Chapter 320: Underground Auction
Shu Tiansheng flashed Han Li a smile, then tapped the counter a few times as he yelled, "Rise and shine, Shopkeeper Gu."
The elderly man behind the counter opened his eyes and took a lazy glance at Shu Tiansheng and Han Li, then slowly sat up as he yawned and asked in a raspy voice, "What would you like to buy?"
"The best that your shop has to offer, of course," Shu Tiansheng was sliding his finger over the counter, and Han Li noticed that he was tracing out a strange pattern with his finger.
An alert look immediately appeared in the elderly man's eyes upon seeing this, and he nodded in response before rising to his feet and making his way deeper into the shop, followed closely by Han Li's duo.
Before long, the three of them arrived in a dilapidated wooden shack in the backyard of the shop.
The elderly man tapped one of the walls of the shack a couple of times, and a string of cracks rang out as a layer of azure light appeared over the wall, then transformed into a shimmering azure door, beyond which was a dark pathway that appeared to have been leading underground.
"The auction venue is down there," the elderly man said as he pulled out a pair of white masks for Han Li's duo.
Some star and moon designs were engraved onto the masks, and they were giving off rippling waves of blue and white light, giving the masks quite a profound appearance.
Shu Tiansheng accepted the masks, then handed one to Han Li before leading the way into the passageway.
Han Li took a glance at the mask in his hand, then gave the elderly shopkeeper a nod before stepping into the passageway as well.
The stone gated behind him swung shut amid a burst of dull rumbling, and the interior of the passageway was plunged into complete darkness.
However, this degree of darkness naturally wasn't going to trouble Han Li.
The blue and light on Shu Tiansheng's mask swelled to form a light barrier that enveloped his entire body.
Han Li was rather intrigued to see this. The blue and white light barrier was able to keep out even his spiritual sense, and it also concealed the majority of Shu Tiansheng's aura.
If it weren't for the fact that the two of them had been standing together this entire time, Han Li would've been unsure of whether this person actually was Shu Tiansheng.
The aura concealment effect of these masks was very similar to that of the masks of the Transient Guild, but they were far lacking compared to the Transient Guild masks when it came to their ability to alter auras.
Han Li also put on his mask before injecting some immortal spiritual power into it, but to his surprise, it displayed no reaction at all.
Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, then increased his immortal spiritual power output.
However, the mask was like a bottomless pit, and its surface had lit up slightly, but it was nowhere to the same extent as Shu Tiansheng's mask.
Han Li continued to increase his immortal spiritual power output until he was drawing upon most of the immortal spiritual power in his body, and only then did he manage to achieve the same effect as Shu Tiansheng's mask.
Only then did Han Li realize that this mask was a device that verified one's cultivation base, and that those below the mid-True Immortal Stage would've been unable to use it.
The two of them made their way down the dark passageway for a while before turning a corner and arriving in a stone chamber, at the end of which was a white door of light that was giving off a gentle glow in the darkness.
"The auction venue is just inside."
Shu Tiansheng seemed to have been quite familiar with this place, and he strode through the door of light.
The blue and white light barrier around him resonated momentarily with the door of light, and he abruptly vanished.
Han Li also stepped through the door of light, following which he found himself situated in a hall with Shu Tiansheng standing not far away.
Han Li cast his gaze into the hall to find that it was ovular in shape and around 3,000 to 4,000 feet in size.
The furnishings in the hall were quite luxurious, and the ground was paved with beautiful dark red bricks, while several massive and intricately crafted palace lanterns were hanging from the ceiling.
There were also many gemstones embedded into the walls, but even with the palace lanterns and gemstones acting as light sources, the area was still rather dim.
There were several dozen large chairs crafted from precious wooden materials in the hall, and many of them were already occupied, but all of the people seated on the chairs were also enshrouded in blue and white light barriers, making it impossible to glean their true appearance.
In front of these chairs was a short stone platform, upon which was placed a rectangular table, and behind the table were three empty chairs.
The arrival of Han Li's duo didn't draw much attention, attracting only a few fleeting glances.
"Looks like the auction isn't starting quiet yet. Let's find some seats first," Shu Tiansheng said in a low voice.
Han Li nodded in response, and he and Shu Tiansheng sat down on a pair of neighboring chairs near the back of the hall.
From there, Han Li looked around the hall, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes.
There was a faint yellow light barrier over all of the walls of the hall, and it didn't appear to have been all that remarkable, but Han Li could sense that the restriction was extremely thick and dense.
The restriction was clearly an earth-attribute one, and it seemed to have been drawing power from the vast earth, which meant that attacking the restriction would've been equivalent to attacking the entire earth itself.
Such an advanced restriction was extremely uncommon, and by Han Li's estimates, even if he were to go all-out, he most likely wouldn't have been able to break the restriction.
The fact that there was such a formidable restriction in the auction venue indicated that this was truly a very prestigious event.
Everyone in the hall was seated with their eyes closed, and the entire hall was completely silent and filled with a tense and heavy atmosphere.
