Chapter 322: Astronomical Bidding War
"200!"
To everyone's surprise, the female cultivator who had purchased the demon core didn't give up, and she had raised the price by 50 more Immortal Origin Stones in a single bid.
Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning to her with peculiar looks in their eyes.
200 Immortal Origin Stones wasn't exactly a massive sum. All of the auction-goers present were at least at the mid-True Immortal Stage, and they had come to participate in this auction, so they could naturally afford this sum.
However, Immortal Origin Stones were extremely useful. Not only could they speed up one's immortal spiritual power replenishment, they could also assist one in opening up immortal acupoints. Hence, True Immortal cultivators were perpetually in need of more Immortal Origin Stones, and they were very prudent with their spending of this resource. With that in mind, it simply wasn't worth spending 200 Immortal Origin Stones for a damaged immortal treasure.
However, this still wasn't the end of the bidding war.
"230!" the owner of the sharp voice retorted.
"250! The female cultivator wasn't backing down, either"
"300!"
"350!"
……
Both of them seemed to have been determined to acquire the scroll, and in the blink of an eye, the price had been raised to an incredible level.
Many of the auction-goers present were astonished by this turn of events. There was no way that a damaged immortal treasure would've been worth this much unless it was harboring some type of secret.
With that in mind, some other people began to throw in bids as well, and the price was quickly pushed above 800 Immortal Origin Stones.
At this point, everyone else dropped out of the bidding war, and it reverted back to a two-horse race.
Blue light was flashing in Han Li's eyes as he carefully inspected the blue scroll with slightly furrowed brows, but no matter how he scrutinized it, he wasn't able to identify anything special about it aside from the profound glacial qi that it contained.
On the surface, his glacial qi didn't appear to have been special in any way, but he noticed there seemed to have been more to it than met the eye after he inspected it with his spiritual sense a few times.
This was a feeling that Han Li couldn't really describe, and if he had to compare it to something, then it was a little like the Essence Fire Raven.
After inspecting the scroll for a while longer, he withdrew his gaze.
There was no way that he was going to spend so much money to acquire the scroll, so what was the point in thinking about all of this?
"1,000!"
At this point, the owner of the sharp voice had already lost their composure, and it was clear that they were approaching their limit.
"1,200!"
The female cultivator's voice remained as steady as ever.
This time, the owner of the sharp voice was silent for a long while, yet right before the short auctioneer declared the scroll as sold, they made one final last-ditch effort.
"1,500!"
"2,000!"
The female cultivator seemed to have finally run out of patience and placed an astonishing bid.
Everyone was stunned beyond belief. This was a sufficient sum of Immortal Origin Stones to purchase more than 10 immortal treasures!
The owner of the sharp voice fell silent once again, and only after a long while did they give a cold harrumph. "Your determination is truly impressive. In that case, I'll relinquish the scroll to you."
After that, they stood up and departed from the auction venue.
Han Li looked on at their departing figure, and he was speculating whether they were leaving early as they were preparing to take the scroll from the female cultivator by force after the auction.
With that in mind, he took a glance at the female cultivator, only to find that she appeared to have been completely unconcerned.
The short auctioneer seemed to have been a little stunned as well, and it took him some time before he finally declared the sale of the Profound Glacial Scenic Painting.
Even though the scroll could only go to one person, everyone else felt as if they had been treated to a good show, so they weren't all that disappointed.
The auction continued, and the items were becoming more and more expensive, with many of the precious and exotic treasures being presented posing a great deal of temptation even to Han Li.
Unfortunately, none of the dao pill ingredients were among them, and as for the other treasures, he did have a decent wealth of Immortal Origin Stones, but he had to save up for his future pill refinement, so he could only let those treasures slip away right under his nose.
After close to two more hours, the final auction item was sold, and the auction reached its conclusion.
"Alright, that will be the end of the auction. It's now time for the free exchange event. Any fellow daoists wishing to sell or exchange any treasures can feel free to step onto the stage in turns," the short auctioneer declared, then made his way down from the auction platform the two taller figures accompanying him.
As soon as his voice trailed off, a streak of white light immediately flew onto the stage at an astonishing speed.
There were several other cultivators who wanted to go first, but they could only stop in their tracks upon seeing this.
In an exchange event like this, it was naturally best to go as early as possible. Otherwise, one risked having the treasures that they desired slipping away right before their eyes, and that was certainly not going to be a good feeling.
"Looks like I'll be going first, fellow daoists," the man on the stage chuckled as he cupped his fist in a salute toward the cultivators that he had beaten to the stage, and judging from the sound of his voice, he seemed to have been an elderly man.
The ones who were beaten to the stage could only return to their seats, but there was one thin and tall figure who remained on the spot as he chuckled, "With your Bright Yang Light Wave Arts, your speed is unmatched, Brother Qiu. Whenever I participate in any exchange events with you, you always beat me to the punch."
"Fancy meeting you here, Brother Fu. My sincerest apologies, but I truly am in urgent need of a certain treasure," the elderly man on the stage replied with a smile.
