The Azure Pill Sect, it seems, harbors several Nascent Soul Patriarchs; I had forgotten that detail.

The Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Demonic Cultivator Alliance each maintain four or five high-level Alchemists, exclusively serving their Sect Masters and supreme figures, all operating under assumed identities. A talented Golden Core cultivator who spends a few centuries refining pills stands a chance; I had forgotten that too.

“So many! How were they refined?”

Master Sun trembled slightly upon hearing the sheer quantity of Black Jade Spirit Pills Ye Qin produced from the golden gourd, utterly stunned. This was simply impossible.

He had originally assumed that as an Alchemy Grandmaster himself, he could also refine Black Jade Spirit Pills, perhaps with slightly lower quality than Ye Qin’s, but not drastically so. Yet, the current situation proved entirely different! This wasn't an issue of pill quality, but one of yield rate.

The Black Jade Spirit Pill required five elemental spirit herbs, specifically lacking the fire element. Its refinement was exceedingly difficult; balancing the spirituality of the herbs was challenging, often leading to furnace explosions. It was counted among the most complex, high-tier (Ninth Rank) elixirs, severely testing an alchemist’s skill. In the alchemy world, this specific pill was often used to gauge the true caliber of an Alchemy Grandmaster.

Even though Master Sun held the title of Alchemy Grandmaster, his yield rate for a pill like the Black Jade Spirit Pill would not exceed five percent. Refining such an elixir was immensely taxing, with a high failure rate, and its market price might not significantly surpass other Ninth Rank spirit pills; thus, he rarely bothered with it. Yet, Elder Ye had refined a hundred thousand Black Jade Spirit Pills in a single year.

Calculating roughly, this meant about a hundred pills per day. To complete such a massive volume in such a short time frame implied that Elder Ye’s output rate must absolutely surpass seventy or eighty percent, perhaps even higher. This meant their alchemy skills were not on the same plane.

He operated at the early stage of Alchemy Grandmaster proficiency, while Elder Ye stood at the very pinnacle of the late stage. Even within the same rank of Grandmaster, the disparity was immense.

Master Sun’s long-held confidence and deep-seated pride were instantly shattered. In front of other cultivators, he was an aloof Alchemy Grandmaster whom no one dared offend. But before Ye Qin, he was utterly insignificant.

Steward Jiang hadn't noticed Master Sun's distress at all. Beaming with delight, he eagerly interjected, “Elder Ye, ten thousand Ninth Rank spirit pills in this one gourd—that’s too large a quantity. Today’s auction hall doesn't have enough high-tier Golden Core cultivators to absorb this batch of Ninth Rank pills; it certainly cannot be sold off in a rush. Moreover, releasing such a massive volume at once will inevitably cause the price of Ninth Rank spirit pills to plummet—it’s far from cost-effective. In my estimation, it would take at least a month to sell these elixirs in batches at an appropriate price. Elder Ye, if you are in urgent need of spirit stones, why not sell this entire gourd of spirit pills directly to my Heavenly Dao Pavilion? We will purchase all of them at the generous price of four hundred [spirit stones] each. Currently, only the Heavenly Dao Pavilion can manage this volume.”

Ye Qin smiled faintly. Having sold many spirit pills before, he knew Steward Jiang was speaking nonsense. Baifu City held at least dozens of large merchant guilds capable of swallowing this entire shipment worth forty million low-grade spirit stones, and they would be eager to acquire it. However, the price Steward Jiang quoted wasn't low; other guilds might not offer significantly higher rates, as every guild needed a profit margin to undertake such a transaction. Selling directly to the Heavenly Dao Merchant Guild for four hundred pieces was comparable to auctioning it publicly on the main stage for around four hundred and fifty pieces, since the Heavenly Dao Pavilion levies a one-tenth commission fee for consignments.

He refined these Ninth Rank Black Jade Spirit Pills purely to advance his own alchemy technique, not for self-consumption. Given his current mid-stage Golden Core cultivation, the most suitable elixirs were Eighth Rank; he couldn't yet utilize these Ninth Rank pills.

“Very well, settling the account all at once saves me waiting an extra month. But I have one condition: this total of forty million low-grade spirit stones must be exchanged exactly for four thousand units of high-grade, five-element spirit stones,” Ye Qin considered briefly and chuckled.

One unit of high-grade spirit stone contained the spiritual energy equivalent of one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones. However, low-grade spirit stones were common, while high-grade ones were rare. Consequently, in the market, one high-grade spirit stone often exchanged for eleven thousand low-grade spirit stones. Typically, only Nascent Soul cultivators used high-grade spirit stones. Given the Heavenly Dao Pavilion’s deep coffers, producing four thousand high-grade spirit stones at once was not a major issue.

Steward Jiang mulled it over and grit his teeth, finally agreeing. With Master Sun’s quality verification, the final sale price of this batch was estimated to reach forty-five million low-grade spirit stones, leaving the guild with a profit margin of about five million. High-tier spirit pills like these were always desired and never in excess in the cultivation world. If another guild snatched this deal, it would be disastrous. Soon, Steward Jiang reported to the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion, and the massive transaction was finalized: money and goods exchanged hands.

As for Shen Bao, it was an understatement: the total value of all spirit pills refined by the Azure Pill Workshop combined didn't equal the worth of the elixirs in Ye Qin’s single golden gourd.

