Cultivation towards immortality, starting from being a fisherman

Chapter 45: Chapter 45 Bloodline Stone Plate

Under a moonlight-sprinkled night sky,

Nine Leaf Mountain was shrouded in a fog thicker than the mist of the morning.

It was only after Su Ping held the wooden tablet and stepped into the fog that he felt the mist suddenly churn around him.

Then, a cloud of mist formed a floating platform under his feet, carrying Su Ping directly to the mountaintop.

This was different from the workshop halfway up the mountain.

At the top, there was only a simple, ancient-looking courtyard house.

...

As Su Ping landed at the entrance, an old acquaintance, the elderly cultivator who presided over the Yunbao Tower, came to greet him.

The elderly cultivator recognized Su Ping but did not disclose it; instead, while passing over the wooden tablet, he whispered:

“Taoist Friend, please come inside. Take a look at the Yun Family’s catalogue of goods first, the Yun Family’s auction will begin shortly.”

“Afterward, the Yun Family will vouch for everyone and provide quiet rooms for exchange.”

“Rest assured, Taoist Friend, the Nine Leaf Workshop’s misty array is fully operational, everyone’s privacy and safety are guaranteed.”

Su Ping slightly nodded, noncommittal about the Yun Family’s assurance.

He entered the main hall of the courtyard house and saw a few people already seated around a large round table.

One of them seemed to be that Talisman Master Luo, if he wasn’t mistaken?

The old cultivator was wearing a mask, but it was still the magic robe he had seen last time.

The familiar scent of rouge and powder also hadn’t changed, as detected by the Spiritual Rat, White.

Su Ping silently shook his head.

The Immortal Sect had been too peaceful for too long, so much so that an old cultivator who had made a living off talismans for decades had lost his cautious heart.

He sipped his tea slowly, waiting for a while.

Several cultivators with a dignified aura arrived at the courtyard house, and once they did, the door closed and a mist engulfed the courtyard.

Then, a Qi Cultivation Late Period cultivator stepped into the hall from the corridor and bowed to the cultivators present.

“I am Yun Yuan, the current Great Elder of the Yun Family!”

“Also, the third Deacon of the Agricultural Affairs Hall of the Immortal Sect Outer Sect.”

“This time, entrusted by the family, I’m here to preside over the Yun Family’s auction. If there is any lack, I hope everyone will be accommodating.”

Yun Yuan briskly approached the seat of honor, glanced over the attendees, and then brought out a storage bag marked as number one and placed it on the table:

“Three-hundred-year-old Mid-Grade Dragon Beard Grass, starting price 100 Spirit Stones…”

Su Ping had already reviewed the catalogue; he was not interested in the initial spiritual plants.

He was neither versed in alchemy nor in the cultivation of spiritual plants.

Moreover, those who typically bought these were often Outer Sect cultivators with the backing of other Immortal Cultivation families.

Su Ping disliked trouble and scorned competing with them for such useless items.

“Here it comes!”

As the auction progressed past the halfway point, Su Ping suddenly straightened up, his gaze fixed on the storage bag Yun Yuan had taken out.

“Bloodline Stone Plate, this one from my Yun Family dates back to a discovery a century ago by an ancestor and can identify three thousand six hundred types of Spiritual Bodies.”

Yun Yuan paused before continuing:

“This item is essential for cultivators aspiring to establish their Immortal Cultivation families.”

“With this Bloodline Stone Plate, one can foresee if one’s descendants possess natural Spiritual Bodies, allowing for focused cultivation.”

“It requires Spirit Stones to activate, and each Spirit Stone allows for one hundred tests.”

“Each test can assess the blood of up to a hundred people.”

“Additionally included is a commentary on Spiritual Bodies, detailed on a Jade Scroll annotated by the descendants of my Yun Family.”

“Starting price… 200 Spirit Stones!”

Su Ping focused on the storage bag, recalling the relevant knowledge he had recently reviewed.

Magic artifacts that accurately determine the quality of Spirit Roots have always been tightly controlled by the Immortal Sect, and not even the Immortal Cultivation families are known to publicly claim ownership of such devices.

Those families usually resort to alternatives, choosing artifacts like the Bloodline Stone Plate that can detect Spiritual Bodies.

Most with Spirit Roots do not possess a Spiritual Body.

Those with a Spiritual Body, unless particularly unique, have at least Low-Grade Spirit Roots!

For instance, that girl from the Ji Family in Golden Sparrow City likely possessed some sort of enchanting related Spiritual Body, hence her Low-Grade Spirit Root.

If the Ji Family had such an artifact, no doubt the girl would have received the family’s cultivation from a young age.

