Chapter 133

Hearing that this Heavenly Elixir Alliance auction could even exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill, Song Qingming was truly somewhat shocked. He had not expected that a shop that looked very ordinary in Yangshan Market would have such great energy behind it.

It seemed that he saw the doubt in Song Qingming’s heart. The green-robed old man put down the spiritual tea in his hand and said again: "Please rest assured, little friend, our Heavenly Elixir Alliance is just an alchemy organization and does not participate in the struggles between major sects. Daring to hold this kind of auction in the Wei Kingdom is also because our Alliance Master has some friendship with the Carefree Sect. It’s just that in order to give the Carefree Sect some face, this matter cannot be publicized everywhere, and every auction is also conducted secretly. If you don't want to participate, little friend, please don't publicize it everywhere when you leave, otherwise, it will create a lot of trouble for you."

"I don't know what specific requirements are needed to participate in this auction?" After pondering slightly, Song Qingming asked again.

"To participate in the auction, our Heavenly Elixir Alliance has always used an invitation method. You need to get my approval first, take out five hundred spirit stones or equivalent spiritual items, and you can purchase an invitation card from me. With an invitation card, you have the qualification to participate in our Heavenly Elixir Alliance auction. When the auction is held, we will notify everyone holding an invitation card in advance. Does that make sense to you, Fellow Daoist?" After saying this, the green-robed old man raised his hand, took out a green jade plaque from his sleeve, and placed it before Song Qingming’s eyes.

The material of the jade plaque looked ordinary, and besides being engraved with a large "Elixir" character, there was nothing special about it. It looked like an ordinary first-tier spiritual item.

"Senior, is this jade plaque the invitation card you mentioned? How many spirit stones does one cost?" After Song Qingming picked up the jade plaque and looked at it, he asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, the green-robed old man extended a finger to Song Qingming with a kind face.

"One hundred spirit stones each."

——

Over half a month later, on an inconspicuous small mountain a few hundred miles west of Yangshan Market, Song Qingming walked to a flat ground halfway up the mountain, stopped his steps, and took out a sheepskin map from his person to look at.

Just as he was about to walk forward again, a man walked toward him from not far ahead.

Song Qingming raised his eyes and looked carefully. This person was wearing a Daoist robe and also had a black bronze mask on his face. The mask was painted with an ox head, looking somewhat eerie.

After the ox-head masked person walked close to Song Qingming, he said faintly: "Does your Excellency have an invitation card?"

Upon hearing this, Song Qingming hurriedly took out an ordinary green jade plaque from his storage bag and handed it to the person in front of him.

"Put on the mask and follow me."

After verifying that it was correct, the ox-head masked person threw the jade plaque back to Song Qingming, then took out an identical mask from his own person and handed it to Song Qingming. It looked similar in style to the ox-head mask he was wearing, but the pattern painted on it was different; it was a dog head with a somewhat strange appearance.

"This Fellow Daoist, I wonder if I can change the mask!"

Upon hearing this, the ox-head masked person turned his head to look at Song Qingming, who was still standing on the spot without wearing the mask, turned around, rummaged through his own person, took out a pig-head mask, and threw it in front of Song Qingming.

"They are all about the same, just make do with it. Anyway, you won't be wearing it for long. You still have to return it to us after the auction ends."

"Then let it be this one!" After Song Qingming took the pig-head mask and put it directly on his face, he followed forward.

Just after putting on the mask, Song Qingming suddenly discovered that his spiritual sense seemed to be isolated by this mask and could not penetrate it. Could it be that this mask also had the effect of isolating spiritual sense?

He used his spiritual sense to probe the ox-head masked person in front again and found that it was indeed so. Even if he was already very close, his spiritual sense still couldn't penetrate the mask on his head. No wonder he didn't see his cultivation when they first met; it turned out it was covered up by this thing.

It seems this mask is truly a good thing. After putting this on, not only can he hide his cultivation, but he estimates that even Foundation Establishment cultivators won't be able to detect his appearance in a while.

After following the ox-head masked person forward for a few miles, the two came to a cliff. After the ox-head masked person performed a set of hand seals toward the cliff, the scene in front of them twisted for a while, revealing a cave about a zhang in radius.

The ox-head person led Song Qingming directly into the cave. On both sides of the cave, a bright lamp was hung every so often, illuminating the dark cave very brightly. Seeing that the surrounding cave walls were very neat and tidy, Song Qingming felt that this should have been chiseled out directly by cultivators above the Foundation Establishment realm using magic tools.

After walking for about half a mile in the cave, they came to a slightly larger cave. At this time, quite a few cultivators were already sitting cross-legged all around, and like Song Qingming, they all wore this kind of bronze mask on their faces.

After seeing Song Qingming and the other, these people just raised their heads and swept a glance, then quickly lowered their heads again and began to meditate, as if waiting for something.

After the ox-head masked person brought Song Qingming here, he said a word to a horse-head masked person standing in the middle, and soon turned and left here.

Song Qingming looked around and found a place where no one was, and also sat down.

After learning about the auction at the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion, although he felt that the invitation card was somewhat ridiculously expensive, Song Qingming ultimately purchased an invitation card from that green-robed old man and came here.

The reason he spent one hundred spirit stones to participate in this auction was not because he was in a hurry to purchase the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, but mainly because the Foundation Establishment Pill mentioned by the green-robed old man moved him. No matter whether what the green-robed old man said was true or false, Song Qingming still didn't want to miss this opportunity. After all, the Foundation Establishment Pill was truly too important to him now, and it was worth him spending one hundred spirit stones to take a look.

Looking carefully, there were already thirty or forty cultivators in the cave. A few who stood with the horse-head masked person should be the same as the ox-head person, all people from the Heavenly Elixir Alliance, responsible for bringing them to participate in the auction. It’s just that he didn't know why they had to bring them all to this cave.

After over an hour, the ox-head person returned to the cave again, this time bringing two more people, also wearing masks on their faces, unable to see their appearance. Only from their figures could it be seen that they were two young women.

These two women looked around, also didn't speak, and directly found a corner with few people and sat down.

"It seems I didn't come late. I didn't expect there to be so many people coming to participate in this auction."

Over the next four or five days, until nearly a hundred people were sitting in the cave, the ox-head person and the horse-head person stopped going outside to pick people up and opened their mouths to notify everyone to prepare to set off for the location where the auction would be held.