Chapter Eighty-Eight: Prosperity

A top-grade Marrow-Cleansing Pill was successfully auctioned off at an extravagant price of five thousand spirit stones per pill.

After all, for many clans and cultivators, the threshold to the late stage of Qi Refinement was like a mountain standing in their way. Given the chance, they would spare no cost to seize it.

After the ten percent commission taken by Mirror Snow Pavilion, Qin Ming netted over twenty thousand spirit stones from this round, so delighted he could hardly contain himself.

The auction proceeded with full momentum.

"The next item is the second headline treasure of this auction."

Two bundles of tree bark, faintly glowing with a pale red radiance, were brought onto the platform.

"A second-tier spiritual plant, Crimson Silver Hemp, the raw material for refining high-grade talisman paper."

"The starting price is eight hundred spirit stones per bundle!"

"Each raise must be no less than fifty spirit stones."

No sooner had the middle-aged auctioneer spoken than the talisman masters in attendance began bidding in a flurry. After all, high-level talisman masters were among the better-off cultivators.

"I bid one thousand two hundred spirit stones."

"One thousand five hundred."

"Two thousand!"

"......"

In the end, the two bundles of Silver Leaf Hemp sold for two thousand spirit stones each. After the commission, Qin Ming’s net gain was two thousand eight hundred spirit stones.

"The next lot is the most important treasure of this auction!"

"It is also the final headline item."

The middle-aged auctioneer introduced it with fervor.

Then two exquisite jade boxes appeared on the central platform.

The middle-aged cultivator gently opened one of the boxes, revealing two crimson, exotic spiritual fruits the size of eggs, radiating an astonishing and rich spiritual aura.

"Second-tier supreme-grade Spirit Essence Fruit!"

"The spiritual energy is perfectly preserved."

"Starting bid is three thousand spirit stones per fruit."

"Each increase must be at least one hundred spirit stones."

A clamor erupted.

"My heavens......"

"Mirror Snow Pavilion is truly generous."

"To think it is the main ingredient for refining second-tier pills."

"Which spirit plant master cultivated these?"

The moment these fruits appeared, the Foundation Establishment experts hidden among the cultivators could no longer remain seated.

"This fruit, this old man is determined to obtain it!"

A stout, red-haired elder stood and said in a booming voice, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the spiritual fruit upon the platform.

The power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the peak of the early stage was fully on display.

"This old man is Fire Peak Daoist. I bid four thousand spirit stones!"

As soon as he spoke, the surrounding cultivators fell silent, none daring to say more.

It seemed they feared that even if they won the item, they would still suffer his retaliation.

Then another elderly man, gaunt and ragged, with dark and withered skin, stood as well. A look of disdain crossed his face as he said, "I say, you old Fire Peak wretch, if you have no spirit stones, then stop putting on airs. I’m not falling for your tricks."

Then he calmly called out, "Five thousand spirit stones."

"Heh heh heh, since things are so lively, I’ll join in too. Five thousand five hundred spirit stones." A burly man, as solid as an iron tower, spoke up.

"Six thousand spirit stones."

"Six thousand five hundred spirit stones."

……

In the end, the two supreme-grade Spirit Essence Fruits were sold for six thousand five hundred spirit stones each.

After deducting the commission, Qin Ming still received nine thousand one hundred spirit stones.

The auction came to an end.

Inside the private box above, Gu Qingzhao looked at Qin Ming with a bright smile and asked, "Daoist Qin, you’ve earned nearly thirty thousand spirit stones this time. Would you like your payment in low-grade spirit stones, or should I have them exchanged into medium-grade spirit stones for you?"

Qin Ming thought for a moment. "Then exchange one hundred fifty medium-grade spirit stones for me. The rest can remain as low-grade spirit stones."

Gu Qingzhao nodded, then ordered someone to bring the corresponding spirit stones.

With a sweep of his hand, Qin Ming cheerfully stored them all into his holding pouch.

He, too, had tasted what it felt like to be wealthy.

