Chapter 405: Two Female Slaves with Heavenly Spiritual Roots

The small hut creaked open.

A gray-robed old man with a hunched figure looked over; a Qi-cultivating martial artist, no different from the elderly seen everywhere, the kind who could be discarded at any moment.

His eyes were vacant; he clasped his hands in a bow: "Does the guest possess a token for the underground auction?"

"Here."

Jiang Ding's eyelid twitched; he tossed over a dark-green token,

feeling somewhat annoyed.

The Spirit Treasure Merchant Guild had only reported the Spirit Treasure Auction to him, never mentioning an underground auction.

Was this an attempt to evade taxes?

"Guest A-27, please."

The gray-robed old man showed a look of respect, opened a tunnel in the ground, jumped in, and led the way.

Following the habits stored in the Peach Blossom Young Master's memory, Jiang Ding took out a black cloth cloak capable of blocking spiritual sense detection, draped it over his head, and followed step by step.

The tunnel wound and twisted, and it was clearly arrayed with formations to block spiritual sense; they had walked at least several li and still had not arrived.

"A bit of an adventurous feeling."

"But damn it, this is my home!"

Jiang Ding's grievances against the Spirit Treasure Merchant Guild grew stronger: "Without permission, without my knowledge, they dug so many tunnels in my home and specially arranged so many formations to block detection, successfully fooling the Master Tushan Xiancheng intelligence agency; what do you want?"

Of course, they had not deeply touched the alarm line of the city formation's foundation.

The heavenly and earthly Qi and earth veins within a radius of over ten kilometers were still under the control of the Master Tushan Xiancheng formation; this was why he dared to venture deep here, able to leave at any moment.

After winding around another long bend, a wooden door appeared.

"Guest, please."

The gray-robed old man clasped his hands in a bow and walked behind.

He opened the door.

This was a quite vast underground cave space, bowl-shaped; the center held a stone platform, surrounded by seats of various sizes.

People entered through the wooden door from time to time, gradually gathering fifty or sixty individuals, all dressed so as to cover themselves completely.

Jiang Ding swept his sword intent across; without same-tier Dharma intent or extremely high-quality concealment treasures, the so-called disguises and coverings were utterly useless.

"Fifteen Jin Dan cultivators; the rest are mostly mid-to-late stage Foundation Establishment, with some at the peak of Foundation Establishment..."

"My territory has indeed attracted quite a few people."

All around was quiet, with only the soft sounds of footsteps coming and going; no one spoke.

He found a seat, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest his spirit.

Several hours later.

Boom!

Everyone opened their eyes and saw that a Bai Pang old man had appeared on the stone platform at some point, radiating a mid-stage Jin Dan aura.

"Greetings, fellow Daoists."

The Bai Pang old man clasped his hands in a friendly bow to the surroundings: "Welcome everyone to this underground auction. As per the old rules this time, first our guild will auction, then any fellow Daoists with needs may come up on their own; we only charge a thirty percent service fee."

"Thirty percent?"

A murmur rose from below the platform; everyone felt deeply dissatisfied, but dared not say anything due to the other's cultivation.

"Corpulent Merchant, do you think I, Laozi, can be bullied?"

A sweet, cloyingly seductive voice came through; just the sound made people indulge in fantasies, their mouths dry and throats parched, wishing to find a beauty and indulge recklessly.

Many cultivators were greatly startled; they secretly bit slightly into their own tongues, barely waking from the intense pain, their faces pale, and looked in that direction.

A tall woman with snow-white skin wore a black Daoist robe with a very low neckline; coiled upon her shoulders were two pythons, one green and one purple, revealing only their heads and necks, their bodies beneath hidden somewhere.

"Lady Thousand Snakes!"

A Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Northern Plains was horrified and lowered his head, daring not to look again.

This was the famous Poison Scorpion Beauty of the Northern Plains, a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator, a powerhouse among unaffiliated cultivators, who had slain Jin Dan cultivators from twenty-eight families of the Zhengmo Alliance on multiple occasions and remains on the wanted list to this day.

"Greetings, Lady Thousand Snakes."

The Bai Pang old man took no offense, clasped his hands in a bow, and said: "In the past, the service fee was indeed one percent, but this time, the city lord here likely dislikes the items you intend to trade, so our guild is also taking considerable risk; naturally, the price must rise significantly."

"Of course, if any of you are unwilling, trading within the city or outside the city is also fine."

