Immortality Begins as an Alchemy Master 110

Chapter 104: The Auction, Treasures Appear.

July 15, 2024.

Chapter 104: The Auction, Treasures Appear.

Every winter, Great River City was always the hardest time of the year. The Lancang River froze, heavy snow blocked the mountains, directly cutting off the main source of income for most cultivators. In addition, for some independent cultivators living in the outer city districts, there was even the danger of demonic beasts, starving in the mountains, rampaging and attacking people.

But this year, it seemed a little different.

Walking on the streets of the Inner City, Luo Chen discovered that the crowds were even more bustling than in the autumn.

Gu Caiyi thoughtfully explained to him, “It’s because of the Luofeng Mountain Debate Platform.”

Luo Chen was also a clever person, and after a few simple words from her, he understood the reason. The opening of the Luofeng Mountain Debate Platform had sparked a wave of cultivator fights. Usually, only some cultivators at the Refining Qi Late Period, and some family cultivators, bothered with it. But as the weather became colder and the mountain yield poorer, some cultivators who couldn’t make ends meet finally decided to try their luck on the Debate Platform. As long as they fought a match, win or lose, they would receive an appearance fee! Moreover, with Foundation Establishment cultivators watching, there was little danger to life. And if they won, they could even get extra rewards—spiritual stones, elixirs, artifacts, and so on.

Because of this, Great River City was not as deserted this winter, everyone was eager to show their abilities. The Jade Tripod Sword Sect naturally welcomed this. They could select high-level cultivators with strong combat abilities from the large number of registered participants. Then they would advertise the highlights of each battle. Things like the battle for the title of top cultivator in the Refining Qi Mid-Period, battles over resources, or even battles between fellow disciples. Even neighborhood disputes that could not be resolved, using the Debate Platform to settle scores, such types of battles were staged. If a “death match” occurred, it would create a viewing craze. Not to mention, the ticket sales alone had already made the Jade Tripod Sword Sect rich.

“If I didn’t have a skill, I might have gone to the Debate Platform myself!” Luo Chen chuckled, understanding those enthusiastic independent cultivators.

According to Gu Caiyi, even in the three combat halls of the Broken Mountain Sect, some cultivators had signed up to compete. It was unexpected that the Jade Tripod Sword Sect’s attempt to create a “cultivator battle-loving” atmosphere had actually helped them a great deal in the winter. It was foreseeable that after winter passed, those cultivators who had gotten used to relying on the Debate Platform for a living would probably not abandon this habit.

“Let’s go watch a match sometime!” Luo Chen said casually.

The ticket price for the Debate Platform was no longer as expensive as it was at the beginning. After all, not every day did cultivators engage in death matches, or fights between Foundation Establishment cultivators and Second-Rank Demonic Beasts. Ticket prices ranging from one to ten spiritual stones were affordable for most people.

Gu Caiyi blinked her eyes and sweetly said, “Okay, but you’re buying the snacks!”

Luo Chen rolled his eyes, “Should we buy milk tea?”

“Milk tea? What’s that?” Gu Caiyi was puzzled.

Luo Chen was also taken aback, then grinned. “Chenyue Snack Stall will have a new product!” He even thought up the advertisement: The first milk tea of winter, to warm your icy Dao heart!

…

Braving the wind and snow, with his two ever-present bodyguards, Luo Chen arrived at Slanted Moon Valley. Upon entering the valley, he noticed some changes. Several medicine fields had been covered with sheds. Yuan Dongsheng, the Spirit Planting Master he knew, walked among them, occasionally releasing a spell. Seeing Luo Chen looking over, Yuan Dongsheng stopped.

“Curious about this spell?”

“Mm-hmm, aren’t the herbs in this medicine field only plantable in warm weather?”

“That’s where you’re wrong. With spirit planting techniques, spring-like conditions can be created year-round, allowing for the cultivation of seasonal herbs in winter. Want to learn? I can teach you!”

Luo Chen quickly shook his head, muttering about greenhouse cultivation as he left.

The longer he lived in the Cultivation World, the more he realized that people here weren’t as primitive as he thought. Large sects would engage in monopolistic businesses, exploiting their strengths to expand their operations. Small people also had their own cleverness, the most recent example being independent cultivators who plagiarized his ideas and followed suit by creating various snacks. And magic wasn’t static either. Apart from normal protective spells, various life spells and professional skill spells were also well-developed.

“Perhaps I’ve always underestimated the people of this world.”

“Those top-tier cultivators, living for hundreds of years, their wisdom is impossible to compare with the world before my transmigration.”

“The Cleansing Technique that the original owner initially mastered is a clear example. After all, although this spell is not beneficial to the Dao, many people use it, showing that the improvement of spells has been widespread for a long time.”

