Hunting Immortals and Demons

Lu Yan’s mind began to race.

Yes, he intended to auction off his top-tier martial arts techniques.

Thunder Nine Sounds and Four-pole Divine Sword were obviously not for sale, but the Jiu Jie Knife, Divine Jiao Gold Body, and Void Steps, which were all combined from top-tier martial arts, were his unique martial arts techniques and could be put up for auction in exchange for cultivation resources.

"We are on a mission, would Mr. Chu Feng agree to our departure?"

Lu Yan said.

"Anyway, there’s nothing important recently and leaving for a while wouldn’t hurt, do you want to come along?"

Zhao Qingcang invited him once more.

Lu Yan shook his head and said, "Forget it, I have reached a crucial juncture in my martial arts cultivation and need to retreat for meditation. I will not go."

"Alright, then I’ll look for someone else."

Zhao Qingcang, not minding at all, left to find someone else.

The next day, Lu Yan went to Chu Feng to ask for a leave, straightforwardly stating his intention to attend the auction in Shengxuan City.

Chu Feng agreed very readily, only cautioning him to be careful and not to reveal his identity.

Lu Yan found a secluded place, changed into another set of clothes and altered his appearance before rushing out towards Shengxuan City.

Two days later, Lu Yan arrived in Shengxuan City.

Shengxuan City was even more majestic than Xuanhuo City, its vastness nearly matching that of Mingwang City.

Walking on the bustling streets, there was a constant stream of people. Many of the pedestrians had a commanding presence and dense aura, clearly they were martial arts masters.

Upon a simple perusal, he saw hundreds of people who seemed to be Master Level.

The World Bank’s auction was definitely a rare grand event in Da Chu, rotating among the major cities, with an average of only one every three years.

Not only would the top experts from all three provinces of the Mansion of King Ming come, even experts from other provinces would come disguised as someone else.

Upon a bit of inquiry, Lu Yan learned that the auction would officially start in half a month.

The auction was divided into three sessions, one every ten days, spanned over a month.

Firstly, Lu Yan found an inn to settle down in, then he procured brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and copied out the cultivation method of the Jiu Jie Knife. After pondering for a while, he also drew the Divine Intent Diagram of Jiu Jie Knife.

When the ink on the drawing was dry, Lu Yan came to the World Bank’s branch in Shengxuan City and approached a counter.

"Sir, how may I assist you?"

A young woman at the counter asked with a smile.

"I want to auction something, is that possible?"

Lu Yan said.

"Certainly, sir. What would you like to auction? Our World Bank’s auction has certain requirements for auction items. We do not accept items worth less than ten martial coupons."

The woman replied with a smile.

"Top martial arts."

Lu Yan said softly.

The young woman’s eyes lit up and she said, "We need a specialist to appraise that. Please come with me, sir."

Lu Yan followed the woman into a private room.

It wasn’t long before an elder with white hair also entered the room.

"Sir, you want to auction top martial arts. May I take a look at the Divine Intent Diagram and secret manual?"

The elder asked.

Lu Yan nodded and presented the secret manual and Divine Intent Diagram of the Jiu Jie Knife.

The elder quickly skimmed through the secret manual of the Jiu Jie Knife, then he picked up the Divine Intent Diagram and examined it closely. After a while, a smile appeared on his face. "Excellent! Genuine top martial art. Moreover, this knife technique is something I’ve never heard of, it should trigger a bidding war."

"How about setting the opening price at 1,500 martial coupons, what do you think?"

Lu Yan’s heart pounded.

One thousand five hundred martial coupons was equivalent to one thousand five hundred level-three martial pills which would amount to forty-five million silver.

What a huge sum of money! This price was far beyond Lu Yan’s expectations.

To think, an top-tier martial arts technique along with its manual and Divine Intent Diagram could cost as much as a hundred thousand silver, even the decent ones were just two to three hundred thousand silver.

This price was more than a hundred times the cost of a top-tier martial arts technique.

Moreover, this was merely the opening bid. The price would certainly rise during the auction.

Seeing Lu Yan fall silent, the elder mistook it for dissatisfaction with the price and quickly explained, "Sir, a low initial price is usually set to attract bidders. The final price will not be less than three thousand martial coupons, I guarantee it. After all, there are only somewhat over thirty top-tier martial arts techniques across the three provinces under the rule of Mansion of King Ming. The majority are in the hands of Mansion of King Ming and Shengxuan Sect. The others are owned by a few Honorable Level feudal lords."

"If a Grandmaster wants to condense a true body and evolve the true vigor, he must cultivate top-tier martial arts. So, those top-level Master Level feudal lords dream of getting a top-tier martial arts technique. The Honorable Level feudal lords seeking to provide their Martial Cultivators with more options of top-tier martial arts will also bid. The price could end up being even higher at the time."

"Fine, we’ll go with your suggestion."

Lu Yan nodded.

After that, they signed some papers and sealed them with fingerprints. The elder handed Lu Yan a token. After the items were sold, he could come to collect the martial coupons by presenting the token and verifying his fingerprints.

"A single top-tier martial arts technique can sell for this many martial coupons."

Walking out of the World Bank, Lu Yan’s eyes gleamed, and a plan formed in his heart.

If he were to collect top-tier martial arts techniques, merge them into a top-tier martial arts technique for sale, wouldn’t he make a killing?

