novelraw Chapter 2055 1496: Business (Part 2)
Chapter 2055 1496: Business (Part 2)
But that's usually all they amount to.
——
"Most of their newly-ascended Heavenly Immortals are Divine Path divines, not cultivators — they just happen to hail from the Li family." An elder curled his lip, dismissively said.
"Are Divine Path Heavenly Immortals not Heavenly Immortals all the same?"
The Sect Leader glanced at him, retorting, "Go see for yourself, how many divines are there in Divine Path, and how many have actually broken through to the Heavenly Immortal Realm?"
"Besides, in theory, the Heavenly Court should be the greatest power among the Divine Path, but judging by the Heavenly Immortal Realm divines born in recent years, they're hardly any better than the Li family."
After these words, the elders' faces flushed red; for a moment, they were at a loss, unable to respond.
"Now I finally understand, the Li family really has no shame — they'll seize any opportunity to bolster their own strength! That's why they can achieve what they have." The Sect Leader ignored everyone's reaction, talking to himself.
"Should we also try hosting an auction?!" An elder ventured tentatively.
But another elder immediately objected, "Is there time for that? There are less than three days left before the grand ceremony begins."
"There's time; organizing an auction doesn't take much."
The Sect Leader thought about it, then ordered, "Pick some rare high-grade spiritual objects from the Sect Secret Vault, then select spiritual objects across various realms from the treasure house, total three hundred items."
"Meanwhile, arrange for disciples to open a store outside the mountain right away to sell all kinds of low-level spiritual objects."
The purchasing power of loose cultivators may not be high, but there's strength in numbers! As long as the spiritual objects are suitable, business definitely won't be bad!
As for the issue of various forces not bringing many spirit stones or spiritual objects since there hadn't been advance announcements about the auction, that's easily solved: just let them buy on credit, and send it over later via Teleportation Array. The Xiaxian Sect doesn't fear them defaulting.
With the Sect Leader's command, Xiaxian Sect sprang into action and all the elders busied themselves with their tasks.
Before long, outside Yunxia Mountain, a three-story pagoda-shaped magic artifact had been erected to welcome incoming guests.
But compared to the bustling crowds in front of the Li family's stall, although they had plenty of guests too, their store was eerily quiet, and sales of spiritual objects weren't impressive.
The Li family didn't react at all to this.
"They're just copying our methods!" A member of the Li family was furious.
"Enough, calm down!" That chubby clansman didn't react much, instead restraining everyone so they wouldn't cause trouble for the family.
Nevermind that Xiaxian Sect's power is impressive — it's their own turf here. Whatever they want to do, they do. How could the Li family possibly stop them?
"Just focus on our own business."
And even though Xiaxian Sect was also selling various spiritual objects, it didn't dent the Li family's business much.
This situation made Xiaxian Sect's elders both angry and somewhat humiliated — selling spiritual objects on their own territory and still losing out to the Li family.
The prices weren't much different, so why did this happen? It baffled them.
If they went down and actually asked the loose cultivators, maybe they'd get their answer.
The disciples of Xiaxian Sect carried their noses high, totally looking down on loose cultivators coming into their store, their service attitude atrocious, always flaunting a sense of superiority.
They wouldn't even explain the virtues of the spiritual objects; they'd just stand off to the side accompanying, making customers thoroughly uncomfortable — even disgusted with them.
Under such circumstances, good business would be a miracle!
These days, any cultivators who still went to Xiaxian Sect's store for spiritual objects either couldn't find what they wanted at the Li family's booth or were hoping to curry favor with Xiaxian Sect.
...
The sun set, the moon rose, and soon it was the day of Xiaxian Sect's Profound Immortal Ceremony.
Dong— A crisp bell rang out, echoing in all directions, alerting every faction that the Profound Immortal Ceremony was about to start.
They hurriedly made preparations, entering the mountain in order to take their seats, so as not to miss the auspicious hour.