The thin and tall figure merely shook his head in response before returning to his seat as well.
"Fellow daoists, I've brought two things with me today," the elderly man said as he flipped a hand over to produce a pair of jade boxes, one large and one small.
With a sweep of his sleeve, the lids of the boxes were removed to reveal their contents.
Inside the larger jade box was a spirit plant that was around a foot in height and resembled a bamboo sapling with only 12 leaves, but what was remarkable was that every single leaf was a different color, and they were also all glowing slightly.
"This is a Heavenly Spirit Bamboo that grows a leaf once every 10,000 years, so this is a 120,000-year-old specimen. As for what it can be used for, I'm sure everyone already knows, so I won't waste everyone's time with an explanation."
Immediately thereafter, the elderly opened the other jade box to reveal some fine golden sand that was giving off such dazzling golden radiance that it was too bright to look directly at.
"This is Profound Golden Sand, an exceptional material for refining metal-attribute flying swords, and it can also be mixed into other immortal treasures to significantly enhance their resilience and sharpness," the elderly introduced.
These two items immediately created a stir among the auction-goers, and it was clear that they had generated much interest.
"For this Heavenly Spirit Bamboo, I would like a Meridian Opening Herb above 100,000 years of age. As for this box of Profound Golden Sand, I would like a spirit material that contains earth-attribute law powers in exchange," the elderly man declared.
Han Li was very much interested in the Heavenly Spirit Bamboo plant.
This was a type of spirit plant that contained a hint of poison law powers, and theoretically speaking, it could be used as an ingredient to refine pills that could cure all poisons. There were some antidotal spirit plants in his medicine garden, but none that could compare with this one.
Unfortunately, he hadn't even heard of this Meridian Opening Herb, and it was clear that the elderly man wouldn't have been willing to sell such a precious spirit plant for Immortal Origin Stones.
As for that box of Profound Golden Sand, that wasn't of any interest to him.
Right at this moment, a thin cultivator rose to his feet, then swept a hand through the air to release a burst of red light, enveloped within which was a rectangular jade box, which flew onto the auction platform.
"Will this Meridian Opening Herb suffice, Fellow Daoist?"
The elderly man picked up the jade box and opened it ever so slightly, then immediately shut the lid again as he replied in a concise manner, "Deal."
After that, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of white light that carried the Heavenly Spirit Bamboo to the thin cultivator, and Han Li could only heave an internal sigh upon seeing this.
However, there were no takers for the box of Profound Golden Sand, and in the end, the elderly man could only step down from the stage.
As soon as he left, a streak of green light immediately flew onto the stage like lightning, and it was none other than the man with the Fu surname from before.
"I've brought with me a stick of Seven Spirit Incense that can assist True Immortal cultivators greatly when it comes to opening immortal acupoints. If you light this incense while attempting to open an immortal acupoint, your chances of success will be raised by about 10%."
The man pulled out a sandalwood box as he spoke, then opened it to reveal a stick of red and black incense, which was already giving off an indescribable aroma even though it hadn't been lit.
Almost all of the auction-goers immediately had their attention drawn to the stick of incense.
Treasures that could help one make breakthroughs were naturally the most welcome items in these exchange events.
The man with the Fu surname seemed to have been quite pleased with everyone's reactions, and he declared, "In exchange for this stick of incense, I would like a Heavenly Musk Fruit."
Unlike everyone else, Han Li wasn't very interested in this stick of incense. He was able to rely on the large number of pills he had refined to assist him in opening immortal acupoints, so this wasn't something that he was all that keen to get his hands on, and even if he did acquire it, he couldn't make more like he could with spirit medicines.
The stick of Seven Spirit Incense was indeed quite rare and precious, but Heavenly Musk Fruits weren't easy to come by, either, and in the end, no one was able to provide one.
Many of the auction-goers offered to exchange the stick of incense for other spirit items or to directly purchase it using Immortal Origin Stones, but all of them were turned down.
The exchange even continued, and one cultivator after another flew onto the stage to display their treasures. Some were fortunate enough to have been able to successfully find what they were looking for, but the vast majority of the items displayed weren't successfully exchanged.
This wasn't much of a surprise. After all, this wasn't a very large event, and most of the cultivators present weren't itinerant cultivators. Hence, they were generally all figures of rather lofty status, and the things that they were looking for definitely weren't easy to obtain. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come to participate in this exchange event.
Han Li merely sat in his chair rather than competing with others to fly onto the stage. He watched as a procession of treasures was presented, and it was quite an eye-opening opportunity, one that rarely presented itself.
As the exchange event neared its conclusion, there was gradually less and less competition between the people flying onto the stage, and there were even some instances of delays between one cultivator to the next.
It was during one of those delays that Han Li decided to fly onto the stage, but right as he was about to do so, a streak of black light flew onto the stage ahead of him.
Even though the blue and white light barrier, it could be seen that the figure was enshrouded in a cloud of black qi that was giving off a formidable baleful aura.
Han Li sat back down without saying anything, and just like everyone else, his gaze fell upon the figure on stage, wanting to see what it was that he was going to present.
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