What Was a Golden Core Worth?
The Spirit Vein worth 80,000 Spirit Stones was handed over very quickly.
Not long after, the same waiter returned, carrying a large jade box, and knocked on the door of the private room.
The jade box contained a section of First-Tier Spirit Vein. As soon as the lid was opened, a faint milky-white Spiritual Qi wafted out.
Shen Jingchuan didn't look at it for long. With a Divine Sense, he took out Spirit Stones from his Storage Ring one by one and piled them up on the table.
The count of 81,000 was accurate to the last penny.
The waiter had stopped laughing; the boss was far too wealthy. He put away the Spirit Stones and left.
From beginning to end, Xiao Mingshu sat to the side, her eyes fixed on the piles of Spirit Stones. Only after the shopkeeper finished the transaction and left did she truly believe it—he really could pull out 80,000 Spirit Stones without batting an eye.
These days, the upper limit of the "Shen Household" in her mind has been raised again and again by Shen Jingchuan.
From the earliest elixirs and Law Artifacts, to the later Returning Geese Tower, and now, a single transaction amounts to 80,000 Spirit Stones.
She was somewhat numb.
The Spirit Vein is indeed precious, and it is indeed worth the price. But Shen Jingchuan, according to himself, is just an unimportant disciple in the Shen Household.
Even a disciple who isn't considered important can casually produce 80,000 Spirit Stones.
What must the main branch of the Shen Household be like then?
She suddenly realized how funny she had been earlier.
They asked this and that, inquiring about the origins of the elixirs, Spirit Stones, and Law Artifacts, proceeding with extreme caution.
Now it seems that what she considered remarkable was probably nothing to them.
She sighed inwardly and swallowed back the words that were about to come out.
I won't ask anymore. I won't get any answers anyway, and it would only make me look like a busybody who's never seen the world.
Shen Jingchuan turned his head and saw her lost in thought, so he smiled.
"What's wrong, sis?"
He casually put the jade box into his ring, speaking in a very nonchalant tone.
"This money isn't mine; it's the Lineage's money. They just delivered it to me yesterday, specifically instructing me to bid on anything good I find, no matter what. This Spirit Vein will definitely be useful to the clan."
The lie flowed so smoothly, without a single stumble.
Xiao Mingshu snapped out of her daze and nodded hurriedly, somewhat at a loss for words.
"I know, I know."
She knew in her heart how much Shen Jingchuan had; she could roughly guess that he couldn't possibly come up with 80,000.
But the Lineage behind him can afford it, and that makes sense.
She had initially thought the Shen Household was just an ordinary small Lineage, but now it seemed they were anything but ordinary.
Would an ordinary Lineage dare to directly compete with a Lineage that has Golden Core True Person for Spirit Vein at an auction?
He robbed them, and won the robbery, and the market even openly helped him.
The Shen Household is probably much more complex than she imagined.
Seeing her expression, Shen Jingchuan leaned back in his chair.
"Alright, sis, I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, the Golden Core Lineage means nothing to me."
Xiao Mingshu was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head and didn't ask any more questions. She made up her mind not to talk too much in the future.
After the transfer of the Spirit Vein was completed, the arena was quiet for a moment.
But the event showed no signs of ending. A maidservant, holding a jade box in both hands, gracefully walked to the center of the stage.
Her smile deepened, and she raised her voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the grand finale of tonight's auction has arrived."
Upon hearing this, there was a moment of silence, followed by a buzz of discussion.
"The grand finale? That half-section of Spirit Vein wasn't the grand finale?"
"What could be more expensive than a Spirit Vein? Could it be... Foundation Establishment Pill?"
On the first floor near the entrance, a young, Rogue Cultivator couldn't resist turning to ask the person next to him.
"Fellow Daoist, no matter how precious the Foundation Establishment Pill is, can it be as valuable as Spirit Vein? Why use it as the grand finale?"
An old, weathered Rogue Cultivator standing nearby scoffed.
You know nothing.
"Spirit Veins are valuable, but they're for Lineage use. Can you afford them, or can I? If they're put up for sale, only a few powerful Lineage will fight over them. What does it have to do with us?"
"Foundation Establishment Pills are different. Who wouldn't want one if they were stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage? It's something that can change their fate."
He gestured towards the stage with his lip.
"Just you wait and see. If it really is Foundation Establishment Pill, the competition will be far fiercer than for Spirit Vein."
Liu Meiniang had already opened the box.
Inside the box lay a pill the size of a longan, its surface smooth and lustrous, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance that could be smelled by those in the front row.
"One low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill." Her voice was clear and bright. "Taking it will increase your chances of establishing Foundation Establishment by 30%. Starting bid: 5,000 Spirit Stones."
The moment the words were spoken, an uproar erupted below.
"My God, really!"
Five thousand five!
Six thousand!
Six thousand five!
The price was being driven up relentlessly, without any pause.
The momentum slowed down slightly when the price reached 8,000 Spirit Stones or more, and the increments changed from 500 or 1,000 to 100 or 100 at a time.
Even so, there was still no sign of it stopping.
After arguing for a while, the voices of the Rogue Cultivators on the first floor gradually subsided, and in the end, only a few private rooms remained where the conversation was still going on.
Someone downstairs watched with envy and muttered a curse under their breath.
"Those bastards in those private rooms, they've already Foundation Establishment, and they still want to fight us for this one!"
Someone nearby gave a wry smile.
"They bought it to pave roads for future generations in their clan."
"We are Rogue Cultivators, without any foundation or base, what do we have to compete with them?"
The young Rogue Cultivator had spoken earlier also lost his nerve and shook his head.
"I was originally thinking of saving up more Spirit Stones by living frugally, so I could try to get one someday."
"After looking at it today, I think I'll just forget about it."
He gazed at the pill on the stage, his tone full of self-mockery.
"Just consider it an eye-opener; it's probably hopeless in this lifetime."
The price had already reached nine thousand.
The bidder was the Wang Household.
But as soon as Jiuqian finished speaking, Tian Chengye followed unhurriedly from the private room of the Tian family of Qi State diagonally opposite.
Nine thousand one.
There was a moment of silence in the Wang Household's private room.
Having already exhausted their resources with 9,030 Longevity-Extending Pills, taking out another 9,200 now would be somewhat difficult.
More importantly, the other party is the Tian family of the State of Qi, whose family has recently produced a Golden Core cultivator.
The entire Wang Household relies on a Foundation Establishment First Layer ancestor to maintain their prestige. Offending Golden Core Lineage for a single pill is a bad deal no matter how you look at it.
Someone in the private room muttered something under their breath, but ultimately didn't raise the price again. They were bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
This time, no one responded. Some people looked at Shen Jingchuan's private room, thinking that only he could compete, and everyone just wanted to watch the show.