Chapter 135 Delivering a Message
Lin Shiming was currently pacing in one of the rooms.
As soon as the assembly had ended, he naturally thought about leaving.
After all, he had no treasures left to exchange; even his paired swords might only be worth a few hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
He would not part with any of his other magic artifacts.
To be sought out by Xiao Chen, a peak Foundation Establishment Cultivator, was even less appealing to him. The vast difference in cultivation was like negotiating with a tiger for its skin—undoubtedly dangerous!
However, the latter mentioned the Demonic Attracting Grass and, at a critical moment, even called out his name, which made him decide to stay.
This made him realize that for future transactions, it was important to prepare a spirit-concealing veil in advance, as the veils provided by the Duobao Tower were clearly identifiable by their own kind.
Lin Shiming waited in the room for nearly half an hour before Xiao Chen entered, immediately cupping his hands in apology:
"I apologize for making the young friend Shiming wait for so long. Xiao hereby conveys his apology!"
"Senior Xiao, you are too formal," Lin Shiming also cupped his hands, his tone neither warm nor cold.
The latter was not surprised at all and slowly explained:
"Young friend, don\'t worry. The reason I asked you to stay is that I wish to cooperate with your elder, the wielder of the Green Lotus Sword, on an opportunity which, if I am not mistaken, will definitely involve the Demonic Attracting Grass!"
With these words from Xiao Chen, Lin Shiming finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Since they were seeking his seventh uncle, he was simply playing the role of a messenger at this moment.
If his uncle chose to refuse, then so be it. While the Duobao Tower might have a great backing, they couldn\'t force someone against their will, especially since the Lin Family was far away in Yunzhou.
As for the Demonic Attracting Grass, he remained somewhat rational; if he could obtain it, then great, otherwise, he would have to give up on the idea of gaining the Spirit-Devouring Ants.
"Young friend, just hand over this Jade Slip to your uncle, and he will decide what to do with it!" Xiao Chen took out a Jade Slip and handed it to Lin Shiming.
He then retrieved a token and gave it to Lin Shiming.
"Young friend Shiming, this is the Duobao Token of Duobao Tower. In the future, with this token, you can enjoy a ten percent discount on everything on the first and second floors of Duobao Tower!"
"Many thanks to senior Xiao. Shiming will certainly convey your message correctly!" Lin Shiming thanked him repeatedly. After taking the token, he took his leave and left.
Upon leaving the back of Duobao Tower, Lin Shiming also returned to Laiyue Tower and entered his room.
He then recalled all the events of the day and made a comprehensive summary at the end.
Fortunately, Xiao Chen seemed to truly harbor no ill will, even gifting him the Duobao Token.
Next, Lin Shiming took out the Mountain Ape Body Refining Technique and began to try practicing it. An ordinary cultivator would be extremely cautious with a cultivation technique acquired from a transaction at an assembly, perhaps even letting an elder appraise it before starting cultivation.
But for him, as long as he practiced, there would be a system prompt — even a Golden Core Cultivator wouldn\'t have a prompt as accurate as the system.
The Mountain Ape Body Refining Technique, aside from its special martial skills, also came with a set of special breathing exercises and a Body Tempering Pill Recipe.
For the pill recipe and martial skills, he could not detect anything amiss. However, with the breathing exercises, as soon as he began practicing, he heard the system\'s prompt, followed by an improvement to the breathing technique.
This made him break out in a cold sweat, speechless. Indeed, in the world of cultivation, if you think you\'ve got an advantage, you need to be extremely cautious; otherwise, you might capsize in the gutter without even knowing it.
Lin Shiming practiced for half an hour before he stopped — although Laiyue Tower was safe, at this moment, he did not dare to fully immerse himself in cultivation.
Instead, he sat quietly and read the Lin Family\'s introductory manual to artifact refining.
After stepping into the Foundation Establishment, he had also made a firm decision to master a single Immortal Cultivation technique.
At this moment, with an abundant supply of Demonic Beast materials and a vein of Golden Iron Stone, his first choice was to become a true Third Rank Artifact Refiner.
Three days had passed, and Lin Shiming\'s door opened as he stepped out.
At the same time, Lin Houwei, Lin Shiyi, and others had already been waiting outside the door.
"Fifth Grandpa, Uncle Thirteen, Uncle Fifteen, Second Brother, let\'s set out!"
The group headed towards the auction hall, only to find that almost all the Cultivators of Qingxuan City were converging on the auction assembly.
The auction meetings held by The Great Sects were also causing a sensation among the Cultivators, afraid that they would miss out on a spot if they arrived too late.
Along the way, Lin Shiming and the others also saw several disciples of the Spirit Beast Sect wearing Storage Bracelets and disciples of the Spirit Talisman Sect adorned in talisman robes.
The entrance fee for the auction was the same as ten years ago, and after paying the required Spirit Stones, Lin Shiming arrived at the separate area for the Foundation Establishment families in the auction hall.
This auction was extraordinarily popular, and when the Lin Family and others took their seats, they saw that the general seating area in front was already full, and the separate area for Foundation Establishment Cultivators was also overcrowded with people. The spot for the Huang Family had been replaced by a new family.
In the area where the Qian Family was seated, Qian Bosheng was also there. As he looked over, the other side also returned his smile.
Even the private boxes of the Purple Mansion Family on the second floor had been filled with people.
The atmosphere of the auction had never been so excited!
At this moment, the auction hall was still admitting attendees.
In the end, the Qingxuan auction assembly had to stop the Qi Cultivators from entering, or else there might not have been enough space.
Just then, a middle-aged Cultivator walked onto the stage, followed by a few beautiful female Cultivators.
This middle-aged Cultivator was highly familiar. He was none other than He Xuan, the auctioneer from more than a decade ago, and a Foundation Establishment Cultivator at the peak of Perfection.
"Respected senior fellow Daoists, I am He An, the host Deacon for this auction. First, I would like to thank all the senior fellow Daoists for your gracious presence. Also, this auction is provided by the Three Sects with treasures including Foundation Establishment Pills, a total of 150—90 from the Purple Mansion Family and 60 for the Qi Cultivators and Foundation Establishment auction!
For the Foundation Establishment Pills, we also halved the starting price, so fellow Daoists can bid with ease!"
When He Xuan announced the reduction of the starting price by half, the entire auction hall immediately erupted into continuous applause.
Especially since there were a whole 150 Foundation Establishment Pills up for auction, which was three times more than when Lin Shiming had attended the auction years ago.
And it was known that just two years prior, the Qingxuan Sect had just finished hosting a grand Qingxuan assembly.
"Alright, no more idle talk. Let\'s start with the first auction item, a Third Rank Barrier-Breaking Pill! The starting price is eighty thousand Spirit Stones! Each increment must be at least five hundred!"
As soon as the Third Rank Barrier-Breaking Pill was introduced, Lin Shiming was stunned. In the previous auction he had attended, the first item was only a Second Rank Supreme Grade Magic Artifact.
This time it was a Third Rank Inferior Grade Barrier-Breaking Pill, an Elixir that could help Cultivators overcome early-stage bottlenecks in Foundation Establishment, perfectly suitable even as a minor finale item.
Yet now, it was the first auction item, suggesting that Second Rank treasures might be exceptionally scarce this time. Those Qi Cultivators and Loose Cultivators would probably only be able to compete for Foundation Establishment Pills!
"One hundred thousand!"
"One hundred and ten thousand!"
…
"Two hundred and twenty thousand!"
In the end, the price soared to two hundred and thirty thousand, more than double the starting bid. Lin Shiming was tempted to participate, but after seeing the final price, he had no choice but to give up with a bitter smile.