Seven days later, the auction finally arrived.
Zhao Sheng left the inn and, following the old man's instructions, wandered through the streets and alleys, eventually arriving at the southwest market of Feng Huo Island, in front of a magnificent palace building.
Zhao Sheng stood at a corner of the street, not in a hurry to go in, but just looking around at the auction venue.
As the time drew near, cultivators arrived one after another. They were all different in appearance; some were upright and honest, while others deliberately concealed their faces. However, as long as they presented a letter of guarantee, the guards at the gate would check it and let them through.
"It seems this auction is all by letter, not by person, and the security is quite tight. I heard from the shopkeeper a few days ago that Dragon Turtle Island has sent a Golden Core cultivator to oversee this auction. I suppose it's for security reasons, and also because there are many rare treasures at this auction." Zhao Sheng pondered calmly to himself.
"Among the people who came today, there are probably quite a few who came specifically for the Foundation Establishment Pill. This time, there will be a lot of competition."
With that thought in mind, Zhao Sheng, now with a different face, turned out from the street corner and strode towards the entrance.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the venue, he presented the Jade Page Guarantee Letter to the guards.
Just as he was about to go in, Zhao Sheng's expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head to look behind him.
Not far away, three exceptionally tall men in black robes were seen escorting a woman in a blue dress as they walked towards them.
The woman had a graceful figure and wore a veiled hat with a white veil hanging down to cover her face.
Although he couldn't see the woman's face clearly, Zhao Sheng felt a stirring in his heart, as if there was some vague and secret connection between him and the woman.
"Who is this woman?" Zhao Sheng was somewhat surprised.
Just as he was about to take another look, the guard impatiently urged him to go in quickly.
Zhao Sheng withdrew his gaze, harboring some thoughts in his mind, and walked into the meeting room.
On the other side, the woman in white suddenly stopped, her beautiful eyes fixed on the entrance of the auction, watching Zhao Sheng's slowly disappearing figure.
"Young Master, why did you suddenly stop? Is there something wrong?"
Just then, an old voice suddenly came from the woman's sleeve. The voice was elusive and could only be heard by her.
"Elder Insect, did you see that person just now?" Wang Yingling shook her sleeves and whispered in a low voice.
"Who goes there? This old servant was so focused on sensing the remains of our ancestor that I didn't notice my surroundings."
Wang Yingling licked her lips and walked forward while muttering to herself, "I think I've discovered someone of the same race, and their bloodline seems to be quite pure."
"What?!"
...
...
"The auspicious hour has arrived; the auction is officially beginning!"
In the grand hall, a deep, magnetic voice rang out from the high platform at the front.
The auction hall, which had been filled with whispers, immediately fell silent.
Then, a middle-aged man wearing a long red robe, with a long face, large ears, and a flame totem tattooed on his forehead, calmly walked up to the high platform in front of him.
In the hall below, more than a hundred attendees each occupied a round table and were scattered throughout the hall.
As for those with special identities or cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage, they were in private rooms on the second floor, overlooking the venue below.
There were relatively few people at the auction, but Zhao Sheng didn't find it too strange.
After all, just requiring merchants to provide guarantees and auction items that meet the requirements directly filters out most cultivators who are not wealthy.
Auctions in the cultivation world have always valued quality over quantity, both in terms of the items offered and the participants.
Standing in the hall, Zhao Sheng couldn't discern the cultivation levels of the others. However, based on his extensive experience, excluding the private rooms on the second floor, there were at least five Foundation Establishment cultivators in the hall alone.
"It seems I need to be more careful this time," Zhao Sheng thought to himself.
"Welcome fellow practitioners and seniors to Feng Huo Island for this year's auction. I won't go into the rules, as I believe you are all already familiar with them. The highest bidder wins. Bartering is also permitted if there are any special requests."
After speaking, the middle-aged man respectfully bowed to the lower left side of the platform, then returned to his original posture.
All eyes turned to that spot, where a bright red wooden chair stood alone on the left side of the platform, upon which sat a thin, gray-robed old man.
The old man closed his eyes to rest, sitting motionless in his chair, but his aura was unfathomable.
This is the Golden Core cultivator who's in charge.
The middle-aged man paused briefly, scanned the crowd in the room, and then said:
"Enough with the unnecessary words! Please take a look at the first treasure!"
As he spoke, he patted his storage bag with one hand, and a palm-sized jade box appeared in his hand. The jade box opened, and a golden-blue flying sword about an inch long lay quietly inside.
"The first item up for auction is a top-grade magic weapon, the Gengjin Flying Sword. Its blade is infused with Gengjin, making it indestructible. Its speed is three times faster than other flying swords of the same rank, and it contains nine magical restrictions. The starting price is seven thousand spirit stones, and each bid must increase by at least one hundred spirit stones." The middle-aged man said with a smile and an arrogant tone.
