For the following period, Xia Li devoted himself entirely to alchemy.

  He needed to save spirit stones—lots of spirit stones—to spend properly when he returned to Earth.

  Advancing from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment was a qualitative transformation. Once he used all of Earth's technology and tricks, his strength would increase dramatically.

  To achieve this goal, he entrusted the supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills to Myriad Treasures Pavilion for auction.

  He wasn't planning to hide anymore. Otherwise, collecting spirit stones would be too slow. He was willing to accept the risk in exchange for faster earnings.

  Because even if he didn't do this, Myriad Treasures Pavilion and the Rogue Cultivator Alliance would eventually turn on him when interests were at stake. Without sufficient strength, nothing could last!

  Three days after handing over the Foundation Establishment Pills.

  News that two supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills would be auctioned in Fenghe City caused a sensation. Nearby sects and families of all sizes sent representatives.

  Even factions capable of refining Foundation Establishment Pills themselves came to participate. After all, being able to refine them was one thing, but achieving supreme-grade was another matter entirely.

  As for Xia Li's side...

  Of course, Xia Li didn't say he'd refined them himself—he claimed they were from his master.

  But saying it was one thing...

  Whether people believed it was another matter.

  Two more days later.

  The two supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills sold for over five thousand and over six thousand spirit stones respectively.

  On the day the auction ended.

  The Xia residence was bustling, as representatives from Myriad Treasures Pavilion and the Rogue Cultivator's Market came to visit. Also present was a representative from an alchemy sect.

  In the main hall.

  The leaders of the three factions were all sizing up Xia Li. The local managers of Myriad Treasures Pavilion and the Rogue Cultivator Alliance could only stand to the side like servants.

  But Elder Sun and Manager Huang kept using their eyes to signal Xia Li that the visitors meant trouble.

  As local managers for Myriad Treasures Pavilion, they'd benefited considerably from Xia Li. Xia Li had been good to them. Unfortunately, they had no say in how the higher-ups acted.

  "So this is young Brother Xia? Truly outstanding—able to refine supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills at such a young age."

  "I'm Wan Hui, the branch manager of Myriad Treasures Pavilion for Qishan Prefecture."

  The leader from Myriad Treasures Pavilion introduced himself first. He appeared scholarly, but his slightly narrowed eyes made him seem like a venomous snake.

  "Manager Wan flatters me. The Foundation Establishment Pills were made by my master..."

  "Young Brother Xia's method of sealing spiritual energy was quite clever, but unfortunately rather unnecessary—as they say, 'three hundred taels of silver buried here.'"

  "The more you don't want people to know who refined them, the more we want to find out. And the facts prove the spiritual energy in the pills shares the same source as yours."

  "Fine, you could say I refined them, but my master did the main work. I just contributed spiritual energy like an alchemy assistant."

  Xia Li refused to admit he'd refined them alone. Anyone who'd heard him admit it personally was probably no longer alive.

  His original plan was to wait for the Cloud Mountain Sect to make trouble, then use the Second Elder as cover, citing his mysterious master as the reason—after all, the Second Elder had seen his nonexistent master in the fabricated memories.

  But that approach still carried risks. It would be better if those Cloud Mountain Sect disciples could be silenced completely.

  "Why must Young Brother Xia be so modest? Myriad Treasures Pavilion gathers treasures from across the world. We have unique methods for appraising and testing treasures."

  "I'm quite certain those two supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills contain no trace of anyone else's aura. You refined them alone!"

  After Wan Hui finished speaking, he fixed Xia Li with a pressuring gaze. He'd already investigated the circumstances of Xia Li's appearance in Fenghe City.

  Just a few months ago, he'd been at first-level Qi Refining. Now at peak Qi Refining, his aura was no weaker than Foundation Establishment—he could definitely fight Foundation Establishment cultivators head-on.

  And he was this excellent in alchemy too. It was impossible without inheritance.

  The question now was whether Xia Li actually had a master. If not...

  Then Xia Li could only blame himself for being too hasty and greedy. Supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills were completely different from other pills.

  They were crucial tools for major powers to control smaller factions and play political games. Low-grade pills might be overlooked.

