Chapter 126: Exchange

"Eight thousand five hundred spirit stones," Qin Ming bid first.

He was determined to obtain this item.

After round after round of bidding,

the price for this bottle of Suanni demon beast essence blood reached ten thousand spirit stones.

The price kept climbing higher and higher.

In the end, only Bai Yulin and several mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators remained in fierce competition.

"This old man offers ten thousand spirit stones! Plus one high-grade magical artifact, valued at three thousand spirit stones," Fang Yezi's voice drifted out faintly.

Upon hearing this, the remaining cultivators all gave up bidding.

Qin Ming pondered for a moment, then announced the final price: "Fifteen thousand spirit stones."

Hearing this, Fang Yezi's beard twitched; he did not continue bidding, as if this were already the limit he could accept.

Finally,

Qin Ming secured this bottle of second-rank lower-grade Bi Xue Suanni essence blood for fifteen thousand spirit stones.

Subsequently,

numerous other rare treasures were auctioned off one after another, including even the Shen Shen Cha planted by Qin Ming and the Purple-Gold Bamboo.

It continued until the very end,

when among the finale items, even the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure 'Heavenly Fire Spiritual Liquid' appeared.

It was purchased by the Ten Thousand Swords Manor for thirty-five thousand spirit stones.

As the auction drew to a close, the highly anticipated Foundation Establishment Pill was finally brought up.

The mid-grade auctioneer raised his voice, stirring up the emotions of the entire crowd:

"Next is the final finale item of this auction, the Foundation Establishment Pill!"

"It was refined by our hall's honorary Guest Elder, the Master of Wangyue Island, Grand Alchemist Qin Dadan; its quality is superior, slightly better than that of ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills!"

Having said this, he uncorked the bottle, and a heart-penetrating pill fragrance wafted out, captivating the minds of the cultivators present.

Many scattered cultivators and family cultivators who had saved up their savings specifically to bid on this item were eager to act, barely able to wait any longer.

"One Foundation Establishment Pill, starting bid: twenty thousand spirit stones!"

"Each increment must be no less than one thousand spirit stones."

Boom! The moment the auctioneer finished speaking, fierce bidding and contention began.

"Twenty-five thousand!"

"Twenty-eight thousand!"

"Thirty thousand!"

"..."

"This Foundation Establishment Pill belongs to our Qian family of Little Kui Island! Thirty-five thousand spirit stones!"

"Do you think you can just claim it because you say so? Forty thousand!"

"..."

The atmosphere within the hall instantly reached its peak.

Many scattered cultivators watched the soaring price of the Foundation Establishment Pill with longing eyes, sighing in despair! "Alas, this is too outrageous!"

"How long has it been? It has already risen to fifty thousand spirit stones."

"Can't afford it, can't afford it."

Despite this, those Foundation Establishment families, along with a few powerful Qi Condensation families, continued to bid.

"Sixty-eight thousand spirit stones!" The Foundation Establishment cultivator from Little Kui Island nearly gritted his teeth as he announced this price; he had never expected the price to be driven so high.

Yet what would crush him was still to come.

"Seventy-two thousand spirit stones," a firm voice rang out.

Everyone had already been paying attention; the person continuing to bid belonged to an obscure Qi Condensation family, yet unexpectedly, without making a sound, they possessed such deep resources.

"Seventy-five thousand!" Mu Yuanshan also followed with a bid; his expression was quite ugly, as if this too had exceeded his psychological expectations.

He turned his head and glared fiercely at that Qi Condensation family cultivator.

But the cultivator from the Qi Condensation family remained completely unmoved, still calmly quoting the price: "Eighty thousand spirit stones!"

Increasing the bid by five thousand spirit stones in one go actually caused the cultivators present to exclaim in surprise one after another.

"Where did this Qi Condensation family come from? So wealthy?"

"It seems to be the Zhang family from Lingnan; reportedly, they specialize in the talisman-making business."

Listening to the opponent's quoted price, Mu Yuanshan, like a deflated ball, gave up increasing his bid.