These words immediately caused an uproar in the audience.
It's important to know that flying swords are among the most demanding types of magical weapons in terms of materials. And sword cultivators are famously known for their motto: "The sword lives on, the sword dies."
Geng metal is an essential treasure for forging flying swords.
Even if the amount of Geng metal mixed in this flying sword is unknown, it may just be a gimmick.
Even seven thousand spirit stones could buy a low-grade spiritual weapon.
However, such a high-quality flying sword is enough to cause a frenzy among many cultivators.
The first treasure he saw was the Gengjin Flying Sword. Zhao Sheng was somewhat disappointed, as he didn't care for Gengjin at all.
If he could return to Zhongzhou, he dared not say anything else, but he could produce a piece of metal the size of a human head.
"Eight thousand!"
"Eight thousand one hundred!"
"Eight thousand eight hundred!"
...
Sure enough, the moment this top-quality flying sword appeared, it caused a bidding war among the crowd.
After a fierce bidding war, the flying sword was sold to a cold-faced old man for a high price of 19,000 spirit stones.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the venue was successfully heated up by the Gengjin Flying Sword. The next two treasures were an orange-gold armor and a mother-and-child spirit shield, both of which were top-grade magic weapons, and were auctioned off for high prices of six thousand and nine thousand spirit stones respectively.
The reason for this is that defensive magical artifacts are generally more difficult to forge than offensive magical artifacts, and their prices are usually 20% to 80% higher, with flying swords being an exception.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Sheng couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised.
This auction is quite high-profile! The starting bid is at least a top-grade magic weapon, so it seems like spiritual artifacts will be the main focus later on.
"The fourth item up for auction is a top-grade talisman, the Five Elements Talisman Plate."
As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man flipped one hand and took out a square wooden box.
With a single slap, the box lid burst open, revealing a three-tiered, multicolored talisman disc about a foot in diameter, shaped like the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching. It looked exceptionally exquisite and faintly emitted a five-colored halo.
"The Five Elements Chaos Disc, although it is said to be exclusively for talisman cultivators, is made primarily of thousand-year-old spiritual wood and five-elemental spiritual metals. It took a third-tier weapon-refining master forty-nine days to forge it. Although it is not a spiritual weapon, it is more precious than ordinary spiritual weapons," the middle-aged man said slowly, holding the talisman disc.
These words naturally caused a stir among the crowd, with some outspoken individuals immediately asking why.
The middle-aged man smiled slightly and said confidently, "That master craftsman originally wanted to forge a spirit-grade talisman plate. However, due to a slight mishap during the forging process, the talisman plate was demoted by one grade."
Although its grade is much lower than originally planned, it has unexpectedly gained two novel functions. First, it can support talismans of higher grades, up to a second-tier superior true talisman. Second, when five elemental talismans are placed on the talisman plate and activated simultaneously, the talismans of different attributes, guided by the talisman plate, have a certain probability of undergoing mutations, such as the mutual generation and evolution of the five elements, wind aiding fire, and so on.
The former is fine, after all, high-grade true talismans are very rare and hard to come by.
However, if the latter falls into the hands of a fellow Daoist who cultivates both talismans and magic, it can be used in countless ways.
More importantly, this talisman plate was a stroke of genius; it's virtually impossible to forge a second one exactly like it. Therefore… the starting bid is ten thousand spirit stones!
At this point, the middle-aged man deliberately paused to observe the reactions of the audience.
As expected, there was another stir in the audience; many people were tempted, including Zhao Sheng.
Regardless of what others think, he really wanted to take a picture of it.
With this powerful weapon, he was not afraid of early Foundation Establishment cultivators at all.
"Fifteen thousand spirit stones."
As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, someone in the audience immediately raised the price by five thousand spirit stones.
Such a high bid surprised many people, and even made some people swallow back the words that were already on the tip of their tongues.
After a long while, someone snorted coldly and forcefully shouted out 18,000 spirit stones.
Goodness, it's increased by another three thousand.
This single bid immediately deterred the vast majority of people.
After all, the very first Gengjin Flying Sword only cost 19,000 spirit stones.
Ultimately, the uses of a single talisman are limited, and even if its additional effects are rare and miraculous, this price is already at its limit.
At this moment, Zhao Sheng, who made the first bid, couldn't help but frown slightly.
It's not that he lacks spirit stones. Not to mention the nearly 30,000 spirit stones he earned from selling magical artifacts, or the 10,000 or so spirit stone scrolls he could sell for. Even the pure Yin spirit stones he dug up at the bottom of the Misty Sea would be enough to buy three or four such talisman plates.
