Days passed by, and Fang Hao lived an almost reclusive life in his small courtyard in Hundred Flowers City.

The "Spirit Medicine" field in the Chaos Grotto-Heaven became his greatest emotional anchor.

Every day, watching those small seedlings stubbornly poke their heads out through the grey mist—though they grew slower than a tortoise crawled—the vibrant green life always managed to calm his restless heart.

However, the main ingredients for forming golden core, especially the three difficult ones—"earth core fire ganoderma," "sun flower," and "moon shadow grass"—still weighed on his mind like three great mountains.

Relying solely on farming, when would he ever gather them all? He had to take the initiative.

That day, Fang Hao, as usual, strolled over to the chaotic free market in the south of the city.

It was mostly filled with stalls run by Loose Cultivators, where the authenticity of items was hard to discern, but occasionally one could find some good things. More importantly, it was a place to hear plenty of rumors.

He squatted in front of a stall selling all sorts of strange Ores, pretending to examine the stones while pricking up his ears to listen to a few old Cultivators chatting nearby.

"...Have you heard? The scale of this year’s ’Hundred Flowers Auction’ at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion is even larger than previous years!" an old man with a goat-like beard said mysteriously.

"Of course I’ve heard! Invitations have long been sent to all the prominent figures in the Southern Border! It is said that the finale item is a damaged Spirit Treasure excavated from an ancient Cultivator’s Immortal Cave!"

"A Spirit Treasure? Really? Won’t people be fighting tooth and nail over it?"

"Heh, let’s not even dream about the Spirit Treasure. However, there are indeed many good things this time! I have a distant nephew who works at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, and he said that this time, even treasures like ’Millennium Blood Coral’ and ’Golden Silk Thunder-Patterned Wood’ will be there! Oh, right, it seems there are also a few rare Spirit Medicines that are usually impossible to see up for auction!"

"Rare Spirit Medicines? What kind of medicine?"

"I’m not too sure about that, but in any case, they are said to be precious items that are of great benefit even to Golden Core Cultivators..."

The speaker spoke without intent, but the listener took it to heart. Fang Hao’s ears perked up instantly! Spirit Treasure Pavilion auction? Rare Spirit Medicines? Of great benefit to Golden Core Cultivators? Could it be... that there are main ingredients for forming golden core?

He calmly set down the Ore in his hand, stood up, and walked towards the largest teahouse in the market. Places like this always had the most reliable information.

Ordering a pot of the cheapest Spirit Tea in the teahouse and sitting for half an afternoon, Fang Hao finally managed to gather most of the information.

It turned out that this "Hundred Flowers Auction" was the biggest annual event of the Hundred Flowers City branch of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, and it would be held in ten days.

At that time, not only would the local Sects and Families of the Southern Border participate, but even forces from several surrounding prefectures and even overseas would send people.

The auction items were dazzling, ranging from Medicinal Pills and Magical Artifacts to Cultivation Techniques and secret arts, and from natural treasures to beautiful servants; everything was available, making it a carnival for the cultivation world.

As for the news about the finale treasures and rare Spirit Medicines, it was being spread quite convincingly. Although the specific list was kept secret, various rumors were already flying everywhere.

Fang Hao’s mind began to churn. At an auction of this level, the possibility of top-tier Spirit Medicines like "earth core fire ganoderma" appearing was indeed much higher than in ordinary shops!

Even if there were no main ingredients, being able to win some rare auxiliary medicinal Materials or treasures helpful for breaking through to the Golden Core stage would also be good.

"Must go!" Fang Hao almost immediately made up his mind. This was a rare opportunity!

But the problem was, how to go? This kind of high-end auction was not something anyone could just enter. One either needed an invitation sent by the Spirit Treasure Pavilion or had to pay a huge deposit to prove one had the financial resources to bid.

He could forget about an invitation; as an outsider with no Foundation in Hundred Flowers City, who would send him an invitation? He could only take the path of paying the deposit.

He recalled his experience attending an auction at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion in South Port; for an auction of that scale, the deposit seemed to be 500,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

This "Hundred Flowers Auction" was larger and of a higher grade, so the deposit would likely be more, not less.

"Money... is enough." Fang Hao touched his storage ring, feeling a little more at ease.

Exterminating that gang of robbers had brought him a windfall, and now, Spirit Stones were the thing he lacked the least. Never mind a deposit of a few hundred thousand; even a few million, he could afford.

However, he understood the principle of not flaunting wealth. In a place like this, where all sorts of people were mixed together, appearing too wealthy was easy to invite trouble. He had to think of a secure way.

In the following days, Fang Hao began to prepare for the auction. He first went to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion branch in Hundred Flowers City, and sure enough, to participate in the Hundred Flowers Auction, one needed to register in advance and pay a deposit of one million Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

This number made even Fang Hao click his tongue in secret; it was truly not something an ordinary Cultivator could afford to play with.

He calmly completed the procedures, paid the Spirit Stones, and received a jade plaque representing his bidding qualification.

Throughout the process, he appeared very calm, like an ordinary Loose Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage who had some savings but was not incredibly wealthy.

Then, he began to organize his "funds." He took the useless Magical Artifacts, Materials, and average-quality Medicinal Pills to several different shops in batches and quantities to sell for cash, trying his best not to attract attention.

In the end, his available liquid funds reached a staggering number—over 30 million Low-Grade Spirit Stones and nearly 500,000 Medium-Grade Spirit Stones!

This did not even count the caravan goods he dared not move for now and some sensitive items left behind by the robbers.

"That should be enough..." Fang Hao looked at the pile of Spirit Stone cards in his storage ring, still feeling a bit uncertain.

Auctions, especially for finale treasures, had prices that were impossible to estimate. If the main ingredients for forming golden core really appeared, those large Sects and big Families would definitely bid desperately, and it wouldn’t be strange for the price to be bid up to tens of millions.

"Do my best and leave the rest to fate." He sighed. He had done all the preparation he could; the rest depended on luck.

During the few days waiting for the auction to begin, Fang Hao stayed inside even more, spending most of his time in the Chaos Grotto-Heaven, using Chaos Qi to nourish those Spirit Medicine seedlings while repeatedly deducing the refining process for forming golden core.

Although the Pill Formula was incomplete, relying on his solid Alchemy Foundation and the profound mystery of the chaos pill cauldron, he was gradually filling in and refining the missing parts.

Ten days passed in a flash.

The highly anticipated Hundred Flowers Auction was finally about to begin.

That evening, Fang Hao changed into a clean cyan robe, maintained his cultivation at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, took a deep breath, walked out of the courtyard, and merged into the surging crowd on the street, heading towards the brightly lit and magnificent Spirit Treasure Pavilion in the center of the city.

Under the night, the Spirit Treasure Pavilion was like a bejeweled noblewoman, attracting countless greedy or longing gazes.

Tonight, it was destined to be a battlefield without gunpowder. And Fang Hao was about to step into it for the sake of his Golden Core Dao.