Mortal: Refining Weapons for Immortality

Chapter 17 Auction

After using a secret method to restore the spirit and purify these Foundation Establishment waste pills, Lin Changqing then channeled his magic power into the spirit snake egg to nurture it.

After that, he began to refine the hundreds-year-old medicinal herbs he had exchanged with Han Li. After all, after three months of improving his alchemy skills, it wouldn't be a waste to use hundreds-year-old medicinal herbs to refine pills. As for the remaining two thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, he would keep them to refine pills in order to break through the remaining Qi Refining realm.

However, after witnessing Han Li use the small bottle, he began to ponder whether his own magical power could promote the growth of herbs, or even consume his lifespan to quickly cultivate hundred-year or thousand-year-old spiritual herbs.

Once the idea was conceived, it became unstoppable. Every time I was refining pills, this thought would come to mind, and I would give it a try if I had the chance.

"I just don't know how much lifespan it would take to obtain a spiritual medicine that lasts a hundred or even a thousand years; if possible, ten thousand years wouldn't be out of the question."

"Wake up! Focus on refining the medicine!!" As Lin Changqing's thoughts became increasingly frantic, he patted his head to pull himself back from his wild imaginings. He then took out the medicinal herbs and went to the alchemy room to concentrate on refining the Yellow Dragon Pill.

Eight months later.

Lin Changqing walked out of the cave, stretched his body with a refreshed look, and said comfortably.

"After consuming the pills made from century-old medicinal herbs, I finally reached the tenth level of the Qi Refining stage. However, having consumed so many pills, I have accumulated a lot of pill toxins and drug resistance. It seems that before breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, I need to cleanse my body and remove the drug resistance once more."

"Centennial herbs are really good. The higher the level, the more you need older herbs. These herbs have strong medicinal power, no less than some spiritual medicines."

After expressing his feelings and showing great progress in his cultivation, Lin Changqing came to the stall with a happy face. Li Zhijing was also selling magic tools and some pills at the stall. In addition to mainly selling magic tools, he also sold some cultivation materials, otherwise it would seem too monotonous and not attract many passers-by.

During these eight months, Lin Changqing not only took drugs to cultivate, but also occasionally crafted magical artifacts to replenish Li Zhijing's supplies. Of course, these were mostly low-grade magical artifacts and a small number of medium-grade ones, but he would only sell a high-grade magical artifact once in a long while.

The forging of these magical artifacts did not interfere with his cultivation. After all, Lin Changqing's magical power was becoming more and more abundant, his artifact forging skills were becoming more and more proficient, and he had his own insights. With his current level of cultivation, forging these low- to mid-grade magical artifacts was a piece of cake, and the forging speed was also faster. Correspondingly, the speed at which he gained lifespan was also increasing.

Lifespan: 466

Seeing the achievements of the past eight months, and with his lifespan also being replenished, Lin Changqing walked to the stall with a smile and whispered to Li Zhijing, who was holding a book titled "Secrets of Cultivating Immortals in Yue Kingdom".

"Zhijing, how's the trading these past few days?"

Upon hearing Lin Changqing's question, Li Zhijing immediately put away her books, stood up, straightened her body, and answered Lin Changqing with a smile, her words even carrying a hint of respect.

"Brother Lin, business has been slow these past few days. The auction is about to start, and most of the independent cultivators are saving up their savings to participate in the auction, so not many people are coming to buy magic artifacts."

"However, Brother Lin, don't worry. After this auction, with the quality of your magical artifacts, you'll soon be able to restore your previous trading volume."

"This little book is just something I'm using to explore business opportunities and learn more about the secrets of the cultivation world, so I can do things for Brother Lin in the future..."

Lin Changqing listened to Li Zhijing's explanation and looked closely at the drastically changed Li Zhijing before him, and couldn't help but sigh.

"A spirit stone can actually change a person!!"

