In the end, the white-haired old man still failed to win the first 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】.
Over the years, he has spent most of his savings in an effort to prolong his life.
He didn't have many spirit stones left on him to begin with.
With that burly man refusing to give an inch, he simply couldn't compete with the other.
He could only watch helplessly as the burly man pushed the price of the first 【Cleansing Dust Golden Soul Pill】 to a number he could no longer afford.
"Is there anyone willing to offer a higher price? If not, then this first 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】 will belong to this fellow Daoist."
No one in the room spoke.
The burly man was clearly determined to outdo the white-haired old man, and the price he ultimately offered was higher than what many people were willing to pay.
They don't need to offend anyone over this.
Seeing that no one else was bidding, Venerable Zhenbao sighed softly.
The final decision was made: "Then this first 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】 belongs to the 187th fellow Daoist."
Upon hearing this, despair immediately filled the white-haired old man's eyes.
He knew that if he couldn't even win the first 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】, then the chances of winning the next nine were even slimmer.
The people in the hall were already doing him a favor by letting him have his way this once.
The ensuing competition will likely be anything but polite.
Sure enough, the bidding for the remaining nine 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pills】 was extremely fierce in the ensuing auction.
The price of each one quickly exceeded ten thousand low-grade spirit stones, making the white-haired old man's eyes grow increasingly desperate.
This scene left many people speechless.
"You see, this is the hardship of being a rogue cultivator."
In a room designated as "Earth," a powerful late-stage Golden Core cultivator with a profound aura was giving earnest instruction to his disciples.
"These rogue cultivators, due to insufficient foundation and lack of accumulation, have only condensed low-grade golden cores with the least potential."
Although he had become a Golden Core Realm expert, he still had to work hard to refine his Golden Core and improve its grade, and could not relax at all.
If one is not careful, it is very likely that time will be wasted, and one's lifespan will be exhausted before the Golden Core grade is improved.
Therefore, in your spiritual practice, do not be too impatient. You must solidify your foundation and accumulate knowledge.
Only in this way can one, with a solid foundation, leap over the dragon gate and condense a mid-grade golden core, or even a high-grade golden core, in one fell swoop when undergoing the tribulation of the Golden Core.
Otherwise, if what is condensed is a low-grade golden core with the least potential.
"That white-haired old man below, that's what you'll look like in the future."
The disciples behind him couldn't help but shudder as they looked down at the white-haired, despair-filled old man in the hall.
They all solemnly replied, "We will follow Master's teachings!"
"Seeing the struggles of these rogue cultivators makes me realize how fortunate I am to be part of a sect."
If we hadn't joined a sect back then, we'd probably end up like the people below us.
"To squander one's life savings for a mere 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】."
In one of the top-tier rooms, someone was also sighing.
“Brother Hong, why belittle yourself? Your talent is as high as the sun and moon, how can these mediocre people below compare to you?”
Beside him, another person shook his head.
"Even without the training of a sect, with your talent, as long as you obtain the cultivation method, you will surely soar to great heights."
Condensing a high-grade golden elixir is as simple as eating and drinking.
Those mediocre talents below, who can only condense mere low-grade Golden Cores, are nowhere near even a fraction of your abilities.
"Brother Xie, you flatter me. Without the sect's guidance, how could I have achieved what I have today?"
"Haha, Brother Hong is the number one genius in Xuanzhou, how can you be so modest?"
"My reputation as a genius is just a compliment from outsiders. Brother Xie, you are the number one disciple of the Fangcun Sect. Those are the real achievements you earned through your own hard work."
The two praised each other, while behind them stood a row of young men and women with considerable presence, all looking at them with reverence.
"Grandpa, I didn't know your pills were so popular!"
In another room, a little girl looked very surprised and said to an old man next to her.
The old man had a ruddy complexion and wore a white robe, giving him a very venerable and otherworldly appearance.
"Although the 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】 is not of a very high grade, it has the effect of cleansing the golden core. For these rogue cultivators with golden cores, it is a life-saving pill to prolong their path of cultivation, so they naturally value it."
The old man in the white robe sighed softly.
"Unfortunately, several of the ingredients for refining the 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】 have always been controlled by those powerful forces."
Even if I, your grandfather, could refine it, it would be impossible to cook without rice.
Otherwise, we could have put more up for auction this time.
That old man, perhaps, doesn't need to be so desperate.
