## Chapter 302: Gu Tian Auction
Lu Chang An stayed behind the scenes, supporting the Star Moon Trading Company and influencing the green oasis’s landscape while calmly cultivating.
(Idiom: “卧榻之侧,岂容他人鼾睡” – How can one tolerate someone snoring beside their bed? – It implies intolerance of threats close at hand.)
If Fang Zhen targeted the descendants of the Li Huo Palace Master in the oasis, he would disrupt Lu Chang An’s cultivation plan.
He had two choices: run or eliminate him.
Inside the manor, a young man in a black robe was pushing towards the crucial stage of forming his Golden Core. Elder Duan was providing protection, oblivious to the potential threat of pursuers.
On the clouds above, Jiu Gang Heaven.
A middle-aged man in iron armor, with thick eyebrows and a square face, had an uncertain expression. He was surrounded by unyielding罡風 (gang feng – a kind of powerful wind in cultivation novels), and the air felt inexplicably oppressive.
“The time is not yet ripe.”
“On this large oasis, True Dan forces are not to be underestimated. There might be more than just Duan Zheng Yu among the descendants of the Li Huo Palace Master here.”
After a moment’s thought, Fang Zhen quietly left the He Yuan Oasis, avoiding a confrontation.
His true goal was not to exterminate the Li Huo Palace Master’s descendants, but to obtain a potential opportunity for further advancement.
Back then, when he betrayed the Li Huo Palace and suffered defeat, he had slain the Li Huo Palace Master’s Daoist partner, children, and disciples, plundering their resources and treasures, which yielded him great benefits.
Otherwise, Fang Zhen wouldn’t have been able to raise his cultivation a level after a century.
He flew dozens of miles away from He Yuan Oasis.
As if sensing something, Fang Zhen glanced back at the sandy soil below, detecting a powerful妖气 (yao qi – demonic aura) quickly dissipating.
“Could it be the Elder Supreme’s secret move?”
He frowned, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes, and accelerated his departure from the oasis region.
Earlier, Fang Zhen had discovered another location where descendants of the Li Huo Palace Master had settled. Due to similar concerns, he hadn’t acted rashly.
In the Shanshui Manor, the public hall.
“He’s already gone?”
Lu Chang An breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn’t want to fight and kill a late-stage Golden Core cultivator unless absolutely necessary.
Late-stage Golden Core cultivators possess immense strength, far surpassing ordinary Golden Core True Persons.
Even a mid-stage Immortal Golden Core, without special treasures and divine powers, would be no match.
Let alone the ordinary early and mid-stage True Dans, they would be completely crushed.
Peak Golden Core also belongs to the late-stage Golden Core, but it’s when cultivation reaches the peak within that stage and can’t progress further.
Facing such a powerful opponent, Lu Chang An, with the aid of formations, puppets, and Di Yan Shu (Earth Rock Rats) could defeat him, though not easily, and there was a chance of the opponent escaping.
When Fang Zhen left, Lu Chang An deliberately allowed the Di Yan Shu to release a trace of powerful yao qi, making the man apprehensive and hesitant to act rashly.
In a few years, once Lu Chang An reaches mid-stage Golden Core, as long as it wasn’t someone like the Peacock Saintess, who was at the pinnacle of late-stage Golden Core, he could handle them relatively easily.
…
Half a day later.
The Golden Core phenomena in the Shanshui Manor disappeared. Elder Duan’s black-robed protégé had only formed a False Dan.
Lu Chang An didn’t mind. He was contemplating Fang Zhen’s intentions and had formed a rough guess.
The Li Huo Palace Master had left behind treasured resources for his descendants in the Feng Yuan Nation.
However, the core resources for cultivating Nascent Soul (Nascent Soul) level disciples were mostly located at the Li Huo Palace in the Seven Nation Alliance.
The treasures left here could help with Nascent Soul cultivation, but only one or two items, which weren’t that appealing to Lu Chang An.
One was the detailed insights of the Li Huo Palace Master’s ascension to Nascent Soul, which held no value for Lu Chang An.
