NOVPUB
Chapter 577: Chapter 583: Intentional
"Truly, it is a grand chamber of commerce that has dominated the Eastern Region for thousands of years, even a peripheral area can rival a Fourth-order Spirit Vein in the richness of its Spiritual Energy!" Li Zhirui remarked as he gazed at the mist-shrouded Spiritual Energy with admiration.
However, if it wasn’t for this auction, the majority of cultivators would probably never have the chance to enter Xuanfa State in their lifetime, because aside from the cultivators within the chamber who have reached a certain level, and very important business partners, other cultivators wanting to come in would need to pay a prohibitive fee!
As for smuggling in? That would be absolutely impossible!
Because normally, Xuanfa State is enveloped by a colossal Fifth-order Formation, any cultivator who dared to trespass would invariably end up as a corpse, without exception.
"Even if I gain nothing from this trip, just absorbing a month’s worth of Spiritual Energy is worth it!" Li Chenghuo said somewhat extravagantly.
But things were far from as simple as he imagined!
Li Zhirui planned to lead his clansmen into Xuanfa State, but unexpectedly, he was stopped by a Nascent Soul True Lord who said, "Jinshui has seen Li."
The cultivators of Xuanfa Pavilion have a unique trait in their daoist names, which change as their cultivation advances!
For example, the Nascent Soul True Lord called Jinshui in front of him, was known as Silver Water during his Golden Core stage, and if one day he breaks through to Divine Transformation, he will be called Baoshui.
Therefore, even if one cannot discern their cultivation level, it can be inferred from their daoist name.
As a chamber of commerce, intelligence is also very important, so it wasn’t surprising that the other party recognized Li Zhirui.
"I hope Li will understand, with the auction about to commence, we are in the midst of tight arrangements and setups, unable to accommodate a large number of cultivators inside, you may bring one or two of your juniors to enter early for a visit," he said.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhirui raised an eyebrow in realization, no wonder there were so many cultivators waiting outside, and he said with a smile, "I appreciate the reminder from Jinshui."
Then, he brought Li Chenghuo and Li Chenglin, the two of them, into Xuanfa State.
"Uncle Shiling, it looks like Xuanfa Pavilion has made quite the preparations to accommodate more cultivators for this auction!"
As they entered, the first thing they saw was the majestic grand hall atop the central mountain, the main venue of the auction.
And at the mountain’s waist and foot, there were eight smaller grand halls, these being the sub-venues.
Additionally, on the plaza in front of the mountain, there was an incredibly large Projection Treasure Jade!
In this way, even if the dozen or so auction venues were filled to capacity, other individuals could still participate in the bidding.
Spreading out from the plaza were rows and rows of stalls, closely packed and arranged beforehand, utilizing every inch of vacant land to the fullest!
"But have you noticed one problem? There are hardly any inns inside Xuanfa State!" Li Zhirui shook his head.
As Xuanfa State is not very large and usually received few cultivators, not many inns had been built, thus the price for every guest room had skyrocketed to a figure that even Li Zhirui found somewhat difficult to afford!
Furthermore, Xuanfa Pavilion had issued a regulation that after the market closed at midnight, no cultivator was allowed to walk the streets, violators, regardless of their cultivation level, would be imprisoned in the black jail for seven days and would be banned for life from entering Xuanfa State.
Don’t think Xuanfa Pavilion doesn’t have this strength, they openly have several Divine Transformation ancestors!
It was quite obvious that Xuanfa Pavilion was doing this deliberately, to prevent a large number of cultivators from cultivating in Xuanfa State during the auction without purchasing any Spiritual Objects.
"It looks like, for the time being, everyone will need to rest on the Spirit Boat." Fortunately, the three Spirit Boats were spacious enough to accommodate the many clan members they brought along.
Leaving aside the expensive price of the guest rooms, it wasn’t good for Li Zhirui to move in alone, letting his clan stay on the Spirit Boat was most important, and without him standing guard to protect them, these barren mountains and wild ridges, coinciding with the gathering of a large number of cultivators, were simply too dangerous.
"There’s nothing left to see, let’s go back."
Li Zhirui admonished, "In a few days, the auction will begin. Tell our people to rest well and conserve their energy."
"I’ll pass the message along," Li Chenghuo nodded in agreement.
——
"Why are you always following me? What are you after?" Li Chengshuo, looking annoyed, said to the handsome, Golden Core cultivator behind her.
Wei Ningchen replied calmly, "I am also going to Xuanfa Pavilion to participate in the auction. It’s just on the way. Li doesn’t need to worry too much."
Upon hearing this, Li Chengshuo rolled her eyes. Did he really think she was a fool? She purposely took a detour on the road, going the long way around, yet this man had kept following her!
If it weren’t for her having witnessed Wei Ningchen’s strength before and knowing he was a very terrifying Puppet Master, she would have gotten rid of him long ago.
This was also the first time Li Chengshuo felt such immense frustration from being weaker in strength than someone else.
"Hmph!" Too lazy to entangle with him, she flew towards Xuanfa State with the greatest speed she could muster.
’Damn it! A Puppet Master who should be focusing on manipulating puppets is flying so fast!’ she thought angrily.
Wei Ningchen maintained a calm face while keeping the same distance from Li Chengshuo, neither too far nor too close, showing how effortlessly he could catch up to her.
After all this effort, not only did Li Chengshuo fail to shake off Wei Ningchen, but she ended up panting heavily herself.
’I wonder if father will attend the auction this time. If he is there, I will definitely ask him to teach this bastard a lesson!’ Li Chengshuo thought furiously to herself.
After both rushing and pacing herself, she finally arrived at the south side of Xuanfa State on the afternoon before the auction began.
To ensure centralized management, Xuanfa Pavilion required all cultivators to stay on the south side, forbidding entry to other areas.
Nevertheless, among the tens of thousands of cultivators, finding the Li family’s fleet of boats was not an easy task.
Wei Ningchen continued following behind Li Chengshuo, not even approaching his own sect’s Spirit Boat when he spotted it.
"What is that boy doing? Why is he continuously following that girl?" a burly man on a massive Spirit Boat asked, not understanding what he was witnessing.
His voice roared like thunder, causing cultivators of lower strength to feel uncomfortable just by hearing him.
Standing beside him was a woman in white, her expression as cold as an eternal glacier. She glanced briefly and said indifferently, "Struck by an Emotional Tribulation."
"The Wei lad has taken a liking to that girl? Not bad taste! Tianyin Spirit Body, a superb constitution for dual cultivation!" the big man didn’t take the Emotional Tribulation mentioned by the woman seriously because he knew she loathed romance the most.
Meanwhile, after much effort, Li Chengshuo finally managed to locate the three Spirit Boats belonging to the Li family.
"Cheng Huo, has father arrived?" the moment she approached, she saw Li Chenghuo sitting cross-legged at the bow, seemingly on guard for something.
"Chengshuo?" Li Chenghuo, puzzled and confused, asked, "How did you suddenly appear here?"
