Chapter 461: Finally Obtaining the Condensed Soul Pill, Spiritual Crystal Resources |
A single top-grade spirit stone was worth 10,000 ordinary spirit stones.
Right now, the very first auction item had already reached a staggering price of 30 top-grade spirit stones, immediately drawing attention from many of the cultivators present.
Wei Tu was among those watching.
Compared to the wealth of the overseas cultivation world, the Great Cang Immortal Cultivation World was far less prosperous.
Most veteran Nascent Soul cultivators, after deducting fixed assets like magical tools, had a net worth of just a few hundred top-grade spirit stones at most.
But when he heard that today’s auction item was a third-tier high-grade Longevity Pill, he suddenly felt that this price wasn’t so outrageous after all.
Third-tier Longevity Pills might be useless to Nascent Soul cultivators, but for Golden Core True Lords, they were practically priceless treasures.
They were just one step below the Foundation Establishment Pill.
After all, many Golden Core True Lords were only a hair’s breadth away from reaching the peak of the Golden Core stage.
It was like a withered tree finding spring again.
'If I brought this pill back to Great Cang, it wouldn’t just sell for 30 top-grade spirit stones—even 100 wouldn’t be hard to fetch,' Wei Tu thought.
The third-tier Longevity Pill, like the Foundation Establishment Pill, belonged to the category of high-difficulty third-tier pills. To successfully refine one, you’d need the skill of an almost fourth-tier alchemist.
On top of that, the herbs required for refining the Longevity Pill were all rare treasures of the cultivation world.
Just gathering the ingredients was already a painstaking process. Without the backing of a Nascent Soul-level sect, it was nearly impossible to complete.
That’s why this pill was considered a rare, priceless item in the Great Cang Immortal Cultivation World. Selling it for profit wasn’t hard at all.
Still, Wei Tu was only thinking aloud. He had no intention of acting as a smuggler between the two cultivation realms.
In short—windfall from the sky could also bring disaster from above. Rich without power, sooner or later, you'd be paving the way for someone else.
Right now, with access to resources from both realms, if he just focused on cultivating, reaching Divine Transformation might still be difficult, but breaking through to late Nascent Soul wouldn’t be that hard.
No need to stand out too much.
...
“37 top-grade spirit stones.”
Soon, a Golden Core cultivator placed a high bid, increasing the price by 7 stones all at once.
“That’s Liu Gaolou. He’s over 700 years old already. If he doesn’t extend his life now, he’s about to pass away.”
“Bet he’s putting everything he has on the line to get that pill.”
Several Golden Core True Lords whispered among themselves after hearing the bid.
Their divine sense exchanges couldn’t escape Wei Tu’s Nascent Soul-level perception. He followed their voices and looked toward Liu Gaolou, who sat near the very back of the hall.
The man had snow-white hair, a frail frame, and an aura of decay clinging to him. He looked like a dried stick. But while bidding, he appeared full of excitement, no less eager than the younger cultivators.
Unfortunately, that excitement didn’t last long. A calm voice from the Nascent Soul seating in the front row made Liu Gaolou freeze, speechless.
It wasn’t that the Nascent Soul cultivator had threatened him—just that he casually raised the bid.
But clearly, that new price wasn’t something a mere Golden Core True Lord like Liu Gaolou could afford.
After all, trying to compete with Nascent Soul cultivators in terms of wealth—no matter how rich you were, it was useless.
A moment later, the female auctioneer struck the jade gavel.
The third-tier Longevity Pill was taken by another Nascent Soul cultivator for the high price of 45 top-grade spirit stones.
And as the gavel hit, Liu Gaolou’s face turned gloomy and disappointed, like he had just suffered a great blow in a short moment.
Seeing this, Wei Tu withdrew his gaze. He had no interest in that man anymore.
Scenes like this—where the strong eat the weak—were common in the cultivation world. In fact, this round had been relatively mild, decided solely by price.
Next—
A new item was brought out for auction.
Just like the Longevity Pill, the early auction items were all aimed at Golden Core-level cultivators. After all, the entry threshold for this high-tier auction was mid-Golden Core. They weren’t just here to warm seats.
The Condensed Soul Pill that Wei Tu needed appeared after more than ten rounds of bidding, serving as the final high-profile item among Golden Core-level auction lots.
This time, other bidders included Golden Core True Lords like Liu Gaolou.
Luckily, just like in the Great Cang cultivation world, there weren’t many body refinement cultivators in the Guixu Sea Immortal Realm. Even among Nascent Soul cultivators, dual cultivation with body refinement wasn’t common.
So the competition for the Condensed Soul Pill wasn’t intense.
Only a few Nascent Soul cultivators placed bids.
“39 top-grade spirit stones.”
Following their prior agreement, Nangong Zhe made the bid under the name of the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild on Wei Tu’s behalf.
The Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild was a business organization that regularly purchased various spirit materials. Competing for a rare pill like the Condensed Soul Pill was typical of their operations.
So none of the other cultivators paid much attention to Nangong Zhe’s bid, nor did they draw any deeper connections.
