The central bronze bell of the Treasure-Gathering Pavilion struck three times, its deep resonance rolling over the roaring crowd in the main hall.
Down on the wooden stage, Manager Lin stepped into the light of four spirit-fueled lamps. She wore a fitted, silver-embroidered robe that suited her sharp demeanor, and her hands were folded gracefully over a red silk tray covered with a black velvet cloth.
"Honored guests, elders, and fellow cultivators," her voice echoed across the hall, amplified by a sound-transmission array built into the stage floor. "Tonight, our pavilion has been blessed by an illustrious hidden grandmaster. For our grand finale, we will not be presenting standard iron weapons or raw beast cores."
She pulled away the black cloth with a sharp flourish.
Two crystal bottles sat on the tray, five pills in each. Under the bright lamps, the translucent turquoise pills shone like captive stars, casting a swirling ring of light, a physical Pill Halo, across the red silk.
"Supreme-Grade Spirit-Liquefying Pills!" Manager Lin announced, her voice rising with dramatic flair. "Ten-tenths purity! Zero toxic sediment! A single pill grants the raw energy of twenty spirit stones without a single breath spent purging impurities!"
BOOM!
The entire hall erupted.
Cultivators on the main floor leapt from their seats and pressed against the wooden railings. In the private boxes on the second floor, heavy silk curtains were pulled back as local powerhouses leaned forward, their eyes burning with manic greed.
"Pill Halo?! That’s a legend!" a rogue cultivator at the 7th Layer of Qi Condensation screamed, slamming his fist onto his chair arm. "Even the Cloud-Resting City Alchemist Association can’t refine pills with zero impurities!"
In the front row of the VIP seating, Elder Lin Kuang of the Lin Clan dropped his jade wine cup and let it shatter on the floor. His aged, wrinkled face twitched violently as he stared at the crystal bottles.
’Zero impurities...’ Lin Kuang thought, his mind racing. ’My grandson Lin Feng is stuck at the peak of the 8th Layer of Qi Condensation! His meridians are clogged with cheap pill sediment from his recent breakthroughs. If I get even two of those pills, he can break into the 9th Layer at once and secure a core disciple spot in the Great Void Sect!’
Lin Kuang gripped his wooden cane so tightly the polished grain groaned. The Lin Clan had suffered heavy losses fleeing Cloud-Resting City, but this was a chance to raise a true genius who could rebuild their fortune.
Up in the Crown Box, Adam Hale rested his chin on his knuckles, his cold eyes looking down through the one-way glass at the top of Lin Kuang’s bald head.
’Bid, old fox,’ Adam thought, a dark, razor-thin smile touching his lips. ’Spend every copper coin your clan managed to save while leaving Lin Chen to die in the dirt.’
"The ten Supreme-Grade Spirit-Liquefying Pills will be auctioned as a single lot!" Manager Lin declared, raising her gavel. "Starting bid: five hundred low-tier spirit stones! Minimum increment: fifty stones!"
"Five hundred and fifty!" an elder from the Blood-Feather Sect roared at once, standing up from his balcony seat.
"Six hundred!" a merchant guild leader shouted from the floor.
"Seven hundred!" Lin Kuang barked, his raspy voice cutting through the noise like an old saw. He didn’t hesitate to flex his clan’s remaining reserves. "The Lin Clan bids seven hundred spirit stones!"
"Seven hundred and fifty!" the Blood-Feather elder countered, glaring across the hall. "Lin Kuang, your clan is practically broke! Where are you getting that many stones?!"
"Mind your own business, Blood-Feather scum!" Lin Kuang spat back, his face reddening. "Eight hundred!"
The price climbed with terrifying speed. Eight hundred... nine hundred... one thousand!
Most of the rogue cultivators on the main floor fell silent, jaws slack as they watched the regional giants tear into each other. One thousand spirit stones was enough to buy a small mountain territory or hire a mercenary squad for a year.
"One thousand two hundred spirit stones!" Lin Kuang roared, chest heaving as he stood, his face twisted with desperate rage. He turned to glare at the Blood-Feather elder. "Try bidding again! I will sell our family properties in Cloud-Resting City if I have to!"
The Blood-Feather elder cursed under his breath, glanced at his nearly empty purse, and slumped back into his seat.
Manager Lin’s eyes flashed with delight. "One thousand two hundred spirit stones to Elder Lin of the Lin Clan! Going once... going twice..."
BANG!
"Sold to the Lin Clan!"
In his seat, Lin Kuang let out a long, ragged exhale and collapsed back into his chair. His face was pale, his heart hammering against his ribs. Twelve hundred low-tier spirit stones were every coin and liquid asset the Lin Clan possessed. They were completely drained. But as he looked at the stage and thought of his grandson’s future, an insane smile crept across his face.
’It’s worth it,’ Lin Kuang told himself, wiping sweat from his forehead. ’Once Feng’er enters the Great Void Sect, our clan will rise higher than ever before!’
