The night was deep.
Yun Ze finally emerged from the auction alone.
He hadn't bought a single thing, but instead walked out with two hundred thousand first-grade spirit stones.
Clearly, he had not agreed to Yun Xiao's proposal.
He truly wanted Xue Mei!
Now that he had entered the path of the zither, he naturally understood how much a good zither could improve him.
However, everything had happened too quickly, and the information he had received was not comprehensive.
If he had directly agreed to Yun Xiao and purchased Xue Mei, perhaps... he would have spent the rest of his life in the ancient gold ruins.
With his senior sister's ruthless methods, he believed she was absolutely capable of such a thing!
Rather than that, it was better to return and consider it first.
To prevent himself from being tempted, after refusing Yun Xiao, Yun Ze had even sealed his five senses, no longer paying attention to the outside auction, and focused solely on cultivation.
It was only after the auction ended that Yun Xiao woke him up.
At that time, Yun Ze had even casually asked about Xue Mei's price...
Yun Xiao held up a single finger.
The starting bid was ten million second-grade spirit stones! Each increment could not be less than one million!
The general price of a third-tier spirit artifact should be around one hundred thousand third-grade spirit stones, which is equivalent to one million second-grade spirit stones.
As a rare spirit artifact, the price of a zither should be around two million, and the auction price would usually be around half, which is one million.
Under Yun Xiao's instructions, the starting bid for this zither that witnessed the birth of a new path soared to over ten million!
One million third-grade spirit stones!
The auction price alone was enough to buy ten third-tier spirit artifacts!
Not only did Yun Ze's heart tremble, but everyone in the auction hall was stunned.
Of course, no one in this auction could produce so many spirit stones at once, so Xue Mei naturally failed to sell.
Once the treasure protection team from Wanbao Tower arrived, they would escort it to the main building for sale.
Neither Luo Changhong nor Lin Xiaoyue took the zither away.
Yun Ze asked and found out that Xue Mei had already been sold to Yun Xiao when Luo Changhong came to Wanbao Tower.
No wonder she had made such a promise to him just now.
As for the price, Yun Ze didn't ask.
In any case, he couldn't afford it even if he sold everything he owned.
However, Yun Xiao voluntarily said,
"After your newly opened path has evolved for a hundred years, or when you reach the Nascent Soul stage, or even higher realms, the price of this zither can increase by up to ten times!
If you regret it now, this zither can still be delivered to you."
Ten million third-grade spirit stones, one million fourth-grade spirit stones... this was equivalent to the price of a fourth-tier spirit artifact.
Yun Ze could only smile helplessly, but did not speak.
After a brief farewell to Yun Xiao, he walked out of the private room and ran into Xu Caiwan, who was coming to deliver the spirit stones.
After receiving twenty thousand second-grade spirit stones, he walked out of the auction.
When he reached the outside of the auction and saw a familiar figure waiting by the entrance, he remembered what he had forgotten.
Zi Ji!
Since Xu Caiwan had taken him away, Zi Ji had not followed.
He had no spirit stones in his pocket, and with his Qi Refining cultivation, he couldn't participate in the auction, so he could only wait outside.
And so, he waited until midnight.
Yun Ze coughed twice and stepped forward, calling out, "Cough, cough, Zi Ji."
"Mr. Tu."
Zi Ji respectfully cupped his hands, "You're back."
"Mm."
Yun Ze maintained the persona of Tu Sheng and asked indifferently, "Let's find a place to rest first."
"Yes."
Although Ji Lanshan had invited Yun Ze to live in the imperial palace, it was better to avoid trouble if possible.
What if Ji Lanshan, on a whim, sent some people to his room at night? That would be problematic.
Moreover, he still needed to go to Ye Huan Tower to find Yu Xian.
The two of them went to Ye Huan Tower.
When the attendant saw Yun Ze, he happily greeted him, "Guest, welcome back. Do you require any food or drink?"
Yun Ze turned to Zi Ji and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Zi Ji nodded honestly.
