Not long after the auction concluded, the manager made a special trip to the VIP box to deliver the items Shi Yu had won and tally up the total price with her.
Auction houses charged a commission on consignment sales, usually calculating it at ten percent of the final price.
The Lesser Longevity Pill had sold for fifteen thousand five hundred low-grade spirit stones, meaning the commission alone would come to over a thousand spirit stones.
Eager to curry favor with Shi Yu, the manager was about to offer a partial commission waiver when he saw her produce a Xie Clan VIP jade token.
Guided by the principle of not letting a good thing go to waste, Shi Yu had specifically brought along the token Xie Cheng had given her.
Wen Wen had mentioned earlier that this VIP token could be used at any Xie Clan enterprise, though Shi Yu wasn't sure how much of a discount it would grant.
The manager's expression shifted as he cautiously received the token. The moment it touched his palm, he knew it was genuine.
Respectfully returning the token to Shi Yu, the manager said, “Miss Shi, this is a Gilded Jade Token, ranked second among our Xie Clan's VIP tokens. With this token in hand, your commission is reduced by seventy percent.”
This meant her commission was reduced to just over four hundred spirit stones.
Shi Yu smiled and said, “Simply deduct the cost of the items I bought directly from the total, then.”
The manager nodded repeatedly. After settling the accounts, he politely handed over the items and her remaining spirit stones. “Please accept these, Miss Shi. If you ever have rare medicinal pills in the future, please feel free to bring them to us for auction.”
“Everyone knows how exceptional your pills are. You'll never have to worry about getting a good price.”
Shi Yu took the items and stowed them all into her Fate-Tapping Bell. “If I refine any more good ones, I will certainly bring them here. I will have to trouble you again then, Manager.”
“You flatter me!” The manager beamed, then paused, unable to hold back his curiosity. “It's just...”
“Hm?”
The manager's gaze fell on the Gilded Jade Token. “Miss, you may not be aware, but only a handful of these Gilded Jade Tokens exist, held exclusively by the direct lineage of the Xie Clan. May I ask which esteemed master gave this token to—”
Seeing the probing hesitation in his eyes, Shi Yu made no attempt to hide it. “Xie Cheng gave it to me.”
The manager gasped in shock, hurriedly asking, “Could Miss be the savior of our young master?”
“If the young master you speak of is Xie Zhixun, then that should be me,” Shi Yu replied with a faint smile. “I wouldn't claim to be his savior. We simply went through hardship together, and I merely lent a small hand.”
To her surprise, the manager shook his head repeatedly. “Miss, you are far too modest. Third Master Xie instructed us below long ago to keep an eye out for any news regarding the Gilded Jade Token, hoping to find you soon and repay your kindness.”
The "Third Master Xie" he referred to was none other than Xie Cheng.
“I never expected Miss to appear so early. I was truly blind not to recognize you sooner today.”
Back then, Shi Yu had joined Xie Cheng's party to search for the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame in the Fulong Mountain Range, taking advantage of his convenience. Giving the master and servant a Spirit Wandering Talisman later on had also been driven by her own calculations; she didn't care much about debt or gratitude.
The Xie Clan was a powerful force in the main city, but she had never held any desire to curry favor with them.
After exchanging a few polite words with him, she heard the manager say, “Third Master Xie will certainly be overjoyed to hear of this. I expect he will visit you in person within a few days.”
Shi Yu's lips curved upward. “It just so happens my cave dwelling is quite tranquil. If he comes, I'll be sure to keep the tea flowing.”
After chatting a bit more, Shi Yu stood up to take her leave. The graceful maidservants in the VIP box, with bright smiles and soft laughter, gathered around to escort her out.
Upon returning to her cave dwelling, she found Qingzhou back from his errands, tending to the spiritual grain.
Shi Yu immediately noticed a new fence built beside the herb garden. Inside, a pair of spirit chickens and a pair of spirit ducks were pecking at spiritual grain husks.
Walking over, she took a closer look out of curiosity. These spirit fowls were much smaller than ordinary chickens and ducks, but their feathers were exceptionally glossy and smooth.
Qingzhou's gentle gaze softened further as he turned to look at her. “Sister, you're back.”
