Chapter 104: Seize the Jade Slip!

“Friends, do not worry. I am a complete stranger to this practitioner, and the Mysterious Market has always had a reputation to uphold; it would never do anything as dishonorable as making such hollow promises.”

Gong Tian glared at Jin Quan through clenched resentment. Had it not been for this fellow’s incessant meddling, the auction would have ended long ago.

Still, he had not forgotten the market’s honor, and he also wished to chip away at the authority of the Three Great Families.
“I do not know whether Haiyue City’s auctions have made many copies of the secret-art jade slips they sell, but all of you may rest assured: these two slips offered today by the Mysterious Market contain only part of the material. At present, only the first section—techniques for forging arts-implements—has been copied; the methods for creating spirit tools and talismanic relics remain unknown in full.”

At that, he smiled faintly, yet his eyes held a thin edge of mockery as they turned to Jin Quan.
“So that is why the opening price was set so low. If any of you have any misgivings, you may step aside and forgo bidding.”

Gong Tian’s words directly refuted Jin Quan’s claim about possible replication, while simultaneously striking another blow against Haiyue Celestial City’s credibility.
“In your city, how many duplicate copies of cultivation arts and secret techniques have not been made? Do you truly think our market would do the same?”

When Jin Quan heard that, his face darkened instantly. Gong Tian’s words, however, were easy to verify. A jade slip, after all, is a vessel carrying techniques and records, and its seals are normally arranged according to the viewer’s level of cultivation.

In the Immortal World there are more people chasing beyond their limits than one can count. Such restrictions are also a form of protection, to prevent one with insufficient attainment from forcing oneself into forbidden practices.

Moreover, a jade slip can be consulted only a limited number of times. Its content is a recording of the prior owner’s spirit imprint; each reading consumes part of that imprint, and once repeated too often, the recorded contents will vanish entirely.

“Thirty thousand spirit-stones!”

No sooner had Gong Tian finished speaking than a wave of calculation stirred through the gathered cultivators, and then Shen Yan suddenly called out that bid.

The moment the number came out, all eyes in the grand hall turned toward him. To raise the price by ten thousand stone at once was sheer boldness, and it also made clear that Shen Yan intended to secure those two slips.

Unmoved by the attention, Shen Yan sat in a remote corner, smiled faintly at Gong Tian in leisurely fashion, and quietly waited for the mysterious young woman and Jin Quan to continue raising bids.

It seemed his audacity had cowed them. After a brief pause, the young woman finally shook her head and stepped away from bidding.

Jin Quan, brows knotted, stared at Shen Yan with a harder light in his eyes.

“Daoist Jin, the only rule in the Mysterious Market auction is that the highest bidder wins. When you keep staring at me like that, are you trying to use the stature of Haiyue Celestial City’s Three Great Families to pressure me into retreating?”

Jin Quan was only a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. He may have those clans behind him and a considerable stock of spirit tools and talisman charms, but to Shen Yan he was no cause for fear.

Though he had not yet forged his inner state into a complete false-dan level qi-field, his current strength was such that, unless a fully established Foundation Cultivator of the false-dan stage stepped in personally, he could trade blows with Shen Yan on roughly equal footing.

The instant Shen Yan finished speaking, Jin Quan’s pupils narrowed. He had only cast a testing glance at him; he did not expect such a fierce response.

A man like this either has truly deep power or deep backing. In either case, Jin Quan did not want to make an enemy.

So after Shen Yan’s taunt he did not lash out. Instead he made a slight bow and said with a calm smile,
“You make light of me, friend. I looked at you twice only because your face is unfamiliar. I ask your pardon.”

Then he turned to Gong Tian and said, still even,
“Thirty-one thousand spirit-stones.”

Seeing Jin Quan quickly regain his composure, Shen Yan’s respect for him rose a little. He had assumed Jin Quan’s continual snarling was just the bluster of a dull brute, but that was not the case. Perhaps they were longtime rivals, perhaps close enough to speak so bluntly.

Faced with someone whose background he did not know, Shen Yan’s measured responses suited a clan leader perfectly. After all, Jin Quan had raised his bid over Shen Yan’s by only one thousand stones—evidence of a man not easily swayed by emotion.