"Yes, that old man looks so pitiful."
The little girl had naturally witnessed what had just happened and felt a pang of pity.
"Grandpa, could we give him a 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】?"
"This is absolutely unacceptable." The old man in white immediately shook his head. "Little Ling, you must remember that people's hearts are treacherous. As an alchemist, you can have compassion, but you must not be easily deceived by appearances and act recklessly out of kindness."
The old man does seem pitiful now, but you know nothing about his past, so how can you know he's someone worth helping?
"This..." The little girl was speechless for a moment.
Seeing this, the old man in white smiled and then said earnestly, "So, don't casually help people you don't know well. Otherwise, you will not only fail to truly help them, but you may even end up aiding and abetting evil. Xiao Ling, you must remember this."
"I understand, Grandpa."
Although the little girl was still quite naive, she knew that her grandfather's teachings were never wrong.
"A spiritual pill that can refine a golden core is actually this precious?"
In room number nineteen, Lu Qing watched the frenzied bidding below, somewhat taken aback.
"That's natural. The spiritual energy in the Tianyuan Great World is abundant, and the path of cultivation is prevalent. Anyone with good aptitude, as long as their luck isn't too bad, has the potential to cultivate to the Golden Core Realm."
The Five Treasures Taoist priest laughed.
"However, most Golden Core cultivators who have passed through the Golden Core Tribulation are quite ordinary, and most of them condense low-grade Golden Cores."
Therefore, the demand for elixirs for refining golden pills is naturally very high.
However, it is said that some of the main ingredients in the most effective pills for refining golden cores have always been controlled by certain powerful forces.
Just like this 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】, there is a spiritual liquid called Clear and Spiritual Water, which comes from a spiritual pool.
That spirit pool was occupied by the Qingling Clan, one of the thirty-six superior clans.
Only a small amount of clear, blue water flows out each year.
This makes the 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】 extremely rare, even though it's not a very high-grade pill.
"Now that such an opportunity has become so rare, these low-grade Golden Core cultivators will naturally scramble for it..."
"So that's how it is. The path to advancement has been controlled by powerful forces."
Those powerful sects and aristocratic families are probably wary of the rise of independent cultivators.
After listening, Lu Qing suddenly understood.
Indeed, resource monopolies are pretty much the same in any world.
Although this Tianyuan Great World is filled with abundant spiritual energy and spiritual objects everywhere.
This makes cultivation very easy. Anyone with the aptitude for cultivation can embark on the path of cultivation as a freelancer, relying on abundant spiritual energy, even without a master.
As a result, the number of independent cultivators became enormous.
If these rogue cultivators were to reach advanced levels, it would undoubtedly be a huge blow to those sects, powerful families, and aristocratic clans.
It could even very well threaten their position in the Tianyuan Great World.
They would naturally not allow such a thing to happen.
Therefore, it is necessary to curb the rise of independent cultivators.
And it's not too difficult to do this.
For these independent cultivators, the earlier stages of cultivation were not too difficult, but once they reached the Foundation Establishment stage, they would face a major hurdle.
That is the tribulation of the Golden Core stage.
Independent cultivators lack sufficient foundation and solid roots.
Unless one has exceptionally good cultivation aptitude, most people, even if they manage to overcome the Golden Core tribulation, will only condense a low-grade Golden Core.
A low-grade Golden Core cultivator has limited potential and can only cultivate to the third stage at most.
To go further, one must refine the Golden Core and upgrade its grade.
This step is undoubtedly an excellent way for sectarian forces and powerful families to curb the number of independent cultivators.
As long as they control the pills used to refine the Golden Core, the probability of a Nascent Soul Realm expert emerging from the ranks of rogue cultivators will be greatly reduced.
In this way, they can naturally continue to maintain their status.
"As expected, infighting is the trick that the human race excels at the most." Lu Qing shook his head.
As far as he knew, in the Tianyuan Great World, the human race also had the demon race as a great enemy.
Moreover, in the struggle against the demon race, the human race does not actually have the upper hand.
Under such circumstances, if rogue cultivators could rise to power, their sheer numbers would undoubtedly be a tremendous boost to the human race.
However, these powerful forces, for the sake of their own status, still chose to stifle the development of independent cultivators.
No wonder I've heard that in recent years, the human race and the demon race have clashed several times, and while the human race hasn't exactly suffered repeated defeats, it has lost more battles than not.