Shi Yu nodded and pulled out a bulging pouch of spirit stones, presenting them all. “These spirit stones should be enough to purchase the spiritual plants and materials.”
Qingzhou set down his water ladle and walked over. Taking the spirit stones, he was about to speak when his expression shifted slightly upon catching several unfamiliar fragrances lingering on her. Lowering his eyelids, he murmured coldly, “Sister certainly enjoys quite the good fortune.”
Shi Yu: “?”
Before she could figure out what he meant, he turned around and walked off, tossing back a quiet line: “I'm going to make the purchases now.”
There's no need to be in such a hurry, she thought.
Shi Yu blinked, thoroughly baffled.
Seeing that he had already left, she put it out of her mind, retreated to her room, and brought out the newly acquired technique jade slip, 《Burning Push Palm》, to study.
Closing her eyes, she focused her intent and sank her mind into the slip. The scene before her eyes shifted, delivering her into a pure white space.
Information on the technique surfaced sequentially before her, accompanied by the personal cultivation insights of the recorder, unfolding item by item.
This sensation was similar to the deduction process within the Fate-Tapping Bell's primal chaos space. Though far less direct and clear than the primal chaos space, it was still vastly easier to comprehend than a handwritten transcript.
Shi Yu concentrated fully as she evaluated the technique's power. It could barely be considered mid-tier among Tier-2 techniques, which was decent enough.
By the time she had memorized the full contents of the technique, an unknown amount of time had passed. As her divine sense withdrew from the jade slip, the soul aura residing within it had faded significantly.
Every time a jade slip was viewed, it consumed a portion of the soul aura within. Over time, the stored information would gradually fade away until the slip reverted into a blank jade slip. Thus, despite how convenient jade slips were, cultivators with insufficient comprehension often failed to fully grasp a technique before it faded.
Fortunately, with the Fate-Tapping Bell in hand, Shi Yu had no such worries.
She put the jade slip away and submerged her mind into her Purple Mansion. Surrounding the Fate-Tapping Bell, a slightly larger and brighter point of light had appeared, representing the newly memorized Tier-2 technique, 《Burning Push Palm》.
Moreover, after this point of light appeared, the smaller point representing the Tier-1 basic technique 《Fire Cloud Palm》 leaned closer toward it, showing signs of fusing.
Both were fire-attribute techniques and palm styles, so Shi Yu decisively chose to fuse them.
Her divine sense was depleted in an instant. Under her watchful gaze, the smaller light representing 《Fire Cloud Palm》 plunged straight into the larger light, merging with it in the blink of an eye.
The larger point of light grew noticeably brighter.
However, perhaps because 《Fire Cloud Palm》 was too low in tier, this fusion only slightly enhanced 《Burning Push Palm》 without altering its name.
It didn't undergo a qualitative leap or advance an entire tier like the fusion between 《Lesser Swallow Steps》 and 《Wind Walking Art》, which had evolved into 《Swallow Walking Art》.
Still, any advancement was a good thing.
“I'll need to collect many more techniques in the future,” she murmured softly.
Compared to the ancient inheritances of prominent clans and major sects, her foundation in techniques was still far lacking. She could only rely on quantity to win out, advancing step by step.
Distracting thoughts set aside, Shi Yu adjusted her breathing and entered meditation, quietly restoring her divine sense.
Several hours passed this way. The moment her divine sense fully recovered, she entered the primal chaos space to practice the newly re-deduced 《Burning Push Palm》.
The current 《Burning Push Palm》 now sat firmly in the middle ranks among Tier-2 techniques, requiring only one more step to reach the upper tier.
Its power was similarly formidable.
When unleashed, the ambient world spiritual Qi around her seemed to burst into flames instantly, causing the surrounding temperature to spike. Crimson flames erupted furiously across her palms, coalescing into a three-foot-wide wall of fire. Upon releasing her built-up power, it surged toward the enemy like a roaring, clawed beast, carrying terrifying destructive power.
As a beginner, Shi Yu could not yet wield this force to perfection. Only after practicing it over a hundred times in the primal chaos space did she slowly gain a deeper understanding, her execution becoming increasingly fluid.
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