Chapter Twenty: A Golden Core

Lin Yi put the elixir away and then received a call from Wang Yang.

“Teacher, the underground auction in Jiang Province is being held at two in the afternoon. Do you need me to drive you there?” Wang Yang asked.

“Alright,” Lin Yi nodded. Although Jiang Province wasn’t far from Lan City, it was still over a hundred kilometers away. Since a ride was available, he was happy to take it easy.

After hanging up, Lin Yi recalled he had tutoring with Yang Yujia that afternoon. He was just about to call Yang Junqi for the day off, when unexpectedly, she called him first.

“Hello, Lin Yi, Yujia is out with her classmates today, so there’s no way to have her lesson,” Yang Junqi said.

Lin Yi smiled faintly. What a coincidence after all.

At ten o’clock, a red Ferrari appeared at the entrance of the residential complex. With a beautiful woman leaning against the car door, it quickly drew the crowd’s attention.

“This Lin Yi is really slow. And Grandpa, too—he insisted I come here,” Wang Ke grumbled, a little annoyed.

She’d planned to go racing with her group of lackeys. Although her skills weren’t great, it didn’t stop her from dreaming of being a seasoned driver.

Who would have thought that before she could even leave, her grandfather had called her back and asked her to personally take Lin Yi to the underground auction in Jiang Province.

“He must have really bewitched Grandpa, that guy,” Wang Ke thought resentfully, already regretting ever bringing Lin Yi home.

As she sulked, a voice sounded behind her. “Let’s go.”

Wang Ke turned around to see Lin Yi, calm and collected, which instantly irked her. “What took you so long?”

“Alchemy,” Lin Yi replied.

“Alchemy?” Wang Ke was taken aback, then chuckled. “I bet you were making some kind of pill, weren’t you?”

She didn’t believe for a second that Lin Yi could practice alchemy. Not just in Lan City—even in all of Jiang Province, genuine alchemists were rare.

“Believe what you like,” Lin Yi offered no further explanation and got into the passenger seat.

After they both got in, Wang Ke retrieved a red booklet from her bag and handed it to Lin Yi. “This is the auction list.”

Lin Yi accepted it. The list was extensive, over four pages long, encompassing a wide range of items—from precious antiques and calligraphies to jade sculptures.

But Lin Yi skimmed past these mundane treasures. What he truly sought were rare spiritual herbs and resources to enhance his cultivation.

Flipping through the pages, his fingers suddenly paused, his eyes fixed on a black bead.

The description labeled it as a “meteorite from beyond the heavens,” extremely hard and impervious to water and fire, allegedly impenetrable even by diamond drills.

But Lin Yi knew better. This was not a meteorite, but rather a cultivator’s Golden Core.

Indeed, a Golden Core was immune to water and fire and incredibly resilient, but it required true essence to be maintained. Even someone like Lin Yi, who possessed nine Golden Cores, would see them gradually dissipate within decades of passing away—unless sealed by a formation for posterity.

Yet, those willing to perform such a sealing were exceedingly rare, not to mention that Golden Core experts themselves were few and far between.

To encounter a sealed Golden Core here was a stroke of luck almost on par with winning the lottery.

“What is it?” Wang Ke noticed Lin Yi staring at one spot and couldn’t help but ask.

“I found something interesting,” Lin Yi replied with a smile, offering no further explanation.

A cultivator’s Golden Core had myriad uses; if refined into a pill, it could easily equal decades of arduous cultivation.

“What is it?” Wang Ke pressed curiously.

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand,” Lin Yi shook his head, his mood improving significantly.

“Tch, as if I care. With your eye for things, I bet you can’t tell what’s valuable anyway,” Wang Ke pouted, shooting Lin Yi a disgruntled glance.

Lin Yi didn’t bother arguing. Flipping further, he genuinely found several herbs over a century old.

“Is this the complete list?” Lin Yi asked.

“There are actually some hidden items for the big shots. Don’t get your hopes up. If you can afford anything at all, you’ll be lucky,” Wang Ke replied.

She was being honest. The auction was being held in the provincial capital, and anything worth only a few thousand or tens of thousands was beneath notice.

With items routinely fetching hundreds of thousands or even millions, even as the Wang family’s princess, she could only afford to buy a few pieces.

Lin Yi was silent for a moment. Then Wang Ke added, “I heard from Grandpa that the highlight of this auction is supposed to be a Feng Shui Stone.”

“A Feng Shui Stone!” Lin Yi was somewhat delighted.

A genuine Feng Shui Stone could stabilize fortune and gather spiritual energy in an area.

What truly tempted Lin Yi, however, was the possibility that such a stone might contain Spirit Marrow Liquid.

If he combined Spirit Marrow Liquid with the Golden Core, he could refine a spiritual pill potent enough to form a tenth Golden Core.

Of course, all of this depended on whether the Feng Shui Stone actually contained Spirit Marrow Liquid; otherwise, it was all empty talk.

