Chapter 462: Chapter 447: Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast!
On the trip to the Qin family of Wanhua Mountain, although Zhouyang did not obtain the most desired "Purple Heart Jade Marrow," he still reaped considerable rewards.
In particular, through this trip to Wanhua Mountain, he established some relationships with Purple Mansion Stage cultivators within Jinyang Country, making an important step towards integrating himself into the circle of high-tier cultivators in the Land of the Far West.
After returning to Haoyang Immortal City, Zhouyang first went to visit his Dao companion, Xiao Ying, and handed over several types of spirit elixirs he exchanged at the "Treasure Exchange Conference" to her. The two then spent half a month together exploring Haoyang Immortal City before returning to their respective caves to continue their cultivation.
Upon returning to his cave, Zhouyang did not rush to seclusion to consume spirit pills to refine his cultivation, but instead took out the materials he exchanged at the "Treasure Exchange Conference" and began refining artifacts.
The materials he exchanged for this time were more than expected, resulting in him directly refining six "Great Derivation Divine Light Swords" in one go. Combined with the twelve "Great Derivation Divine Light Swords" he originally had, this totaled a set of eighteen flying swords.
The eighteen "Great Derivation Divine Light Swords," each one is a Tier Four high-grade spiritual artifact and also one of the best quality.
With these eighteen flying swords, even without using the "Qianyang True Flame" divine technique, it’s hard to find an opponent within the Purple Mansion Stage.
However, controlling so many flying swords greatly depletes his divine sense and magical power. Even though his divine sense and magical power are much stronger than cultivators of the same tier, he can only sustain combat for one hour before exhausting his magical power.
Therefore, unless it’s a sure-win battle, Zhouyang would still conserve his magical power as much as possible to deal with unpredictable changes.
After refining the flying swords, Zhouyang entered the cultivation chamber to consume the refining cultivation spiritual pills he obtained from the "Treasure Exchange Conference."
He thought he would continue cultivating like this until the auction, held every ten years in Haoyang Immortal City, before exiting seclusion. However, after just one year of secluded cultivation, he was called out of the seclusion chamber by a communication flying sword sent by Jin Qu.
"This underground auction is somewhat special, and the venue is not set inside Haoyang Immortal City but in a secret location outside the city."
"Based on Jin’s experience, auctions typically held outside the city often involve items with highly questionable origins. The auction side worries about the reaction of the Haoyang Sect and thus holds the event outside the city limits."
"Therefore, whether to participate in this underground auction is a decision you, Fellow Daoist Zhou, need to make yourself!"
Inside the Qingyuan Pavilion, facing Zhouyang’s visit, the shopkeeper Jin Qu cordially received him and then seriously revealed the truth.
Since the trip to Wanhua Mountain, Zhouyang felt that Jin Qu was a trustworthy person. Upon returning, he sold some spiritual objects he couldn’t use to Qingyuan Pavilion, reclaiming a batch of spirit stones.
This way, he gained spirit stones, and Jin Qu achieved some sales performance, strengthening their relationship significantly.
Furthermore, Jin Qu now knew his identity as a Tier Four high-grade refiner. He even knew about his Dao companion, Xiao Ying’s identity as a Tier Four lower-grade alchemist.
With these dual identities, Jin Qu was very keen to maintain a good relationship with both of them as a couple.
Otherwise, based solely on the token from Zhao Hao back then, Jin Qu wouldn’t be saying so much to Zhouyang now.
"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Jin. Zhou will be extra cautious."
Zhouyang respectfully bowed and nodded, accepting this favor from Jin Qu, yet unwilling to miss out on this opportunity.
Everyone knows underground auctions are unsafe; otherwise, they wouldn’t be held in secrecy.
Zhouyang had not forgotten the time when, still at the Foundation Establishment Stage, he was targeted and hunted down by a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator during his first underground auction participation.
Thus, he fully understood the depth of Jin Qu’s words.
However, the gains from participating in underground auctions often balance with the risks.
Many treasures with uncertain origins dare not be sold at formal auctions and exchange meetings, so the only convenient place to sell them is the underground auction, where prices are often much lower than similar items at formal auctions.
Zhouyang may not seek trouble, but he’s never been afraid of it either.
Participating in an underground auction carries risks, but he believes with his methods, he can handle the potential risks that may arise.
Seeing his determination, Jin Qu didn’t say much more, simply nodding slightly, as he handed over the token and said: "Since you insist on attending, Fellow Daoist Zhou, take this talisman and leave the city three days later. Find a secluded place to activate it, and someone will come to guide you to the underground auction location."
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Jin. What’s the value of this token? I’ll give you the spirit stones for it now."
Zhouyang took the token, glanced at it, and then stored it in his storage ring before inquiring about its price.
One similarity between underground auctions and formal ones is that they both charge an entry fee, often higher than formal auctions. Zhouyang naturally couldn’t let Jin Qu cover this cost for him.
Nevertheless, Jin Qu shook his head and said, "This is just the token. The entry fee will be collected once you reach the location."
"Understood, I will go prepare now."
