124: Chapter 124 Cloud Dream Immortal City, Ascension Auction

Time flows by!

Since the birth of his eldest son, Benevolent Scholar, three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Over these past few months, under the attentive care of Chen Qingyuan, Xie Jinshu had fully recovered!

Finally finding some free time, he bade farewell to his Family and headed straight for Red Willow Lake, thousands of miles away.

This was all due to an important piece of news that Old Master Xie had brought back from outside several months ago!

Yunmeng Immortal City, located in the eastern region of Red Willow Lake and under the direct control of Xiyun Pavilion, was about to hold its decennial Ascension Auction!

Such a grand event, personally hosted by the regional hegemon, the Golden Core Sect Xiyun Pavilion, was extraordinary in scale.

By then, not only would various forces from the tens of thousands of miles of territory under Xiyun Pavilion's command gather here,

but even the true overlords of Red Willow Lake, Xuangguang Mountain and the Fenyang Valley, would certainly send representatives.

The larger the scale, the more rare treasures would naturally circulate, and the more opportunities there would be.

And this was exactly what the Chen Family needed most right now.

The Family had just been established and everything was waiting to be done, especially the various Medicinal Pills needed for cultivation, which were already running low.

Furthermore, since he began practicing the Essence Nurturing Art, it had stalled due to a lack of heaven and earth spiritual items to nourish his Divine Soul;

and the Geng Metal Body Tempering Method also required a large amount of Metal Fiend Qi!

These resources were difficult to find even in Shazhou Workshop!

These were all items he urgently needed, especially for someone like him who wanted to achieve Foundation Establishment on his own; the three stages of Foundation Establishment could not be taken lightly.

Of course, even if they were available at Shazhou Workshop, he wouldn't dare—he absolutely wouldn't dare—to purchase them in large quantities; that would be equivalent to defecating on the heads of the Red Sand Gang.

With Senior Blood Fiend fleeing after losing an arm and the entire Liu Family disappearing, this once-hegemonic Family had completely become history.

Currently, Lifeng Plain was, on the surface, completely dominated by the Red Sand Gang.

At such a delicate juncture, one could not be too careful.

After much deliberation, Red Willow Lake, Yunmeng Immortal City, and the Ascension Auction became his best options.

Half a month later, the vast Red Willow Lake was already visible in the distance.

Chen Qingyuan stood on a first-tier High Grade willow leaf flying boat, which was shaped like a slender willow leaf.

Its escaping light was nimble; it was a Magical Artifact that his elder brother, Chen Qingshan, had found in the Storage Pouch of the Lone Wolf and gifted to him for his long journey.

Standing at the bow of the boat, looking out into the distance, the famous Yunmeng Immortal City finally came into view.

Although it was called a city, it was not built on land; instead, it relied on several islands in the lake as its Foundation, and using a Formation, countless palaces and pavilions were constructed above the misty waves.

From afar, the entire city seemed to be floating amidst the vast expanse of blue waves!

Mist swirled around it all year round, and the upturned eaves and corners of the buildings were faintly visible in the clouds, like an overseas immortal mountain in a painting.

Its spiritual beauty and magnificence formed an extreme contrast with the bleak and rugged nature of Lifeng Plain.

The closer he got, the more he could feel the prosperity of this place; various colored escaping lights shuttled back and forth in the air like shooting stars.

At this moment, Chen Qingyuan was dressed in an inconspicuous gray robe of a Loose Cultivator, disguised as an ordinary young man with slightly dark skin.

His cultivation base was also restrained to around the Qi Refining Seventh Layer!

The immortal city had no traditional city walls, but was shrouded in a huge Formation light barrier, with only eight designated entrances for passage.

Chen Qingyuan put away the willow leaf flying boat and blended into the crowd heading towards the immortal city.

At the city gate, several Disciples dressed in the attire of Xiyun Pavilion were on duty!

According to the rules, they collected an entrance fee of one Low-Grade Spirit Stone from every Cultivator entering the city.

The line moved slowly, and soon it was Chen Qingyuan's turn.

Behind a green wooden table, the on-duty Disciple did not even raise his head, asking in a mechanical voice,

"How many? Name? Do you have a pass?"

"Yuan Qing, alone, no pass!"

Chen Qingyuan lowered his voice slightly, reporting the pseudonym he had already thought of, while placing one Low-Grade Spirit Stone on the table.

"Five pieces without a pass!"

The Disciple still did not look up at him, just skillfully took a standard white jade token, a faint spiritual light flashing on his fingertips.

Chen Qingyuan did not dare to delay and immediately added four more Spirit Stones!

At this moment, the jade token was just finished!

The front displayed his currently disguised appearance, while the back was engraved with the words "Yunmeng Immortal City, Temporary Stay" and a simple serial number.

"Take it, go in, don't block the way!"

...

Stepping into this famous immortal city, the scene before him truly made Chen Qingyuan feel a slight shock.

The streets were wide enough to accommodate several carriages side-by-side, and the ground was paved with bluestone slabs, clean and neat, without a speck of dust.

Pavilions stood on both sides, with upturned eaves and corners of various styles, yet everywhere revealed an immortal atmosphere.

Just this basic urban layout and its level of order far exceeded that of border areas like Shazhou Workshop.

"It is worthy of being a core immortal city under a Golden Core Sect."

Chen Qingyuan thought to himself, but as a newcomer, the most important thing was to figure out the situation, otherwise he would be like a headless fly.

And the best places to inquire about news were the teahouses and taverns where people gathered.

He calmly walked through several streets and finally chose a medium-sized inn called "Yuelai Inn" on a side street called "Tingzhu Alley."

This place was neither in the most bustling core area nor too remote,

the price was moderate, the people coming and going were not too chaotic, and it was just right for a "Loose Cultivator" like him who needed to keep a low profile.

"Immortal Master, are you dining or staying?"

Just as he stepped into the inn, a clever waiter greeted him with a beaming smile.

"Staying. First, get some food; I will eat here."

Chen Qingyuan replied, lowering his voice.

"Alright! Please come inside!"

The waiter led him towards the lobby.

Although it was not yet noon, the lobby was already nearly full, and the voices were noisy.

The waiter was quick and found him a spot by the window that was still empty.

Chen Qingyuan casually ordered a pot of spiritual wine and three dishes that looked ordinary.

Unexpectedly, it cost seven Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

At this price, even though he was quite wealthy, he couldn't help but twitch his eyes!

In Shazhou Workshop, many low-level Cultivators might not be able to earn this amount even after working hard for a month.

But he had already ordered it!

He could only silently pretend to sip tea, while actually pricking up his ears, catching snippets of conversation from the Cultivators in the lobby.

"...Is the news accurate? Is Xiyun Pavilion really going to bring out a piece of 'ziyang warm jade' as the finale for this Ascension Auction?"

"Absolutely true! Who would have thought that such a treasure would appear at a decennial auction?"

"Usually, treasures of this level only appear at the 'Ascension Ceremony' that happens once every thirty years!"

"When things are abnormal, there must be a demon... I'm afraid there's going to be some change within Xiyun Pavilion, or perhaps Red Willow Lake..."

"Shh... watch your words! However, the people from Xuangguang Mountain arrived the day before yesterday and checked into the 'Yingxian Tower' in the east of the city; that spectacle, tsk tsk..."

"Since Xuangguang Mountain has come, how could those fiends from the Fenyang Valley be absent? Now there's going to be a good show to watch..."

Although they were just snippets and not systematic, they had already roughly outlined the vague contours of Yunmeng Immortal City in Chen Qingyuan's mind.

Just as he was pondering, a slightly hunched figure silently stopped in front of his table.