The faces of many cultivators, both Foundation Establishment and early-stage Jin Dan, changed slightly.

Trading within the city?

The Law Enforcement Team would be summoned and apprehend them instantly; if one dared to kill the Law Enforcement Team within the city, it would be even more terrible, as the Ben Ming Fa treasures of two Jin Dan cultivators still hung on the city walls.

As for trading alone outside the city, that would likely just be inviting those old demons to forcibly seize both people and treasures.

Although the Spirit Treasure Merchant Guild is dark, transaction safety is guaranteed; they possess a complete set of professional spells to eliminate tracking, and incidents of people being tracked down are extremely rare; it is at least a brand with thousands of years of history.

"Enough, stop wasting words."

A burly man with a beard tossed the tower-shaped treasure in his hand and said impatiently: "Begin; I, Laozi, do not have so much free time to play with you."

Another late-stage Jin Dan cultivator!

Many Foundation Establishment cultivators were shaken in their hearts, unable to understand why so many powerful Jin Dan cultivators had suddenly come to such a small place.

"Jin Ta Wang is indeed straightforward!"

"Since everyone is impatient, let us begin."

The Bai Pang old man praised, lifted the red cloth from a tray held by a maid beside him, revealing nine emerald-green small blades, one large and eight small, with patterns of women wailing occasionally appearing on the blade surfaces.

"The first item: supreme-grade magical tool, Nine Sons and Mother Ghost Blades. Take a woman with at least two spiritual roots, cultivation no lower than the peak of Foundation Establishment, and her eight blood-related children with spiritual roots; subject them to nine years of torment to transform them into supreme-yin fierce ghosts; ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators who touch them die instantly."

"If yin souls are continuously invested, there is still potential for growth."

"Fellow Daoists, if you possess this blade, roaming freely among Foundation Establishment cultivators will be effortless."

Bai Pang, the elderly man, infused a trace of magic power; cold winds swirled, and eight small knives swung of their own accord, blades facing outward, appearing to consume little magic power.

"The starting price is ten thousand low-grade spirit stones."

Many Foundation Establishment cultivators revealed expressions of greed.

If one could obtain this treasure, striking with a single move would summon nine accompanying blades, equivalent to multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators besieging an opponent simultaneously; how could such an attack not prevail?

"Twelve thousand!"

"Thirteen thousand..."

The price climbed steadily, quickly reaching one hundred and twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones, still rising, and finally concluded at a price of one hundred and fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones.

The atmosphere began to grow lively.

However, from beginning to end, only Foundation Establishment cultivators made bids; Jin Dan cultivators merely watched with cold eyes.

"The second item: sixty pairs of female slaves with three spiritual roots at the fifth layer of Qi Refining, and thirty pairs of male slaves."

Bai Pang smiled and said, "Fellow Daoists, these slaves, whether male or female, are all virgins; the females are beautiful, the males handsome and dashing. They practice the Attribute-less Gong Fa, 'Hunyuan Gong,' can switch Gong Fa at any time, and are all excellent cauldrons."

"The starting price for a pair of female slaves is one thousand low-grade spirit stones; for a pair of male slaves, it is one thousand five hundred low-grade spirit stones."

The many Foundation Establishment cultivators were immediately tempted.

"Something is wrong, Fat Merchant."

Lady Thousand Snake's gaze, full of spring desire, swept over the many male slaves; she said somewhat displeased, "Why are there fewer of these stinking men, and why are they half again as expensive as the female slaves?"

"Lady Thousand Snake, do not take offense; male slaves are harder to find, and their market is narrower, hence they are slightly more expensive." Bai Pang smiled apologetically, "But if a powerful one like you buys in bulk, opening up the market, the price will drop later."

"It had better be so."

Lady Thousand Snake snorted lightly, waved her large hand, and spent over ten thousand low-grade spirit stones to take all these male slaves into her skirt.

"The third item..."

Under Jiang Ding's silent gaze, the auction proceeded in an orderly manner, involving mostly living souls, servants, cauldrons, and other items explicitly prohibited by Master Tushan Xiancheng.

Later, low-grade magical treasures such as the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and the Bone Demon Sword appeared one by one; setting aside their effects, they were considerably cheaper than ordinary magical treasures, inciting many Jin Dan cultivators to compete for them.

"The penultimate treasure, the grand finale."

"Two girls with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, exchanged for a Golden Core pill or an equivalent Golden Core item."

(End of this chapter)