The other was a common spirit creature, its benefits far inferior to the Transformation Nascent Soul Pill or the Yin Moon Jade Liquid.
Once Lu Chang An reached the late-stage Golden Core, he would be wealthy, and such ordinary spirit creatures could even be purchased in the Moon Watching Immortal City.
Ten days later.
Elder Duan, accompanied by his protégé who was solidifying his realm, took leave of Lu Chang An.
Lu Chang An didn’t directly warn him about Fang Zhen’s potential pursuit, not wanting to get overly involved.
As the most cultivated descendant of the Li Huo Palace Master in Feng Yuan Nation, Elder Duan possessed secret resources left by his Nascent Soul ancestor. Although not a match for a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, he had the ability to protect himself.
According to Lu Chang An’s calculations, Elder Duan was actually aware of Fang Zhen’s presence and had some preparations.
This time, Elder Duan didn’t ask Lu Chang An to avoid the process, perhaps wanting to bring him in as an ally, making him part of their group to face future powerful enemies and share the risks.
“This old fellow is a scheming rascal.”
Lu Chang An considered running away after reaching mid-stage Golden Core, finding a location with a better spiritual vein environment.
A third-rank alchemist’s identity was highly respected and coveted in various regions of Feng Yuan Nation.
…
Two years later, the He Yuan Oasis remained peaceful.
The Star Moon Trading Company steadily expanded, not only repaying all of Lu Chang An’s debts but also inviting a True Dan cultivation expert as a retainer.
One day, Lu Chang An, at the age of 232, in peak condition, finally began refining the Condensing Crystal Pill.
In the alchemy room, Lu Chang An closed his eyes and communicated with the Nine Seal Tablet, allowing the peak Golden Core soul shadow of his second life to descend.
In an instant, his clothes rustled without wind, his soul power soared, exceeding the scope of the Golden Core stage.
Seven days later.
霞光 (xia guang – brilliant light) surrounded the alchemy room. The furnace opened, shooting out three pills with the appearance of琉璃雪玉 (liu li xue yu – glassy snow jade), emitting a faint spiritual pressure.
“Three pills formed! Two are authentic, one is inferior, with minor flaws.”
Lu Chang An assessed them, showing a pleased expression.
You must know that “Morning Dan True Person,” a third-rank mid-grade alchemist from Golden Cloud Valley, could only produce two Condensing Crystal Pills under normal circumstances, even when exerting his full effort.
It wasn’t that Lu Chang An had a higher mastery.
He was not in a hurry and waited for a time when he was in peak condition, allowing the soul of his second life to possess his body, greatly enhancing his consciousness and control.
With good luck, three pills formed.
The inferior one only had minor flaws, its quality almost indistinguishable from the authentic ones.
“Unfortunately, that third-rank longevity fruit hasn’t matured yet.”
Lu Chang An expressed some regret.
He was in such peak condition, yet he couldn’t make the most of it and successfully refine the third-rank Longevity Pill.
The third-rank Longevity Pill was truly beneficial to him.
The Condensing Crystal Pill was only for exchanging for rare resources.
In fact, Lu Chang An’s Everlasting Art could be used to cultivate and accelerate the growth of heavenly materials.
Over the past few years, he had tried.
For lower-grade spirit herbs, even without sacrificing lifespan, using Everlasting energy to nurture them could significantly accelerate their growth.
But for third-rank exotic flowers and herbs, it required consuming lifespan to achieve a noticeable growth acceleration effect.
The spirit plant of the third-rank longevity fruit was planted in soil diluted with a small amount of Five Element Earth, ensuring its survival rate.
Lu Chang An once spent a year of lifespan to cultivate it, doubling the growth rate of the third-rank longevity fruit within a year.
For second-rank herbs, he could accelerate their growth by about ten times.
Lu Chang An estimated that this method of “paying for growth with lifespan” wasn’t worthwhile.
The higher the grade of the spirit herb, the greater the cost of cultivation.
Cultivating lower-grade herbs had good results, but he wouldn’t benefit from them personally. Using lifespan to cultivate them was pointless.
