Chapter 257: Auction

A clear bell sound slowly resounded over the auction ground. As the sound of the bell reverberated, the noisy sound in the arena gradually weakened. Countless cultivators threw their gazes towards the auction stage, their eyes burning.

“Everyone, I believe you are a little impatient from waiting. I apologize again on behalf of the Myriad Sun Building.”

“In that case, without further ado…”

“The annual Phoenix Sun City Auction begins now!”

The white-haired elder in luxurious clothes smiled as he looked at the dense crowd of people in the venue.

As one of the main cities of the Eastern Region, the population and wealth gathered in Phoenix Sun City was simply impossible to calculate. What they had to do was ruthlessly scrape a layer of this wealth.

After seeing the auction list, he was very confident.

As the auctioneer finished speaking, a blinding light suddenly erupted on the huge auction stage.

A moment later, the strong light faded. On the crystal platform, on the auction stage in front of the white-haired auctioneer, a crimson longsword appeared.

The cultivators in the front row immediately felt a wave of heat assault their faces. Their hair curled slightly, and their mouths could not help but dry up.

The appearance of this sword immediately filled the atmosphere.

In the Myriad Sun Building, they had specially filled the auction stage with glowing prisms that shone on the sword from various angles, making this fire attribute sword appear even more mysterious.

Looking at the spiritual qi flowing on the sword and the exquisite spiritual carvings, it was obvious that this was a high-grade Profound-rank flying sword meticulously forged by a master blacksmith.

“This sword is called Nine Lights, and it was forged by Master Huang of the Phoenix Mountain. It can be said to possess boundless might and is the best choice for fire attribute sword cultivators!”

“Everyone, pay attention to the handle of this sword. It’s also perfectly embedded with the core of a Demon Core realm Wood Demon.”

“Since wood fuels fire, this increases the power of this flying sword greatly. At the same time, it can also greatly reduce the user’s spiritual qi expenditure.”

“If someone who cultivates wood and fire attributes uses this sword to fight, its power will definitely rise to a higher level.”

“Such divine weapons are essential items when traveling outside. They say that sword cultivators consume too much spiritual qi. This sword can definitely resolve your problem.”

“If everyone is interested, please don’t be stingy. Spirit stones are valuable, but you have to live to enjoy them, right?”

The old man took the Flying Sword, Nine Lights, and pointed it at a human-shaped piece of dark-metal on the stage. The tip of the sword pointed into the distance, and a crimson sword light immediately shot out, instantly piercing through the thick dark-metal target, leaving behind a small hole that was in a melting state.

The cultivators below the stage gasped. This material was far above ordinary metal. It was an extremely heat-resistant metal of the cultivation world.

However, this Nine Lights Sword could melt it with a casual slash. One had to know that the auctioneer had not refined this flying sword before and could not unleash its full power. If a true fire attribute sword cultivator refined it into a Life-Bound Flying Sword, how impressive would that be?

“The starting price is 100,000 spirit stones. Everyone, please bid!”

“Fire attribute flying sword…”

Jiang Li shook his head and was not too interested as he looked at the flying sword. He had a high level talent in the Sword Heart and some sword cultivator experience in the Liquor Fire Sword Song, so he would be a peerless genius if he specialized in sword cultivation.

However, Jiang Li already had his Life-Bound Flying Sword. Compared to the Immortal Slaying Flying Sword, the Nine Lights was far inferior. Why would he be interested?

Compared to that, the real good stuff had yet to come.

Of course, even though Jiang Li was not interested, it did not mean that others were not.

To cultivators, a handy weapon could save their lives, especially sword cultivators from small factions. They were not like the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak who had a sword pool that could steadily produce high-quality flying swords. They had always had a need for better flying swords.

After the white-haired elder finished speaking, many bids sounded in the auction hall.

The first bidding continued for minutes before this flying sword, Nine Lights, was successfully won by a swordsman wearing a bamboo hat at the price of 147,000 low-grade spirit stones.

That swordsman was still holding a broken sword in his arms. It could be seen that he urgently needed a flying sword as a replacement.

The first auction ended very smoothly. Following that, many dazzling treasures appeared on the auction stage.

Artifacts, spell techniques, cultivation methods, spiritual materials, etc.

There was even once when two princesses from two small countries were pushed up on the auction stage. They were not older than thirteen or fourteen years old, had fair skin, looked innocent and sweet, and their figures were astonishingly developed. They were even identical twins.

Of course, in front of these high-level cultivators, looks alone could not make them generous.

The twins had been carefully nurtured for a year. Every day, they consumed secret spiritual medicines and were refined into twin cauldrons by brilliant methods.

