Regarding Emperor Flowing Fluid, an elixir capable of increasing the chances of Foundation Establishment, Luo Chen had always exercised the utmost caution.
After achieving Foundation Establishment, he had hardly ever refined it.
Even as more and more cultivators at the Qi Refinement Great Perfection emerged beneath his banner—cultivators desperately in need of Foundation Establishment Pills—he had never dared to reveal its existence.
The reason was not that he was stingily hoarding his treasures.
Rather, he had long understood that miraculous elixirs rivaling the Foundation Establishment Pill had always been the exclusive domain of great sects.
If it were carelessly exposed, the best-case scenario would be forced co-optation; at worst, it would invite utter destruction.
Yet this time, he finally had an ideal opportunity to brew this elixir!
Were there not widespread rumors that the Luotian Association had excavated an ancient cultivator's ruins and obtained a multitude of Foundation Establishment Pills?
Even if true power players could see through such a rumor at a single glance, after this war, the Luotian Association had wiped out five clans and sects, slaying as many as eleven Foundation Establishment cultivators!
Moreover, those eleven were all veterans who had operated in Tianlan Immortal City for decades, possessing diverse channels through which they could procure Foundation Establishment Pills.
Under such circumstances, after the Luotian Association digested their legacies, producing a few extra Foundation Establishment Pills would appear entirely natural.
To say nothing of anything else, Luo Feng of Luosha Market had openly declared before countless rogue cultivators that the Divine Craft Sect had promised him a Foundation Establishment Pill!
And the Divine Craft Sect had fallen by Luo Chen's own hand.
If there was one, why couldn't there be a second?
Scraping together a bit here and a bit there from the other defeated forces, producing several pills was only to be expected!
To make the story seem natural, Luo Chen had dropped a discreet hint to Sima Huiniang as soon as the great battle concluded.
He had not spelled it out explicitly at the time, but the message had been conveyed perfectly.
With Sima Huiniang's sharp intellect, she would easily divine his intentions.
Over the recent period, Sima Huiniang had begun releasing ambiguous hints to the outside world, suggesting that the Luotian Association had acquired several Foundation Establishment Pills.
She did not broadcast the news bluntly or blatantly. Instead, she subtly wove it into the recruitment drive for rogue cultivators.
Using it as bait, she drew in low-level rogue cultivators possessed of practical skills, relying on their loose tongues to spread the rumor far and wide.
That way, when Luo Chen eventually refined the Emperor Flowing Fluid and secretly bestowed it upon his subordinates, it would seem completely plausible.
Without this opening, Luo Chen would have kept the secret buried deep indefinitely.
***
As time passed, the auction hall of Snow Lotus Hall gradually filled up.
There were not that many people—only about a hundred in total.
Roughly ninety percent were late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, alongside a handful of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators.
As the newly arriving Foundation Establishment cultivators entered and caught sight of Luo Chen, they all nodded politely to convey their goodwill.
The name of the Fire Spirit Lord was currently at the height of its renown.
Vaguely, he was already regarded as a rising star within Tianlan Immortal City.
Faced with these overtures from fellow True Cultivators, Luo Chen responded amiably to every one of them, even those he did not recognize.
One did not strike a smiling face, after all!
Even if they were strangers now, becoming familiar faces over a few encounters would give them a natural conversation starter next time, having attended the same auction.
Amid general anticipation, Shi Boying stepped onto the central stage and declared the auction open.
Unlike the grand auctions Luo Chen had attended in the past, this one—cobbled together by a few small markets under a single sect—was quite modest in scale, and its procedures were suitably concise.
Prior to the auction, many attendees had already learned through various channels what prized items would appear, so everyone came with clear goals in mind.
"A complete carcass of a Tier 2 extreme cold ice toad! Its body is fully intact, and its mystic yin qi has not leaked away, making it an exquisite material for alchemy and artifact forging!"
"Interested Daoists may consider placing your bids."
