Chapter 147: Chapter 134: Pingyuan Liu Clan, Willing to Vouch for Junior Brother Xiao

An attendant then brought the Five-Colored Golden Lotus to Xiao Chen on a tray and collected four thousand Spirit Stones from him.

Not far away, Elder Cheng watched the scene, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

’Another Top Grade Spiritual Object worth four thousand... How is Xiao Chen still buying things?’

’Counting the full nine thousand Spirit Stones he already spent in the first half, plus these four thousand, he’s spent thirteen thousand in total. Just how many Spirit Stones did he bring with him?’

In all his years, Elder Cheng had seen his fair share of disciples from great clans.

But he had truly never encountered one so young who had so many Spirit Stones at their disposal.

Setting others aside, take his Cheng Family for example.

They had two Foundation Establishment cultivators, at the very least, but the entire clan couldn’t produce that many Spirit Stones on hand.

The others in attendance were just as puzzled.

Generally speaking, a cultivator’s primary wealth lay in their Magical Artifacts and Cultivation Techniques; they rarely had many Spirit Stones on hand.

It was no exaggeration to say that among the several hundred people present, probably less than ten percent could produce ten thousand Spirit Stones on the spot.

Many cultivators who had been at the Foundation Establishment realm for decades might have a total net worth of twenty or thirty thousand Spirit Stones.

But their Storage Bags typically only contained one or two thousand, or perhaps even just a few hundred Spirit Stones. If they wanted to buy something expensive, they would inevitably have to borrow from friends.

They simply couldn’t spend thousands at a time with the ease Xiao Chen displayed.

Because of this, as more people realized the extent of his wealth, their curiosity about Xiao Chen only grew.

.

Within the Four Seas Sect, aside from the Ruibao Commerce Association, there were also the Yunfan Commerce Association and the Yu Yu Commerce Association.

Both of these organizations had now developed a considerable interest in Xiao Chen.

This was especially true for Yun Jingxing, the current president of the Yunfan Commerce Association, who kept sizing Xiao Chen up.

He then turned to his daughter, seated to his right, and asked, "Ruoyan, what do you think of Xiao Chen?"

Yun Ruoyan first nodded, then shook her head. "He looks very young. He must possess some incredible specialty to have earned the support of the sect elders."

"But his aptitude is too poor. I don’t care for people like him."

Yun Jingxing sounded a little regretful. "I think he’s a fine young man. He’s handsome, and I just inquired about him—he’s a cultivation prodigy."

But Yun Ruoyan disagreed. "Xiao Chen only has a low-grade Wood Spirit Root. In the past few thousand years, there has never been a single precedent in Li State or Hezhou of someone with a low-grade Spiritual Root achieving Core Formation."

"I don’t care what reason he has for his rapid cultivation speed."

"Whether he’s using elixirs or relying on Treasures of Heaven and Earth to break through, it will only make his foundation more unstable. In the end, it will take his already less-than-five-percent chance of Core Formation and reduce it to absolutely zero."

"In short, the highest he can ever reach in this life is the Great Perfection stage of Foundation Establishment."

Many cultivators with Dual Spirit Roots, or even Celestial Spirit Roots, would deliberately minimize their use of Elixirs to aid their cultivation, all for the sake of building a more solid foundation.

Taking things one step at a time might be slow, but it’s steady, making it easier to go further in the long run.

Yun Jingxing didn’t see it that way. "Even among those with Dual Spirit Roots, aren’t there still many who fail to achieve Core Formation?"

"Here in our Li State, reaching the Great Perfection stage of Foundation Establishment is already an incredible achievement."

But Yun Ruoyan was brimming with confidence. "You never know until you try. I am determined to make a push for the Golden Core realm in the future."

Yun Jingxing remained noncommittal. In the end, some people just have to learn things the hard way.

Achieving Core Formation was an incredibly difficult feat.

’Among the hundreds of people on this third floor, it’s not even guaranteed that a single new Golden Core True Man will emerge. My daughter’s goal is really a bit too ambitious.’

After that, several more Spiritual Objects were auctioned off in succession.

Xiao Chen kept his eyes fixed on the Ruibao Commerce Association, ready to engage in a bidding war with them.

If he had the chance to take revenge on the spot, he would never postpone it.

Strangely, however, the Ruibao Commerce Association didn’t make a single bid.

As he watched item after item get snapped up by the other clans and commerce associations, Zhang Ruihao remained completely indifferent.

Xiao Chen was baffled. ’What’s the meaning of this?’

’Did your Commerce Association come here just to mess with me?’

What he didn’t know was that the Ruibao Commerce Association had used its connections to obtain a list of the auction items beforehand.

One of the reasons they had given up on the Six Harmonies Divine Water was to ensure they had a superior number of Spirit Stones to fight for the final item: the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords.

「Soon, the time reached 9:45 PM.」

The final auction item, veiled by a red cloth, was delivered into the auctioneer’s hands.

"Fellow Daoists, your attention please. We are about to unveil the most anticipated item of this auction."

"Over the course of the day, we have witnessed countless rare and exotic treasures dazzle us all."

"But allow me to say, the item about to be presented is the perfect crystallization of artistry and ingenuity."

WHOOSH!

He reached out and yanked off the red cloth, revealing the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords arranged in a cross on the tray.

Perhaps to highlight what made this set of Dual Swords so special, they were placed in a Jade Slot on the tray, allowing both swords to stand upright.

Furthermore, the Jade Slot seemed to be providing them with faint wisps of Spiritual Power.

As a result, a gentle breeze swirled around the Wind Sword on the left, while arcs of lightning crackled along the Thunder Sword on the right.

The unique pulse of a Top Grade Magical Artifact radiated out, clearly felt by everyone present.

It immediately captured the attention of the entire audience.

The auctioneer seized the moment to begin his introduction. "Legend has it that millions of miles away in Donghua, there was once a naturally-formed Yin Yang Tree."

"This tree was quite profound. It grew in what was originally a Nine Yin Forbidden Land, but someone—it is not known who—buried a Tier Three Top Grade Blazing Sun Stone beneath its roots."

"This caused the Yin Yang Tree to become primarily Yin on the outside and primarily Yang on the inside."

"Later, a master of Artifact Refining from the Central Domain happened upon it. Delighted by his discovery, he felled the tree for its material and forged two unique wooden swords."

"These two wooden swords, one Yin and one Yang, unexpectedly mutated. The Yin Sword gave birth to wind, while the Yang Sword contained thunder, transforming them into an even more precious pair of mutated, Top Grade Magic Swords."