Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Qingse retorted, "You think I'm spreading rumors? Businessmen prioritize integrity. Even if I racked my brains to make up stories about those strange things I sent you, I didn't raise the price. First come, first served."

So that person's partner was actually a customer? Their business has even expanded to the East Sea!

Chu Mingkong realized he had truly underestimated Qing Se, this connoisseur of erotic products. While admiring him, he was also worried:

"Aren't you afraid that his partner will come after you for what you said, or that the male steward will hold a grudge?"

"It's not a big problem. At worst, I'll send one to his wife as an apology. Besides, it's not certain who will apologize. His wife might be worried I won't sell it anymore. Besides, I'm only in charge of selling it. That jade dildo is in Your Highness's shape. If these people really want revenge, they'll come after you..."

"..." Chu Mingkong.

No wonder you're so arrogant! You think I'll take responsibility for the after-sales service when you beat people up?

But it's really not Qingse's fault. In the beginning, Qingse was just helping him deal with "garbage," and that's how things ended up like this.

"Let bygones be bygones. From now on, let's keep things quiet for a while and only focus on high-end channels to reduce unnecessary outflows of goods. I don't want Maomao to be seen as having a father figure whenever she goes out in the future." After Chu Mingkong finished speaking, the image of Maomao's complicated expression as she looked at him appeared in his mind.

I'm starting to panic; I need to plan ahead.

"So even Your Highness has things you're afraid of!" Qingse found it quite intriguing.

During their casual conversation, Qingse led Chu Mingkong to look at the items that had been sold recently. Many items were worth hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, and some even exceeded a million, covering an extremely wide range of items. Thanks to Qingse's position, much inside information could also be obtained.

"These weapons that have been sold are all quite good, but the best one is none other than Master's Extinction Weapon. Aren't there any more powerful ones?" Chu Mingkong felt a lot of regret about this.

I tried to find out through internal channels if there were any better heavy swords for sale, but to no avail. Three-foot longswords, on the other hand, were selling quite a lot.

A bunch of guys who have no passion for Claymore!

However, Chu Mingkong discovered a spirit jade skull in the auction records from a few days ago.

This item has a strong witchcraft style. In the present day, when the tradition of witchcraft has been interrupted, this auction item was only sold for 400,000 spirit stones. Apart from its collection value, the main reason for its high purity is that this piece of spirit jade is of high purity and has a good affinity with all five elements.

"Aside from the tiny bit of mystery added by the sorcery heritage, the price is basically just the price of spirit jade!"

Perhaps I can take advantage of this auction to consign a jade penis for auction first, and see how acceptable the price will be.

Chu Mingkong took out a jade staff with both water and fire attributes. This item was top-tier among gold-quality items, only a hair's breadth away from the ultimate red quality.

It contains multiple magic arrays and has various functions such as healing, aiding cultivation, and boosting combat power. It can be activated simply by holding it in your hand.

This type can be defined as high-end goods, so it would be a bit of a waste to smash it directly.

Snapped!

Chu Mingkong broke the Red Bull into two pieces.

Chu Mingkong and Qingse made an excuse that they were just taking a casual stroll, and disguised themselves by wearing the "skin" of the Yueqi royal family underneath and a cloak on top to hide their identities. They found a female manager at the auction house's consignment office on their own.

Even though Chu Mingkong's attire was questionable, the female manager still greeted him with a gentle and sweet smile. Sensing the man's embarrassment at not being able to present his items, the female manager kindly offered a reminder.

"Is the customer here to consign items for auction? Because there have been too many items up for auction recently, new regulations have been introduced that only exceptionally rare and valuable items will be accepted for consignment."

Chu Mingkong sensed the female steward and found that she had a fifth-level cultivation, which would make her a junior elder in the sect.

"Help me see if this can be consigned for auction. If not, how much would it be priced normally?" He took out a box, opened the lid, and inside was half a broken spirit jade pillar.

The part excluding the head.

The female manager had excellent professional ethics, but even so, her face showed a moment of surprise and blankness. However, after a quick glance, she became serious.

"This spirit jade is so pure, and it's also a rare dual-attribute of water and fire. How could such a rare spirit jade be used to carve something like this... and it's even incomplete."

