Star-picking pavilion.
In the sky room.
Fu Cheng, who was wearing a black robe and a hood, changed his previous posture. He respectfully said to the young man by the table, "Seventh prince, I've checked."
"Among the people who have arrived at the star-picking pavilion, the one with the highest cultivation is in the middle stage of the Core Formation Stage. Moreover, you can rest assured that there are no other members of the royal family among them."
Hearing this, Jing Yuan nodded his head, but his calm face seemed to be shrouded in a layer of haze.
A hint of sadness showed on his face.
He spoke slowly, his voice cold.
"Is it confirmed that the foundation establishment pills auctioned tonight have a completion rate of at least 75%?"
Fu Cheng, the real bodyguard by the side, nodded his head.
"Don't worry, seventh prince. This star-picking pavilion has the backing of the Center Sect and half of the healing pills are purchased from the Pill Peak."
"The lowest level is at least 70%, and there are also those with a completion rate of 76%."
Fu Cheng replied slowly, while a hint of heartache flashed in his eyes.
As the personal guard of Jing Yuan, the seventh prince of the Great Xia Kingdom, Fu Cheng had watched the seventh prince grow up.
There were thirteen people among the emperor's descendants.
Among them, there were nine people with spiritual roots who could cultivate.
Without a doubt, the future emperor of Great Xia would be chosen from among the nine people.
In terms of cultivation talent and intelligence, it would be best if it was the third prince and the seventh prince.
The Emperor of Great Xia had also hinted that the future Emperor would be among these two people.
But Fu Cheng did not expect this.
The seventh prince and the third prince were originally at the ninth level of the Qi Condensation Realm.
One day, the third prince suddenly reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm and successfully broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The third prince instantly became the "favorite" of the Emperor, and his influence in the palace grew.
The seventh prince had a problem because of this.
They had originally thought that the breakthrough would be in a few days.
But now, ten days had passed. Although the seventh prince had already reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, there were still no signs of him breaking through.
The seventh prince was a calm person and felt that there was no need to rush, but the pressure from the outside world was too great.
So he secretly tried to break through.
In the end, he failed!
Moreover, it seemed that his foundation was slightly injured.
To find out the reason, it took him a long time to find out that it seemed to be because the seventh prince was a premature child back then. His innate spirit embryo was somewhat lacking, and his breathing had wisps of spiritual energy.
But it was precisely these wisps of spiritual energy that were the cause of the current situation.
To break out of this situation, and at the same time protect the seventh prince's final reputation, the two of them could only seek the foundation establishment pill to break out of the realm. But they absolutely could not use the medicinal pills from the national treasury or the star-picking pavilion in the capital, because there were spies everywhere.
As long as someone discovered that the seventh prince seemed to have once purchased the foundation establishment pill, then speculations such as "The seventh prince's talent is very poor", "The seventh prince relied on medicinal pills to break through" or "The seventh prince is inferior to the third prince" would spread throughout the entire capital.
They could only leave the capital secretly, but their tracks could not be hidden.
Hence, they needed a legitimate reason.
If they could not cover their tracks and were discovered that they had rashly headed to any of the star-picking pavilion's auction houses, they would still be suspected of buying the foundation establishment pills.
At this moment, the rumor that the star-picking pavilion of Green Mountain City might have a powerful Nascent Soul Stage talisman gave them a reason.
So even if they were found out and others would still be suspicious, at least they had a legitimate reason to justify their actions.
This was also the reason why Jing Yuan asked Sikong Xuan to meet him.
It was to bury this secret. If it was mentioned in the future, their attitude was also for the original Nascent Soul Stage talisman.
"Okay."
"Then let's wait for the auction to begin."
Jing Yuan had suffered a blow at this moment, and his usually gentle personality now carried a hint of decadence.
He got up and walked to the bed, sitting in the middle with his legs crossed.
He began to cultivate his spiritual roots and stabilize his cultivation base.
...
Outside the star-picking pavilion.
After four hours of trekking, Lu Ming arrived at Green Mountain City on his horse.
The rain was still falling.
But it was blocked off by the spiritual energy he was emitting.
Lu Ming had made ample preparations before going down the mountain this time.
For his safety, he bought a set of disguise powder from the Center Sect with the spirit stones he had on him.
The disguise powder would change his appearance for a short period, lasting for ten hours.
This was a special item created by the Center Sect on the Sword Peak. After all, the heretics were running rampant nowadays and they often avoided the disciples of the Center Sect on purpose.
The disguise powder could conceal their identities well.
As a result, Lu Ming's originally gentle and handsome features had become more angular after he used the powder when he entered the city.
His temperament had also changed from being lazy and casual to being extremely cold, keeping people at arm's length away from him.
At the same time, during the entire process of galloping, he was repeatedly practising the basic fist techniques he had learned in the Outer Sect.
After all, he hadn't reached the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage, so he wasn't able to learn sword techniques or carry a sword.
He arrived in front of the star-picking pavilion.
The tall and slender Lu Ming, coupled with his embroidered clothes and folding fan, as well as his temperament, had the appearance of a young master from an aristocratic family.
Seeing Lu Ming dismount, the attendant of the star-picking pavilion hurried over with an oil-paper umbrella in hand. He took the horse respectfully and led it to a distance.
Lu Ming immediately entered the star-picking pavilion.
As soon as he stepped in, Lu Ming found that the noise of the rain had disappeared in an instant.
Nodding his head lightly, he used the corner of his eye to size up the star-picking pavilion.
After entering, there was an independent, ancient-looking pavilion hall. Silk bamboos were entering one's ears and paintings entering one's eyes.
A faint fragrance entered his nose, making him feel refreshed.
At the same time, there were two doors in front of him as well as many handmaidens that were quietly waiting at the side.
When they saw Lu Ming walk in, especially when he was dressed in extraordinary clothes, he looked like a cold young master.
The handmaidens were all prepared to move and prepare to leave.
"Young master, are you preparing to participate in the auction or the transaction?"
One of the maids quickly went up to Lu Ming's side and asked softly.
The maid slightly shook her shoulders, revealing her voluptuous figure perfectly.
But Lu Ming only thought of a word in his mind.
Fake.
This maid's voice sounded very fake.
Why were there pretentious people around?
"Transaction."
To fit his current appearance and temperament, Lu Ming didn't say much.
"Okay, young master, please follow me."
The maid shook her body greatly, drawing out a shocking curvature.
At the same time, she pointed the way and entered the star-picking pavilion with Lu Ming through the side door.