In the subsequent auctions, some fourth-grade spiritual objects also appeared, but they had no practical use. Li Shiming was only in the Jindan stage, and most of the fourth-grade spiritual objects were still too high-level for him.
Besides, the high-grade spirit stones in his hand were not enough to buy a fourth-grade spirit item. Although Wuqingshan agreed to let him buy on credit, he did not have the habit of buying on credit. He would not take the initiative to buy on credit when there was nothing he had to bid for.
The auction lasted for a very long time, lasting for three days. All the participants in the auction were cultivators. Even for cultivators in the foundation-building stage, going without food and water for three days was not a problem.
In fact, there are Foundation Establishment cultivators constantly coming in and out of the auction on the first floor, but not many of them actually stay on the first floor for three days. After they have almost bid for the spiritual objects they want, they will leave and make room for other cultivators to come in.
Li Shiming's horizons have been broadened in the past three days. The richness of resources in the Dongqi Continent far exceeded his imagination.
An auction organized by a scattered group of cultivators, and a small auction held once a year, was more powerful than the big auctions held once every many years in the Northern Shu Continent.
On the last day of the auction, he was studying the fourth-grade formation flags in his hand. His life-saving magic weapon IBMz15 was calculating how to maximize the effect of the formation based on the eight fourth-grade formation flags.
"Master Li, Yu Songquan wants to see you!" At this time, a voice came from outside the door.
Li Shiming naturally knew who Yu Songquan was. He was none other than a Nascent Soul ancestor from Wuqing Mountain.
Of the two Yuanying ancestors in Wuqing Mountain, usually only one is in charge of affairs while the other one practices. The two Yuanying ancestors take turns every few decades.
Li Shiming was not arrogant. He came to the door of the box and reached out to knock on it.
"Greetings, Ancestor Yu!" He bowed and said.
Patriarch Yu returned the greeting with a smile, and when he saw that there was no surprise on Li Shiming's face, he knew that Li Shiming was also a smart man.
The two men walked into the box, and Li Shiming waited until Old Ancestor Yu sat down before he sat down at the bottom.
"Master Li, I'm here to thank you for opening the furnace to make elixirs for me!" Patriarch Yu said with a smile.
"I dare not. Patriarch Yu has paid me, and I am an alchemist, so of course I have to make pills!" Li Shiming replied politely.
He currently has no power to protect himself, so he should be as careful as possible when dealing with Ancestor Yu.
It’s not that he was afraid of Patriarch Yu, he just didn’t want to live a life of hiding from the enemy just after arriving in Dongqi Continent.
This kind of Yuanying-stage ancestor of a casual cultivator can still escape far away by using his divine power of feet.
"Master Li, may I ask if you are willing to join Wuqing Mountain and become the supreme guest official of Wuqing Mountain?" Patriarch Yu suddenly asked.
Li Shiming was shocked. He did not expect that Patriarch Yu would ask this. He did not know if he would make Patriarch Yu unhappy if he refused on the spot.
"I'm just happy to see it. Master Li, don't be anxious and take your time to think about it!" Seeing that Li Shiming was slightly hesitant, Patriarch Yu continued.
He just wanted to see if Li Shiming planned to join the Wuqingshan forces. Even though the possibility was very low, he wanted to give it a try.
After this test, he understood that it would be impossible for such a talent to join Wuqing Mountain easily, and being able to keep Li Shiming living in Wuqing Mountain was the limit.
"I'll consider it!" Li Shiming felt relieved and said with a smile.
These few short sentences were actually tests. Patriarch Yu was testing Li Shiming's bottom line, and Li Shiming was responding in his own way.
"Master Li, with your level of alchemy, are you planning to publicly refine the fourth-grade elixir?" Patriarch Yu asked the question that concerned him most.
"Of course, I still lack some resources for cultivation, and I need the reward for refining a fourth-grade elixir!" Li Shiming told the truth.
There is no need to hide this, he is just stating his needs.
Patriarch Yu laughed. The first time he saw Li Shiming, he realized that Li Shiming's realm had reached the level of a great elder.
The cultivation resources that Li Shiming mentioned are only the resources for advancing to the Nascent Soul stage.
Knowing that Li Shiming had needs, Patriarch Yu felt more confident about keeping Li Shiming.
"Master Li, I know many Nascent Soul cultivators, and Wuqing Mountain also has a little reputation. I will use the name of Wuqing Mountain as a guarantor to help Master Li take over the alchemy business. What do you think?" Patriarch Yu asked tentatively.
He asked this with selfish motives. If Li Shiming handed over the alchemy business to Wu Qingshan, then Wu Qingshan would gain a great favor.
These are all favors from the Yuanying Patriarch. As for the reward for alchemy, he will not ask for it, as that would make him an enemy of Li Shiming.
