Chapter 246: Blue-eyed Cold Silkworm

"My dear, be careful," Wang Changsheng cautioned, and he and Wang Ruyan followed.

After passing through a long, cyan corridor, they arrived at a spacious underground hall.

The ceiling was inlaid with numerous exquisite crystals, emitting soft glows that illuminated the entire hall.

In the center of the hall was a circular stone platform about ten feet high, on which sat a cyan round table. Around the platform were hundreds of cyan wooden chairs, a few of which were occupied.

Without exception, everyone present wore ghost-face masks, obscuring their true identities.

Pan Sheng found a seat near the front and sat down. Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan sat beside him.

Time passed, and more people gradually entered.

About half an hour later, a robust male voice announced, "The trade fair begins. Close the doors."

No sooner had the words fallen than a well-mannered middle-aged scholar strode onto the circular stone platform.

"I am Liu Ming, and I will be presiding over this trade fair. The rules are the same as other trade fairs. The first item for auction is a set of magical artifacts, the Phoenix Tail Darts. This set consists of five pieces, each a mid-grade magical artifact. The starting price is one thousand spirit stones, and each bid must not be less than two hundred."

After a brief introduction, the middle-aged scholar produced a cyan brocade box containing five golden flying darts shimmering with spiritual light.

"Twelve hundred!"

"Fourteen hundred!"

"Sixteen hundred!"

Liu Ming successively presented the auction items, including magical artifacts, pills, talismans, and array flags. The quality of each item was excellent, and they all fetched high prices, gradually warming up the atmosphere in the hall.

After a high-grade defensive magical artifact was sold, Liu Ming smiled and said, "Next is the time for our highlight auction items. The first highlight item is the spirit of a second-tier high-grade Fiery Lihuo Bird. When refined into a magical artifact, the Fiery Lihuo Bird's spirit can enhance its power. The starting price is one thousand spirit stones, and each bid must not be less than one hundred."

After multiple bids, Pan Sheng purchased this Fiery Lihuo Bird spirit for two thousand two hundred spirit stones.

The second auction item was a Yellow-grade, second-tier cultivation technique, "Earth Dusk Art," which sold for a high price of seven thousand spirit stones.

"The third highlight auction item is a pair of young Jade-Eyed Frost Silkworms from the Heavenly & Earthly Exotic Insect List. Although the Jade-Eyed Frost Silkworm is ranked lower, once it matures, its divine abilities far exceed those of ordinary spiritual insects. The starting price is one thousand spirit stones, and each bid must not be less than five hundred."

Liu Ming took out a white jade box. Inside the box were two small white silkworms with green eyes.

"The Heavenly & Earthly Exotic Insect List!"

Wang Changsheng felt a slight stir. Some enthusiasts had created many ranking lists, and the Heavenly & Earthly Exotic Insect List was just one of them. However, any spiritual insect that could make it onto the list, once fully grown, truly possessed divine abilities far beyond those of ordinary spiritual insects.

Wang Ruyan did not typically tame spiritual insects, beasts, or birds, so having her raise the Jade-Eyed Frost Silkworms might be a good idea.

The Wang family had raised several pairs of Golden Silk Silkworms, but perhaps due to their bloodline, they had been slow to advance to the second tier. Since the Jade-Eyed Frost Silkworms were on the Heavenly & Earthly Exotic Insect List, with proper cultivation, they should be able to reach the second tier.

"My dear, do you want to raise Jade-Eyed Frost Silkworms? If you can raise them to the second tier, you won't have to search everywhere for silk."

Wang Changsheng sent a voice transmission to Wang Ruyan. Wang Ruyan practiced sound-based cultivation techniques, and most of the magical artifacts she used were musical instruments, which required silk for their refinement.

"Since they are exotic insects from the Heavenly & Earthly Exotic Insect List, let's bid for them and raise them! I hope we can cultivate them to the second tier!"

At this point, the price had already reached three thousand spirit stones.

"Four thousand."

Wang Changsheng called out.

"Four thousand five hundred."

Wang Changsheng remained unmoved: "Five thousand."

"Five thousand five hundred."

"Six thousand."

At a price of six thousand spirit stones, the sole competitor stopped bidding. Although the spiritual insects on the Heavenly & Earthly Exotic Insect List were precious, they were only larvae, and six thousand spirit stones was still too expensive.

