owlsbooks Chapter 138 Auction Begins
Chapter 138 Auction Begins
Zhang Lin found a corner in the ordinary seating area and sat down, concealing his spiritual sense and lowering his aura to avoid attracting attention.
He glanced around.
The ordinary seats were mostly occupied by rogue cultivators in the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining. Some were chatting in twos and threes, some were resting with their eyes closed, and some were flipping through the auction catalog in their hands, each with a different expression.
The VIP seats were quiet, with the Foundation Establishment cultivators all looking calm and collected. Some even closed their eyes and pretended to be asleep, as if they had no interest in the previous items and were only waiting for the last few grand finales.
Zhang Lin withdrew his gaze and waited quietly.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the light on the stage suddenly brightened a bit.
A middle-aged cultivator in his forties stepped onto the stage. He was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, with a kind face and a friendly smile.
He was dressed in a blue brocade robe with the Tianbao Pavilion logo and a golden cauldron embroidered on the cuffs.
"Fellow Daoists, welcome to the Tianbao Pavilion's semi-annual auction." His voice wasn't loud, but it could be heard throughout the entire hall, and every word was clearly audible. "Today, there are thirty-seven items for auction, each a masterpiece. The highest bidder wins."
"The rules are the same as always. If no one raises the price after three bids, the deal is done. Payment is due on the spot after the deal is done, and there is no credit."
"The auction is now open!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two maids carried a long mahogany table onto the stage and placed the first item on it.
It was a low-grade magic weapon flying sword, with a silver-white blade, a sharp edge, and a gem the size of a soybean inlaid at the hilt.
"The first item is a low-grade magic weapon, the Silver Light Sword, forged from refined silver. It is fast and suitable for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage," the auctioneer said with a smile.
"Starting price: fifty spirit stones. Each bid must be at least five spirit stones higher. Bidding begins now!"
"Fifty-five!" shouted a rogue cultivator standing in the back row, his voice urgent.
"Sixty!" Someone in the regular seats raised the price.
"Sixty-five!"
"seventy!"
After a brief scramble among several independent cultivators, the deal was finally struck at eighty spirit stones.
The winner was a young cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, his face beaming with joy, as if he had won a tremendous bargain.
Zhang Lin remained calm.
Eighty spirit stones for a low-grade magic weapon isn't expensive, but it's not cheap either.
The Azure Gang Sword in his hand was a high-grade flying sword-type magic weapon, many times stronger than this Silver Light Sword.
The second, third, and fourth items were all ordinary things: low-grade magic artifacts, low-level pills, and spiritual herbs that had been stored for decades.
The starting price is not high, and the final price is also not high, mostly between tens and hundreds of spirit stones.
The bidders were all individual cultivators in the back and regular seats; the VIP seats in the front remained silent, with no one making a move.
Zhang Lin remained motionless, sitting quietly like a clay sculpture.
His goal was only one thing: the thick earth and the black jade tablet.
Halfway through the auction, a decent item finally appeared on the stage.
"The fifteenth item, a superior-grade magic weapon, the Mystic Ice Needle, a set of twelve."
The auctioneer held up a white jade box containing twelve silver needles as fine as cow hair, arranged neatly inside.
"Made with millennia-old cold iron as its core and ice silkworm silk as its mesh, it is specifically designed to break through true essence shields. Starting bid: 600 low-grade spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than 50 spirit stones."
No sooner had he finished speaking than someone in the ordinary seats called out a bid.
"Six hundred and fifty!"
"Seven hundred!"
"Seven hundred and fifty!"
"Eight hundred!"
The price climbed steadily and finally settled at 3,100 spirit stones.
Zhang Lin shook his head slightly.
This set of Xuanbing Needles is indeed useful for fighting enemies, but at the Qi Refining stage, it can only break through magic defenses and protective true qi.
To break the True Essence Shield, one needs to be at the Foundation Establishment stage. Using True Essence to control flying needles makes breaking the shield easier. Once he has True Essence, he won't lack any attack methods.
The auction continued.
The twentieth, the twenty-fifth, the twenty-eighth... one by one, the items were sold, and the transaction price rose from several hundred spirit stones to over a thousand spirit stones. The bidding also gradually shifted from the ordinary seats to the VIP seats.