However, he had some concerns. He still needed to bid for the Foundation Establishment Pill later, and if he didn't have enough spirit stones, he would inevitably have to reveal his pure Yin spirit stones.
Given the rarity of pure Yin spirit stones in the Shattered Star Sea, it's hard to guarantee that the organizers won't try to take advantage of them.
Just as Zhao Sheng was weighing the pros and cons, Wang Yingling secretly stared at his back in a private room on the second floor.
"Young Master, are you sure that person really has the bloodline of the Holy Race?" Old Turtle's aged voice rang out at this moment.
"Mm," Wang Yingling nodded gently.
"Excellent! After this, we must bring this person back to the Void Spirit Abyss. The High Priest will be very pleased," Elder Turtle said excitedly.
This time, Wang Yingling simply nodded and said nothing more.
Just then, a faint voice suddenly rang out in the hall:
"Twenty thousand spirit stones."
The person who made the offer was naturally Zhao Sheng.
He added another two thousand spirit stones in one go.
Such a high price even made some wealthy Foundation Establishment cultivators secretly shake their heads.
"Good, very good. It seems this fellow Daoist is determined to obtain the Five Elements Talisman Plate. Is there any fellow Daoist who can offer a higher price?" The middle-aged man was very pleased and asked the crowd again.
Seeing that no one had made a bid for a long time, the middle-aged man didn't care and immediately announced that the talisman plate belonged to Zhao Sheng.
After bidding on the talisman plate, the middle-aged man began to auction off treasures of the spirit weapon level, with a starting price of at least 10,000 spirit stones.
Zhao Sheng's spirit artifact scroll was the ninth item auctioned. Because it contained the Crimson Spirit Fire and the place was Feng Huo Island, which was famous for refining artifacts, the final transaction price was higher than Zhao Sheng's expectations, selling for 34,000 spirit stones.
...
"...Next, this treasure was provided by a fellow Daoist. It is a white spirit tortoise shell, which has the miraculous effect of turning misfortune into good fortune. The starting bid is 20,000 spirit stones."
After saying that, the middle-aged man flipped his hand, and a palm-sized, crystal-clear white jade tortoise shell appeared in his hand.
Upon hearing this, the entire cave fell into an eerily quiet atmosphere.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the tortoise shell, but most of them showed a disdainful expression.
This white jade tortoise shell is very famous on Fenghuo Island. It has been auctioned five times, and each time it was sold, it would be auctioned again within two years.
It is a well-known fact that all the owners of this tortoise shell died violent deaths, with none surviving.
What do you mean by turning bad luck into good? It should be a tortoise shell of misfortune!
Seeing this, the middle-aged man smiled awkwardly and asked the crowd again if anyone had made a bid.
After a long while, a cold voice finally came from a private room on the second floor: "Twenty-one thousand!"
"Okay! Deal!" The middle-aged man didn't ask anyone else and blurted out immediately, as if afraid that someone would go back on their word.
Wang Yingling secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this; it was good that no one was competing with her.
However, she didn't notice that Master Wuyan, who had been resting with his eyes closed below the platform, had opened his eyes a crack and was looking at her intentionally or unintentionally.
Three hours later, the auction was coming to an end.
"Cough cough!"
The middle-aged man coughed twice on purpose to draw everyone's attention to him, and then confidently took out three jade pill bottles.
Upon seeing the appearance of the elixir bottle, the venue suddenly fell silent. Everyone's hearts were filled with excitement, and their eyes were fixed on the middle-aged man on the high platform.
Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man poured out a round, white elixir the size of a longan from the elixir bottle and displayed it to everyone.
"These are Foundation Establishment Pills, three in total. All are of low grade. Their value is self-evident to you, fellow cultivators. So I won't elaborate further."
This auction will be held in two formats: open and closed. The open auction starts at 30,000 spirit stones, with each bid increasing by at least 1,000 spirit stones. In the same price range, higher-grade spirit stones will be given priority. The closed auction allows bidders to exchange other treasures, cultivation techniques, and secret arts.
There were actually three Foundation Establishment Pills, which really surprised everyone.
In previous years, there was usually only one available, making them highly sought after.
The middle-aged man seemed quite pleased with the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. After pausing for a while, he said confidently:
"Alright, everyone can write down their bids for the closed auction or participate in the open auction. As for who will ultimately obtain these three precious Foundation Establishment Pills, that will be decided by True Person Wuyan."
These words immediately created an extremely tense atmosphere in the venue, and many people looked at Master Wuyan with awe and envy.
The room fell silent again; no one spoke first, as if everyone was waiting for someone else to speak first.
The middle-aged man was not in a hurry; he simply watched the crowd below the stage quietly.
"Thirty-three thousand spirit stones. Since no one is speaking up, I'll start." After a moment, a stern-faced old man slowly spoke.