Unless it was an extremely important heavenly material, crucial to his Nascent Soul advancement, Lu Chang An wouldn’t consider sacrificing lifespan to cultivate it.
He needed to spend his lifespan on many things.
He prioritized improving divination, followed by the Xuan Tian Hu Luo (Mysterious Heaven Gourd Vine).
After investing over a century of lifespan into the Xuan Tian Hu Luo, it was slowly regaining its green vitality.
Lu Chang An and Xuan Shui Gui (Mysterious Water Turtle) only needed to continue nurturing it.
Lu Chang An planned to invest more lifespan into the Xuan Tian Hu Luo after reaching mid-stage Golden Core. At that time, his energy quality would be higher, and the Everlasting Art would have a better effect.
…
After refining the Condensing Crystal Pills, the soul shadow of Lu Chang An’s second life could still be maintained for ten months.
He planned to visit the Gu Tian Immortal City to purchase and exchange for some necessary resources.
Besides the Condensing Crystal Pills, he had some materials from the Liang Nation, including a batch of spirit beast cubs and eggs.
Gu Tian Immortal City was a high-level immortal city of the Outer Sect Alliance, controlled by forces headed by the “Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion.”
Surrounding it were large and small oases and spiritual lands, all using Gu Tian Immortal City as their commercial center.
There was a large-scale auction in Gu Tian Immortal City every ten years, held half a year later.
The Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion was one of the organizers.
This force was rumored to be established in Feng Yuan Nation by defectors from the Thousand Mechanism Sect, primarily dealing with傀儡 (ku le – puppet) related business.
Lu Chang An wanted to improve his puppet clone and create more third-rank mid-grade puppets. He was somewhat tempted by this auction.
A month before the auction, the Yun siblings visited again.
“Mr. Xu, Granny brought us to see the world, to attend the large-scale auction in Gu Tian Immortal City next month. Do you want to join us?”
Yun Ling’s eyes held anticipation as she suggested.
“Alright, I’m going to sell some pills and buy some resources.”
Lu Chang An thought for a moment and didn’t refuse.
Now that he had a puppet clone, he didn’t need to handle all the purchases in the immortal city personally.
Lu Chang An would be the public face, dealing with normal resources.
His puppet clone would operate in secret, selling and buying, even going to the black market without fear of getting robbed.
Half a month later.
Lu Chang An met with Granny Yun and the Yun siblings in the He Yuan Market and set off together.
Granny Yun only revealed her False Dan cultivation.
Lu Chang An summoned a flying carpet treasure he had been practicing with, which unfolded to a size of about fifteen to twenty feet, comfortably accommodating four people. They flew towards Gu Tian Immortal City.
On the flying carpet, Yun Yan, with white hair and wrinkles covering her face, sat across from Lu Chang An, appearing silent and aloof.
Yun Yan sensed that Lu Chang An didn’t want to talk to her.
Her cloudy eyes looked at Yun Ling who was chatting happily with Lu Chang An, laughing and smiling.
This elegant and handsome Mr. Xu was very patient with her granddaughter, his expression gentle, lacking the arrogance of a Golden Core True Person.
That comfortable and pleasant face made Yun Yan inexplicably want to get closer, secretly envying her granddaughter.
Although Yun Ling was young and beautiful, in terms of mature feminine charm, she was no match for her.
Lu Chang An wasn’t deliberately avoiding Yun Yan.
As the last official Daoist partner of the Li Huo Palace Master, Lu Chang An didn’t want to get too close to her and get entangled in more karma.
Yun Yan’s perception and knowledge exceeded that of ordinary Golden Core True Persons. Lu Chang An was avoiding letting her see through his disguise.
…
Gu Tian Immortal City was only a few thousand miles away.
The treasure that Lu Chang An controlled, carrying a few people, wasn’t flying at full speed. They reached their destination in less than an hour.
Vast spiritual fields and cultivated lands came into view, and in the center, on a large sand dune, stood an extraordinary desolate city, half steel, half mechanical.
“An immortal city remodeled with puppet technology?”
