

Sure enough, less than a quarter of an hour after all the private rooms and seats were occupied by cultivators, a bell suddenly rang.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The bell rang three times, and then a tall, thin middle-aged man wearing a black short jacket and a round felt hat walked in from the shadows, walked up to the auction platform which was half a meter high, and bowed to the four directions.

"I am Huang Hefa, and I am the host of this auction. Welcome, fellow Daoists, to attend..."

"Alright, I won't keep you all in suspense any longer. I hereby declare this auction officially open."

After completing the routine procedures, Huang Hefa took out a small gong and a wooden hammer from his storage bag and struck the gong.

clang!

"Please welcome the first item in this auction."

Then a rather attractive maid, dressed in bright colors, walked out from backstage carrying a jade tray. On the tray was a golden longsword, with gilded patterns winding and flowing along the spine of the sword. Even from several meters away, one could vaguely feel the chilling sharpness emanating from the blade.

"The first item in this auction is the Golden Dragon Sword, a superior-grade magical artifact, forged from luminous gold mixed with mithril..."

Zhang Li sat in the back row of the hall, her eyes slightly closed.

Although the first item up for auction was a high-grade magic weapon, it didn't suit his attributes, and he didn't lack offensive methods. His main purpose for this trip was to obtain that drop of century-old spiritual liquid.

In addition, there are other treasures that can help in combat, which Zhang Li also needs to pay attention to.

The initial auction lasted for about half an hour, and Zhang Li finally got what he wanted.

"Next item: a drop of Hundred-Year Spirit Liquid, a treasure that can accelerate the cultivation speed of the Qi Refining stage. Starting bid: 600 spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than 10 spirit stones."

After Huang Hefa finished speaking, the late-stage Qi Refining cultivators in the arena all had their eyes light up and immediately wanted to make a bid.

"Six hundred and twenty spirit stones!"

"Six hundred and forty spirit stones!"

Bidding rallied one after another, and prices steadily climbed. Many cultivators who had been stuck in the same place for many years began to consider using the spiritual liquid to break through to the next level.

In a short while, the price broke through eight hundred spirit stones. Some cultivators with meager resources could only give up in frustration, looking at the jade bottle on the stage with resentment.

"Eight hundred and ten spirit stones!"

"Eight hundred and twenty spirit stones!"

Two voices rang out one after the other, and only four or five people remained in a stalemate during the bidding.

"Eight hundred and thirty spirit stones!"

Zhang Li also joined the fray.

He was determined to obtain this drop of the century-old spiritual liquid. With it, Zhang Li could guarantee that he would successfully break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining in the last two months.

"Eight hundred and forty spirit stones!"

"Eight hundred and fifty spirit stones!"

Two more people followed suit with their bids, and upon seeing this, Zhang Li immediately raised the price several times higher.

"Nine hundred spirit stones!"

At such a crucial moment, he wouldn't care about price differences; he would definitely bid with all his might for anything that met his requirements.

After several rounds of bidding, he finally acquired the drop of the century-old spiritual liquid for 960 spirit stones.

But the auction was not over yet.

Zhang Li's actions were only just beginning.

"Next is a Breakthrough Pill, which can help late-stage Qi Refining cultivators break through their bottlenecks. Starting bid: 800 spirit stones..."

After a few more items were auctioned, Zhang Li made another bid, purchasing a bottle of pills for nine hundred spirit stones. The main purpose of the pills was to quickly restore the mana consumed by cultivators.

However, this kind of pill is of a much higher grade than the Qi-restoring pill, and it doesn't require much effort to refine. With his cultivation level after the breakthrough, one pill can restore more than 20% of his mana.

In the battles of the secret realm, the most troublesome thing is to run out of mana and be unable to defend against enemies. With this bottle of high-level mana-restoring pills, his ability to sustain himself in battle is greatly improved, which can be enough to save his life in critical moments. It is extremely cost-effective.

As time went by, the underground auction gradually came to an end, and Huang Hefa mysteriously took out a rectangular black box.

When the box was opened, two dark yellow talismans with ancient patterns were quietly placed inside.

Huang Hefa's gaze swept across the entire room as he loudly announced, "Fellow Daoists, the final item of this auction is two Mountain-Suppressing Talismans."

"This is a second-tier defensive talisman. Its defensive capabilities surpass those of top-grade defensive magic artifacts. It is strong enough to withstand several attacks from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It can be activated instantly upon being attacked, making it extremely convenient to use..."