Thinking of the Cleansing Technique, Luo Chen remembered that its proficiency was almost at the Grandmaster level. Perhaps he could spend some time to get it there and see what changes would occur at the Grandmaster level. At worst, it wouldn’t be worse than the Unfettered Movement Technique!

With these thoughts, Luo Chen arrived at the Pill Hall. It was alchemy day again, everyone was already accustomed to the routine. Starting the fire, opening the furnace, placing the herbs, Luo Chen personally oversaw the alchemy process. Now, only two pill chambers were operating, making his work much easier.

Luo Chen was also curious. Didn’t Uncle Mi Shuhua care a lot about Jade Marrow Pills? Why hadn’t he bought a new pill furnace in almost a month? Had he been completely drained by him? No, buying a brand-new low-grade pill furnace only cost a few hundred spiritual stones; he could certainly afford it. So why?

“Time to collect the pills!”

Putting aside his distractions, Luo Chen opened the furnace. Forty round, white Jade Marrow Pills met his eyes. Ten low-grade, thirty mid-grade. Sure enough, without reaching Grandmaster level proficiency, it was difficult to conceal his true level.

Luo Chen sighed, then secretly pocketed ten mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills.

“Come in and collect the pills!”

With a call, two pill cultivators came in. One held a tray, the other wore white gloves. The one with the gloves couldn’t help but his eyes light up at the sight of the pills.

“Hall Master’s alchemy skills have improved again! This time, you’ve actually refined twenty mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills!”

Luo Chen waved his hand; he couldn’t stand such heartfelt flattery. He was worried about how to hide his alchemy level.

Leaving the pill chamber, Luo Chen remembered something and stopped Sī Kōng Shòu Jiǎ who passed by.

“Where’s last month’s dividend? Hasn’t the Merit Hall sent it yet?”

The auction was about to begin, and he certainly needed as many spiritual stones as possible.

“No, they said it would be delayed until this month, everyone’s the same.”

“Oh, in this cold winter, I’m waiting for spiritual stones to buy rice to eat.” Luo Chen cried out in distress.

Sī Kōng Shòu Jiǎ rolled his eyes. In the Pill Hall, Luo Chen had the highest income, and yet he was acting pitifully. Only Luo Chen could say such shameless words.

“Then, how many spiritual stones did the Myriad Wonders Pills and Jade Marrow Pills sell for last month? Do you know?”

“I do!” Sī Kōng Shòu Jiǎ reported a number. Luo Chen calculated that he could get about 600 spiritual stones, mainly from the Myriad Wonders Pills. But upon further calculation, he felt something was wrong.

“There were many mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills last month, it shouldn’t be this number!”

Luo Chen was furious. Someone above was embezzling! They were stealing his spiritual stones!

During the low-grade Jade Marrow Pill period, the Broken Mountain Sect was definitely losing money. This was undeniable; the cost was there, and low-grade pills couldn’t sell for high prices. But during this period, Luo Chen had indeed refined over a hundred mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills, and his proficiency had reached the perfect level. Although he had secretly embezzled some, the hundred he had given out should have sold for several thousand spiritual stones. He should have received some of that spiritual stone profit. But he had just roughly calculated the accounts, and those spiritual stones weren’t in the dividend.

“Why embezzle from anyone else? They had to choose me!”

Immediately, Luo Chen stormed off to find Mi Junping. But when he arrived at the Merit Hall, he saw not only Mi Junping, but also Uncle Mi Shuhua.

“You’re talking about the Jade Marrow Pill revenue?” Mi Shuhua smiled and pointed to the row of shelves opposite.

Luo Chen looked over and realized that they were all the mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills he had refined.

“Huh, they haven’t been sold?”

“These pills, barely considered mainstream cultivation pills, aren’t that easy to sell.”

Not easy to sell? How was that possible! Luo Chen had great confidence in his alchemy. Moreover, he was the first to experience the effects of the mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills, which were genuine and without any discount.

“I was wrong before. The profit margin of low-grade Jade Marrow Pills is too low; we need to focus on mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills in the future.”

“So, how to sell this stuff still needs to be considered.”

Mi Shuhua said this, but his expression seemed confident. Luo Chen pondered his words and suddenly thought of a key point. Perhaps it wasn’t that the pills weren’t selling, but that someone wasn’t letting them sell! The first to come to mind was the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, which mainly dealt in pills, and the Medicine King Sect behind it!

Regardless of what Luo Chen was thinking, Mi Shuhua smiled, “Go back first. Don’t worry about other things; just focus on alchemy.”

