Chapter 299: The Golden Cutting Art

Another fire-elemental holy beast, the Vermilion Bird, appeared before Lotus Cloud Immortal and Flying Mist Immortal, and at its appearance, both Lotus Cloud Immortal and Flying Mist Immortal could not hide the shock on their faces.

"Another holy beast? Zhu Que? How is this possible? To nurture something like a holy beast, how many eons would it take? Ten million years? Or tens of millions? And it requires an unimaginably dense concentration of the Five Elements' essence—how could Fang Daoist possibly possess both Xuanwu and Zhu Que!"

"Indeed, this is utterly unbelievable. Fang Daoist has gained such a tremendous stroke of fortune—two holy beasts! Even in our Exalted Linglong Tower, these would be treasures to suppress fate's fortune; there's no need to sell them. Holy beasts—these are rarer than Dao artifacts."

Lotus Cloud Immortal and Flying Mist Immortal remained stunned, unable to fathom how Fang Yu had acquired these two holy beasts.

If properly managed, these two holy beasts could be sold for a sum nearly sufficient to purchase a Dao artifact.

"In any case, let us cooperate—Exalted Linglong Tower will surely see even greater treasures."

Fang Yu smiled.

"If so, then Fang Daoist is our Exalted Linglong Fief's most honored guest. We must exchange insights frequently henceforth."

Flying Mist Immortal and Lotus Cloud Immortal exchanged glances, then Flying Mist Immortal spoke.

"Enough. Lotus Cloud, I see Fang Daoist intends to cultivate. Let us not disturb him. Should he need anything, simply say the word—my disciples will arrange it perfectly."

Finally, Flying Mist Immortal clearly perceived Fang Yu's intent to cultivate, smiled, and departed.

"Mm."

Fang Yu nodded.

He indeed intended to cultivate now.

The Great Cutting Art seemed ready to reach perfection today.

Exalted Linglong Tower, unsurprisingly, was a force with influence even within the Great Xuan Empire; in this short time, it had gathered numerous rare treasures imbued with spatial power from its branches across the land—mostly gourds, pouches, and similar items, just like the Qiankun Zizai Gourd Fang Yu had won at auction, all rich with void crystals. Some were raw ores, inherently saturated with spatial power, all delivered directly by Exalted Linglong Tower.

Undoubtedly, purchasing all these treasures would require a colossal fortune—but no matter how vast the fortune, it paled before Zhu Quexuanwu.

Fang Yu crushed each magic treasure one by one to cultivate.

If Yuhua Sect's Medicine King Elder were here, he would curse Fang Yu as a wastrel—destroying so many treasures saturated with spatial power, siphoning their power directly—this was like killing the goose that lays the golden egg. But cultivation always demands resources.

You can't expect a Supreme Elder of the Third Realm of Immortal Caverns to constantly siphon spatial power for you.

Even the Medicine King Elder lacked that privilege.

One by one, the treasures shattered under Fang Yu's grip, releasing their spatial power, instantly absorbed by the Great Cutting Art's runes. The black lines, resembling void-shattering threads, grew denser, radiating a terrifying black hue.

As vast quantities of spatial power were absorbed, the black threads gradually coalesced into a great array, rotating around Fang Yu. Where the black array hovered, space itself trembled faintly—a terrifying energy fluctuation.

"Not enough."

The Great Cutting Art's power surged rapidly, yet Fang Yu deemed it insufficient—he crushed several more gourds, treasures worth a million white-sun pills, absorbing their spatial power once more, making the Great Cutting Art even more fearsome.

Time passed. When night ended, Fang Yu's Great Cutting Art neared perfection. Then, as another treasure shattered, void thunder erupted instantly upon the array.

In that instant, Fang Yu felt a wave of ease, a smile of joy appearing on his face.

His Great Cutting Art had finally reached Great Perfection!

The hallmark of Great Perfection in the Great Cutting Art was the emergence of void thunder—just as with the Great Five Elements Art, when any supreme technique reaches Great Perfection, it spawns a divine thunder.

"Good! Another Great Dao has been cultivated—the Great Cutting Art!"

Fang Yu felt his strength surge. The terrifying void thunder, merely manifesting in empty space, carried an ability to sever thought itself. Especially with its incredible speed—he felt that if he willed it, this divine thunder could exceed dozens of times the speed of sound, striking any point within hundreds of li, annihilating enemies.

Now that he had brought this Great Dao to Great Perfection, Fang Yu had finally cultivated two Great Daos.

Cultivation was truly arduous.

Cultivating a single Great Dao was prohibitively expensive—ordinary cultivators had no chance whatsoever.

Yet Fang Yu, having spent a fortune, had succeeded—and his power had soared dramatically.

This left him in high spirits.

Stepping out of the VIP chamber, immediately a female disciple of Exalted Linglong Fief bowed to him. Soon, Lotus Cloud Immortal received word and arrived.

"Good morning, Fang Daoist. Is there anything I can assist you with?"

Lotus Cloud Immortal smiled.

"Nothing in particular, but I intend to go out and take a look."

Fang Yu paused, then spoke.

He planned to visit the Heavenly Dao Pavilion to see what they were auctioning today—but such a statement felt too direct.

"Are you going to the Heavenly Dao Pavilion to watch today's auction? If so, we may accompany you together."

Lotus Cloud Immortal, however, seemed to read his thoughts and smiled as she spoke.

"Then let us go together."

Since Lotus Cloud Immortal had offered, Fang Yu did not refuse. The two set off toward the Heavenly Dao Pavilion.

Again, the VIP chamber—though this time, Lotus Cloud Immortal of Exalted Linglong Fief joined him.