"Then I'll leave it to Ancestor Yu. It will also make me feel more relaxed!" Li Shiming did not refuse and answered with a smile.
He has the skills, but he doesn't know the Nascent Soul ancestors of Dongqi Continent. Even if he wants to spread his name, he needs the cooperation of Ancestor Yu in front of him.
It would be better to leave these matters to Wu Qingshan. Anyway, his interests will not be affected. On the contrary, he can make more friends with some Nascent Soul ancestors.
"Okay, Master Li is a distinguished guest of Wuqing Mountain. Please feel free to ask for any requests you have. As long as Wuqing Mountain can do it, we will definitely satisfy you!" Patriarch Yu promised with a smile.
It seems that he did not promise anything, but his meaning was very clear. Wuqingshan would protect Li Shiming's interests.
Patriarch Yu left not long after staying. Li Shiming no longer had any spiritual objects he wanted to photograph. If he had not been waiting for Patriarch Yu, he would have left long ago.
After Patriarch Yu left, he followed him out of the auction house.
Five days later, Patriarch Yu came to visit, and with him came a Yuanying Patriarch. Li Shiming met the guest in the hall.
"This is Fellow Daoist Sang Feng, he's here to ask for elixir!" Patriarch Yu introduced Li Shiming.
Patriarch Sang Feng looked at Li Shiming and showed suspicion towards Patriarch Yu.
We can’t blame Elder Sang Feng. Considering Li Shiming’s age, his current realm already makes him a genius-level cultivator. It’s really exaggerated that he can also reach the level of a master alchemist who can refine fourth-grade elixirs.
“Fellow Daoist Sang Feng, if you weren’t on good terms with me, I wouldn’t have brought you here. The fourth-grade demon pill you got in the last mission has been refined into three fourth-grade spiritual pills!” Patriarch Yu proudly took out the jade bottle and showed it to Patriarch Sang Feng for inspection.
The reason why he asked Patriarch Sang Feng to check it now was to make the favor permanent, to make it permanent in front of Li Shiming.
“Fellow Daoist Yu, how come the three fourth-grade elixirs are in your hands?” Patriarch Sang Feng was quite direct and asked as soon as he found the problem.
From this point, Li Shiming understood that the relationship between Patriarch Sangfeng and Patriarch Yu was very close, otherwise this kind of inquiry would be of the nature of an interrogation.
"Master Li was not having a good time auctioning some items, so he used this fourth-grade elixir to exchange for the spirit stones!" Patriarch Yu answered as if to show off.
No matter how many high-grade spirit stones you spend, it is very difficult to buy a fourth-grade elixir with high-grade spirit stones.
Even in front of Li Shiming, he couldn't help but feel proud.
"Master Li, don't be offended. Please make the elixir for me!" Patriarch Sang Feng no longer hesitated. He bowed to apologize to Li Shiming and placed a jade box on the table.
Li Shiming took the jade box and opened it, revealing a fourth-grade demon pill.
"Come back in ten days to pick it up. My reward would be best if it were infant-forming resources. If I am satisfied with the infant-forming resources, I can use them as a reward for multiple pill-making sessions!" Li Shiming took this opportunity to express his requirements for compensation.
"Master Li, the resources for infant formation have always been strictly controlled by various forces. I have not made any preparations. This time I will use this box of fourth-grade spiritual tea as a reward!" said Patriarch Sang Feng, shaking his head.
He took out a small jade box, which contained twenty pieces of fourth-grade spiritual tea leaves.
"I'll accept the reward this time!" Li Shiming nodded and said.
His ambiguous words made Patriarch Sang Feng feel that if he could not provide infant-forming resources as reward next time, it would be difficult to get pills from Li Shiming.
But he was not in a hurry. Everything had to wait until the results of Li Shiming's alchemy were seen.
Similarly, Patriarch Yu was also waiting. Although Li Shiming had already refined a furnace of fourth-grade elixirs for him, one furnace could not fully illustrate Li Shiming's alchemy level.
It might be just luck that he succeeded in making three fourth-grade elixirs at once.
Li Shiming's heart moved slightly. In fact, he asked for something too high, demanding infant-forming resources as compensation.
At least in his opinion, it was an excessive request to use infant resources as a reward.
But when he discovered the attitude of Patriarch Sang Feng, he suddenly realized that perhaps the resources for Nascent Soul Formation were not so rare in Dongqi Continent, or it was not impossible for a Nascent Soul Patriarch.
Ten days later, when Patriarch Sang Feng received two fourth-grade primary elixirs, his eyes were shining.
Having a stable master alchemist who can refine fourth-grade elixirs, and all of them are full pills, will bring huge opportunities for his cultivation.
