Earthly Yuan Realm Peak, the Hunt Begins

Flame City.

Ten Thousand Gold Auction House.

Lin Fan came here once again.

Wrapped up from head to toe, Lin Fan sat silently in a private room, waiting.

Soon, hurried footsteps sounded outside.

"Creak~"

Then Xuan Su, alluring and charming, entered from outside.

A strange, fragrant scent followed her as she sat down across from Lin Fan.

Xuan Su smiled sweetly and asked, "Sir, what brings you to the Ten Thousand Gold Commerce Guild this time?"

"To sell a cultivation technique!"

Lin Fan replied.

At those words, a glint flashed through Xuan Su's beautiful eyes.

She smiled and asked, "Are you selling the same cultivation technique as last time?"

"Mm."

Lin Fan nodded and asked, "How much can you offer?"

"One hundred thousand Yang Essence Stones!" Xuan Su said.

Lin Fan shook his head. "Too little."

Xuan Su considered it, then said, "Then one hundred and twenty thousand Yang Essence Stones!"

Lin Fan looked at her. "This is a first-rate cultivation technique. At least one hundred and eighty thousand!"

"Sir, while first-rate cultivation techniques are rare, they aren't worth that much!"

Xuan Su covered her mouth and smiled. "We can raise the price by another ten thousand!"

"One hundred and seventy thousand. Not a stone less!"

"One hundred and thirty-five thousand!"

"..."

After a round of bargaining, they finally settled on a price of one hundred and fifty thousand Yang Essence Stones.

Xuan Su stared at Lin Fan with a resentful expression. "Sir, you're far too ruthless. You won't let us gain even the slightest advantage."

"I don't believe the Ten Thousand Gold Commerce Guild would ever make a losing deal."

Lin Fan said calmly, then changed the subject and began discussing his purchases.

"Besides selling the cultivation technique, I also intend to buy a batch of spiritual medicines. Give me two Fifth Grade Spiritual Medicines, ten Fourth Grade Spiritual Medicines, and ten Third Grade Spiritual Medicines, all of the yin attribute. I also need some top-grade jade stones and materials."

After speaking, Lin Fan smiled and asked, "Look, I'm buying so many things from you. Can you give me a discount?"

Xuan Su nodded. "Then I'll charge you ninety percent of the original prices for everything!"

"Ninety percent it is!"

The next day.

The moment Lin Fan returned to the Lin Family, he heard its members discussing the news that the Black Dragon Stronghold had been wiped out.

No matter what, the Black Dragon Stronghold had been a force with two Heavenly Yuan Realm martial artists.

The sudden destruction of such a force stirred up all the powers in Qingyang Town.

After all, even the Lei Family, Qingyang Town's strongest force, only had five Heavenly Yuan Realm martial artists.

When he arrived at his doorstep, Lin Fan saw Qing Tan sitting on the threshold, waiting for him.

Hearing his footsteps, Qing Tan raised her head.

The moment she saw Lin Fan, she immediately stood up, walked over, and asked, "Lin Fan Bro, where did you go? You disappeared early this morning."

"I went to buy you some yin-attributed spiritual medicines."

Lin Fan smiled. "With these spiritual medicines, you'll soon break through to the Heavenly Yuan Realm. Once you condense a Yin Core, you'll be able to completely control the cold energy in your body and never suffer its erosion again."

Upon hearing that, Qing Tan threw her arms around Lin Fan and said happily, "Lin Fan Bro, you're so good to me!"

Lin Fan rubbed Qing Tan's little head and said, "You're my future wife. Of course I have to treat you well."

After sharing a tender moment, the two entered the house.

Lin Fan handed the Cosmos Sack containing the spiritual medicines to Qing Tan and had her cultivate nearby.

As for himself, he took out the top-grade jade stones and began inscribing runes onto them.

Lin Fan had brought back many spiritual medicines this time. Not only could they allow Qing Tan to break through to the Heavenly Yuan Realm, they could also let Lin Fan use Qing Tan's cultivation to reach the Earthly Yuan Realm Peak.

