195: Excitement, disappointment

Holding that piece of grey cloth in his hand, the heavy stone in Su Ling's heart finally fell away.

However, this place was not secluded enough, so he did not rush to inspect it. He simply stored it into his Storage Ring and turned to look at the Female Deacon.

"The total price is 6.1 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones..."

Su Ling took out all his Spirit Stones and pooled them together with Song Moting and the others, handing over 4.3 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and about 110 million Low-Grade Spirit Stones to the Female Deacon.

Then, he took out his own illusionary color token and said solemnly, "As for the borrowed Spirit Stones, record them under my own name!"

"Direct Disciple of a Golden Immortal?!"

Seeing the token clearly, the Female Deacon at the Soul Transformation Stage was suddenly shocked. She hurriedly asked respectfully, "Might this honored guest be Su Ling, who was taken as a disciple by Clear Ripple Immortal Venerable several decades ago?"

"That is indeed me."

Su Ling nodded slightly and put away the illusionary color token.

The Female Deacon took a deep breath and said with a friendly smile, "Given your status, you may borrow five million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones interest-free for fifty years."

"Oh, that's perfect then. I'll borrow five million!"

Su Ling's eyes lit up, and he chuckled, "This saves my Senior Brothers from having to live frugally for a while."

After saying that, he returned the Spirit Stones he had pooled from Song Moting and the others.

He took out 1.1 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them to the Female Deacon.

"Of course. The honored guest only needs to sign here with your mana."

The Female Deacon nodded and took out a contract shimmering with spiritual light, spreading it out on the table in front of Su Ling.

Su Ling glanced at Song Moting, and seeing him nod slightly, he used his own mana to leave an imprint, completing the contract.

"The business here is finished, so this humble one shall take her leave first."

After putting away the contract, the Female Deacon bowed and turned to leave with light footsteps.

Once the Formation was reactivated, Song Moting looked at Su Ling and said solemnly, "Junior Brother Su, this contract is in accord with the Heavenly Dao. If you breach it, it will trigger Heavenly Tribulation lightning punishment. Even if Grandmaster Clear Ripple were to intervene, she would be unable to help you evade it... Do not miss the deadline!"

"Yes, I've noted it!"

Su Ling nodded slightly and said seriously.

It was only five million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, which was merely fifty years' worth of his Sect benefits.

In another twenty or thirty years, he would have pooled enough to pay it back.

There was no way he wouldn't be able to afford it.

"Then let's keep watching. It just so happens that the Thousand-year Ice Soul Crystal I need is about to appear."

Song Moting smiled faintly. He was only giving a brief reminder because he was worried Su Ling didn't understand the intricacies involved.

However, he had already decided in his heart that he must remind Su Ling before the deadline.

Lest he accidentally forget while out traveling or in seclusion.

Having obtained the fragment of the Nine Nether Secret Record, Su Ling was already anxious to return.

But among the upcoming auction items, there were still things that Song Moting and the others needed.

Therefore, he could only suppress his impatience and wait patiently... Three days later, the starfall profound gold that Lu Tao wanted finally appeared.

The bidding started at one hundred thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

And that Xiao Jinchen, the heir of the Weihai Prince's Mansion, indeed participated in the bidding.

After several rounds of competition, Su Ling eventually spent 1.5 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones to help Lu Tao secure it.

"Hmph, how annoying. If it weren't for that guy constantly driving up the price, we could have gotten it for a million at most."

Lu Tao held the Profound Gold in his hand, his words carrying undisguised disgust.

Meanwhile, Xiao Jinchen, who was also sitting in a private room on the sixth floor, only smiled faintly upon hearing these words.

He even cupped his hands toward Su Ling, looking completely unbothered.

Su Ling's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he nodded in response.

Given Xiao Jinchen's status, he had likely investigated their identities and backgrounds long ago.

Yet he still refused to yield an inch during the bidding, which made Su Ling see him in a slightly different light.

