Longevity: Starting as a Sect Servant-Chapter 383 - 246: Evil King’s Trail (Long - )
"Next up for auction is a residual plant, a Fourth Grade Red Infant Flower. This flower has only the mother root remaining, making cultivation quite difficult. However, succeed just once, and every forty-nine years it blooms, typically yielding five flowers or more each time. Each flower is a Fourth Grade Spirit Medicine, offering a significant profit!"
"Starting price, one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones!"
The moment this price was announced, the entire venue was in an uproar.
In reality, the value of a single Red Infant Flower generally exceeds a thousand!
The reason being, it grows so rapidly that every fifty years approximately five Fourth Grade Spirit Medicines can be consistently harvested, making it invaluable!
Yet upon seeing the Red Infant Flower, everyone immediately understood; it had been reduced to a thumb-sized rhizome.
"It’s impossible to cultivate."
"In its current state, it has some medicinal value, but only comparable to an ordinary Fourth Grade Spirit Medicine."
"Indeed..."
Some people placed bids, but those who did were treating the Red Infant Flower as a one-time consumable Spirit Medicine.
Li An also tentatively bid; he genuinely liked the item.
"Three hundred and eighty Spirit Stones!"
At this moment, the voice from the second floor who had been competing with Li An for spirit medicines and Creation Jade rang out again.
Li An sighed helplessly; he had no Spirit Stones left.
In the end, it was still taken by that person.
...
The auction concluded. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Xiaoxiao brought the Creation Jade that Li An had purchased, and he paid on the spot, accepted the Creation Jade, and then immediately departed.
Upon leaving the Coiled Dragon Commerce Association, Li An felt a wave of Divine Sense scanning him. He was displeased, but a kindly-looking fat man approached him and said, "It must be you, a kindred spirit indeed!"
He chuckled as he walked to Li An, "Fellow Daoist, I’ve seized several spirit medicines from you; you’re not resentful, are you?"
Li An was surprised. Was this the person who had snatched the spirit medicines from him multiple times?
And now he was so bluntly approaching Li An?
"I wonder what business the fellow Daoist has?" Li An asked.
"How about we step aside for a chat?"
The fat man gestured with his hand.
...
In a secret private room at Dragon City Inn.
"I am Gao Tai, a Fourth Grade Alchemist, so I have a high demand for spirit medicines. Recently, I’ve been researching some secret medicines, so I’m gathering all sorts of spirit medicines. Please don’t hold it against me, Fellow Daoist."
The fat man introduced himself proactively, "I observed that your aura is extraordinary. You must be the famous Gu Dao from the Evil Spirit Lake?"
This fat man was remarkably perceptive... Li An said, "How did you guess, Fellow Daoist Gao?"
"Heh, who doesn’t know that Gu Dao from the Evil Spirit Lake is powerful, with Array skills that are unparalleled? Also, being able to form a Nascent Soul in such a treacherous place as the Evil Spirit Lake, you must have methods to ward off evil and suppress malicious energy. Therefore, it’s likely you were the one who bid for the Rank Four Creation Jade with Evil Qi."
"Additionally... haha, all the other old Nascent Souls have some savings. If they truly wanted something dearly, they wouldn’t be so stingy. You clearly wanted the spirit medicine, but repeatedly gave it up due to lack of Spirit Stones, clearly marking you as a newly advanced Nascent Soul with insufficient funds."
"I guess you came to this auction with no more than twelve hundred Spirit Stones, am I right?"
Gao Tai smiled warmly, but Li An grew exceedingly wary!
Li An had always been the one to analyze others from the shadows, but now he was the one being thoroughly analyzed by this fat man?
Indeed, those who reached the Nascent Soul stage were truly astute; with just a few simple actions, they could deduce Li An’s identity.
Of course, this was mainly because Li An hadn’t planned to hide his identity in the first place.
As a Nascent Soul cultivator, he would inevitably interact with many other formidable cultivators and powers; attending an auction was nothing to hide.
Moreover, Gu Dao had already exposed some information to the outside world during his attempt to form his Nascent Soul: high proficiency in Arrays, mastery of Beast Taming Skills, and the capability to suppress evil spirits and malicious energy.
His desire for spirit medicines was only natural; as a newly minted Nascent Soul, the craving for Fourth Grade spirit medicines was perfectly normal and aroused no suspicion.
"Fellow Daoist, you’re indeed incredibly insightful. May I ask why you seek Gu?" Li An asked.
"Do you know why I want this Creation Jade? It’s because I need some Evil Qi... This Creation Jade has the most exquisite Evil Qi."
Gao Tai said, "But then I thought, since you dared to bid for this item, you must have a way to cleanse it of Evil Qi, so I let you have the item, only wishing for you to give me the refined Evil Qi after cleansing. How about that? This way, you get the Creation Jade, and I get the Evil Qi, a win-win situation!"
"Of course, in return, I offer the spirit medicines I obtained from the auction for you to choose one at will. How about that?"
He laid out the spirit medicines one by one.
Li An pondered for a moment and took away the root of the Red Infant Flower!
"Great choice! This root can itself serve as a Rank Four spirit medicine in alchemy, and compared to other spirit medicines, it holds a slight possibility for propagation, potentially yielding significant returns in the future. For you to choose this, you must have some extraordinary methods."
Gao Tai gave a thumbs-up.
Li An smiled and said, "I just happen to need it. Regarding the Evil Qi you want, I will extract it for you, but I must declare in advance that my method may not achieve the purity you desire, so I hope you’re prepared for that—"
Gao Tai cupped his fist, "Gu Dao, just do your best—"
"Alright, then we’ll meet at the Evil Spirit Lake in two years."
Li An immediately stood up and left.
Gao Tai was taken aback, "Two years?!"
Li An replied, "Yes, cleansing the Evil Qi from this item is challenging; even two years is considered fast..."
Gao Tai was clearly a little dissatisfied, but having already given the item to Li An, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "Alright, see you in two years!"
