Under the moonlight, a figure cloaked in silver light gently landed on the edge of the island, concealed beneath a pitch-black robe was an unremarkable face, that of a man nearing forty.
Originally, Chu Zheng had not planned to stay long in Giant Marsh, but the treasures scattered all around the place had now made it quite difficult for him to leave.
In these past days, he had disguised himself dozens of times, wandering around the marketplace, acquiring a staggering number of ancient relics at extremely low prices.
Incomplete magic treasures and weapons, elixirs with their spiritual energy dissipated—many of these items were of Lower Quality and Second Order, and a large portion of them, once restored by Chu Zheng, were immediately resold, all exchanged for spirit stones.
Right now, what Giant Marsh lacked the least was buyers. Selling in large quantities, the accumulation turned substantial. Chu Zheng's wealth grew at an astonishing rate.
One could say that the value of the spirit stones Chu Zheng now possessed was comparable to the foundation of some of the Immortal Sect's great sects.
Even so, he was still not satisfied. He needed to prepare for purchasing spiritual objects.
The spiritual objects that could enhance the quality of one's Celestial Foundation were often immensely valuable.
For cultivators with exceptional talents, such objects held no value, but for the powerhouses whose offspring and descendants did not possess outstanding Immortal Bone, these objects were priceless.
The island before him was the marketplace with the highest level within Giant Marsh. Those who came and went were primarily Great Cultivators above the Entrance Dao Realm and the Soul Condensing Realm, with those at the Spirit Spring Realm being a rare sight.
The reason he had come here was that Chu Zheng had received news that the kind of spiritual object he needed was here.
He was practicing the Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture. The spiritual object best suited for building his foundation should be a fire-attribute spiritual material.
On this island, there would be an auction in a few days.
This auction was specifically held for the various large sects, so that they could gather a large amount of spirit stones in a short time to buy what they needed.
Most of the items up for auction were treasures from the bottom of the boxes of the various large and small sects and were extremely valuable.
What Chu Zheng needed was one of them, the Red Magma, a type of spiritual liquid refined from the Earth Core Magma, which could greatly benefit cultivators practicing fire-element cultivation techniques.
If consumed during the construction of the Celestial Foundation, there was a certain chance to raise the quality of the foundation by one level.
None of the other items in the auction could attract Chu Zheng's interest, and he was not willing to wait a few more days to waste his time at an auction.
The auction would be too lively, and with his peak Spirit Spring Realm cultivation, still being alone on the island, he somewhat stood out. Competing with various cultivators in the auction would easily draw scrutiny.
If he encountered some troublesome issues, it would further waste his energy. Chu Zheng now did not need to go out of his way to complicate matters.
Right now, what he least lacked was spirit stones, and he had methods to take shortcuts.
After arriving on the island, Chu Zheng strolled around the marketplace, buying some ancient relics that were not highly priced; then he directly sought out the location of the auction.
It was a treasure hall that had clearly been moved here from somewhere else, hundreds of yards long and more than ten yards high, very conspicuous.
The entire hall was cast from jade stones, like a dazzling pearl embedded in the center of the island, inscribed with layers of arrays, emitting a hazy light of five-colored glaze, chasing away the night.
Chu Zheng cast a glance around and went straight into the treasure hall.
The hall was very quiet, with a dozen people standing sparsely, no one coming up to greet him.
This was not a place for doing business but a temporary construct. Chu Zheng looked around and soon approached a cultivator who seemed to be in charge.
After spending some spirit stones, he quickly found the auctioneer who would preside over the auction.
This person turned out to be a Great Cultivator at the perfection of the Soul Condensing Realm, seemingly not that old, under forty, coming from the Primordial Spirit Holy Land, known here as "True Person Bai Qing."
True Person Bai Qing's demeanor was originally quite indifferent, but after taking the spirit stones Chu Zheng passed him, his attitude softened considerably.
Even people from the Holy Land would not find too many spirit stones excessive; besides, Chu Zheng was well-mannered.
"True Person Bai Qing, I would like to negotiate with the owner of the Red Magma, and directly purchase it with spirit stones, I hope you can facilitate this." Searᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Hearing Chu Zheng's purpose, Bai Qing nodded slightly and said indifferently, "That won't be difficult."