“Forty thousand spirit-stones.”

Shen Yan again raised the bid without hesitation. In his storage pouch he still had one hundred and forty thousand spirit-stones; offering a third of that at once was painful, but these two slips were certainly worth it.

His bid stunned everyone again. Few there could muster forty thousand at once. Was this man a member of another force? Or was a core-formation cultivator behind him?

Jin Quan looked at Shen Yan once more, then turned away as he weighed matters.

After waiting a little, Gong Tian smiled as he spoke:
“Any other friends wish to bid? If not, these two slips will pass to Daoist Zhou Shun.”

Zhou Shun.

For an instant, everyone in the hall remembered that name.

Jin Quan finished his calculation and shook his head. Forty thousand stones for two slips that might not even contain the full methods for refining talismanic treasures—far too extravagant.

And if the so-called secret techniques inside were only what had been seen in the first layer at Qi-nourishing stage, and whatever followed were merely primitive methods from ages past, even if he were one of the three principal men of Haiyue City he would face unbearable scrutiny.

“Congratulations, Daoist Zhou Shun, on securing both slips at forty thousand spirit-stones.”

Gong Tian called out. It was the most expensive item of the day, and the final price far exceeded his expectation.
He had thought two slips worth at most twenty thousand spirit-stones. He had never imagined they would fetch forty.

Carrying the wooden tray with the slips, he came to Shen Yan’s side. After their transaction, he returned to the next lots. Shen Yan then slipped his own spirit-awareness into the jade slips and examined them carefully.

The moment his awareness entered, he found the slips indeed contained three layers of seals. The first blocked Qi-Nourishing cultivators, the second blocked Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the third could only be passed by one whose own awareness already reached the false-dan threshold of complete Foundation Establishment.

Yet Shen Yan had the Art of Refining Spirit Awareness; though he was still only in early Foundation Establishment, his awareness was scarcely weaker than that of a false-dan adept. In an instant it pierced the third barrier and reached the inner information.

“It truly does hold special techniques for forging talismanic relics, and beyond that, methods for restoring broken talismanic relics as well. These forty thousand stones were not wasted.”

Chapter 105: Ambush in the Shadows

After confirming the contents, Shen Yan’s mouth curved in quiet satisfaction.
Most onlookers caught the scene. Those unfamiliar with jade-slip restrictions looked vaguely puzzled, but for Gong Tian and Jin Quan—both aware of such matters—each felt a jolt.

“Could this Zhou Shun be a false-dan cultivator?”

To break through the third seal, one’s awareness must be at least at the false-dan level. It is a strict requirement and cannot be bypassed by trickery.

If Shen Yan spent forty thousand stones on the slips, he must have been certain their contents were exactly what he needed. Only then would he look so pleased.

For a moment, both men’s attitudes toward Shen Yan shifted.

Gong Tian knew him slightly better than Jin Quan did. The dwarf from Qianji Tower had once told him that a cultivator had visited his shop, was seeking information on sinister qi, and seemed like a Foundation Establishment early-stage practitioner going to bid today.

Yet now, clearly this “Zhou Shun” was nothing of the kind. This man’s attainment was certainly not merely early Foundation.

What kind of such cultivator could spend forty thousand stones on two uncertain secrets?
What kind of early Foundation cultivator could possess awareness at the false-dan level?

As for Shen Yan, he knew nothing of their misjudgment. After confirming that one of the two slips contained techniques for forging objects below core-formation, he slipped his awareness into the other.

“The techniques bear matching styles. These two slips were surely written by the same hand. Some of the spirit-material names are no different from those used now. So the cultivator who made them was not some antiquated master from a bygone age.”

A great weight lifted from Shen Yan’s mind. With these two slips he could surge ahead in the arts of crafting implements and drawing talismans. Especially in forging—he would not be long before he could raise all of his prime artifacts to low-grade spirit-tool status. He could also attempt to repair the broken talismanic relic in his possession. If that succeeded, he would gain yet another decisive card to play.

The auction continued while Shen Yan inspected the slips.

