"The jade marrow flower. Once refined, it can increase a cultivator's cultivation by one level, provided they are below the Foundation Establishment stage. If refined into a pill, it can increase it by two levels. It is recommended for those at the ninth or tenth level of Qi Condensation. The starting bid is one thousand low-grade spirit stones."
One thousand low-grade spirit stones was slightly lower than Li Nanzhu had expected, but she quickly understood why. After all, it only improved cultivation during the Qi Condensation stage, and to maximize its medicinal effects, one would need to find a pill cultivator.
Most of the cultivators at the auction were already at the Foundation Establishment stage and had little interest in it.
Instead, bids began to ring out from the private booths, including the one Li Nanzhu was in.
Among them, Li Nanzhu actually heard a familiar voice.
"1,900 low-grade spirit stones."
Cang Dongqing felt a pang of regret as she bid. Normally, she wouldn't be so stingy, but paying four medium-grade spirit stones to Li Nanzhu had halved her wealth. Now, she only hoped no one would compete with her.
She was currently at the sixth level of Qi Condensation. As long as she obtained this jade marrow flower and practiced diligently, she would surely reach Foundation Establishment within a year. Only then would her title as a genius girl truly be secure.
Thinking this, she felt a bit better.
Li Nanzhu hadn't expected Cang Dongqing to still have money to buy things. It seemed she hadn't squeezed her enough.
However, when it came to wealth, Cang Dongqing certainly couldn't compete with her.
With that in mind, Li Nanzhu placed her bid directly.
"2,100 low-grade spirit stones."
Cang Dongqing continued to follow.
"2,200 low-grade spirit stones."
"2,300."
If it weren't for the rule that every bid had to increase by at least a hundred, Li Nanzhu would have liked to add them one by one.
Duan Xianxing leaned over. "Junior Sister, you're not short on money. Why not just give a final price instead of adding a little at a time?"
"The person bidding against us is Cang Dongqing. There's no fun in just overwhelming her. Adding a hundred each time lets her see hope before it's snatched away. That’s more entertaining."
Well, it seemed his junior sister was the most calculating one after all.
Cang Dongqing was growing anxious. Fearing the other party would keep following, she jumped straight to 2,800 spirit stones and spoke aloud.
"Fellow Daoists, I am a personal disciple of the Sword Heart Sect. I have great need for this jade marrow flower. Would you be so kind as to yield it to this humble lady?"
At this point, only a few people in the booths were still bidding. Generally, when one party suddenly raised the price significantly, it signaled they were determined to win. Unless the other party had an absolute need for the item, they would usually withdraw. This was an unspoken rule. Moreover, since she had revealed her background, most people would back off.
In the seats below, the rogue cultivators hadn't expected a personal disciple of the Sword Heart Sect to be among the bidders. A woman who needed a jade marrow flower... it had to be the genius girl rumored in the world.
It seemed the jade marrow flower would belong to her.
But Li Nanzhu was no ordinary person. She wanted it, and more importantly, the person on the other side was a future mortal enemy. To back down now would be no different from funding her foe.
She bid without hesitation. "2,900 low-grade spirit stones."
No one expected someone to add another hundred stones. Everyone began to secretly guess which sect or family was in that booth.
Left with no choice, Cang Dongqing grit her teeth and continued to follow.
She hated how well the auction house handled privacy; the other party was using a voice-altering tool. Even Li Nanyi couldn't tell which sect they might belong to.
Meanwhile, Li Nanyi was surprised that his younger junior sister had so many spirit stones on her.
When he had been in the sect for two months, he only had a single medium-grade spirit stone to his name.
'It must have been given to her by the Master,' he consoled himself. After all, her talent was staggering. But for some reason, the bitterness in his heart only grew.
"3,200 low-grade spirit stones."
This was Cang Dongqing's absolute limit. she was truly out of money.
This was her limit, but it wasn't Li Nanzhu's.
"3,300."
"3,300 low-grade spirit stones, once! 3,300 low-grade spirit stones, twice! 3,300 low-grade spirit stones, thrice!"
As the gavel fell, Cang Dongqing watched with a pale face as the item was snatched away. She didn't even know who the buyer was, and she had no way to bribe the auction house staff for information.
She hated Li Nanzhu even more now. If it hadn't been for her, the item would surely have been hers.
Then she turned her resentment toward Li Nanyi. If he weren't so poor—having already spent the hundred low-grade spirit stones she gave him earlier—perhaps she would have had a chance to compete further.
Li Nanzhu curiously examined the jade marrow flower that had just been sent to her booth. Opening it slightly, she could feel a rich, fragrant spiritual energy. Her spirit stones hadn't been spent in vain.
