Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Two months later, an ordinary three-masted sea ship slowly entered a crescent-shaped bay,

on the bow deck, Zhao Sheng's eyes were slightly narrowed, staring at the large workshop by the pier from afar.

"Finally arrived at Wind and Fire Island," Zhao Sheng muttered to himself, gently drifted from the ship, flew over a distance of eight yards across the sea surface, and landed on the plank road of the pier.

An hour later, an ordinary-looking young man in blue robes appeared in the workshop of Wind and Fire Island, blending in with the bustling crowd, hardly noticeable.

Wind and Fire Island was one of the spirit islands under the jurisdiction of Dragon Turtle Island among the Thirty-Six Star Constellation Spirit Islands, and it was the most famous Refining Island within the realm of Dragon Turtle Island; its workshop was renowned throughout the Shattered Star Sea, marking it as a bustling location.

Zhao Sheng discreetly observed and noticed that the buildings on Wind and Fire Island were mostly made of submarine fire rocks, which under the sun's rays, exhibited a faint reddish glow, rendering these structures exceptionally bright and solid-looking.

On the streets, one could often see squads of elite armored soldiers from the Wind Fire Sect marching in unison, patrolling the streets.

Zhao Sheng scanned them and was surprised to find the aura of these elite soldiers extremely peculiar, almost devoid of any signs of life, resembling squads of eerie living corpse puppets,

Zhao Sheng had long heard that the Wind Fire Sect possessed a secret technique to refine Yin Corpse Soldier Puppets, and seeing this firsthand was somewhat shocking. He thought to himself that the Wind Fire Sect indeed was no ordinary sect.

As he walked through the workshop, Zhao Sheng discovered that Wind and Fire Island indeed lived up to its name as an island of artifact refining, with numerous Artifact Refining Shops, nearly every street hosting several such shops.

He also noticed that the shops along the streets predominantly sold various Magic Artifacts, and their primary acquisitions were also various refining spirit materials,

As for shops selling Spiritual Medicine, Spirit Pills, and talismans, there were some, but not many.

This Artifact Refining-famed Wind and Fire Island truly lived up to its reputation.

One reason Zhao Sheng traveled thousands of miles to Wind and Fire Island

was to sell the unused Magic Artifacts and to buy Spirit Pills for cultivation, along with acquiring a few suitable Magic Artifacts.

The other, more crucial reason was to figure out the death trap in Bei Mansion,

and if he could also unravel the origins of the ancient painting and bamboo basket, that would be even better.

...

Four hours later, after making a round in the workshop and entering several shops, Zhao Sheng casually inquired about the prices of Magic Artifacts at different levels.

Once he had a good understanding, Zhao Sheng stopped wandering aimlessly and found a place to stay temporarily within the workshop.

Over the next three days, Zhao Sheng, assuming various appearances, entered multiple Artifact Refining shops and offloaded unusable Magic Artifacts such as the Water Dividing Needle, Flying Knife, Mandarin Duck Hooks, low-grade talismans, and so forth, ultimately exchanging them for over eight thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Having dealt with these transactions, Zhao Sheng, now in the guise of a fair-faced young master, entered a quite imposing-looking shop.

This shop was large, luxuriously decorated inside, and even the lowest quality of the Magic Artifacts sold were of top-grade, suggesting that it was a boutique specializing in fine products.

"Taoist, are you looking to buy Magic Artifacts, or sell refining materials?" As soon as Zhao Sheng entered, a middle-aged man whose weathered and yellow skin appeared as if scorched by fire, immediately came forward to greet him.

"I would like to sell this item, please have a look," Zhao Sheng said nonchalantly and pulled a squarish stone box from his Storage Bag.

He gently opened the box, but made sure that only the middle-aged man could see the contents inside.

Upon seeing the Single-Horned Ghost Skull in the stone box, the middle-aged man's complexion changed, and he promptly said to Zhao Sheng,

"Taoist, please follow me to a private room at the back. I will immediately call the shopkeeper to examine it."

Zhao Sheng nodded, his expression serene as he followed the man into a private room at the back.