However—
For every gain, there was a loss.
By using the name of the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild, Wei Tu avoided drawing attention to himself. But in exchange, he also inherited some of the grievances tied to that major power.
Not long after Nangong Zhe made the bid, an old man in iron armor let out a cold snort and, seemingly in retaliation, began driving up the price of the Condensed Soul Pill.
In just a short while, the price skyrocketed from the starting 35 top-grade spirit stones to a steep 57.
"That man is my old rival, Liu Yigui, the master of the Ten Thousand Serpents Manor. With him raising the price, getting this Condensed Soul Pill won’t be easy," Nangong Zhe said in a low voice, glancing at Wei Tu.
Wei Tu instantly understood what he meant.
Nangong Zhe could keep bidding on the pill for him, but any additional markup would be Wei Tu’s responsibility alone.
"This pill is something I must obtain. President Nangong, no need to hold back—just go for it," Wei Tu replied calmly. "As for worldly wealth, I still have a bit to spare."
As an alchemist, he had already built up a considerable fortune back in his Golden Core stage.
After advancing to Nascent Soul, he also refined pills for the two major Nascent Soul clans—Guangyuan’s Yu family and Shangliang’s Cai family—and earned substantial rewards.
Not to mention, after teaming up with Cao Mi to kill Master Hongjing, he had gained over half the life savings of an old Nascent Soul cultivator.
Adding it all up, his total wealth had long surpassed several million spirit stones.
With this level of wealth, competing for a mere Condensed Soul Pill was nothing to worry about.
Wei Tu didn’t believe Liu Yigui could match his reckless spending just for this pill.
"Fellow Daoist Wei, truly bold!" Nangong Zhe’s lips twitched slightly as he praised him.
Truth was, when he brought up the situation earlier, he wasn’t just asking if Wei Tu wanted to keep bidding—he was subtly trying to persuade him to give up and wait for another chance.
The Condensed Soul Pill was rare, yes, but if Wei Tu had patience, he might get another one in a few decades or a century.
What Nangong Zhe didn’t know was that Wei Tu had already ruled out that kind of waiting from the start.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered it.
But compared to these worldly riches, what mattered more to him was improving his realm and cultivation as early as possible.
The extra markup was something he could accept. But wasting time for the sake of saving money—now that was something he couldn’t tolerate.
...
With Wei Tu covering the cost, Nangong Zhe had no more worries while bidding.
Still, he didn’t let down his guard. While calling out bids, he also played psychological games, pressuring Liu Yigui to back off and avoid further raising the price—doing his best to minimize Wei Tu’s losses.
“72 top-grade spirit stones?”
"That’s enough to buy two Condensed Soul Pills. Nangong Zhe, well played!" Liu Yigui chuckled darkly, giving Nangong a look filled with schadenfreude.
He assumed that his provocation had angered Nangong Zhe into bidding wildly, causing the man to snap and push the price too high—only to end up stuck with the pill himself.
After all, at that level of markup, even the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild would take a hit.
And since they were putting on a show, Nangong Zhe played his part well. As a seasoned merchant, his expression showed no flaws. Just as Liu Yigui imagined and the other cultivators expected, his face first showed fury, then regret—putting on a perfect act of someone who had fallen for a trap.
With that, everyone quickly shifted their attention to the next round of auction items.
This next batch was filled with treasures suited for Nascent Soul cultivators.
Each item started at a price of at least 100 top-grade spirit stones.
Some items even required payment in spiritual crystals only—no top-grade spirit stones accepted.
"Spiritual crystals?" Only now did Wei Tu learn about this unique resource native to the overseas cultivation world, based on what the other cultivators were saying.
Spiritual crystals, also known as origin spirit stones, held even purer and denser spiritual energy than top-grade spirit stones.
They were called "origin" stones because inside each spiritual crystal was a trace of origin spiritual energy—something top-grade spirit stones lacked.
With that trace of origin energy, spiritual crystals could continuously generate spirit energy like a natural spiritual vein, producing more spirit stones over time.
Besides that, the origin energy also had great benefits for Nascent Soul cultivators.
It was a true "spirit-nurturing" treasure.
Refining such a crystal could greatly enhance a cultivator’s Nascent Soul, boosting their spiritual sensitivity and accelerating their cultivation.
After hearing that, Wei Tu finally understood why the Guixu Sea cultivation world had so many more and stronger Nascent Soul cultivators than the Great Cang realm.
It all came down to resources—just this one local product, spiritual crystals, completely outclassed the resource-starved Great Cang Immortal Cultivation World.
'I wonder if the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild does internal trades with spiritual crystals?' Wei Tu’s eyes flickered as he silently pondered.
If they did, he would like to trade some of his resources for a spiritual crystal and try cultivating with it himself.
But he was too smart to ask Nangong Zhe directly at the auction. Doing so would only raise suspicion.
After all, based on the backstory he had crafted for himself, he didn’t exactly look like someone who would be short on spiritual crystals after just a few years in a foreign land.