Two hours passed by in a flash, and during this time, two more cultivators arrived in the hall, both of which also sat down in silence.
Right at this moment, a wooden door swung open on the side of the hall, and three figures, two tall and one short, emerged from within.
These three figures were also completely enshrouded in blue and white light barriers that concealed their appearance, and they made their way over to the long table on the stone platform before sitting down behind it, with the shorter figure situated at the center.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting, fellow daoists. Before we begin the auction, allow me to lay out what's going to happen today," the short figure declared.
His voice was extremely clear and penetrative, and everyone below the platform immediately sat up straighter to listen.
"This auction will be split up into two parts. During the first half, the three of us will conduct the auction as normal, and after the auction, all of you will be welcome to come up to the stage to display any valuable items that you're looking to sell or exchange, and you can negotiate your own terms without any intervention from the three of us. Alright, without further ado, let's begin."
As soon as his voice trailed off, the tall figure to his left swept a hand through the air to produce a rectangular wooden box with several talismans adhered to it.
The short figure accepted the wooden box, then removed the talismans before opening it.
Inside the box was an antiquated-looking blue longsword that was giving off dazzling blue light that was flowing over the blade of the sword like water while producing a faint splashing sound.
Tiny blue runes could be seen drifting throughout the blue light, and the entire sword was giving off power law power fluctuations.
"That's an immortal treasure!" someone exclaimed before the short figure even had a chance to say anything.
Han Li's eyes lit up slightly upon seeing this. The fact that the first auction item was an immortal treasure of a decent caliber certainly boded well for things to come.
"Indeed, Fellow Daoist. Our first auction item is this Sea Splitting Immortal Slaying Sword, and it's a bona fide immortal treasure that contains immense water law powers, far more so than the average immortal treasure..."
The short figure began to give a description of the sword, and he was an extremely eloquent speaker, sparing no praise in his description of the sword and making it out to be an unmatched weapon that would grant the wielder invincibility.
Many of the auction-goers were tempted by what they were hearing, and they were eager for the bidding to begin.
"The starting price for the Sea Splitting Immortal Slaying Sword will be 60 Immortal Origin Stones, and each bid must go up by an increment of at least two Immortal Origin Stones," the short figure declared.
"60!"
"65!"
"70!"
As soon as the short figure's voice trailed off, a string of bids immediately began flooding in, quickly elevating the bidding price to 130 Immortal Origin Stones.
At this point, there were only a handful of people left participating in the bidding, and ultimately, the sword was purchased for 160 Immortal Origin Stones.
Han Li chose not to place any bids.
While it was true that the Sea Splitting Immortal Slaying Sword contained immense law powers, he could sense that the law powers within it were a little chaotic, indicating that something had gone wrong during the refinement process, so this was above its deserved selling price.
The atmosphere had already livened up quite a bit, and the short figure was clearly very pleased to see this as he declared, "Our second auction item is a 100,000-year-old Soulbirth Flower. I'm sure I don't need to tell you all how valuable such a spirit plant is. It's the ideal supplementary material for refining avatars..."
The tall figure next to him pulled out a jade box, then opened it to reveal a golden spirit flower.
Many of the auction-goers erupted into chatter upon seeing this. The flower wasn't comparable in value to an immortal treasure, but it was certainly far rarer.
After praising the Soulbirth Flower for a while, the short figure declared, "The starting price will be 30 Immortal Origin Stones, and each bid must go up by an increment of at least one Immortal Origin Stone."
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he clearly wasn't expecting to see a Soulbirth Flower of such an advanced age here.
He still had some Soulbirth Flower seeds, so he naturally had no intention of bidding for the flower, but it seemed that Shu Tiansheng was very eager to obtain the flower, and he was participating in the bidding war.
However, after a few rounds of bidding, the price was quickly raised to over 80 Immortal Origin Stones, and Shu Tiansheng could only drop out of the bidding war. In the end, the flower was sold for 95 Immortal Origin Stones, much to Han Li's intrigue.
He wasn't expecting Soulbirth Flowers to be able to fetch such a high price even on the Ancient Cloud Continent. With the Heaven Controlling Vial in his possession, he could mature some Soulbirth Flowers at anytime, but all spirit plants watered with the Heaven Controlling Vial's spirit liquid were imbued with traces of time law powers, which made selling such spirit plants quite risky and only something that he could turn to as a last resort.
With that in mind, Han Li could only heave an internal sigh.
The auction continued, and around 20 to 30 items were auctioned off in a flash.
All of the auction items had been extremely precious, with not a single one of them selling for below 50 Immortal Origin Stones, but the Blood Crystal Lotus Root still hadn't appeared.
Han Li was starting to grow a little concerned, and Shu Tiansheng was also getting slightly agitated.
"Are you sure your sources are correct, Fellow Daoist Shu?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.
"I'm certain. I have some ties with the powers behind this auction, and there's no way they would lie to me," Shu Tiansheng hurriedly replied.
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