Still, this was the fruit of three years of relentless labor, painstaking effort, and ceaseless cultivation.

Only the Spirit Essence Fruit had been ripened by him with a special ability.

The saying about three years of silence followed by three years of profit... this was exactly that.

Once one masters alchemy, one will never lack spirit stones again.

"Daoist Gu, why did you not auction the Five-Color Spirit Rice I previously sold to you?" Qin Ming asked in confusion.

Gu Qingzhao smiled gently. "I intend to take the Five-Color Spirit Rice back to Azure Sea Immortal City."

"When the tavern opens, I’ll rely on Daoist Qin’s rice to make a name for it."

"Daoist Gu is joking. Mirror Snow Pavilion hardly needs to make a name for itself; it is already famous enough," Qin Ming said with a faint smile.

……

More than ten days passed.

Qin Ming stood on the bow of the ship, gazing alone at the scenery outside.

His mind wandered.

There were quite a few people on the deck as well, all of them coming out for some fresh air after being cooped up inside for too long.

At that moment, a young couple of cultivators came over to the deck near Qin Ming.

"Sigh! If only I hadn’t heard that Spirit Feather Gate was recruiting a large number of loose cultivators to fight the barbarians, offering not only plenty of spirit stones to earn but also rewards like Foundation Establishment Pills as opportunities. I wouldn’t have been impulsive enough to drag you to such a miserable place to suffer."

The young cultivator looked refined, around twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with cultivation at the sixth level of Qi Refinement.

"This trip didn’t even earn us spirit stones, and in the end we spent every last bit of our savings just to take Mirror Snow Pavilion’s spirit ship back."

At that moment, facing the girl, his face was full of guilt.

"You don’t need to blame yourself. No one could have expected the situation in the Vast Wilderness of Clouded Marsh to change so drastically."

"As the saying goes, as long as the green hills remain, there’ll be no shortage of firewood."

"So long as we’re alive, there will always be a way to earn spirit stones back."

The girl was delicate and pretty, with a sweet temperament and a petite figure. Her cultivation was slightly lower, at the fifth level of Qi Refinement.

"Yin'er, you’re so good to me..." The young cultivator was deeply moved at once, stepping forward to take her soft hand.

Standing beside the pair, Qin Ming, this lonely bachelor, felt goosebumps rise all over him.

He truly could not bear such a scene, and was preparing to leave.

But just then, a single sentence from the young cultivator stopped him in his tracks.

"Sigh, back then I even boasted to the people in my clan that I would make a fortune. To return to Spirit Resting Archipelago like this, I really can’t swallow my pride."

"And those fellows on nearby Azure Deep Island will surely sneer at me again."

The girl comforted him, saying, "You shouldn’t care too much about what others think."

Spirit Resting Archipelago?

These two were actually natives of this place?

Though Qin Ming had learned quite a bit about the archipelago from Gu Qingzhao over these days, meeting a local would allow him to investigate the details much more thoroughly.

He walked straight over, a smile on his face, and cupped his hands toward the two of them.

"Greetings, fellow Daoists. I heard that the two of you seem to be cultivators from the Spirit Resting Archipelago. As it happens, I am also planning to travel there, and would like to ask you about the situation there."

The young couple exchanged a glance.

Seeing that it was a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator approaching them, they did not dare be rude.

They quickly returned the gesture.

"Ahem! Well, that is possible, but..." the young cultivator coughed lightly and imperceptibly rubbed his fingers together.

Qin Ming understood immediately, and smiled. "I know the rules. Please, come with me to my room for a cup of spirit tea, and we can talk in detail."

Having said that, he invited the two of them to follow him up to the luxurious suite on the third level.

The instant they stepped inside, both were stunned by the lavish decor.

The sound from outside was also sealed off, clearly protected by a soundproofing restriction.

The two young lovers stared at each other, utterly unable to understand how this ordinary-looking cultivator could afford such an expensive room.

In an instant, the way they regarded Qin Ming rose by an entire level.