A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Rogue Cultivator

Upon seeing this, Wang Li felt that something was amiss: Could this be a plant?

This can't go on.

Rather than being led by the nose, it's better to get it right the first time. So, with a determined, almost clenched tone, he directly stated the price for a top-tier, rare magical artifact:

"Eight hundred spirit stones."

"By the way, if any fellow Daoist can offer a higher price, hmph, I will withdraw from the competition."

Clearly, a common top-tier magic weapon worth only three or four hundred low-grade spirit stones, even if mixed with three and a half taels of copper essence, would at most increase its hidden value by two or three hundred spirit stones. It's not worth wasting spirit stones—enough to buy a rare magic weapon—to compete for it.

However, this item is of great use to Wang Li.

Therefore, price became a relatively minor benchmark for him.

Therefore, he will have to be more careful when participating in the auction from now on.

After all, an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator usually doesn't have more than a thousand spirit stones left. Since he's already auctioned off thousand-year-old spiritual materials, it means to outsiders that he doesn't actually have many spirit stones in his pocket. In other words, the benchmark for the spirit stones he can openly use should ideally be kept below three thousand five hundred low-grade spirit stones for the two thousand-year-old spiritual materials.

Only in this way can we be sure of success.

Once that number is exceeded, he'll definitely become easy prey. It's hard to guarantee that no one will have designs on him.

A newly promoted early Foundation Establishment cultivator's total wealth, including all items, is roughly a thousand spirit stones, with a slightly better position reaching two thousand, but no more. Living another ten years, even without considering the daily consumption of pills and the losses during battles, reaching three or four thousand spirit stones would be considered quite good.

Given his publicly displayed mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation level and his status as an elder with forty or fifty years of Foundation Establishment experience, if he were an ordinary manager of a sect, a net worth of six or seven thousand spirit stones would be within the normal range; if he were a sect manager plus a family elder, a net worth of around ten thousand spirit stones wouldn't be exaggerated, but it would still have a somewhat lucrative feel to it.

Therefore, Wang Li can simply be a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who is doing relatively well.

"Eight hundred spirit stones once, eight hundred spirit stones twice..."

"Aren't there any seniors who want to raise their prices?"

Upon hearing the auctioneer's words, Wang Li felt an urge to tear the bastard's mouth apart.

Fortunately, no one really wanted to compete with him for this easy money.

"Sold for the third time, eight hundred spirit stones!"

The resounding clang of the gong sealed the deal.

After that, Wang Li did not make a move on several other items, even though one of them was a flute talisman treasure. Even though he had the financial means to bid, he suppressed the urge to make a move.

This talisman was eventually given to a young girl at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining for 1,800 low-grade spirit stones.

Little lamb.

Strangely, ninety percent of the cultivators present didn't even flinch. It was as if it wasn't surprising that this woman obtained this talisman.

Without a doubt, this woman has a serious problem.

Of course, although he couldn't use his divine sense to see through the woman's face, he used the keen hearing he gained during his Foundation Establishment to simply remember the woman's voice, which she wasn't deliberately disguising.

It's certain that I won't forget it, at least for the next few months.

"Alright everyone, the moment has finally come for the grand finale..."

A curtain parted, revealing a piece of silver the size of a pigeon egg.

"Ordinary things?"

"You're not kidding, are you?"

"No, this isn't ordinary silver, it's...silver essence?!"

After the commotion subsided, the middle-aged auctioneer gave a thumbs-up and affirmed rhythmically:

"That senior has a keen eye! Indeed, this so-called piece of broken silver is silver essence!"

The portion was a bit small, it tasted like leftover scraps.

"Starting bid: one spirit stone!"

"boom……"

As soon as the price was announced, everyone, whether they were in the Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment stage, stared at the display stand with gleaming eyes, eager to snatch the item immediately.

The atmosphere suddenly reached a boiling point.

"Five hundred spirit stones."

"Ha, you think you can get enough silver essence to strengthen several magic weapons with a mere five hundred spirit stones? I'll offer eight hundred spirit stones."

"Nine hundred."

"one thousand……"

Judging by this momentum, it seems like it's getting out of control.

Even Wang Li, who originally didn't intend to get involved anymore, now had his eyes flickering and his knuckles cracking: He wanted it! But, should he fight for it or not?

To be absolutely certain, it's best not to compete. But to give up a piece of silver essence that could significantly boost his strength is truly a pity.

"Take it and use it immediately."

Finally, after weighing numerous factors and several ways to escape, he decided: to fight.

Leaving aside the people from the Hidden Moon Sect, most of the participants in the auction were only at the Qi Refining stage or the early to mid-Foundation Establishment stage. The only ones whose cultivation levels he couldn't see through were the two men in black.