But still, the difference in status between a mere mortal family like the Ji Family and true Immortal Cultivation families was too vast. @@novelbin@@

Forget about two hundred spirit stones, even if the Ji Family pooled all their liquid assets, they might still not scrape together twenty spirit stones!

“Two hundred and thirty spirit stones!”

As Yun Yuan’s words fell, an eagle-faced cultivator who had bought quite a few spirit plants again made a bid:

“This is already a high price. In the Immortal Sect Main Workshop, similar Bloodline Stone Plates are no more than two hundred and fifty spirit stones.”

Yun Yuan frowned upon hearing this and added:

“However, to go to the Immortal Sect Main Workshop, you still need merit contributions to exchange, and our piece also has over a hundred more types of spiritual bodies.”

“Heh, the chance of encountering a spiritual body is too low. How many spiritual bodies has your Yun Family detected in the past hundred years?”

Listening to their public discussion.

Su Ping silently calculated the spirit stones in his storage bag.

In addition to the more than one hundred and fifty spirit stones provided by the tribulation cultivator, the sale of demon beast materials this week had also netted him over six hundred spirit stones.

It couldn’t be helped, even if the quality of materials from forcibly promoted demon beasts was low, the sheer quantity was impressive, especially that single-horned bull which provided nearly six hundred kilograms of demon beast meat!

It made it impossible for Su Ping not to become rich overnight!

“Two hundred and fifty spirit stones!”

Su Ping thought it over and made his bid, readying himself for any cultivator who might challenge his offer.

However, as he called out this price, several cultivators with powerful backers glanced at each other and then tacitly decided to give up.

“Hmm?”

Su Ping was briefly taken aback, then quickly understood the reason behind this.

The Bloodline Stone Plate actually had quite a limited use, and most of the cultivators present who could afford it already had similar items, buying them only to fill in missing pieces.

As for those who couldn’t afford it… well, they naturally wouldn’t bid.

If the price was right they’d buy, if not, they’d let it go.

After all, in the world of immortal cultivation, even among the immortal cultivation families, a large number of clan members were mortals with not even inferior spirit roots.

The chance of clan members possessing a spiritual body was even rarer!

Some stingy immortal cultivation families wouldn’t even offer the chance to use a Bloodline Stone Plate for detection unless it was a direct descendant or unless there were signs of divine exceptions.

Buying an extra plate at a high price just to check for omissions was not a decision any of the attending cultivators dared to make.

Subsequently, Su Ping participated in several more auctions.

He acquired a set of Small Illusion Arrays and several small magic artifacts that could mask auras and protect the body.

Afterward, Su Ping began to observe inwardly, silently waiting for the auction to end.

Su Ping’s behavior let the Eagle-faced cultivator and several other family cultivators breathe a sigh of relief.

At first, they thought this guy was a heavyweight that the Yun Family had found somewhere to drive up prices.

Fortunately, in the auctions involving heavy-weight interests, this cultivator didn’t participate.

It seemed they were worried for nothing.

As the auction moved into the latter half, spirit fields, spirit mines, and even the workshop itself were sold by the Yun Family.

It left the rest of the attending cultivators full of envy.

The old talisman master was even somewhat beside himself, seemingly dreaming of owning his own workshop and spirit field.

“The auction is over. Thank you, Taoist friends, for gracing us with your presence. You may come to settle with me, and there are quiet rooms on both sides available for private transactions.”

After speaking, Yun Yuan went with those family cultivators to the back hall.

Once those family cultivators emerged satisfied, Su Ping then went in, settled with spirit stones, and acquired the Array Plate and other items.

After returning to the main hall, Su Ping took out the Nourishing Yuan Pill and Qi Replenishing Pill from the tribulation cultivator.

He exchanged them for some talismans with the old talisman master, and bought some more talismans, materials for artifact refining and formations with spirit stones from the other cultivators.

Afterward, Su Ping found Yun Yuan and expressed his desire to leave.

Accompanied by the operation of the formation, vapor carried Su Ping back to the foothills of Nine Leaf Mountain.

With his feet on solid ground, Su Ping silently released the Thunder Fire Pearl hidden in his sleeve.

And with eyes closed, he communicated through the Spiritual Rats, White and Grey, with the surrounding rat swarms to check the situation around Nine Leaf Mountain.

Seconds later, after confirming safety and just as he was about to leave, Su Ping suddenly discovered an emerging situation:

“Eh?”

“There really is an unexpected situation!”

“But it seems it’s not aimed at me, but at a Taoist friend who left before me encountering an ambush!”