Absorbing their vital yin could also have the powerful effect of assisting in breaking through realms.

In the end, after an intense competition, the twin princesses of this small country were bought by an alluring female cultivator.

Alright, Jiang Li was too uninformed about such things. The fact was that this pair of twin cauldrons could also be used by female cultivators, and it could also have an additional effect of retaining beauty.

Jiang Li stood before the crystal window and clicked his tongue in wonder as he looked at the price competition.

In the Eastern Region, there were really many rich cultivators. They could easily earn hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.

He, Jiang Li, was indeed a poor person.

He closed his eyes and waited for something that could tempt him.

In the early stages of the auction, there were no strange items that overly excited the atmosphere.

Although the auction items were all good things and were rarely seen, it was not difficult to buy them.

Jiang Li also arranged for the cultivators of Green Mountain Residence to use another identity to auction a portion of the high-grade pill furnaces, artifacts, and medicinal pills they had seized from the Hundred Tempering Mountain.

There were quite a few spirit stones earned from random transactions, making his wealth much higher.

The cultivators who were fiercely bidding in the early stages were basically only sitting in the ordinary seats and third-rate VIP seats below.

There were no movements in the first and second-rate private rooms. These large factions had complete logistics teams themselves. They did not lack masters of all trades. Naturally, there was no need to bid for these things here.

At this moment, another crisp bell sounded from the auction stage. The light on the stage slowly turned into a dim red light.

The white-haired auctioneer smiled as he carried a coffin and placed it on the main auction stage.

As the cloth was removed, a red light immediately attracted the attention of everyone.

This kind of demonic and beautiful red color penetrated straight into the soul through the eyes. When cultivators with weaker mental strength saw it, they would be dazzled and involuntarily approach the red color.

“I believe everyone is familiar with such a beautiful flower. Even the young ones have heard of its name.”

“That’s right. This is the rare treasure of the Netherworld that was produced in the Ghost King Desolate Ground, the spider lily!”

“As for the use of the spider lily, there are plenty.”

“Most of the soul pill formulas passed down from ancient times require this spider lily as the catalyst.”

“The spirit and the soul have always been the hardest part for us cultivators to train. Even if we have any soul cultivation methods, our advancement will definitely be incomparably slow and obstructed.”

“However, if we can use this flower as a catalyst to make medicine, it will greatly accelerate this process.”

“Everyone knows that after the soul becomes powerful, it will be greatly beneficial to both Qi Refinement and Body Refinement. This might be the opportunity for you to defy the heavens and change your fate to improve your life!”

The old auctioneer pointed at the blooming spider lilies in front of him and smiled.

This old man’s auctioning skills were indeed impressive.

Although the spider lily was rare, this was only one of the main ingredients of soul pill formulas.

One needed to possess a soul pill formula first before gathering other materials. After that, they would also need a master-level alchemist to help refine pills.

Only then could he consume pills to aid in cultivating his soul. Whether he could defy the heavens and change his fate after that would still be uncertain.

However, in the words of this auctioneer, it was as if buying this coffin containing the spider lily could make them immediately rise up.

Although he was suspected of false advertising, Jiang Li liked it.

As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, there was a considerable commotion in the auction house.

Since the discovery of the Netherworld Illusion, there had only been around a thousand spider lilies.

This time, 733 lilies had actually appeared at the auction. It was really surprising.

The more surprised ones were the spiritual plant masters on the field.

As professional spiritual plant masters, they could tell at a glance that this coffin was extraordinary.

The appearance was so perfect, fresh, healthy, and full of vitality. It was unlike the usual spider lilies that were pale and sickly because of the uncomfortable environment.

“Of course, if that’s all, it should have been auctioned a few rounds ago.”

The old auctioneer smiled and deliberately paused for a moment before continuing.

“I believe all the spiritual plant masters present have already seen through it.”

“To be honest, these spider lilies were actually not picked from the Ghost King Desolate Land. They were nurtured and produced by a spiritual plant master who is unwilling to reveal his name.”

“Everyone can see that there are living roots growing in the corpses under the flowers. This master is willing to sell this corpse that hides the secret nurturing of the spider lily!”

“Everyone, this is not just a flower that can change your fate. This is also a key to earning a large number of spirit stones!”

“The starting price is 400,000!”

“410,000!”

As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, someone shouted from the ordinary seats below.

“450,000!”

There were clearly many people who were interested in this coffin. In just a few breaths, the previous bid was surpassed.

Jiang Li quietly stood in front of the crystal window. His fingers played with the Dragon Imprisoning Lock’s lock ring as he listened to the increasing prices that constantly sounded in his ears.

