Right Next Door

He is currently at an auction house, but the host suggests you had better not disturb him right now.

"Why?"

The classic trope of an immortal-cultivation novel—have you forgotten, Host?

Xiao Rui obtained a fortuitous encounter and learned alchemy, so he went to the auction house to sell medicinal pills in exchange for spiritual stones.

He is currently wearing a black robe and bidding in the VIP seating area of the auction.

At these words, Xia Wantang fell into deep thought:

An auction house, eh... She happened to want to look around and see if there were any good things, so wasn't this a coincidence?

As for spiritual stones, both the Xia Family and the Palace Lord of the Azure Cloud Palace gave her quite a few, so bidding on a few Earth Grade or Heaven Grade magic treasures for the original owner's parents shouldn't be difficult.

Having made up her mind, she set off toward the auction house where Xiao Rui was located.

Just as she walked up to the auction house, the attendant at the entrance was very young. Upon seeing Xia Wantang, his eyes involuntarily lit up, and his face turned red as he said:

"Fairy Maiden, are you looking to browse for treasures?"

"You've come at just the right time! The next auction is about to begin, and there are still seats in the VIP section. I can lead you inside right now."

Xia Wantang was still wearing the light-gold robes of the Azure Cloud Palace.

Although others might not necessarily recognize this clothing symbolizing the identity of the Saintess, one could tell from the material, design, and color of the garments that her status was either noble or wealthy.

Coupled with her stunning looks, temperament, and cultivation, the attendant automatically categorized her as a VIP.

Xia Wantang: VIP seating, huh? That's fine too, this way I might be able to run into Xiao Rui sooner.

She was only buying some ordinary magic treasures and wasn't worried about being suspected by Xiao Rui.

"Please lead the way."

"You got it, Fairy Maiden, this way please."

Host, your luck is so good that I'm tired of saying it—the person sitting right next door is actually Xiao Rui!

The moment she sat down, the system's electronic voice rang out in Xia Wantang's mind.

Hearing this, she calmly looked toward the neighboring seat. It was a mysterious man wearing a black robe, whose appearance could not be seen clearly due to the cover of his hood.

Yet even while seated, one could tell that the man was tall, with broad shoulders and an exceptionally good physical proportion.

As Xia Wantang took her seat, over on Xiao Rui's side he had also started chatting with Elder Sword:

"The Saintess? Why did she come here too? Doesn't the Saintess usually never leave the Azure Cloud Palace?"

"Kid, the girl you've been yearning for day and night is sitting right beside you. What are your thoughts right now?"

"Elder Sword, please stop teasing me. This junior is still just a handyman disciple, and I'm nothing more than an acquaintance with the Saintess who merely nods in greeting."

"Tsk tsk tsk, I would have believed that if you hadn't been reluctant to consume that single medicinal pill she gave you all this way up to now. You even take it out to stroke a few times every day—if you ask me, that thing is almost worn smooth from handling!"

"I wonder what she's doing at the auction house anyway. Is there some magic treasure she wants?"

"Most likely. Kid, don't always feel like you aren't worthy of this lass. You are my disciple, and you're already in the mid-stage of the Mystic Martial Realm. When the Sect Grand Competition arrives, you will definitely seize first place, so why worry that this lass has no eyes for you?"

"There are many outstanding peers among the inner sect disciples. It's still far too early to talk about seizing first place now."

"No, wait, this lass's cultivation... seems a bit abnormal..."

"Elder Sword, what's abnormal about it? Surely it can't be lower than the early stage of the Human Martial Realm, can it?"

"No, it has become stronger! Although she is still wearing a magic treasure that alters her cultivation, and the cultivation she displays to the outside world has only risen to the completion of the Mystic Martial Realm, her actual cultivation right now is actually the peak of the Mystic Martial Realm!"

Hearing this, Xiao Rui's stalwart body shook, and he almost cried out in shock:

"What?! The peak of the Mystic Martial Realm? She's actually stronger than me by this much??"

"How strange. A week ago, this lass was clearly still at the early stage of the Human Martial Realm, yet now she has leaped directly to the peak of the Mystic Martial Realm. Moreover, the spiritual power aura around her body is very stable; I shouldn't have sensed it wrong..."

