Secured at a High Price (Please Follow)

"Esteemed seniors and fellow Daoists, let me introduce the Bloodheart Pill once more. Its miraculous effects are enough to bring a Foundation Establishment cultivator back from the brink of death, even if they have only a single breath left!"

"The starting bid is eight thousand spirit stones, and each raise must be no less than one hundred spirit stones!" Fallen Fragrance Fairy was equally fired up.

Ye Jingcheng could feel Ye Xinghe's body trembling slightly.

It was as though he cared deeply about the Bloodheart Pill!

Meanwhile, cultivators from the Li Family, the Chu Family, the Chen Family, and others began calling out bids in succession!

"Nine thousand spirit stones!"

"Ten thousand spirit stones!"

The Bloodheart Pill's price shot straight toward the price of a Foundation Establishment Pill!

Of course, under normal circumstances, the Bloodheart Pill was not worth that much. But if a Foundation Establishment cultivator needed treatment for their injuries, its value would soar in a straight line!

After all, a Foundation Establishment Pill could still fail, while the Bloodheart Pill could restore a Foundation Establishment cultivator's combat strength with near certainty!

"Eleven thousand spirit stones!" Ye Xinghe spoke for the first time!

Yet he did not raise the price by much, still maintaining his rationality!

The four great families—and even the two Purple Mansion families upstairs—might make a move!

There was no point in raising the price too drastically. Those Rogue Cultivators could not bid many times anyway, so there was no need to scare them off.

"Twelve thousand spirit stones!" Li Mutian spoke provocatively as well!

"Thirteen thousand spirit stones!" Ye Xinghe continued calmly!

The price steadily climbed.

By the time it reached eighteen thousand spirit stones, three parties were still competing.

The Xu Clan on the second floor, the Li Family in a private room on the first floor, and the Ye Family in another private room on the first floor!

And the bidding was exceptionally fierce.

Many cultivators who had intended to leave after the treasures were auctioned off gradually stopped as well!

The last auction this explosive had been the Foundation Establishment Pill released by the Taiyi Sect three years ago!

"Twenty thousand spirit stones!" Even after naming that price, Ye Xinghe remained as calm as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze!

Seeing this, Li Mutian could not help but ask.

"That Black Flood Dragon Pincers earlier belonged to your Ye Family, didn't it!"

But Ye Xinghe did not answer, merely continuing to gaze ahead calmly!

And Blackwood True Person, who had been present just moments ago, had already vanished from sight.

The scene fell silent for a long while.

Then, from the second floor, a bid of twenty-one thousand spirit stones finally rang out, shattering the silence!

"Twenty-two thousand!" Ye Xinghe spoke again!

This time, the second floor fell quiet for a long time as well.

Fallen Fragrance Fairy swayed as she continued calling for bids, hoping to use her graceful figure to spur the price even higher.

But those interested in her figure no longer had the means to bid, while those who were not interested cared even less!

"Twenty-two thousand spirit stones, going twice!"

"Twenty-two thousand spirit stones, going three times!"

"Sold! Congratulations to the Ye Family cultivator!"

Fallen Fragrance Fairy finally brought down the hammer.

Ye Xinghe finally let out a breath of relief!

Beneath his composed expression, his hand clenched into a fist!

The Black Flood Dragon Pincers had been crafted from a demon beast personally slain by the Ye Family Patriarch, and had also been personally refined by him into a magic artifact. Yet now, because of the Bloodheart Pill, it had been sold to the Li Family!

Of course, he was now even more certain of one thing: there was most likely something wrong with the Bloodheart Pill. Otherwise, considering its importance to the Ye Family, twenty-two thousand spirit stones would never have been enough to reach its final price.

But although there was something suspicious about the Bloodheart Pill, he had examined it, and its medicinal effect was normal. Perhaps it could still be used; the family merely needed to first uncover the pitfall hidden within it.

And he believed his family could do that.

Thus, the Bloodheart Pill was still extremely important.

Of course, deep down, he still hoped his suspicions were wrong—that there was nothing wrong with the Bloodheart Pill. So long as they brought it back to the family, the Ye Family's guardian spirit beast would be able to recover from its injuries.

