People came and went through the commandery city.
Just as Qin Sang stepped through the city gates, he sensed the aura of several Core Formation cultivators. This auction clearly held great appeal for them.
Tianzhong Commandery was comparable in scale to Yanshui Market.
The auction was being held in the cultivator market in the west of the city.
Qin Sang slowed his pace, weaving through the streets and alleys. Passing through the mortal marketplace and beholding the bustling worldly life, he was struck by a sudden sense of disorientation—only then remembering that he was still in the mortal realm.
For over a century, he had immersed himself in bitter cultivation without distinguishing day from night, long having become a creature detached from the mortal world.
Reflecting on the lofty ambitions he had harbored back in the Great Sui, it felt like an entire lifetime ago.
Today, he was among the world's topmost elite, yet he remained far from his ultimate goal. The road ahead was long and dim, and he dared not slacken in the slightest.
The calls of street vendors pulled Qin Sang's thoughts back to reality.
A tantalizing aroma wafted toward him.
With Qin Sang's cultivation, he had achieved inedia long ago, yet his appetite was stirred. Glancing around at the street stalls and shops, he suddenly recalled that common worldly currencies like gold and silver had vanished from his Qianjun Ring long ago.
Spirit stones were valuable, but giving them to ordinary merchants would likely invite disaster upon them.
After a brief deliberation, Qin Sang focused spiritual light into his eyes and cast a sweeping glance down the street. Seeing that these mortals were all afflicted with chronic ailments to varying degrees, his expression shifted. He retrieved a few spirit pills, gathered spiritual Qi to condense water, and dissolved their medicinal potency within it.
He walked down the center of the street. The bustling crowd parted on its own, making way for him, yet the people around him seemed completely oblivious to Qin Sang, failing to sense anything out of the ordinary.
Without anyone seeing him make a move, a variety of delicacies appeared in his hands. He strolled down the thoroughfare, feasting with utter abandon.
His stomach seemed like a bottomless pit as he sampled every single delicacy the market had to offer.
With every step Qin Sang took, a gentle, restorative rain sprinkled down, quietly melting into the bodies of the mortals.
The mortals were entirely unaware.
"Huh? Old woman, my back... it's healed!"
The very first shop at the market entrance was a steamed bun stall operated by an elderly couple for many years.
The old man had suffered an injury in his youth that left lasting damage. As he aged, his back had grown increasingly hunched, and decades of hard labor made the pain unbearable.
Just moments ago, the old man had set down a bamboo steamer out of habit, and when he straightened up, he suddenly stood completely upright. It shocked even himself.
"Aiya! Slow down! Every day I tell you to get a packet of medicine from Immortal Master Yue on North Street, but you're too stingy to spend the coin! What madness has seized you now?"
The old woman gasped in alarm, dropping her rolling pin onto the ground. Waving her hands in agitation, she abruptly stood up to support the old man, only to discover that her leg didn't hurt in the slightest either.
The old couple exchanged stunned looks.
Suddenly, a clamor erupted across the street. The couple rushed out the door.
Everyone felt an unprecedented lightness; the stubborn ailments that had plagued them for years had completely vanished in an instant.
People knelt on the ground, weeping tears of joy.
"An immortal has manifested!"
"Heaven has eyes—an immortal has manifested!"
...
The sweet rain was exhausted.
Qin Sang wiped the sheen of oil from the corners of his mouth and unhurriedly walked out of the market.
At the market entrance, a man and a woman—both Core Formation cultivators—happened to be passing by. They stared blankly at the immortal, ethereal figure receding in the distance, their faces frozen in bewilderment.
Having satisfied his appetite, Qin Sang dallied no longer and headed straight for the auction.
In a corner of the cultivator market.
Qin Sang stood before an inconspicuous three-story wooden building, an unusual expression on his face.
This was merely an ordinary shop selling spiritual materials, without the bustling crowds one might have expected. The few cultivators entering and leaving were all at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Checking the invitation in his hand, Qin Sang stepped inside and immediately confirmed he had the right place—the seemingly young shopkeeper was actually a late Core Formation cultivator.
Walking up to the shopkeeper, Qin Sang presented the invitation.