"The starting bid is six thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
Shi Boying pointed to a massive three-meter-long toad resting on the raised platform as she delivered her detailed introduction.
The toad's corpse lay there motionless and lifeless.
Yet simply lying there, it radiated a bone-chilling cold.
Weaker Qi Refinement cultivators felt as though their very souls were being frozen solid.
Someone gasped in surprise.
"This demon beast's carcass doesn't have a single wound on it?"
"May I ask which fellow Daoist slew it?"
Since someone had asked, Shi Boying naturally took the opportunity to answer—it was a prime chance to drive up the price.
She smiled and said, "Let it be known to all that the several demon beast carcasses on offer today were all taken in passing by a Golden Core Master of our Ice Fort."
"All five Tier 2 demon beasts are remarkably intact, suffering only slight frostbite."
The audience exchanged stunned looks.
A cold-attribute demon beast... frozen to death?
Just how terrifyingly profound was that Golden Core Master's mastery over the path of frost and ice?
Another person asked curiously, "Don't ordinary extreme cold ice toads usually lack mystic yin qi? Why is it still preserved in this carcass?"
Faced with this question, Shi Boying's expression stiffened slightly.
"In the past, the lack was mostly because it was discharged during mating to advance the beasts' cultivation."
"This time, however, the River-Swallowing Toad that frequented the Great Snow Mountain relocated elsewhere to breed its offspring."
"As a result, that wisp of mystic yin qi within this Tier 2 extreme cold ice toad remained preserved."
The crowd looked at one another in bemusement.
To think there was such an odd reason behind it!
While they were still reeling from the explanation, Luo Chen called out a bid without hesitation.
"Seven thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
Coveting the intact Tier 2 carcass, someone immediately countered, "Seven thousand five hundred!"
Luo Chen raised it again. "Eight thousand!"
Seeing his lavish manner, Shi Boying's eyes lit up.
"Fellow Daoist Fire Spirit Lord bids eight thousand! Does anyone else wish to bid?"
Noticing the room's hesitation, she added, "If that wisp of mystic yin qi is infused into a magic treasure, or absorbed when one's divine soul is weakened, it will yield tremendous benefits!"
With that, the bidding flared up once more.
"I bid nine thousand!"
Luo Chen shot Shi Boying an exasperated glance and countered, "Ten thousand!"
"Ten thousand five hundred!"
"Eleven thousand!"
The bids rose in rapid succession.
It was not until Luo Chen called out a steep price of thirteen thousand that all competition finally ceased.
This price was somewhat higher than he had anticipated.
Back then, when he had purchased a complete Tier 2 blazing cloud roc carcass—one that even retained its demon core—it had cost him a mere eight thousand spirit stones.
The blazing cloud roc was far rarer and harder to hunt than an extreme cold ice toad.
He had not expected the toad to command a markup of well over fifty percent!
While Luo Chen was quietly grumbling, Shi Boying brought out the remaining four Tier 2 demon beast carcasses for auction one after another.
Watching the next three carcasses all fetch prices exceeding ten thousand spirit stones, Luo Chen came to a sudden realization.
Perhaps it wasn't an inflated markup after all!
Demon beast corpses were only cheap in a place like Dahe Market, where beasts ran rampant.
Tianlan was a major inland city and a commercial hub straddling key transport routes.
Over ten thousand spirit stones was simply the going rate for a Tier 2 demon beast here.
When the fifth carcass, a frost demon wolf, came up, Luo Chen made his move once more.
This time, he skipped the five-thousand opening bid entirely, calling out ten thousand right away!
With such a massive leap in price, coupled with the fact that frost demon wolves were common Tier 2 beasts and not particularly sought after, few people stepped up to contest him.
Moreover, the Fire Spirit Lord's reputation carried weight, and everyone knew he had genuinely amassed immense wealth from the recent war, giving him deep pockets.
Thus, no one fought Luo Chen for it, treating it as an act of deference.