After speaking, however, he said no more.
Chu Zheng, who knew how to act appropriately, once again presented a storage bag containing exactly one thousand high-quality spirit stones.
Bai Qing took the storage bag, glanced inside without a change in expression, and nodded slightly: "How should I address you? Which sect are you from?"
Chu Zheng kept a composed face and bowed, "Disciple of Phantom Spirit Sect, Fu Quanliang."
"Phantom Spirit Sect... I've heard of it."
True Person Bai Qing pondered for a moment and nodded, "I will be staying in Giant Marsh for some time, should you encounter any trouble, feel free to seek me out."
"Thank you, True Person."
Upon hearing this, Chu Zheng bowed again, and couldn't help but feel a bit moved; Bai Qing was indeed a person of his word, a thousand high quality spirit stones for the protection of a cultivator from a holy land, the price was quite fair indeed.
Though he knew he would likely never have the chance to make use of this relationship in the future.
True Person Bai Qing left soon after facilitating the connection. Half an hour later, Chu Zheng met the seller.
A cultivator clad in simple clothing, in the mid-stage of the Soul Condensing Realm.
As for their specific identities, Bai Qing had kept them confidential.
The seller was quite straightforward; they were auctioning off the red magma to exchange for spirit stones, and since getting their hands on them earlier than expected, and at a price higher than anticipated, naturally there was no reason to refuse.
In the end, Chu Zheng successfully bought the tub of red magma for a price three times higher than the starting bid.
Having achieved his goal, Chu Zheng did not linger any longer in the area; after bidding farewell to True Person Bai Qing, he left straight away.
He stayed on a deserted island for half a day to recuperate and then took out the Xuan Tian Martial Barrier, utilized the Heavenly Divination Technique, and after determining the position of one of the fragments, he hurried to it at full speed.
Now, with many promising talents scouring Great Zhou, Chu Zheng's journey was unobstructed, and in an instant, he had completely escaped the search area.
...
...
In the land to the far south.
The intense heat roasted the earth, the void slightly distorted, and all that met the eye was a vast and desolate expanse.
The station of Taixuan Holy Land, seen from high above, resembled a divine bird, with a slightly sleek body and full wings.
The entrance to the holy land was a gorge, with sheer cliffs a thousand feet tall on both sides.
At the mouth of the valley was a black-red boulder over forty zhang tall with a surface as smooth as a mirror; it was like a piece of black jade, swallowing up all the sunlight cascading down from the sky.
At this moment, outside the valley was a hubbub of voices; at a glance, countless cultivators had gathered, no fewer than a million in number.
These cultivators had all come because of the news that Taixuan Holy Land was reopening its gates, most bringing the younger members of their families.
The last time Taixuan opened its gates was ten thousand years ago, so the vast majority of cultivators alive today were actually quite unfamiliar with Taixuan Holy Land.
But even if it was fallen, it was still a holy land of legend, and moreover, Taixuan Holy Land did not judge disciples by the quality of their Immortal Bone.
Even those with lower quality Immortal Bone had a chance of being accepted.
Compared to the other unattainable holy lands, Taixuan was undoubtedly much more approachable.
A figure sat high atop the black-red boulder, dressed in a red vestment robe with a pattern of a golden flame on the chest, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old with regular features, not very tall, but with a broad back. He was looking down at the multitude of cultivators below, his expression slightly lost.
Fu Quanliang had never imagined that he would have such a moment, seated high above, looking down on these great cultivators that he could only look up to in the past.
Among the cultivators below, there were those in the Spirit Spring Realm, the Entry Dao Realm, and even a large number of Soul Condensing Realm cultivators.
This reversal of status made him feel somewhat unable to adapt for a moment.
Because of Chu Zheng, after entering Taixuan Holy Land, Fu Quanliang's fortunes had soared as he encountered the greatest opportunity of his life.
Within Taixuan Holy Land, Chu Zheng's identity as the Chief Disciple of True Transmission was now fully acknowledged.
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And due to Chu Zheng, Fu Quanliang became the first Inner Sect Disciple among his generation of disciples in Taixuan Holy Land.
Even a Supreme Elder took action to help him refine a Fire Seed of such quality that it reached Fourth Order.
Now his talent was no different from those with a middle quality Celestial Foundation.