The shopkeeper opened it, took a glance, and remained composed. Extending a hand toward the inner hall, he said, "Honored guest, please step inside."
Entering the inner hall, the shopkeeper closed the door and bowed respectfully. "Gong Xingqing, deacon of Six Prefectures Hall in Tianzhong Commandery, pays respects to Senior Qin."
Qin Sang nodded, glancing around. "Where is Fellow Daoist Jiang Mu? Are you hosting the auction right here?"
"Elder Jiang has pressing matters to attend to and cannot get away for the moment, but he specifically instructed this junior to treat Senior Qin with the utmost hospitality."
With that, Gong Xingqing opened a back door, revealing a spacious courtyard that connected to the building opposite. "There are too many outsiders out front, and we feared disturbing Senior. When the auction begins, Senior can proceed through here to attend... Might Senior Qin be accompanied by any friends?"
"Just this poor Daoist alone."
Qin Sang looked at Gong Xingqing.
Guessing Qin Sang's thoughts, Gong Xingqing said respectfully, "Senior must still have the medallion Elder Jiang gifted you? There is a treasure exchange held later; Senior may rest for a while in a quiet room. If Senior is interested in the auction, junior will arrange the finest seat at once. When the treasure exchange begins, guidance will appear upon Senior's medallion."
Hearing this, Qin Sang smiled. "Is the treasure exchange not being held in the city? With Six Prefectures Hall's influence in the Central Plains, do you really need to be so secretive?"
Gong Xingqing dared not argue and replied, "Senior may not know, but prior to the Zhongyuan Dharma Assembly and the Ullambana Festival, our hall always organizes similar treasure exchanges, primarily inviting trustworthy Daoists to offer an opportunity to trade for what they need. It was supposed to be the same this time. We had made all preparations to ensure the seniors' identities would not be leaked so everyone could trade with peace of mind. However, a slight accident occurred."
Qin Sang's brow furrowed slightly. He disliked unexpected variables most of all.
"Someone approached our hall at the last minute, commissioning us to host a treasure exchange. But they had a condition: the treasure exchange must begin midway through the auction, and the venue must be outside the city, kept strictly confidential beforehand. Because we are merely hosting it on their behalf, we can only guarantee safety during the treasure exchange itself. Senior may decide whether to participate."
Gong Xingqing explained everything candidly, laying out the pros and cons. "Please rest assured, Senior. After the auction concludes, our hall will do its utmost to organize another treasure exchange to ensure Senior does not leave empty-handed."
"How many true treasures will even be left by the second gathering?" Qin Sang sneered.
Gong Xingqing kept his head bowed, not daring to reply.
"To make your esteemed hall alter its plans on short notice, how handsome was the compensation they offered? Just which grand figure possesses such great generosity?" Qin Sang asked, curious.
Gong Xingqing shook his head. "Please forgive me, Senior. This junior's position is lowly, and I only know this much."
Since things had come to this, Qin Sang was determined to attend regardless.
Grand experts in the cultivation world were neither few nor many; every seclusion lasted decades or even centuries, leaving them elusive and hard to trace. Treasures also had to be gathered slowly.
Such top-tier treasure exchanges could only be organized when major assemblies drew near. Each one held was one less opportunity.
As for safety...
If a disturbance truly arose that could threaten him, even Six Prefectures Hall's own private exchange would likely be unable to suppress it.
"Go arrange a seat for this poor Daoist out front. At the same time, take these things to be auctioned."
Qin Sang tossed over a mustard seed bag containing several captured magic treasures. While nothing extraordinary to him, after his reforging and refinement, they would undoubtedly be fiercely sought after by Core Formation cultivators.
Gong Xingqing acknowledged the command, hurried forward to send out a voice transmission talisman, and then led Qin Sang into the majestic hall opposite.
The grand hall held a world of its own within.
The interior was more than ten times larger than it appeared from outside, resplendent, gilded, and utterly magnificent.
*Could Six Prefectures Hall's headquarters really be here?*
Qin Sang mused inwardly as he climbed to the top floor of the hall and entered a private room overlooking the auction hall, commanding a panoramic view of the floor below.
