Chapter 273

Rising the next day, he successfully completed another "nesting doll" maneuver, bringing his Fierce Sun Gang Blade to Major Success and gaining a points reward.

Having already requested leave yesterday and eaten, Xu Yang took his silver notes and Wolf-Tooth Blade, then immediately exited the Profound Heaven Sect.

Halfway there, he changed out of his Profound Heaven Sect outer disciple robes and hurried all the way to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

At this moment, a long queue had already formed at the entrance of the auction house, with even more people than last time.

In truth, he should have used a disguise before entering, but the Myriad Treasures Pavilion only recognized faces; if he disguised himself, he wouldn't be able to get in.

"Everyone's gotten smarter this time!"

In the queue, he saw many familiar faces, but like him, they had all changed out of their Profound Heaven Sect robes.

Gu Haoming, Cao Rong, Sun Jian, Lu Ren, Liu Qian...

Beside Liu Qian followed a man who looked somewhat similar to her; without a doubt, this must be Liu Xiao, the genius from the Liu family who placed third in the previous term. He certainly possessed a certain air of distinction.

"Xu Yang actually came too," Tang Xiao whispered.

Beside him were Guo Huai, An Ping, and Shen Liang. The four stood together, but they had not called for Xu Yang, and they couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.

"I forgot to ask him," Shen Liang said softly.

Guo Huai was somewhat surprised and said, "I thought he didn't have the qualifications to attend the Myriad Treasures Pavilion auction. I didn't expect him to be a client here too."

Xu Yang came from a humble background; if they asked about such things, they worried Xu Yang might lose face.

Moreover, the incident with the Blood Lotus Sect had happened two or three months ago, and the initial sense of camaraderie from having lived and died together was gradually fading. Coupled with the fact that Xu Yang had long failed to reach Minor Success in his Gang Qi, they all intentionally distanced themselves from him.

After queuing for a while, it was soon Xu Yang's turn.

"Master Xu, follow me."

Zhou Yong stepped forward with a smile and led Xu Yang into the auction hall. Whether it was an intentional arrangement or not, the person beside him this time was still Lu Ren.

On the other side, however, were Shen Liang and the other three.

"Brother Xu, what a coincidence," An Ping smiled. "If we had known you were coming too, we would have called you."

Xu Yang was not the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve and had always been amiable toward others, so he immediately smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "And yet, here we have met."

Nodding toward Guo Huai, Shen Liang, and Tang Xiao, he sat down in his seat.

These young masters and scions were also shrewd, and they all responded with smiles.

Guo Huai even suggested that if there were good items later, they should join forces if no single person could afford them.

Xu Yang smiled and agreed, knowing that their target was likely the Ten-Complete Replenishment Pill. In fact, for most Profound Heaven Sect disciples who came here, their goal was also Gang Qi pills like the Ten-Complete Replenishment Pill.

Most of them were not short on money, but pills for the Gang Qi realm could not be bought just by having money.

This time, Lu Ren did not take the initiative to speak to Xu Yang, and Xu Yang did not take the initiative to greet him either.

Lu Ren wore a cold expression. Perhaps the Myriad Treasures Pavilion did not yet know that he and Gu Haoming had fallen out, so they had arranged for the two to sit together again. The atmosphere between them was somewhat subtle.

"He is that Xu Yang?"

In the distance, Liu Xiao's gaze swept over Xu Yang, his eyes slightly cold.

Liu Qian nodded: "It is him."

Liu Xiao snorted: "A mere house slave, yet he dares to bite the hand that feeds him."

As Liu Qian's older brother and the eldest young master of the Liu family, he naturally knew that Xu Yang had once served as a retainer in the Liu family, and he also knew that his father had intended to subdue Xu Yang for his own use, only to be rejected by Xu Yang.

Regarding the deaths of Yue Gui and Chen Jiang, he knew the moment he heard about it that Xu Yang had intentionally refused to save them. If not for his younger sister's decent strength, she would have died too.

In his eyes, such an act was no different from a servant betraying their master.

Liu Qian's expression changed slightly, and she said, "Big brother, don't let my trivial matters affect you. The outer sect grand competition is about to begin. Your primary goal is to take the top three, exempt yourself from the assessment tasks, and become an inner sect disciple in one fell swoop."

Liu Xiao nodded and said nothing more.

Soon, the entry process ended, and the auction began.

As a tray was handed to Tao Huaijin, he reached out to lift the red cloth, revealing a piece of metal the size of a fist.

The metal was pale red and emitted a strange fluctuation. As it sat quietly on the tray, a burst of gasps immediately erupted from all around.

"It's actually spiritual metal."

"This is one of the materials for forging spiritual weapons."

"Look at the luster, this is Red Copper Spiritual Gold!"

"It is said that adding just a little bit of this stuff can make ordinary weapons cut through iron like mud and double their power."

