In the evening, Li Xuan was summoned from his room by a servant and led to the great hall in the backyard.
Around a massive dining table, hundreds of people stood in perfect formation, all staring in the direction Li Xuan was coming from.
"Young Master Li Xuan, please come to the head seat," the Great Elder said, rising to greet him as soon as Li Xuan appeared.
"Great Elder, sitting here is fine for me. I am new here and dare not steal the spotlight from the host. Please do not put me in a difficult position," Li Xuan politely declined, and then took a seat below the Great Elder.
"This..." The Great Elder, seeing Li Xuan sit below him, was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Great Elder, since Young Master Li Xuan prefers to sit here, let's follow his preference and begin quickly. I believe Young Master Li Xuan will be amazed by our Spirit Feast," a middle-aged man said, standing up and nodding at Li Xuan.
"Very well, if that is the case, I shall not force the issue. Young Master Li Xuan, this is the family head's younger brother, Hu Hai Zhi. This is my mother, Xue Man's mother. Xue Man, I believe, needs no introduction, haha. And this is..."
Seeing Hu Hai Zhi speak up, the Great Elder no longer insisted and began introducing everyone one by one. Those introduced rose and nodded at Li Xuan, who also rose and returned the gesture.
"Young Master Li Xuan, I believe you have not yet tasted a Spirit Feast. This Spirit Feast is a specialty of our Shuang Yang City and cannot be found elsewhere. We have no way to repay your kindness in helping us. Today, we offer this Spirit Feast as our thanks," the Great Elder said, nodding to someone beside him.
"Since that is the case, I shall try and see the wonders of this Spirit Feast. My apologies for the disturbance," Li Xuan said to the Great Elder, then his gaze swept across everyone, offering his thanks.
"Initiate the Spirit!"
A man beside the Great Elder called out.
Then, wisps of white smoke rose from around the dining table, followed by several spirit seals converging from all directions towards the center of the table, pouring down like a waterfall.
"Gather the Spirit!"
As soon as the man finished speaking, the descending spirit seals stopped. Innumerable spiritual energies in the air condensed towards the bowls and plates covered on the dining table, causing the entire table to shine.
In an instant, a wave of fragrance wafted out.
Gulp.
Li Xuan had not expected the Spirit Feast to be so astonishing. Merely the aroma alone made one crave a feast.
"Conclude the Spirit!"
Finally, the spiritual light gradually dispersed, and the fragrance intensified. Even Li Xuan, unable to resist, wanted to start eating immediately. After several attempts to suppress his urge, he managed to control his impulse.
"Great Elder, all preparations are complete, we can begin." The man said, then turned and left, taking all the servants and maids with him.
"Young Master Li Xuan, what do you think of this Spirit Feast?" the Great Elder asked with a smile.
"Great Elder, to be honest, this is the first time I have ever seen such a brilliant and astonishing feast. The aroma alone makes one's mouth water. I believe this Spirit Feast must be an exceptionally rare delicacy," Li Xuan said with emotion.
"Young Master, please, begin eating," the Great Elder gestured with a smile.
Li Xuan nodded slightly and then picked up his chopsticks to taste.
Soon, Li Xuan discovered the miraculous nature of the Spirit Feast.
Each dish contained an extremely potent spiritual energy. As it entered his stomach, Li Xuan instantly felt his spiritual energy in his dantian being strengthened. In that moment, he felt an unparalleled sense of joy.
Li Xuan had an illusion that if he ate like this a few more times, it might be enough to allow him to break through directly from the early stage of the God Extinction realm.
"This Spirit Feast actually has such wonderful effects," Li Xuan marveled, and then continued to eat.
Seeing Li Xuan enjoying himself immensely, the Great Elder and the others also showed looks of satisfaction.
After three rounds of dishes and five rounds of wine.
The night passed in silence.
The next day, Li Xuan left the Hu residence early and went to the market.
"Look, look! We have high-grade cultivation techniques for sale here! And various pills, spiritual artifacts. All at a cheap price!"
Li Xuan stopped when he heard the stall owner shouting loudly as he passed a street stall. He looked up at the vendor, whose cultivation was at the middle stage of the God Shattering realm. Li Xuan scanned the items on the stall with his divine sense, then shook his head with a smile and turned to leave.
Even in Shuang Yang City, there were so many fakes. As he walked, Li Xuan found that most of the spiritual artifacts on the street stalls were damaged pieces, and most of the cultivation techniques were low-level.
It was understandable, of course. Who would sell good cultivation techniques? As for pills, they were even rarer. Apart from the essential healing pills, other pills were extremely scarce.
Of course, there were also many who claimed to have advanced pills, but Li Xuan's divine sense was incredibly powerful. A mere glance revealed them to be fake.
However, not all the stalls were filled with unremarkable items. Relying on his strong divine sense, Li Xuan did discover quite a few good things. For anything that his divine sense could not penetrate, it was certainly no ordinary item.
It was just that when he inquired about the prices, it made Li Xuan's heart ache. After buying a few items, Li Xuan had very little spirit stones left.
It seemed he needed to find a way to earn spirit stones, Li Xuan sighed helplessly. Back on Emerald Star, he had wanted to exchange for some spirit stones, but due to unforeseen events, he hadn't had the chance. Now, arriving in Liu City on the True Martial Continent, although the prices were slightly lower, they weren't significantly so.
After purchasing some items he couldn't see through, Li Xuan had less than two billion high-grade spirit stones left.