Seeing Luo Chen secure two demon beast carcasses while clearly showing interest in the others, several Foundation Establishment True Cultivators felt curious.
Only when an elderly cultivator with wide connections and broad experience spoke up did they grasp the reason.
"You only know Luo Chen by his Daoist title, the Fire Spirit Lord. Have you forgotten that he is also a Tier 2 alchemist?"
At these words, enlightenment dawned on the crowd.
These days, using the flesh, blood, and cores of demon beasts as alchemy ingredients was hardly unheard of.
Luo Chen, meanwhile, was happily calculating how many portions of Emperor Flowing Fluid the two carcasses could yield.
At his beginner success rate of ten percent, he could likely produce around five or six portions.
How to distribute these portions and whom to grant them to would require careful deliberation.
*Even with a credible explanation, Emperor Flowing Fluid remains dangerous business.*
*It must only go to those closest to me to ensure its existence is never leaked.*
*That alone eliminates quite a few people in the Luotian Association.*
*Once Sister-in-law's body is fully recovered, perhaps she can make another attempt at Foundation Establishment. Back then, I promised Big Brother Qin a Foundation Establishment spiritual medicine—even if it was meant to deceive Sister-in-law so she could break through with peace of mind, now that I have the ability, there's no reason I can't turn that lie into reality.*
*However, Big Brother Qin has long passed the sixty-year age limit, and the boost Emperor Flowing Fluid provides human cultivators is somewhat inferior to an authentic Foundation Establishment Pill, offering only about a twenty percent increase. I wonder if it will even have any effect on him...*
While he was lost in thought, Wang Yuan spoke up beside him.
"Twenty thousand! I'll take it all!"
Luo Chen looked over, his gaze narrowing.
On the auction platform, a wisp of pitch-black, heavy fiendish qi danced at Shi Boying's fingertips.
It brimmed with a rich aura of death, as if drawn straight from the waters of the Underworld deep within the Nine Nether!
"Century-Old Underworld Yin Fiend from Ice Wolf Valley! Fellow Daoist Wang bids twenty thousand. Does anyone else wish to bid?"
It was actually Tier 2 Underworld Yin Fiend!
Luo Chen was astonished.
He had not seen this item on the list earlier.
Evidently, someone had submitted it just before the auction began.
Unlike wild, violent fiendish qis, this substance harbored a potent death aura.
It typically formed only in places where vast numbers of bones lay buried over centuries.
Ordinary people had no use for it, but Luo Chen knew that Wang Yuan was determined to obtain it.
Because this very item was one of the three primary ingredients for brewing the Blood Fiend Pill!
In the past, Wang Yuan had wanted it to break through to Foundation Establishment.
Now that he had already achieved Foundation Establishment, his craving for the Blood Fiend Pill was meant to advance his realm in physical cultivation.
During his years in Tianlan, Wang Yuan had not stayed cooped up in a cave abode every day like Luo Chen.
Instead, driven by restlessness, he frequently attended auctions of all sizes and frequented every sort of shop in Tianlan.
Apart from gathering resources related to physical cultivation, he had also been searching for Underworld Yin Fiend.
Now, after all these years, he had finally crossed paths with it.
Judging by the volume, there appeared to be quite a generous quantity.
"I've gathered almost all the three primary ingredients and various supplementary materials for the Blood Fiend Pill."
"With this flask of Underworld Yin Fiend, there won't be a single missing piece."
"Luo Chen, are you confident in refining the Blood Fiend Pill now?"
Hearing Wang Yuan's voice transmission, Luo Chen brimmed with confidence.
"Bid with peace of mind. I've already thoroughly mastered that pill recipe. As long as the materials are complete, I will certainly brew the elixir you desire!"
With Luo Chen's reassurance and support, Wang Yuan hesitated no longer.
Facing a competing bidder's steep offer of twenty-three thousand, he raised the bid forcefully once more.
"Twenty-five thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
"This item is mine!"
Chapter 302