"Thirty-three thousand and one!"
At this moment, Elder Xuanpo's voice rang out again, still just adding one spirit coin to the previous bid.
Seeing this, Feng Mian's face immediately turned grim, his brows filled with chilling killing intent.
However, after much deliberation, he chose to continue bidding, suppressing the boundless rage within his heart.
After bidding twice, Elder Xuanpo stopped raising the price, as several important figures in the private rooms were competing with Feng Mian.
"Let's go, there's no point in watching any longer."
Qian Nishang smiled wryly, then looked at the people in the private rooms.
Regardless of which faction won this bidding war and successfully acquired the Phoenix Blood Stone, it would have nothing to do with them.
Even if they wanted to watch the excitement, the exorbitant price of tens of thousands of spirit coins was truly stimulating to their state of mind, and watching too much might even be detrimental to their future cultivation.
Thus, after settling the bids, everyone took their previously purchased items and left the Grand Hall.
"You're leaving?"
Upon exiting the Grand Hall, Qian Nishang couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.
Under her gaze, Ji Yuan slowly nodded. This was not a decision made on the spur of the moment; it had been planned for over a month.
However, for various reasons, he had not found an opportunity to inform her. If he asked Xia Dong to relay the message, it would seem insincere.
"Since the trade fair hasn't ended yet, I'll leave ahead of time."
He thought for a moment and then said this.
At this moment, an old man walked out of the Grand Hall. Although his hair and beard were white, he appeared very energetic, with occasional flashes of sharp light in his eyes.
This person was an elder of the Thunder Marsh Peak of the Nine Profound Sect, possessing a late-stage third-realm cultivation. His mastery of lightning techniques made him extremely lethal. Even against third-realm peak cultivators wielding powerful magical artifacts, he could often handle them with just one skillful move.
"There is also a branch of our Mingxin Pavilion in the town outside the Nine Profound Sect. You can use it to contact us regularly."
Qian Nishang pondered for a moment, then gave a few instructions and provided a map of Mingxin Pavilion's influence in Feiyun Prefecture.
The journey was long, and the two were separated by a prefecture, making communication inconvenient. Ji Yuan was one of the Qian family's trump cards and future reliance, so naturally, he could not be neglected.
After several exchanges, Ji Yuan and his companions left in a carriage from Mingxin Pavilion. Qian Nishang stood in place, watching until the carriages completely disappeared from sight.
"Miss, let's go back."
An old woman beside her said softly.
Hearing this, Qian Nishang nodded and returned to the main branch of Mingxin Pavilion in a carriage, as there were still many matters for her to handle.
Meanwhile, Ji Yuan and his group traveled by carriage to a city gate and then exited the prefecture city behind them.
A group of people stood on the open ground outside the city gate. Soon, a strong wind howled, and then a giant bird, several zhang in size, slowly landed before them.
This bird had feathers as dark as ink, resembling an eagle but not quite, and bore little resemblance to any birds they knew.
"This is a flying spirit pet. It doesn't have much combat power on its own, but its flying speed is extremely fast, and its endurance is very strong, requiring no consumption of spiritual energy."
Hong Tian said with considerable pride, "Its name is Lei Guang. Although it's not a demon beast, its endurance is no less than that of a demon beast, and it can fly at high altitudes for extended periods."
These flying spirit pets had no cultivation and generally had a lifespan of only a few or a dozen years, yet they were highly prized by many immortal sects.
A young flying bird alone could cost dozens of taels of silver, let alone an adult one, which would cost at least 1.6 million taels of silver.
Such a high price was due to its incredibly swift speed and astonishing endurance!
This type of flying bird could maintain a speed comparable to a third-realm cultivator flying with their weapon for several hours at high altitudes, and the journey was smooth, requiring no consumption of the cultivator's spiritual energy or stamina.
For long-distance travel, it was undoubtedly the best choice, allowing cultivators to conserve their energy and spiritual power, and even meditate and cultivate on its back.
"Flying spirit pets are rare. Even in the Nine Profound Sect, there are only five such birds."
Hong Tian said with a smile.
This flying bird named Lei Guang was under his care and had been with him for three to four years.
Soon, everyone successively stepped onto Lei Guang's broad back. As it flapped its wings, with the howling wind in their ears, they were lifted hundreds of feet into the air.
Hong Tian waved his sleeves, and a stream of spiritual energy spread out, enveloping everyone to shield them from the intense wind generated during flight.
"Even the slowest flying bird, the fierce wind generated when it spreads its wings is no less than a first-realm cultivator slashing with a sword. So, when riding, always remember to add some protection for yourself."
This old man with white hair and beard showed no elder's dignity, unlike a late-stage third-realm cultivator, but rather a kind old man from the alley.
He tirelessly explained to everyone the precautions they needed to take when riding flying birds.