Before long, Ye Xinghe stepped forward to exchange spirit stones for the treasure!

The Li Family remained seated for a long time without leaving. Even Li Xiangcai did the same, as though they still intended to put on a show, and Ye Xinghe was more than willing to play along.

Not only did he mock them a little, but after collecting the pill, he swiftly returned to the shop.

"Xinghong, close the shop for ten days. Do not open the doors for the next ten days!" Ye Xinghe began giving orders as soon as he entered.

He then looked at Ye Jingcheng and the other two.

"You three should go back to your rooms as well. Cultivate properly these next few days!" Ye Xinghe instructed again, then turned to Ye Jingcheng.

"This is your Red Dragon Fruit. Three hundred and twenty spirit stones!" Ye Xinghe took out a palm-sized jade box—the very jade box from the auction.

"Thank you, Uncle. Jingcheng only has two hundred and fifty spirit stones in his purse..." Ye Jingcheng said awkwardly.

He had dared to bid three hundred spirit stones back then because Ye Jingli had said he would subsidize him with one hundred spirit stones.

"Deduct contribution points. Xinghong, help Jingcheng deduct them!" After giving the order and reminding the four of them not to go out, Ye Xinghe headed back into his room.

"This treasure is extremely important to the family. Everyone, bear with it for the next few days and cultivate patiently. To cultivators, everything else is but an external possession; only cultivation is what truly matters!" Seeing that everyone was still rather heavy-hearted, Ye Xinghong explained once more.

After explaining, she let out a long sigh.

She sighed for them—but who had ever sighed for her? If she could do it all over again, perhaps she too would place greater importance on cultivation!

But now, she had already grown accustomed to an ordinary life.

"Thank you, Thirteenth Aunt. We understand!" Ye Jingcheng spoke up, then took the lead in walking toward the room.

At that moment, he gathered up all the spirit fruits and spirit herbs. He wanted to see what images the ancient book would reveal.

Ye Jingli and the others, however, were rather excited, as though they still wanted to discuss the scenes from the auction.

Ye Jinghao and Jingyun in particular craned their necks, crowding around the three of them.

When they saw Ye Jingcheng leave, they instead gathered around Ye Jingli!

There was no helping it—Ye Xingyu was an elder. The moment he glared, they had no choice but to draw back!

After returning to his room, Ye Jingcheng set up the formation again. Before him lay numerous spirit herbs!

Sure enough, the ancient book had changed, and shadows of pill refinement appeared one after another.

Ye Jingcheng did not dare slack off in the slightest at this sight. He repeatedly took out jade slips and began recording!

What gave him a headache was that this spirit pill was clearly far more complicated than a first-rank mid-grade spirit pill. At the very least, he would need to master first-rank high-grade spirit pills before he could refine it!

Moreover, to ensure the success of the pill refinement, it would be best for the Crimson Flame Fox to reach the late first rank as well.

Otherwise, his Red Dragon Fruit and Heartless Flower would not be enough to support many attempts!

Putting down the jade slip, Ye Jingcheng also decided that from now on, he would study it once every day!

He had to ensure that he succeeded on the first attempt when refining the pill!

The Crimson Flame Fox's two-tailed appearance in the ancient book was simply far too imposing.

Only after his emotions settled did Ye Jingcheng feed his two spirit beasts.

The Crimson Flame Fox still received a Spirit Feeding Pill along with the treasure book's spiritual radiance, while the Jade Ring Rat only received half a Spirit Feeding Pill and the tiniest bit of the treasure book's spiritual radiance.

Once everything had been dealt with, Ye Jingcheng let out a long breath, lay down on the bed, and began cultivating quietly.

As the Parting Fire Art circulated, Ye Jingcheng's heart gradually calmed. Spiritual energy formed cycle after cycle within him, and heat surged through his body.

The spiritual energy in the air gradually formed a faint vortex around him, making his body seem to glow with a thin layer of red light.

And so, day after day passed.

Everyone was waiting for the ten-day shop closure to end.

Ye Jingcheng was waiting, Ye Xinghe was waiting, and the outside world was waiting...