Chapter 640: Winter's Fury: Purple Crystal Gastrodia Elata (Second update, seeking monthly votes)

Swift: Increases speed by a relatively large margin.

The Swift trait that Yuangungun comprehended this time is possessed in both daytime and nighttime, and it can increase speed by about thirty percent.

With the Swift trait, even if Yuangungun encounters a demon pet with extremely fast speed, it will not be too much of a burden.

The two inherited skills are Doom Storm and Winter's Fury respectively.

Doom Storm: A Wind Civet inherited skill, a large-area attack skill that deals massive damage to enemies.

Winter's Fury: A Feifei inherited skill that creates a world of ice and snow where the north wind howls, lowering the enemy's speed while dealing a certain amount of freezing damage. Note: The duration depends on the cultivation realm.

One area-of-effect high-damage skill and one area-of-effect crowd-control skill are very suitable for the high-defense and high-stamina Yuangungun, enough to wear most opponents to death.

Most importantly, Yuangungun's Eternal Indestructible Body trait has advanced, entering the God Race Undying Body stage; its recovery speed far exceeds what it was before. As long as there is sufficient energy, even if only a piece of flesh remains, it can fully recover, and its defense and strength are significantly enhanced.

Facing such a Yuangungun, Aixi and the Crown Blazing Bird must finish off Yuangungun at the fastest speed to defeat it; otherwise, once they fall into a war of attrition, they simply cannot outlast the opponent.

In this way, the three half-demon king-level demon pets can form a small team: having a tank, a healer, a mage, and a fighter.

Rather than saying Kailan is a "priest," it is better to say the role is a "druid"—restoring teammates' injuries, controlling the field, capable of transforming into a treant, and also summoning tree demons, with explosive damage output.

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng returned to the bedroom and took out a sealed Jade Box from his Space Ring.

Inside the Jade Box, a necklace and a ring were soaked in some silvery-white liquid.

These liquids were naturally Starlight Divine Water; the necklace was obtained from the masked man Xiao Chen, and the ring came from the Pseudo-King Fang Qing.

Whether it was the necklace or the ring, both had one thing in common: they both had a Soul Imprint.

It was just that they also had significant differences; this necklace could almost be described as seamless, and even after being soaked in Starlight Divine Water and Moonlight Divine Water for over half a year, the Soul Imprint still had not dissipated.

However, Li Zhangsheng could clearly feel that the Soul Imprint belonging to Xiao Chen had dimmed a lot, and it might completely disappear after another period of time.

This also made Li Zhangsheng full of anticipation, because whether it was Liu Xudong's or Fang Qing's Space Ring, their performance in this regard was clearly inferior to this necklace.

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng carefully picked up Fang Qing's Space Ring, and after shaking off the Moonlight Divine Water completely, he then immersed his Mental Power into it.

"Huh, so fast!"

Li Zhangsheng was slightly surprised; the Soul Imprint belonging to Fang Qing inside the Space Ring was about to dissipate completely.

According to Li Zhangsheng's estimation, Fang Qing's Soul Imprint would likely dissipate late tonight.

This night happened to be the time for the Starry Sky Auction House to hold the Winter Auction.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Li Zhangsheng stood at the main gate of the Yuanling Academy waiting for someone.

People who could make Li Zhangsheng wait specifically, besides those with good relationships, were naturally either rich or noble.

During the waiting process, Li Zhangsheng examined the gilded statue at the school gate.

Compared to before, there was one more gilded statue, and it was placed in the central area, right on the right-hand side of the first Principal's statue.

Looking at the familiar features of this statue, Li Zhangsheng shook his head and laughed, because this was exactly the statue of Xu Wenhua.

Li Zhangsheng also did not expect Xu Wenhua's actions to be so fast, getting his own gilded statue done in just one week.

The key to the problem was that, except for Xu Wenhua, the owners of the other gilded statues had already passed away for many years.

A perfectly healthy living person, why join in the fun with these deceased great figures of the Academy.

However, to be honest, Li Zhangsheng was still quite envious in his heart; after all, this symbolized the ultimate honor. In the nearly three hundred years of the Yuanling Academy, there were only these dozen or so statues, with one appearing every twenty or thirty years on average.

If Xu Wenhua asked him if he also wanted to erect a statue, Li Zhangsheng would very likely raise his hand in favor as well.

At this moment, a dashing and handsome figure flew over lightly, but compared to Li Zhangsheng, he was still more than a notch behind.

The person who came was none other than the Sixth Prince of the Langya Kingdom, Dou Yuande, whom Li Zhangsheng had met once before. He was wearing casual clothes, and there was no one serving him by his side.

However, unlike the last time, Dou Yuande had successfully advanced to the Sixth Rank and occupied a position at the end of the Top 100 Ranking.

Besides that, the news about Li Zhangsheng and Dou Yuande spread like wildfire, which also caused Dou Yuande's influence to skyrocket, and his momentum was no longer what it used to be.

Among the many Princes who wanted to seize the throne, Dou Yuande was originally the last, but now he had leaped into the top three, and the gap with Dou Yuanhua was not large.

Dou Yuanhua was also quite miserable; originally, even if his momentum was not as good as Dou Yuanbin's, the gap was not too big. Unfortunately, he suffered a dimensionality-reduction strike from Li Zhangsheng at the Academy Exchange Tournament, and his opponents would not let go of such a good opportunity.

Under the arrangement of those with ulterior motives, the news that Dou Yuanhua was defeated by Li Zhangsheng spread throughout the entire Langya Kingdom at an extremely fast speed, becoming a hot topic from the nobles down to the common people, which directly caused Dou Yuanhua's influence to decline rapidly, far worse than before.