When he got excited, he would bring up other topics, mostly relating to his travels and things to be aware of when venturing into the world.
As he spoke, Elder Hong Tian became acquainted with Zhang Zhiya. The two old men sat side-by-side, chatting animatedly, like old friends who hadn't seen each other in years.
"If you feel bored, you can meditate and cultivate. With Elder Hong Tian here, there's no need to worry about any accidents."
Zhao Yuansong said softly.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan nodded. After admiring the scenery for a while, he suppressed his excitement and settled down to comprehend the Profound Sky Sword Art.
Although Zhao Yuansong had given his assurance, he was still a little uneasy and did not cultivate here. Instead, he comprehended and pondered the techniques corresponding to the Spirit Gathering realm in the Profound Sky Sword Art.
He had studied these three levels of techniques more than once, having spent one to two months comprehending them previously, and had now made preliminary progress.
It had to be said that this flying bird was extremely stable in the air. Sitting on its back, one could not feel the slightest tremor, as if one were on solid ground.
Furthermore, with Hong Tian's spiritual energy protecting them, the howling winds outside could not affect them in the slightest.
Under such circumstances, Ji Yuan spent nearly three hours comprehending the techniques.
It was only when the sun began to set that he opened his eyes. He then saw Zhao Yuebai, Jiang He, and Xu Qiqi gazing at the horizon together.
He curiously got up and looked at the sky with the three of them, and then saw a giant sun slowly descending, its afterglow painting the vast land a pale red.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan suddenly froze. Looking at the boundless land below, countless insights surged within him.
After the sun completely set, leaving only a faint halo in the sky, a brilliant light suddenly flashed in his eyes.
Silently, his aura continued to grow, the bottleneck blocking his path dissolved as if it were natural, and bright soul light bloomed between his eyebrows.
Under the illumination of the soul light, the mist attached to his physical body and flesh rapidly dissipated, and several areas were soon illuminated by the soul light.
For cultivators, the physical body and flesh were like a vast mountain range, but usually shrouded in mist.
The second realm of cultivation is called the Spirit Gathering Realm, also known as the Obstacle Breaking Realm. Its core lies in illuminating the mountain range of flesh and blood and breaking through all obscuring barriers!
At this moment, Ji Yuan's soul light was like a great sun, dispelling the mist that shrouded several areas of his flesh and blood mountain range.
As a large amount of mist was dispersed, his soul light merged with his qi and blood, and strands of spiritual energy were immediately generated.
These spiritual energies flowed between the flesh and blood mountain range, drawing nourishment from the essence within his physical body and growing stronger.
When the sun completely set and there was no light left in the world, the spiritual energy generated within Ji Yuan silently flowed into his dantian.
Without hesitation, he sat down cross-legged, closed his bright eyes, and began to circulate the Profound Sky Sword Art!
He started circulating the first layer of the technique. Spiritual energy surged through his meridians along with essence, growing stronger every moment.
By the time the Profound Sky Sword Art reached the fourth layer, about half of the essence within his body had been consumed, serving as nourishment for the newly generated spiritual energy.
After an unknown period, when Ji Yuan opened his eyes again, all the essence in his dantian had been converted into profound spiritual energy. It flowed like rivers through his meridians, finally pouring into his dantian!
As he slowly stood up, his aura continuously rose, successfully breaking through from the first realm to the second realm, and then rapidly ascending to the peak of the early stage with unstoppable momentum.
Fortunately, Ji Yuan reacted in time and quickly circulated the core technique of the Profound Sky Dao Scripture, managing to suppress the surging spiritual energy within him, preventing him from truly breaking through to the mid-stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm in one go.
The cultivation of Qi Refiners is not like that of martial artists, which emphasizes a steady and gradual process. Breaking through too quickly or too much at once is not a good thing.
It could even lead to an unstable foundation or insufficient comprehension, making the path ahead even more arduous.
"Master?"
Just as Ji Yuan was savoring the feeling after his breakthrough, a soft call came from beside him.
He looked around and saw everyone staring at him, some with smiles, some with concern.
"You broke through?"
Zhao Yuansong asked.
In fact, there was no need to ask; his aura was already very evident.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan smiled slightly, no longer concealing his aura, and fully revealed it to everyone.
"Good heavens, you've directly broken through from the mid-stage of the Enlightenment Realm to the early stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm?"
Xu Qiqi's eyes widened, and he murmured in disbelief, "You're even just one step away from the mid-stage!"
He couldn't help but smile wryly and told them that the technique he had been using before was a deceptive one, and his cultivation had actually reached the late or even peak stage of the Enlightenment Realm.
As for why, if not for himself, he would have broken through to the mid-stage so quickly after the breakthrough, he supposed it had a lot to do with the two cultivation techniques.
However, he did not share this with the others.