Wang Changsheng stepped onto the circular stone platform, readily paid the spirit stones, and returned to his seat with the two Jade-Eyed Frost Silkworms.

The fourth highlight auction item was two second-tier high-grade monster cores from Fiery Cloud Beasts. Pan Sheng bought one.

The fifth highlight auction item was three bottles of True Gold-Yang Essence, suitable for Qi Condensation cultivators practicing gold-element techniques to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Wang Changsheng spent sixteen thousand spirit stones to purchase two bottles of True Gold-Yang Essence.

After the True Gold-Yang Essence was sold, the trade fair concluded, and Wang Changsheng and the others left one after another.

Although no Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water appeared, the gains from this trip were significant, including a pair of young Jade-Eyed Frost Silkworms and two bottles of True Gold-Yang Essence.

Life returned to normal, and three days quickly passed.

Inside a room in the backyard of the Hundred Weapons Hall.

Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on a cyan meditation mat, his entire body enveloped in a layer of blue light.

As time passed, the blue light around Wang Changsheng's body dissipated, and he opened his eyes.

"Without Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water, the cultivation speed is indeed slow."

Wang Changsheng frowned slightly and sighed.

Just then, a spiritual beast pouch at his waist stirred, as if the spiritual beast inside wanted to rush out.

Wang Changsheng patted the spiritual beast pouch, and the Dual-Pupiled Rat scurried out.

The Dual-Pupiled Rat had helped Wang Changsheng a great deal, and Wang Changsheng would feed it spiritual treasures periodically. Half a year ago, after Wang Changsheng fed it three century-old ginsengs, the Dual-Pupiled Rat fell into a deep sleep.

"Oh, you've advanced to the second-tier mid-grade."

Wang Changsheng felt the aura emanating from the Dual-Pupiled Rat and said, delighted.

The Dual-Pupiled Rat had consumed a large amount of spiritual treasures and finally advanced to the second-tier mid-grade. Its sense of smell would surely be even more acute.

"Squeak, squeak."

The Dual-Pupiled Rat scurried into Wang Changsheng's arms, wagging its tail, seemingly begging for something from Wang Changsheng.

"Greedy little glutton, always thinking about food."

Though Wang Changsheng spoke these words, he still took out a foot-long cyan ginseng and fed it to the Dual-Pupiled Rat.

The Dual-Pupiled Rat no longer cared for first-tier spiritual items, refusing to eat anything below second-tier. Fortunately, Wang Changsheng was quite affluent and would feed it century-old spiritual herbs every few days.

After finishing the spiritual ginseng, the Dual-Pupiled Rat ran around the room and finally stopped in front of a pile of wooden puppets, which were covered with numerous golden ants.

With ample food supply, the number of Gold-Devouring Ants had exceeded a thousand, and the Queen Ant had even reached the second-tier low-grade.

As for the Azure-Scaled Horse, it was still at the first-tier high-grade.

A sound transmission talisman flew in. After Wang Changsheng crushed it, Wang Ruyan's voice immediately rang out: "Husband, Fellow Daoist Pan has an urgent matter to discuss with you. He says he has news about the whereabouts of Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water."

Wang Changsheng's eyes lit up. He quickly put the Dual-Pupiled Rat back into its spiritual beast pouch and hurried out.

Soon, Wang Changsheng met Pan Sheng in the shop and invited him to the backyard to talk.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, knowing you were looking for Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water, I've been busy helping you search! Hard work pays off; I know someone who possesses Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water, and I can introduce you to him. However..."

At this point, Pan Sheng rubbed his fingers together, looking as if he expected a reward.

"Fellow Daoist Pan, don't worry. Once I obtain the Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water, you will certainly be rewarded."

Pan Sheng shook his head and said, "Fellow Daoist Wang, it's not that I don't trust you, but that person only trades; he doesn't sell. His conditions are a bit harsh, and I cannot guarantee he will give you the Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water. If he doesn't give you the Heavenly & Earthly Spiritual Water, wouldn't I have wasted my effort? My price is one thousand spirit stones, five hundred paid upfront, and the remaining five hundred after the deal is done. How does that sound?"

"Just introducing someone costs one thousand spirit stones? Fellow Daoist Pan, do you think my spirit stones just blew in on the wind?"

Wang Changsheng was somewhat displeased. Pan Sheng's actions clearly indicated he was trying to fleece him. While he wasn't short of one thousand spirit stones, he strongly disliked Pan Sheng's behavior.