Furthermore, as long as the price is kept around 1,800 spirit stones, a little more won't matter. Can these people really join forces to block him in the market?

Even if we take a step back and assume that most of the twenty-odd Foundation Establishment cultivators present were to join forces to hunt him down, he could simply stay in the market for half a month and then return to Huangfeng Valley with the monthly purchasing team from Zhaixing Tower.

Finally, and most importantly, is his own fighting prowess.

Moreover, once he acquires this item, he can fully transform it into his own strength within the market, allowing him to reach a higher level.

"One thousand six hundred spirit stones."

If Wang Li didn't want to cause trouble at this time because his goal was the markets of the six sects and major cultivation families of Yue Kingdom, then he was absolutely not afraid of trouble for this rare and precious piece of silver essence.

Since we're going to fight, let's be decisive.

When the price of 1,600 was announced, the scene fell silent at first, followed by various questions.

"Fellow Daoist, do you have that many spirit stones with you?"

"That's right, fellow Daoist. You've already made three moves. Don't come up with the corresponding spirit stones when it's time to settle the score."

"..."

"Hmph, whether I have that many spirit stones or not is not up to you to decide. It is up to the fellow Daoists of the Star-Picking Pavilion to decide."

There was a lot of information hidden in those words, and everyone quickly realized what it meant: a consignment auction.

It turned out to be the case.

A moment later, the two late-stage Foundation Establishment experts in the backstage quickly gave an affirmative answer: "Everyone, there is no need to doubt that this fellow Daoist has enough spirit stones. The auction will continue."

"Seventeen hundred spirit stones."

Wang Li hesitated for a moment, unable to discern the cultivation level of one of the two individuals, and then raised the price.

"One thousand eight hundred spirit stones."

You could tell from Wang Li's tone that he was determined to win.

Everyone looked at each other.

Honestly, this price is already a bit beyond the normal selling price of this lump of silver essence. No matter how rare and hard to come by, there's a limit; and while silver essence greatly enhances magical artifacts, it depends on the type of artifact.

"One thousand eight hundred and one spirit stones."

The other man in black, who was probably in the late Foundation Establishment stage, made a final, unwilling probing move.

"One thousand nine hundred spirit stones."

Wang Li did not hesitate and gave the other party no chance.

This……

What a rich old man.

The people in the room had different thoughts.

Chapter 65 Confident Fu Yunzi

At an auction, Wang Li used two thousand-year-old spiritual materials plus some spirit stones to exchange for: a pair of purple light sensing beads (200), a set of water-stabilizing beads (630), a sky-covering bell (800), and a small piece of silver essence (1900).

It's bound to make people envious.

But it also arouses fear.

Because he directly found a good weapon-refining shop, rented a weapon-refining room and a set of weapon-refining tools, and spent more than ten days using silver essence on several exquisite top-grade magic weapons, which greatly increased his strength.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators who initially harbored some ulterior motives, and even those who had been keeping watch outside the shop, realized that the sudden increase in risk outweighed the potential benefits, and their agitation subsided.

Afterwards, out of caution, Wang Li, whose spiritual sense was no weaker than that of an average Pseudo-Core Formation cultivator, deliberately stayed in the market for two days to observe. Once he confirmed that the turmoil had passed, he decided to continue his sweep of various markets, albeit with slight modifications to his itinerary. He primarily targeted the markets of the major sects of Yue Kingdom, markets run by various families, and markets jointly run by some cultivation families.

Those smaller markets were removed from the route map.

In addition, the previous method of traveling at night and walking during the day has been changed to traveling day and night while ensuring that the magical power is relatively abundant, in order to make up for the more than ten days lost.

Two incidents naturally occurred during this period.

One of them was killing three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators from his family who were following him.

Perhaps Wang Li only displayed the cultivation level of the early Foundation Establishment stage at that time.

It's also possible that he bought two Youth Preservation Pills at the Giant Sword Sect auction, but didn't take a liking to the equipment and items there. He didn't spend much, which caused the remaining spirit stones in his pocket to suddenly surge to more than four thousand, making his pocket bulge.

It's clear that the Giant Sword Sect couldn't use these spirit stones, and they certainly can't keep them in their pockets for the next stop.

Before they knew it, they were targeted by unscrupulous individuals from the four cultivation families that had jointly established the market.

Considering his own strength, safety, and plans, Wang Li didn't hold back much from the start.

Therefore, the three of them died a horrible death, leaving not even ashes behind.

As for the fall of the three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, which would likely greatly weaken the strength of their respective families, leading to a crisis of power discontinuity in their families and triggering a series of unfortunate consequences, that's none of Wang Li's business.

He wasn't entrapping law enforcement officers.

He was in a hurry and didn't have the time or inclination for that.

By the way, he went to the Nalan family.