Lu Chang An’s eyes lit up, feeling a sense of novelty.
From afar, he saw puppet turrets extending from the city walls and puppet giants patrolling near the city.
Those patrolling puppet giants were about fifteen to twenty feet tall, at the准三阶 (Zhun San Jie – almost third-rank) level. Due to their large size and heavy armor, even False Dan True Persons would be apprehensive in a direct confrontation.
These puppet giants were a show of force by the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, aimed at promoting the sales of their puppet equipment.
Puppets were expensive to build, and their true power could not be unleashed without a puppeteer, and they required sharing consciousness during battles, making them relatively unpopular in the cultivation world.
The Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, as a branch of the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s puppet lineage, brought flourishing puppet civilization to Feng Yuan Nation.
Especially in the Outer Sect Alliance region, puppet masters were more common, significantly more than in the Liang Nation.
The materials and传承 (cheng cheng – inheritance) for puppets were easier to obtain there.
As the large-scale auction was about to be held, the flow of people in Gu Tian Immortal City was considerable.
Outside the city, there were many suspended pavilions, carriages, spirit bird mounts, and various treasures with dazzling lights, used for transportation.
Among them, a treasure in the form of an antique palace building faintly emanated beautiful music, attracting the attention of many cultivators.
“I heard that the ‘Moon Fairy,’ the master of the Sound of Heaven Pavilion, is here personally to attend the auction. I wonder what item she has her eyes on?”
“Unfortunately, my cultivation is too low. I’m not qualified to enter the palace building of the Sound of Heaven Pavilion to get a glimpse of Moon Fairy’s celestial beauty. Only those with great influence, like Golden Core True Persons, could receive an invitation.”
“Sigh, we can only spend spiritual stones to enter the ‘Wonderful Sound Pavilion’ in the city. That’s an establishment of the Sound of Heaven Pavilion where we can admire the beauty of its female disciples and listen to wonderful music to cleanse our souls.”
Cultivators from various regions, gazing at the dreamlike palace building, expressed their envy and longing.
Lu Chang An’s powerful divine sense probed the situation. He wasn’t surprised by the Sound of Heaven Pavilion’s arrival.
The Sound of Heaven Pavilion had relocated and established roots in the Outer Sect Alliance area many years ago, and they had established Wonderful Sound Pavilions in most of the nearby immortal cities.
The new generation of female disciples in the Sound of Heaven Pavilion were mostly recruited from surrounding areas.
Lu Chang An steered his flying carpet treasure into Gu Tian Immortal City.
“I heard that Mr. Xu has connections with a Golden Core elder of the Sound of Heaven Pavilion. Why not pay a visit and cultivate the relationship? Don’t mind us, Mr. Xu.”
Granny Yun, with a kind expression, cautiously sounded him out.
“Where, Mr. Xu’s relationship with the Sound of Heaven Pavilion is ordinary, just some transactional exchanges related to alchemy.”
Lu Chang An denied it.
Granny Yun smiled, without confirming or denying.
She had heard from her granddaughter that this Mr. Xu had been flirting with the Sound of Heaven Pavilion’s Jiang Fairy, and she even spent the night in his manor.
In fact, before the Li Huo Palace was destroyed, Yun Yan knew the former master of the Sound of Heaven Pavilion, including Moon Fairy, and even had a good relationship with them.
She knew how attractive the beauty and temperament of Sound of Heaven Pavilion disciples were, combined with their musical talents, to male cultivators.
…
That day, Lu Chang An and the Yun siblings stayed at an inn in Gu Tian Immortal City.
Late at night, Lu Chang An quietly released his third-rank mid-grade puppet clone.
To differentiate him from the assassin known as Black Hawk, the puppet clone’s appearance had been significantly altered, transforming him into a straw-hatted merchant-turned-Taoist priest.
His appearance resembled the “Celestial Pivot Taoist,” the extraordinary person Lu Chang An had encountered in the past, about six to seven out of ten.
Of course, this was just one appearance. The puppet clone would use different appearances to move about the immortal city.