A smile appeared on his young face.

The speed at which money came was much faster than Green Mountain Residence. Of course, the Green Mountain Residence was a long term investment, and it was also great for earning spirit stones with little cost.

Shouts rose and fell in the auction hall.

In just half an hour, the price of this coffin of spider lilies rose from 400,000 to around 680,000.

This had already far exceeded the market value of the 733 spider lilies.

At this moment, the cultivators below no longer participated in the bidding. Without the support of a powerful spiritual plant team, they did not have the ability to discover the true value of this coffin-grown spider lily.

Only the private room above was still deliberating.

“700,000!”

At this moment, a slightly cold voice sounded from the only VIP room without a crystal window.

Jiang Li raised his head slightly. Without a doubt, that was the Third Young Master of the Myriad Slaughter Sect, Wu Loulan.

When he used his gaze to pressure the cultivators below the arena earlier, Jiang Li had already noticed that the other party was using killing intent to cultivate a spirit refinement cultivation method.

This spider lily was naturally quite useful to him.

However, if they were looking forward to the method of reproducing the spider lily, it would be quite upsetting. Jiang Li did not promise that they would definitely be able to learn it.

With the Myriad Slaughter Sect’s bid, the auction hall became much quieter. Some of the spiritual plant masters who wanted to grit their teeth and continue fighting also gave up on this plan.

Although it was a pity to give up so many spider lilies, this price was already close to the limit. It was not worth offending the Myriad Slaughter Sect for this.

“VIP room No.13 has bid 700,000 spirit stones. Is there anyone who wants to raise the bid?”

“If not, then these 733 spider lilies and the corpse fertilizer will be obtained by the esteemed guest in VIP room No.13. Congratulations!”

The old auctioneer was quite satisfied with this price. After all, it was hard to say if he could develop the method to plant the spider lily.

The value of this bid, which only gave an opportunity to research on the reproduction method, depended on one’s judgment. It was already quite rare to be able to sell it for this price.

In Room No.73, Jiang Li was in a good mood.

On the one hand, he had just earned 700,000 spirit stones. On the other hand, although the Myriad Slaughter Sect had yet to officially start a war with their Great Mountain Region, they were already enemies that could not be reconciled. It was not bad to be able to scam them a little.

After Jiang Li’s spider lily was sold, the organizer was very smart to put a series of specialties from the Ghost King Desolate Ground together for auction.

Among them were ten genuine three lifetime stones, which caused an intense competition between the various large factions.

In the end, they were sold for 1.42 million spirit stones.

Just for a chance to enter the illusion realm to explore, these large factions could spend a million in one go. This kind of spending was really not something that ordinary people could do.

After these few high transactions, the following few items became a little more ordinary.

For a period of time, they did not manage to bid for a high price. Some of them were even successfully bought at a low price after being raised by others.

This made the auctioneer on the stage feel a little awkward. However, this was originally the arrangement of the auction house. They placed the ordinary items in the middle and placed the best items in the beginning and end.

However, the next thing made Jiang Li’s eyes widen. He pressed one hand on the crystal window, wanting to inch closer and take a clearer look.

It was a black rock. It had two flat surfaces with ancient runes engraved on it that he could not understand. As for the other sides, they were in irregular shapes and patterns.

It was like a fragment that had shattered from a certain monument.

“Everyone, look at the surface of this fragment. After the detailed appraisal of our Myriad Sun Building’s appraiser, this is a rune spirit carving passed down from ancient times. Its main function is to record information.”

“Although this black rock is only one of the fragments of a certain ruin, our appraiser discovered that as long as you input a certain amount of spirit stones, you can read a large amount of information from it.”

“If you can rearrange this information, you might be able to obtain the ancient inheritance.”

“Cough cough, the starting price is 90,000 spirit stones.”

Clearly, the Myriad Sun Building had been holding this item for a long time, but had not obtained anything useful from it.

The other forces were not fools. In the continent of the Nine Provinces, there were actually many things that had been passed down from ancient times.

Wasn’t the Azure Cloud Continent beneath their feet passed down from ancient times? It did not appear out of thin air. However, not everything was valuable.

They could not waste spirit stones casually just for a few ancient spirit carvings.

However, in VIP room No.73, two people looked especially excited.

“Martial Ancestor, isn’t that…?”

Jiang Li looked at one of the founders of the Scripture Storage Valley, Ancestor Zhu, with uncertainty.

“That’s right! The material doesn’t look different. The spirit carvings on the surface are completely the same. Even the outline of the rough edges match perfectly!”