Use the following few dialogues to describe Dou Yuanhua's miserable state.

Dou Yuanhua: I am the Sixth Prince!

Crowd: You were beaten by Li Zhangsheng!

Dou Yuanhua: My mother is the Empress!

Crowd: You were beaten by Li Zhangsheng!

Dou Yuanhua: I am a Sixth-Rank Expert!

Crowd: You were beaten by Li Zhangsheng!

……

Thus, this became the biggest stain in Dou Yuanhua's life, and instead, it set off Li Zhangsheng's prestige.

"I didn't expect that after not seeing you for a few days, Brother Li's style is even better than before."

Dou Yuande was very clear in his heart; he knew very well that if it weren't for Li Zhangsheng, his momentum could not have risen so quickly.

"Brother Dou, you are too polite!"

The two exchanged pleasantries, and then Dou Yuande went straight to the point, saying: "By the way, I have found another item on the list these past few days."

While speaking, Dou Yuande opened a long, narrow Jade Box, inside which lay a two-foot-long Gastrodia Elata.

Unlike ordinary Gastrodia Elata, this one was purple, and its whole body was crystal clear, looking like semi-transparent hope.

This was the Heavenly Essence Grade material, Purple Crystal Gastrodia Elata, which could be said to be quite rare, and it was the first time Li Zhangsheng had seen it.

This was also the main material for the Pseudo-top-grade Alchemical Pill, the Longevity Pill. Li Zhangsheng was not lacking in other materials, only this Purple Crystal Gastrodia Elata had not been found for a long time.

Among the high-grade pill recipes obtained from the Danwang Biefu, there was the recipe for the Longevity Pill, but just like the Barrier Breaking Pill, the difficulty of refining the Longevity Pill was comparable to a top-grade alchemical pill, and coupled with its powerful efficacy, this was the main reason it became a Pseudo-top-grade alchemical pill.

Just like its name, the Longevity Pill was used to increase lifespan; the first one could increase lifespan by four years, the second one would be halved, the third one would be halved again, and no matter how many were taken afterward, it would have no effect.

That is to say, if one took three Longevity Pills, one could increase their lifespan by a total of seven years.

Although Li Zhangsheng has no worries about his lifespan, the key is that there are many Stronger individuals who lack lifespan, so the Longevity Pill naturally has a large market and can be used as a bargaining chip to exchange for some needed treasures.

"Brother Dou, then I will not stand on ceremony."

Li Zhangsheng took the Purple Crystal Gastrodia Elata and felt it carefully, discovering that this Purple Crystal Gastrodia Elata was clearly picked not long ago and could continue to be planted.

As for the payment of the reward, both of them tacitly did not speak of it; it is better to let Dou Yuande's subordinates handle such matters to avoid affecting the 'friendship' between the two.

Very quickly, Li Zhangsheng brought Dou Yuande to the Starry Sky Auction House.

"Brother Dou's grand arrival this time truly makes my humble auction house shine; please, come inside!"

"Brother Li is truly too polite."

This time, Dou Yuande's main purpose was to attend the Winter Auction of the Starry Sky Auction House; if there were no accidents, his target was very likely that top-grade Red-Eyed Dust-Yellow Snake.

It was not just Dou Yuande; many high-ranking officials and nobles from Yecheng also came to the Starry Sky Auction House for this Red-Eyed Dust-Yellow Snake, among whom were several familiar faces.

Very quickly, Li Zhangsheng arranged for Dou Yuande to be in the No. 2 VIP room.

"Brother Dou, I am truly sorry, the No. 1 VIP room is exclusive to our Principal Xu."

The higher a person's status, the more they tend to be particular about pomp; even if Dou Yuande appeared gentle, generous, and amiable, no one could be certain of his true thoughts.

"Brother Li does not need to be like this; I really do not care about these things."

Dou Yuande waved his hand, looking indifferent.

Even if he were more particular about pomp, it would be impossible for him to be bored enough to demand the No. 1 VIP room.

"Since Brother Dou says so, then I am relieved. Brother Dou, I still have to handle some private matters temporarily, so I will take my leave first; if you have any needs, feel free to instruct the attendants here."

As the owner here, Li Zhangsheng still had to come forward to entertain several acquaintances to avoid any lack of hospitality.

If he had them help promote it, the Starry Sky Auction House could quickly expand its influence and becoming one of the top ten auction houses in the Langya Kingdom in one fell swoop would not be a dream.

"Brother Li, go ahead and get busy."

Dou Yuande naturally would not be stupid enough to forcibly require Li Zhangsheng's company; on the surface, his status was high, but in reality, he was just a First Prince without much real power, and Li Zhangsheng could completely choose not to give him face.

Simply put, the two were in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Li Zhangsheng would help him ascend to the Emperor Rank throne, and Dou Yuande would help Li Zhangsheng find things, while incidentally partnering to strike at their common enemy—Dou Yuanbin!

After leaving the No. 2 VIP room, Li Zhangsheng personally received Zuo Qiulin, Dou Niwan, Shen Haofei, and others, and arranged for them to have top-ranked VIP rooms.

Besides them, naturally, there was no lack of the various high-level figures from the Yuanling Academy.

This time, the Yuanling Academy Seven Giants rarely gathered at the Starry Sky Auction House, and Li Zhangsheng arranged all the giants except for Ning Bizhen in the No. 1 VIP room.

As for Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen, the two secretly came to a VIP room located further back to facilitate later operations.

At this moment, two uninvited guests arrived at the lobby of the Starry Sky Auction House.

(End of this chapter)