Chu Mingkong dared not speak, remaining silent in embarrassment. The female manager was still conducting a preliminary examination of the item, muttering to herself, and seemed to be whispering, "Could it have come from Qingse? It looks so similar."

“There are actually several formations inside, but unfortunately one of them is incomplete. This style of formation is quite rare…” She infused spiritual power to activate the formation, “a healing formation.”

The female manager's reaction attracted the attention of the auction house staff nearby, who all gathered around to study it intently. Even Qingse, upon hearing the commotion, came over to watch.

Qingse recognized the half-familiar face and figured out whose it was. She looked at the cloaked man with a complex expression that held a thousand unspoken words.

Chu Mingkong was completely numb.

The expert appraisal results from the auction house are in:

"The magic array here has a strong witchcraft style, and the purity of the water and fire spirit jade further proves this point. It is said that only the ancient witch tribes had the ability to make these two attributes coexist harmoniously in a single spirit jade without them diminishing or canceling each other out. This is a type of spirit jade that cannot be produced naturally under normal circumstances!"

"These are relics from a mangled body!"

"..." Chu Mingkong, Qingse.

But the female manager found it unbelievable:

"If this is an antique, why does it look so much like the kind Qingse sells? Could it be that the divination abilities of the witch tribe are really so terrifying that they foresaw that this shape would become popular in later generations... Where is Qingse? Quickly ask her to come and appraise it; she is very professional about these kinds of things!"

Qingse felt utterly hopeless. Seeing more and more people arriving at the auction, many of whom were managers from other Immortal Treasure Pavilions, Qingse quickly made her escape.

This world may no longer have a place for her...

Some people are alive, but she is already dead.

Chu Mingkong now felt like he was in jail and deeply regretted his impulsive action. He had only intended to test the market's acceptance of the price, but he hadn't expected half the people in the auction house to gather there.

Finally, with a chill running down his spine, he agreed to the auction house's consignment request and was asked where the item came from.

Chu Mingkong thought of the day of the full moon and said directly that he found it by chance from a grave. The grave had already been dug up, and he found it while scavenging. Everyone believed him without a doubt.

Then, when asked where the other half was, Chu Mingkong suppressed the urge to run away and gave Qingse a shout-out.

"I heard that there is a Fairy Treasure Pavilion near the Heavenly Pole Empire that specializes in selling such strange items. I wonder if she has any of these halves."

As soon as Chu Mingkong returned to Qingse's Immortal Treasure Pavilion after leaving this place of trouble, she rushed up to him indignantly.

"What have you done?!"

"I've given you a boost in advertising. Getting traffic and promotion on such a once-in-a-century platform is your lucky break! Your auction is a success!"

"Opportunity my foot! I don't even dare to go out and see anyone now!"

"What a coincidence, me too..."

Chu Mingkong found a quiet place and quietly searched the market to see what elixirs and medicines were suitable to give to the women to help them improve their cultivation.

His first thought was still for his master, Zuo Qiuchi, and Feng Ying, but he estimated that even they themselves might not be able to clearly explain where their weaknesses lay.

Chu Mingkong asked the system girl what methods or external objects could help their cultivation progress. Although she pointed out several kinds of medicine, when he looked at the price, they were all divine pills worth more than 300,000! They were simply not something he could afford right now, so he could only plan for them later.

Unfortunately, when Chu Mingkong wanted to continue providing accurate advice to the remaining women, the system ignored him.

"Could it be that it sensed my desire to slack off? Heaven help me, I was just afraid of giving the wrong pill... The pill I'm most confident I can choose right now should be something to improve my basic spiritual essence, right?"

With a sigh, Chu Mingkong spent 70,000 corrupted filial piety coins to buy a few soul-binding pills, and his heart bled.

Originally, we were about one-fifth of the way to buying the "Hehuan True Scripture," but now we're only a fraction of the way there.

"Qingse, I'm going out for a bit." Chu Mingkong greeted Qingse, but she seemed to be still immersed in worrying about her future reputation, so Chu Mingkong decided not to disturb her any longer and went directly to find Yongzhen.

After sending out the contact information on the note, Chu Mingkong quickly invited Yongzhen out of the Xiaoxiang Qin Academy's residence.

