After encountering those events, Li Nanzhu was no longer in the mood to continue wandering the streets. She and Duan Xianxing headed straight for a teahouse and sat down.
Sipping the spiritual tea, Li Nanzhu found herself unsure of what to think or do, staring blankly at the tea in her cup.
Duan Xianxing noticed that his Little Junior Sister’s mood seemed off and called out to her instinctively.
"Little Junior Sister."
Li Nanzhu looked up out of pure habit, forgetting to even mask her emotions.
Duan Xianxing saw an expressionless face and eyes that were hollow. Though there was no outward emotion within them, he had seen eyes like these before.
Contained within them was not just a lack of interest in life, but something more akin to numbness.
Why would his Little Junior Sister show such an expression?
It was as if she no longer had any expectations for anything.
Li Nanzhu reacted immediately to the shift in Duan Xianxing’s mood. She blinked and gave him a smile.
"Seventh Senior Brother, did I scare you? Haha! I was just thinking about whether I should turn into a ghost to scare you next time. Do you think Eldest Senior Brother is afraid of ghosts?"
Her performance made it seem as if what he had just seen was merely an illusion.
However, he chose to answer her question first.
"It might scare me, but it probably won't work on Eldest Senior Brother. After all, if a ghost actually appeared, it would just be a ghost cultivator. Eldest Senior Brother would likely just wipe them out with a single strike of his blade."
Internally, he wondered if that female cultivator named Cang Dongqing had really affected her that much. Just how much grievance had his Little Junior Sister suffered?
He completely ignored the fact that the one who had been at a disadvantage so far had always been the other party.
"True, true. As expected of Eldest Senior Brother, not even afraid of ghosts."
Listening to her, Duan Xianxing hesitated for a moment before standing up and pulling Li Nanzhu along.
"Come on! Seventh Senior Brother is taking you shopping!"
Li Nanzhu was dragged to a magic robes shop in a state of confusion. Inside, there were not only various magic robes but also many beautiful ordinary clothes. After all, some cultivators wanted to look good but lacked the funds for enchanted gear, so the market had slowly introduced clothes that were merely beautiful but impractical.
Duan Xianxing didn't hesitate to pull out all the spirit stones he had just obtained from the auction house. He told the shop attendants to help dress Li Nanzhu and even picked out several sets of magic robes.
Li Nanzhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but since this was her Seventh Senior Brother’s kind intention, she obediently let them style her.
She even changed outfits several times.
Duan Xianxing didn't know what his Little Junior Sister liked, but he knew that female cultivators loved beauty. She should like it too. He wanted her to be happy, even if it meant spending all his money.
In the end, it was Li Nanzhu who called for a stop. After several different looks, she really didn't want to bother anymore, though she had to admit she looked much more refined than before.
Only after confirming that her mood had genuinely improved did Duan Xianxing nod. He had the shop pack a few more ordinary outfits in shades of green before paying and leaving with Li Nanzhu.
Though he had spent over five hundred mid-grade spirit stones in one go and felt a bit of a sting in his heart, Li Nanzhu was in a good mood, so he was in a good mood as well.
"Don't worry, Little Junior Sister. Next time I see that Cang Dongqing person, I'll help you beat her up!"
"Seventh Senior Brother, if she starts shedding tears again, will you really be able to bring yourself to strike?" Li Nanzhu teased.
Duan Xianxing looked at her with a strange expression.
"Who cares if she's crying during a fight? I only care about whether I can hit them or not. Don't go saying things like that; my only wife is Wait a Moment. It wouldn't be good if Wait a Moment misunderstood."
As he spoke, he patted the sword at his waist.
Fine, she really didn't need to worry about Duan Xianxing holding back. She remembered that in the original novel, he hadn't been charmed by the female lead either; he probably really was capable of following through.
By the time they finished, it was already afternoon, so the two headed straight to the auction.
They mainly wanted to go to see the world—perhaps there might even be some treasures they could pick up for cheap.
Because they had the morning admission tickets, they were led directly to a small private booth.
Inside, there was spiritual tea and spiritual fruit provided for the guests.
