Wanxin City

Jiang Lu tossed the demon beast's demon core to Mengbao, patted the dust off her clothes, and stood up.

Holding her spiritual sword in her left hand, her right fingertips flickered with spiritual energy. She lightly swiped her finger along the blade, sending the beads of blood on it dripping onto the ground.

Looking at the spiritual sword, which had chipped in several more places, she let out a sigh.

This was already her sixth spiritual sword. She really needed to find an armaments master to forge her natal sword as soon as possible. Although these ordinary spiritual swords weren't worth much, a cultivator could only unleash their full strength once they possessed their own natal magic treasure.

After training in the forest for several months, she had finally walked out of the Illusionary Forest. Now that her foundation was stable, she could directly advance her cultivation next time.

Uncle Chi had sent a message saying there was an auction in Wanxin City with quite a few good things. He suggested she go take a look, as it might be of help to her.

Most importantly, it was time for her to make an appearance. The direct disciple recruited by Elder Ye hadn't appeared in public for months, and Elder Ye himself hadn't shown up either. The outside world was rife with rumors, and even the disciples within the Medicine King Pavilion were questioning the authenticity of the news.

Secondly, since the auction was being hosted by their very own Medicine King Pavilion anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to go broaden her horizons and make those doubters shut their mouths.

As Jiang Lu entered the territory of Wanxin City, she knew from the moment she set foot in the area that it was incomparable to Xijiang City. It was a Tier Four city. Within its territory, Qi Condensation clans were as numerous as ox hairs, Foundation Establishment clans were countless, and there were even quite a few Golden Core clans.

Their Xijiang City belonged to a Tier Two region within the territory of Wanxin City.

Within each tier of region, there could exist multiple lower-tier regions, forming a dense network that gathered various forces together.

For regions below Tier Five, whenever a new region appeared, it had to be reported to the Alliance's primary region registration point for identity authentication.

Once it reached Tier Five, it had to be reported to the Alliance's intermediate region registration point. If it reached Tier Nine or above, it would be reported to the Alliance's advanced region registration point.

In this way, all the forces in the cultivation world, from top to bottom, were under the control of the top-tier forces. However, unless their strength had truly reached that level, very few clans would proactively report and register, in order to prevent petty people from interfering.

However, the cultivation world currently had abundant resources, and while the five great domains competed with one another, there was rarely any overt interference within each domain. Still, if a cultivator was excessively arrogant and provoked others, they only had themselves to blame if they were schemed against.

The territories of the cultivation world were divided into twelve tiers, with Tier One being the weakest and Tier Twelve being the highest. Tier Ten and above were basically where the top-tier forces resided.

A Tier One region required more than five late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators.

A Tier Two region required more than five late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

A Tier Three region required more than five late-stage Golden Core cultivators.

A Tier Four region required more than five late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

A Tier Five region required more than one late-stage Soul Formation cultivator.

A Tier Six region required more than five late-stage Soul Formation cultivators.

A Tier Seven region required more than one Void Refinement cultivator.

A Tier Eight region required more than five Void Refinement cultivators.

A Tier Nine region required more than one Body Integration cultivator.

A Tier Ten region required more than five Body Integration cultivators.

A Tier Eleven region required more than one Mahayana cultivator.

A Tier Twelve region required more than five Mahayana cultivators.

The City Lord of Wanxin City, Jian An, was at the late-stage Nascent Soul realm and held great authority here. They would likely run into each other at the auction, and when the time came, she should meet them.

Most importantly, her master had sent a message telling her that she could head to Xuwu City on her own. If she hadn't arrived by the time he finished his secluded cultivation, he would come looking for her.

Since that was the case, she would head toward Xuwu City while training along the way.

“Fellow Daoist, entry to the auction requires identity verification. Please show your invitation.”

Jiang Lu was stopped just as she reached the entrance of the Medicine King Pavilion.

Jiang Lu paused, only now realizing that the auction was not open to just anyone. Without status, position, or accompanying strength, one didn't even have the qualification to step inside.

For today's auction, the sales hall was closed, and only cultivators holding invitations could enter.

Aside from being distributed to certain clans, the remaining invitations were sold. This was also a way to filter out those who could actually afford the auction items.

After all, unless they had a specific need or were tight on funds, few people would spend money to buy an invitation just to broaden their horizons. While they couldn't afford the items on the main auction block, they could still browse the resources released by the other sales halls on auction day.

Jiang Lu thought about it. Since Uncle Chi hadn't mentioned anything about an invitation, she probably didn't need one to enter. Then, she remembered the identity token her master had given her.

She took it out of her space, held it in her hand, and showed it to the disciple in front of her.

The disciple took it, and upon seeing the patterns on it clearly, a shocked expression crossed his face as he stared at Jiang Lu in disbelief.

This was the identity token of an Elder's direct disciple!

And judging by its color, she must be a disciple of one of the core elders.

He didn't even consider the possibility that Jiang Lu might be faking her identity. After all, pretending to be a direct disciple of any major power was practically suicide!

“So it is Martial Aunt! This disciple failed to recognize greatness. I hope Martial Aunt will not take offense.”

Having said that, he bowed and presented the token back with both hands.

Jiang Lu took it back, a trace of awkwardness on her face. Her seniority had certainly risen quickly; she had already become a Martial Aunt.

She then placed her hand in front of her mouth and cleared her throat lightly.

“Cough, it's fine. Lead the way.”

“This disciple obeys.”

After speaking, the disciple led Jiang Lu into the auction venue. After going up several floors, he pushed open a door.

“Martial Aunt, these five private rooms are reserved by our Medicine King Pavilion for elders and direct disciples. I have arranged for you to be in Room Five.”

Jiang Lu walked in and swept her gaze around.

As expected of a jade-crafted private room on the top floor!

Jiang Lu had to admit she was a total country bumpkin; this was the first time she had ever seen such an outrageously luxurious private room.

It was suspended mid-air along the side of the auction hall. The floor-to-ceiling spiritual crystal barrier was completely transparent and unobstructed, offering a clear and expansive view of the entire auction stage.

Gilded cloud-patterned carved beams complemented the flowing light of the warm jade flooring. Thousand-year spiritual gauze hung down, adorned with glowing immortal pearls, and the room was furnished with red sandalwood tables inlaid with precious gems.

Spiritual tea and fresh fruit were promptly served on the table.

There was even a spot by the door where an attendant could stand by, and a transmission array would respond instantly upon summons. It was exquisitely beautiful, yet quiet and noble.

“Not bad, let's make it here! Are there any other disciples from the pavilion participating?”

Jiang Lu nodded in satisfaction, then continued to ask.

The attendant shook his head.

“Replying to Martial Aunt, I have not seen any other direct disciples or elders arrive.”

Jiang Lu nodded. She had originally thought that if other elders' disciples were here, she could get to know them beforehand, but since there were none, she would let it be.

She then waved her hand, telling him to bring her the auction catalog before dismissing him.