I Can Add Points Infinitely - Chapter 70

The red cloth was lifted.

On the tray lay a thumb-sized transparent jade bottle. Inside, a pill radiating a misty glow floated gently up and down in the center.

“A True Condensation Pill!”

Shen Lian murmured in his heart.

Only pills of such a high grade would exhibit such phenomena, as if surrounded by a perpetual halo of colorful clouds. It looked stunningly beautiful.

“Glug…”

The sound of someone swallowing saliva echoed through the hall.

Many cultivators’ eyes were filled with desire. Clearly, everyone had guessed the identity of this pill.

Chang Yulan scanned the audience, observing everyone’s expressions. A proud smile appeared on her face.

She parted her lips and spoke crisply, “It seems everyone has already guessed it.”

“In that case, there’s no need for me to say much.”

“This item is indeed a True Condensation Pill personally refined by an elder of our Spirit Treasure Pavilion. A total of three pills are up for auction in this event.”

“This is the first pill, with a starting price of five thousand lower-grade spirit stones, and each increment must be no less than one hundred.”

“Let the bidding begin!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the cultivators in the hall began frantically raising their bids. Nearly half of them had come specifically for the True Condensation Pill, willing to spend all their savings for it.

In the blink of an eye, the price soared to eight thousand. Only then did the frantic bidding start to slow down.

Many sighed and shook their heads, realizing that despite years of hard preparation, all the spirit stones they had saved were still not enough to win the pill, leaving them with no chance to compete.

Shen Lian sat calmly on the second floor. With the support of the Dongshi Valley mine, he had absolute confidence that if he wanted to buy something, there was nothing in this auction that he couldn’t obtain.

Finally, after a while, the price of the True Condensation Pill reached nine thousand, then stalled.

No one continued to bid for a long time.

At that moment, Shen Lian spoke up, his voice calm, “Nine thousand five hundred!”

“Whoosh!”

The cultivator who had been bidding below immediately looked up and, upon seeing it was Shen Lian, showed a helpless expression.

This man had participated in the auction several times in a row, and except for the two instances where he intentionally withdrew to trap Fang Nan, who could compete with him?

Seeing that Shen Lian was also interested in the True Condensation Pill, the cultivator below knew he was no match and obediently shook his head and sat down, withdrawing from the auction.

For a moment, the hall fell into sudden silence. No one dared to compete with Shen Lian.

Chang Yulan felt a bit helpless. She had hoped for a higher price, but as soon as Shen Lian made a move, everyone was scared off.

She was hesitating about whether to signal the auction house’s shill to raise the price when a familiar voice suddenly came through.

“Ten thousand!”

“Hmm?”

Chang Yulan’s eyes lit up.

The bidder was none other than Fang Nan, who had previously clashed with Shen Lian several times.

She thought the two had called a truce, but unexpectedly, Fang Nan would step forward again this time.

Shen Lian frowned slightly, instantly guessing the reason.

Fang Nan knew that his strength had not reached the Golden Core stage, so he would be particularly concerned about the True Condensation Pill. Grasping this point, Fang Nan dared to raise his voice and bid against Shen Lian once more.

“What should I do? Should I continue?”

Shen Lian pondered silently.

Although he was confident that he could outbid Fang Nan, he knew that Fang Nan would not keep the price low this time. If he ended up paying too high a price, it would feel as if Fang Nan had turned the tables.

As he hesitated, a sudden voice interrupted Shen Lian’s thoughts.

“Eleven thousand!”

“Huh?”

Hearing this voice, both Shen Lian and Fang Nan were taken aback.

“It’s Su Luo?”

They both recognized the voice’s owner.

Throughout the entire auction, Su Luo hadn’t placed a single bid until now.

Shen Lian thought Su Luo wasn’t present.

“Why is he getting involved?”

Shen Lian was puzzled. He thought for a moment and decided not to continue bidding. After all, there were still two True Condensation Pills left for auction; there was no need to rush.

However—

What Shen Lian didn’t expect was that after he withdrew, Fang Nan also stopped bidding, showing no intention of competing with Su Luo for the pill.

Fang Nan’s reasoning was simple: no matter why Su Luo intervened, as long as Shen Lian withdrew, so would he. He was determined to exploit Shen Lian’s need for the True Condensation Pill.

As soon as Shen Lian showed interest, he would raise the price to annoy him, sooner or later avenging his earlier defeat.

Shen Lian and Fang Nan’s simultaneous withdrawal dampened Chang Yulan’s excitement, which had just risen again. Fortunately, the price had increased to eleven thousand, so she didn’t signal the auction house’s shill to step in. She confirmed the bid three times, struck the hammer, and the True Condensation Pill was delivered to Su Luo’s private room on the second floor.

The auction continued.

Shen Lian had no interest in the remaining items; he just waited for the next True Condensation Pill to be auctioned.

At that moment, there was a light knock on the door of his private room.

“Hmm?”

Shen Lian’s mind stirred, and he used his divine sense to probe, surprised to find that it was Su Luo standing at the door.

He signaled Dong Yanyan to open the door, watching Su Luo curiously.

Su Luo entered with his usual friendly smile and said, “Junior Brother Shen Lian, long time no see. What a coincidence meeting you here.”

“Indeed, Senior Brother Su, please have a seat,” Shen Lian replied politely.

