Just as Xiao Chen was observing the Spiritual Objects in the exhibition hall, several cultivators from the Azure Flame Sect passed by and happened to see him.

The first to spot him was the Xiong Family Patriarch, Xiong Qiming.

He looked at Xiao Chen’s familiar back and immediately recalled the young Qi Refining cultivator from last summer—the one who had spent four thousand Spirit Stones to acquire the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo.

So he turned and asked, "Hey, Qiliang. Look over there. Doesn’t that person look familiar?"

Xiong Qiliang looked over upon hearing this.

A flash of surprise crossed his eyes. "He’s already reached Foundation Establishment!"

Last year, besides the public auction in Shattered Stone Valley, the Xiong Family had also held a martial tournament to select a suitor for their third young miss.

After seeing Xiao Chen back then, Xiong Qiming had even considered canceling the selection process and inviting him to be his son-in-law.

Unfortunately, he had refused quite decisively and left Shattered Stone Valley before the next day.

He had never appeared in the vicinity again after that.

At the time, the two brothers had been curious, wondering where such a young prodigy had come from.

They never expected to run into him again here.

As it turned out, their judgment back then had been far too conservative.

The man truly was a dragon among men. In less than a year, he had already become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Xiong Qiming couldn’t help but feel a little regretful.

’If only I’d known he had so much potential,’ he thought. ’I should have offered him better terms back then, anything to make him my son-in-law.’

Xiong Qiliang, however, wasn’t dwelling on that.

His mind immediately leaped to an even more incredible possibility: ’Why did he come to bid for the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo?’

.

After Xiao Chen left Shattered Stone Valley, it was naturally impossible to keep his prior movements a secret.

Xiong Qiliang had quickly learned that upon arriving outside the valley, Xiao Chen had immediately entered a ten-day seclusion, participated in the auction only to compete for the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo, and then left without a backward glance.

His purpose was remarkably clear.

It was simple to deduce that he had come purely for the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo.

A bold guess surfaced in Xiong Qiliang’s mind: ’Is it possible that Xiao Chen is pursuing Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment?’

At the thought of those four words—Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment—Xiong Qiliang’s heart skipped a beat.

But then he wondered if the idea was a bit too audacious.

Making such a leap based on just two things—the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo and the fact that he had reached Foundation Establishment—seemed like jumping to conclusions.

After all, it had been a full century since anyone in Li State had achieved Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment.

’But then again,’ he thought, ’what if?’

’Should I take this opportunity to go and introduce myself to Xiao Chen later?’ 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The two Xiong brothers were each lost in their own thoughts.

Behind them, Ji Ziheng of the Ji Family spotted Xiao Chen as well.

He had also been at Shattered Stone Valley and had successfully bid on the first auction item, the Thick Earth Robe.

Ji Ziheng was already at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, so he had made that trip simply to clear his head.

He had only intended to join the crowd for some excitement but had inadvertently witnessed the scene of Xiao Chen spending a fortune without a second thought.

That scene, with the massive pile of Spirit Stones tumbling out, wasn’t just unforgettable for the Loose Cultivators in the audience.

Even he, a member of the Ji Family’s Direct Lineage, had been filled with envy for Xiao Chen, and he had committed the man’s face to memory.

That was four thousand Spirit Stones.

Forget about back then—even now, he couldn’t come up with that much on his own.

If it weren’t for the help of the Ji Family elders, Ji Ziheng would have struggled even to prepare the one-thousand-Spirit-Stone gift for this event.

Seeing Xiao Chen again, his heart immediately filled with curiosity and admiration.

Seeing that Xiao Chen appeared to be examining the displayed items, he followed his line of sight and also spotted the Five-Colored Profound Water and the Flame Light Spiritual Sand.

Most of the items in the exhibition hall were priced in the range of a few hundred Spirit Stones.

This was a normal price that an average Foundation Establishment Cultivator could afford.

The items Xiao Chen was looking at, however, belonged to the highest tier of luxury goods.

Ji Ziheng’s heart skipped a beat. ’He’s picking out such expensive Spiritual Objects again?’

’When the auction starts later, he’s not going to bid on these things, is he?’

’What family are you from? How can you be so rich?’

Ji Ziheng grew increasingly curious.

He made up his mind to watch closely from the third floor later and find out exactly which family this chosen one hailed from.

Tian Jianing had the very same idea.

However, their reasons were somewhat different.

At that moment, Tian Jianing was feeling more relieved than anything.

During the bidding at Shattered Stone Valley, he had been intimidated by Xiao Chen’s wild and unhesitating price hikes and had ultimately withdrawn from the competition for the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo.

As a result, his relationship with his nephew Tian Xunjian’s branch of the family had become incredibly strained.

At the same time, many members of the Tian Family felt it was utterly disgraceful that he, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, had been outmaneuvered by a mere Qi Refining Cultivator.

After hearing this so often, Tian Jianing himself had occasionally begun to wonder if he had been overly cautious that day.

But now, seeing that Xiao Chen was already at Foundation Establishment, he felt that his decision back then had been absolutely correct.

If he had truly gotten into a bidding war with Xiao Chen back then, driving the price to astronomical heights, he would have done nothing more than line the Xiong Family’s pockets with Spirit Stones while simultaneously offending a future Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Someone who could reach Foundation Establishment in a single year was definitely no simple character.

Thus, he too couldn’t help but wonder: which family’s chosen one was Xiao Chen?

Xiao Chen had been examining the auction items.

As he was looking, he suddenly felt several different gazes sizing him up.

He turned to look back and saw the two Xiong brothers, the "Young Master Ji" he had met before, and the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Tian Family who had bid against him.