Longevity: Comprehending the Heart Method

If it had been anything else, he would have gladly given it up to get on the good side of a skilled Puppet Master. But not this. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So, he also spoke up, ”Fellow Daoist, I am also in great need of it. If you are willing to part with it, I promise to forge a Tier Two Spiritual Artifact for you.”

Wuy Luochuan’s expression darkened instantly upon hearing this. He roared, ”Then we’ll let our abilities do the talking! Twenty-three thousand Spirit Stones!”

”It seems there’s no room for discussion. Twenty-four thousand Spirit Stones!” Song Changsheng followed close behind.

The two went back and forth, and the price of the White Tiger Skeleton quickly soared to thirty thousand Spirit Stones. At this point, Song Changsheng didn’t have much money left. If his opponent could keep up, he planned to make one final, overwhelming bid. If that didn’t scare off Wuy Luochuan, it would just mean he was not fated to have this White Tiger Fang.

On the other side, Wuy Luochuan also felt he was in a bind. His main target today wasn’t actually the White Tiger Skeleton, but a Tier Two Top-Grade Puppet.

He hadn’t prepared that many Spirit Stones to begin with, and he had already spent a fair amount. If he continued to compete with Song Changsheng, he wouldn’t have enough left to secure that puppet.

Wuy Luochuan’s face was grim as he thought for a moment. Finally, he ground out through clenched teeth, ”I withdraw!”

’Compared to the White Tiger Skeleton, that Tier Two Top-Grade Puppet is more important.’

Seeing him give up, Song Changsheng heaved a sigh of relief. ’It’s in the bag now.’

As the small gavel in Xia Wanyun’s hand fell, the ownership of the White Tiger Skeleton was finally decided.

Song Changsheng called in the attendant from outside the door and gave her a few instructions. Soon, she returned with a Storage Bag and said respectfully, ”Here is the treasure you won. Please inspect it.”

He inspected it and confirmed it was the skeleton before taking out thirty thousand Spirit Stones and giving them to the attendant. The payment pained him greatly; he now had less than four thousand Spirit Stones to his name.

Although his wish had been fulfilled, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave. After all, the Magical Treasure and the grand finale item hadn’t appeared yet. He wanted to broaden his horizons...

The auction continued until the next morning. Several extraordinary treasures appeared along the way, prompting even Purple Mansion Cultivators to personally join the bidding.

The Low-Grade Treasure also appeared. It was a flying sword, bound tightly by layer after layer of Restrictions. Despite this, Sword Qi still shot out from it, striking fear into the hearts of all who saw it.

The Magical Treasure had already given birth to an Artifact Spirit and possessed a degree of self-awareness. Even without a wielder, it could unleash considerable power. If not for the restraining Restrictions, who knows how many of the Qi Cultivators on the first floor would have died by this sword.

The Magical Treasure was powerful, and its price was equally outrageous. The starting bid was fifty thousand Spirit Stones. A crowd of Purple Mansion Cultivators personally entered the bidding, driving the price continuously higher and forcing many interested Foundation Establishment Cultivators to back down.

In the end, this Magical Treasure was sold for two thousand Middle-Grade Spirit Stones—the equivalent of two hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones—and was acquired by the Celestial Sword Sect.

Song Changsheng couldn’t help but be secretly dumbfounded. Two hundred thousand Spirit Stones was equal to several years of the Song Clan’s total income.

”Fellow Daoists, next is the grand finale of this auction. Please, look this way.”

Xia Wanyun had been hosting the auction for a full day and night and was starting to feel weary. But as she began to speak of the final treasure, she instantly grew excited. A captivating blush bloomed on her face, making her look even more alluring and beautiful.

Although the auction was nearing its end, the venue was still packed; not a single seat was empty. Even those not planning to bid were unwilling to leave, and Song Changsheng was one of them.

Everyone wanted to see with their own eyes what this final, secretly guarded treasure of the auction truly was.

Other auction houses would more or less leak some information about their finale item to attract a crowd. But this one had kept it under tight wraps without a single rumor escaping, piquing everyone’s curiosity.

Seeing that all eyes were on her, Xia Wanyun gave a dazzling smile. With great ceremony, she took out an exquisitely beautiful Jade Box. She didn’t open it, but simply held it up and displayed it for all to see.

The crowd was confused. ’The grand finale is a box?’

That was obviously impossible. Xia Wanyun’s charming voice rang out, ”Fellow Daoists and Seniors, within the Jade Box in my hands is the final item of this auction. It contains a strand of C Fire Essence!”