He was not someone who would hide his needs out of politeness.
"Then let's order some food."
Yun Ze looked at the attendant, "Take him to eat."
His attitude could be cold, but his actions could not.
This young man had waited outside for so long, so he had to treat him to a good meal as compensation.
"Certainly!"
The attendant enthusiastically beckoned Zi Ji, "Guest, please this way!"
Since Yun Ze had left Ye Huan Tower, Yu Xian had not left and was dealing with that purple treasure.
Judging by the time, it should be about time.
Yun Ze did not follow the attendant but turned to go upstairs. He arrived at the door of the previous private room and knocked twice, "Brother Yu, it's me."
"Come in."
Yun Ze pushed open the door and, upon entering, saw a layer of brass covering the entire room.
Yu Xian was currently sitting at the table and tossed a crystal ball to Yun Ze, "Here, I've prepared it for you. Just put it in your spatial ring when you reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment."
Inside the crystal ball was a small brass sword, but it was not solid, but rather ethereal, like Mu Yuan Ling.
This was the purple treasure that Yun Ze had obtained from the green ancient gold.
Gold Spirit!
And it was an extremely rare Sword Spirit among Gold Spirits!
"Thank you, Brother Yu!"
Yun Ze said with a smile, thanking him. In front of him, he no longer had to pretend to be expressionless.
He put the crystal ball into his spatial ring and couldn't help but ask Yu Xian, "Brother Yu, did you figure out the function of this Sword Spirit?"
Yu Xian shook his head and lay down on the bed, "I don't know much about spirits. You'll have to find a Spirit Seeker to ask."
"Spirit Seeker?"
"A type of cultivator who has a special perception of spirits. Most of them wander the mortal world, searching for various spirits everywhere, capturing them, and then selling them."
Yu Xian said and waved his hand, "Alright, alright, stop asking. I'm exhausted today, let me rest."
"Okay."
Yun Ze casually placed a bag of spirit stones and turned to walk towards the door, "Then, Brother Yu, I'll leave the spirit stones I borrowed here. I'll be going out now?"
He had originally planned to sell this purple treasure, but after opening it and finding it was a Sword Spirit, he was unwilling to sell it.
To have enough spirit stones to pay the bill, he had borrowed quite a bit from Brother Yu.
But who knew that by chance, he had even made a profit.
Including his original thirty thousand spirit stones, his spirit card now contained about four hundred thousand first-grade spirit stones, enough to buy four more second-tier spirit artifacts.
"Go, go."
Yu Xian waved his hands repeatedly, "And close the door. Call me tomorrow when you go to the palace."
"Got it."
Yun Ze replied, then pushed the door open and walked out.
He had told Yu Xian about the Dao discussion. Yu Xian had initially been unwilling to go, but upon hearing that the other person was named Gong Xiao, he decided to accompany Yun Ze.
Yun Ze's earlier guess was correct; Gong Xiao and Gong Li were indeed connected.
Both were of the Gong family bloodline from the Immortal Mansion. Although they were both from collateral branches, to cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above, they were enough to be intimidating.
This was why the other sects participating in the Ascension Assembly respected Gong Xiao so much.
It wasn't because of them personally, but because of the surname 'Gong'!
With this alone, it was enough for the entire cultivation world of the Southeast Heaven to give them the utmost consideration.
And the root of all this was one person.
Gong Chi Yi.
One of the elders of the Immortal Mansion, a late-stage Tribulation Transcension cultivator, and also the Prefect of the Southeast Heaven stationed by the Immortal Mansion, commanding all Immortal Mansion forces in the Southeast Heaven!
But these were not the most important things.
Most importantly, she had once fought the Demon Lord ten moves alone and was not defeated!
It was rumored that if there were a Heavenly Ranking for the Tribulation Transcension stage, she would definitely be among the top three!
Now that Yun Ze was going to discuss Dao with someone from the Gong family, Yu Xian absolutely had to be present to prevent the conflict from escalating again.
