Chapter 284: Preparing for Battle

While awaiting the auction, Wang Hong spent his time practicing his skills and attempting to refine some small magical weapons. In his spatial storage, he had a wealth of precious third-tier materials that he wanted to refine into spiritual weapons to equip his subordinates.

However, revealing too many resources at once would make him a target. Currently, he had only a little more than twenty Foundation Building cultivators and ten more in Boundary City, with just ten that he could mobilize at any moment. If he attracted a Golden Core cultivator, it would spell trouble.

Therefore, learning the art of refining tools was imperative. Wang Hong had already exchanged for several refining tool techniques from the Sect Scripture Tower, some of which he had already mastered, while others he had yet to start learning.

During this time, he contemplated and practiced, starting with the basics of refining various materials. Occasionally, he would attempt to refine a simple low-quality magical weapon, succeeding only after dozens of failures.

Refining tools required the corresponding blueprints. The Cultivation World had developed fixed refining tool blueprints over many years. For those new to refining tools, they only needed to follow these blueprints.

After that, they needed to combine various materials according to the blueprints' requirements and then fuse and shape the materials. But that was not the end; they also had to inscribe formations on the weapon. Each magical weapon had unique formations, but there were some common ones, like durability, sharpness, and flight.

The formations Wang Hong had learned before were oriented toward attack, defense, and trapping. Each formation was at least several meters in size. In contrast, the formations used in refining tools focused on enhancing the weapon's functions and were much smaller, often fitting within the size of a palm.

Learning refining tools was not a quick process, but Wang Hong took the time to craft a few whenever he had the chance. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, he wouldn't be able to refine spiritual weapons on his own.

During this period, he assumed various identities and placed orders at refining tool shops all over Qianqiao City. Since the city had a plethora of such shops, and each shop only refined one or two items, these orders were gradually being completed.

Now, each bow was equipped with a hundred arrows. Unlike other magical weapons, these arrows didn't return automatically, so in battle, every shot counted, and there was no chance to retrieve them.

In addition, each Foundation Building cultivator was equipped with a Binding Spirit Rope, just like Wang Hong's, made from high-quality spiritual weapon Devilish Vine. Using the refining tool materials he had acquired and the spirit wood from his Spatial Produce, he managed to refine five Long Spears suitable for close combat body cultivators. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough materials to provide one for each person.

Wang Hong also disguised himself and visited another refining tool family, the Ouyang family, and used a piece of thousand-year-old Golden Ironwood to refine a wooden shield of exceptional quality. He distributed one of these shields to each of his Foundation Building subordinates.

With everyone now equipped with stronger gear, he was confident that if they encountered a group of treasure-hunting cultivators like Leader Changshan's gang again, his subordinates would be capable of handling the situation.

Their business at Wantong Market was booming, and the bustling market inevitably drew attention from those with ill intentions. The vast array of rare spiritual objects they carried would surely attract covetous eyes. As their influence grew, some things could not remain hidden forever.

He couldn't afford to stagnate and retreat just to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Currently, he could only control the influence within the Foundation Building realm, and therefore, his caravan would never sell any third-tier Spiritual Objects.

During the crafting of his bow and arrows, Wang Hong had already used an entire Purple Cloud Mulberry, including its branches. For most people, obtaining a whole Purple Cloud Mulberry was considered exceptional luck, and no one would suspect he had another one.

Wang Hong believed that there were two ways to deal with Foundation Building cultivators coveting his wealth. One was to display overwhelming strength to deter them, ideally with a Golden Core cultivator in their midst or several late-stage Foundation Building cultivators. The other was to hide one's true strength, making the opponent underestimate them, and strike back when the time was right.

In the eyes of outsiders, Wang Hong's caravan had He Yuan, the strongest cultivator at the mid-stage of Foundation Building, with the rest being only at the early stages. As for the hundred Qi Cultivation cultivators, they could be ignored.

Such strength wouldn't intimidate others, so they had to quietly enhance their power and strike back when necessary.

Wang Hong waited for half a year, and finally, the auction hosted by the Thousand Crafts Pavilion began. The auction would span three days, with the early stage featuring mostly first-tier Spiritual Objects, followed by second-tier Spiritual Objects, and rumors even suggested that third-tier Spiritual Objects would make an appearance.

The auction items were in line with the Thousand Crafts Pavilion's specialty, primarily consisting of Spiritual Weapons, Magical Weapons, and spirit ore. Unlike the Qingxu Sect, the Sect of the Thousand Crafts Pavilion did not focus on planting Spiritual Herbs. Instead, they had a large spirit ore mine producing various ores suitable for refining tools, which had contributed to the Pavilion's success.

To manage the event efficiently and reduce the number of unrelated individuals, each person had to pay a deposit of ten high-grade Spirit Stones or equivalent Spiritual Objects. The value of ten high-grade Spirit Stones was at least a hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, if not more.

This barrier was sufficient to keep cultivators of the Ninth Layer and above out. Many Qi Cultivation cultivators could only earn one low-grade Spirit Stone per month, with an annual income of a little over ten low-grade Spirit Stones. Some wouldn't even earn ten thousand Spirit Stones in their entire lifetime.

Even among Foundation Building cultivators, most could only make a few thousand low-grade Spirit Stones annually. Those who earned ten to twenty thousand Spirit Stones per year were considered high-income individuals.

Of course, there were exceptions. Alchemists, refining tool masters, formation experts, and Talisman Makers, who possessed specialized skills, as well as professional treasure hunters, earned well above this tier. Their annual income easily exceeded one hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Despite their high earnings, they paid a steep price for it, especially the treasure hunters, whose lives were constantly at risk.

Beyond these two tiers of income, there was another tier – those who held the most wealth in the Cultivation World. Some individuals had amassed fortunes in their lifetime that others could never hope to achieve.

Over millions of years of development, the Cultivation World had seen the rise of countless strong individuals. Resources concentrated around them, forming various power structures like families, businesses, and sects. Those at the upper echelons of these power structures accumulated vast wealth and enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay