The Final Auction Item

Just then, Li Yao's somewhat urgent voice pulled the young man from his thoughts.

"Brother, the countdown has already started. Are you still bidding?"

The young man came to his senses and pondered for a moment.

To be honest, it wasn't worth that price anymore.

But when he saw the expectant look on Li Yao's face, he spoke up anyway. "Thirty-two thousand five hundred!"

No sooner had he finished than Qin Nanyue's voice followed without a pause. "Thirty-three thousand!"

The young man shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "It seems the Qin Household's legitimate daughter is determined to have it. There's no point competing any further."

Li Yao frowned, his tone displeased. "Brother, didn't you say you'd give me a gift for joining the sect? Why aren't you bidding anymore?"

The young man looked at him, his tone turning more serious. "It's not worth the price anymore. Our Li Household may have substantial resources, but Spirit Stones don't blow in on the wind. We won't skimp on what we should spend, but we can't throw them away where we shouldn't."

At those words, a burst of anger flared in Li Yao's heart, but he forced it down.

He clenched his back teeth and swallowed his curses along with his spit.

Damn it, this Li Feng, who does he think he's fooling?!

If he hadn't been short on funds, he wouldn't have bothered coming with Li Feng to put up with this crap. Every time, he had to listen to him harp on about how this wasn't good and that wasn't good. It was infuriating!

He cast a resentful glare toward private room fifteen on the second floor, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.

The Qin Household...

The Qin Household wasn't much weaker than the Li Household, so he really couldn't lash out at them.

Then he'd see what the background of that brat who had bought the Supreme-Grade Yellow Dragon Pill was.

If he didn't have much of a background, then he couldn't blame Li Yao for showing no mercy.

The thought left him feeling stifled again.

He'd been perfectly happy staying in the Li Household, with everything he wanted, but those old geezers had insisted on stuffing him into the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect, talking about further training and improvement.

How could life in the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect be as free and easy as life in the Li Household?

While Li Yao seethed, Liu Yaoyao's countdown came to an end.

A seductive smile blossomed on her face, and her magnetic voice rose slightly. "Congratulations to the distinguished guest in room fifteen on the second floor for winning the Gold-and-White Sword-Scar Waistband!"

Inside the private room.

Qin Nanyue's tense body relaxed. She leaned back in her chair, let out a breath, and chuckled. "Not bad. It was within my budget."

Lu Yang looked at her with a faint smile. "Do you have enough money? Want to borrow some?"

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Qin Nanyue's face.

The words she had teased Lu Yang with earlier had come back to stab her like a boomerang.

She said irritably, "Don't worry! I have just enough."

Then a pained look came over her face, and she muttered, "After paying for this, I'll have fewer than five hundred Spirit Stones left."

Lin Ying took Qin Nanyue's hand and smiled gently. "Nanyue, if you're short on funds, I can lend you some Spirit Stones to tide you over."

Qin Nanyue immediately hugged Lin Ying and buried her face in the hollow of her shoulder, her voice full of emotion. "My Yingying treats me best after all!"

She might not accept someone else's kindness, but Yingying was her dear sister, so naturally she wouldn't refuse.

Besides, she had already worked it out in her heart: after the New Year, when her Lineage sent over her resources, she would pay Yingying back extra under the pretext of interest.

It wasn't easy for this silly girl to save money by refining pills. She couldn't keep letting her scrape by like this.

Lin Ying and Qin Nanyue were clearly accustomed to being this close.

Lin Ying gently patted Qin Nanyue's back, a faint smile appearing on her gentle face. "All right, all right, sit up. Junior Brother Lu is watching."

Qin Nanyue's body stiffened slightly.

She had gotten carried away for a moment and completely forgotten that Lu Yang was sitting beside them.

A barely perceptible trace of shyness rose from the bottom of her heart. She hurriedly sat up straight, adjusted her collar, and pretended nothing had happened.

Lin Ying quietly watched her reaction, the corners of her lips curving into a soft smile.

Qin Nanyue felt uncomfortable all over under her gaze and couldn't help asking, "Yingying, what is it?"

Lin Ying shook her head and said softly, "Nothing. The next auction item is starting. Let's take a look."

Lu Yang sat to the side, taking in every bit of the two women's interaction.

When he saw Qin Nanyue and Lin Ying embracing, he unconsciously rubbed his nose.

Those two are really close.

I wonder if they'll get along even better once both their affection levels are maxed out?

The thought made his heart burn a little.

But he soon set it aside and returned his attention to the auction stage.

After the Gold-and-White Sword-Scar Waistband, the quality of the subsequent lots had clearly risen a notch.