If a collateral branch of the Gong family made a mistake, crippling their cultivation and dismissing them from their position was not a big deal, but if they provoked two consecutively...
Then they would have to consider the Gong family's attitude.
Yun Ze left the room, found an attendant to open another room next to Yu Xian's, and called Zi Ji to eat and then go upstairs to rest.
Admittedly, Ye Huan Tower was truly expensive.
A room cost fifty spirit stones per night, and with Zi Ji's food and drink, it cost one hundred and twenty spirit stones for the night.
In Gufeng, that would be enough to rent a seclusion room for twelve days!
Yun Ze had indeed earned millions of spirit stones, but he still felt a pang of heartache. He could only hope to make back the spirit stones from somewhere else tomorrow.
For example, the Dao discussion.
...
............
Afternoon.
Yun Ze had been cultivating from midnight until afternoon, and his cultivation had only increased by less than one hundred-thousandth.
Although his cultivation speed, with the assistance of Xin Jue and Miao Jue, was comparable to cultivators with a three-attribute spiritual root, it was still difficult to improve quickly given the terrifying capacity of the Zhou Tian Sea.
But there was no rush.
With the rewards from the Ancient Desolation, he still had a thousand years of lifespan, so he should be able to last until the late stage of Foundation Establishment, right?
Yun Ze's state of mind was stable. As he emerged from his cultivation state, he noticed that Zi Ji had also emerged from his cultivation state and was holding a brush, seemingly writing something on the table.
He did not disturb Zi Ji, but quietly got up and stood beside him, watching silently.
With just one glance, Yun Ze felt a sharp pain, and a sharp aura emanated from the paper. But in the next instant, the brush in Zi Ji's hand snapped!
Strange!
Yun Ze clearly felt no spiritual energy, so why did this happen?
He looked at the half-written character left on the paper and frowned... 讠.
What character did this young man want to write?
Zi Ji shook his head and quietly put the brush and Xuan paper into his spatial ring, as if he was used to this happening.
He turned to look at Yun Ze and cupped his hands, "Sir."
"Mm."
Yun Ze nodded in response and then asked, "Your calligraphy should be close to breaking through, right?"
"Still a long way off."
Zi Ji scratched his head and smiled, "As long as I can write this character, it should be enough, but I don't have a good brush, so I can't write it.
When I save enough spirit stones, I'll buy a first-tier spirit brush. The wolf hair I saw yesterday was quite good, and it should be able to write this character."
"Mm?"
Yun Ze was stunned for a moment.
This young man, why didn't he say anything when I asked him yesterday? He was still being picky!
"Ah?"
Zi Ji was taken aback and said matter-of-factly, "Didn't you ask me what a good brush was, sir? Those are indeed not good brushes."
"Then you still want to buy one?"
"Sir, if one is starving and has no delicacies, one can only eat coarse grains."
"I..."
Yun Ze sometimes really wanted to pry open this guy's head and see what was inside!
He rolled his eyes helplessly and could only walk towards the door, "Let's go."
"Sir, are we going to the Dao discussion?" Zi Ji asked excitedly.
"No, I'm going to buy you some coarse grains!"
Zi Ji's face lit up, and he quickly followed!
Yun Ze took him, raised his hand, and knocked on Yu Xian's door, "Brother Yu."
"Hoo~"
A soft snore came from the room. It seemed he had truly slept all night!
"Brother Yu!"
Yun Ze's knocking intensified, and his voice rose slightly.
"Mm?"
Yu Xian's voice finally sounded lazily, "What is it?"
"Zi Ji and I are going out to buy something. We'll head directly to the imperial palace afterwards. What about you?"
"I'll go directly later. You don't need to worry about me."
"Okay."
Yun Ze replied, and did not forget to add, "Don't fall asleep!"
"Don't worry, I'll just take a short nap and then get up... Hoo~"
The snoring sounded again.
Yun Ze could only sigh helplessly and walked downstairs with Zi Ji.
But as they reached the entrance of Ye Huan Tower, they saw a familiar figure approaching.
Gong Li!
He... was out?