Late at night, Lin Shiming erged from ditation, having once again filled the Spirit Talisman of the Heavenly Wood with spiritual energy.
Each ti he stored energy, it was as if he was refining his spirit anew, always rendering his spiritual power more condensed.
Lin Shiming did not rise imdiately, but began to reflect on the spell battles of the day, filtering through all the details once more, summarizing the instances where he perford poorly or encountered great peril.
Thus, Lin Shiming spent another hour in reflection until his divine sense spread out into the distance, and only then did he realize that soone was admiring the night sky today.
Regretfully, there was neither moon nor stars tonight.
Lin Shiming pushed the door open and walked toward the courtyard, and Lin Houyuan turned his head back.
The latter deeply surveyed Lin Shiming against the night sky for a long ti before revealing a gratified smile.
"You've grown up!"
A simple phrase, yet what Lin Shiming saw on the other's face was worry, regretting his own lack of strength.
Indeed, the day had been perilous, and the future might be even more so.
The pursuit of Immortal Cultivation is itself an act against heaven.
"I've worried father. In the future, Shiming will certainly redouble his efforts in cultivation!" Lin Shiming responded with a ward heart.
He had also taken notice of Lin Houyuan's actions during the day; his father was the type to risk his life at critical monts.
"Here, this is sothing the Seventh Great-Uncle gave to you!" Lin Houyuan handed him a Jade Slip, noting that all of Li Yucheng's treasures were there.
Three supre grade magic swords, along with a supre grade Spirit Shield Artifact, and that broken Scorpion Demon Banner.
At the end, there was also a spirit talisman shaped like a long strip embroidered with a black dagger.
It was indeed Li Yucheng's prized talisman.
This brought great joy and surprise to Lin Shiming.
Given the family head's way of doing things, it was certain that so treasures would be shared with Xie An, unless the Lin Family no longer wished to rely on the na of Zi Xuan Hermit.
Of course, more likely, the family gave Xie An other benefits, while they had kept these treasures for him.
That was indeed characteristic of the Seventh Great-Uncle.
"And this is a reward from the family!" Before Lin Shiming could erge from his elation over the talisman, he saw Lin Houyuan take out a Storage Bag.
Inside the Storage Bag were two thousand Spirit Stones and two bottles of Green Spirit Pills.
Although not much, they represented a gesture from the family.
Lin Shiming nodded and accepted it.
In the night, the two of them talked for a long ti. Cultivators can spend a great deal of ti in seclusion—since the last ti he had a lengthy conversation with Lin Houyuan, he was still a teenager. It had been so long, he didn't even know how to talk with his father.
But that day, for the first ti, Lin Houyuan revealed various dangers of the Cultivation World to him, and the conversation lasted through the night.
The father he rembered was not much of a talker, but this night, he spoke at length.
The night was like water, quietly passing by.
The next day was the Lin Family's auction event, the final stage of the Foundation Establishnt Conference.
The Lin Family was especially cautious and ticulous this ti due to the trouble stirred by the Li Family, keeping records of each suspicious Loose Cultivator.
When the auction officially began, the auctioneer was none other than Lin Shiming's thirty-year-old cousin, the chubby cultivator Lin Houyuan.
With just a few words, he stirred up the enthusiasm of all the cultivators present.
"Welco all Loose Cultivators and family mbers to attend our Lin Family's auction. I am Lin Houyuan, and this ti, the treasures have been ticulously selected by Seventh Great-Uncle, so everyone can bid with confidence. The auction rules are the sa as any other auction—the highest bidder wins!"
"Without further ado, let's get to the first auction item, a bottle of second-rank, superior grade Monkey Wine!"
"I believe many of you have tasted Monkey Wine before, not only does it restore spiritual power, but it also has the effects of healing wounds and removing hidden injuries."
"Moreover, this second-rank, superior grade Monkey Wine is far better than the interdiate grade Monkey Wine that everyone has had. It can be a life-saving elixir at critical monts! Our Lin Family can only brew ten jin every ten years!"
"One bottle, one jin, with a starting bid of 1,000 Spirit Stones, and each bid must be no less than ten Spirit Stones!"
As the auction started, Lin Houyuan opened the bottle of wine, and a rich fragrance filled the entire auction hall.
The Loose Cultivators and Qi Cultivation families were thoroughly inflad with enthusiasm, and many Foundation Establishnt families also began to participate in the bidding.
"1,200 Spirit Stones!"
"1,300 Spirit Stones!"
...
In the end, the winning bid was 2,200 Spirit Stones, which was considered a high price even among second-rank elixirs.
Lin Shiming noted this with so delight, knowing that half of the profits from the family's Monkey Wine and Spirit Peach business belonged to him.
Of course, this ti Lin Shiming was seated at the very back, as he had a more important task.
To observe the Qian Family.
The actions and information of the Qian Family were key to this family auction.
The Lin Family elders were mostly clear on the basic information about their family, and by the sa token, it could be assud that the remaining elders of the Huang Family also knew about the matters concerning the Purple Mansion Cave Mansion and the Foundation Establishnt Pills.
Whether the Qian Family had obtained this information from the remnant mbers of the Huang Family was critical.
The auction continued, and the following treasures, although not as good as the second-rank, superior grade Monkey Wine, were still much sought after, with nurous second-rank high-quality treasures inciting a fresh surge in the bidding frenzy.
So of these items belonged to the Lin Family, while others were consigned by different Cultivators.
During this ti, Lin Shiming himself made a successful bid for a Spirit Grass, but the Qian Family didn't move at all, their composed deanor causing Lin Shiming a bit of hesitation.
Finally, it ca to the most crucial and show-stopping final auction item.
Lin Houyuan, visibly excited, took a tray from a maidservant next to him, and a fiery red small flag appeared in his hand.
"The next item for our finale auction is a third-rank, inferior grade Fire Attribute Magic Artifact, the Blazing Fire Banner. Its power is definitely one of the top within spell-attacking Magic Artifacts, and the esteed mbers present may bid on it!"
As the Blazing Fire Banner was unveiled, all the Foundation Establishnt families were shocked, as it was well known that the Lin Family did not have a high reputation in Yunzhou because they lacked a third-rank Alchemist and a third-rank Artifact Refiner.
Now, with the appearance of a third-rank artifact, Cultivators paid great attention, whereas the Loose Cultivators were only mildly interested.
"Yes, it was indeed refined by our Lin Family Head during his breakthrough to Foundation Establishnt as well as his advancent to third-rank Artifact Refiner. This is his first third-rank artifact. The starting bid is 10,000 Spirit Stones, and each bid must increase by no less than 500 Spirit Stones!"
Following Lin Houyuan's confirmation, the Loose Cultivator families began to bid, and even Xie An showed so interest upon seeing the Blazing Fire Banner.
A pure Fire Attribute Magic Artifact could have a special role at critical monts.
Furthermore, as the older apprentice-brother of Lin Xianzhi, he indeed wished to support the Lin Family.
In the end, the Blazing Fire Banner was sold for 28,000 Spirit Stones to Xie An.
Lin Shiming, seated at the back, breathed a sigh of relief after the sale was completed. The Qian Family didn't know about the Formation Artifact Manual.
Otherwise, they would never miss the opportunity to study this Blazing Fire Banner. Not to ntion two or three thousand Spirit Stones, they might have continued to bid even if it cost fifty or sixty thousand.
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