The auction began swiftly. The second day's auction immediately drew everyone's attention: a piece of Nine Heavens' Soil Crystal, even more advanced than the Mountain God Pearl.

In ancient times, when great floods raged, mighty sages used Nine Heavens' Soil to control them—a mere pinch could transform into a ten-thousand-zhang dam, halting the raging waters.

This treasure was also the finest material for forging earth-element magic treasures; once forged, it specifically countered water-element techniques.

At this moment, all eyes fixed on the pale yellow crystal sand on the auction stage—it showed no intense earth-elemental Qi, yet those with powerful spiritual senses perceived the tiny grains as a towering, ancient mountain of immense grandeur.

"Is this the legendary Nine Heavens' Soil Crystal? The treasure ancient sages used to control floods! I never imagined I'd see such a relic!"

"An incredible treasure! I heard even this small piece, when thrown, could become a ten-thousand-zhang dam, holding back cataclysmic floods for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, ensuring generations of peace and prosperity for the common folk, free from flood disasters."

Many cultivators murmured, their eyes filled with longing for the Nine Heavens' Soil. At that moment, the auctioneer's voice rang out.

"All know this is the earth-elemental holy relic—the Nine Heavens' Soil Crystal. This holy relic is not only the finest treasure for cultivating earth-element techniques, but also ideal for fortifying dwellings and cultivating spiritual herbs. If you integrate Nine Heavens' Soil into your dwelling, you forge an unbreakable bond with the earth—your defenses surge dramatically, and the quality and growth rate of any spiritual herbs planted on your land increase countlessfold. Starting bid: five million. Minimum raise: one hundred thousand."

"Five million!"

All auction participants understood the Nine Heavens' Soil's benefits—on Fang Yu's own Shanfeng, if fused with the Nine Heavens' Soil Crystal, his spiritual herbs' yield and quality would multiply several times over. More importantly, his Shanfeng would become unbreakable; prolonged cultivation would cause it to naturally generate Xu Yuan Qi thunder, capable of defeating invaders.

Yet Fang Yu's Five Emperors Demon Art was already at Great Perfection—he could simply summon rain over his Shanfeng to achieve this effect instantly.

No, it would surpass the Nine Heavens' Soil's power by many times over.

To others, Nine Heavens' Soil was a treasure—but before Fang Yu, it meant nothing. Such a thing could not compare to the Huang She he had absorbed.

However, he quite enjoyed listening to others bid against each other.

"Five million — that's the starting price. Only cultivators with deep pockets would dare name a price for a treasure like this."

"Five million one hundred thousand!"

The first bid actually came from someone outside the VIP room — a cultivator who had reached the 3rd Stage of Divine Abilities, Gang Qi Realm. He was gnashing his teeth, as if staking his entire fortune. Fang Yu could tell that this cultivator truly practiced an Earth-attribute divine ability, and his Gang Qi had reached Great Completion. If he bought the Nine Heavens Breathing Earth and studied it carefully, reaching the peak of the Gang Qi Realm was beyond doubt; and if he could even glimpse some of the secrets within the Nine Heavens Breathing Earth, he might break through to the Yin-Yang Realm.

That was also why that cultivator was gnashing his teeth, staking everything on one throw. But Fang Yu wasn't optimistic — without truly staggering financial backing, winning this item would be exceedingly difficult.

Sure enough, someone in a VIP room then called out "five million five hundred thousand" outright. That cultivator at the 3rd Stage of Divine Abilities, Gang Qi Realm deflated like a popped balloon, his whole body going limp. Clearly, five million one hundred thousand had been his entire fortune, every last asset — he could not possibly contend with anyone else.

"Five million seven hundred thousand!"

Another person in a VIP room called out.

This person was a Daoist in a silver long robe, his garment embroidered all over with tiny golden swords — countless tiny sword-qi pressing close, arranged into sword formations that could at any moment leap free from the robe and kill a man. Extremely fierce.

"That's the Ten Thousand Swords Robe. That's the Sword Mad Elder of the Tongtianjian Sect."

Fairy Lianyun's gaze also fell upon that Daoist who had spoken, and she recognized who the bidder was.

The Tongtianjian Sect's Sword Mad Elder possessed a Ten Thousand Swords Robe — a Top-Grade treasure. Although it wasn't as fearsome as the Five Prison King Cauldron or the Cave Mystery Mystic Spirit Armor, it was still an extremely ferocious Top-Grade treasure, renowned throughout the Dao Cultivation World.

"Six million."

Someone else named a price.

"Six million two hundred thousand!"

The Sword Mad Elder in the Ten Thousand Swords Robe raised it by two hundred thousand.

"Six million three hundred thousand."

In one VIP room, a middle-aged man wearing a crane cloak and a star cap frowned and called out a name.

"That's Cang Yunzi of the Crystal Grotto-Heaven. He's made his move too — he's taken a fancy to this treasure."

Fairy Lianyun's gaze swept over and she recognized who this cultivator was as well.

Fairy Lianyun seemed to know the great figures of the Cultivation World extremely well — whether they were cultivators of the Tongtianjian Sect or of the Crystal Grotto-Heaven, she knew them all and spoke their names.

Her face also wore an expression of watching the show, as if wanting to see who in the end would win the final treasure at auction.

"Ten million!"

In the end, this treasure was successfully auctioned to Cang Yunzi of the Crystal Grotto-Heaven at the price of ten million.

"That really was lively — starting at five million, it auctioned for ten million."

Fang Yu watched the scene and clicked his tongue in admiration.

"Treasures of the Five Elements are always hard currency — never worry about them not selling. Fellow Daoist, keep your eyes open; in a few days, those two fine items will absolutely fetch a good price."