The Wang family had given him quite the surprise this time. Lin Yi decided to reciprocate. He pulled a notebook from his pocket. “Here, take this.”

“What’s this?” Wang Ke asked, curious.

“The body-strengthening technique your grandfather asked me to revise,” Lin Yi replied.

Wang Ke rolled her eyes. She was used to Lin Yi’s boasting by now—last time, he’d even claimed to be her grandmaster.

This time was even more outrageous: her grandfather had supposedly asked him to revise a body-strengthening technique. If he ever stopped bragging, it would be a wonder.

She didn’t bother to open it, simply tossing the notebook into her bag.

Lin Yi caught her reaction out of the corner of his eye and immediately understood what she was thinking.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the Blue Moon Hotel in Jiang Province, which was already surrounded by luxury cars.

Wang Ke handed Lin Yi an invitation. “You go in first. I’ll park the car.”

“Alright,” Lin Yi accepted the invitation and went into the hotel.

Because the auction was such a grand event, the hotel lobby was filled with more than a dozen hostesses in red qipao, weaving through the crowd.

As Lin Yi wandered about, a soft voice called from behind, “Lin Yi.”

He turned to see Li Zhihan, whom he’d met before.

Because of her kind heart, Lin Yi had once gifted her a melody.

Beside Li Zhihan stood Yang Yujia.

Lin Yi couldn’t help but marvel at how small the world was, running into them here.

“What are you doing here?” Yang Yujia frowned.

The auction was exceedingly strict: an invitation was required for entry, and to qualify for one, your family had to have at least ten million in assets.

Even she’d only gotten in thanks to Li Zhihan, so seeing Lin Yi here was a real surprise.

“I’m just looking around,” Lin Yi replied casually. There was no need to explain himself to a little girl.

Yang Yujia’s eyes flashed with displeasure; clearly, she was not satisfied with this answer.

Li Zhihan, however, happily ran to Lin Yi’s side. “Lin Yi, let’s go together.”

She genuinely hoped to get to know him better, since the more she played the melody he’d given her, the more she realized her own shortcomings.

“No need,” Lin Yi declined.

“Ah?” Li Zhihan was a little taken aback; she hadn’t expected him to refuse.

After all, plenty of people would jump at the chance to walk with her.

“I prefer being alone,” Lin Yi said, turning away.

Li Zhihan lingered, somewhat lost, and asked Yang Yujia, “Did I say something wrong to make him dislike me?”

Yang Yujia glanced at Lin Yi’s solitary figure and shook her head gently. “Let’s go. Don’t overthink it.”

Li Zhihan looked a little forlorn but said nothing further.

…

At two o’clock, the auction began on time.

Wang Ke and Lin Yi sat in the third row. Glancing at Lin Yi, who appeared as composed as ever, Wang Ke couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, do you have enough money with you?”

“Buying everything here shouldn’t be a problem,” Lin Yi replied.

Wang Ke slapped her forehead, her opinion of Lin Yi dropping even further.

The conservative estimate for the auction’s total value was in the hundreds of millions; even her family would feel the pain for a long time if they spent that much.

Yet Lin Yi claimed buying everything wouldn’t be an issue.

“Whatever you say. As long as you’re happy,” Wang Ke forced a laugh.

Soon, the auction was halfway through. Wang Ke had already purchased two antiques, each for a bit over a hundred thousand.

Lin Yi, however, remained unmoved. Wang Ke couldn’t help but speak up again, “I’ve already bought two items. If you’re short on cash, I can lend you some.”

Honestly, Lin Yi was like a block of wood. If she didn’t start a conversation, they could sit in silence all day.

She was naturally impatient, unable to go a few minutes without talking.

“No need.”

Just as Lin Yi finished, the auctioneer announced, “Next up is a rare and priceless treasure.”

“A rare treasure!” Wang Ke’s curiosity was instantly piqued.

Soon, a stunning woman in a form-fitting dress walked up holding a tray.

She smiled and carefully placed the item on the table, lifting the red cloth covering the tray.

“A black ball? This is the rare treasure?” Wang Ke’s interest immediately waned. She’d expected something extraordinary, not something that looked like a lump of coal.

“That’s because you don’t recognize its value,” Lin Yi said coolly.

“I don’t recognize it?” Wang Ke was instantly annoyed. She’d seen more valuable items growing up than Lin Yi had probably ever heard of.

Lin Yi ignored her, his eyes flashing with excitement.

“According to our appraisers, this item is likely a meteorite. Neither fire nor water can harm it, and not even a diamond drill can scratch it,” the auctioneer explained.

Now, many in the crowd were intrigued.

The auctioneer continued, “The starting bid is one hundred thousand, with each increase not less than ten thousand.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a beautiful woman in a red evening dress called out, “One million, I’ll take it.”

Just like that, the price was multiplied tenfold, showing just how determined she was to win the treasure.