At normal market price, a jade marrow flower was worth around 4,000 low-grade spirit stones and usually only appeared at auctions. Cang Dongqing's participation had actually saved her some money.
Duan Xianxing suggested that Li Nanzhu give the flower to Feng Yi to refine, as the effect would be even better.
"Master knows how to refine pills?"
"Yeah, he seems to know how to do everything. Our senior brothers and sisters were all trained by him personally. He probably figured once they knew how, he wouldn't have to do it himself. By the time it got to the two of us, he just let us grow wild!"
...He really is a complete hands-off manager, isn't he?
But that was fine. If she waited for the Third Senior Brother to come back and refine it, she didn't know how long it would take. She’d probably have broken through to Foundation Establishment by then.
The next few items were bought up by rogue cultivators until a tier 2 mid-grade mind-concentrating pill appeared.
"1,500 low-grade spirit stones."
Li Nanzhu bid the starting price. As it was still something useful for the Qi Condensation stage, not many people were bidding.
"2,500 spirit stones!"
Cang Dongqing, realizing it was the same person from before, immediately added a thousand stones.
She wasn't afraid of the other party not bidding. Even if she won the mind-concentrating pill at this price, she wouldn't lose out. But if the other person followed, she was going to make them pay a heavy price.
"2,600 low-grade spirit stones."
Cang Dongqing's smile deepened. It was exactly as she thought. She bid again without hesitation.
"2,700 spirit stones."
"2,800."
"Junior Sister, you are a personal disciple. There's no need to bicker with such a person."
"What do you know!"
Cang Dongqing snapped at him. She felt an inexplicable discomfort, a deep loathing for anyone who crossed her. Li Nanzhu was like that, and so was the person in that booth.
Realizing her temper was out of control, she hurried to apologize to Li Nanyi, who only shook his head in silence.
Li Nanzhu heard the emotional shift in Cang Dongqing's voice and guessed what she was trying to do. It was nothing more than trying to raise the price beyond the pill's actual value so she could make Li Nanzhu play the fool.
But it wasn't certain who would end up being the fool.
When the price reached 3,500 stones, Cang Dongqing planned to stop as soon as the other party bid again.
But after waiting for a long time, Li Nanzhu didn't bid. Cang Dongqing's smile froze on her face.
Outside, the auctioneer called out the first count.
"3,500 low-grade spirit stones, once."
The voice sounded like a death knell, making Cang Dongqing even more frantic. The mind-concentrating pill was good, but its market price was only around 2,800. If she bought it now, wouldn't she be an easy mark?
Besides, she didn't have that much money on her at all!
She could only force herself to speak up. "Why has the fellow Daoist stopped bidding? If you add a bit more, this mind-concentrating pill might be yours."
"No, no. My dear personal disciple of the Sword Heart Sect, my financial resources cannot compare to yours. Congratulations, this mind-concentrating pill is all yours."
How could Cang Dongqing not hear the mockery in that voice? If their resources truly weren't enough, why would they have competed with her for so long? Not to mention they had already snatched the jade marrow flower from her earlier.
But she failed to consider that items at an auction belonged to the highest bidder; there was no such thing as an item 'belonging' to anyone beforehand.
Likely after today, rumors would spread through the cultivation world that the personal disciples of the Sword Heart Sect were all easy marks.
"3,500 low-grade spirit stones, twice! 3,500 low-grade spirit stones, thrice!"
As the gavel fell, the item was awarded to Cang Dongqing. The auctioneer's smile widened. He had worried the mind-concentrating pill would sell for a low price due to the Sword Heart Sect disciple's interference, but he hadn't expected that other guest to help drive the price up. His commission would be much higher now.
In their booth, Duan Xianxing was already holding his stomach, laughing hysterically.
"Is this what they call trying to harm others only to end up hurting yourself? Hahaha!"
Li Nanzhu smiled as well. After all, smiles don't disappear; they just transfer from one face to another.
Next was the thunder-attribute ore that Duan Xianxing wanted. However, thunder-attribute spiritual roots were rare, and such materials had to be fused with a life-bound treasure. Consequently, no one spoke up even after the auctioneer announced a starting price of twenty medium-grade spirit stones.
Firmly holding down the jumping Duan Xianxing, Li Nanzhu only spoke up when the auctioneer was about to declare the item unsold.
"Twenty medium-grade spirit stones."
It looked as though she was merely picking it up on a whim because it would be a pity for it to go unsold. Naturally, no one thought it was some great treasure worth stealing. Even Cang Dongqing didn't interfere; in fact, she no longer had the capacity to do so.
The auction concluded the rest of its business quickly, and the two left through the auction house's special passage.
However, Li Nanzhu wondered what Cang Dongqing would do. She recalled that when bidding for the jade marrow flower, the girl only seemed to have 3,200 spirit stones!
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