Just now, he had glanced at that Qi Condensation family cultivator; this person had already reached the peak of the Qi Condensation realm.

Most likely, after securing this Foundation Establishment Pill, he would choose to break through right here within Canghai Immortal City.

He could do nothing about his opponent either.

Inside the private box, Qin Ming watched with wide-eyed astonishment; he had never expected the Foundation Establishment Pill he refined to be so sought-after, fetching such a high price.

However, thinking about the tens of thousands of spirit stones soon entering his coffers, his heart felt delightful.

"Hehe, congratulations, Daoist Qin; the price fetched by this Foundation Establishment Pill is enough to rank among the top ten in the history of our auctions," Gu Qingzhao said with a gentle smile.

Qin Ming nodded. "It is still due to Daoist Gu's excellent promotion, hehe!"

The auction concluded.

The cultivator from the Qi Condensation family settled the spirit stones at the backstage, obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill, and hurriedly left the scene.

He must have rented a cave dwelling to break through, avoiding trouble arising from delay.

Once he successfully breaks through to Foundation Establishment, having spent such a huge price to acquire this Foundation Establishment Pill, it will indeed be very worth it.

When a Qi Refining family produces a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the entire clan immediately ranks as a Foundation Establishment family; everything becomes incomparable to before.

Qin Ming followed Gu Qingzhao to settle the spirit stones and beast essence blood he was owed.

After deducting the Mirror Snow Pavilion's ten percent commission and the spirit stones required to purchase the beast essence blood.

In this round, Qin Ming still earned over seventy thousand spirit stones.

This also made Qin Ming quite emotional; he finally experienced firsthand why high-level alchemists were so sought after. After matters concluded.

Gu Qingzhao and Shopkeeper Liao also found themselves at leisure, gathering with Qin Ming for a meal.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, what are your plans next?" Gu Qingzhao asked openly.

Hearing this, Qin Ming recounted to her the matter of Xue Zhili inviting him to a private exchange meeting.

"This person Xue Zhili is rather upright; he is an old-timer Foundation Establishment cultivator within Yunze Xiancheng, so the gathering he organizes should pose no problems," Gu Qingzhao thought for a moment, then replied.

Hearing her say this, Qin Ming felt reassured.

The next day.

Following the location provided by Xue Zhili, Qin Ming arrived before a villa in the inner city.

This Flowing Cloud Villa, situated in the inner city, possessed a second-grade upper-grade spiritual vein environment and covered a vast area.

Inside, all manner of pavilions and towers were complete, along with rockeries and ponds, creating a unique garden atmosphere.

After Qin Ming asked the guards at the gate to announce his arrival, Xue Zhili came out to welcome him with a smiling expression.

"Oh! Fellow Daoist Qin has arrived; please, come in quickly."

"The other fellow daoists have mostly arrived as well."

Subsequently, Qin Ming followed Xue Zhili, winding through the enormous villa seven turns and eight twists, entering a main hall decorated with extreme antiquity and elegance.

As soon as Qin Ming entered, he saw seven or eight Foundation Establishment cultivators already seated inside.

Among them, several faces were extremely familiar.

It was precisely Bai Yulin, Mu Yuanshan, Qian Haodong from Little Kui Island, the green-robed elder, and others whom he had seen at the auction yesterday; they were all present here.

"Fellow Daoist Qin has arrived."

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Qin!"

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Qin; long have I admired your great name!"

Upon seeing Qin Ming enter, the various cultivators inside stood up one after another to greet him.

Qin Ming piled smiles onto his face and responded to each in turn.

After stepping inside, he casually found an empty chair to sit in, happening to land right beside the green-robed elder.

Through conversation, he learned that the green-robed elder was named Gu Huai, an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and a rogue practitioner.

Half a teacup of time later.

Several more Foundation Establishment cultivators walked in successively.

To Qin Ming's slight surprise, even Alchemist Sun Dadan and Master Refiner Fang Yezi had arrived.

Once everyone had assembled, more than ten Foundation Establishment cultivators had gathered within the main hall.

