While Jiang Lu was lost in thought, the bidding on the stage had already reached ninety high-grade spirit stones, with a clear trend toward hitting one hundred.
Before long, Lingling's voice rang out:
“One hundred and one high-grade spirit stones once!”
“One hundred and one high-grade spirit stones twice!”
“One hundred and one high-grade spirit stones thrice!”
“Sold!”
With the strike of Lingling's mallet, the Boundary-Breaking Pill was won by a cultivator in a second-floor private room.
As the auction progressed, Jiang Lu noticed that besides the items listed in the auction catalog she had browsed earlier, there were quite a few other items up for bid.
These items were all last-minute additions, interspersed among the scheduled lots.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”
Suddenly, Mengbao grew excited, squeaking and gesturing toward the auction stage.
Jiang Lu looked down. A new item was being carried up. Once the item was set on the stage, Lingling immediately introduced it:
“Our next item is very unique. It is simply a stone, but it cannot be damaged by fire, nor can it be penetrated by water. According to our appraisers' analysis, it may be the legendary—Thunderstone.”
As soon as those words left her mouth, the surroundings fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the stage.
Then, a wave of clamorous discussion erupted.
“A Thunderstone! That's a legendary item!”
“Is that for real?”
“The Medicine King Pavilion doesn't sell fakes.”
“But... for it to appear here? Isn't that a bit of a waste?”
“Who cares if it's real or fake? We shouldn't even dream about getting something like this! Setting aside whether we have the ability to win it, even if we did, what would we even do with it?”
Hearing this, the surrounding cultivators exchanged glances. There was truth to those words.
Thunderstones were formed from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Only after enduring a hundred or even a thousand years of lightning strikes in a lightning-ravaged land could a fist-sized stone like this be formed.
If used to forge magic weapons, it would yield twice the result with half the effort. However, the cost of forging such a weapon was not something they could afford.
“Then let's see if any of the cultivators in the Heaven-grade private rooms can take it!”
“If you ask me, it's unlikely.”
...
The crowd's words fell upon the ears of a cultivator sitting in a corner. He sat in his chair with his hands tightly clenched, his body trembling slightly.
His aged face was somewhat pale, and his eyes held his very last shred of hope. Gritting his teeth, he was in a state of extreme tension.
A thin layer of sweat gradually beaded on his forehead, trickling down the wrinkles on his cheeks.
With a soft drip, it fell onto his clothes, blooming into a small wet spot.
He prayed silently in his heart, hoping that this time it would definitely work.
“Ahem—”
Lingling cleared her throat and rang her bell.
Ring, ring, ring~
The crowd quieted down.
Her beautiful eyes swept over the crowd. She offered a small smile and parted her red lips.
“Fellow Daoists, this Thunderstone will not be auctioned for spirit stones. Instead, you only need to provide the item requested by the seller and pay a processing fee.”
Seeing the crowd's reaction, she was secretly pleased. This was exactly the effect she wanted.
“And the item the seller desires is a Scarlet Flame Flower.”
“And now, the auction begins!”
With that, she rested her hands lightly on the table, waiting for the bids.
The Scarlet Flame Flower. Once consumed, it could cleanse the fire poison from a cultivator's body and heal their injuries.
Although it was a fire-attribute spiritual plant, it did not grow in hot regions. Instead, it grew in areas abundant with spiritual plants, alongside Celestial Water Leaves. If one were to harvest a Scarlet Flame Flower, they would usually be able to claim a Celestial Water Leaf as well.
A Scarlet Flame Flower?!
Not only did the cultivators in the main hall freeze, but even the cultivators in the various private rooms stiffened.
Although this item was only a Tier Three spiritual plant, it was extremely difficult to find, mainly because its survival requirements were too strict, making it hard to keep alive.
No wonder they were trading a Thunderstone for it. Although the values of the two weren't equal, that was only true for different cultivators.
If the Scarlet Flame Flower could save a life, then their values would be perfectly equal.
Hearing this, Jiang Lu raised an eyebrow. Placing Mengbao in her palm, she pointed toward the stage.
“Are you saying that thing is a good treasure?”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”
Mengbao nodded vigorously.
Good treasure!
For Master!
Big Boss Chi Li had said that as Master's beasts, they had to prioritize Master's needs!
It didn't have much strength and couldn't protect Master, but it could find treasures for her.
Although Jiang Lu didn't know what use the Thunderstone had, if Mengbao said it was a good treasure, it definitely was!
However, she didn't seem to have a Scarlet Flame Flower. She wasn't sure if there was one in her space's herb garden, so she decided to ask Linglong.
“Master~ Yes, we do!”
Linglong's cheerful voice rang out. This was why it considered itself incredibly lucky to have followed such a master.
There were plenty of spiritual plants in Ling Xi's garden, estimated to cover at least twenty percent of all species in the cultivation world.
It just so happened to have both of these spiritual plants.
With a thought from Jiang Lu, the spiritual plants appeared on her table, glowing with a faint golden-red light.
She then continued to look down at the auction stage.
Lingling maintained her smile, her gaze sweeping around the room as she waited for someone to bid.
But seeing the look on everyone's faces, she shook her head inwardly. It seemed this auction lot was going to go unsold.
She straightened her back and was about to have the item withdrawn when she heard a bell ring.
Ding—
Ding—
Her pupils contracted slightly as she abruptly looked up at the private room suspended at the very top.
The cultivator who was currently drinking tea with Jian An spat out his tea in shock, looking up at that top private room in utter disbelief.
When did a core disciple or elder arrive?
How did he not know about this?
Wait!
His eyes suddenly widened. Just now, an attendant had run over saying there was urgent business to report, but since he was discussing important matters with City Lord Jian, he hadn't summoned him.
Could it be...
He immediately straightened his clothes and rushed outside, speaking as he went.
“My apologies, City Lord Jian, but I have urgent business. We'll talk later, talk later...”
Jian An looked up at the lit private room and nodded, though a mysterious light flickered in his eyes.
“Family Head! Is that the Medicine King Pavilion's reserved private room?”
In a certain Heaven-grade private room, a cultivator stood by the window looking in Jiang Lu's direction, then turned around to ask.
The yellow-robed female cultivator, who was reclining on a daybed, raised her eyelids and swept her gaze over.
A gentle yet majestic voice rang out.
“Indeed. It seems a distinguished guest has graced today's auction.”
“But we haven't heard of any such cultivator arriving. If there were, Pavilion Master Shi wouldn't have been drinking and chatting so merrily with City Lord Jian,” another female cultivator remarked.
“As for who it is, we will know soon enough.”
The yellow-robed female cultivator spoke in a leisurely manner, but the curiosity brimming in her eyes betrayed her true thoughts.
Theirs was not the only Golden Core family that had come to the auction today; there were other families as well. Since City Lord Jian had remained silent, it wasn't appropriate for them to be overly eager either.
They would act as the situation demanded.
The other cultivators in the hall were even more astonished. Those who were clueless asked others what the bell meant.
Those who had seen more of the world swallowed hard, never expecting that a distinguished guest would actually attend their small-scale auction.
For a moment, everyone present was filled with various thoughts...
Rate on N.U.