“Your dividend will not be missing.”

“Oh, by the way, the auction starts tomorrow morning, at Luofeng Mountain.”

…

The auction was about to take place, Luo Chen was going to broaden his horizons. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have any thoughts. The auctions in Great River City were of two kinds: one was a large-scale auction held once every ten years, mainly for Foundation Establishment and Golden Elixir cultivators; the other was a small-scale auction held once a year, mainly for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Logically, half a year ago, with the opening of the Debate Platform, an auction had already been held. But that was an exception, not considering those cultivators who regularly participated in auctions. Therefore, as per custom, a small-scale auction was still held at the beginning of winter. Although called a small-scale auction, considering the increasing number of independent cultivators in Great River City and the growing number of cultivation families nearby, the scale would certainly not be small. This auction primarily targeted Qi Refining cultivators, so it was possible that Luo Chen might find something he needed. In order to potentially bid, Luo Chen first checked his assets. After the check, he sighed. He was indeed still a poor man! His total assets amounted to only 1,500 spiritual stones. This amount was barely enough to buy an entry-level high-grade artifact.

In fact, before calculating his assets, Luo Chen had been prepared. For the past few months, he had been frantically buying calming incense, Peiyuan Spirit Liquid, and occasionally replenishing Qi-Nourishing Pills, spending about 500 spiritual stones each month. The dividends from the Broken Mountain Sect only left him with a little each month. The reason why he still had this much wealth was thanks to the Yuan Xiaoyue’s snack stall. Oh, that snack stall now had a real stall and a signboard. The name was simple, Chenyue, taking one character from Luo Chen and Yuan Xiaoyue’s names respectively.

To encourage Yuan Xiaoyue to work hard, Luo Chen gave her an additional 5% dividend in addition to her fixed salary. It wasn’t because Luo Chen was kind, but because Yuan Xiaoyue was indeed diligent and responsible, and she single-handedly supported the Chenyue Snack Stall. In comparison, Luo Chen didn’t manage sales or production; the production was done by the Pill Hall people. He only provided the recipes, brought the goods over each month, and then counted the spiritual stones. This good thing even made Luo Chen think about opening chain stores again.

“Unfortunately, the Pill Hall’s dividend hasn’t come down yet. Otherwise, if I could get 2,000 spiritual stones, I could barely afford an offensive high-grade artifact.” Luo Chen sighed, it seemed that in two days’ time, he would only be a spectator.

…

Time always passed slowly when there was anticipation. But if you knew you were just going to be a spectator, time would fly by. Two days later, the day arrived in the blink of an eye. Early in the morning, Luo Chen hurried out in the snow. When he arrived at the Jade Tripod Sword Sect, Mi Shuhua and others had already arrived. At a glance, they were all familiar faces: Mi Junping, Sī Kōng Shòu Jiǎ, Luo Wu Di, and Wang Yuan. If Luo Chen was included, they were basically all cultivators at the Refining Qi Late Period. Upon seeing Luo Chen, Luo Wu Di smiled, “What a refined appearance, we seem out of place next to you.”

Luo Chen wore a snow-white fluffy coat, cloud-stepping boots, and a jade hairpin in his hair. He was even playing with the folding fan Qin Liangchen had given him. Anyone who saw him would think he came from a prominent family or a prestigious sect.

Luo Chen bowed and curiously asked, “What are you all doing?”

Sī Kōng Shòu Jiǎ explained to him, and Luo Chen realized that everyone was listing their resources for sale. The Jade Tripod Sword Sect was the organizer of the auction, and the main auction items were from the Jade Tripod Sword Sect. But that didn’t mean others could only buy and not sell. Cultivators like Mi Shuhua, who were at the Foundation Establishment stage, had already submitted their items to be auctioned two days in advance. They, at the Refining Qi stage, did not have that privilege. Therefore, they would list the items they wanted to sell before entering. It was said that after a simple assessment, the auction house would hold a separate auction for these items. Of course, as long as the auction was successful, the Sword Sect would receive a commission. To this, Luo Chen could only once again sigh, “A shrewd businessman”.

Luo Chen had nothing to sell, so he could only watch everyone submit their items. He hadn’t noticed before, thinking that everyone was struggling. Unexpectedly, one by one, they brought out some pretty good stuff. Luo Wu Di brought out a large batch of demonic beast materials, including some good things from near Second-Rank Demonic Beasts. The little old man, Sī Kōng Shòu Jiǎ, usually unassuming, actually brought out a Second-Rank Spiritual Grass; no one knew where he had picked it up. There was nothing much to say about Mi Junping’s offerings; they were mostly ordinary goods collected by the gang, but they were large in quantity. As for Wang Yuan, the items he wanted to sell made everyone’s eyes widen. Artifacts! Artifacts! Artifacts! One after another, bloody or damaged artifacts made even Mi Shuhua’s eyelids twitch. Facing everyone’s shock, Wang Yuan simply said, “There are many robbery cultivators on the newly opened waterway.” In other words, these artifacts were basically spoils of war obtained by him and the Jiao Hall on the waterway.

