Chapter 19: An Unexpected Turn of Events

Early on the third day, Liang Yan had already washed and dressed neatly, waiting patiently in front of Lin Fei's courtyard gate.

When Lin Fei stepped out and saw Liang Yan waiting, he gave a slight nod. With a flick of his sleeve, a mechanical wooden turtle flew out from within. Mid-air, a series of clicking and clacking sounds erupted, and it instantly grew to the size of a rooftop.

The mechanical wooden turtle crouched on the ground. Lin Fei led Liang Yan onto its back, pinched a hand seal, and the turtle began to crawl forward at high speed, reaching the mouth of the valley in the blink of an eye. The turtle then transformed into a wooden boat, carrying the two of them as they floated forward.

Liang Yan was no longer the person he once was; he naturally knew that the waterfalls and rivers he had seen upon entering the valley years ago were all part of the sect's protective formation. Thus, despite the changing scenery around them, he no longer felt the same trepidation he had experienced back then.

Once they exited Yunping Mountain, Lin Fei immediately manipulated the wooden turtle to take flight, racing toward the direction of Green Mountain.

Seven days later.

The two landed at the summit of Green Mountain. Several people were already waiting there; these were Qi Refinement cultivators. Seeing Lin Fei approach, they hurriedly bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Martial Uncle."

Lin Fei nodded casually. "It is merely a sect mission."

Without lingering, he led Liang Yan directly to the auction venue—the very same cave where Liang Yan had purchased the wooden fish years ago.

After leading him on a brief tour, Lin Fei stopped at the cave entrance and asked with a smile, "Well? Are you confident in setting up the formation here?"

Liang Yan was already ninety percent certain, but he still replied, "This disciple will certainly do his utmost."

"Then begin your preparations. The auction will be held at midnight the day after tomorrow; you don't have much time. As for the materials for the formation, do not worry. If you need anything, simply ask those people from earlier."

Liang Yan nodded in agreement. Lin Fei gave him a glance and said no more, returning instead to the vermilion courtyard at the mountain peak to sit in meditation and rest.

For an auction like this, he generally did not need to do anything. All related matters were handled through the cooperation of the sect's local branch and surrounding small sects. His role was simply to appear at the auction site to intimidate any troublemakers or those with ill intentions.

After obtaining all the necessary materials from the branch members, Liang Yan began setting up the Heavenly Eye Formation. As the name implied, the formation required a spiritual tool with detection capabilities to serve as the formation eye. Liang Yan chose a Bagua Treasure Mirror, which was engraved with the Taoist Bagua symbols around its perimeter and featured a small mirror embedded in the center.

Because formations vary based on celestial timing and geographical advantages, their deployment must also differ. Adapting to the local terrain, Liang Yan used two formation beads and eight formation flags, carving the formation patterns into the ground. He utilized the "Wind over Earth" hexagram from the I Ching. This hexagram consists of two overlapping trigrams—Kun below and Xun above—representing the wind blowing across the earth. The Hexagram of Contemplation and the Hexagram of Approach are complementary; the former signifies the superior observing the world from above, while the latter signifies the inferior following in obedience.

In other words, the treasure mirror suspended high at the entrance acted as a high-ranking inspector, while those entering the formation were like low-ranking subjects. As the superior observes, the inferior follows; anyone entering the formation would find their every concealment rendered useless beneath the mirror.

While the Heavenly Eye Formation was not an extremely profound formation, it was certainly not something easily learned. Having studied formations for a long time, combined with his innate brilliance, Liang Yan's understanding had actually reached a terrifying level, though he himself was unaware of it. By slightly modifying the Heavenly Eye Formation to suit the terrain, he had created something that would surely startle any grandmaster of formations if they were present.

On the afternoon of the second day, just as Liang Yan finished carving the final formation pattern, a voice of admiration came from behind him: "I did not expect Nephew Liang to possess such extraordinary talent, achieving such accomplishments in the path of formations."

Liang Yan turned to look; the speaker was none other than Lin Fei.

It turned out that having nothing better to do, Lin Fei had come to inspect the venue. Seeing the Heavenly Eye Formation Liang Yan had laid, although Lin Fei himself did not understand formations, he could clearly feel a sense of surveillance and detection emanating from it—a sensation that even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself would find difficult to evade.

"Good, good, good! With such talent, Nephew Liang, I believe the six-year agreement will be an absolute breeze for you."

"Martial Uncle Lin overpraises me. In truth, I do not have much confidence regarding this six-year agreement."

