Two days later.
Xu Ping returned ho safely.
He sat on a stone bench, his gaze fixed on the golden-tailed carp joyfully swimming in the small pond, while his mind was deep in thought.
The existence of that snake demon was like a thorn stuck in his heart: "To hunt that snake demon flawlessly, with my current strength, I’m still stretched thin."
"I must use external resources!" he thought to himself.
"Talismans, arrays, puppets, poison..."
Various possibilities flashed through his mind, but after comprehensive consideration, it seed only talismans and arrays could et the current needs.
However, to be of help, they must at least be second-stage items.
"This won’t be easy!" Xu Ping felt troubled.
Second-stage items were already precious in the Immortal City; finding a second-stage talisman might be possible, but a second-stage array would be much harder.
"Wait..."
Suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he rembered sothing. He hurriedly searched his storage bag and finally found the long-forgotten invitation in a corner.
He took out the invitation, turned to the last page, and browsed the auction catalog.
Feeling a surge of excitent, he quickly locked onto his target: "Second-stage lower grade array - Profound Celestial Trapping Array!"
The Profound Celestial Trapping Array is primarily focused on trapping and locking. Though not as powerful as a killing array, it’s very suitable for dealing with demon beasts.
"It seems I must attend this auction!" Xu Ping decided inwardly.
"I just don’t know how many spirit stones the Profound Celestial Trapping Array will cost," a flash of worry crossed Xu Ping’s mind. If he didn’t have enough spirit stones, it would be a real disappointnt.
On the market, upper grade magical artifacts generally cost around one thousand two to three hundred spirit stones, with special artifacts like swords costing even more.
As for arrays, they definitely are more expensive than upper grade magical artifacts.
"I currently have around two thousand spirit stones, and I haven’t checked the contents of Wang Shan and Lin Guang’s storage bags yet."
He took out Wang Shan and Lin Guang’s storage bags and counted carefully.
There were four or five mid-grade magical artifacts, about seven or eight lower grade magical artifacts, four hundred spirit stones, and several talismans.
Roughly calculating, he had over a thousand spirit stones.
"A total of four thousand spirit stones, this should be enough, and maybe I can spare so to buy one or two second-stage talismans." He felt a bit relieved.
"However, before the auction, I need to deal with these magical artifacts." He thought to himself, already experienced in handling such items.
Five days later.
Xu Ping, in disguise, went to the magical artifact shop to sell off the loot.
Without attracting any attention, he exchanged all the magical artifacts and talismans for spirit stones.
With a fortune in hand, he eagerly anticipated the upcoming auction.
....
Over a month later, the auction finally arrived.
Qiu Xuan Comrce Association’s auction venue was located in the hall of a temple at the center of the city.
The auction was highly exclusive; without an invitation, one could not enter.
Of course, the rules weren’t completely rigid: if one could verify five hundred spirit stones or possess items of higher value, they could also participate.
This excluded so poor loose cultivators who rely wanted to join in the excitent.
Xu Ping disguised himself, wore a cloak, and arrived at the magnificent temple as per the address. Two n in black stood impressively beside the main door, carrying spirit knife magical artifacts on their backs, eyeing everyone warily.
"Invitation!"
Seeing Xu Ping approach, one of them spoke with a sowhat indifferent tone.
Xu Ping, calm and composed, took the invitation out of his storage bag and handed it to the speaking man in black.
After confirming the invitation was valid, the man in black stepped aside, allowing passage without further action.
Without hesitation, Xu Ping walked inside.
The door led to an extrely spacious hall, with a red carpet laid over the corridors. Rows of chairs were arranged, each separated by approximately a yard, seemingly in so order.
The second and third floors of the hall were composed of private rooms, each with a small window overlooking the situation in the hall.
At the very end of the hall stood a platform about five or six yards high, with countless jade stones embedded in the surrounding walls, emitting a soft light and making the hall bright.
After passing through the door, Xu Ping entered this hall and noticed there were several doors like this around the hall.
Gradually, cultivators began to erge from behind the doors, suggesting multiple entrances to the auction.
At this mont, a few cultivators sat scattered on the chairs in the hall, many concealing their faces and quietly sitting either ditating or looking around. None of them conversed, clearly unwilling to reveal their identities.
It looked like Xu Ping arrived relatively early; there were still many seats available in the hall.
Xu Ping inconspicuously walked to the back row, casually picking a chair to sit down.
After about half an hour, the seats gradually filled up, and more figures appeared, roughly estimating about four to five hundred cultivators.
Most were late-stage Qi Refinent cultivators, with mid-stage Qi Refinent cultivators being quite rare.
He boldly guessed that Foundation Establishnt Stage cultivators were seated upstairs in the private rooms.
Three loud chis resounded throughout the hall, marking the official start of the underground auction.
"Boom"
Several doors closed with a thunderous sound.
Xu Ping focused his gaze and saw the doors tightly shut, feeling slightly uneasy.
But upon thinking, this was the Immortal City’s auction; surely no one would dare cause trouble here, and he relaxed.
Buzz!
A gentle beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping the front of the auction stage, making it as bright as day.
"Thank you, fellow Daoists, for your support. I am Lin Guang, the host of today’s auction," said a plump middle-aged man with a secular official’s appearance, bowing to the left and right from above and below the stage.
"Let first explain the rules of this auction: threatening with divine sense, malicious bidding, and private collusion... Any behavior disrupting the normal auction process will lead to expulsion from the auction, or even having one’s cultivation abolished for severe cases."
"All bids are based on lower grade spirit stones. If spirit stones are insufficient, other items may be used for paynt."
Lin Guang’s voice was originally gentle, but carried a trace of assertiveness at the end, followed by two flashes of late-stage Foundation Establishnt pressure from the second floor, sensed by everyone and then vanishing.
Xu Ping listened carefully to the auction rules, sitting silently.
The cultivators in the hall remained calm upon hearing this; disrupting an auction in the Immortal City would be courting death.
"Enough idle chatter. The first auction item is the mid-grade magical artifact ’Blazing Fire Mother and Child Sword’..."
Lin Guang said, taking out a small hamr and a small bell from his storage bag and lightly tapping the bell with the hamr.
As he finished, a beautiful maid walked up with a jade tray.
"This artifact was forged using a second-stage earth fire over seven days and nights, confird by this auction as a mid-grade magical artifact. Its power slightly surpasses ordinary mid-grade artifacts, approaching the level of upper-grade artifacts."
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