Shortly after, a gray-robed elderly man with a white beard entered the room, smiling slightly at Zhao Sheng, bowed his hands, and said, "I am Sun Delu, honored to meet you, Taoist. I heard you have a treasure to offer. May I have the privilege to take a look?"

Zhao Sheng nodded and opened the stone box, pushing it forward.

Upon seeing the completely black skull with horns on top, the elder's pupils involuntarily shrank slightly.

...

An hour later, the elder placed the Single-Horned Ghost Skull back into the stone box, his face still showing traces of joy.

He knew that this item was a Low Grade Spiritual Artifact and candidly spoke up, "The item is indeed good, containing Corrosive Bone Corpse Fire and has been sacrificially refined for over a hundred years. However, it is difficult to deal with openly, and it is slightly flawed. Therefore, the price is a bit lower than that of a similar Spiritual Artifact, around nine thousand Spirit Stones."

Zhao Sheng slightly nodded upon hearing this, apparently agreeing with the other party's view.

Then, he smiled and said, "Although the price is good, I am not short of Spirit Stones. I wonder if your shop has Puppet Magical Artifacts or top-grade magic tools available? I would like to consider an item exchange, is that possible?"

The elder confidently answered, "Our shop is one of the directly affiliated shops of Wind Fire Sect, and we can certainly engage in item exchange, and we will not disappoint you, Taoist."

Zhao Sheng, noncommittally, hummed a sound and suddenly asked, "I heard that your island is about to hold a special auction. I am interested in participating, but are there any special requirements?"

The elder was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Special requirements? Indeed, there are two: first, you need a guarantee letter provided by a shop on the island, and second, you must provide an item for the auction."

The elder hesitated not at all to say this, after all, this was no secret on Wind and Fire Island, so naturally there was no need to hide it from Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng silently nodded.

The reason he wanted to participate in this auction was that he had heard Foundation Establishment Pills would be auctioned there.

In the Shattered Star Sea, Foundation Establishment Pills are much more scarce and rare than in the Central Continent.

The reasons are not only because there are fewer Alchemists in the Shattered Star Sea and the refining materials for Foundation Establishment Pill are rare. Most importantly, the other continents have intentionally reduced the supply of Foundation Establishment Pill, making their prices nearly sky-high in the Shattered Star Sea, where even Low Grade Foundation Establishment Pills are unlikely to appear on the market.

Eager for the Foundation Establishment Pill, he hesitated no longer and immediately said to the elder, "I must confess, my visit to Wind and Fire Island this time is specifically for the auction. If you could provide a guarantee for me, I have a Spiritual Flying Sword in my possession that I could sell to your shop at a reduced price."

Hearing this, the elder's brows slightly furrowed as he quietly weighed the implications.

After pondering for a moment, he lightly slapped the stone box and said:

"Well then, I could agree to vouch for you. May I examine the Spiritual Artifact in your hands?"

"Certainly!" said Zhao Sheng without hesitation.

As he spoke, he pulled out Zhen Yue's Golden Light Spirit Sword from his Storage Bag, along with a scroll housing a Spiritual Artifact and Chi Li Spirit Fire.

This scroll was what he planned to use for the auction, and he wanted the elder to appraise it as well.

An hour later, Zhao Sheng left the shop smiling, holding a pale red Jade Scroll in his hand, its surface engraved with the same pattern as the shop's sign.

In addition, his Storage Bag now contained over two hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Having obtained the guarantee letter and Spirit Stones, he then visited two Elixir Medicine Shops and bought more than a dozen bottles of Cloud Ginseng Pills, costing him nearly a thousand Spirit Stones.

Unfortunately, there were many shops selling Elixir Pills on Wind and Fire Island, but almost none selling spirit medicine seeds.

After inquiring in several shops to no avail, he had to temporarily give up on planting Spiritual Medicine in the Bei Mansion.

Half a day later, Zhao Sheng returned to his residence and began to cultivate behind closed doors.

But as the auction approached, various rumors inevitably began to spread.
Stay tuned to empire

As word of the Foundation Establishment Pills being auctioned spread, an increasing number of outside Cultivators started arriving on Wind and Fire Island.