Qing Tan possessed the Calamity Demon Physique and could directly use Yin Fiend Qi to advance her cultivation, but Lin Fan needed Yang Hardening Qi.

Naturally, ordinary Yang Hardening Qi was beneath his notice.

So he set his sights on the Yang Essence Stone Vein near the Lei Family's Ironwood Village.

Lin Fan remembered that there was a crack leading underground within that vein, and it was filled with high-quality Yang Hardening Qi.

However, Ironwood Village was always guarded by Heavenly Yuan Realm experts from the Lei Family, while the Yang Essence Stone Vein was also home to two demonic beasts no weaker than Heavenly Yuan Realm martial artists.

With the magic artifact Jade Talisman, Lin Fan could deal with them, but he could not guarantee that the news would not leak.

That was precisely why Lin Fan had purchased a batch of top-grade jade stones.

He planned to set up a composite formation. When the time came, he could use it to cover that entire area, so he would not have to worry about any disturbance being discovered.

This composite formation required thirty-six small formation magic artifacts in total, and refining them was even more difficult than refining the previous Jade Marrow magic artifact.

As Lin Fan refined them, the days passed one by one.

Lin Fan had originally planned to finish refining these small formation magic artifacts before the Hunting Competition, but he had still underestimated the difficulty.

Each magic artifact required a long time to refine.

If an error occurred during the process, the magic artifact would be ruined outright, wasting even more time.

Before Lin Fan had finished refining the artifacts, the day of the Qingyang Town Hunting Competition had already arrived.

However, during this period, Lin Fan had used the Yin Fiend Qi within Qing Tan's body to break through to the Earthly Yuan Realm Late Stage Peak.

He was now only one step away from the Heavenly Yuan Realm.

Qing Tan, without any surprise, broke through to the Heavenly Yuan Realm Initial Stage.

Besides the two of them, Lin Dong had also broken through to the Earthly Yuan Realm.

With three martial artists at the Earthly Yuan Realm and above, the Lin Family was certain to win this Hunting Competition.

The Hunting Competition had always been a major event in Qingyang Town.

Although the main participants in every competition were the Qingyang Town Four Great Powers, other factions also took part.

After all, every Hunting Competition offered considerable prizes, and the younger generation who stood out here would see their reputations greatly spread.

The Hunting Competition was held at the Beast Horn Arena outside Qingyang Town.

It was Qingyang Town's most magnificent structure, covering an enormous area that even encompassed a forest spanning dozens of li.

At the center of the forest stood a vast platform converted from a small mountain peak.

That stone platform was where the hunting champion would be decided.

On the day the hunt began, the major powers of Qingyang Town sent their people toward the Beast Horn Arena.

However, these people had basically come only to watch and broaden their horizons.

There were only around a hundred actual participants each year, all of them members of the younger generation from various factions.

"Look, it's Lin Fan of the Lin Family!"

"I heard Lin Fan once drove back a Heavenly Yuan Realm expert during the Lin Family Clan Competition!"

"It looks like the Lin Family will take the championship in this Hunting Competition!"

"The Lin Family is truly lucky to have produced a genius like Lin Fan!"

The moment the Lin Family arrived, it immediately drew the attention of the surrounding factions.

Because of Lin Fan's outstanding performance, the various factions began showing goodwill toward the Lin Family.

The reason for this was naturally that they believed Lin Fan had a great chance of breaking through to the Essence Core Realm in the future.

Once the Lin Family produced an Essence Core Realm martial artist, it would inevitably become Qingyang Town's most transcendent power. Given a few more years of development, the Lin Family might even enter Flame City and contend there.

Even if Lin Fan failed to break through to the Essence Core Realm, he would surely become a Heavenly Yuan Realm Late Stage martial artist.

At that time, with two Heavenly Yuan Realm Late Stage martial artists, the Lin Family would still be Qingyang Town's number one power.

Of course, there was one faction that did not show goodwill toward the Lin Family: the Lei Family of Qingyang Town.