Longevity Palace.
In the courtyard.
Li Luo was practicing spear techniques with a wooden stick in hand.
Beside him, Grey Eggplant also held a wooden stick, instructing Li Luo on how to attack, defend, and thrust.
Originally, Li Luo had been chatting with Grey Eggplant.
But once they had exhausted all topics, and Ye Wangchuan still hadn’t emerged, they decided to practice some spear techniques to pass the time.
They practiced from day to dusk, and from dusk to midnight.
Li Luo even went back to his bedroom to sleep for a while.
The next day, when he came out in the morning, he found that Ye Wangchuan and Fang Que still hadn’t finished.
It wasn’t until eight in the morning that Ye Wangchuan finally walked out of the bedroom.
“Grey Eggplant, how long has it been since Ye Wangchuan entered the bedroom?”
“Eight hours.”
“...”
Li Luo fell silent for a moment.
It was clear that the extraordinary cultivation technique was indeed remarkable.
“Li Luo, good morning.”
Ye Wangchuan stretched out his hand, greeting him.
At that moment, a light rain began to fall from the sky.
Unbothered by the rain, Ye Wangchuan found a stool and sat down.
He peeled off the talismans on his body, neatly arranged the wet Immortal-Binding Rope in his hand, and stored it in his spatial ring.
Li Luo held an umbrella and sat down beside Ye Wangchuan.
Grey Eggplant, being waterproof, simply stood nearby and listened.
Seeing Ye Wangchuan looking incredibly refreshed, Li Luo couldn’t help but ask curiously,
“How’s that technique?”
“Not bad. Even after staying up all night, I still feel energetic and full of strength. My cultivation has improved quite a bit, and Master Fang Que’s talent has also slightly increased.”
Ye Wangchuan explained honestly.
“It can even enhance talent?!”
Li Luo was slightly shocked and swallowed hard.
Ye Wangchuan nodded and continued chatting with Li Luo.
About half an hour later,
Fang Que finally floated out of the room.
As soon as she stepped outside, it seemed as though there was a barrier surrounding her.
The raindrops slid off automatically when they came near her.
Fang Que approached Ye Wangchuan and spoke weakly,
“Tonight... don’t use the Immortal-Binding Rope... at least not the whole time...”
“Alright.”
Ye Wangchuan nodded in agreement.
The extraordinary technique had a fatigue-relieving function.
Therefore, using cultivation to replace sleep was completely fine!
However, the technique did have some limitations.
Every twelve hours, only the first four hours would trigger the technique’s effects.
After four hours, there would be an eight-hour cooldown period.
Ye Wangchuan had spent eight hours practicing to figure out whether the cooldown was based on a cycle or reset at midnight.
He was very meticulous!
Just then, the rain stopped.
“I’m going to take a bath... and then get some rest... I’ll take the day off today... I’ll come out tomorrow to teach you the technique...”
Fang Que spoke weakly and left the courtyard.
Ye Wangchuan stretched and prepared to adapt to the power of the mid-third stage.
At that moment, a servant from the Ye family approached.
The servant came before Ye Wangchuan and said,
“Young Master, the Shang family is holding an auction. Su Fugui, whom you had us keep an eye on, has also gone to the auction.”
“Got it.”
Ye Wangchuan nodded.
He had expected that someone like Su Fugui, who had nothing but money and the luck of a protagonist, would definitely show off at the auction.
And there were bound to be good items at the auction!
Ye Wangchuan immediately checked his spatial ring.
Hmm, he had a decent amount of money.
After confirming, he turned to look at Li Luo.
Li Luo stiffened and asked,
“Why are you looking at me?!”
“What are you thinking? I’m going to the Shang family’s auction in Chang'an City. Are you coming?”
Ye Wangchuan looked at Li Luo with a somewhat exasperated expression.
“I’m in!”
Li Luo answered decisively.
As long as it wasn’t practicing the technique, Li Luo was more than happy to follow Ye Wangchuan.
After all, there was the villain’s emotional value to earn—no reason to pass it up!
...
...
The Shang family.
As the name suggests, it was a family that primarily relied on trade and commerce to sustain itself.
In Chang'an, it wasn’t considered a major family, not even ranking in the top ten.
However, because they often brought in unique goods from outside, they still held some influence.
At this moment,
many sects and families had sold the rare treasures they had collected from the secret realm to the Shang family.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Shang family had organized an auction to profit from the price differences.
At the entrance of the auction house,
Su Fugui stood in front of the sign, looking at the list of auction items.
Behind him followed a pair of stunning twin maids.
Most of the items were publicly listed to attract customers.
However, a small portion of the items were deliberately kept secret, labeled as “mysterious goods.”
“Let me see... Ah! There’s the Revitalizing Flower! Perfect!”
Su Fugui was delighted to see the Revitalizing Flower listed among the items.
If he could buy the Revitalizing Flower, he would be able to restore his younger brother and enjoy a wonderful life.
Thinking this, Su Fugui checked his system space.
Inside, there were eight thousand gold coins.
He could have had more, as the system gave him a thousand gold coins every day.
But during his time in the secret realm, Su Fugui had spent a lot of money on junk to earn enhancement points and boost his cultivation.
The eight thousand gold coins were just what he had saved over the past eight days.
Still, eight thousand gold coins were quite a fortune.
Equivalent to eight hundred million on Earth.
Su Fugui refused to believe that eight hundred million wouldn’t be enough to buy a single Revitalizing Flower!
Entering the auction hall,
the setup was classic.
The first floor was filled with seats like those in a cinema or concert hall, while the second floor had several rooms with open fronts.
The rooms had curtains that could be drawn to ensure privacy.
Their main purpose was to allow buyers who couldn’t reveal their identities to bid anonymously.
“Get me a room on the second floor.”
Su Fugui tossed a gold coin to a nearby Shang family servant.
“Ah! Of course, of course! You’re in luck, sir! The remaining rooms have all been reserved!”
The servant’s eyes lit up, and he quickly arranged a room for Su Fugui.
Once inside, Su Fugui’s first action was to draw the curtains.
The curtains were inscribed with special talismans, allowing those inside to see out while masking their voices with distortion.
Su Fugui finally felt at ease.
It was better to be cautious and avoid drawing attention!
Just then, there was a commotion outside.
“What?! There are no rooms left on the second floor? Do you know who I am? I’m from the Tang Family!”
“Whose room is this? I remember this one wasn’t reserved earlier! It can’t be someone from a major family! Kick them out!”
*Bang!*
The next second, Su Fugui’s room door was violently kicked open.
A man with a careless demeanor walked in, looking at Su Fugui with disdain.