More importantly, the True Martial Continent circulated supreme-grade spirit stones. This meant Li Xuan now had less than two million supreme-grade spirit stones.
"Did you hear? Xing Yun Pavilion is holding an auction."
"Of course I heard. This Xing Yun Pavilion is a top force on the True Martial Continent. How could I not know if they are holding an auction?"
"That's right. Xing Yun Pavilion is honest and fair, with reasonable prices. There will definitely be many influential figures present."
"..."
An auction house? How could I not have thought of that! Li Xuan's eyes suddenly lit up. He had many spirit weapons and spiritual artifacts. The three innate supreme treasures could be put up for auction at the auction house.
With his mind made up, Li Xuan immediately stepped forward, inquired about the specific location of Xing Yun Pavilion, and then, under the astonished gazes of others, hurried away.
After all, on the entire True Martial Continent, there were not many who had never heard of Xing Yun Pavilion.
"Xing Yun Pavilion"
Following the directions pointed out by passersby, Li Xuan finally found the location of Xing Yun Pavilion.
Good heavens, Xing Yun Pavilion occupied more than half of an entire market street. At the entrance, eight guards stood at attention. Such a grand scale, Xing Yun Pavilion was truly renowned. Li Xuan nodded and then strode forward.
"Stop! Who are you, show your token."
Just as Li Xuan was about to enter, the leading guard suddenly blocked him.
Li Xuan was speechless, finding it just like Ling Tian Pavilion, requiring a token to enter. However, considering the strength of Xing Yun Pavilion, Li Xuan could only shake his head helplessly.
"So, you don't have a token. And you think you can enter Xing Yun Pavilion without one? Go away, go away. Xing Yun Pavilion is not a place that just anyone can enter," the guard said impatiently, seeing that Li Xuan could not produce a token.
Li Xuan looked at the guard speechlessly and had no choice but to turn and leave.
"Oh, isn't this Second Master Qin? You're here, please, please come in."
Just as Li Xuan turned to leave, he heard the guards shout loudly and then stopped, following the direction of their gaze.
He saw a man in his early twenties, wearing a purple-gold robe, walking over with six attendants.
"Yes, go and inform Miss Wan Ru that Second Young Master Qin has arrived." The man in the purple-gold robe said, glanced at Li Xuan, and then walked in.
"Alright, I'll send someone to inform Miss Wan Ru right away. Please wait a moment." The guard said, glanced at the guard beside him, and then, with a fawning smile, led the man inside.
"Hey, you, yes, you, why aren't you leaving? You're even following along." As the guard was leading the way, he suddenly saw Li Xuan following behind and immediately walked over, shouting loudly.
"If I'm not mistaken, he didn't seem to have a token either, so why could he enter? Why can't I?" Li Xuan asked calmly, looking at the guard.
"I say, are you blind? Who is this? This is the second young master of the Qin family. He doesn't need a token at all. Go away, go away. Hurry up and get out of the way," the guard pushed Li Xuan, speaking with disdain.
Li Xuan smiled upon hearing this. The establishment bullies the customers. However, the way Xing Yun Pavilion operated like this was rather disappointing to Li Xuan. With this thought, Li Xuan turned and left.
"Young Master Li Xuan, where are you going so early in the morning?" As soon as he reached the courtyard, Li Xuan saw Hu Xue Man.
"I was bored, so I went out for a stroll. Miss Hu, why are you here?" Li Xuan smiled and said.
"Young Master Li Xuan, please don't call me 'Miss Hu' anymore. If you don't mind, call me Xue Man. I was preparing to see how you were, as you drank so much last night."
"I knocked for a long time but got no response. I was just about to go back when you returned," Hu Xue Man said.
"So that's how it is. By the way, Hu Da... Xue Man, there's something I'd like to ask you. What does it mean to need a token to enter Xing Yun Pavilion? Don't tell me they're not open for business, but you still need a token to enter?" Li Xuan asked after thinking for a moment.
"That. Did Young Master Li Xuan just go to Xing Yun Pavilion? Xing Yun Pavilion has branches all over the True Martial Continent, and their strength is not to be underestimated. As for the token, it is issued by Xing Yun Pavilion and is a symbol of strength."
"Our Shuang Yang City has various forces, but their levels differ. Here, I happen to have one." Hu Xue Man said, then took out a token from her ring and tossed it to Li Xuan.
Li Xuan took it and looked at it. The token had the words "Xing Yun Pavilion" inscribed in small characters in the center, with a totem drawn below.
Li Xuan flipped it over and saw the words "Black Gold" inscribed on the back.
Is this Xing Yun Pavilion's token? It doesn't look unusual? After looking, Li Xuan tossed the token back to Hu Xue Man, who then pushed it back, saying it was a gift for him. Li Xuan initially wanted to refuse, but then thought about it and accepted it.
"Young Master Li Xuan, I heard that Xing Yun Pavilion will be holding a grand auction in a month's time. It is said that the city lords of the other two main cities will be attending. It will surely be a spectacular event. Young Master Li Xuan, will you go with me to see it then?"
Hu Xue Man said, looking at Li Xuan with expectation.
"This... Alright, I promise you." Li Xuan had intended to refuse, but considering that she had given him the token, he agreed.
"Great, you promised, no backing out," Hu Xue Man nodded at Li Xuan, who had agreed, and said happily.
Li Xuan smiled and nodded again, then looked up at the sky.
He owed her this much.