From the weakest forces at the Realm of Human Immortality, to sects nearly all composed of Earth Immortals, and finally — the Heavenly Immortal powers like the Li family.
"Li Zhirui of the younger generation brings the juniors of the Li family to attend the feast, and to congratulate Ancestor Changqing on his advancement!"
The ceremonial cultivator, upon receiving Li Zhirui's spirit gifts, was unimpressed until he saw what they were; his face instantly grew solemn as he declared, "The Li family offers a bottle of top-grade Heavenly Immortal Realm pills!"
The factions that had already entered heard this, and their envy was palpable — the Li family was so generous!
A bottle of top-grade elixir for the Heavenly Immortal Rank was of incalculable value, yet the Li family just gifted it outright as a congratulatory present.
Once inside Yunxia Mountain, the Li family barely had time to sit before another Heavenly Immortal power arrived. Since they weren't acquainted, Li Zhirui simply offered the Heavenly Immortal a friendly smile, and that sufficed as a greeting.
As time passed, the once-empty seats now were occupied, each with its owner.
In other words, nearly every power at or above the Realm of Human Immortality from all over East Continent had arrived in Yunxia State, just for the first Profound Immortal Ceremony in the Primal Spirit Realm.
No doubt, Xiaxian Sect really gained an edge here; if not for holding this "first" title, so many factions wouldn't have travelled thousands of miles to attend.
Of course, the Profound Immortal lecture was also a big draw.
Dong, dong, dong——
When the auspicious hour arrived, Xiaxian Sect's bells rang, and the Sect Leader stepped forth, loudly declaring: "The Profound Immortal Ceremony has officially begun!"
The proceedings weren't much different from previous ceremonies; first, various spiritual objects were laid out for everyone to sample.
One glance at all those spiritual objects arrayed on the Cloud Bed showed Xiaxian Sect had gone all out, sparing no spirit stones.
Just at Li Zhirui's seat, there were three Heavenly Immortal Rank spirit fruits, a jug of Heavenly Immortal Rank spiritual wine, and several bowls of Earth Immortal Rank spirit food.
With nearly fifty Heavenly Immortals present, even their basic consumption represented a huge cost in spirit stones.
Once nearly everyone had sampled the spiritual objects, the most important segment of the ceremony began!
Lin Changqing, expression unreadable, appeared on the prepared meditation mat — so smoothly that even Li Zhirui failed to notice.
'After breaking through to Profound Immortal, one's power increases to such a degree?'
Li Zhirui wondered silently; after all, his own realm was Heavenly Immortal Perfection, just one step short of Profound Immortal, yet even so, he hadn't detected the slightest sign.
Then again, the higher the realm, the vaster the gulf.
"Today, I will speak to you about the way of cultivation." Lin Changqing opened his mouth, astonishing everyone.
Li Zhirui immediately calmed his mind, focusing intently and preparing to comprehend the lecture ahead.
Though he had no intention of breaking through to Profound Immortal in the Primal Spirit Realm, and given his cultivation of the Chaos God Demon Dao Body method, he might not advance to Profound Immortal for quite some time.
But that's only temporary; after mastering the method, moving toward Profound Immortal is inevitable, so getting a preview now is worthwhile.
They say 'the stone from other hills can polish jade,' even more so since the lecturer this time was Ancestor Lin Changqing, a Profound Immortal whose cultivation insights were immensely valuable!
"All living things' cultivation comes down to the method of breath and exhalation..."
Lin Changqing's lecture wasn't empty talk; he truly shared from his own experience — from the Qi Cultivation Stage onwards, all the way to his present Profound Immortal Realm, leaving nothing out.
And so he lectured — for nine days and nights!
Though there were no spectacular phenomena, everyone listened spellbound, minds submerged as if walking alongside Lin Changqing through the whole path of cultivation.
When he closed his mouth, people felt a deep sense of loss.