Airan still brought his refined medium-grade wine exclusively to the old man.
Over the past year, safety and mutual respect had turned them into quiet business friends.
When Airan visited the shop today with his flasks, the old man—whose name was Max—tapped his counter thoughtfully and mentioned a major upcoming event.
A powerful merchant guild was hosting an exclusive auction in Zone C tailored specifically for Qi and Foundation establishment cultivators.
Max offered to arrange an entry token for him.
Airan agreed immediately.
He wasn’t dead-set on buying anything major, but after twelve years in this world, it was time to widen his knowledge of rare treasures, with the mental caveat that if something caught his eye and fit his budget, he would make a move.
Three days later, the auction day arrived.
It was the first time in his twelve years since rebirth that Airan attended such a large-scale event.
For the first time, he witnessed real Foundation Establishment cultivators—the heavyweights of the region—treated with absolute reverence, escorted to private VIP boxes on the second floor while the Qi-level cultivators mingled on the bustling ground floor.
Item Six: The Forgotten Body Cultivation Manual
The auctioneer introduced the sixth item: a physical body cultivation manual scaling all the way up to Qi Level 9, with a starting bid of just 10 spirit stones.
Airan had brought 2,500 spirit stones with him—the entirety of his life savings from his wine enterprise.
Yet, a high-tier body cultivation book was being practically given away.
The reason was simple: in this era, almost no one wanted to touch it.
Rogue cultivators lacked the endless resources and time required to endure its brutality, while wealthy sect disciples looked down on manual body-tempering as a waste of time when energy arts were faster and cleaner.
Airan, however, was intensely interested.
He had the time, the steady capital, and a deep psychological scar from his early years of fighting beasts bare-handed.
He never wanted to experience the helpless agony of his flesh being torn apart again.
The manual was notoriously brutal—it required the cultivator to treat their own body like a medicinal pill and a blacksmith’s iron, using external fire arrays or furnaces to bake the flesh.
With every level gained, the heat and pain multiplied, forging the practitioner’s body into unbreakable steel.
Item Twelve: The Residual Flame Essence
Later in the event, the twelfth item was brought out: a minuscule drop of weak, ephemeral fire essence, starting the bid at 30 spirit stones per raise.
It was cheap because the flame could not sustain itself for long on its own; it was the smallest, weakest fragment of a low-grade fire’s core.
Wealthy Qi cultivators ignored it because nurturing a weak flame required immense time, rare resources, and a specialized technique to safely absorb and house the fire within the Dantian without incinerating one’s own meridians.
Nobody wanted to waste their cultivation progress on a dying spark.
But to Airan, whose entire combat and cultivation foundation was built around precise fire-control techniques like Fire Step and condensed Qi, it was a hidden gem.
After driving the price up against a couple of curious alchemists, Airan secured the fire drop for 700 spirit stones.
By the time the auction finally drew to a close, Airan packed his newly acquired manual and the volatile spark essence into his storage pouch, stepping back out into the Zone C streets with a lighter purse, but a significantly deadlier arsenal for his future.
Author’s Note: Thanks for reading Chapter 11!
Airan’s journey from a penniless herb collector to a spirit distiller starts here.