At the Exquisite Pavilion auction house on Jade Conch Island's inner island, moonlight stones set into the domed ceiling cast a soft, clear glow over the neatly arranged private boxes and open seating below. Cultivators came and went, their auras mingling, while murmured conversations intertwined with the fragrance of spiritual tea in a seemingly peaceful scene. Han Li sat alone in an inconspicuous patch of shadow in a corner of the hall, dressed in an ordinary blue-green robe. He had suppressed his aura to the early stage of Foundation Establishment and slightly altered his features with the Profound Yin Qi-Concealing Art, making himself look utterly unremarkable.
His calm gaze swept over the display platform, where bidding rose and fell over a three-hundred-year-old scarlet sun ginseng. He had not come to bid. Rather, he had heard that a Star Palace Inspector might appear after the auction, and wanted a close look at this influential figure who might determine Jade Conch Island's future. He also hoped to find a suitable water-attribute cultivation art to switch to, or resources related to one.
Within his body, the strand of fiend qi seed had grown increasingly condensed and docile under the continued nourishment of the spirit-cleansing cattail's medicinal power, forming a delicate balance with the originally violent profound fiend power spiritual power in his meridians. His cultivation of "Water-Origin Guidance: An Introduction" had also settled onto the right track. Though progress was slow, it quietly purified the attributes of his spiritual power like spring rain nourishing all things, laying the groundwork for a complete change of cultivation art. However, mainstream water-attribute arts suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators were rarely circulated in the markets, and their prices were steep.
"The next lot is an incomplete pill formula, the first two volumes of the Azure Water, Elixir