Want to buy a maid? You probably don't want to buy a furnace or a cauldron.

Qing Tan accepted the money, and a moment later, handed over a Storage Pouch.

"Thirty portions of qi gathering pill Materials and twenty portions of condensing yuan pill Materials and their Pill Formulas are all inside."

"Each portion of condensing yuan pill Materials is twelve Spirit Stones, and each portion of qi gathering pill Materials is five Spirit Stones, totaling four hundred and eighty Spirit Stones."

"Sigh... After a month of hard Alchemy, I still have to spend some Spirit Stones."

Lin Yuan took the Storage Pouch, let out a soft sigh, silently counted out some Spirit Stones, and added them to the pile on the counter.

"Old Lin, don't pretend to be poor with me."

Qing Tan covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"If you advance to a Seventh-Grade Alchemist and refine these Materials into Medicinal Pills, you'll definitely make a huge profit, and there will be many benefits you can't even imagine."

Lin Yuan put away the Storage Pouch, a bitter smile forced onto his face.

He did not leave immediately; instead, he changed the subject.

"When does the Pavilion's auction begin?"

"Oh?"

A hint of playfulness appeared in Qing Tan's beautiful eyes.

"Did the sun rise from the west today? You old-fashioned fellow, usually you take the Materials and leave, either going into seclusion or practicing Alchemy; why are you suddenly interested in an auction?"

She teased him unceremoniously.

"I'm getting old, and it's inconvenient to be alone. I want to see if there are any suitable maids to buy one or two to serve tea and water."

Lin Yuan's expression was calm, and his tone revealed no ripples.

If these words had come from someone else's mouth, Qing Tan would have given them a disdainful glare.

Buying maids at the Yin Corpse Sect's auction?

Their fate would either be to have their essence harvested or to be refined into Refined Corpses as Materials.

But when these words came from Lin Yuan's mouth, she believed him.

Who in the entire Hundred Herbs Peak didn't know that Lin Yuan, that old fellow, devoted himself to bitter Cultivation and had no interest in women?

What other thoughts could a genuine old good-for-nothing have?

"It's about to begin."

Qing Tan nodded towards one side, then lowered her voice, a hint of seductive laughter in her tone.

"You can go directly to the third floor through the door next to it."

"However, I can't guarantee there will be Mortal maids."

"But there are a few female Cultivators from the Misty Immortal Sect who were just captured from the front lines; each one is a peerless beauty. If you bid on one, you're guaranteed to have a good time tonight."

Lin Yuan merely smiled, noncommittal.

He cupped his fists at Qing Tan, then, as she instructed, walked into the dimly lit escalator on one side of the Pill Treasure Pavilion and went straight up to the third floor.

A cold, mixed scent of corpse stench and blood rushed over him.

Completely different from the elegance downstairs, this place felt like another world.

Many black-robed Cultivators sat on rows of simple benches, each with a gloomy aura, hiding themselves in the shadows of their hoods.

In a corner, there were even a few figures with huge coffins, taller than a person, standing behind them.

The dense Corpse Qi wafted from that direction.

Lin Yuan was used to this.

The Yin Corpse Sect was, after all, a Sect that dealt with corpses.

He found an empty corner to sit down, concealed his aura, and waited silently.

Before long, a gaunt Old Man with a Goatee walked onto the high platform.

"Fellow Daoists, let's cut to the chase. The auction begins now!"

"The first item up for bid is a Ninth-Grade Yin Corpse! Starting price: ten Spirit Stones!"

Two Disciples carried a black coffin and placed it heavily on the stage.

The coffin lid was opened, and cold Qi billowed out.

Inside lay a male corpse with a greenish-black face and long, pointed fingernails.

There were many types of zombies.

Although Lin Yuan did not practice Refined Corpse Alchemy, he recognized this as a natural zombie, buried in an extremely Yin place, that had spontaneously absorbed the Yin Qi from the earth'spulse.

Its strength was weak, and it feared sunlight, equivalent to a Qi Refining First or Second Layer Cultivator.

But this was an excellent embryo for Refined Corpse Alchemy.

By soaking it in secret methods and employing certain techniques, there was a chance for it to advance into an Ironclad Corpse, which was difficult for swords to harm, or even a Bronze Armored Corpse.

