Blazing Divine Eagle Essence Blood

In the following days.

Shen Xuan focused all his attention on cultivation and talisman crafting.

Occasionally, he would discipline his young wife and calm his mind.

This seemingly monotonous life was leisurely and at ease for Shen Xuan.

Every day of cultivation brought some reward, spurring him to cultivate even more diligently.

He was already sixty-six years old.

In the Cultivation World, the best age to establish a Dao Foundation was before sixty.

After eighty, it became very difficult to successfully establish a Foundation.

Now, with his Spirit Root elevated to mid-grade, he saw a glimmer of hope for Foundation Establishment.

"Every day, I spend four hours cultivating in the morning and evening, and four hours crafting talismans. The remaining four hours, besides eating and sleeping, are for summarizing cultivation and talisman crafting experience, and reading cultivation classics..."

Shen Xuan sighed inwardly, his schedule was too tight.

Excluding cultivation, talisman crafting, and sleep, he had only half an hour of free time.

Fortunately, the Ding Family's shop was in the Market Town, making travel convenient.

"Perhaps I should compress my talisman crafting time and make fewer [Spring Return Talismans]?"

Soon, Shen Xuan dismissed this idea.

Four hours of talisman crafting per day, including rest and recovery, consumed three hundred and sixty portions of [Spring Return Talisman] materials per month, yielding about one hundred and fifty [Spring Return Talismans], with around thirty being high-quality.

At the current price of [Spring Return Talismans], he could earn a net profit of ninety Spirit Stones per month from crafting them.

Just activating the Spirit Gathering Array for two hours a month cost thirty Spirit Stones.

Then there was the rent, and the living expenses for him and Ding Yuyao, and so on.

Not long ago, he had spent all his Spirit Stones to plunder the bloodline talent of a juvenile Water Cloud Turtle.

He could only save fifty Spirit Stones per month. Plundering the bloodline talent of a first-tier mid-grade Yao Beast required at least a hundred Spirit Stones!

"Forget it, I'll save up some Spirit Stones first!"

With only half an hour of free time left, he could only compress their dual cultivation time.

Speeding up each time, ending the vigorous exercise as quickly as possible!

Shen Xuan shook his head.

Suppressing his distracting thoughts, he continued to diligently practice talisman crafting.

Ten days later.

Zhao Chunsheng returned home with a smug look on his face.

He had gone out on a demon hunting expedition and reaped considerable rewards.

It was said he earned over ten Spirit Stones.

"Talisman Master Shen, next time, how about I take you along for demon hunting?"

"No, it's too dangerous, and I'm not skilled in combat."

"It's fine. You just need to stay in the back and provide [Spring Return Talismans] for your teammates."

Shen Xuan thought very seriously.

He still decisively refused.

Zhao Chunsheng was a cautious person.

The demon hunting teams he joined were always conservative and not very dangerous.

But Shen Xuan felt he didn't need to earn this kind of money.

He had finally settled down, moved into a B-grade Residence, and his life was harmonious and stable.

He cherished this life and didn't want to take any risks.

With his [Life Extension] talent, Shen Xuan conservatively estimated that upon reaching the perfected Qi Refining stage, his Lifespan could reach one hundred and fifty years.

His Spirit Root aptitude had improved to mid-grade.

He still had a chance to establish his Foundation before he was a hundred years old.

Currently, he was only sixty-six.

He still had over thirty years, so there was no need to rush.

Two months later.

In the Ding Family's shop.

After selling ordinary [Spring Return Talismans] and exchanging them for talisman crafting materials, Shen Xuan was about to head back.

Shopkeeper Ding called out to him.

"Talisman Master Shen, do you have any extra high-quality Spring Return Talismans?"

As a favor to their old acquaintance, Shen Xuan sold him ten high-quality Spring Return Talismans.

"The high-quality Spring Return Talismans are all bought by Tianxiang Pavilion each month; this is my last stock."

Shopkeeper Ding gave a wry smile.

Things were not what they used to be.

He didn't dare to show Talisman Master Shen any disrespect.

News had come from his clan that Shen Xuan indeed had a fellow student and friend who had successfully reached Foundation Establishment in Qingyun Sect.

And it was a female cultivator.

In the Cultivation World, female cultivators were usually rarer than male cultivators and were more valued within sects.

