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Duncan let out a huff of bad breath and opened his eyes. His face was a little distorted as if he had tasted something bad. There was tiredness in his eyes and his entire body screamed exhaustion.

His attempt to establish the foundational pillars had been a monumental failure.

Duncan was irritated with the state of things a little bit. He didn't properly think this through. As a result, he had wasted away two days in the Dark Star City. If he had known that things would turn out this way, he would have made appropriate plans for it.

It was not that there was anything wrong with Duncan's assumption that he could breakthrough with just a little effort. According to Duncan's estimation, all he needed was sufficient amount of spirit qi to establish his foundational pillars and enter the Violet Palace realm.

And it wasn't wrong either.

Both his mind and body had far exceeded the requirements for breaking into the Violet Palace realm. Duncan's martial arts cultivation had also reached the necessary realm as well. 

Duncan was already able to integrate concepts he had comprehended into his attacks. Not many cultivators have been enlightened in an entire concept before breaking through the Violet Palace realm. Duncan was already enlightened with two concepts and even had a basic idea about another. He was able to use the concepts he had comprehended as easily as he could breathe.

His cultivation had already reached the peak of the Spirit Sea realm and had settled down firmly. He had also Severed Karma With Slaughter and fulfilled the requirements for establishing a legendary foundation.

By all accounts, Duncan was already overqualified to break through to the Violet Palace realm. Duncan's strength was currently far ahead of his peers at the same cultivation realm. Unless someone from late stage Violet Palace realm took action, it would be hard to contain him. To possess such power even before entering the Violet Palace realm showed how firm Duncan's foundation was.

So, the only thing required for Duncan to establish his foundation was the necessary spirit qi. Thus, it was only natural that Duncan had miscalculated this bit of key point. 

Furthermore, Duncan had already realized where he had miscalculated. It wasn't as if he had damaged his foundation or anything. In fact, the spirit qi he drew in flowed freely throughout his body without any issues. 

It's just that the spirit qi didn't induce the breakthrough at all. 

No matter how hard Duncan tried for the last two days, he was never able to induce the breakthrough to the next realm. Duncan had realized what the necessary key ingredient was after a few tries. But, he had been adamant to see if he could work around it. 

Unfortunately, it didn't look to be the case.

The problem arose from the one thing Duncan had taken for granted. His main cultivation technique. That's where the problem was. After practicing the new <Slaughter Demon Sutra>, Duncan realized how much more powerful it was compared to the old one. His awakened bloodline was also very in tune with his new cultivation technique. So, Duncan hadn't thought about the issue from this angle.

But, as fate would have it, the problem arose from exactly this angle. And the solution to the problem was also a simple one. One that was within his reach. But, Duncan hadn't been willing to settle for it and had tried to circumvent for the past two days, only to end up in failure.

What Duncan needed currently was indeed a large amount of spirit qi. However, not just any spirit qi would do. What Duncan needed was slaughter qi. And a large amount of it as well. 

This means, Duncan had to commit a large-scale slaughter and collect that slaughter qi to enter the Violet Palace realm.

This caused a new round of headaches for Duncan. While he wasn't averse to ideas or not without any opportunity, Duncan also realized that such large-scale slaughter would inevitably have repercussions as well. 

Moreover, Duncan was also worried about his realm. 

Right now, he was very close to breaking through to the Violet Palace realm. What he was afraid of was the possibility of breaking through while he was in the midst of committing slaughter. That was something Duncan wasn't keen to experience at all.

Establishing the foundational pillars was no small matter. A slight bit of carelessness can ruin his future. Duncan would ideally prefer to establish his foundational pillars in a peaceful place. If he started breaking through while in the midst of a fight, then things would become unpredictable as hell. 

That was the reason Duncan was intent on using normal spirit qi to induce breakthroughs for the last two days. Unfortunately, his plan didn't succeed and he was currently in a bind.

Letting out a sigh, Duncan rose from his position and walked out of the courtyard. Looking at the setting sun in the distance, Duncan realized that it was time for him to head towards the auction house. As for the slaughter, he already had some plans regarding it. So, he wasn't worried about it.

The next moment, Duncan's figure vanished from the spot.

*****

Duncan entered the auction house with a wolf mask he had purchased on the way here. 