Luo Chen watched with relish. Usually staying in the Pill Hall, his life was calm. But the cultivation life of others certainly wouldn’t be as safe and peaceful as his. From the items they brought out, one could vaguely see that their cultivation was definitely accompanied by many thrilling adventures.

“Alright, let’s go in!” After everything was dealt with, Mi Shuhua waved his sleeve and entered the gate first.

The auction venue was set up in Luofeng Mountain. Not the Debate Platform, nor the Chizhu Prison, but a separate, huge circular palace. Almost as soon as they entered the palace, the five Refining Qi cultivators’ expressions changed. Waves of spiritual senses swept over them without reservation. Originally, these low-level cultivators would not have felt the presence of spiritual senses. But the masters of those spiritual senses were too brazen, and there were too many of them, so they naturally noticed.

“Senior Mi, your box is number eight, please follow me.”

Hearing the number “eight,” Mi Shuhua frowned slightly. Under the guidance of a cultivator in the Sword Sect’s uniform, Mi Shuhua and his group entered the box. After entering, the discomfort of the spiritual sense sweep finally dissipated, and everyone relaxed.

Luo Chen exclaimed, “As expected of the Jade Tripod Sword Sect, even the outer sect disciples sent here are at the early Refining Qi Late Period.”

Out in the field, the people of the gang had fewer barriers. Mi Junping also sighed, “That’s how disciples of large sects are. We cultivators at the Refining Qi Late Period are considered important figures in Great River City, but in the sect, we are just preparatory disciples among millions. Those who have no hope of advancing to Foundation Establishment can only become outer sect disciples doing chores.”

“What if there’s hope?” Luo Chen asked curiously.

Mi Junping sighed, “What’s the use of having hope? You still need to reach Foundation Establishment! Even after reaching Foundation Establishment, you are only an ordinary inner sect disciple, and when you get older, you will be sent out as an official. Perhaps only by becoming a true disciple, listed as a Golden Elixir seed, can you stand out from the fierce competition.”

Preparatory disciples, outer sect chores, inner sect disciples, Foundation Establishment officials, Foundation Establishment true disciples, Golden Elixir seeds. Listening to these clearly defined terms, Luo Chen’s head grew large. So, it wasn’t that easy to stay in a sect! He always thought that independent cultivators had it hard, but he never expected that sect cultivation was so difficult as well. Those who could stand out from such fierce competition would certainly be worthy of the title of heavenly pride!

He inexplicably thought of the disciples on the Heavenly Pride Rankings. Han Zheng, the number one in the Refining Qi stage, should have been cultivated as an inner sect disciple or even a Foundation Establishment true disciple in Luoyun Sect! Lin Qingxuan, the number one in the Foundation Establishment stage, should be a Golden Elixir seed of the Jade Tripod Sword Sect. As for Ren Ping Sheng, the number one in the Golden Elixir stage, he was unparalleled in the Jade Tripod Domain without entering the Nascent Soul stage. These were all outstanding figures of this era!

While they were talking, Mi Shuhua coughed lightly. Seeing everyone looking over, he nodded slightly and pointed to the boxes outside to introduce them.

“Eighteen boxes, the six major sects occupy six. The remaining twelve are occupied by Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Great River Gang, Lianyun Trading Alliance, Duan Family, Nangong Family, and Li Family.”

“When you are working outside, be sure to keep your eyes open and don’t offend these Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

“Also, there are some hidden Foundation Establishment cultivators from other cities in the venue. If you see them bidding, remember their appearance to avoid offending them in the future.”

“The auction order will be divided into five stages. The Jade Tripod Sword Sect will take two stages, independent cultivators one stage, local forces one stage, and major sects one stage.”

“If you have something to auction, bid using the number eight box’s token.”

“If you encounter a stalemate in the bidding, tell me how important the item is to you, and I will decide whether to continue bidding for you.”

“If…”

Mi Shuhua spoke a lot, one by one, like a rambling old man. But everyone listened carefully. Especially Luo Chen; this was his first time participating in a formal auction; he didn’t know the taboos or the unspoken rules. Mi Shuhua’s instructions were just what he needed to prevent him from being at a loss. Even if he was only here to see the world and be a spectator today, what about the future? One day, he would be rich and enter this type of auction venue.

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