Confronted with Lu Yang's well-practiced false accusations, Meng Jingzhou retorted disdainfully, "What do you mean, I scared him off? Didn't you hear what he said? He said your karma will be entangled with Immortals in the future!
"Ten to one, you'll commit some outrage against heaven and reason, provoking Immortals to unite and suppress you!"
Lu Yang waved a hand dismissively. "Impossible. I've always had a clear conscience about my actions and would never do anything so outrageous. It must have been an excuse Luo Bo made up."
The two passed the blame back and forth, neither willing to admit fault.
Man Gu parted his lips, wanting to ask if it could perhaps be the fault of both of them, but in the end, he held his tongue.
After several days together, Lan Ting had grown accustomed to how Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou spoke. Faced with their bickering, she simply let it go in one ear and out the other.
"Look, the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce is right ahead! I'll take you all for a look around!"
Outside the entrance of the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce stood a plump little pig holding a coin in its trotters—the chamber's classic mascot.
Lu Yang had long heard of the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce and was eager to browse.
The interior was understated yet exuded taste at every turn, completely unlike the decorating style of upstarts desperate to flaunt their newfound wealth.
The Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce had no need to show off; its name alone spoke for itself.
Throughout the Central Continent, there was no one who did not know of the world's foremost merchant chamber.
The goods displayed within left Man Gu dazzled: pills meticulously refined by masters, numinous treasures forged with the blood and sweat of craftsmen, natural treasures unearthed from perilous grounds at great risk, talismans and arrays ranging from the rudimentary to the profound...
Looking at the listed prices, Man Gu felt like an impoverished wretch who could afford nothing.
He noticed Meng Jingzhou and Lan Ting strolling through casually as though admiring flowers from horseback, neither fretting in the slightest over the prices—which made sense.
Yet to his astonishment, Brother Lu, whose net worth was comparable to his own, also looked entirely indifferent to the prices.
Man Gu whispered, "Brother Lu, everything here is so expensive. I can't afford anything."
Naturally, it was not that Man Gu could not afford a single item in the entire place; he meant he could not afford those impressive-looking items suited for the Foundation Establishment stage.
Lu Yang looked at Man Gu in surprise. "Buy? Why buy things here? Look at these pills and treasures. They might look fancy and expensive, but they're just ornamental vases. When it comes to practicality, how can they compare to things produced by our sect?"
Man Gu nodded. That was true enough. The sect's youtiao were cheap, sturdy, and chewy; over a month had passed, and the half-stick Brother Lu had gifted to Brother Meng still hadn't been finished.
"Besides, if you don't have money, can't you just earn some? With our backgrounds, we can make money selling almost anything. Watch, I'll show you."
With that, Lu Yang walked over to an attendant standing quietly nearby. "Excuse me, do you buy techniques here?"
The attendant answered politely, "Hello! Yes, we do, but only techniques our chamber doesn't already possess. We already carry the common ones. May I ask if you are looking to sell a cultivation method?"
Lu Yang nodded. "I have a transformation technique that allows one to attack while transforming. It's a secret passed down only within my family."
The attendant was astonished. In ten years of working here, he had never heard of a transformation technique that worked like that.
"Please follow me this way. An auction is being held today, and Master Appraiser Yang Xuanling is presiding. Let us have his esteemed self appraise the value of your transformation technique."
The four were escorted into a room where an elderly man wearing glasses sat with his head down, reading a book. He looked venerable with age and clearly possessed vast experience—presumably Yang Xuanling.
The attendant whispered a few words into Yang Xuanling's ear.
"Oh? Such a technique exists? Very well, you may leave."
"Understood." The attendant bowed respectfully and backed out of the room.
"You four, I hear you have a transformation technique that allows one to attack while transforming?"
"Indeed." Lu Yang produced his *Lu Clan Imitation Fist*.
Yang Xuanling fell silent for a moment. "...Unless my eyes have gone so blurry that I cannot read, doesn't that say 'Imitation Fist'?"
Lu Yang stepped forward, crossed out the words "Imitation Fist" on the cover, and wrote "Transformation Technique."
"Now it's a transformation technique."
It was the first time Yang Xuanling had ever met someone who named things so haphazardly. Spend enough time in this business, and one really did meet all kinds.