Even supreme-grade talismans began appearing onstage. Unfortunately, there were too few of them, and their prices weren't high, so Lu Yang couldn't muster any interest in bidding.

He was waiting for the more expensive items later on.

Soon, another supreme-grade Law Artifact was brought out.

This time, it was a Fire Dao Law Artifact.

It wasn't very useful to Lu Yang, who planned to cultivate both the Sword Dao and the Metal Dao.

Unless one cultivated the corresponding Great Dao, this kind of Law Artifact could only exert its own power. It couldn't resonate with and amplify the user's Dao arts, which diminished its value.

Perhaps because most of the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect cultivators present also followed the path of the Sword Dao or the Metal Dao, bidding for this supreme-grade Law Artifact was quieter than expected. In the end, it sold for only twenty-eight thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, a fair amount less than the Gold-and-White Sword-Scar Waistband.

With that final strike of the gavel, the next item Liu Yaoyao brought out was unexpectedly a second-tier treasure.

Lu Yang frowned slightly. "That's it for the first-tier lots?"

Qin Nanyue answered casually, "More or less. Among the first-tier lots at today's auction, there have already been quite a few rare spirit medicines and ores, as well as two supreme-grade Law Artifacts. That's a pretty valuable selection."

Lu Yang was momentarily speechless.

He had been planning to buy another, more expensive supreme-grade Law Artifact, but the first-tier portion had ended just like that.

He hesitated for a moment, his gaze falling on the second-tier treasure onstage.

What if... I buy a second-tier one?

Second-tier items would only cost more, which suited the spending requirement of the Mid-Level Rebate Card he had on hand.

Although he couldn't use one right now, that didn't mean he wouldn't have a use for it in the future.

He didn't rush to a decision, planning to see first whether anything later caught his eye.

If something did, he would bid. If not, he would keep the hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones for now and exchange them for Sect Contribution Points later.

He had to spend the money eventually anyway, or Tycoon's Confidence wouldn't be easy to raise.

Bids for the second-tier treasures were indeed much higher than those for the first-tier items.

Items costing several thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones were only considered ordinary, and quite a few went for more than ten thousand. Two or three even reached bids above fifty thousand.

But after watching round after round, not a single one caught Lu Yang's eye.

He leaned back in his chair, unconsciously tapping the armrest with his fingers, a little disappointed.

Just then, a mysterious smile suddenly appeared on Liu Yaoyao's face atop the raised platform.

She lowered her voice a little, like a lover whispering, with a faint, teasing allure. "Next is the final treasure of our auction... To be honest, even Yaoyao herself is a little tempted by it."

As her words fell, the atmosphere throughout the auction hall abruptly changed.

The Rogue Cultivators on the first floor, who had long since been left breathless by the high prices, unconsciously sat up straight. Several faint sounds also came from the private rooms.

Lu Yang, too, straightened from his formerly languid posture, a trace of anticipation rising in his eyes.

The final item ought to have some weight to it, right?

As if sensing the gazes of everyone present, Liu Yaoyao didn't keep them in suspense.

She took a small wooden bottle from her Storage Bag, held its neck lightly between her fair fingers, and displayed it to everyone around her.

The wooden bottle was only as thick as a thumb. Its surface was smooth and lustrous as jade, with a faint bluish-green sheen.

The glow of the spirit lamps in the private rooms fell on it, forming an extremely faint halo around the bottle. One glance was enough to tell it was no ordinary item.

Her voice took on a note of undisguised excitement. "Fellow cultivators, you should all know how important Divine Sense is to a cultivator. In particular, when breaking through to the Golden Core and Nascent Soul realms, Divine Sense is the most crucial factor of all..."

Before she had finished, a Foundation Establishment Realm Rogue Cultivator on the first floor couldn't help calling out, "Fellow Daoist Liu, could this be a treasure that enhances Divine Sense?!"

Liu Yaoyao curved her lips into a smile so seductive that the hearts of many cultivators below the stage skipped a beat. "That's right. It is a supreme treasure that enhances Divine Sense! One drop of thousand-year-old Azurite Jade Liquid!"

The entire auction hall fell silent in an instant.

"If a young friend in the Qi Refining Realm takes it, there is a very high chance of directly awakening Divine Sense. If someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm takes it, the strength of their Divine Sense can increase substantially." Liu Yaoyao spoke unhurriedly, each word falling into the silent air and reaching everyone's ears with perfect clarity.

The silence lasted only a breath before it was broken by a chorus of heavy breathing.

The gazes of every cultivator present were fixed on the little wooden bottle, so fervent they seemed ready to set the air ablaze.