You've Become a Proper Old Schemer
Little B, it's not the right time yet.
Lu Ping chose A.
[You chose A.]
You didn't approach; you simply observed quietly from a distance.
[You watched as crates of Spirit Stones were carried out, and cartloads of materials were transported in.]
You have some doubts.
Where did the Mystic Nether Pavilion get so many Spirit Stones?
[The Teleportation Array in Black Nether City is one part, but it probably can't support such a massive consumption.]
[The most likely explanation is that some Great Sects in the Azure Dragon Domain are secretly supplying goods to the Mystic Nether Pavilion.]
[The sects of the Azure Dragon Domain, using Spirit Stones and the Mystic Nether Pavilion as a front, are frantically reaping the rare resources of the Domain of Chaos.]
[And within Black Nether City, the most important task of those Three Thousand Unorthodox Paths ' "offices" is probably transporting Spirit Stones back for their own sects.]
As the Auction near, more and more information about Auction is being released.
[Of course, conventional materials, Pills, and Law Artifacts are involved. Even news of fragments of High Antiquity Law Treasures and High Antiquity Cultivation Method is spreading like wildfire.]
[But interestingly, these things aren't even the most sought-after items in the city.]
[What's been circulating the most wildly behind the scenes are actually two other things.]
[One is Breakthrough Pills, such as the Yellow Sprout Pill and the Nascent Soul Pill.]
[The other is Spirit Stones. These are the most common Low-Grade Spirit Stones that cultivators in the Azure Dragon Domain use to settle accounts and repay loans.]
[Here, Spirit Stones are not used as the settlement currency. Instead, they are packaged into "items" of one million each by the Mystic Nether Pavilion and directly put on the auction stage as a scarce resource!]
[You stared at the list of auction items you'd gathered, speechless for a long time.]
[You've seen a lot, but to put currency itself on the auction stage as a rare treasure... you've truly opened my eyes.]
Is this even reasonable?
As the Auction near, the number of people in Doushu City increased.
The inns in the city were already fully booked, and even the vacant lots on street corners were occupied by visiting cultivators.
Murders and robberies are increasing every day.
[Logically speaking, this kind of major auction, which only happens once every twelve years, has a relatively high entry barrier.]
[Although the Mystic Nether Pavilion doesn't explicitly state any hard and fast rules, those truly qualified to sit in the inner area are usually Nascent Soul Cultivators.]
Even if all the Nascent Soul monsters from the Domain of Chaos were gathered together, they wouldn't have crammed the entire city into this state.
[But Mystic Nether Pavilion holds a major auction every twelve years, so they've already built up that reputation long ago.]
Most of the cultivators who gathered in the city didn't even have a few Spirit Stones on them, and they never expected to be able to enter the auction house.
What they were eyeing were the items carried by the cultivators who had come to the gathering.
Centered around the Mystic Nether Pavilion, the Main Streets were already packed with visiting cultivators; every tattered cloth on the ground served as a stall, creating a sprawling temporary market.
[Inside the main hall, High Antiquity Law Treasure are auctioned off; outside on the street, Pills, Talisman, and illicit spoils are exchanged, each getting what they need.]
[In fact, the scale of the gatherings outside grew larger with each one.]
[As for the auction hall, which only a select few can set foot in, you naturally didn't miss it either.]
[With the batch of Pills you consigned, you also successfully acquired an invitation to an Auction.]
[Five days before the Auction.]
The cultivators of the Mystic Nether Pavilion have begun to make significant moves.
Several squads of black-armored Guards, protecting the Array Masters, poured out of the pavilion and began setting up Formation Technique along the ring of streets surrounding the Mystic Nether Pavilion.
[They moved with practiced skill, driving the Formation Flags into the ground one by one.]
An invisible force field rapidly expanded outwards from the Mystic Nether Pavilion, enveloping several nearby Main Streets.
[You stand on the second floor of a teahouse in the distance, quietly observing all of this.]
This Formation Technique is rather strange.
"What kind of show is the Mystic Nether Pavilion putting on?"
[Beside the street, a burly monk spat and asked the people next to him in a deep, gruff voice.]
[A gaunt, rogue Rogue Cultivator nearby chuckled twice, unable to suppress a mocking laugh.]
"You bumpkin, you've never even heard of the Mystic Nether Pavilion's 'Disarm Armor and Push Mountains Formation'? That's an old tradition before every major auction."
"Fighting is strictly prohibited within the formation. If you use Spiritual Power exceeding the Golden Core threshold, the Formation Technique will use its own force against you, forcibly teleporting you out."
"How dare you call me a country bumpkin? You're asking for it!"
The burly cultivator, seemingly unable to bear such ridicule, immediately lost face, roared angrily, and unleashed a violent wind spell.
[The moment his Spiritual Power surpassed the threshold of the Golden Core stage, the Array Patterns on the ground beneath his feet suddenly lit up brightly.]
[Before the gust of wind even touched the hem of the opponent's clothes, an invisible, immense force suddenly surged back.]
[A flash of White Light.]
The burly man was instantly teleported away by the powerful formation, disappearing from the street without a trace.
The other cultivators within the Formation Technique, instead of panicking, erupted in gloating laughter.
[The cultivators, accustomed to their ferocity in the Domain of Chaos, surprisingly accepted this rule with ease.]
Even the Mystic Nether Pavilion cultivators maintaining order didn't bother to look up.
[You stand on the second floor, coldly observing this scene on the street.]
[One provoked, the other attacked in a fit of rage. The timing, location, and even the intensity of their Spiritual Power release were all perfectly timed.]
[Every detail is reasonable and natural.]
But you noticed something was off.
[Because... it makes too much sense, and it feels too natural.]
[Seamless, without the slightest flaw.]
[It's like they're shills, putting on this whole show just to prove Mystic Nether Pavilion's reputation to everyone present.]
[You thought of Shen Yuerong. The reason she was able to see through your disguise back then was because your acting was too perfect.]
You picked up your teacup, took a sip, and sighed softly to yourself.
[You subconsciously approach everything with a degree of calculation; you've become quite the seasoned old fox now.]
Lu Ping: "..."
System Master, yes, yes...
[You paused slightly, staring at the spot where the burly man had disappeared down the long street.]
[This forced teleportation method looks vaguely familiar.]
[You remembered the Baojia Tokens from the Azure Dragon Upper Domain.]
[Back in Baodi City, if a cultivator ran out of Spirit Stones on their Baojia Token, they would be kicked out of the city by a powerful formation.]
[The underlying logic of this Disarm Armor and Push Mountains Formation is exactly the same as that of the Baojia Token.]
[You picked up your teacup, and as you drank, a glint flashed in your eyes.]
[Reverse Engineering initiated.]
[The Artisan Spirit is now in effect.]
[Multiskilling, effective.]
[Workaholic, effective]
[The vast Formation Technique formations rapidly deconstructs in your eyes.]
[The trajectory of Spiritual Power flow, the location of the Formation Flags, the nodes connecting the runes...]
But as you looked, your brow furrowed.
[This Formation Technique is indeed strange.]
[You discover that beneath each node of this Formation Technique -Disarm Armor and Push Mountains Formation, there is a hidden connection to another, even deeper, formation.]
[It's a formation within a formation.]
[Because this hidden array is not activated, there is no trace of Spiritual Power flowing through it, so even you can't deduce its full form in a short time.]
"That's interesting."