Lin Changqing knew that as his skills in refining artifacts and pills continued to improve, the quality of the artifacts and pills he provided would become better and better, and he would earn more and more spirit stones, which would also mean more spirit stones for Li Zhijing.

Moreover, as the first person to receive these magical artifacts and elixirs, Li Zhijing was certainly able to perceive the change in quality. It was precisely because of this change that Li Zhijing became even more respectful to him and cherished this opportunity even more. Gone was the equality they had when they first met; he completely became Lin Changqing's first brother.

As for the auction that Li Zhijing mentioned, he knew about it. It was a small auction that some of the big shops in Huangfeng Valley would hold together every three months. However, it was all about Qi Refining stage items, and the attendees were all Qi Refining stage cultivators.

Only medium to large-scale auctions attract Foundation Establishment cultivators, but these auctions are held only once a year.

However, browsing books at the stall made Lin Changqing a little distracted. Fortunately, Li Zhijing's words made him feel relieved. He patted Li Zhijing's shoulder and comforted her.

"Hey!! Zhijing, these are all minor matters. It's good to have time to read about the secrets of the cultivation world; it can broaden your horizons. But how's your cultivation progressing? Won't doing transactions here affect your cultivation?"

Li Zhijing breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Lin Changqing did not blame her, having saved her spirit stones. However, she couldn't help but feel dejected when Lin Changqing mentioned her cultivation level.

"Brother Lin, my cultivation level hasn't changed much; I'm still at the fifth level of Qi Refining."

"Although I have more spirit stones now, my talent is still too poor. I only have pseudo-spiritual root aptitude and have encountered a bottleneck. My cultivation level has not improved much."

"But don't worry, Brother Lin, I will do my best to cultivate and I will not hold you back no matter what happens in the future."

Lin Changqing understood Li Zhijing's meaning; he probably wanted to give up Foundation Establishment and work for him in the future. However, upon hearing about the "pseudo-spiritual root" aptitude, he felt sad for him.

"With pseudo-spiritual root aptitude, if one also lacks comprehension and cannot master the various arts of cultivation, and without the support of a family or sect patriarch, one will basically be stuck at the Qi Refining stage, unable to establish a foundation."

"Li Zhijing is just an ordinary person. He's not particularly talented, and his comprehension is average. After knowing him for many years, I've only found that he's good at interpersonal relationships and knows how to do business. I haven't discovered anything outstanding about him in other aspects."

After a moment of silence, Lin Changqing made a decision and extended an invitation to Li Zhijing to go to the auction together. This was a way of supporting Li Zhijing, since she had helped him manage things for so long. Even if she hadn't done anything particularly meritorious, she had still put in a lot of effort. He wanted to see if there was anything suitable and buy it for Li Zhijing as a gift.

"Zhijing, pack your things. I'll take you to the auction. We've been in Huangfeng Valley Market for almost a year and haven't been to an auction yet. Let's have some fun."

Before Li Zhijing could answer, Lin Changqing headed towards the auction, and Li Zhijing quickly packed her things and followed him.

......

The small auction house in Huangfeng Valley is located at the foot of the mountain in a magnificent hall.

The auction wasn't high-profile, but all participants had to verify that they possessed a hundred spirit stones or a spirit item of equal value.

Before the auction began, many people were already seated in the tiered hall, all of them Qi Refining stage cultivators, including a small number of Yellow Maple Valley cultivators and most of the independent cultivators.

Lin Changqing and Li Zhijing sat on adjacent prayer cushions, waiting quietly for the auction to begin.

Li Zhijing came from Qingzhufang City. He came from a small family and was not very talented. He had never participated in any auctions, and the spirit stones in his storage bag did not give him confidence. He was inevitably a little unaccustomed to this situation and wanted to find some confidence in Lin Changqing.

"Brother Lin, when you see something you want later, you'll just send a voice message with a price quote, right?"

Lin Changqing stood upright, exuding confidence, and calmly said to Li Zhijing, "You can watch them learn first. If you find something you want but don't have enough spirit stones, I can lend you some."