  But daring to sell supreme-grade pills openly? That was simply courting death!

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  "Manager Wan, let's set that aside for now. Where are the proceeds from the auction?"

  Xia Li just wanted his spirit stones.

  "Heh heh, we can't give those to you right now. The Profound Pill Sect recently had supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills stolen."

  "What does that have to do with me? You already know the truth—even if I didn't refine these pills alone, I contributed to them. That's enough to prove they came from my hands."

  "Young Brother Xia, what I mean is that certain secret arts can alter the aura within pills, re-refining stolen pills to launder them. And we currently suspect you."

  "Of course, you could refine a batch in front of us to prove your innocence."

  By this point, Wan Hui had revealed his malicious intent.

  Not only did he have no intention of giving Xia Li the auction proceeds, he was even trying to frame him.

  Xia Li fell silent upon hearing this.

  Just Foundation Establishment Pills—was it really worth all this?

  These things could be mass-produced on Earth. He'd thought at most Elder Sun and Manager Huang might get greedy, but he hadn't expected to attract people from even higher up.

  And...

  Selling Foundation Establishment Pills seemed to be more than just a matter of profit.

  After a moment of thought, Xia Li quickly realized what was happening. He still hadn't been careful enough.

  He'd only seen the enormous profits from Foundation Establishment Pills—dozens to hundreds of times the price of other pills.

  But he hadn't seen that the scarcity of Foundation Establishment Pills wasn't just due to refining difficulty. The bigger reason was artificial.

  Artificially created scarcity!

  These damned upper-level cultivators were deliberately suppressing the lower classes, blocking paths of advancement!

  So Foundation Establishment Pills—pills that determined class advancement—were something he absolutely shouldn't have touched!

  "I can swear to never refine Foundation Establishment Pills again from now on. Is that enough?"

  "Junior, let your master come speak instead!"

  At this moment, the Profound Pill Sect elder who had been silent finally spoke. After speaking, he released his aura and pressed it directly toward Xia Li.

  That overwhelming spiritual power made Xia Li's Spirit Core stutter. Spiritual energy reversed in his meridians, forcing Xia Li to cough up blood.

  "My master has more than just me..."

  "More than just you as a disciple, right? We already know this. But what does your future matter to us? If you don't contact your master now..."

  "Die!"

  After speaking, the Profound Pill Sect elder directly launched a divine thought attack. But Xia Li only furrowed his brow slightly, showing no sign of clutching his head in agony.

  "Hm? Divine thought? A mere Qi Refining cultivator possesses divine thought!!"

  The Profound Pill Sect elder stood up abruptly. This only proved how extraordinary Xia Li was.

  "Young Friend Xia, why don't you just call your master out? Or could it be... you don't actually have a master?"

  The Rogue Cultivator Alliance's representative finally spoke, and his words were lethal.

  If Xia Li dared admit it, what awaited him would be a miserable fate.

  "Of course I have a master. But it's just two Foundation Establishment Pills—why go to such lengths?"

  It wasn't like he was selling in bulk. Was it really worth all this?

  "Ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills wouldn't warrant this, of course. You could sell ten or even a hundred high-grade pills and it wouldn't matter. But supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills are completely different from other Foundation Establishment Pills!"

  "Though they're all called Foundation Establishment Pills, the formula for supreme-grade pills is a closely guarded secret of major sects. Only the supreme-grade formula can produce supreme-grade pills!"

  "Tell us—where did you get your formula!"

  The Profound Pill Sect elder couldn't help but roar. Currently, in all of Qishan Prefecture, only the Profound Pill Sect had the supreme-grade formula. Other factions' supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills all came from the Profound Pill Sect.

  Though occasionally supreme-grade pills from other prefectures made their way in, the quantities were small enough to ignore.

  But something that could overturn the Profound Pill Sect appearing on their own turf? How could the Profound Pill Sect not act?

  "Now I understand..."

  "I really wasn't careful enough."

  Xia Li smiled bitterly twice. Even Elder Sun probably didn't know about this, which was why he'd thought it was just rare and agreed to help with the auction without thinking too much.

  The Liu family had no access to this information. Even Lin Ye didn't know.

  So selling supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills was essentially courting death.