"Brother Jin? Whose descendant are you anyway? Wasting three thousand five hundred mid-grade crystals just like that? That thing might be a branch from some upper realm tree, completely useless! And… where did you get so many spirit stones? It's too late to sell spiritual herbs now!"
He knew Jin Bao'er had plenty of spiritual herbs, but once she won the auction, she would have to pay immediately after it ended. There wouldn't be enough time to sell them…
Jin Bao'er, however, smiled slightly, her lips curling.
"I have my ways!"
"Three thousand five hundred mid-grade, going once… twice!"
As the second auction call sounded, just as everyone was mocking the person upstairs for being a foolish spender! The masked person on the first floor spoke again!
"Three thousand six hundred mid-grade!"
Hearing this, the enchanting woman smiled even more obviously!
Jin Bao'er frowned. This person was likely the one who took the Zhulu Yuan in her past life and discovered its efficacy. Unfortunately, this time, she had to win it! Otherwise, why would she have strived to learn formations and talismans…
"Four thousand mid-grade!"
With this bid, everyone looked up again, wanting to see who this person was, so rich they didn't know where to spend their money! But private rooms were private rooms; they couldn't see the person's appearance inside.
The masked person downstairs seemed to have limited funds. After some hesitation, they finally gave up. Jin Bao'er, having narrowly escaped disaster, obtained the Zhulu Yuan!
After it was delivered, she picked up the branch from the tray with one hand. A faint white light emanated from it, a sign of dense spiritual energy. The branch was not long, about twenty centimeters, and otherwise looked no different from any other branch.
Li Qingjiu was stunned and scratched his head, looking at Jin Bao'er.
"You went through all this for this thing? The Carefree Palace must be desperate for money! They dared to set the starting bid at three thousand mid-grade! They're truly black-hearted!"
Jin Bao'er didn't respond. The attendant beside her remained expressionless, as if he hadn't heard anyone discussing his master. After Jin Bao'er confirmed the item was in order, she looked up at him.
"Besides the previous auction proceeds, how much more is owed?"
The attendant bowed slightly and respectfully replied,
"Excluding the amount from your previous auction items, one thousand two hundred mid-grade spirit stones are still owed!"
Jin Bao'er nodded, then looked at Li Qingjiu, her gaze calm.
"Lend me one thousand two hundred mid-grade!"
"Pfft!"
Li Qingjiu acted as if he had heard something outrageous, spitting out tea three meters away! He widened his eyes and cupped his ears, incredulously asking,
"What did you say? Did I mishear you? You, with so many spiritual herbs, are asking me for money?"
Jin Bao'er nodded. Despite being in dire straits, she showed no sign of distress! The spirit stones she had on hand were long gone during this period, which was why she had intended to use some spiritual herbs to bid and buy the Zhulu Yuan. She hadn't expected to still be short.
Thinking thus, she showed a hint of doubt.
"Could it be… that you, the esteemed young master of the Dragon Tiger Sect, don't even have over a thousand mid-grade crystals on you!? Never mind, if it's really impossible, I can mortgage some spiritual herbs."
This statement directly provoked Li Qingjiu! He shot up as if propelled, his face filled with arrogance and smugness, his head held high!
"Who do you think you're looking down on? This young master has nothing else but money! Isn't it just one thousand two hundred mid-grade? Consider it a gift from me!"
As he spoke, he directly took out several high-grade spirit stones from his storage space and waved his hand grandly!
"The rest is my tip! Can't be helped~ This young master only has high-grade spirit stones on him and can't break them!"
The attendant took the spirit stones and, after confirming their authenticity, quickly turned and left without a word of thanks! Li Qingjiu was so angry he wanted to snatch the crystals back! He was also poor, and while immediate spending felt great, the aftermath was like a funeral pyre!!
Beside him, Jin Bao'er quickly put away the Zhulu Yuan, only to hear a sneer from her sea of consciousness.
"A branch of the Elf Tree? What do you want with this useless thing?"
A single sentence instantly enlightened Jin Bao'er. Yes, these cultivators might not recognize it or understand its significance, but the mighty being in her sea of consciousness definitely would!
"Senior, do you know the use of this item? And what is the Elf Tree?"
Perhaps in a good mood, Long Lixing, uncharacteristically, began to elaborate. His deep, magnetic voice held a hint of casualness.
"The Elf Tree is the Tree of Life that grows in the center of the Elf Continent, nurturing the birth of countless elves. Its branches, besides possessing powerful defense, can also continuously generate spiritual energy. Other than that, it's just a piece of wood with no other use!"
He concluded with disdain, "A mere branch! Even the entire Elf Tree in front of him, he wouldn't care about! Recalling the wrinkled old face of a certain Elf King, he felt like setting things on fire!"
However, Jin Bao'er's eyes lit up instantly. Besides the Cultivation Continent, there were indeed other continents in this world. Elf Tree branch? It sounded like something extraordinary!
"Thank you, Senior, for the information! Although this item is useless to you, it is extremely important to me!"
Little did she know that during a future accident, it was thanks to this branch that she wasn't beaten to death by those elves!
Having bought what she wanted, Jin Bao'er didn't want to waste any more time there. She left the auction house, rented a courtyard, and began to diligently study formations that could utilize the Zhulu Yuan.
When Jin Bao'er emerged, a month had passed…
On this day, Li Qingjiu came again to find Jin Bao'er but couldn't get past the gate. No matter how he tried to fly with his spiritual energy or climb over the wall, he was blocked by an invisible barrier! At first, he could still rush in, but by half a month ago, it had become completely impenetrable…
As he slumped dejectedly, he didn't notice the surrounding spiritual energy slowly gathering in the courtyard, accelerating its pace! By the time he realized it, he was almost swept inside!
Fortunately, he managed to grab onto a large tree. Turning back, he saw a faint white glow rapidly enveloping the entire courtyard!
The formation had finally taken shape!
Inside the courtyard…
"That's wonderful! Thank you, Senior, for your guidance! Otherwise, I don't know how long it would have taken me to complete this defensive formation alone."
In her excitement, Jin Bao'er couldn't help but express her gratitude. She thought that with this formation, she wouldn't have to worry about being powerless when facing certain individuals anymore!
"Hmph, you actually have some self-awareness!"
Jin Bao'er had long grown accustomed to Long Lixing's arrogance, and simply smiled.
"Senior is right!"
Her calm, unyielding demeanor effectively shut down whatever Long Lixing was about to say! After a moment, he sneered,
"You little girl are truly boring, talking to you is so uninteresting!"
Jin Bao'er knew he wasn't angry and was about to reply when the spiritual energy rapidly surging from all directions enveloped her! Her suppressed cultivation surged again, and before she could even react, she had directly advanced to the early Golden Core stage!!
Unfortunately, it all happened too suddenly. She could only allow her body to soar into the air, spiritual energy filling her entire being, and her cultivation continuing to rise…
Outside, the sky suddenly darkened. It seemed to sense that someone was advancing, but it couldn't locate that person! Covered by the defensive formation, Jin Bao'er's aura was completely concealed…