Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

The small cabin creaked open.

A stooped old man in grey clothes looked this way, an Inner Qi Martial Artist, no different from the common elder one might see anywhere, the sort that could be discarded at any time.

His gaze was wooden as he clasped his hands together in greeting, ”Does the guest have a token for the underground auction?”

”Here.”

Jiang Ding’s eyelids twitched as he tossed over a dark green token,

feeling somewhat annoyed in his heart.

The Lingbao Commerce Association only notified him of the Spirit Treasure Auction, but never mentioned anything about an underground auction.

Were they trying to evade taxes?

”Guest from room 27, please.”

The grey-clothed old man revealed a respectful expression and opened a tunnel in the ground, jumping in to lead the way.

Jiang Ding, following the habits from the memory of Peach Blossom Gentleman, took out a black cloak that could isolate Divine Sense detection and draped it over his head, closely following behind.

The tunnel twisted and turned, and it was clearly laid out with Formation Methods to block Divine Sense. They walked for at least several miles without reaching the end.

”It feels a bit like a marvelous adventure.”

”But damn it, this is my house!”

Jiang Ding’s dissatisfaction with the Lingbao Commerce Association grew in his heart, ”Without permission, to dig so many tunnels under my house unknowingly, and to specifically set up so many Concealment Formation Methods to successfully elude Tushan Immortal City’s intelligence agency, what are you trying to do?”

Of course, they hadn’t reached the warning line of the Array Base of the great formation of the Immortal City.

The Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi and earth veins within a dozen kilometers or so were still under the control of Immortal City’s great formation. That was the reason he dared to delve so deeply here, capable of leaving at any time.

After passing another long curve, a wooden door appeared.

”Guest, please.”

The grey-clothed old man gestured with his hands respectfully and walked backwards.

He opened the door.

It was a quite spacious underground cavern, bowl-shaped, with a stone platform at the center and seats of various sizes around it.

People filtered in through the wooden door from time to time, gradually gathering fifty to sixty individuals, all of them cloaked thoroughly.

With his Sword Intent scanning the area, Jiang Ding found that without a similar level of Magic Intention and extremely high-quality Concealment Treasures, the so-called disguises and concealments were utterly useless.

”Fifteen Golden Pill Monks, the rest are mostly in the middle to late stages of Foundation Building, with some at the Peak of Foundation Building...”

”Quite a few people have come to my territory,” he thought.

There was silence all around, only the light footsteps of individuals moving to and fro; no one spoke.

He found a seat and sat down to rest with closed eyes.

Several hours later.

Thump!

Everyone opened their eyes and saw that a plump old man had appeared on the stone platform at some unknown time, with the aura of a monk at the Middle Jindan Stage.

”Greetings to all fellow Cultivators.”

The plump old man gestured to everyone around him cordially, ”Welcome to this underground auction. As usual, we will start with the auction held by our association, followed by those Cultivators who have items to auction on stage themselves, only a 30% service fee will be charged.”

”Thirty percent?”

Dissatisfied murmurs echoed from below, but due to the cultivation base of the old man, they dared not speak out.

”Shopkeeper Fatty, do you think I’m easy to bully?”

A coquettishly sweet voice rang out, the mere sound of which made one’s thoughts run wild, parched with thirst, wishing to find a beauty to indulge in without restraint.

The many Cultivators present were alarmed; they bit their tongues slightly and forcefully awakened from the allure, looking pale as they turned their eyes in that direction.

A tall, fair-skinned woman wearing a black Daoist robe with a very low neckline stood there. On her shoulder, two pythons, one green and the other purple, were coiled, showing only their heads and necks, with their bodies hidden from view.

”Ms. Thousand Snakes!”

A Foundation-building Cultivator from the Northern Plains exclaimed in shock, quickly looking down, not daring to look any longer.

This woman was the notoriously infamous Scorpion Beauty from the Northern Plains, a Post-Golden Alchemist, a strong Loose Cultivator, who had killed many Golden Pill Monks from the righteous and demonic alliance’s twenty-eight sects and remained on the wanted list to this day.

”Greetings to Ms. Thousand Snakes.”

The chubby old man didn’t seem to mind and cupped his hands saying, ”It’s true that the commission fee was ten percent in the past, but this time, the City Lord is probably not too fond of the items you all wish to trade, and our association is taking on quite the risk. Naturally, the price has to rise significantly.”

”Of course, if you’re unwilling, trading inside or outside the city is also fine.”

