Cultivator Intelligence

Around noon, cultivators gradually returned from outside. At mealtime, low-level cultivators could not yet go without food, and the Post House provided meals free of charge. The food tasted quite good as well.

Lin Xuan finished eating early. With nothing else to do, he did not return to his room, instead sitting in the dining hall and drinking tea.

Firstly, it would help him pass the time while waiting for the trade fair to begin that afternoon. Secondly, people often shared their experiences and observations after meals; anyone attentive enough could easily pick up useful intelligence in a restaurant.

This was the second floor. Lin Xuan sat by the window, casually sipping his tea with his face turned toward the view outside, as if admiring the scenery. In truth, he was listening closely.

Though the hall was noisy, that was nothing to a cultivator with powerful divine sense. So long as the other party was not transmitting their voice with spiritual power, he could hear every word clearly.

"Hey, did you guys go to this morning's auction?"

A voice like a broken gong successfully drew everyone's attention. Lin Xuan glanced back as well. It was a burly man dressed in coarse cloth, looking every bit the Rogue Cultivator.

"What, did you take part in the bidding too, big brother?" a chubby youth beside him asked, his face full of admiration.

The big man blushed. "How could Rogue Cultivators like us have the means to bid? I only went to watch the excitement."

"Oh." Everyone revealed looks of sudden understanding and immediately lost interest. Those drinking tea went back to drinking tea, while those eating continued eating.

"Hey, listen to me!" The big man clearly loved being the center of attention. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he grew anxious. "Do you know that the items in the auction were the real treasures? Just this morning, there were three low-grade Spirit Tools, two mid-grade Spirit Tools, and even one high-grade Spirit Tool."

At the mention of Spirit Tools, the cultivators nearby were drawn in again. Though Spirit Tools were simplified Dharma Treasures, they still possessed immense Supernatural Power. Many Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators did not even own one, so Rogue Cultivators at the Spirit Movement Stage could forget about even dreaming of them.

Most of those present had never seen one with their own eyes, but they had heard their elders describe Spirit Tools as possessing boundless might.

"Damn, I never expected Spirit Tools to be sold. If I'd known, I wouldn't have wandered around the stalls. I would've gone to watch the auction too. Even if I couldn't afford anything, at least I could have broadened my horizons."

"Hmph, you think watching is so easy? To enter the auction, you first had to pay one Marrow Cleansing Pill as an admission fee," an elderly-looking cultivator said coldly from a corner.

Hearing this, the Rogue Cultivators were dumbfounded. Even watching required a spirit medicine. At once, the looks everyone gave the big man became wonderfully varied—some admired him, others despised him. Wasting a precious pill merely to broaden one's horizons—he was the very picture of a gullible fool and a spendthrift.

Yet regardless of what they thought, everyone became even more interested in the Spirit Tools. They rushed to ask questions, while the big man explained with flying spittle.

"You didn't see the power of those Spirit Tools. With a single strike, one of them pulverized a boulder weighing ten thousand jin into dust. And that was only a mid-grade Spirit Tool..."

To be fair, though the big man was somewhat fond of grandstanding, he truly had a gift for words. His vivid description left everyone listening in rapt fascination.

"Then who bought those Spirit Tools?"

"Who else could it be? Naturally, the powerful sects. Not a single mid-grade or high-grade Spirit Tool fell into outside hands. The low-grade Spirit Tools went to wealthy cultivation families. Did you think Rogue Cultivators like us would have a chance?"

"That's true. Forget that we don't have enough pills to participate in the bidding—even if we really bought one, it would be a hot potato. If things went badly, it might even bring about a fatal disaster."

His words were rather blunt, but everyone understood the reasoning. They sighed repeatedly, and their enthusiasm waned. As a result, few paid attention when the big man later mentioned that the treasures at the afternoon auction would be even more precious, including a top-grade Spirit Tool used by the Lingyun Sect's True Person sect master and several valuable beast eggs.

Lin Xuan lifted his cup, using his tea to hide the smile at the corner of his lips. Hmph, his luck really was not bad. To other Spirit Movement Stage cultivators, even a low-grade Spirit Tool was something that could only be encountered by chance. Yet he had three of them, the worst being mid-grade, and there was even a top-grade one.

However, to fully bring out their power, he needed the Spirit Control Technique. At that thought, Lin Xuan became even more determined to acquire a mid-grade cultivation method.

The atmosphere in the hall was clearly somewhat gloomy when a cold voice suddenly entered everyone's ears. "Hmph, what do we Rogue Cultivators amount to in the eyes of those sects and cultivation families? Not only do we have no share in the auctions, even the items brought out for trade have been manipulated behind the scenes and reserved in advance."

"Manipulated behind the scenes? Reserved in advance?" The cultivators present were greatly shocked. Lin Xuan also took notice, following the voice to the old man drinking alone in the corner.

"Fellow Daoist, what did you mean by that?" Lin Xuan did not need to speak; naturally, some curiosity-driven cultivator did it for him.

The old man took a drink and did not beat around the bush. "Lingyun Sect has five mid-grade cultivation methods. Aside from the most precious, the Jade Cloud Technique, which will be auctioned off, the other four are being sold at the trade fair."

Everyone nodded. The Jade Slip's introduction to the Treasure Trade Fair had mentioned this.

"But do you know that, of those four mid-grade cultivation methods being offered, three have already been reserved by cultivation families?"

"Reserved in advance? Isn't that against the rules?"

"Hmph, rules?" The old man gave a mocking laugh. "Since you have all come to this gathering, I assume you are not newcomers who have only just entered the Cultivation World. Since when have you ever heard that the Cultivation World operates according to rules? If you want reason, will those sects and families reason with you? They only rely on their strength to run roughshod over others."

Everyone fell silent. Those seated here were all Rogue Cultivators, and they had suffered no shortage of bullying from sects and families. But what could they do? This was a world where strength ruled.

Even if they were dissatisfied with the manipulation behind the scenes, there was still nothing they could do.

"Reserved in advance, then so be it. In any case, mid-grade cultivation methods are useless to Spirit Movement Stage cultivators like us!"

"That fellow Daoist is right. How many Rogue Cultivators can successfully achieve Foundation Establishment? Giving us mid-grade cultivation methods would only be giving us useless junk."

"Exactly. Why worry about it? Drink, drink."