"Alchemist Wang's harvest of Jade Marrow Mushrooms this time, the oldest among them is only a five-hundred-year-old one, which he kept for his own use," said a cultivator with some regret.
"Could it be that Alchemist Wang has actually gathered Jade Marrow Mushrooms that are over eight hundred years old and kept them hidden?" a female cultivator beside them expressed doubt.
"Yeah, if I had such a valuable treasure, I would definitely keep it hidden from others," another middle-aged cultivator chimed in.
At that moment, the female cultivator was pouring wine into the cup of the first cultivator while her hand accidentally brushed against his arm, a soft touch that sent shivers down his spine. His eyes turned bloodshot, and his mind was filled with fantasies, leaving reason far behind.
"It's impossible, I saw it with my own eyes," the first cultivator said without reservation.
"Is it really true?" the female cultivator asked skeptically.
"Do you not believe me? Luckily, I kept some evidence," the first cultivator said, taking out a Shadow Stone from his Storage Bag and activating it.
The image showed Wang Hong leading the way along a stream, with voices of several people behind him, but their figures were not recorded by the Shadow Stone. Wang Hong soon arrived at a mountain cave and entered it. Inside the cave was a spacious hall with a Spirit Spring, and next to it, nine Jade Marrow Mushroom plants were growing.
Among them, two of the Jade Marrow Mushrooms were no larger than fingers, while the other seven ranged from two hundred to five hundred years old.
Then, they heard the astonished exclamations of several people, and the image suddenly shook and disappeared.
"Why did it disappear? There were nine of them, right?" the female cultivator asked.
"Well! At that time, because the Jade Marrow Mushrooms appeared, I was not allowed to record, and I was even ordered to destroy the Shadow Stone. But I secretly kept it," the first cultivator said. "Although there were nine in there, two of them were too small, so Alchemist Wang only picked seven and left behind two saplings."
The first cultivator glanced at the female cultivator and continued to share many pieces of information they had managed to extract from him.
An hour later, a waiter from the tavern entered the private room. Inside the room, only the first cultivator with prominent ears who had been talking remained, sprawled on the table, sound asleep. The other cultivators had disappeared without a trace.
The waiter gently woke up the first cultivator, who seemed disoriented as he looked around.
After a while, he seemed to remember that he had been drinking here with someone, including a beautiful female cultivator.
"Elder! When your friends left, they mentioned that you would be paying for them. You see..." The waiter cautiously spoke, unsure of the exact situation and had to ask carefully.
The first cultivator instinctively reached for his Storage Bag, but to his dismay, the Storage Bag hanging at his waist had vanished.
Then, in a state of panic, he searched his chest, but there was nothing there. He searched his whole body, even repeatedly scanning the ground, but his Storage Bag was nowhere to be found.
"Um... How much are the Spirit Stones? Can I owe you for a few days?" the first cultivator said somewhat sheepishly.
"Elder, the total amount this time is one hundred and thirty Spirit Stones. We don't extend credit for small transactions!" The waiter's tone was now firm, discarding his earlier caution.
Most businesses in Boundary City had some degree of power behind them, and they were not afraid to deal with those trying to dine and dash.
The first cultivator wore a regretful, frustrated, and dejected expression. After some thought, he made a decision and said, "Alright, how about this? My Daoist Robe and these boots are both Magical Weapon-grade, though a bit worn. They should cover the cost of this meal."
Without waiting for a response, he took off his Daoist Robe and boots and handed them to the waiter.
The waiter had no choice but to accept them, knowing that he could sell them for around one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones with some effort, even if it required a bit of time and energy.
A while later, the first cultivator left the tavern barefoot, wearing a disheartened expression.
Once he found a secluded spot where no one was around, he discreetly transformed himself into a horse-faced cultivator. He conjured a Storage Bag out of thin air, retrieved the Daoist Robe and boots, put them on, and hung the Storage Bag at his waist.
This first cultivator was, in fact, Wang Hong in disguise. Since he had achieved a decent mastery of the "Body Strengthening Invincible Golden Body Technique," his transformation skills had become incredibly difficult to discern.
To spread this piece of information, Wang Hong had gone to great lengths. His greatest fear was that someone would suspect him of possessing Jade Marrow Mushrooms older than eight hundred years. If he were suspected of such a thing, he doubted he would survive if he returned to Qingxu Sect.
Although his actions couldn't completely dispel such suspicions, they could at least alleviate them to some extent.
The few cultivators he interacted with had been chosen by him in advance. They often worked together to deceive inexperienced cultivators and occasionally moonlighted as information brokers.
To make these individuals believe him, Wang Hong had used all his skills.
In his eyes, the female cultivator was merely of average appearance, far less interesting to him than talking to Shui Ruo'er. Her looks couldn't compare to Yun Qingya's either.
After the first cultivator left the tavern, the waiter, while cleaning the private room, found a Shadow Stone in the corner.
The waiter didn't dare to make decisions on his own, so he called the innkeeper. When the innkeeper arrived, he picked up the Shadow Stone and inspected it. With a few techniques, he activated it.
The image in the air displayed the previous situation in the private room, including the image displayed by the first cultivator's Shadow Stone.
Then, taking advantage of the first cultivator's drunken slumber, the others took his Storage Bag and hastily left.
Over the next few days, the story of how Alchemist Wang had obtained the Jade Marrow Mushrooms, the specific number of them, and their ages became widely known.
However, one aspect piqued everyone's curiosity: the location of the ancient cultivator's cave mansion that Wang Alchemist had found.
People scoured various maps, trying to identify the mountain shown in the image inside the private room. Yet, despite their efforts to search the vicinity of Boundary Mountain Range thoroughly, they couldn't locate the place.
It should be noted that the maps in the Cultivation World were quite different from those in the mortal realm. These maps were usually in the form of Jade Scrolls, containing precise images of mountains, rivers, and even living creatures.
So, as long as you knew the shape of the mountains and rivers, it was highly likely you could find them on the map.
But no one knew that what they sawthe small mountain, the stream, the grasslandexisted only within a single Mountain cave.
One day, the auction was finally about to begin, and Wang Hong had his subordinates busy with preparations.
[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]