Zhouyang, understanding, nodded and promptly took his leave from the Cyan Cloud Pavilion.
Three days later, Zhouyang, who had made all the preparations, left Haoyang Immortal City directly, and then in a forest more than three hundred miles outside the city, he activated the spirit talisman in his hand.
After the talisman was activated, it transformed into an earthy-yellow mouse-like demon beast shadow and burrowed into the ground.
Seeing this, a glint flashed in Zhouyang’s eyes. Then, with a wave of his hand, he took out the dragon face mask he had refined during the Foundation Establishment Stage and put it on. He also took out a gray cloak with the ability to shield Divine Sense and wore it over his body, additionally setting up a layer of Divine Sense Barrier around himself using his own Divine Sense.
With these three layers of protection, even a Late-Stage Golden Core Cultivator scanning him with Divine Sense would alert him.
After waiting for about an hour, suddenly a flash of yellow light appeared on the ground not far in front of Zhouyang, and a large Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast emerged.
The Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast resembled a greatly magnified pangolin, the Tier Four Top Grade beast before Zhouyang was over twenty zhang long and more than one zhang wide at the back.
On the back of this Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast, a long stone house was fitted artificially. The material of the stone house was the Tier Three Spiritual Object known as Forbidden God Stone, familiar to Zhouyang.
"Pay thirty pieces of middle-grade Spirit Stones, and it’ll get you to the destination!"
While Zhouyang gazed heavily at the Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast in front of him, a cold voice suddenly echoed from within the stone house on the beast’s back.
Thirty pieces of middle-grade Spirit Stones as an entrance fee—it sure is exorbitant.
But Zhouyang did not say much, silently waved his hand, took out thirty middle-grade Spirit Stones, and tossed them toward the stone house on the beast’s back.
With a "crunch", the stone door of the stone house opened from inside and swallowed all the Spirit Stones Zhouyang had thrown over.
Seeing this, Zhouyang didn’t wait for those inside to say anything further; he directly moved, jumped onto the beast’s back, and dashed into the stone house.
This action made the Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast very dissatisfied, causing it to shake its body and roar.
But with a cold shout from the owner of the cold voice inside the stone house, this capricious beast obediently stopped, uttering a howl full of grievance, its body glowing with a yellow light as it burrowed into the ground.
Meanwhile, within the stone house on the beast’s back, a cultivator wrapped from head to toe in a mask and a long black cloak was coldly staring at Zhouyang from several feet away.
Aside from the two of them, there was no one else in the entire carriage.
"I can tolerate your rudeness now, but if you still act this way at the auction venue, the seniors there won’t be as easygoing as I am!"
The black cloaked cultivator coldly stared at Zhouyang for a moment before warning him in an icy tone, then withdrew his gaze and sat down on a nearby wooden chair.
Seeing this, a glint flashed in Zhouyang’s eyes, but he calmly replied, "No need for you to worry about this matter."
The voice, surprisingly, was neutral, making it hard to discern whether it was male or female.
Concealing appearances, altering physique, and changing voice, this is what most cultivators do when attending underground auctions.
After Zhouyang’s disguise, even his Dao Companion Xiao Ying might not recognize him unless he used magical power to reveal his aura.
And his seemingly arrogant behavior just now was deliberate.
Judging from the reaction of the black-robed guiding cultivator, his careful planning was obviously not in vain.
Over the next several hours, eight more cultivators entered the stone house on the Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast’s back, almost filling the small stone house completely.
Only then did the black-robed guiding cultivator stop bringing in others, driving the Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast towards the auction venue.
Because he was continually enclosed within the Divine Sense barrier of the stone house, Zhouyang had no idea which places they had passed, nor was he aware of the speed at which the Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast moved underground.
When the Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast halted again and the stone door of the stone house opened for them to exit, the place before Zhouyang turned out to be a tranquil valley filled with the sound of birds singing and the scent of flowers.
With a sweeping glance, he estimated the valley was only a few hundred acres in size, and the Spiritual Qi was not very dense, fairly comparable to a Tier Three Middle-Grade Spiritual Vein.
Beyond the valley, it was entirely shrouded in array clouds and mist. Zhouyang didn’t know which tier the array that created the mist belonged to; even using Separation Fire Golden Eye, he couldn’t see through it, and the mist blocked Divine Sense scanning. Any Divine Sense extended beyond the valley would hit a barrier, unable to proceed further.
It’s truly unexpected for the underground auction not to be held deep underground but in such a valley.
Before Zhouyang and his entourage arrived, the valley had already gathered twenty or thirty high-tier cultivators, many of whom were possibly Golden Core Stage cultivators.
These high-tier cultivators were quietly sitting scattered around the central circular stone platform of the valley, not saying a word, making the entire place eerily silent.
While Zhouyang and a few accompanying cultivators were inspecting the valley, the black-robed guiding cultivator driving the Earth-Drilling Mountain-Piercing Beast suddenly spoke coldly: "Find yourselves a place to sit. When the time comes, someone will naturally come to explain the situation."
After saying this, he closed the stone door and drove the spirit beast to fetch more people.