Yang Xuanling slowly turned the pages, parsing every word and sentence, before fuming, "Isn't this just Imitation Fist?!"
"How could that be?" Lu Yang feigned utter surprise. "This is definitely a transformation technique. Watch, I'll demonstrate it for you!"
Right there on the spot, Lu Yang performed a set of Imitation Fist. He shifted from Man Gu into Meng Jingzhou, and then into a tiger demon, moving with sweeping vigor and palpable power.
Yang Xuanling stared with wide eyes for quite a while, utterly bewildered as to how Lu Yang had pulled off the transformation.
What he had executed was undeniably Imitation Fist; the steps matched what was written in the manual to the letter, and the youth hadn't secretly cast any spells.
What price should he set for this?
Stroking his beard, Yang Xuanling adopted the air of someone who understood everything perfectly. "Your transformation technique is indeed somewhat intriguing. It would be a waste to display it outside as regular merchandise. How about we put it up for auction? There happens to be an auction starting shortly."
"That works."
At the auction hall, Lu Yang spotted an old acquaintance.
It was none other than Chi Xulong, master of the Pebble-Spitting Divine Art.
Chi Xulong wore no disguise. True to how he had previously introduced himself, he acted ostentatiously and despised concealment.
Given his cultivation, he was considered a figure of note throughout the entire Yanjiang Commandery; he truly had no need for a disguise.
Seated beside Chi Xulong was a black-robed figure whom Lu Yang guessed to be the assassin Shen Jinyi.
Lu Yang took the initiative to sit beside Chi Xulong. Seeing Lu Yang wearing a childish tofu mask, Chi Xulong let out a disdainful scoff.
For some reason, just looking at this fellow irritated him.
A smartly dressed auctioneer stepped onto the stage. He appeared professionally trained; even without channeling cultivation, his voice was loud and clear, carrying across the entire hall.
"Good afternoon, everyone! Thank you all for coming. Without further ado, let us begin.
"Our first auction item today is a set of three Foundation Establishment Pills."
The moment these words left his mouth, a stir went through the entire hall. No one had expected a heavyweight item right at the opening.
Most attendees were in the mid to late Qi Refinement stage; those in the early stage knew their financial means were limited and would not take part in the bidding.
Even Foundation Establishment cultivators felt tempted. After all, who didn't have a junior in the Qi Refinement stage back home?
Lu Yang, for one, did not.
Reflecting on it, he realized that among everyone he knew, he seemed to have the lowest cultivation.
When the ancient ancestors first pioneered the path of cultivation, they naturally relied on no external aids and established their foundations purely through their own efforts. However, doing so carried immense risk, and countless people had perished in the process.
Later, cultivators developed the Foundation Establishment Pill to enhance the process. It not only improved the success rate, but also ensured that even if one failed, no lingering injuries or cultivation regressions would occur.
Even Lan Ting, a disciple of the Immortal Palace, had consumed a Foundation Establishment Pill during her breakthrough.
She asked via voice transmission, "Did you use a Foundation Establishment Pill when you established your foundation?"
Lu Yang shook his head. "Our approach to consuming pills is rather advanced. When establishing our foundation, we directly ingest the raw ingredients of the Foundation Establishment Pill and treat our own body as the cauldron, refining the ingredients within ourselves so their medicinal efficacy dissolves completely into our meridians.
"Research has shown that this method yields the highest absorption efficiency.
"In his youth, Pill Cauldron Peak's Seventh Elder repeatedly established his foundation a hundred times just to verify this conclusion. The data is entirely reliable.
"Back then, the Seventh Elder even earned the title of 'Strongest Foundation Establishment Stage.' Later, because his foundation was too solid, the process of forming his core was agonizingly painful—just like passing a gallstone."
Lan Ting: "..."
While the two chatted, the three Foundation Establishment Pills were successfully auctioned off.
"Next up for auction is a transformation technique." The auctioneer produced the book Lu Yang had just consigned.
Lu Yang uttered a soft gasp of surprise and muttered in a voice just loud enough for Chi Xulong to hear, "Could this book be the legendary volume concealing..."
Chi Xulong, who originally had zero interest in the book, instantly perked up.
Chapter 94