With the starfall profound gold in hand, the group's goals for this trip were basically achieved.

In the process, all the strange items on the auction list had made their appearance.

Unfortunately, the prices of the subsequent rare items far exceeded their actual value.

Su Ling felt quite helpless about this.

There were simply too many 'wealthy cultivators' in Cangming City.

The main reason he was able to win the 'Star Pivot Heaven-Stabilizing Seal' was that the item showed no unusual signs.

As for the grey cloth fragment containing the Nine Nether Secret Record, that was a truly high price.

At 6.1 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, even the final High Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Cold Crystal Profound Ice Armor, probably wouldn't be much more expensive than that.

However, the group no longer had much interest in watching the rest of the auction.

They simply left the auction house and prepared to head to the Immortal Gathering Tower for a good meal before returning to the Sect.

After eating and drinking their fill, they each returned to their temporary Immortal Caves to rest.

Su Ling set up a concealment Formation, sat cross-legged on the bed, took a deep breath, and brought out the grey cloth.

He used the Immortal Eye of Treasure Appraisal to identify it once more. After confirming the information was correct, he slowly circulated his Golden Core, adjusted his mana into pure Nine Nether Mana, and poured it into the grey cloth.

After a moment, the grey cloth gradually began to change.

Strands of grey aura constantly dissipated from it, gradually revealing a hint of deep purple.

An hour later, the grey cloth had transformed into a strange sheet of paper as thin as a cicada's wing.

"No writing?!"

But as Su Ling looked at the paper, his brow could not help but furrow.

The strange papers he had previously obtained, which recorded the fragments of the Nine Nether Secret Record and the Ghost Soul Arrow Secret Art, had directly displayed the corresponding cultivation formulas.

But this sheet had no records at all.

"Could it be that the Immortal Eye of Treasure Appraisal was wrong?"

Su Ling speculated to himself. Then, with a thought, he brought out the other two sheets as well.

When the three strange sheets of paper floated in the air together, they actually began to slowly approach and merge of their own accord.

A moment later, a deep purple light flared!

A thin manual suddenly appeared before Su Ling's eyes.

The four large characters for 'Nine Nether Secret Record' were clearly visible!

A look of joy appeared in Su Ling's eyes. He hurriedly summoned the manual to his hand and opened it impatiently.

Netherworld Soul Devouring Art!

Shadow Evasion Art!

What met his eyes were two extremely powerful Cultivation Techniques and secret arts!

Su Ling was ecstatic as he looked at them, but after a moment, he noticed something was wrong.

"What's going on?!"

"There are only secret arts?!"

"Where is the Cultivation Technique for advancing to the Nascent Soul stage?!"

Su Ling carefully flipped through the manual, but he could never find any cultivation method above the Core Formation stage.

Even when he used the Immortal Eye of Treasure Appraisal to check again, it still displayed [Nine Nether Secret Record Fragment].

For Su Ling, who had Clear Ripple Immortal Venerable as his Revered Master, secret arts were no longer the most important thing.

Instead, whether he could possess the complete Cultivation Technique of the Nine Nether Secret Record was the top priority.

If he could not use the Nine Nether Secret Record as his foundation and instead had to condense his Nascent Soul through the Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman, then by the time he advanced to Soul Transformation, Body Integration, or even True Immortal...

These secret arts could only be used for 'blasting small fry' and could not serve as his primary means of combat.

Clearly knowing that this was a manual far superior to the Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman, yet being unable to Cultivate it completely...

Su Ling felt a wave of dejection and was incredibly disappointed.

The excitement he felt when he won the bid for the grey cloth vanished instantly.

"I can't... stay at the Peak Core Formation Stage forever, waiting for some ethereal and untraceable Opportunity!"

Su Ling sighed helplessly, and a thought couldn't help but arise in his mind.

He wondered if he could ask his Revered Master to help find out exactly who had sold this grey cloth.

And whether that person still had other pieces of grey cloth in their possession?