Two weeks passed since then as Qian Yu continued taking odd jobs, sometimes alone and sometimes with Zhong Chun. Additionally, he had managed to finally enter the second stage of the qi gathering realm making him just a little stronger. 

With 5 spirit stones and some gold coins, he hadn’t sold off the 80 flowers yet. Today, Qian Yu planned to sell off those flowers before heading to a special gathering for rogue cultivators that was different from the ones he had checked out over the last weeks. 

Zhong Chun had invited him and this gathering was more secretive and high end than the previous one. Additionally, he said the people hosting this meeting were pretty powerful and they had a job for all the cultivators. 

Entering the auction house, Qian Yu immediately went to go register the Snowdrop Flowers to be sold. After doing that, Qian Yu was led to a small room in the auction house as he had nothing to do and wanted to see if there was anything being sold that caught his interest. 

The auction soon started as a voluptuous woman hosted the auction. 

“Welcome to our monthly auction, let’s begin” she flirtatiously said. 

“Firstly…” she started.

After a few items, Qian Yu noticed that the quality of items were a lot higher than the ones in Northern Star City. Soon, something came up that attracted Qian Yu attention.

“For the next item, we have a mortal grade halberd made from various spiritual beasts of different grades”. Hearing it, many people yelled in excitement and bidding immediately started. Just like cultivation technique and artifacts rankings, weapons were ranked into the mortal, earth, sky, heaven, and legendary rankings. For weapons, the ranking depended on how strong the weapon was and this would depend on the quality of materials used to craft it.

Seeing the halberd, even Qian Yu was fascinated. The halberd was like a spear but it had two blades on the side. It was combining a two handed axe and a spear together. This would solve one of the biggest issues with the regular spear and give it some slashing power like a sword would have. 

Looking at it, Qian Yu indeed wanted it for himself but he knew it was not the time. Currently, his most lethal attack didn’t involve using a weapon and he was too poor to waste his money on a weapon. The bidding for the weapon soon reached its climax and was sold for 8 spirit stones.

A few more mortal grade weapons were sold before it reached the last phase of the auction. The best was saved for last and the hostess started the auctioning of slaves. 

Roars and shouts became louder as the first female slave was brought out. 

“From the Eastern Islands Alliance, she is 18 and at the 4th stage of the qi gathering realm!” she announced.

“8 spirit stones!”

“9 spirit stones! I want this babe!”

“Nope, my son has always wanted a girl from the Eastern Islands Alliance. 10 spirit stones!”

Hearing the bids, Qian Yu felt a headache approaching. While this girl was talented, she wasn’t a super talented genius or anything. Comparing it to Zhao Xieren who was 17, the slave was still a couple stages below her. Even then, the end price had been 15 spirit stones. 

Following that, three more slaves were brought out with each one being more expensive than the others. There was even one who was at the 6th stage of qi refinement while being 19 and sold for 25 spirit stones.

At the end of the auction, Qian Yu went to get the money he received for the Snowdrop flowers which totaled to be 500 gold coins. If he sold this at Northern Star City, it would only net him 400 gold coins. Totaling everything together, he had about 1100 gold coins which was equivalent to 11 spirit stones.

‘25 spirit stones is a lot…’ Qian Yu felt his head hurt. It had taken him a great deal of effort to amass 11 spirit stones already. He had started looking for higher end brothels but in the end, he had found none as of yet. As such, the situation had been at a deadlock for a while. 

‘It’s already hard talking with the other rogue cultivators, much less finding and talking to one that was female…’ Qian Yu sighed. 

Following the auction, Qian Yu met up with Zhong Chun.

“Hey there Zhong Chun,” Qian Yu said as he saw Zhong Chun waiting for him near an inn.

“Hey, let’s go now,” he replied with a smile. Over the last few weeks, they had gotten along pretty well. They were friends. Not too close but not too distant as an acquaintance. 

They soon entered a shady alley as Zhong Chun knocked on the door with a special rhythm. After knocking for a whole minute, the door opened as a person in black robes appeared in front of them. 

He glanced at Zhong Chun and Qian Yu before he notioned the two to follow him. Entering the house, the man took them to a room that had an underground staircase before he left Zhong Chun and Qian Yu alone. Unlike before, Qian Yu felt this was more normal for a gathering hosted by rogue cultivators. 

After a minute, the two entered an underground room. Before long, more people came in, and Qian Yu observed that there were only about 40 people this time and the meeting started.

“Alright, it’s time to start the meeting. If you aren’t at the qi gathering realm, we advise you to leave and save your time,” Qian Yu saw three people appear on a stage. The speaker was a man and besides him, there was another man and person in cloaked clothing which was most likely a female from his prior experience and knowledge.

As he was confused about who they were, Zhong Chun whispered to him, “I’ve been in the rogue cultivation world for a decent amount of time but these guys are pretty insane in the Soba Empire. The guy who just spoke is Gong Lim and he's in his young 20s. He is a renowned rogue cultivator in the country and is at the late stage of soul foundation of the Ember Blade cultivation technique.”

“The other dude beside him is Xue Fu. He is 20 right now and at the late stage of soul foundation. I don’t know the name of the cultivation technique he uses but it has something to do with water”.

“As for the last one, nobody knows the name or appearance of the female in the black cloak with a large greatsword on her back. However, she is not weaker than the other two and is at the same stage as them. She appeared in the Soba Empire half a year ago and has acquired the name ‘Two Handed Destroyer’. Word has it that she’s a battle crazed maniac and often fights with the people from the regular sects. Actually she pretty much fights with anyone who is strong...“ Zhong Chun finished his explanation. The sword that Zhao Xieren and most cultivators used were standard one handed swords. Meanwhile, the greatsword or two handed swords were larger and heavier. 

‘Damn, they are pretty strong,’ Qian Yu first thought when he heard Zhong Chun’s explanation. Just like normal sects, there were talented people with their own secrets and strengths in the rogue cultivator world. Still, Qian Yu was still surprised to see how strong they were. Comparing it to the playboy Li Yi who was 17 and at the early soul stage cultivation, these three were no less talented than him. 

Seeing that nobody left, Gong Lim started speaking again, “An inheritance realm has been discovered three days south from Allwake City, and it will open in five days. It only lets those under the Martial Fighter into it and anyone who participates in the operation will be given spoils and treasures. There will be those from the normal sect there so start making your preparations.”

An inheritance realm, was pretty much how Qian Yu had ended up receiving Heaven’s Punishment - Annihilating Lightning from Tian Wei. Basically, a strong cultivator had separated part of their soul and soul world and kept it dormant in the normal world through various means. Then, a specific external event would trigger the awakening of the soul and allow them to transport anyone under the Martial Fighter into their soul realm. This was because Martial Fighters already had soul worlds that were mature and developed unlike those in the soul foundation realm and below.

Naturally, none of the rogue cultivators backed down from this heaven sent opportunity.