The expressions of many cultivators at the Foundation-building and early Golden Pill stages changed slightly.

Trade inside the city?

The enforcement team would be on them in an instant if summoned, and if anyone dared to kill the enforcement team within the city, that would be even more terrifying; the Life Treasures of two Golden Pill Monks still hung on the city walls.

As for trading alone outside the city, it’s probably an invitation for these old devils to strong-arm both people and treasures together.

Although the Lingbao Commerce Association was known for its ruthlessness, the security of the transactions was still guaranteed, with a professional set of magic for eliminating tracking, and very few incidents of being traced back to one’s doorstep, a reputation upkept for at least several thousand years.

”Enough, cut the chatter.”

A burly man with a beard tossed the pagoda-shaped treasure in his hand, impatiently saying, ”Start already; I don’t have all day to mess around with you.”

Another late Golden Alchemist!

Many Foundation-building cultivators were internally shocked, unable to comprehend why such a minor place had suddenly attracted so many powerful individuals among the Golden Pill Monks.

”King Gold Pagoda is straightforward!”

”Since everyone is in a hurry, let’s get started then.”

The chubby old man praised and lifted the red cloth on the tray held by a nearby maid, revealing nine green and chilling small blades, one large and eight small, with patterns of wailing women intermittently appearing on the surface of the blades.

”The first item, a supreme magic tool, the Nine Child Mother Ghost Blade, requires at least a twinling root girl with a cultivation base no lower than the Peak of Foundation Building, along with eight blood-related Spiritual Root children, to suffer nine years of torture, turning them into extremely negative female ghosts, capable of killing any ordinary Foundation-building cultivator upon contact.”

”If continually fed with Yin souls, there is potential for growth.”

”Fellow Daoists, with this blade in hand, dominating the Foundation-building stage can be done with ease.”

The chubby old man infused a bit of mana, and a cold wind gusted as the eight smaller blades moved on their own accord, pointing outward without seeming to drain much mana.

”Starting bid, ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.”

Many Foundation-building cultivators displayed a look of greed.

If they could possess this treasure, with one strike unleashing nine blades following each other, it was tantamount to having multiple Foundation-builders attacking the opponent simultaneously, how could they not triumph?

”Twelve thousand!”

”Thirteen thousand...”

The price climbed steadily, soon reaching the level of one hundred and twenty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones and kept rising, eventually closing at the price of one hundred and fifty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.

The atmosphere began to heat up.

However, from beginning to end only Foundation-building cultivators participated, while Golden Pill Monks simply watched with cold eyes.

”The second item, sixty pairs of Three Spiritual Roots female slaves at the Fifth Level of Qi Practicing, and thirty pairs of male slaves.”

The chubby old man smiled and said, ”Fellow Daoists, these servants, regardless of gender, are all virgins with handsome and beautiful appearances, skilled in the attribute-less Cultivation Method ’Primordial Magic Art,’ and can switch cultivation methods at any time; they are all excellent furnace cauldrons.”

”Female slaves start at one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones per pair, and male slaves start at one thousand five hundred low-grade Spirit Stones per pair.”

Many Foundation-builders were instantly tempted.

”That’s not right, Merchant Fatty.”

Ms. Thousand Snakes’s eyes, flirtatious with spring emotions, swept over the male slaves and she dissatisfiedly said, ”Why are there fewer of these stinking men to start with, and they’re even half more expensive than the female slaves?”

”Don’t be offended, Ms. Thousand Snakes, male slaves are hard to come by, and the market for them is somewhat narrower, hence the higher price,” the chubby old man replied apologetically, smiling: ”But as long as a strong cultivator like yourself buys in large quantities and opens up the market, the price will go down later on.”

”They better.”

Ms. Thousand Snakes snorted lightly, waving her hand grandly, she bought all the male slaves for more than one hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, storing them in her skirt.

”The third item...”

Under Jiang Ding’s quiet watch, the auction moved forward in an orderly manner, mostly involving forbidden items such as Vital Souls, servants, and furnace cauldrons as explicitly prohibited by Tushan Immortal City.

Later, there were even Ten Thousand Soul Banners, Bone Demon Swords, and other inferior treasures that appeared; not only were they powerful, but they were also much cheaper than ordinary treasures, enticing many Golden Pill Monks to vie for them.

”The third last showstopper item.”

”Two girls with the Sky Spiritual Root, in exchange for a Golden Core Pill or other items of equivalent Foundation Establishment value.”