Lin Fei waved his hand and smiled. "Time is short, and you have worked hard setting this up alone. Come back to the branch with me to rest for a day. At midnight tomorrow, I hope Nephew Liang will find something worthwhile here."

Liang Yan smiled faintly. "Then I shall take your good words to heart, Martial Uncle."

The two returned together to the branch at the mountain peak, where Liang Yan sat in meditation in his room. Unknowingly, a day passed. When the second night arrived, Liang Yan followed Lin Fei to the auction venue.

Lin Fei held a VIP seat at the auction. After entering, he greeted Liang Yan and then departed. Liang Yan found a seat toward the front by himself.

There seemed to be even more people attending this auction than the last. As the start time approached, a continuous stream of people continued to enter through the gates.

After a while, once the hall was almost full, Lin Fei flew out from the VIP section and landed on the central platform. He gave a brief introduction similar to the last auction and then withdrew. However, the host in charge of the auction had been changed from the red-nosed old man to a black-faced man.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the black-faced man cleared his throat and spoke loudly, "I shall not waste time with idle talk. The first item of today's auction is a mid-grade spiritual tool from the Confucian Sect: the Mountain and River Fan!"

As he spoke, a female cultivator walked onto the stage dragging a treasure box. The black-faced man opened the box and took out the Mountain and River Fan. With a *shredding* sound, it unfurled, revealing a magnificent mountain depicted in an ink-wash style, with nine distinct river sections that looked incredibly lifelike. Waves of extraordinary spiritual energy radiated from it.

The black-faced man said nothing; he simply channeled his magic and struck the testing stone used for demonstrations. Instantly, a fierce wind howled, and an aura of mountains and great rivers surged forth, striking the testing stone and leaving several indentations.

Seeing the power of the spiritual tool, the crowd below nodded inwardly. One must know that testing stones are made of special materials; a single strike from an ordinary Qi Refinement cultivator usually leaves no trace at all. This black-faced man had not even refined the fan, yet a casual strike possessed such power—how could they not be tempted?

After his strike, the black-faced man put the fan away and said calmly, "The Mountain and River Fan. It requires a cultivation level of the seventh layer of Qi Refinement to operate. The starting price is three hundred spirit stones, with a minimum increment of twenty spirit stones per bid."

The crowd below immediately began bidding frantically. Only Liang Yan sat with his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious. He had only one purpose for this trip: the Obstacle-Breaking Pill. He was determined to obtain it!

One item after another was won by the bidders, and in the blink of an eye, over twenty items had passed. Liang Yan could not help but feel a slight sense of impatience. Was there truly no Obstacle-Breaking Pill in this auction?

Just as he was feeling anxious, he heard the black-faced man say on stage, "The next item is one that everyone is familiar with. It is a pill that we in the Qi Refinement stage can all consume: the Obstacle-Breaking Pill!" As he spoke, he took a small white jade bottle from the female cultivator and took out a single white pill, displaying it to the crowd.

"It really is the Obstacle-Breaking Pill!"

"This pill is of great help for breaking through cultivation bottlenecks. It might be worth considering," the crowd discussed animatedly.

"One Obstacle-Breaking Pill. Starting price: fifty spirit stones. Each increment must be no less than five spirit stones!"

"Fifty spirit stones! I'll take it!" someone shouted from below.

"I bid fifty-five!"

"Sixty-five!"

Just as the bidding was escalating, a young man's voice suddenly rang out: "I bid one hundred spirit stones!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the bidding below stopped instantly. While the Obstacle-Breaking Pill was excellent, a price of one hundred spirit stones had already somewhat exceeded its actual value, and the bidder clearly intended to secure it at all costs.

The bidder was Liang Yan. Since he was going to win the pill regardless, he figured it was better to strike first and bid one hundred spirit stones directly to discourage others from competing.

Seeing that no one else was bidding, the black-faced man waited a moment and then said, "Since there are no further bids, then..."

Before he could finish, someone suddenly shouted, "One hundred and fifty spirit stones!" The voice was crisp and pleasant; it was a woman.

Liang Yan frowned and turned to look. In the corner of the hall sat a young girl in white, with a slender figure and skin as white as snow. Even though her face was veiled, one could still sense she was a peerless beauty.

Liang Yan felt a surge of annoyance. After a moment of melancholy, he called out, "One hundred and sixty!"

"Two hundred and sixty!"

This time, the woman did not hesitate at all. She followed Liang Yan's bid immediately, and she had added a full hundred spirit stones on top of his price.

Liang Yan turned back to glare at her, but the woman showed no fear. She met his gaze calmly, her eyes even flashing with a hint of mockery.

(End of Chapter)