The Transmigrator’s Cultivation

Arc 21: Breaking Through Nascent Soul Stage | Chapter 396: Conspiracy

An Auction?

Xu Ziqing was slightly taken aback; he hadn’t heard of this before.

However, in the past, he had attended auctions in the Qingyun Great World, primarily to find some useful natural treasures. Now that they had just come out and had plenty of time, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look—who knows what good items they might encounter?

He and his shixiong had lived in the Wuling Mountain region for years and rarely went out, and even when they did, it was mostly just to travel. This could be a good opportunity to understand the Qianyuan Greater World better.

Thinking this, Xu Ziqing turned to Yun Lie.

Yun Lie said, “We can go and have a look.”

Hearing this, Wei Huan smiled, “Since both of you wish to go, we can descend here.”

Xu Ziqing, upon hearing this, tapped the head of the flying beast, signaling it to land.

Guhua City was different from the other cities Xu Ziqing had seen in the past; there was no need to pay spirit stones at the city gates. The entire city was open to everyone. Regardless of who arrived, they could freely go wherever they wished.

The group followed Wei Huan’s guidance and directly arrived at the auction venue.

Coincidentally, the auction was starting today. Moreover, it was open to any cultivator at the Golden Core stage or above.

Such relaxed requirements suited many people’s wishes, and Wei Huan said, “Once we enter, I won’t be accompanying you two.”

They weren’t very familiar with each other, so it was best not to travel together to avoid any misunderstandings.

This further showed that he was quite considerate.

Xu Ziqing felt a bit more trust towards this person, but since they were only fellow travelers, he wouldn’t insist on keeping him.

Wei Huan smiled and bid farewell to the two, arranging to meet at a nearby tavern after the auction to return together to the Zhoutian Immortal Sect.

Soon, Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie took their cloaks and, along with the crowd, entered the auction hall.

The space inside was vast, with many seats. Whenever a person entered, an empty spot would appear, which was quite magical.

Despite the numerous people in the hall, it didn’t feel crowded at all.

The cloaks worn by everyone could block external divine senses, and there was a considerable distance between the seats, preventing any disruptions and making it hard to discern the identities of those around.

Xu Ziqing found two seats, but since they were a bit far apart, he pointed to one and moved it closer, then sat down next to his shixiong.

Yun Lie remained expressionless, his gaze sweeping the area and taking note of many figures around him.

Both of them felt a degree of vigilance and naturally noticed the wary glances directed at them by others.

The spirit stone resources possessed by the two brothers surpassed many cultivators of the same level, so they needed to be more cautious in this auction.

Before long, a beautiful female cultivator appeared on the stage, revealing a treasure.

It was a type of magical artifact, said to possess incredible power, especially when paired with a specific technique that made it formidable to wield.

The female cultivator spoke passionately, stirring the greed of many cultivators in the audience.

However, Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie remained unmoved.

They were both not particularly focused on magical artifacts; Yun Lie already had his own life-bound sword, and Xu Ziqing had his own life-bound demon vine. What they truly valued was their own strength and abilities.

As a result, despite the many magical artifacts being displayed on the stage, they remained unmoved.

However, as the auction went on, Xu Ziqing’s heart suddenly began to race.

Vaguely, he sensed a feeling of foreboding.

But it was just an auction; he had participated in many before and had ways to handle things, so why would he feel this way?

Yet, he couldn’t suppress it. His breathing became a bit rapid.

Gradually, Xu Ziqing felt a dizziness in his eyes, as if something sharp was piercing through his consciousness, causing a sharp pain.

He was not one to be unable to endure pain, but now he felt like he couldn’t hold on anymore, his fingers trembling slightly.

It was as if his consciousness was drifting away…

At that moment, a hand pulled him over, and he suddenly bumped against someone’s chest. The warmth immediately made him feel a bit steadier.

“Shixiong…” he mouthed silently, his body drenched in cold sweat.

Yun Lie also sensed something was wrong with Xu Ziqing. He pulled him into his embrace and patted his back to comfort him, quickly realizing that Xu Ziqing felt unusually cold.

A cultivator at the Golden Core stage should be impervious to temperature changes, unless in extremely harsh environments. In normal places, no matter how the weather changed, they would not be affected.

Now, his shidi seemed like a mortal trapped in a nightmare, which made one feel pity.

Yun Lie didn’t think much and just held Xu Ziqing firmly. After a moment, he noticed that Xu Ziqing was no longer trembling as much.

At this point, he transmitted his voice, “Ziqing, what’s wrong?” Though his emotions were frozen, he was still very concerned for his shidi.

Xu Ziqing took a moment to calm down before slowly speaking, “Earlier, I don’t know what caused it, but suddenly the pain became unbearable. I checked my dantian, but there’s nothing wrong with my cultivation, nor is it caused by a heart demon… Now it’s getting better, but my mind is still a bit foggy.”

Yun Lie’s expression turned slightly cold. “Let me investigate.”

Xu Ziqing nodded and offered his wrist. “Thank you, Shixiong.” He was determined to find out the cause; otherwise, if this happened during an important task, it would be very inconvenient. Such a hidden danger needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.

Yun Lie sent his true essence into Xu Ziqing’s body, forcefully and thoroughly checking his limbs, bones, meridians, and dantian before withdrawing his hand. He didn’t detect anything unusual at first, but after thinking for a moment, he said, “You need to release your primordial spirit.”