The price of a top-tier martial arts technique ranges from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand silver, but that is the price for buying both the manual and the Divine Intent Diagram. If he just borrowed them for insights, the price would be reduced by ten times.

For example, a top-tier martial arts technique from the Mansion of King Ming, if he just wanted to gain an understanding of it, the price would definitely not be thousands of meritorious points, perhaps one-tenth of the price would suffice.

Even taking into account the cost of enhancing the techniques with immortal bones, he would still make a substantial profit.

The reason he hadn’t done this before was mainly because the top-tier martial arts techniques he had were enough. Moreover, the top-tier martial arts technique formed through blending couldn’t increase the quantity of inner strength, hence it couldn’t directly enhance his strength. Furthermore, gaining insight into a top-tier martial arts technique consumed both his energy and resources for enhancement, so he hadn’t deliberately done so.

But now, Lu Yan was excited.

Such a lucrative industry.

And only he can do this kind of business.

If he wanted to, he would just do it.

Lu Yan went around and entered a big business association.

When Lu Yan proposed that he wanted to borrow an advanced martial art for three days and return it, promising ten thousand silver pieces, the association gladly agreed.

Why wouldn’t they agree to an easy profit of ten thousand for just three days of rental?

Could it be that Lu Yan could comprehend an advanced martial art in just three days?

Unless he was Wang Tianyu.

In the association’s view, this ten thousand silvers was pure profit.

Of course, a deposit must be paid in case Lu Yan flees with it.

After leaving a deposit of more than one hundred thousand silver pieces, Lu Yan left with one advanced body refining martial art. He returned to the inn and began to comprehend it right away.

With Lu Yan’s current accomplishment in martial arts, he could grasp an advanced martial art within three days and cultivate a Martial Arts Avatar.

Three days later, Lu Yan returned the body refining martial art and borrowed another body refining martial art for three days, paying ten thousand silver pieces again.

Lu Yan’s excuse was that the body refining martial art he was majoring in had encountered a bottleneck. He wanted to refer to other body refining martial arts to break through this bottleneck, and the association didn’t overthink about it.

Like this, before the auction, Lu Yan succeeded in understanding five body refining martial arts costing only fifty thousand silver pieces.

The association’s five body refining martial arts were all practiced by Lu Yan, who planned to repeat the process with another association.

On the auction day, it was a sea of people.

Lu Yan followed the crowd into the venue and casually found a seat to sit down.

Soon after, the auction became full, with no less than thousands of people.

In these thousands of people, who knows how many masters were hidden.

Those of the True Body Realm, there must be.

As for the Primordial Spirit Realm, it’s unknown, maybe they were also mixed in the crowd undetected.

"Okay, the auction starts now."

An old man stepped onto the stage, holding an iron box in his hand, and his voice spread throughout the venue.

The venue quieted down.

The first auction item was good stuff, as it was to ignite the atmosphere.

The old man introduced himself as Bao Yong and then pointed to the iron box:

"The first auction item, a top knife technique, named Jiu Jie Knife, starting price of one thousand five hundred Martial Coupons, and each time the price is increased by no less than one hundred."

Lu Yan’s heart skipped a beat.

He didn’t expect the first auction item would be Jiu Jie Knife.

Top Martial Arts.

The eyes of at least half of the people on the scene lit up, breaths becoming short.

More than half of the people came for the Top Martial Arts.

Although there is only one level difference between advanced martial arts and top martial arts, the gap is enormous.

In this world, there are plenty of advanced martial arts but no top martial arts.

Not to mention, in Lingdong’s six provinces, there are at least hundreds of advanced martial arts, but not even one top martial art.

To be precise, Guan Shan is not considered one of the six provinces of Lingdong.

The three states of the Mansion of King Ming, possesses only thirty top martial arts, mostly held by the Mansion of King Ming and the Shengxuan Sect.

Those Honorable Level feudal lords have at most two.

But the Master Level feudal lords do not have even one. Without top martial arts, they can’t achieve the True Body Realm.

Those masters dreamed of getting a top martial art.

Moreover, as soon as Bao Yong’s voice fell, a bidder came forward, directly added five hundred martial coupons, started the bid at two thousand martial coupons, trying to suppress others with an aura.

But would people be frightened by two thousand martial coupons?

"Two thousand one hundred."

"Two thousand two hundred."

...

The price kept soaring and quickly hit three thousand.

The competition was fiercer than expected.

Not only did the Master Level feudal lords want to get it, but also those Honorable Level feudal lords wanted it too.

After all, martial cultivators and martial arts also value suitability. The better the fit with martial arts, the smoother the practice will be, making it much more effective.

Many Honorable Level feudal lords only have top martial arts. There were no options for their cultivators. Even if they weren’t suitable, they could only forcibly practice. Some obviously talented people were held back due to incompatible martial arts.

An additional top martial art would mean an additional choice.

Soon, the price reached three thousand three hundred martial coupons, and the competition gradually slowed down.

This price, when converted into silver, is almost one hundred million.

Finally, the Jiu Jie Knife was sold for three thousand six hundred martial coupons.

As for who had bought it, it’s hard to say, because most of the people who came here were in disguise.

"Three thousand six hundred, amazing! It has enough for my cultivation to reach the Fifth-level Master, even more."

Lu Yan was full of smiles, planning in his mind about whether or not to auction another top martial art.

The second, third auction items were brought up one by one, with the atmosphere getting more heated.