Chapter 55: Spending Money Like Flowing Water

"Door? Fragments?"

"What door?"

Wang Ping had a flicker of doubt in his mind, but he quickly realized it was that silver gate.

His heart was stirred by shock and surprise; the gate was broken, and its fragments are here!

But no matter how surprised he felt inside, Wang Ping kept his composure, naturally walked a few steps, then abruptly stopped.

Tian Ming saw this, showed a questioning look, and Wang Ping suddenly said with a smile:

"Steward Tian, I'll first buy two talisman treasures here before talking."

"Sure! No problem!" Tian Ming was surprised but didn't say anything.

Wang Ping nodded, not worrying whether his behavior was improper.

Because no one in the cultivation world recognizes the fragments of the silver gate.

Not even legends mention it; if we change to the spirit realm, maybe.

Re-entering the talisman treasure area, Wang Ping first looked from the left gate entrance.

Because just now, when he reached the gate entrance, the prompt tone appeared, indicating the fragments were near both sides of the gate.

On the rack at the left gate entrance there were only six talisman treasures; Wang Ping didn't care about their functions, he just looked at each one, examining each carefully several times.

He finally confirmed that there were no silver gate fragments here.

At the rack of the right gate, there were seven talisman treasures; when Wang Ping approached the third talisman treasure, the prompt tone appeared again:

"** Gate fragment location confirmed, please merge promptly!"

Perhaps because the silver gate is in his mind, when he entered the third talisman treasure, Wang Ping felt a strange sensation.

When the prompt tone sounded, he unexpectedly discovered that the silver gate fragment had nothing to do with the talisman treasure, but was the supporting object beneath it.

A blackish-brown irregular stone tray, although appearing irregular, it possessed great aesthetic beauty.

The pattern on it seemed somewhat familiar to him, clearly similar to the pattern on the silver gate.

The stone disc was quite large, estimated to be two chi long and at its widest one chi.

On it lay a talisman treasure.

Wang Ping secretly laughed; this talisman treasure was really lucky to be able to lie on the silver gate fragment.

"Steward Tian! How much for this talisman treasure?" Wang Ping asked.

"This talisman treasure is an attack-type talisman treasure containing seventy percent of the power of a strike from a Qi Refining limit cultivator; once released, even an ordinary Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator cannot block it; on this level, it is considered the most powerful talisman treasure, priced at eight thousand spirit stones."

Tian Ming leisurely introduced it to Wang Ping.

"Too expensive!"

Tian Ming showed no panic, smiling as he said:

"Expensive for a reason: Qi Refining limit cultivators are even rarer than Foundation Establishment great cultivators; a strike containing seventy percent of their power can basically preserve one's life in the Qi Refining stage."

At this point, Wang Ping didn't care about the talisman treasure's price; even if it cost eighty thousand spirit stones, he would find a way to buy it.

He understood Tian Ming's meaning; not haggling, Wang Ping originally hadn't intended to haggle either, and he nodded with a smile:

"Since that's the case, I'll take this talisman treasure; moreover, the pattern of this stone tray underneath is extremely beautiful—why not give me that piece as well? I! I have no resistance to such exquisite aesthetic things!"

Tian Ming hesitated a bit; Wang Ping immediately put on a displeased expression and said:

"What, Steward Tian, if you're unwilling, then forget it—just hand over this talisman treasure!"

Tian Ming immediately laughed and said:

"How could I not! It's just a little surprise; I didn't expect Daoist Friend to have such a hobby; since you like it, I'll give it to you."

Tian Ming was indeed a little surprised just now, but he didn't suspect anything; in the cultivation world, all kinds of cultivators exist; Lan Ming's hobby is not too out of the ordinary.

He directly formed a hand seal, and the light shield covering that talisman treasure slowly dissipated.

Someone nearby wanted to take it out for the customer, but Wang Ping directly gestured with his right hand, and the talisman treasure flew over together with the silver gate fragment.

He slapped his storage bag with his left hand, a light enveloped them, and they vanished instantly.

