Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

Wei Tu, watching from the side, let out a silent sigh of relief.

He had taken Zhao Qingluo’s Foundation Establishment Pill, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt, worried that his actions might have ruined her cultivation path.

’Then again, repaying a life-saving debt with a Foundation Establishment Pill was perfectly reasonable.’

But he had, after all, taken it without asking.

Now that he saw Zhao Qingluo had successfully reached Foundation Establishment, that lingering guilt in his heart vanished.

...

Soon, the sandalwood chairs in the main hall of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion’s second floor began to fill with Cultivators.

Among them were quite a few mysterious Cultivators, their faces hidden by cloaks.

From what Wei Tu could tell, at least seven Foundation Establishment Masters had arrived, taking their seats in the private rooms on the third floor.

’Could it be that there’s something at this auction worthy of a Foundation Establishment Master’s attention?’

Wei Tu took the invitation from his sleeve and flipped it over to look at the auction catalogue.

’It’s more or less the same as the last few times, with no particularly precious items. It seems the real mystery must lie with the last three finale treasures,’ Wei Tu mused.

Other than that, he couldn’t think of any other Treasure at the auction that could possibly attract seven Foundation Establishment Masters.

After all, the Hundred Treasures Pavilion held this auction only once every five years, and the Treasures on offer were usually more or less the same.

A quarter of an hour later, a beautiful young woman with a mature, alluring figure and wearing light, revealing clothes walked up to the jade table on the auction stage. She gave a slight curtsy and smiled. "I am Louu Hong, and I will be hosting this auction. On behalf of the chamber of commerce, I welcome all of our honored guests."

After her introduction, Louu Hong wasted no more words. She pulled the red cloth off the jade table, revealing the first item of the auction.

—A piece of deep black ore the size of a walnut.

"Tier One Middle-Grade Iron Essence, weighing three jin and six liang. It’s an unparalleled Spiritual Material for forging Magical Artifacts. The starting bid is thirteen Spirit Stones."

"Each bid must be an increment of at least two Spirit Stones," Louu Hong said with a smile.

"Seventeen Spirit Stones!"

A Cultivator in the hall immediately shouted a bid.

Iron Essence was one of the more common Spiritual Materials in the Cultivation Realm, so its price was well-established. A piece like this, weighing three jin and six liang, would normally fetch around thirty Spirit Stones, with slight market fluctuations.

If the winning bid was lower than thirty Spirit Stones,

it would be a bargain.

This was a deliberate ploy by the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to draw in a crowd, offering the Cultivators a small windfall to get things started.

"I bid twenty-one Spirit Stones."

"Twenty-three."

Bids were called out one after another, and the atmosphere in the auction hall grew lively.

Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou also joined in, placing bids on the Iron Essence.

They weren’t about to refuse free Spirit Stones just to appear aloof.

"Twenty-seven Spirit Stones."

In the end, the Iron Essence was won by an elderly man in a gray robe.

At that price, the profit margin for reselling it was too small to be worth the effort for most of the Cultivators present.

Bidding any higher would mean taking a loss.

"The second item up for auction is a pair of Fire Fruits, produced by the Shengjiang Hex Family."

"These fruits are not only delicious, but they also aid in one’s Cultivation. An excellent choice for personal use or for entertaining honored guests."

"Their effect is roughly equivalent to that of a Qi Assistance Pill."

The beautiful woman lifted the red cloth from the jade table.

Instantly, a rich fragrance filled the entire hall.

"Fire Fruits?"

Some of the Cultivators’ throats bobbed as they swallowed hard.

Besides satisfying one’s appetite, Spirit Fruits had another benefit: they could enhance one’s Cultivation with the same effectiveness as an Elixir.

Furthermore, by consuming Spirit Fruits, one didn’t have to worry about the residual Pill Poison left behind by Elixirs.

However... Spirit Fruits were often exorbitantly expensive, even more so than Elixirs of the same tier.

For example, the starting bid for these Fire Fruits was ten percent higher than that of a Qi Assistance Pill, despite having the same effect.

Therefore, even though the starting bid wasn’t particularly high, very few people made an offer.

Wei Tu was slightly tempted. He was currently at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, and if he consumed these two Fire Fruits, he was confident he could break through to the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer within a decade.

Breakthroughs in Late-Stage Qi Cultivation were far more difficult than those in the Early and Middle Stages. It was common for a Cultivator to be stuck in a single Small Realm for more than a decade.

But in the end...

Wei Tu didn’t place a bid.

Spirit Fruits were expensive and not very cost-effective, so they were mostly bought by wealthy Cultivators.

Buying the Spirit Fruits would be too conspicuous and would inevitably draw unwanted attention.

’Better to make my fortune in silence.’

He didn’t want to be too high-profile before he reached Foundation Establishment.

Besides, the Hundred Treasures Pavilion auction was held every five years. He figured there would be similar Spirit Fruits up for auction the next time he attended, so there was no need to buy this one now.

There was one more thing.

He needed to save up Spirit Stones to buy a Foundation Condensation Pill, so he was naturally unwilling to waste them here.

Wei Tu had come to the auction this time mainly because he had grown restless from his quiet life and wanted to get out for a bit, broadening his horizons in the process.

After a short while, the Fire Fruits were sold.

Louu Hong took one item after another from her Storage Bag to be auctioned.

Like the Iron Essence and Fire Fruits, many of these items offered the potential for a bargain.

When the auction was about halfway through, the Qi Removing Pill that Fu Zhizhou had been waiting for finally appeared. He spent fourteen Spirit Stones to win the Elixir.

’Ignoring one’s foundation for the sake of quick progress often means having to pay an even greater price to make up for it later on,’ Wei Tu sighed to himself.

Since breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, Fu Zhizhou had been stuck in that Realm for seven years, and in the process had "wasted" more than a hundred Spirit Stones.

The Qi Removing Pill was just one of many such Elixirs Fu Zhizhou had bought during that time.

...

After the Qi Removing Pill, several more rare Elixirs appeared at the auction, causing a stir of excitement among the Cultivators.