Xu Ziqing was startled. “Here?”

Yun Lie nodded slightly. “Don’t panic; just release a strand of your primordial spirit.”

Xu Ziqing relaxed. He and his shixiong would often merge their primordial spirits during their dual cultivation, so every time their spirits touched, it inevitably led to some entanglement.

However, given that it was just a strand, it wouldn’t be a problem.

So, he truly opened his sea of consciousness and released his primordial spirit.

Yun Lie indeed only released a strand of his primordial spirit, which drilled into Xu Ziqing’s brow and went straight to his sea of consciousness, immediately merging with Xu Ziqing’s primordial spirit.

Don’t underestimate this strand of primordial spirit; although it was small, once it touched another’s primordial spirit, it could reveal everything about the other person. Many dual cultivation partners could not be so open and unblemished, but Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie were both very frank, so they often did this.

Perhaps because they had done it frequently, this time it went very smoothly.

Before long, Yun Lie’s primordial spirit had swept through all corners of Xu Ziqing’s spirit, and indeed, he detected the problem.

As Xu Ziqing’s primordial spirit approached the core, a very fine thread lay hidden there. Its slenderness made it almost invisible to the naked eye, and it was nearly colorless. If it weren’t for the many times Yun Lie and Xu Ziqing’s primordial spirits had merged, it would have been difficult to notice this subtle difference.

It was like dust falling onto the surface of a lake; unless one knew the water extremely well, how could they possibly perceive it?

Even Xu Ziqing himself would likely need to examine it several times before he could be sure.

After discovering the issue, Yun Lie withdrew his primordial spirit and informed Xu Ziqing.

Xu Ziqing was somewhat puzzled. He had always been cautious during his cultivation, and his primordial spirit should be pure and transparent—how could there be such a fine thread? He contemplated for a moment and began to inspect his primordial spirit. Thanks to his shixiong’s earlier hints, he found it quite easy to locate the source. Indeed, there was something present.

Moreover… Xu Ziqing noticed that the thing was actually moving.

At that moment, a jolt went through his heart—it was a living creature!

Yun Lie’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

It seemed this matter was serious; if this creature truly entered the core of his primordial spirit, who knew what kind of changes might occur?

Therefore, it could not continue like this. In urgent situations, one must act decisively without caring for anything else.

Yun Lie pressed his brow against Xu Ziqing’s, sending a large portion of his primordial spirit inside. His sword intent was faintly connected with his primordial spirit; though it hadn’t yet formed into sword soul refinement, the strength of his primordial spirit had long surpassed the past, further sharpened by the fusion of sword intent.

Previously, there was only a faint trace that was not very noticeable, but now, with the addition of these elements, Xu Ziqing’s primordial spirit began to ache a bit.

However, Yun Lie’s breath remained steady, and Xu Ziqing quickly bore the pain and accepted it. In an instant, Yun Lie’s primordial spirit merged with his, heading straight for the fine thread, forcefully wrapping it up!

In that instant, the creature thrashed about, emitting sharp sound waves.

Xu Ziqing’s primordial spirit trembled, and his head throbbed painfully.

Yun Lie let out a cold snort and forced the sword intent out, striking heavily at the creature!

In the next moment, the creature’s sound waves abruptly ceased, seemingly suffering a heavy blow, and it became docile.

Xu Ziqing gasped quietly, his sweat almost soaking through his clothes.

Yun Lie couldn’t afford to be idle; he suddenly withdrew his primordial spirit, wrapping the creature along with it. Then, he released that strand of sword intent, directly sealing it within a jade talisman.

At this point, they could clearly see that within the jade talisman, the fine thread stood straight but made no further movements.

Once Xu Ziqing recognized it, he exclaimed, “Yinhui Worm?”

Yun Lie clearly recognized it as well, his aura of killing intent growing colder.

The two had read many texts and had heard of several famous demon insects.

This Yinhui Worm lived up to its name, being one of the most sinister types of demon insects.

Its greatest ability was to devour the primordial spirit and replace it.

Such demon insects were difficult to cultivate and required countless yin-attributed heavenly materials and earthly treasures to mature. However, once cultivated, they became colorless, tasteless, and soundless, often able to parasitize within three feet of a person during a moment of carelessness.

Once it parasitized, it usually needed to lie dormant for several hours before burrowing deeper. Once it entered the core of the primordial spirit, it would begin devouring from there, and this consumption would not stop until the host was completely replaced. Moreover, its feeding was often imperceptible; unless a cultivator was actively cultivating their primordial spirit, they would be unaware.

The Yinhui Worm in the jade talisman was evidently an adult.

Typically, it would take several more hours to become active, and when it did, Xu Ziqing would not feel any pain.

But the person who had implanted this worm did not know that Xu Ziqing had the bloodthirsty demon vine.

The bloodthirsty demon vine was Xu Ziqing’s life-bound vine, originally residing within his dantian. When Xu Ziqing formed his golden core and cultivated his primordial spirit, the vine naturally connected with his primordial spirit.

This ancient ferocious creature was most arrogant and domineering; apart from Xu Ziqing’s dual cultivation partner’s primordial spirit merging with his, any other intrusion into Xu Ziqing’s primordial spirit would be rejected. It was easy to imagine how the conscious Yinhui Worm could not be tolerated by the bloodthirsty demon vine, resulting in a fierce expulsion. This was what caused Xu Ziqing’s intense pain.

Translator: Lynn

Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.

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