Successfully storing the fragment, Wang Ping's heart thumped a few times.

Today's harvest was unexpectedly great.

At this moment, the person who was inventorying items in the elegant room approached and handed a jade slip to Tian Ming.

Tian Ming briefly scanned it with his spiritual sense, then directly handed it to Wang Ping, saying in a good mood:

"Daoist Friend Lan, the price has come out; please take a look!"

Wang Ping took it, scanned with his spiritual sense: twelve thousand, two thousand more than his estimate; not bad—today he spent three thousand on spirit medicines and herbs, eight thousand on talisman treasures, for a total consumption of twelve thousand spirit stones.

It exactly matched; he still had forty thousand spirit stones on him, wondering whether he should buy more talisman treasures; Wang Ping hesitated a bit.

His plans couldn't keep up with the changes; the appearance of the silver gate fragments completely disrupted his plan.

Finally, he gritted his teeth, decided to buy, at least needing to purchase one more defensive dharma treasure; thinking of this, he temporarily set aside the matter of cultivation techniques, and also needed to buy azure gold stone to reforge the Azure Blade Sword.

The final expenditure would likely be no less than twenty-five thousand; the preciousness of a defensive talisman treasure capable of resisting Foundation Establishment cultivator attacks needs no explanation; azure gold stone is an important auxiliary material for refining dharma treasures, and its price is extremely high.

Wang Ping wanted to reforge the Azure Blade Sword; the best material is azure gold stone, although its name contains the character for 'stone', it is indeed a metal.

However, it contains impurities, giving it a rock-like color; once the impurities are refined away, it becomes azure gold, a metal that can enhance the sharpness and durability of blades and similar dharma treasures.

However, for this metal, one catty of azure gold stone yields at most one tael of azure gold; Wang Ping needs at least ten catties.

That is, he needs one hundred catties of azure gold stone; the usual price is one hundred spirit stones per catty, so Wang Ping must spend at least ten thousand spirit stones.

Adding the defensive talisman treasure, it will definitely cost at least fifteen thousand spirit stones; today he must spend at least thirty-seven thousand spirit stones.

After selling those miscellaneous items, Wang Ping gained twelve thousand spirit stones; after deducting these, he still needs to pay twenty-five thousand.

His forty-two thousand spirit stones instantly decreased by more than half.

For a moment, Wang Ping felt heartbroken and could barely breathe; these were all the spirit stones he had painstakingly earned.

Moreover, doing this makes it easy to attract attention!

Wang Ping's face was calm, but in his heart he constantly weighed gains and losses; the auction a month later was destined to be a dragon‑tiger struggle, fraught with danger.

That fairy maiden said, this time only Qi Refining cultivators can participate in the auction, but will the great Foundation Establishment cultivators be willing to do so?

Even if the great Foundation Establishment cultivators do not intervene, after I purchase it, I fear many cultivators will covet the cultivation method in my hands.

Only then would it be a matter of life and death!

In the end he still decided to buy; spirit stones are meant to boost one's strength—how could one give up eating because of a choke? Even if he is watched today, he can retreat to the Hundred Arts Garden and keep cultivating until the auction begins.

Having made his decision, Wang immediately had Tian Ming accompany him upstairs, spending fourteen thousand spirit stones to purchase a defensive talisman capable of blocking three breaths of attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

He also spent another ten thousand spirit stones to buy one hundred catties of azure gold stone.

His spirit stones instantly dropped to twenty‑eight thousand, but he still possessed a high‑grade magical artifact and a top‑grade magical artifact.

At that time he could entrust the auction; this is a technique taught to him yesterday by Zhang Zuo and a few others. Taking it to auction, the price will be at least thirty percent above market value.

Treasure Gathering Pavilion takes only a one percent fee, so it's always a profit.

After completing the formalities, Wang Ping walked straight out of Treasure Gathering Pavilion; he wanted to go back and study the silver stone gate, not knowing what changes it would undergo after fusing the fragments—could it possibly shorten the time needed to gather energy?

For a moment he actually felt somewhat impatient.