Only then did Xu Yang realize that this thing was called Red Copper Spiritual Gold; he had seen quite a lot of it before.

Among the batch of special materials that the Profound Heaven Sect had been robbed of by the Blood Lotus Sect, there was plenty of this stuff, and the pieces were even larger than this one at the auction—the large ones were the size of a big bowl, and there were at least a dozen of them.

Tao Huaijin smiled: "Some friends have already recognized it. Correct, this is Red Copper Spiritual Gold, one of the materials for forging spiritual weapons. This piece weighs two jin and two liang and has already been purified by earth-vein spiritual fire. The starting price is two thousand taels, and each bid must be no less than fifty taels."

Xu Yang knew this stuff should be very precious, but he didn't expect it to be this precious.

Doesn't this mean the batch of materials the Profound Heaven Sect had stolen by the Blood Lotus Sect was worth at least over a hundred thousand taels?

He was somewhat tempted; if a martial artist had a spiritual weapon, their combat power would at least double.

If a martial artist at Minor Success in Gang Qi had a spiritual weapon, they could even kill a Major Success Gang Qi expert, and could even tangle with a true Marrow Cleansing powerhouse for a while.

It's just that the starting price for Red Copper Spiritual Gold was two thousand taels, so he could only stare helplessly.

Moreover, after just a few bids, this fist-sized piece of Red Copper Spiritual Gold was bid up to four thousand taels, and finally sold for five thousand taels.

Xu Yang had originally thought his purse was bulging, but upon hearing this price, he felt like a poor man again.

This piece of Red Copper Spiritual Gold wasn't even enough to forge a sword—at most a short blade—yet it sold for such a terrifying price.

The next few auction items were all rare medicinal herbs or weapons, none of which were things Xu Yang needed.

Finally, another tray was brought up, and Tao Huaijin lifted the red cloth, revealing a medicine bottle.

"These are five Origin-Returning Pills. I won't introduce what the Origin-Returning Pill is. The base price for this item is five hundred taels, and each bid must be no less than ten taels. The bidding starts now," Tao Huaijin shouted.

As his words fell, four or five people couldn't help but bid at the same time.

Xu Yang frowned inwardly; the last bottle of Origin-Returning Pills sold for a high price of nine hundred taels.

With more people coming this time, he feared the price would be even more outrageous.

Coupled with the fact that the outer sect grand competition was approaching, the value of such pills that enhance cultivation would only increase.

Soon, the price of this bottle of Origin-Returning Pills was bid up to nine hundred taels, and people were still adding to it.

"This is only the first bottle of Gang Qi realm pills, and the competition is the most intense. Don't rush to bid; let's fight for the ones later."

Shen Liang wanted to bid but was stopped by Guo Huai.

Xu Yang also held back. The people competing now were all wealthy; it wasn't that he couldn't compete, but it was easy to offend people he couldn't afford to provoke.

He intended to bid for a bottle of pills alone today, which was already very eye-catching; offending powerful figures would be unwise.

In the end, this bottle of Origin-Returning Pills sold for the terrifying price of thirteen hundred taels.

"There are too many small cliques!"

The premium was very high. He discovered that the person who bought this bottle of Origin-Returning Pills wasn't one person, but two Profound Heaven Sect disciples joining forces.

Just like beside him, Guo Huai, Shen Liang, and others also intended to join forces to buy a bottle.

Next was another bottle of Origin-Returning Pills, and the price quickly soared to twelve hundred. Guo Huai's talk about the first bottle being the most competitive was complete nonsense.

Because the price of this bottle was also quickly bid up to thirteen hundred taels.

"Thirteen hundred and ten taels!"

The one bidding was actually Lu Ren, and countless curious gazes immediately turned toward him.

Because of the Aya incident, he had been abandoned by Gu Haoming and the Dawn Society. Everyone knew he no longer had family funding, so they didn't expect him to have so much money to participate in the bidding.

Gu Haoming, sitting beside him, showed a look of surprise, also not expecting Lu Ren to have so much money.

"Bidding randomly, do you have that much money?"

The outer sect disciple who had bid thirteen hundred taels sneered.

Lu Ren swept a faint gaze toward that person and said, "That has nothing to do with you."

A flash of hatred crossed his eyes.

In the past, if he bid, no one would question if he had the money.

Now, because he had left Gu Haoming, his bid was actually questioned as being random—these things that look down on people.

"Thirteen hundred and fifty taels!" that person shouted with a smile.

Lu Ren's face was gloomy: "Thirteen hundred and sixty taels."

This person was no longer bidding, but intentionally arguing with him and mocking him.

"This Origin-Returning Pill is yours."

That person smiled, not daring to bid again, worried that if he kept bidding, he would be stuck with it.

In the end, the second bottle of Origin-Returning Pills was bought by Lu Ren for the high price of thirteen hundred and sixty taels.