Even the look in the eyes of Patriarch Yu who came with them was different. Getting a full pill once could be considered luck, but getting a full pill twice in a row was a sign of his true level.
"Master Li, I have contacted a plant of Cistanche deserticola. I hope to use it as a reward for opening the furnace three times!" said Patriarch Sang Feng excitedly.
He now regards Li Shiming as his hope. Isn't it just the resources for infant formation? Although the resources for infant formation are precious, they can still be purchased as long as the Dongqi Continent offers enough high-quality spirit stones.
The resources for becoming an infant do not mean that an infant will be born, it just increases the probability a little.
Just like what he said, the 'Ice Cistanche' is a fourth-grade spiritual medicine that grows in icebergs. It does not require alchemy and can be swallowed directly when the infant is formed. It can increase the spirituality of the infant when it is condensed, and indirectly improve the success rate of the infant formation.
Although he hasn't actually got the 'Cistanche deserticola' yet, from the tone of his voice, it seems that the 'Cistanche deserticola' is already in his pocket.
"Okay, I agree!" Li Shiming suppressed the joy in his heart and nodded.
The Dongqi Continent is indeed wealthy and powerful, but think about it, there are two Nascent Soul ancestors in Wuqing Mountain alone, and these are the forces of independent cultivators. The number of Nascent Soul resources must be far greater than that of the Beishu Continent.
Li Shiming relied on his own abilities to obtain a bunch of infant-forming resources in the Northern Shu Continent. He wanted to rely on his alchemy ability to show his prowess in the Eastern Qi Continent.
"Wait for me for a while, I will bring the 'Ice Spirit Cistanche' over here!" Patriarch Sang Feng also said while suppressing his excitement.
In his opinion, he was getting an advantage, and he was even thinking about how to get more resources for infant formation.
Patriarch Yu didn't say anything, but he was also thinking about how to get the resources to form an infant.
He has more channels, but the infant-forming resources he obtained were all prepared for the big auction.
However, even if it was a big auction, it was also for his service, to help him and another Nascent Soul ancestor gain more benefits and find cultivation resources.
Now that a better opportunity was before his eyes, he naturally gave priority to paying Li Shiming for his alchemy.
Li Shiming's request for alchemy allowed him to resume his quiet life of cultivation.
At the same time, his reputation spread within a certain range.
But what he didn't know was that his idea of conveying his request for reward had failed, as both Patriarch Sangfeng and Patriarch Yu were quietly collecting resources for infant formation.
At least before they get enough resources to form infants, they will not tell others about Li Shiming's request for compensation for alchemy.
Even Li Shiming's alchemy work for the outside world was suppressed. Everything would wait until they refined their fourth-grade alchemy materials into fourth-grade elixirs.
The period of time for the Yuanying ancestor was a bit long. Two months passed. During this period, Li Shiming was also refining pills for the late Jindan cultivators, and thus obtained some high-quality spirit stones.
On this day, Li Shiming checked his cave and found that eight fourth-grade formation flags had already been placed in the cave.
Eight fourth-grade formation flags plus three hundred and sixty-five third-grade formation flags formed a complex formation to protect his cave.
This is a brand new formation designed by his natal magic weapon IBMz15 based on the formation of the cave after analyzing and studying all the formation knowledge he has obtained so far.
Since this formation used fourth-grade formation flags, it was able to withstand several attacks even from a Nascent Soul ancestor, which was enough for Li Shiming to react and respond.
He walked out of the cave, leaving his clone Li Yuanba in the cave and taking Venerable Hui Jing away to the machine room.
He was invited by Yang Fu, a late Jindan cultivator, to attend a small gathering. It was said that a gourd of fourth-grade spiritual spring water would appear at this small gathering.
This is what Yang Fu told him. Using fourth-grade spiritual spring water to brew fourth-grade spiritual tea can maximize the effect of the fourth-grade spiritual tea.
He had some fourth-grade spiritual tea in his hand and needed fourth-grade spiritual spring water, so Li Shiming decided to participate in this small gathering.
The gathering was held in a teahouse on the mountainside. Li Shiming was now quite famous in Wuqing Mountain. After entering the teahouse, many monks, both known and unknown, greeted him.
After sitting down, he found that something was wrong with this gathering. Among the cultivators who came, Jiang Nan was the only late Jindan cultivator, and the rest were early and middle Jindan cultivators.
He did not have any prejudice against early and middle Jindan cultivators, but the late Jindan cultivators were almost in two different circles from the early and middle Jindan cultivators due to their resources and strength.
The late Jindan cultivators formed their own circle and never communicated with the early and middle Jindan cultivators. This gathering made him feel very hasty.
Especially when he communicated with Jiang Nan, he found that Jiang Nan, like him, came here at the last minute after receiving Yang Fu's notification.