"Eleven Spirit Stones!"

"I offer fifteen!"

For a time, bids rose one after another, quickly pushing the price of this Yin Corpse to one hundred Spirit Stones, eventually being bought by a pale-faced young man.

"Next up, an Eighth-Grade Yin Sha Bead!"

The old man with the goatee held up a jade box and shouted loudly.

"I don't need to say much about the efficacy of this item! Starting price: ten Spirit Stones!"

The Yin Sha Bead is the core of a zombie's corpse, equivalent to a Cultivator's Dantian, and is the source of the zombie's power.

This Eighth-Grade Yin Sha Bead contained vast Corpse Qi and could greatly increase the strength of a Refined Corpse.

Another fierce scramble... For more than ten items in a row, without exception, all were Materials and Magical Artifacts related to Refined Corpse Alchemy.

Lin Yuan watched with little interest, never speaking.

Until the old man with the goatee suddenly showed a mysterious smile on his face.

"Fellow Daoists also know that recently, our Sect and the Misty Immortal Sect have been in a fierce war."

He deliberately drew out his words, piquing everyone's interest.

The breathing below the stage instantly became much heavier.

"The next item up for auction is a Fairy from the Misty Immortal Sect, captured alive from the battlefield!"

The old man's voice suddenly rose, carrying a hint of cruel pleasure.

"Qi Refining Fourth Layer Cultivation, and still a virgin!"

"Whether for harvesting vital Yin as a Cauldron, or for refining into a corpse as Material, she is an excellent choice!"

As his voice fell, the breathing of the male Cultivators from the Yin Corpse Sect below the stage suddenly grew heavy.

Gaze after gaze, like hungry wolves, filled with greed and lust, fixed firmly on the high platform.

In the corner, Lin Yuan's eyelids lifted slightly, he gave an unperturbed glance, then slowly closed them again.

Qi Refining Fourth Layer, not the person he was looking for.

The higher the Cultivation, the more variables there were.

For a Cultivator forcibly implanted with a Restriction, who knew how fierce their temperament would be?

If he bought her back and she chose to self-detonate her Dantian to take him down with her, that would be a huge problem.

Moreover, the price would certainly not be cheap.

He had cultivated diligently for years, and his Aptitude was poor, relying entirely on Medicinal Pills to push through, so he hadn't accumulated much wealth. All told, he only had about eight hundred Spirit Stones.

Under the burning gaze of the numerous Cultivators, two Disciples roughly pushed a woman in a blue dress onto the high platform.

The woman's figure was graceful, her curves alluring.

But when she raised her head, a wave of suppressed snickers and sighs of pity rose from below the stage.

Half of her face was covered by a greenish-black birthmark, hideous and terrifying, completely disfiguring her entire face.

Lin Yuan immediately lost interest, but he noticed that this ugly woman looked somewhat familiar. A moment later, Su Qinghan's peerless face overlapped with the ugly woman before him.

Somehow, Lin Yuan felt that, aside from the birthmark on her face, this woman bore some resemblance to Su Qinghan.

"Hahaha... Such an ugly thing, using her as a Cauldron would surely ruin one's appetite!"

A sharp, piercing voice rang out.

"However, this woman's bone structure is still decent; she would make excellent Material for Refined Corpse Alchemy!"

"I offer six hundred Spirit Stones!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a strange person, short like a child but with a full Beard, speak.

Lin Yuan actually knew this person.

His name was Shi Tong, and he lived not far from Lin Yuan's Immortal Cave. He mainly practiced the Dao of Refined Corpse Alchemy and had previously asked Lin Yuan for help with Alchemy; they were acquaintances.

"Shi Tong, you're quite optimistic. I just lost an Ironclad Corpse a few days ago and need to replenish it. Seven hundred Spirit Stones, I'll take her!" another person bid.

Ultimately, this female Cultivator of the Qi Refining Fourth Layer was bought by Shi Tong for eight hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

"The next item up for auction is also a female Cultivator, but this woman is not from the Misty Immortal Sect; she is an ordinary Mortal."

"What's so good about bidding on Mortals? Just go to the Mortal city three hundred li away and snatch a few!" someone said impatiently.

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