The thirtieth item is a thirty-year-old gold-type spiritual object, the Gold Essence Stone, weighing three jin and seven liang. It comes from the depths of the gold spirit mine in Hunyuan Continent, with a starting bid of five hundred spirit stones.
After some haggling, the Foundation Establishment cultivators finally settled on a price of two thousand spirit stones.
Zhang Lin watched as the maid took the gold essence stone away, and sighed slightly in his heart.
If it were an ordinary Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator, a thirty-year-old Golden Essence Stone might be barely usable after strengthening, but the nine spiritual items he needed had to be at least a hundred years old.
This gold-bearing stone is too young.
The thirty-third item is a second-grade superior Concentration Pill, which can calm the mind and accelerate the recovery of a cultivator's spiritual consciousness. The starting bid is three hundred spirit stones.
The several rogue cultivators argued heatedly, eventually settling on a deal for 500 spirit stones.
The thirty-fourth item is a century-old spiritual herb, Jade Marrow Fungus, which is used to refine the body. The starting bid is 600 spirit stones.
Someone in the VIP section offered 800, but another VIP won it for 900.
Zhang Lin remained motionless.
Finally, the auctioneer's voice rose a few decibels.
"The thirty-fifth item is a top-grade second-rank pill called the Gathering Yuan Pill, used for Foundation Establishment stage cultivation. There are three of them." He held up a cyan jade bottle.
"Starting bid: 800 low-grade spirit stones per piece. Three pieces will be auctioned together; they will not be sold individually."
"The starting bid is 2,400 spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than 100 spirit stones."
No sooner had he finished speaking than someone in the VIP section called out a price.
"Two thousand five hundred!" A gray-robed old man held up a sign, his voice booming.
"Two thousand six hundred!" The white-robed monk sitting in the front row raised the price.
"Two thousand eight hundred!" another person chimed in.
"Three thousand!"
Prices have skyrocketed.
Zhang Lin listened to the rising and falling bids and secretly clicked his tongue in amazement.
Foundation Establishment stage pills are indeed expensive; three pills cost several thousand spirit stones. No wonder Danxia Sect is the wealthiest of the nine great sects.
Not counting mid-grade spirit stones, he currently only has a little over 20,000 low-grade spirit stones, and that's only after selling the magical artifacts from the disciples of Zhou Huaili, Li Xiao, and Zhou Duchen.
If it were an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator, they probably wouldn't be able to accumulate that many spirit stones in their entire life.
"Three thousand two hundred!" The gray-robed old man gritted his teeth and raised the price.
"Three thousand five hundred!" the white-robed cultivator said calmly.
"Three thousand eight hundred!"
The bidding stopped.
"Three thousand eight hundred, for the first time!" the auctioneer shouted.
"Three thousand eight hundred, the second time!"
"Three thousand eight hundred, third time! Sold!"
The gray-robed old man bid 3,800 low-grade spirit stones for three Gathering Yuan Pills. His expression was not good, obviously the price exceeded his expectations.
Zhang Lin shook his head slightly.
Three thousand eight hundred spirit stones, three pills, each pill costs more than twelve hundred spirit stones.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator consumes at least several hundred spirit stones of cultivation resources each month, which explains why many rogue cultivators find it difficult to make any progress after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.
"The thirty-sixth item, a mid-grade spiritual weapon, the Frost Sword."
The auctioneer took a long, pure silver sword from the maid. As the sword was drawn, it gleamed with a cold light, and the temperature in the hall seemed to drop several degrees.
"Forged from millennia-old cold iron, the sword itself exudes an icy aura that can freeze true essence. Starting bid: 1,500 mid-grade spirit stones."
The exchange rate between mid-grade spirit stones and low-grade spirit stones is one to one hundred.
One thousand five hundred mid-grade spirit stones, equivalent to one hundred and fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
The moment the price was announced, the regular seats and the back rows fell silent.
The Qi Refining stage cultivators present couldn't even come up with 15,000 spirit stones, let alone 150,000.
Sure enough, those bidding were all Foundation Establishment cultivators in the front row.
"One thousand six hundred!" A burly man with a dark face held up a sign.
"Eighteen hundred!" The woman in white, sitting in the center of the VIP section, raised the price in a cool voice.
"Two thousand!" another person chimed in.
"Two thousand two hundred!"
"Two thousand three hundred!"
In the end, the Frost Sword was sold for 2,300 mid-grade spirit stones and won by the woman in white.