Chapter 2492

"Friend Lan, last time you said that both of our Ximen family ancestors would enter the Mahayana stage. From what you're saying, Mahayana seems quite easy!"

A man's voice, tinged with a hint of mockery, rang out.

A gentle breeze swept by, and a nine-foot-tall young man in a green robe appeared before the cultivators.

The young man wore a green jade crown, had a dignified and fair complexion, and a green coiled dragon jade pendant hung from his waist, presenting the image of a refined young master.

Ximen Sheng, at the late Void Refinement stage, was one of the Ximen family's elites.

Lan Fukong chuckled awkwardly and said, "Of course, the Mahayana stage isn't easy, but opportunities are hard to predict. I heard that the newly promoted Mahayana True Monarch Qian Jin from the Azure Glaze Sea Region was originally a mortal. He later refined the legendary Qian Jin Divine Crystal, becoming an acquired spiritual physique, and entered the Mahayana stage within twenty thousand years. We were born with spiritual roots, so we shouldn't be much worse than True Monarch Qian Jin, right?"

The Xuan Yang Realm possessed countless natural treasures. Some of these treasures had heaven-defying effects, and those who obtained them through extraordinary opportunities would soar to prominence. True Monarch Qian Jin was just such an individual with a heaven-defying opportunity.

The cultivation world was never short of individuals with extraordinary opportunities; anyone who could cultivate to the Mahayana stage had seized some unique chance.

"True Monarch Qian Jin's case is not repeatable," Xiao Yuling said, shaking her head. "He cultivated through martial arts; purely in terms of physical strength, he was not much inferior to a Nascent Soul stage body cultivator. As for how he, as a mortal, refined the Qian Jin Divine Crystal into his body, that remains unclear."

Generally, one cannot become a cultivator without spiritual roots. However, nothing is absolute. If one's opportunity is great enough, refining some rare spiritual items to replace spiritual roots can also allow cultivation. Such instances are exceedingly rare, perhaps appearing only once in a million years.

Besides this, one can also cultivate through secret blood sacrifice rituals or by using magical treasures to substitute spiritual roots. The former is universally condemned and requires assistance from high-level cultivators. The latter has a very high failure rate, and magical treasures capable of replacing spiritual roots are no ordinary items; they are exceedingly valuable and would only be given to a mortal by a close relative.

Mortals in the Xuan Yang Realm merely enjoyed a slightly longer lifespan. Cases like True Monarch Qian Jin were exceedingly rare, though not entirely nonexistent; they were just very few in number.

"That's true," Lan Fukong said, a look of longing appearing on his face, his expression excited. "But what I said also has a point. Opportunities are hard to predict; it just depends on whether anyone has a heaven-defying one. If Heavenly Venerable Xuan Ling's cultivation ground were to appear on the Xuan Ling Continent, and we could enter to seek treasures, we might have a chance to advance to the Mahayana stage."

"Heavenly Venerable Xuan Ling's cultivation ground?" Xiao Yuling questioned. "Actually, some cultivation grounds or secret realms have abundant cultivation resources and many natural treasures. However, Heavenly Venerable Xuan Ling's reputation is too great, so these places are often mistaken for his cultivation ground. I even suspect that there's no such place as Heavenly Venerable Xuan Ling's cultivation ground in the world. Otherwise, why wouldn't it remain on the Xuan Ling Continent, but instead appear in various places across the Xuan Yang Realm?"

"Perhaps," Ximen Sheng said. "Immortal Xiao, please have a seat. Let's chat for a while."

Ximen Sheng invited Xiao Yuling to sit down, enjoy tea, and chat.

Void Refinement cultivators arrived one after another; Li Yuqing, True Monarch Blood Blade, Song Huizu, and Xia Zhiwei all made an appearance.

Whenever a new Void Refinement cultivator arrived, Lan Fukong never failed to flatter them; even if he didn't know them, he'd find a reason to sing their praises.

"Friend Ximen," Li Yuqing asked curiously, "didn't you say the Twin Beauties of Xuan Qing would also attend? Why haven't they arrived yet?"

