Although Xiao Lan didn't know what kind of fortuitous encounter he experienced, she thought it must involve taking pills.
After all, increasing the realm from Early Qi Condensation to the Peak in one month was not easy with other methods.
If that was the case, she thought Zhiran should buy this Marrow Cleansing Pill immediately to cleanse his body of impurities. It was a good opportunity.
"Hmm? No, I don't need it."
Surprisingly, Zhiran readily shook his head as if he had no interest in the pill. And it was rightfully so because he never took any pill to increase his realm, so where could he have toxins in his body?
All he did was absorb pure spiritual energy from Middle-Grade Spirit Stones to increase his realm rapidly with the help of an Earth-rank cultivation technique mastered to the Proficiency Realm.
If Zhiran was troubled by anything, it was because of the fluffy and unrefined spiritual power he absorbed directly from the spirit stones.
But even for that, he already had a solution. He intended to intercept the gift prepared by Yan Xi for her dear husband, Mo Tianyu, in this auction.
"250, 240, and 235 low-grade spirit stones! Does anyone want to bid again?"
Yan Xi asked the crowd with her gentle, confident smile.
Although the Xuan-Grade pill did not draw an overwhelming number of spirit stones, she was already satisfied, as seeing the stage set and the audience excited was enough.
"Okay, this bid is over. Congratulations to the lucky bidders."
After seeing that no one bid for a while, Yan Xi clapped her hands, concluding the deal instantly. She then handed the pill to the maid below before taking out a long sword from her ring.
"The next item we have prepared for this auction is the Middle-Grade Yellow-Rank sword, Crimson Fang."
"The bid for this sword starts at 50 low-grade spirit stones again. Let the bid begin."
Once the atmosphere was set, Yan Xi began conducting the auction as usual.
Since this was a low-level auction designed for Qi Condensation and Early Foundation Establishment cultivators, the items here were not extremely precious.
In fact, the first round of the auction only had items suitable for Qi Condensation cultivators.
Although they were still useful and practical for those cultivators on the ground floor, Zhiran found them unappetizing.
After all, he was already a Peak Qi Condensation cultivator and did not need those low-level items.
But for the crowd below, the excitement was continuous as one bid after another continued to sound out without pause.
One had to wonder how these low-level cultivators had so many spirit stones with them.
"600 low-grade spirit stones, once! 600 low-grade spirit stones, twice! Sold to the highest bidder. Congratulations to the fellow cultivator for securing a five-hundred-year-old Ganoderma."
Yan Xi smiled beautifully yet again, completing another round of bids with effortless grace.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have now successfully completed our first round of the auction, and now it is time for the main part."
Yan Xi shouted loudly, calming the crowd. After one full hour of non-stop bidding, the first round was finally over. But neither she nor the crowd was tired.
In fact, after hearing the 'main part', the crowd erupted in excitement again.
It was not because they wanted to bid on the treasure about to appear, but simply to see what would show up. Most of them had come here for that alone.
"However, before starting the main part of today's auction, our Mystic Exchange Alliance will hold its usual scavenger auction."
"This auction is a little different. The items introduced are ancient, mysterious, and often of unknown origin. While some could bring great fortune to those who are lucky, others might turn out to be worthless."
"It is basically a kind of gamble."
Yan Xi smiled, gathering the attention of the whole crowd. But Zhiran, who was paying close attention to her, immediately noticed her eyes shifting toward a certain room near him.
'Is it starting?'
Zhiran immediately straightened up in expectation as he waited for this moment, the whole auction.
Seeing the crowd's attention drawn to her, Yan Xi smiled and waved her hand, taking out three artifacts in front of everyone.
They were a worn-down compass, a broken lantern with no fire, and a small jade pendant that seemed to hum with faint spiritual energy.
"Today's items for this Scavenger Auction were brought from the Silent Tomb of the Southern Archipelago. We've examined them carefully but found nothing unique."
"However, since they came from such a place, they must have some use, right? Who knows, maybe you'll be the one to uncover their mystery?"
Yan Xi said loudly, trying her best to attract attention like a qualified auctioneer should. But despite her effort, the enthusiasm of the crowd was already dying down.
After all, just one look and everyone could tell these items seemed like junk.
Still, a few people were willing to invest some spirit stones just to gamble. After all, what if they really turned out to be amazing artifacts?
"The person who brought these here wants to sell all three artifacts in one go," Yan Xi continued.
"So, the bidding will start at one hundred low-grade spirit stones for all of them. I think all of you should give it a try. Let's start!"
Well... until they heard the starting price, that is.
"Shh... a hundred low-grade spirit stones for this junk?"
"Do they think we're idiots?"
"Tch, it's obvious they're just trying to cash in on garbage no one else would buy."
As soon as Yan Xi announced the initial bidding price, the crowd collectively rolled their eyes in disbelief.
It would've been fine if those items were offered for ten low-grade spirit stones; they might've bought them while gritting their teeth.
But a hundred...?
Everyone felt that the Mystic Exchange Alliance was just putting on a show and had no real intention of selling those things.
"Pftt... boy, you're quite lucky. Look, your fiancée is thinking about you even while running an auction."
While the crowd quickly lost interest after hearing the price, in one of the private rooms on the first floor, a soul body chuckled softly beside a tall young man sitting in a chair.
"Even thinking you might reject her gift, she still chose such a roundabout way."
Master Xueyin smiled, not caring about the dark look on Tianyu's face.
"Tch, tch... using the Blazing Heart Lantern and selling it as scrap. Boy, you really are lucky. How I hope someone cares about me like this."
"Master Xueyin, can you stop teasing me? Don't you know how Yan Xi is?"
Tianyu immediately stopped his master from commenting as he didn't want to hear about this anymore.
After all, both of them knew things weren't so simple.
"This girl is totally crazy. Who holds such a grand auction just to give a gift like this? Can't she just give it to me directly? No wonder she gave me an ultimatum to attend this auction...how bold."
The more Tianyu spoke, the more he became aggrieved.
Contrary to what everyone thought, Yan Xi wasn't sweet; at least, not in his eyes.
After all, this girl was a complete... yandere.