Dismissing the attendants, Qin Sang placed the medallion on the table and cast his gaze downward.
The auction was about to begin, and the hall below was already eighty percent full, mostly filled with Core Formation cultivators. The gathering of so many Core Formation cultivators here spoke volumes of Six Prefectures Hall's influence.
Above the main hall were three additional floors lined with private rooms, all sealed with restrictions that blocked divine sense. There were likely many Nascent Soul cultivators like him, waiting for the treasure exchange.
The clamor of the hall was kept out by the private room's restrictions.
Qin Sang closed his eyes to rest, patiently awaiting the start of the auction while awakening the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.
Whenever he attended such auctions, he always had the Heavenly Eye Butterfly keep a sharp watch.
The Heavenly Eye divine ability could see through disguises that others could not detect. Unfortunately, Qin Sang had poor luck in that regard; despite attending so many auctions, he had never once managed to pick up an overlooked treasure.
Suddenly, a chime rang out. A middle-aged scholar ascended the raised platform, followed by a procession of young maidens carrying bronze platters, smiling charmingly and catching everyone's eye.
As the auction got underway, treasures were auctioned off one after another, the bids and cheers in the hall rising in wave after wave.
"A Buddhist body cultivation technique: the *Arhat Jade Bone Art*!"
When the middle-aged scholar unveiled a bronze platter and announced the contents of the jade slip upon it, Qin Sang opened his eyes for the first time and looked over.
In the Northern Territory, body cultivators were practically extinct.
In Zhongzhou, however, their heritage had been preserved. In particular, the Buddhist sects frequently produced body cultivation masters who reportedly possessed formidable divine abilities, capable of withstanding magic treasures with their bare bodies.
The *Seven Masters Buddhist Seal* had most likely been brought over from Zhongzhou by Xiaoxiangzi.
This Buddhist body cultivation technique piqued Qin Sang's interest.
His main focus was currently on the *Fire Seed Golden Lotus*, but before attempting the Deity Transformation bottleneck in the future, he would certainly need to strengthen his physical body to improve his chances of a breakthrough.
The *Seven Masters Buddhist Seal* was also a Buddhist divine ability.
Moreover, cultivating a demon technique in a human body inevitably led to discrepancies once one reached higher realms.
Contemplating the *Arhat Jade Bone Art* might serve as a valuable reference.
"The *Arhat Jade Bone Art*. Origin unknown. Only three layers remain, capable of being cultivated to an extent equivalent to the late Core Formation stage. The starting bid is ten thousand spirit stones, with minimum increments of one thousand. Fellow Daoists, please place your bids..."
The middle-aged scholar gave only a brief introduction, but the response below was somewhat lukewarm.
Body cultivators were rare to begin with.
Dual cultivation of technique and body was beyond what Core Formation cultivators would consider.
Even if one wanted to use body cultivation as a reference to assist in breaking through to Nascent Soul, there were plenty of less fragmented techniques available—at the very least, they would need the Nascent Soul portion to provide an overarching perspective.
This technique was somewhat of a white elephant. Six Prefectures Hall naturally knew this, so the starting bid was set very low.
Qin Sang was also somewhat disappointed. Adopting an attitude of "since I'm already here anyway," he ultimately secured the technique for merely a few tens of thousands of spirit stones.
Seeing that the auction was halfway through, the medallion suddenly vibrated, followed by a shimmer of azure light.
At the same time, the middle-aged scholar's voice carried up from the hall.
Unveiling another bronze platter, he picked up a nine-section iron whip. Smiling before he spoke, he said, "The next treasure is rather special. We hope our fellow Daoists of the demonic path will not take offense. This item is called the Meteoric Iron Divine Whip. It is said that its material is a bizarre meteoric iron rarely found in this world, possessing a certain degree of restraint against certain demonic divine abilities..."
Qin Sang had just picked up the medallion and sensed the guidance within, preparing to leave, when his footsteps abruptly halted. He whipped around and fixed a piercing gaze on the iron whip in the middle-aged scholar's hand.
"This is..."
A faint trace of familiar aura caused Qin Sang's expression to change slightly.
The aura emanating from this treasure was astonishingly close to that of the Demon Binding Rope!