The Twin Beauties of Xuan Qing were twin sisters. They cultivated a rather unique cultivation technique that allowed them to perform combined attacks.

"We were delayed by something," a gentle female voice said. "My apologies for keeping you all waiting." Just as the voice faded, two women with identical features walked up.

One woman wore a blue ruqun, and the other wore a purple pleated skirt.

Both of their sleeves were embroidered with a miniature green tree, the emblem of the Xuan Qing Sect.

"I am Fang Yuyan, the elder sister, and she is Fang Yufei, the younger sister," the blue-skirted girl explained. Her gaze quickly swept across the cultivators present before settling on Wang Qingshan. She smiled and said, "Friend Wang, how has True Monarch Taihao been recently?"

They had met Wang Changsheng years ago when they were all at the Spirit Transformation stage. Now, they had all advanced to the Void Refinement stage.

"Ninth Uncle is well," Wang Qingshan asked curiously. "Immortal Fang, do you know Ninth Uncle?"

Fang Yuyan nodded. "We met years ago at a gathering when we were all at the Spirit Transformation stage. After so many years, we're only at the early Void Refinement stage, yet True Monarch Taihao is already at the mid-Void Refinement stage. No wonder they managed to escape from Bayin."

"Hehe, Immortal Fang is also impressive. I'm very good at judging people; both of you immortals are exceptionally talented..."

Before Lan Fukong could finish, Fang Yuyan interrupted him. "Friend Lan, less flattery would be better. It's good to be more straightforward."

Lan Fukong chuckled awkwardly. "Immortal Fang is right."

"If everyone is here, let's begin!" True Monarch Blood Blade said, his voice hoarse. "This old man is here for the exchange, hoping to trade for useful items, not for idle chatter. If any of you wish to chat, you can find time to do so privately."

His statement received approval from several Void Refinement cultivators. For Void Refinement rogue cultivators, they simply wished to exchange for what they needed.

"Wait, there's us too," a loud male voice suddenly interjected. Su Qingheng and Liu Chuanting quickly walked up.

Liu Chuanting had already advanced to the Void Refinement stage, while Su Qingheng was still at the early Void Refinement stage.

Wang Qingshan felt a slight surprise upon seeing the two.

The Xuan Qing Sect, Leng Yan Sect, Li family, and Song family had all sent representatives. The auction hosted by the Ximen family clearly had significant influence! The Wang family's auctions didn't have such widespread appeal yet, but given that the Wang family hadn't been developing for long, there would be opportunities in the future.

Su Qingheng and Liu Chuanting saw Wang Qingshan but said nothing, instead finding an empty table and sitting down.

"Alright, almost all fellow cultivators have arrived," Ximen Sheng said. "I'll take the lead and go first."

Ximen Sheng took out over a dozen materials, mostly ores, including Golden Flame Jade, which could be used to condense dharma idols.

"I'd like to exchange the Golden Flame Jade for wind-attribute dharma idol materials," Ximen Sheng announced. "As for the other materials, I'm looking for wind-attribute monster cores or spirit medicines. Beast hides and bones are also acceptable."

As he spoke, his gaze quickly swept over the cultivators.

Relatively speaking, materials of the five elements were easier to find, whereas wind, ice, lightning, and dark-attribute materials were rare.

Li Yuqing, Song Huizu, Su Qingheng, and others showed no change in expression. Being well-traveled and knowledgeable, they knew that among the items Ximen Sheng presented, only the Golden Flame Jade was truly valuable.

Several Void Refinement rogue cultivators stared at the Golden Flame Jade with fervent eyes.

Although they didn't possess wind-attribute dharma idol materials, they still sent voice transmissions to Ximen Sheng, intending to exchange other materials. If Ximen Sheng agreed, it would be a huge gain.

Unfortunately, Ximen Sheng wasn't interested in the items they offered.

Wang Qingshan also couldn't produce any. The most valuable item he possessed was over twenty drops of Creation Divine Water, but with disciples of the Xuan Qing Sect present, he didn't plan to reveal it.