These people were either highly influential within Yunze Xiancheng or were powerful mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Subsequently.

Xue Zhili stood up, cupped his fists toward the crowd present, and said, "I thank all you fellow daoists for selling me this face and coming to attend the exchange meeting."

"I will not speak many extra words."

"Since I am the one who organized this meeting, let me begin first!"

Having spoken, Xue Zhili took a fist-sized chunk of crimson mystic stone from his storage bag, which emitted a sharp, metallic aura.

Master Refiner Fang Yezi's eyes flashed with brilliance; clearly recognizing the object, he exclaimed in surprise, "It is actually Crimson Refined Gold Mother!"

"Hehe! That's right! It is precisely this object; I wish to exchange it for spiritual herbs aged over two hundred years; I do not accept purchase with spirit stones."

After Xue Zhili finished speaking, he waited quietly for offers.

He was fully confident in the Crimson Refined Gold Mother, unafraid that no one would exchange with him.

Crimson Refined Gold Mother was a second-grade top-grade material for refining treasures; it was said that casually mixing a little into the process during refinement could greatly increase the number of law seals a spiritual material could withstand.

As a master refiner, Fang Yezi naturally knew the value of goods; after hesitating slightly, he took out an exquisite jade box, opened it, and said to Xue Zhili, "I have here a Dragon Pattern Grass aged one hundred and fifty years; I wonder if Fellow Daoist Xue would exchange? Any shortfall can be made up with spirit stones."

Xue Zhili released his divine sense to examine that Dragon Pattern Grass, pondering for a full half-teacup of time.

Finally, he shook his head and sighed, saying, "This Dragon Pattern Grass deeply moves my heart, alas, the fire control is still slightly lacking."

Hearing this, Fang Yezi felt somewhat disappointed.

Just then, a middle-aged scholar in a Confucian robe stood up, took out a jade case, inside of which a spiritual herb was revealed, emitting a faint cyan misty qi.

"I have here a two-hundred-year-old Azure Spirit Grass; I wonder if this could serve as an exchange."

Subsequently, several other cultivators brought out various rare spiritual materials, wishing to exchange for that chunk of Crimson Refined Gold Mother.

In the end, Xue Zhili chose that Azure Spirit Grass from among the many spiritual materials.

Next, Alchemist Sun Dadan stepped forward to exchange; he took out a bottle of Bi Ning Pills, which aided in increasing one's Foundation Establishment cultivation, and exchanged them with a certain cultivator for two second-grade upper-grade spiritual herbs of considerable age.

After several more people successively exchanged items.

Qin Ming also stood up, took two red fruits the size of chicken eggs from his storage bag, and then said, "Second-grade top-grade Divine Yuan Fruits, plus fifty catties of Spirit Perching Rice, in exchange for high-grade beast essence blood."

As soon as these two top-grade Divine Yuan Fruits were produced.

The breathing of the cultivators present stalled for a moment.

If they were ordinary quality Divine Yuan Fruits, there would be nothing particularly rare, but top-grade quality was different; their medicinal potency was several times that of ordinary fruits.

Seeing Qin Ming produce top-grade Divine Yuan Fruits, Alchemist Sun Dadan also revealed a look of delight and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Qin, I wonder if you would exchange for spirit stones?"

Qin Ming nodded. "That is also possible, though I will prioritize choosing beast essence blood."

Upon seeing this fruit appear, Fang Yezi and the other few cultivators all took out several different kinds of early second-stage beast essence blood.

This made Qin Ming sigh inexplicably; one really had to enter such high-end circles, for high-grade beast essence blood, rarely seen in the outside world, appeared here in several portions at once.

"I also have a portion of mid second-stage beast essence blood, namely the essence blood of the White-Armed Pale Ape."

"However, Fellow Daoist Qin, these two supreme-grade Divine Essence Fruits and Spirit-Perching Rice of yours seem somewhat insufficient in quantity."

At this moment, a voice rose slowly within the main hall.

(End of Chapter)