Her words caused an immediate uproar. Some were ecstatic, while others looked utterly clueless—like Song Qingluo, who had never even heard of such a thing.

This was knowledge that every clan member was supposed to master, but having grown up here, his theoretical knowledge was indeed lacking. Song Changsheng immediately began to explain, ”Do you know what conditions a Purple Mansion Cultivator must meet to break through to the Golden Core Stage?”

This was a matter of common sense, so Song Qingluo immediately replied, ”If a Purple Mansion Cultivator wants to break through to the Golden Core Stage, they must first complete their Power of the Five Elements and then forge a Golden Core within their Purple Mansion.”

Song Changsheng nodded and asked, ”And what is the most difficult part of that process?”

Song Qingluo thought for a moment. ”The Human Race follows the Five Elements Golden Core Dao, so the most difficult part should be completing the Power of the Five Elements.

Although the human body is naturally born with all Five Elements, they vary in strength. The strong ones become a Cultivator’s Spirit Root, known as a Visible Spirit Root. The weak ones are Hidden Spirit Roots, incapable of absorbing Spiritual Qi.

With the exception of Abnormal Spirit Root Cultivators created under special circumstances, only Five Spirit Roots Cultivators can attempt a breakthrough to Golden Core without needing to supplement their Power of the Five Elements.

All others need to supplement them to some degree. For example, I have Three Spirit Roots—Water, Fire, and Earth—so I need to supplement the Power of Gold and Wood to achieve a balance in my Five Elements before I can step onto the Golden Core Dao. But this process is incredibly long, and many Purple Mansion Cultivators get stuck here.”

The Celestial Dao is impartial. Before the Golden Core, the fewer Spirit Roots one has, the faster their cultivation speed. That’s why a Cultivator with only one Visible Spirit Root is called a Celestial Spirit Root. But in reality, this is a kind of ’defective product’.

They cultivate rapidly before the Golden Core Stage with almost no bottlenecks, but breaking through to Golden Core requires them to supplement four types of the Power of the Five Elements, taking far more time than others. Abnormal Spirit Roots are even worse off; they need to supplement all five.

Conversely, the Five Spirit Roots Cultivators, who have the slowest cultivation speed, actually have it the easiest. As long as their Cultivation is sufficient, they can attempt a breakthrough to Golden Core.

Everyone knows that it’s easier for those with Five Spirit Roots to break through to Golden Core, yet people still define those with fewer Spirit Roots as geniuses and those with more as mediocre. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in lower-level factions.

Is everyone in the world a fool?

Of course not. It’s just that the cultivation speed for Five Spirit Roots is excruciatingly slow. The resources required to reach the Purple Mansion Stage are dozens of times more than for a Celestial Spirit Root, and the difficulty is Hell Level. The investment could be wasted at any moment.

Forget small factions; even major powers can’t afford to squander resources like that.

Fortunately, this world has never been short of clever people.

And so, a long time ago, people proposed solutions—more than one, in fact.

The first was to directly abandon the Five Elements Golden Core Dao. The proposer argued that since Celestial Spirit Root and Abnormal Spirit Root Cultivators are born with only one type of Spirit Root, why not take that one to the extreme? As long as they could comprehend the Power of Law, they could still break through to Golden Core.

This path was proven to be viable, but it was even more difficult than the Five Elements Golden Core Dao. It later came to be known as the One Element Golden Core Dao.

The second solution was completely different. Its proposer discovered that certain Five Elements Spiritual Objects could be refined into the human body, directly converting Hidden Spirit Roots into Visible Spirit Roots. For example, after refining this C Fire Essence, a Cultivator with Water and Wood Spirit Roots could become a Cultivator with Water, Wood, and Fire Spirit Roots.

This method was gentler and faster than the One Element Golden Core Dao, but it was a serious test of one’s financial resources. After all, every single Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Object is exceptionally expensive.

After this explanation, Song Qingluo finally understood why everyone was so frantic. This was tantamount to fighting for an opportunity to break through to the Golden Core Stage!

In the short time the two had been talking, the Purple Mansion Cultivators from the major powers had already gone wild. The price shot directly to two hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones, surpassing the previous Magical Treasure, and it was still climbing.

The corner of Song Changsheng’s mouth twitched. He finally understood why Celestial Spirit Root and Abnormal Spirit Root Cultivators all chose to walk the One Element Golden Core Dao.

There was no other reason for it. They simply cursed their lack of wealth!

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