Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

"Five hundred and fifty Middle Spirits!"

"Six hundred!"

"Six hundred and thirty!"

"I bid six hundred and fifty!"

The cultivators participating in the auction all had keen eyes and could tell that the Thundercore placed on the stand was of very high quality, a fine material for use in the aid of cultivation or the casting of Spiritual Artifacts and Magical Treasures.

So, as soon as the owner's words ended, someone immediately bid.

And others, not to be outdone, followed with higher offers.

The atmosphere was exceedingly fiery.

"Seven hundred."

Wang Chen followed with a bid.

Because he could fast-forward his spell levels with the help of the Immortal Cultivation panel, he originally wasn't too interested in Thundercores.

But times had changed, and unexpectedly, after achieving Great Achievement in the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Technique, the difficulty of further cultivation had increased several fold. It would take three to four hundred days to break through to the Grandmaster level.

How could Wang Chen possibly invest so much time in this spell?

So, seeing that someone was selling a Thundercore, he was tempted to try and use this kind of heaven-sent treasure to accelerate his progress.

In this regard, Wang Chen was quite experienced.

"Seven hundred and fifty!"

"Eight hundred!"

After a dozen rounds of bidding, the price of the Thundercore climbed higher and higher.

Wang Chen tried to raise his bid twice but was easily outbid each time.

He sighed inwardly.

The Thundercore was indeed a fine item, but the current price was outrageous.

However, these Inner Sect Disciples competed fiercely, each more wealthy and imposing than the last, which was quite eye-opening for Wang Chen.

The final transaction price astonishingly reached one thousand one hundred and fifty Middle Spirits!

It was utterly excessive!

Forget it.

Wang Chen shook his head and left the stall.

"Junior Brother Wang."

He had only walked a few steps when someone stopped him, "Long time no see, how have you been recently?"

Wang Chen, looking at the smiling female cultivator in front of him, replied without changing his expression, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister, I've been well."

This female cultivator was none other than Wu Yanqiu.

At that moment, the tall, thin cultivator who had auctioned off the Thundercore came over, "Junior Sister Wu."

He wore an air of reserve, eyeing Wang Chen with a scrutinizing gaze, "You know this Junior Brother?"

"Senior Brother Zhao."
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Wu Yanqiu hurriedly introduced, "This is Junior Brother Wang Chen, who has been cultivating on the island."

She then introduced Wang Chen, "This is Senior Brother Zhao Hongsheng from the Zhenyue Vein."

Wang Chen bowed, "I've seen Senior Brother Zhao."

There were hundreds of thousands of Inner Sect Disciples in the West Sea Sect, primarily divided into Vein-entered Disciples and Sect-entered Disciples, with the former being the sect's core strength.

And Zhenyue was one of the West Sea Nine Veins.

Although it was one of the Lower Three Veins, in comparison to Wang Chen's status as a Sect-entered Disciple, it unquestionably ranked higher.

Wu Yanqiu's tone carried a hint of ingratiating intent.

"Hmm."

Zhao Hongsheng replied with a grand gesture, speaking in a tepid manner, "You two chat, I have to go now."

After saying that, he strode away.

"That's just Senior Brother Zhao's temperament."

Wu Yanqiu whispered to Wang Chen, "Don't mind him, but he really is capable. The thing I mentioned to you last time was organized by Senior Brother Zhao's team, they've made some good gains recently."

After a pause, she continued, "Junior Brother Wang, if you want a Thundercore, I can talk to Senior Brother Zhao and let you join the team."

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

Wang Chen bared his teeth in a smile, "No need to trouble yourself."

"You!"

Wu Yanqiu was a bit annoyed, "How can you be so ungrateful?"

Wang Chen's smile faded as he looked at her indifferently.

Under his gaze, Wu Yanqiu felt inexplicably guilty and subconsciously lowered her head.

When the female cultivator raised her head again, she found that Wang Chen had already left.

She almost gnashed her silver teeth in frustration!

Wang Chen looked quite young, but he was actually very shrewd and not easily swayed by external things; indeed, he was not easy to fool.

Wu Yanqiu felt that Wang Chen had seen right through her intentions, and it was like she had embarrassed herself.

Meanwhile, Wang Chen had no idea he'd been labeled as "too cunning," but with Wu Yanqiu repeatedly inviting him to join the Thunderbeast hunting team, he didn't feel this was going to be something good.

The Thundercore, although precious, was not something Wang Chen had to obtain. What did it matter if the cultivation of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Technique was a little slow? It wouldn't have a decisive impact on his own strength.

It was Wu Yanqiu who clearly had ulterior motives, just like that Zhao Hongsheng. They were of the same ilk and not worth trusting.

After browsing a bit more, feeling that there was nothing to gain and somewhat disappointed, he prepared to leave.

Suddenly, he noticed a pile of dark purple rocks on a nearby table, and an idea struck him.

These rocks of varying sizes were Thunderstones, a specialty of Thunder Island.

Originally ordinary rocks, Thunderstones had undergone years of lightning strikes, changing their core composition, allowing them to accumulate some Thunder Power.

Similar to Spirit Stones.

However, once mined, the Thunder Power within Thunderstones would dissipate quickly. They couldn't be preserved for long in a Storage Bag, and with limited uses, their price was quite cheap.

Although cheap, the mining and collecting of Thunderstones was hard work and quite dangerous.

Because the more intense the thunder, the better the quality of the Thunderstone.

Poor quality Thunderstones hardly fetched any price at all.

Seeing these Thunderstones, Wang Chen came up with an idea and inquired, "How are these Thunderstones sold?"

The vendor was a young cultivator, with a Cultivation Level at Qi Cultivation Perfection, and his stall was also located in a corner.

Upon hearing Wang Chen's inquiry, he promptly replied with great respect, "One Lower Spirit per catty. If Senior Brother buys more, I can give a discount."

One Lower Spirit per catty.

Hearing this, Wang Chen's mind went slightly blank.

Ever since arriving at the West Sea Sect, he had seldom seen such small pricing units.

Thinking of the price of the Thundercore earlier, he felt the Thunderstones were incredibly cheap.

But cheap as they were, a fist-sized Thunderstone weighed over ten catties, so it wasn't really that cheap.

Wang Chen picked up a Thunderstone to gauge its weight and, while perceiving the Thunder Power within it, he asked, "How much do you have?"

The vendor became excited and, swallowing hard, replied, "Almost four thousand catties."

The samples on the table were just for display.

After a moment's thought, Wang Chen said, "I'll take it all for twenty Middle Spirits."

The vendor's face turned somber, "Senior Brother, could you add a little more, please?"

Twenty Middle Spirits were equivalent to two thousand four hundred Lower Spirits, and Wang Chen was bargaining quite hard.

"Forget it then," Wang Chen said, dropping the Thunderstone he was holding back onto the table.

"Sold, sold!"

Seeing Wang Chen decisively turning to leave, the vendor hastily called out, "Senior Brother, I'll sell for twenty Middle Spirits!"

Thunderstones weren't exactly precious. They could be freely mined on Thunder Island; it was just a matter of doing hard labor.

He had set up his stall here for half a day without any interest from passersby; missing out on Wang Chen would make it difficult to find another buyer.

Forget twenty Middle Spirits, even if Wang Chen further reduced the price, he would still be willing to sell.

Wang Chen nodded, pulled out twenty Middle Spirits, and handed them to the vendor.

Buying all the vendor's Thunderstones.

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