Back in the Ziwei Palace, Qingjun and Bai had used the Demon Binding Rope to trap the Jade Bone fiend and hurled it into the spatial turbulence to destroy it, after which Qingjun took the rope with her.
Now, he was sensing an identical aura from this Meteoric Iron Divine Whip.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly channeled its Heavenly Eye divine ability, bringing every minute detail of the whip into sharp relief.
"The third section, fourth section... the seventh, eighth, and ninth sections..."
Qin Sang's gaze swept swiftly across the iron whip. Suddenly, he raised a hand and shot forth a streak of light, triggering the restrictions of the private room.
On those five sections of the iron whip, there were patterns identical to those on the Demon Binding Rope, resembling a unique kind of talismanic rune!
Qin Sang recalled the iron chain he had discovered in the Hundred Treasures Pavilion within the Hall of Seven Kills.
Like that chain, the Meteoric Iron Divine Whip had been reforged from fragments of a damaged Demon Binding Rope. That was why it exerted a restraining effect on certain demonic divine abilities. However, lacking the coordination of the corresponding spirit array, its might could not hold a candle to the genuine Demon Binding Rope.
Those "certain demonic divine abilities" likely referred to the legacy left behind by the ancient demons, which had already integrated into present-day demonic cultivation.
After all, the Demon Binding Rope was created specifically to suppress ancient demons.
There was a Demon Binding Rope in Zhongzhou as well!
Where there were Demon Binding Ropes, there were ancient demons, and where there were ancient demons, an Ascension Platform might exist!
Down below, the bidding had already begun.
Although the treasure's application was relatively narrow, its ability to restrain demonic cultivators made it attractive to many, igniting a wave of enthusiastic bids right from the start.
*Thump! Thump!*
There was a knock at the door. Having received permission, Gong Xingqing hurried inside. Seeing that Qin Sang had not yet departed for the treasure exchange, he looked bewildered. "Senior..."
"I want that item, no matter how many spirit stones it takes. If I don't return to collect it, send it to Fellow Daoist Jiang's residence."
Qin Sang pointed down at the hall and tossed a bag of spirit stones to Gong Xingqing.
Gong Xingqing glanced downward with a troubled look. As a deacon of Six Prefectures Hall, interfering in the auction was against the rules.
Fortunately, Qin Sang was willing to pay the spirit stones. Gong Xingqing sighed inwardly and said, "This junior obeys."
Qin Sang nodded and made an even more demanding request: "Furthermore, investigate the origin of this item—who forged it, and where the meteoric iron was originally discovered."
"This..."
Gong Xingqing truly dared not agree to that. Looking distressed, he said, "Senior, forgive me. We only appraise the value of treasures; we never inquire about their origins or the identities of the sellers. This treasure was transferred from another branch several years ago, so tracking down the seller is virtually impossible. Moreover, doing so violates our rules..."
"If it can't be found, then go investigate. Can it be that this poor Daoist would shortchange you on spirit stones?"
Qin Sang narrowed his eyes and suddenly unleashed his aura, asking coldly, "What rules?"
The aura of the late Nascent Soul stage flared in an instant, striking Gong Xingqing's mind like a heavy sledgehammer. Terrified, the deacon stumbled back toward the door in sheer horror.
"Tell Fellow Daoist Jiang that this poor Daoist awaits his good news."
Qin Sang reined in his aura and walked toward the exit, dropping those indifferent words as he brushed past Gong Xingqing.
His sudden display of cultivation was a calculated decision made in an instant after weighing the pros and cons.
Searching for clues about the Demon Binding Rope was like looking for a needle in a haystack; he had to leverage the power of Six Prefectures Hall.
Even if he traced the origin of the Demon Binding Rope and discovered an ancient demon, he would still need to find allies to contain it—Qin Sang remembered the terrifying might of the Jade Bone fiend all too vividly.
If an Ascension Platform was discovered, as long as there was a spot for him, he wouldn't mind letting others hitch a ride. With Six Prefectures Hall's profound background, they were qualified to cooperate with him.
On the other hand, it also served as a warning to Six Prefectures Hall: they had best not harbor any ill intentions toward him during this treasure exchange.
Chapter 1590