Of course, this was treatment reserved for the booths. Those sitting in the main hall didn't have such perks. Furthermore, the booth offered great privacy, capable of blocking the investigation of any cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage.
Naturally, Soul Transformation stage cultivators wouldn't care for things at the Nascent Soul level, so it was quite safe.
Li Nanzhu took a sip of the spiritual tea. The qi within it was much denser than the tea at the shop they had visited earlier. As expected, nothing that appeared in the auction house was of poor quality.
Duan Xianxing was already crunching on spiritual fruit. Next to him was a platform used for bidding. It looked like a spiritual tool and came equipped with a voice changer; if a guest didn't want to be recognized by their voice, they could use this device to alter it.
If one was still worried, one could even manually input the bid. There were buttons for round numbers like ten thousand or a hundred thousand, and even a 'buy it now' button.
While Li Nanzhu was marveling at the auction house's thoughtfulness, two small booklets slowly emerged on the bidding platform. Li Nanzhu and Duan Xianxing each took one; these contained the items about to be auctioned.
Since this was just a minor monthly auction, there weren't many exceptional items, but occasionally something good would appear.
With good luck, one might see Grade 4 or Grade 5 pills, some mid-tier magic tools, and various types of heavenly treasures that weren't extremely rare. Consequently, high-level experts rarely attended.
Whether one could find a bargain depended entirely on individual luck.
Li Nanzhu looked over the list. Since every item was followed by a detailed description of its effects, she wasn't worried about not understanding them.
There was a jade marrow flower that Li Nanzhu was quite interested in. Once refined, it could raise the cultivation of those below the Foundation Establishment stage. It wasn't common on the market, so it would be nice to bid on it.
Duan Xianxing had his eye on a thunder-attribute ore. It was said that melting it into one's life-bound treasure could make the weapon more compatible with thunder spiritual qi, effectively increasing the strength of a thunder spiritual root cultivator.
However, Duan Xianxing wasn't sure if the money he had left was enough. Li Nanzhu generously told him that if he was short, she could lend him some.
Thus, Li Nanzhu once again received the title of 'best in the world' from Duan Xianxing.
At that moment, the auctioneer's voice rang out from outside.
"Welcome, everyone, to the Qingyun Auction House! Today we have a total of fifteen items! We know everyone is already impatient, so without further ado, let's bring out our first item of the day: a Grade 3 high-grade wind-thunder pill! Consuming it while fleeing can increase your speed three-fold, helping you seize a glimmer of hope for survival. The starting bid is 7,000 low-grade spirit stones, with each increment no less than one hundred low-grade spirit stones!"
Though 7,000 low-grade spirit stones was expensive, for a cultivator, this single pill could mean an extra life. Furthermore, special pills like these generally couldn't be bought outside, let alone at Grade 3 high-grade.
"7,100 spirit stones!"
"7,200 spirit stones!"
The bidding slowed down once it reached 8,400 low-grade spirit stones. At that moment, the auctioneer added with a beaming smile:
"This wind-thunder pill was crafted by a core disciple of the Shenmu Sect. The three-fold speed increase is a conservative estimate; the actual medicinal effect may reach about five-fold."
Everyone fell silent for a heartbeat. In the next second, the shouting became even more intense. If a core disciple of the Shenmu Sect had refined it, the medicinal effect was absolutely guaranteed and might even be superior to common versions.
In the end, the wind-thunder pill was sold to a rogue cultivator for 9,600 low-grade spirit stones.
Li Nanzhu marveled at how specialized the auction business was. If they had said the pill came from the Shenmu Sect at the start, people would have been surprised, but the bidding wouldn't have been so fierce.
But by letting them shout first and waiting until the atmosphere was hyped up to reveal the origin, people would often get carried away by the prestige and the excitement, thus bidding a much higher price.
Li Nanzhu estimated that if they had followed the former method, it probably would have only reached 8,600 spirit stones. This way, they had made an extra thousand.
The next few items followed a similar pattern until it was finally time for the jade marrow flower.
Rate on N.U.