The princess walked slowly to the place Chu Mingkong had arranged to meet. Her delicate face was fair and her skin was like solidified cream. Her eyes swept around the surroundings with a cool and aloof expression.

Her beautiful appearance quickly attracted the attention of some male cultivators, but the thought of striking up a conversation was suppressed in their minds. After a man in black robes approached her, he put his arm around her slender waist and walked with her.

"Why did you call me out alone?" When Yongzhen came out, she thought Chu Mingkong had also called Jinyu and Shangguan Rong, but she didn't expect that he only called her.

“Yongzhen, I just went to the auction house and the cultivator market and found some things that I think can help you with your cultivation.”

As soon as Chu Mingkong finished speaking, Yongzhen became extremely alert. She glared at him with suspicion and distrust, took a few steps back, and covered her lower back with both hands.

"What kind of weird stuff have you gotten up to put in some weird place this time?!"

"..."

Yongzhen, am I the kind of person who always gives you those weird toys in your heart?

In an instant, Chu Mingkong's mind flashed the images of the Divine Soul Pearl and the Nine Aperture Soul Nourishing Pearl Chain.

Okay, that's true.

"This time it's a real, legitimate pill, the kind you take!"

Chapter 81 A Scumbag Who Seamlessly Transitions!

It wasn't until the pill was taken out that Yongzhen's attitude towards Chu Mingkong changed from firm suspicion to skepticism.

"What kind of elixir is this?"

"I don't know either, but the person who sold the pills said it could nourish the soul. I guess he didn't know how precious this thing was and thought it was a fake pill, so he gave it a really long name to fool people. I guess I got a bargain." Chu Mingkong nodded confidently.

Chu Mingkong tries his best not to reveal the origin of the treasures now, as the excuse of finding a bargain is the most flimsy, but it is indeed possible during auctions like this.

Such a good excuse and opportunity should not be wasted.

After hearing his words, Yongzhen wondered if Chu Mingkong had been deceived. Where in the world could such a good thing exist? She opened the bottle cap, revealing a sliver of something.

Taking a deep sniff of the elixir's fragrance, a hint of surprise bloomed on her beautiful and refined face. The medicinal aroma filled her nostrils and lungs, and her very soul was enjoying a wisp of the medicinal properties within the fragrance.

"Did you really find a bargain?"

"I'm very lucky!"

"Which stall sells it? Take me to see it again."

Although it's not good to be suspicious of Chu Mingkong like this, Yongzhen felt that this guy might have already gotten his hands on the pill, but he deliberately took out so many strange "toys" to torment her before giving her the pill.

Chu Mingkong gleaned some of Yongzhen's thoughts from her gaze, and felt guilty enough not to refute her. However, he truly did not know the inside story of the decline of the Divine Soul Cultivation back then.

If Yongzhen were to investigate further, it seemed likely that she would uncover something. Among the women she knew, Yongzhen and Shangguan Rong were not easily fooled.

He had no choice but to first complain, pretending to glance in a certain direction:

"That stall used to be there, but I guess it ran away after selling everything... Wait, Yongzhen, why do you seem to suspect that I'm hiding some pills from you? I just got these, you know I don't usually take pills, I never used to."

After Chu Mingkong mentioned it, Yongzhen felt a pang of self-reproach.

Indeed, after Chu Mingkong suffered the injury from the Abyss, he basically stopped taking pills. If any pill could retain half of its medicinal power by the time it reached his mouth, that would be considered good. He also never gave away any pills or the like... When we first met, he seemed to have given me a youth-preserving pill or something similar, but those weren't very valuable.

Moreover, regardless of whether he gave her that strange cultivation treasure first because he was attracted to her beauty, he still gave her a rare and precious spiritual treasure that is hard to find in the world. No matter what, he shouldn't feel guilty.

"It's not your fault. I was thinking a little off. It was all your good intention."

I was just starting to suspect that you deliberately sent me those cultivation treasures hidden in strange places first, just to embarrass me...

"Since you've said that, Yongzhen, if I acquire any more strange cultivation treasures in the future, you mustn't refuse them." Chu Mingkong breathed a sigh of relief.