The auction was ten days away.
Lu Chang An and his puppet clone, in open and covert operations, purchased and sold resources in Gu Tian Immortal City.
The days leading up to the auction were a prime time for selling stolen goods as the flow of people was large.
Over the following days.
The puppet clone traveled to various shops in the immortal city, even attending underground black markets, converting a large amount of spiritual stones.
The spirit beast cubs and eggs he obtained from Yellow Wolf True Person were quite popular in the immortal city, selling for a higher price than Lu Chang An expected.
This was because many of these breeds were not native to the desert region and could only be brought into Feng Yuan Nation by outsiders.
As long as he didn’t sell them in bulk, Lu Chang An wasn’t worried about exposing himself.
The Outer Sect Alliance region was known for attracting cultivators from various worlds, with the Righteous Path Alliance being only a part.
Puppeteers, poison masters, body cultivators, beast tamers, and cultivators of all schools could be found, making it a truly diverse and chaotic place.
Besides the spirit beast cubs and eggs, the puppet clone also sold some materials from the Liang Nation, which were rare in this region, fetching a good price.
Lu Chang An, on the other hand, sold some pills below the third-rank, which wasn’t unusual for his identity.
Within just a few days.
Lu Chang An and his puppet clone converted over 100,000 spiritual stones.
The materials sold, including the spirit beast cubs and eggs, were only part. Over half of them were kept for future use.
Most of the converted spiritual stones were used to purchase third-rank puppet materials and more advanced puppet techniques.
Because Lu Chang An had insufficient connections in Gu Tian Immortal City, he had to pay a high price or rely on his puppet to buy materials from the black market.
Two days before the auction, Lu Chang An had gathered most of the materials needed for his next third-rank mid-grade puppet, including his previous stock.
Some precious materials could be bid on at the auction.
Furthermore, Lu Chang An had obtained a puppet technique from the Thousand Mechanism Sect, but only at the准三阶 (Zhun San Jie – almost third-rank) level.
“The Thousand Mechanism Sect’s puppet techniques are truly extraordinary.”
Lu Chang An had gained significant benefits and insights from studying a lower-grade puppet technique.
The puppet techniques he had acquired from the Righteous Path Alliance were far inferior in terms of foundation compared to the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s.
He couldn’t help but covet the higher-grade puppet techniques of the Thousand Mechanism Sect to improve his puppet clone.
These days, the puppet clone traded with people, always keeping contact brief and finishing quickly.
To avoid being detected, the puppet clone used its powerful divine sense to isolate its body, preventing outsiders from probing it.
…
On the eve of the auction, a major piece of news spread through Gu Tian Immortal City.
“Mr. Xu, have you heard? There’s an additional item added to the auction.”
The Yun siblings visited to inform Lu Chang An of the latest news.
“What is it?” Lu Chang An asked calmly.
“It’s a Condensing Crystal Pill!”
“An authentic Condensing Crystal Pill! It’s a once-in-a-century event to have it appear at the Gu Tian Immortal City auction.”
The Yun siblings were excited and eager.
According to the initial announcement of the auction, the final items were a third-rank puppet, a third-rank Water Spirit Pearl, and a mid-grade magic treasure. There was no mention of an authentic Condensing Crystal Pill.
Seeing the Yun siblings’ reactions, Lu Chang An further understood that high-grade pills were even rarer and more valuable in the resource-scarce Feng Yuan Nation.
Especially a Condensing Crystal Pill, which increased the probability of forming a Golden Core.
An authentic Condensing Crystal Pill rarely appeared in the auctions of Feng Yuan Nation.
Every time it appeared, it would cause a stir, even leading to bloody conflicts and struggles.
That’s right!
That Condensing Crystal Pill, the final item of the auction, was actually from Lu Chang An!
He had his puppet clone, under the guise of a mysterious person, consign the pill for the auction, prioritizing the exchange for a third-rank Longevity Pill and the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s puppet technique.
As for the Condensing Crystal Pill, whether it would cause chaos or bloodshed in this barren land, it was none of his business.
(End of Chapter)
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