"Thank you, Talisman Master Shen, for patronizing my business."

Shopkeeper Ding lowered his voice and said, "Talisman Master Shen, the Ding family will be organizing a small auction soon. This is your entry identity jade token; they specifically instructed me to reserve one for you."

"The items at the auction are rare spiritual items seldom seen in the market town, difficult to purchase from shops."

Shen Xuan glanced at the auction identity jade token.

"Shopkeeper Ding, attending an auction doesn't mean one must purchase cultivation spiritual items, right?"

"What a thing to say! Of course, you only make a bid if you like it; if there's nothing you fancy, it's good to broaden your horizons."

"Then thank you, Shopkeeper Ding."

Shen Xuan took the jade token and turned to leave the Ding family's shop.

Currently, he only had a little over a hundred spirit stones, not enough to afford any cultivation spiritual items at the auction.

Fortunately, besides Yao Beast essence blood, he had no other urgently needed cultivation spiritual items.

His mid-grade spirit root was enough to break through to the late Qi refining stage.

He was an optimistic person.

Although sixty was the prime age for Foundation Establishment, for him, Foundation Establishment was still possible at a hundred years old.

Why risk everything and desperately seek all sorts of cultivation spiritual items?

Moreover, the most crucial item, the Foundation Establishment Pill, was not available from the Ding family.

These precious breakthrough spirit pills had always been rare resources, tightly controlled by the sects.

During the last frontier clearing, Qingyun Sect had unprecedentedly offered ten Foundation Establishment Pills to incentivize rogue cultivators to participate in corvée labor and risk their lives.

It was heard that as high as twenty percent of cultivators perished during the frontier clearing corvée labor.

The cultivators belonging to the Ding family had not accumulated enough sect merits to exchange for that precious Foundation Establishment Pill.

"I'll go take a look if I have time; it'll be a good way to broaden my horizons."

Soon, the day of the Ding family's auction arrived.

Shen Xuan disguised his aura as late Qi Refining Stage and walked towards the designated auction building.

Along the way, he encountered very few cultivators whose auras were weaker than his.

In Qinglong Bay Market, there were distinct boundaries between the inner city, outer city, and the periphery.

The auction building was located in the inner city of the market.

Generally speaking, most residents and active individuals here were in the late Qi Refining Stage.

A small number of mid Qi Refining Stage cultivators also held special identities.

Like Shen Xuan, a mid-grade talisman master.

"In the Cultivation World, the hierarchy is strict."

"Strength is paramount. Only when you are powerful yourself will others respect you."

Shen Xuan silently reminded himself.

He took out his auction identity jade token. After registering, a Ding family member specifically responsible for reception approached him and said respectfully, "Talisman Master Shen, please follow me."

Entering a private room, the Ding family member produced a mask.

"Talisman Master Shen, this mask is specially made by the Ding family. Wearing it can block spiritual sense probes. After the auction, you can leave first, and then return the mask to the Ding family shop."

Hearing this, Shen Xuan couldn't help but praise them inwardly.

The Ding family truly lived up to their reputation as a Foundation Establishment family with a thousand years of heritage.

Their service was indeed thoughtful.

After putting on the mask, cultivators attending the auction would not have to worry about their identities being exposed.

Shen Xuan donned the mask and followed the Ding family member into the auction hall.

Inside, things were orderly, with about two hundred people, all very silent.

Most of them wore masks and concealed their auras, deeply understanding the Cowardly Path of keeping a low profile.

There were also a few who didn't wear masks.

All were at the Late Qi Refining Stage or above.

Shen Xuan found a secluded corner and quietly watched.

He had come to this auction just to observe, not intending to bid on anything.

To gain experience and observe market prices.

To prepare for future actions.

He hadn't sat for long before the auction began.

After the auctioneer finished their opening remarks, the auction commenced.

The items auctioned were a wide variety: Spirit Pills, Magic Tools, Cultivation Techniques, formation flags, Spirit Plants, and so on. There was everything imaginable, and the starting bids were cheap, drawing many attending rogue cultivators to raise their paddles and bid, creating a very lively atmosphere.

Many things he had only heard of before, but never seen.

Shen Xuan hadn't expected that there would be Yao Beast essence blood at the auction!

"A bottle of Blazing Divine Eagle Essence Blood!"