The auction hall on the first floor of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion grew increasingly bustling, housing at least tens of thousands of cultivators. Approximately two hours later, the "low-grade goods" at the various subsidiary auction platforms within the hall were nearly sold out. Huangfu Bing'er purchased a sword art jade slip, the "Ice Fire Art," required for cultivating an Ice-Fire Dual-Element Sword Array. This array technique was considered high-tier. However, this sword art was widely circulated across the cultivation world, present in many Immortal Palaces, making the price pitifully low—the jade slip sold for less than tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones. Huangfu Bing'er didn't even wait for Ye Qin to pay; she used her own spirit stones to secure the bid.

Finally, it was time for the main stage auction. The first item presented was a heavyweight piece: the 'Foundation Establishment Pill.'

“This Pavilion has recently acquired ten Foundation Establishment Pills in total, covering all five elements! The starting bid is three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones per pill! Quantities are limited. We now auction the first pill, the Fire Element Foundation Establishment Pill. Bidders, please raise your paddles. Each increment must not be less than one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.”

The middle-aged auctioneer’s impassioned voice echoed clearly throughout the hall. The entire auction venue instantly erupted in noise.

This was truly a scarce commodity, impossible to buy on ordinary days. Hundreds, even thousands of ninth-tier Foundation Establishment cultivators, who had come specifically for the Foundation Establishment Pills, rushed to raise their paddles, aggressively bidding: “Thirty-five thousand, for me!” “Idiot, you think you can get a Foundation Establishment Pill for thirty-five thousand? Dream on! I bid four hundred thousand!” “This one is mine, six hundred thousand, don't fight me!” “Six hundred fifty thousand!”

As the Foundation Establishment cultivators descended into chaos, numerous Golden Core cultivators also raised their paddles. Even if they didn't need it themselves, they bought them for their direct descendants. Amidst the price inflation, the Foundation Establishment Pill’s price rapidly soared, doubling in value in fewer than ten bidding rounds, approaching the one-million mark. At this rate, surpassing a million was a certainty.

“Starting at three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, and it’s already nearing a million—how can this be?” Yan Xuan’s face instantly paled, her heart filled with bitterness.

During the previous thirty years, she hadn't been able to accumulate any spirit stones because she needed them for cultivation pills. In recent years, she had worked hard refining pills and hunting demonic beasts, earning perhaps tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones. Then, borrowing from fellow sect uncles and brothers, she scraped together one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones. Yet, this entire sum couldn't even touch the edge of a Foundation Establishment Pill’s price. She now finally understood: for an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator without background or connections, accumulating such a colossal sum of spirit stones without one or two centuries was sheer fantasy. Even borrowing money would be extremely difficult.

The first Fire Element Foundation Establishment Pill surged forward like a battering ram, breaking past the one-million mark. After hitting one million, the frenzied upward momentum gradually slowed. After ten more rounds of bidding, it was finally purchased by a Golden Core cultivator for a staggering one million five hundred and seventy thousand.

These Golden Core cultivators were shrewd individuals. Buying a Foundation Establishment Pill at a much higher price simply wouldn't be worthwhile. After all, this was merely a Foundation Establishment Pill, not a guarantee of actually forming a Core. Even if consumed, there was still only a low success rate for actually forming a Core.

Ye Qin glanced at Yan Xuan. She had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage; waiting any longer would equate to wasting her lifespan, and she couldn't delay further. The batch of Ninth Rank spirit pills from his gourd sold for forty million low-grade spirit stones; purchasing a Foundation Establishment Pill was an effortless matter.

The difficulty of refining a Foundation Establishment Pill was slightly higher than that of the Black Jade Spirit Pill. More importantly, refining the Foundation Establishment Pill required absolute concentration over several months, precluding any other activities, which would severely impact one's own cultivation schedule. Ye Qin had no desire to spend months solely refining that pill. As for Shen Bao’s Foundation Establishment Pill, he still had over a decade before reaching the ninth tier of the Foundation Establishment stage; there was no need to rush that matter.

About an hour later, the nine Foundation Establishment Pills had been auctioned off, fetching prices ranging between one million five hundred thousand and one million nine hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones respectively. Only the very last pill remained unsold.

“It’s time to act! One million five hundred thousand!” Ye Qin decided to enter the auction and tapped his bidding paddle.

“Number Nine! One million five hundred thousand!”

On the auction platform, the auctioneer saw the Number Nine light flash from the luxurious private box suspended mid-air and immediately amplified his voice, shouting excitedly. He had been working hard on the stage and finally saw a Nascent Soul Patriarch make a bid.

The frenzied atmosphere in the auction hall suddenly fell silent and deserted; nobody dared to place another bid. Numbers one through thirty were reserved for the luxury boxes—in other words, the exclusive identifiers for Nascent Soul cultivators. The Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators present, hearing the bid from Box Nine and realizing a Nascent Soul expert had entered, immediately ceased their contention. No one dared to compete with a Nascent Soul cultivator for a Foundation Establishment Pill, no matter how deep their pockets.

Silence. Then, a sudden, resonant male voice rang out clearly, “Shang Tang Palace, Du Qingliang, bids two million!” A wave of astonishment swept through the auction hall.

“How dare a Golden Core cultivator from the Shang Tang Palace provoke a Nascent Soul Patriarch?”

“Box Nine isn't a Nascent Soul Patriarch. That’s Elder Ye from the Purple Sword Palace! Many people personally saw a steward escorting Elder Ye inside.”

“No wonder, no wonder! The feud between the Shang Tang Palace and the Purple Sword Palace!”