Of course, Lu Qing only pondered these things for a moment before giving them any further thought.
Such a trend is beyond the control of any individual.
Besides, he's not from the Tianyuan Great World, so why is he thinking so much?
However, seeing how popular the 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】 was, Lu Qing remembered something.
Back in his home world, he killed those two extraterrestrial beings.
Later, they obtained a top-grade spiritual herb, the Pure Lotus, from their storage treasure.
One of the effects of that top-grade spiritual herb is that it can refine the Golden Core and improve its grade.
However, Lu Qing later overcame the tribulation of the Golden Core and condensed an unprecedentedly perfect Golden Core, so there was no need to refine the Golden Core anymore.
Later, whether it was Master, Xiaoyan, Xiaoli, or Wuxing, they all refined high-grade golden cores, and thus did not need to refine them.
Furthermore, he did not have the prescription for refining the Pure Lotus into an elixir.
Therefore, he had forgotten about this top-grade spiritual herb for so long, keeping it stored in his Qiankun Qi Bag.
Then he remembered another top-grade spiritual herb he owned, the Five Elements Lotus.
"Perhaps it's time to find an opportunity to refine them into pills," Lu Qing thought to himself.
Top-grade spiritual herbs are extremely precious; even powerful beings at the Nascent Soul Realm would be tempted by them.
If it could be refined into a pill, it would be a great help to both him and Xiao Li.
This will allow them to advance their cultivation level further.
Lu Qing pondered this in his mind while continuing to watch the auction below.
By this time, the ten 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pills】 had already been auctioned off.
The white-haired old man ultimately failed to acquire any of them.
He sat there listlessly, his face ashen and filled with despair.
This scene moved many cultivators to sigh, while also making them deeply aware of the cruelty of the path of cultivation.
After the auction of the 【Cleansing Golden Soul Pill】 was completed, the Treasure Guardian waved his hand again, and a jade sword appeared on the jade platform.
The moment the sword was drawn, the surrounding temperature dropped, and even frost began to appear.
"Next up for auction is a Jade Flying Sword, a top-grade magic weapon with ice attributes..."
The old man's ordeal was ultimately just a minor episode.
The auction then continued in full swing.
One by one, the treasures were taken out by the Treasure Guardian and auctioned off.
Among them were spiritual herbs, elixirs, magical treasures, and even unrefined materials for crafting weapons.
In short, there are all kinds of treasures.
Among them were some extremely powerful treasures, which attracted fierce bidding not only from the cultivators in the main hall but also from the VIP rooms above.
However, I wonder if everyone is thinking of saving spirit stones to bid for the final high-grade spirit weapon.
The VIPs in the VIP rooms didn't bid much; they only made small offers.
Throughout this process, Lu Qing continuously activated his special ability to investigate information about the treasures on the Zhenyu Platform.
I certainly broadened my horizons considerably.
However, Lu Qing only looked and never bought, and never bid once.
Firstly, although the Treasure-Suppressing Venerable had brought out many treasures, none of them particularly interested him.
He had no shortage of magical treasures; the few spiritual artifacts he possessed were more than enough.
As for pills, unless they are top-grade pills used purely to enhance cultivation.
Otherwise, whether it's enhancing aptitude or even increasing comprehension, it wouldn't be of much use to Lu Qing.
After all, as a perfect Golden Core cultivator, his current aptitude is nothing short of heaven-defying.
With supernatural abilities at his disposal, what elixir could possibly enhance his comprehension?
Secondly, there were the spirit stones in Lu Qing's possession, which, although not a small amount, were also valuable.
But it's not quite up to par for this auction.
Therefore, unless he encounters a truly desirable treasure, Lu Qing does not intend to make a move casually.
If you don't meet anyone who sparks your interest, it's perfectly fine to consider this trip as a chance to broaden your horizons.
Just as Lu Qing was thinking this,
The Venerable Treasure Guardian below waved his hand and took out another treasure, placing it on the jade platform.
But as soon as the treasure was released, before he could even see what it was, Lu Qing's heart suddenly began to pound.
It was as if what was below was of great importance to him.
"Um?"
Lu Qing was startled and immediately looked toward the object.
Just then, the words of the Treasure-Suppressing Venerable began to ring out:
"The next treasure to be auctioned is quite peculiar; it is a rare treasure whose origins even the appraisers of our Tian Shu City cannot identify."
