Chapter 269

Chapter 269: Auction Bidding

The fervor of the Foundation Establishment Dan competition exceeded Zhou Luo’s expectations. Originally starting at a base price of five thousand spiritual stones, the Foundation Establishment Dan had now skyrocketed to ten thousand spiritual stones.

This price was still being offered by the Li Family.

Everyone else looked at each other in dismay. Those cultivators who were tempted could only sigh in resignation upon witnessing the deep pockets of the long-life families.

Li Zehou looked around the hall with full confidence, his face beaming with complacency.

For this single Foundation Establishment Dan, the Li Family had almost emptied its savings accumulated over more than twenty years.

But if they could birth another Foundation Establishment strong person, the value returned would be distinctly different.

Especially now, during this crucial period of conflict among the long-life families, if the Li Family gained an additional Foundation Establishment strong person, they would likely be able to aim for more benefits.

From a long-term perspective, this investment was worthwhile.

The Li Family’s move once again demonstrated to everyone what the deep reserves of a long-life family meant.

"The Li Family really is fortunate," Wang Lang remarked with feeling.

According to him, in previous years, the price of the Foundation Establishment Dan would have at least doubled.

If not for the major war involving the other four long-life families this year, the opportunity to snag such a bargain probably wouldn’t have fallen to the Li Family.

Zhou Luo’s expression remained calm.

He had never considered buying the Foundation Establishment Dan at the auction; the risks were too high. He lacked a Foundation Establishment strong person to protect his Dao path, so staying within the Immortal City to break through was his only choice.

Judging by the auction price of this Foundation Establishment Dan, even if he could afford the pill itself, his funds would likely fall short for renting a cave residence in the core district afterwards.

One must understand that Foundation Establishment was no instant feat; it demanded a significant amount of time.

Back then, when the Great Elder pursued Foundation Establishment, it had taken him over ten whole years.

Though those ten-odd years were likely inflated, primarily due to him choosing Closed-Door Training to avoid unfavorable circumstances.

He just hadn’t expected to ultimately face failure in Foundation Establishment.

It wouldn’t require over a decade, but several years were definitely necessary.

The cost of spiritual stones for renting a cave residence during those years would also represent a substantial expense.

Watching the final bid for the Foundation Establishment Dan, Zhou Luo gained a clearer understanding.

It seemed the spiritual stones he currently possessed were insufficient; he needed to find ways to earn more money.

Over these past few years living in the Immortal City, he had consistently lived in seclusion, devoting himself to cultivation, believing his spiritual stones were ample.

But this experience made him profoundly aware that with spiritual stones, more was always better.

It appeared that establishing some business ventures also needed to be advanced on his agenda.

He planned to establish a general store sometime soon.

After all, he mastered the four major skills, eliminating any worries about supply. By producing and selling his own goods, he could turn a tidy profit.

After the Foundation Establishment Dan, it was time to auction the Foundation Establishment materials.

Wang Lang could barely restrain himself anymore. He was sharpening his knives, metaphorically speaking, ready to bid at any moment.

This time, Zhou Luo had given him a very high spending limit. He could fully indulge in the thrill of flaunting wealth like a big spender.

Compared to the Foundation Establishment Dan, the price of materials was much lower, especially for auxiliary herbs, which usually started with a base price of one hundred spiritual stones.

This consequently attracted many people to scramble for them.

This auction offered two types of main ingredients and over ten kinds of auxiliary herbs, with sufficient quantity.

Zhou Luo was not greedy; currently, he only had ten kinds of auxiliary herbs left, so gaining even two or three would be profitable.

Soon, bidding for the Foundation Establishment materials began, and everyone started bidding vigorously.

Zhou Luo noticed that in the crowd below, one person’s bid was extremely aggressive.

It was Xu Tian.

Since she had exchanged that low-quality Foundation Establishment Dan for some materials last time, this woman was likely short on materials now, so she naturally behaved very enthusiastically.

Speaking of which, her level of mystery was no less than Zhou Luo’s.

Zhou Luo didn’t know where she got so many spiritual stones and materials; after all, in his memory, this woman didn’t seem to have a proper job.

When he glanced at her, Xu Tian showed no reaction, but an old man beside her suddenly raised his eyes and looked over.

Those shady eyes carried a hint of sharp, fierce momentum.

Zhou Luo felt as if he was being stared down by a venomous snake, sensing a chill; staying calm, he withdrew his gaze.

Indeed, Xu Tian had impressive origins; that old man was at least at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, with strong mental strength; he was likely a master of Cultivation Skills, and his skill level was very high.

The auction continued, and Wang Lang also joined in.

What made Zhou Luo amused and exasperated was that this guy, upon spotting his target, always started with a remark.

"Please give my Wang Family some face!"

The auction prohibited threats using mental strength, but asking for face didn’t count as that; anyway, whether to comply depended on each individual.

Of course, most people didn’t give it.

After all, though the Wang Family was one of the long-life families, people weren’t intimidated by them.

Nevertheless, it still had an effect.

At least when Wang Lang showed strong desire for the Foundation Establishment materials and kept raising the bid, everyone pondered privately whether to compete with the Wang Family financially.

Bidding depended mainly on one’s psychological resilience.

Clearly, Wang Lang had excellent psychological resilience; he acted as if he was bidding with the entire Wang Family behind him.

Quite a few people backed out because of this.

Anyway, it was just auxiliary herbs; there was no need to waste too many spiritual stones over one or two kinds.

In the end, after spending less than two thousand spiritual stones, Wang Lang acquired three kinds of auxiliary herbs.

This price was much higher than on the black market, but it was still within Zhou Luo’s budget.

With three kinds of auxiliary herbs secured, Zhou Luo signaled to Wang Lang to leave, not planning to join the final auction.

After exiting the auction house, Wang Lang excitedly transmitted a voice message, "Brother Zhou, how was that? Pretty powerful, wasn’t I?"

"Powerful indeed, but we need to find a way to lose our tails," Zhou Luo responded.

Shortly after the two came out, they were already under surveillance.

This was perfectly normal; when Li Zehou and the others emerged, likely even more people would be watching.

However, this time they hadn’t spent much money, so they probably intended to break through directly in the cave residence within the core area.

With a Golden Core master overseeing the core area, no one dared to cause trouble there.

"Just some minor players; let’s split up," Wang Lang declared decisively.

He was the visible one and definitely couldn’t escape, but Zhou Luo was different.

"Mmm, be careful," Zhou Luo said, then turned and walked into another street alley.

Seeing this, the group behind immediately sent some to trail him.

"Where’d he go?"

When they entered an alley, they were startled to discover he had vanished.

Refusing to give up, several investigated the vicinity again but found no trace of formations or talisman energy; it was as if he had disappeared into thin air.

Helplessly, everyone had no choice but to leave.

One hour later, on a leaf of a row of plants in the alley, a water droplet dripped and fell to the ground.

The next second, spiritual light flashed, and Zhou Luo reappeared.

Over the past twenty years, he had fully mastered the Water Movement Secret Method, an escape technique, and could now even transform into a water droplet to hide his form.

He removed his mask, reverted to his original appearance, and promptly left the spot.

About half an hour later, he returned home and saw Wang Lang’s door tightly shut, indicating he hadn’t returned yet.

He wasn’t concerned about the other man, after all; someone who did business in the black market surely had connections within this Immortal City.

That evening, Wang Lang returned home and knocked on Zhou Luo’s courtyard gate.