Not long after, Gong Tian’s voice drew his attention again. Another item he had been eyeing appeared on the platform:
“Middle-grade spirit tool: the Soul-Binding Bell. It can withstand all spirit-awareness attacks, demonic-qi interference, and certain enthralling spells from below the Core-Formation stage. Opening bid: four thousand spirit-stones.”

Spirit tools that can resist consciousness-based attacks are priced well above objects of the same grade, and they are highly sought after. In no time, the Soul-Binding Bell rose to eight thousand.

“Ten thousand spirit-stones.”

From this lesson, Shen Yan raised the bid directly to ten thousand to prevent the others from nibbling the price higher step by step.

As soon as he spoke, every cultivator withdrew from bidding. Few could afford to spend ten thousand for a single middle-grade spirit tool.

Soon enough, with no competition, Gong Tian handed the bell to Shen Yan.

After paying the spirit-stones and reflecting briefly, he abandoned any thought of bidding on Yuyan Soft Armor and stood to leave.

Seeing him in that posture, Gong Tian was startled. This had become the dark horse of the auction; more precious items remained. If Zhou Shun left now, the market would lose a fortune.
“Daoist Zhou Shun, please stay. The final item is a true top-tier spirit relic. Would you not be interested?”

Shen Yan only shook his head. Though his true energy was purer and deeper than others of the same stage, he still could not match a false-dan cultivator.
At this time, middle-grade spirit tools suited him best: they cost less inner energy and felt easier to control. There was no need to chase higher-grade relics.

“Thank you for your kindness, but I have an urgent matter and will not join the later bidding. Please forgive me.”

When he finished, the near false-dan strength of his awareness swept over Gong Tian once. The would-be persuader froze for a heartbeat.

“Since you truly have business to attend to, I will not detain you. Please go comfortably.”

Gong Tian forced a shy smile, moved aside to clear the path, and Shen Yan gave a slight nod before passing calmly by him.

After leaving the hall, Shen Yan used the Heavenly Emperor’s Divine Seal to sense quietly and confirmed a few faint traces of malice nearby. Only then did he move toward the market exit at normal pace.

As he climbed the long staircase, his body stilled for an instant. He scanned the surroundings with sudden clarity, then stepped onto the stairs.

Once Shen Yan’s figure vanished into the market interior, several cultivators hiding in the shadows began to mutter among themselves:
“That man is likely false-dan stage. Someone at that level is beyond our reach.”
“Such a pity—an auction item worth fifty thousand spirit-stones. And no one even knows if there is still more in his storage.”
“Ha! You’re dreaming. A cultivator barely at complete Qi stage, and he dares to think of a complete Foundation stage goal? He doesn’t even know how to write the word ‘death,’ has he?”
“Master Pan, this Zhou Shun is only suspected to be false-dan, not truly false-dan. If a few honored elders stepped in, we might still bring him down.”
“You’re mad. You think those elders are as thoughtless as you? To hunt down a suspected false-dan cultivator for fifty thousand stones is simply inviting death.”

Their argument quickly gained heat, but then came a light, gliding sound from somewhere nearby, and all of them fell silent.

“Has he left?”

A gentle, delicate voice came from the dark. The nearby Qi-stage cultivators froze, their lower bodies tensing.
“Second Miss,” the one surnamed Pan spoke first, “he swept his awareness over us before leaving. He seems to have respected the market rules, so he did not act.”

“We have only one ally with him, and this is a man spending a fortune for secret techniques—either a forge-forger or a talisman-scribe. Cultivators devoted to such arts are not usually strong in close combat. Should we—”
“Pa!” A palm blast cracked through the shadow and struck the speaker in the face.
“If you want to die, do it yourself.”

“Second Miss,” Pan asked nervously, “did you sense danger from him?”

This Second Miss, like Shen Yan, practiced a mind-art of awareness, though hers did not condense and strengthen the divine soul. Instead, it sharpened perception.

She had observed Shen Yan before. Though he appeared young, the threat he emanated was no weaker than Gong Tian’s or Jin Quan’s.
What is more, she had watched him engage, in secret, with both Gong Tian and Jin Quan during the auction.