Hearing these words, Xiao Rui felt somewhat melancholic:

Though he didn't know why things had turned out this way, he was happy for the Saintess. Yet if his own cultivation fell short of hers, it would inevitably feel somewhat awkward and produce a sense of inferiority when they interacted.

The Saintess possessed extraordinary natural talent, so he still had to cultivate diligently in order to catch up to her pace.

Right at that moment, the auction began.

The first lot was an Earth Grade Tier 8 cultivation technique.

A cultivation technique of this grade naturally held no demand for Xiao Rui; it was more suited for cultivators with impure spiritual roots and poor innate talent.

"The first lot: Starfall Art, suitable for numerous cultivators. Starting bid: one hundred spiritual stones."

Just as the host's voice trailed off, someone called out a bid:

"I offer two hundred!"

"Two hundred and fifty spiritual stones."

"Four hundred spiritual stones!"

"Alright, this VIP has bid four hundred spiritual stones. Are there any higher bids?"

Just as Xiao Rui thought that the first lot was about to conclude like this, a crisp and pleasant female voice rang out from beside him:

"Five hundred spiritual stones."

The one who spoke was none other than our female protagonist, Xia Wantang.

This Earth Grade Tier 9 cultivation technique was very suitable for the original owner's parents to cultivate, and she had prepared to win it from the very beginning.

Therefore, once the bidding stabilized, she joined the auction without hesitation.

What felt surprising were Xiao Rui and Elder Sword:

The Azure Cloud Sword Art and Azure Edge Sword Art of the Azure Cloud Palace were far higher in grade than Earth Grade Tier 9.

Did this Saintess have more spiritual stones than she knew what to do with? She was actually spending five hundred spiritual stones to buy a useless cultivation technique.

Although the price of five hundred spiritual stones wasn't considered expensive, in their view, this was unnecessary consumption. The current price environment wasn't good—what happened to the agreed-upon consumption downgrades?

"Five hundred spiritual stones going once, five hundred spiritual stones going twice, five hundred spiritual stones going thrice, sold!"

With the strike of the gavel, the second lot followed next.

"The second lot is ten Heaven Grade Tier 1 Spirit Nurturing Pills, of exceptionally fine quality, especially suited to assist cultivators in the Human Martial Realm and the early stage of the Mystic Martial Realm with their cultivation."

"Starting bid: two hundred spiritual stones."

Hearing this, Xiao Rui at the side noticeably straightened his posture, and Xia Wantang immediately realized:

Presumably, this was the medicinal pill refined by Xiao Rui.

Because these Spirit Nurturing Pills were not high enough in grade, he no longer had any use for them himself, which was why he brought them out to auction.

The rogue cultivators of Azure Cloud City mostly had cultivations within this range, so they would inevitably be fought over frantically.

Sure enough, the moment the host's voice fell, people began calling out bids:

"Three hundred spiritual stones!"

"Three hundred and fifty spiritual stones!"

"I bid four hundred!"

"I bid five hundred!"

Everyone was much more enthusiastic with their bidding this time than before.

Xia Wantang couldn't help but secretly think to herself:

Xiao Rui's identity as an alchemist really made earning spiritual stones easy. It was just a pity that she only knew formations right now, and creating formations was far more complex than refining pills; mass production was impossible.

Furthermore, the materials for storing formations weren't cheap either, unlike pills which had such a low threshold.

Therefore, in the world of immortal cultivation, only affluent cultivators could afford to purchase formations.

Of course, that didn't mean formation masters didn't make as much money as alchemists.

It was simply that the customer bases of the two products differed. An alchemist's customer range was broad, while a formation master's customer base consisted of only a small fraction of wealthy individuals.

Advanced formations, even disposable ones, could be exchanged for exorbitant spiritual stones or high-grade magic treasures.

At present, Xia Wantang had only just begun studying formations, and mostly basic and intermediate ones at that, so she hadn't started relying on this to earn spiritual stones yet.

Just then, the host on the stage spoke once more.