After leaving the Blackwater Mountains, Ye Yun spent two hours traveling directly to Azure Sun Town.
Upon entering Azure Sun Town, he went to the same inn as last time and rented a room. Once he had confirmed that it was safe, Ye Yun could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep.
The two consecutive battles had already left him utterly exhausted. Coupled with his nonstop journey, even a Qi Refining Realm martial artist would have found it hard to endure.
The midday sunlight streamed through the window onto Ye Yun's face. Feeling his face burning, Ye Yun woke groggily from his sleep.
After washing up, Ye Yun sat on the bed and took out the Storage Bag he had obtained from Zhao Yu.
Ye Yun sent his consciousness into it along with his true qi and found that this Storage Bag was roughly the same size as his own. Inside were fifty thousand taels of gold, several bottles of cultivation pills, some demonic beast materials, and a few miscellaneous items.
Ye Yun was quite satisfied with these gains. He had not expected Zhao Yu to be carrying so much money.
He transferred everything into his own Storage Bag, then took out a black robe and put it on before leaving for the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
Ye Yun intended to sell the Storage Bag at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. First, he already had one himself. Second, this Storage Bag had come from Zhao Yu. If the Zhao Family discovered it, it would bring him no small amount of trouble.
After entering the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Ye Yun said to a maidservant approaching him, "I want to sell some things."
Hearing this, the maidservant led Ye Yun to the room where he had sold demonic beast materials last time. When they entered, Master Huang was sitting inside.
Master Huang looked at Ye Yun, who was dressed in a black robe, and asked, "Esteemed guest, what do you wish to sell? Could you let this old man take a look?"
Ye Yun took the Storage Bag from his robes and handed it to Master Huang.
Looking at the Storage Bag being handed over, Master Huang's pupils contracted. He stared at Ye Yun in surprise and asked, "Esteemed guest, are you truly selling this Storage Bag?"
Ye Yun said nothing, merely nodding in response.
Seeing that Ye Yun truly intended to sell it, Master Huang took the Storage Bag and inspected it carefully. After examining it, he said to Ye Yun, "There is no problem with this Storage Bag, but this old man has a suggestion. Would esteemed guest be willing to hear it?"
"Speak."
"Three days from now, Azure Sun Town will hold an auction jointly organized by several merchant associations in town. If esteemed guest is not in a hurry, this old man can place this Storage Bag in the auction as one of the finale treasures. The price will definitely be much higher than if you sold it directly. What does esteemed guest think?"
After hearing Master Huang out, Ye Yun pondered for a moment before agreeing. He was not in a hurry for the time being, and this was a good chance to see what an auction was like.
Seeing Ye Yun agree, Master Huang took out a receipt from a drawer beside him and wrote down the information Ye Yun had left behind. After finishing, he handed it to Ye Yun. "Esteemed guest, this is the voucher of my Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Once the auction is over, you may bring this voucher directly to collect the money from the sale of the Storage Bag."
Ye Yun accepted the voucher. After checking that there was nothing wrong with it, he turned and left the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
After leaving the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Ye Yun had nothing to do, so he decided to browse the area where Rogue Cultivator martial artists set up stalls.
When he arrived at the plaza near the entrance of Azure Sun Town, he found many martial artists running stalls there. Ye Yun casually walked in one direction.
"Come and take a look! Top-quality pills!"
"Demonic beast materials from the Blackwater Mountains! Come take a look if you need any!"
Amid the clamor, Ye Yun stopped beside a stall selling martial arts manuals. Seven or eight manuals were laid out on display.
"Boss, may I have a look?" Ye Yun asked the stall owner.
"You can, but only the first five pages."
Under the stall owner's watchful gaze, Ye Yun casually picked up a manual and flipped through it. After looking through three or four books, he picked up a martial arts manual called the Iceheart Formula and began reading it.
"Iceheart Formula, compatibility: twelve points."
After receiving the feedback from his special ability, a flicker of delight flashed through Ye Yun's eyes. He then pretended to remain calm and looked through all the remaining martial arts manuals.
"Boss, how much are the martial arts manuals at your stall?" Ye Yun asked the stall owner.
"They are all low-tier martial arts manuals. How about one thousand taels of gold per book?" The stall owner looked at Ye Yun with a fawning smile.
"One thousand taels of gold? Boss, if you do not want to do business, just say so. Why waste my time?" As Ye Yun spoke, he rose to leave.
Seeing that Ye Yun was not falling for it, the stall owner immediately said, "Esteemed guest, do not be hasty. In business, I name a price and you make a counteroffer. How much are you willing to pay?"
"Fifty taels of gold per book. How about it?" Ye Yun said with feigned displeasure.
"Fifty taels of gold is too low. One fixed price—five hundred taels of gold. I have already knocked off five hundred taels for you. What do you think?" the stall owner replied with another price.
After a round of haggling between Ye Yun and the stall owner, Ye Yun finally bought the low-tier martial arts manual called the Iceheart Formula from him for one hundred taels of gold.
With the Iceheart Formula successfully in hand, Ye Yun had no interest in continuing to browse the stalls and returned directly to the inn where he was staying.
After returning to the inn, Ye Yun took the Iceheart Formula from his robes and carefully read through it.
After reading the Iceheart Formula in its entirety, Ye Yun discovered that it was not a martial arts technique in the conventional sense. It was more like a secret art. It focused on keeping one's mind clear and preventing invasion by inner demons. It was a martial arts technique capable of reducing the risk of qi deviation.
Ye Yun sat on the bed and calmed his mind. When the thoughts in his heart gradually dwindled, he began circulating his true qi according to the method described in the Iceheart Formula.
"Let the heart be as clear as ice; though heaven collapses, remain unshaken. Amid ten thousand changes, remain ever steadfast; let spirit be at ease and qi be tranquil. Forget the self and guard the one; let the six senses settle into great stillness..."
Following the Iceheart Formula's method, Ye Yun slowly stopped his first cultivation session of the Iceheart Formula an hour later.
Ye Yun found that once the Iceheart Formula began circulating, his entire body gradually became like a block of ice. This state indeed suppressed the risk of qi deviation, but for Ye Yun, the greatest use of the Iceheart Formula was that it could provide some help in cultivating the Selfless Realm, allowing him to comprehend the Selfless Realm more quickly.
This unexpected gain left Ye Yun almost beside himself with joy. One had to know that despite his fifteen-point compatibility with the Selfless Realm and the assistance of the Iceheart Lotus Platform, he had painstakingly cultivated for three whole months, yet he was still lingering in the Initiation Realm.
Just like that, three days flashed by. Ye Yun did not go out again during those three days, spending every day comprehending the Iceheart Formula and the Selfless Realm. Although there were no obvious results, with such accumulation day after day, a transformation would surely come one day.
(End of Chapter)
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