Up in the Crown Box, Adam raised his teacup and took a quiet, measured sip.
’Twelve hundred stones,’ Adam calculated. ’He just bankrupted his entire line for pills I made in an hour out of scavenger trash.’
A quiet knock sounded at the door. Manager Lin stepped inside, holding a heavy storage pouch in both hands, and bowed deeply toward Adam.
"Senior," she said reverently, her voice trembling slightly. "After deducting the pavilion’s five percent auction fee, your payout from the first lot is one thousand one hundred and forty low-tier spirit stones. The second lot, the High-Grade Blood-Replenishing Pills, fetched another six hundred stones from the outpost guard captains."
She set the pouch on the low wooden table.
"I also took the liberty of holding your remaining five Spirit-Liquefying Pills for next week’s auction, Senior. Flooding the market tonight would cost you half their value."
"Good," Adam said.
"In addition," Manager Lin continued, pulling out a scroll, "here is the list of rare spiritual herbs in our vault that you requested."
Adam picked up the pouch, weighed it casually, and swept it into his sleeve. He unrolled the scroll, his eyes scanning the list of raw ingredients with the speed of a master strategist.
’Dragon-Blood Grass, Winter-Frost Lotus, Void-Core Fruit...’ Adam noted, his eyes stopping on three items. ’These are the secondary herbs I need to refine the Foundation-Solidifying Pill. With them I can consolidate my Peak Foundation Establishment base and prepare for the Golden Core Realm.’
"I’ll take all the Dragon-Blood Grass and Void-Core Fruit in your inventory," Adam said, tossing fifty spirit stones onto the table. "Deliver them to Room Seven at the Golden-Spire Inn immediately."
"Right away, Senior!" Manager Lin bowed low and backed out of the room as if leaving an emperor’s presence.
An hour later, Adam returned to the quiet isolation of Room Seven.
The blue barrier of the isolation array hummed smoothly against the walls. On the central table sat a wooden crate of fresh, glowing spirit herbs delivered by the pavilion’s guards.
Adam sat cross-legged on the jade mat. He didn’t waste time resting. He summoned the Nine-Dragon Flame Furnace once again, and its bronze body settled onto the floor with a heavy, metallic thud.
For the next two hours, crimson dragon flames filled the room.
Adam worked with terrifying efficiency. Using his God-Grade Alchemy Mastery, he threw the herbs into the furnace alongside his remaining spirit stones, fusing them into pills made to fortify his own body.
By the third hour, three golden spheres wrapped in pill halos hovered above his palm.
[Alchemy Success!]
[Recipe: Foundation-Solidifying Pill (Supreme Grade) x3]
[Effect: Cleanses Dantian impurities, compresses Foundation Establishment liquid Qi, and increases Golden Core breakthrough success rate by 80%.]
Adam swallowed the first pill without hesitation.
BOOM!
A scorching wave of golden liquid energy exploded in his stomach and spread through his meridians like molten lava. The roaring Chaos vortex in his core spun violently, absorbing the medicinal energy and compressing his liquid Qi until it became as dense and dark as liquid obsidian.
His breath grew heavy, his skin glowing with a faint, translucent silver light before settling back beneath the Hidden Fortune Aura.
He spent the rest of that day and the night that followed in deep cultivation, digesting the medicinal energy and stabilizing his gains. The other two pills he stored away. When the next midnight arrived, the familiar, icy chime of the system echoed inside his soul.
Ding!
[Notice: Midnight has passed in local planetary time.]
[Daily Sign-In refreshed!]
[Current Location: Black-Stone Outpost (Golden-Spire Inn, Spirit Array Room).]
[Would the Host like to perform today’s Daily Sign-In?]
Adam opened his eyes, two sharp beams of silver sword-light flickering in his pupils before vanishing.
"Sign in," Adam commanded silently.
[Sign-In Successful!]
[Location Bonus Applied: High-Density Alchemy Array Node detected.]
[Congratulations to the Host! You have received: Ancient God-Grade Flame (Chaos-Devouring Fire Seed)!]
WHOOSH!
Before Adam could react, a microscopic thread of pitch-black, silent fire erupted in his dantian. It didn’t burn his organs. Instead, the crimson spirit flames inside the Nine-Dragon Flame Furnace bowed toward his chest, as if recognizing their absolute monarch!
Adam felt the black flame merge directly with his soul.
’A God-Grade Fire Seed...’ Adam’s mouth curved into a dark, ruthless smile as he looked down at his hands, where a quiet, light-swallowing black ember flickered on his fingertip. ’With this flame, my alchemy speed increases tenfold, and any domain or elemental defense below the Golden Core realm will melt like wax under my touch.’
He stood and adjusted his heavy blue robes, then looked south, toward Cloud-Resting City.
’The Lin Clan spent their last copper coin on my trash pills to nurture Lin Feng,’ Adam thought coldly, extinguishing the black flame. ’Time to collect the interest.’