Once Su Luo sat down, Shan Qing obediently stepped forward, pouring tea for the two before retreating to one side, pulling Dong Yanyan along to give them privacy for their conversation.

Shen Lian took a sip of tea and asked, “Senior Brother Su, what brings you here?”

“Hehe, it’s just a small matter,” Su Luo nodded, not beating around the bush. He took out the True Condensation Pill he had just won and placed it before Shen Lian.

He said, “Junior Brother, I noticed you were bidding earlier, so you must be interested in this True Condensation Pill.”

“Given your strength, you should be able to use it soon.”

“So, I, your senior brother, have taken the liberty of purchasing this pill to give it to you. I hope you won’t refuse.”

“This…”

Shen Lian looked at Su Luo in astonishment.

He had considered many possibilities, but he had never thought that Su Luo had come specifically to give him a pill.

He couldn’t deny his intense desire for the True Condensation Pill. However, Shen Lian didn’t immediately accept it. After a moment’s thought, he asked, “What are your conditions, Senior Brother Su?”

“Conditions?”

Su Luo was taken aback, then smiled and said, “Junior Brother, you’ve misunderstood. It’s just a True Condensation Pill; it doesn’t warrant any conditions from me.”

“The reason I’m giving it to you is simply to build a good relationship with you, nothing more.”

“Is that all?”

Shen Lian looked at him seriously.

“Yes, that’s all,” Su Luo nodded, meeting Shen Lian’s gaze openly.

Shen Lian pondered for a moment and understood. Su Luo probably thought that after the last incident, Shen Lian might have a mysterious background with a powerful expert protecting him, so he wanted to form an alliance. The True Condensation Pill was both a token of goodwill and a stepping stone.

Understanding this, Shen Lian no longer hesitated. He reached out, took the True Condensation Pill, and said, “Alright, thank you, Senior Brother.”

“Hahaha…”

Seeing Shen Lian’s action, Su Luo laughed heartily, relieved that his goal had been achieved.

He stood up and said, “In that case, I won’t bother you any longer. Junior Brother, I’ve prepared a modest banquet at Huixian Pavilion. Once the auction ends, please honor me with your presence so we can have a few drinks.”

“Uh… Sorry, Senior Brother,” Shen Lian shook his head and replied, “I have other matters that can’t be delayed.”

“How about this? Once I’m done, I’ll personally host a banquet to express my apologies to you, Senior Brother.”

“Oh? No worries,” Su Luo waved his hand. “There will be plenty of opportunities in the future; I’ll wait for your good news.”

“Safe travels, Senior Brother.”

“Stay.”

After a brief exchange, Su Luo left the room.

Shen Lian sat back down, deep in thought. It wasn’t that he accepted the gift and planned to disregard Su Luo; rather, his desire for the Golden Core stage was too strong. Since he had the conditions for advancement, he had no interest in wasting time with Su Luo.

He already knew what Su Luo might say; they could discuss those matters after his breakthrough.

…

Su Luo walked away with a light step.

Meanwhile, Fang Nan had learned of what had happened. He had been puzzled by Su Luo’s sudden intervention and had kept his divine sense focused on him.

When Shen Lian and Su Luo spoke, they did not bother to set up a barrier, so Fang Nan had a clear idea of everything. He had not expected Su Luo to buy the True Condensation Pill just to give it to Shen Lian.

After “seeing” it all with his own eyes, he was furious, his face turning dark.

“Damn it…”

“That bastard…”

“Is Old Fourth planning to draw Shen Lian into his faction?”

“To directly give away a True Condensation Pill… quite generous of him…”

Fang Nan muttered through gritted teeth.

Next to him, Tang Shisi, who usually acted as the strategist, looked worried and spoke softly, “Given the current situation, it’s likely that Old Fourth is definitely involved in the incident with the Seven Fiends.”

“There’s a high chance that Feng Xinglie is in his hands.”

“What should we do next?”

“What should we do?”

Fang Nan frowned and, after a long period of thought, said reluctantly, “Send a message over, find a chance to talk to Old Fourth.”

“Alright,” Tang Shisi nodded and accepted the order.

The private room returned to silence, but the atmosphere was tense and oppressive.

…

After Su Luo’s gift of the pill, Shen Lian lost interest in the remaining True Condensation Pills. Fang Nan wasn’t foolish enough to continue bidding against him.

After another half-hour, the auction concluded.

Shen Lian immediately left with the two women, intending to return to Dongshi Valley to enter seclusion.

Fang Nan sent Tang Shisi to find Su Luo and deliver a message, while he himself arranged a meeting at a nearby restaurant to discuss the matter of retrieving Feng Xinglie from Su Luo.

After booking a room at a decent restaurant nearby, Fang Nan suddenly turned, his face darkening, and asked in a low voice, “Where is Chu Mingxu? Where did that kid run off to?”

“Huh?”

“Haven’t seen him…”

“He was just here…”

The group answered, confused.

Hearing this, Fang Nan suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Damn it, that fool isn’t going after Shen Lian, is he? Damn it…”

Fang Nan cursed, quickly waving his hand to lead the group in pursuit outside the city.

“Hurry up, we must stop that idiot!”

…

Fang Nan led his men in haste to chase outside the city.

Meanwhile, Shen Lian, with the two women, had just left the city.

Riding swiftly for about ten miles, they had just left the boundaries of the capital when they suddenly saw a reckless figure hovering in mid-air ahead, blocking their path.