Wang Hong had a plan to elevate all nine of his subordinates to the Foundation Building stage to ensure their self-preservation.
In terms of Spiritual Herbs, his personal Space could handle that. What he lacked now were materials for refining tools, as he needed to prepare Spiritual Weapons for everyone.
His plan was to create a standardized style of Spiritual Weapon for his subordinates to enhance their coordination in battle.
Since everyone was following the body cultivation path, he felt that sticking with the Long Spear from the Qi Cultivation stage would suffice.
With over ten Foundation Building stage body cultivators wearing armor and wielding Long Spears weighing tens of thousands of pounds, who under the Golden Core stage could stop them?
As for the main material for the Long Spear's shaft, he had a plan in mind.
The first time he participated in a Foundation Building cultivator trade fair after reaching the Foundation Building stage, he obtained a Golden Ironwood sapling.
This type of spirit wood could reach the second tier after three hundred years of growth and the third tier after eight hundred years.
When he had previously crafted his Refinement Long Spear, he had already cut down the oldest one. He still had an acre of land with trees he propagated, now over three hundred years old.
As these spirit wood trees grew, they became too crowded, and he could cut down some to use for refining Long Spears.
However, using only this type of spirit wood would not be enough. The Golden Ironwood was not heavy enough in texture and lacked sharpness. Therefore, he needed to add other refining materials to create a suitable melee Spiritual Weapon.
As for armor, Wang Hong had previously collected a lot of second-tier Demonic Beast hides, which he could use for refining armor.
For this auction, Wang Hong not only contributed Jade Marrow Mushrooms but also brought out some precious second-tier Spirit Pills and Spiritual Herbs, such as Breakthrough Realm Pills of various sizes, which could help Foundation Building cultivators break through bottlenecks.
There were also second-tier Lionhead Spirit Mushrooms, Golden Spotted Bamboo Shoots, and other delicacies that cultivators rarely cultivated because they usually focused on training.
Ordinary auctions did not have such items, but Wang Hong wanted to give it a try; if they sold, that would be great, and if not, it wouldn't matter.
As for third-tier Spiritual Objects, he did not have many, and even if he did, he wouldn't openly display them.
He and Wu Dayong had agreed to keep the impact of this auction within the Foundation Building stage. Anything that piqued the interest of Golden Core cultivators would not appear at the auction.
Otherwise, with Qingxu Tower's deep pockets, they could easily bring out a few third-tier Spiritual Objects.
Successfully hosting an auction was not an easy task; it required a certain level of strength.
First, they needed an auction venue. Boundary City had over three thousand Foundation Building cultivators, so the auction hall had to accommodate at least a thousand people.
Secondly, they needed enough personnel to maintain the safety and order of the auction.
To host an auction, you needed the strength to protect yourself. The goods and resources at an auction were tempting, and incidents of theft during auctions were not uncommon.
For an auction , involving Foundation Building stage cultivators, it was necessary to have at least one Golden Core stage cultivator overseeing it.
Moreover, in the Cultivation World, most people respected strength above all else; power spoke louder than words.
If others at the auction used their strength to intimidate, the auction would not proceed smoothly.
If everyone at the venue displayed their cultivation levels, those with lower levels would be frightened away, and no one would dare to stay and bid, making the auction futile and potentially leading to trouble.
Therefore, to host a successful auction, they needed the power to control and enforce order, ensuring that all participants respected the rules of the auction.
Moreover, this kind of matter could only be resolved by himself. He couldn't keep bothering the Golden Core cultivator who would oversee the auction. After all, Golden Core cultivators were usually treated with great care once they were hired.
In addition to having sufficient strength, hosting an auction also required a large quantity of rare items to attract attention.
Wang Hong lacked all of these conditions, and he could only achieve this with the support of Qingxu Tower.
Before the auction, various rumors had already spread throughout the entire city. There were rumors about various treasures to be auctioned, as well as news about the cultivators preparing to participate in the auction.
Among these many rumors, one was of particular interest to everyone: the news related to the Jade Marrow Mushroom.
"I heard that Alchemist Wang once accidentally entered an ancient cultivator's cave mansion and found a total of seven Jade Marrow Mushrooms. He used two of them and still has five left."
In a private room in a tavern, a burly Foundation Building cultivator with large ears, who had consumed some Spirit Wine, was now blushing as he spoke.
"Friend, you're not close to Alchemist Wang, how could you know such details? You make it sound as if it's true," a middle-aged cultivator nearby questioned.
"I... I do know, but I can't reveal how," the burly cultivator stammered, feeling defensive as he was being questioned.
"I think our friend here might have had a bit too much to drink and made up this story. I thought you were an honest person, but now you're playing tricks on us," a beautiful female cultivator with narrow eyes and an expression of disdain said.
The burly cultivator, perhaps genuinely an honest person, found himself in a predicament after being challenged. His face turned even redder, and with the effects of the alcohol kicking in, he blurted out, "I do know! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Realizing his mistake, the burly cultivator quickly covered his mouth.
"Hahaha! It seems we misunderstood our friend here. Let's have a drink! A drink!" the middle-aged cultivator hastily tried to smooth things over, pouring a glass of Spirit Wine for himself and the burly cultivator. They decided not to dwell on the matter any longer.
The burly cultivator, feeling relieved that the others were no longer pressing him for answers, continued drinking with his newly made friends.
After a while, the burly cultivator started to feel the effects of the alcohol. His face was now flushed, and his speech became a bit slurred.
Occasionally, his gaze would secretly drift toward the beautiful female cultivator, and his eyes would linger on certain areas of her body.
Whenever the female cultivator looked at him with a smile, he would quickly avert his gaze, flustered.
The female cultivator seemed unaware of his subtle actions and continued to smile. In fact, she seemed to casually move closer to him.
There were occasional, almost imperceptible, touches of their skin, and each time the soft and smooth sensation made the burly cultivator's heart race. His hand holding the cup trembled uncontrollably.
Now, he was practically hoping that the female cultivator would ask him some personal questions, giving him a chance to impress her.
"Do you think Alchemist Wang will auction off a few Jade Marrow Mushrooms this time?" The female cultivator casually leaned closer to the burly cultivator, though her words were addressed to the group.
"Four mushrooms. Alchemist Wang will keep one for himself," the burly cultivator hastily responded, not wanting anyone else to seize the opportunity to impress the female cultivator.
"Do you know the quality of the mushroom Alchemist Wang is keeping for himself?" The burly cultivator, having forgotten about the need for secrecy, asked to show off.
"I think it should be the oldest one, right? Perhaps it's already eight hundred years old?" The female cultivator guessed with admiration in her eyes, keeping her gaze fixed on the burly cultivator.
After all, once a Jade Marrow Mushroom reached eight hundred years of age, it matured and became a healing elixir that Golden Core cultivators would fight over.
"That's not it. None of the Jade Marrow Mushrooms Alchemist Wang harvested this time have reached eight hundred years."