Even though no one commented on someone wearing a simple wooden mask, Duncan could feel curious eyes and spiritual senses probing him as he walked down the street. These rude gestures only stopped after he purchased a new mask that was crafted within the city. 

The crude mask he was wearing earlier drew a lot of eyes on him. Duncan wanted to keep a low profile in the city until he wanted to act. Hence, he decided to do what everyone did in the city.

With the wolf mask, Duncan became yet another ordinary cultivator who had nothing interesting in regard to him. The wolf mask helped him blend into the crowd pretty easily. 

Arriving at the auction house, Duncan paid the entry fee and entered the auction room. Duncan was handed a jade slip that acted as the brochure for the auction house. It listed all the slaves who were auctioned tonight.

Taking a seat at the back, Duncan sent his spiritual sense into the jade slip and read the information provided by the auction house. Sure enough, the auction house was very professional in its approach.

The various slaves who were going to be auctioned off were listed clearly. Their background information and their base prices were also listed. Furthermore, some of them had some unique features regarding them as well.

Duncan pursued the information leisurely. He eventually found Leia's name as well. Looking at the information provided, Duncan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly. 

Leia's profile wasn't anything different from other slaves in the market. It listed her background as a mercenary who got into debt to take care of her father. After being unable to pay off, she was sold by the debtor to the auction house. 

The auction house pegged her to be suitable for low-level servant stuff for cultivation clans. Her knowledge of woodcraft also made her a good candidate for alchemists to buy her. Apart from that, Leia's profile didn't have any notable information.

But, what made Duncan's eyebrows raise was the exorbitant price that was listed as her base price. No matter how he looked, her profile didn't look any special to warrant such a high price. Her base price was almost twice that of similar females sold into slavery.

Duncan felt that something was fishy about this whole thing. Moreover, Duncan couldn't help but be surprised to see the amount that was marked as her debt. Usually, these kinds of debt slaves will have a certain extra amount as the transaction amount that was going to be the cut of the auction house for the transaction. 

The amount of debt in Leia's profile was really high. Duncan deduced that was the reason her base price was higher as well. What stumped Duncan though was the last time he met Leia, she didn't look like someone who was burdened by debt. 

Moreover, Leia's old man had died a few months prior to Duncan joining their group. By all rights, such a large amount of debt shouldn't be in Leia's account at all. However, that was the exact situation here.

Impoverished mortals becoming debt-ridden due to circumstances was a pretty common occurrence. Things like these were normal in the Dragon Scale Continent. Unless someone knew Leia prior to her misfortune like he did, no one would question such things.

Duncan also didn't think Leia would be unable to pay off such debt. The team he had been part of had been earning pretty decently. And Leia's cut wasn't small either. As the resident medic of the team, her cut was quite hefty. Even if the debt was true, it wasn't as if Leia couldn't pay off them.

Duncan frowned as he realized this.

The next moment, his expression smoothened and he hid his thoughts. Even though no one could see his face due to the mask, Duncan instinctively hid his displeasure out of habit. 

Duncan realized that there was no use in thinking about such things now. Now, the only thing that mattered was to see if he could buy out Leia's slave contract during the auction. 

Luckily, the possibility of such a thing was really high. 

Duncan realized that the auction tonight wasn't a high-end one. There wasn't even a single cultivator in the midst of the slaves that were being auctioned. Most likely the auction house was keeping back the premium goods to sell them next week when all the forces were in the city.

The amount presented here as the base price for Leia might be high for mortals. But, for cultivators, this amount was not that high. Furthermore, he also had acquired a windfall recently. The amount of spirit stones in the storage ring of the two Violet Palce realm cultivators he killed was really large.

Combined with his saved spirit stones and the amount he obtained after selling the miscellaneous stuff he had collected so far, Duncan had accumulated a large amount to help in his breakthrough.

But, now that these spirit stones were basically useless in helping him break through, Duncan was not under financial pressure. Worst comes to worst, he would empty his storage ring and see if he could purchase Leia.

Just then, the doors of the auction room opened and a middle-aged man entered the room with a bright smile on his face. Unlike others, he wasn't wearing any masks. He went up the podium in the center and bowed to everyone.

"Good evening to all the esteemed customers who had graced us with your presence. Without further ado, let's head to what you are all here for. I am Ming Shen. I will be your auctioneer for the night," the middle-aged man introduced himself calmly.

With that, the auction began.

*****

A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...

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