Seven Star Blood Orchid (2)
Damn it! All that talking caused trouble. What's the difference between what you said and what they asked? They just want me to smooth things over. Fine, I'll clean up my own mess! Otherwise, the Wu family won't welcome me anymore.
Yue Qianchou paused, not replying directly, but walked back to the Blood Orchid, looked at the flower and said in a deep voice, "I said that wanting to live a long life is wishful thinking, and I didn't mean anything else. It's not that this flower is fake, but there are other reasons."
Wu Sihai followed and humbly asked, "Please enlighten me, sir. My Wu family makes its living by observing and learning, and I really don't want to miss this opportunity to learn."
Yue Qianchou nodded, reached into the orchid leaves, and gently stroked a small, pale white flower. He said, "The Seven Star Blood Orchid can only bloom after a hundred years and bear Blood Fruit after another hundred years. Judging from this pot of Blood Orchid, it must have already bloomed and withered once. I suppose its owner did not know the key to its cultivation, which is why he put such a treasure up for auction!"
He glanced down and, seeing everyone listening intently, became interested in showing off. He continued, "The Seven Star Blood Orchid, when placed in the night after it blooms, will have its seven white flowers automatically correspond to the Big Dipper in the sky, just as sunflowers automatically correspond to the sun. Its color and the bloody smell it emits are the origin of the name 'Seven Star Blood Orchid.' After a hundred years, it will bear seven Blood Fruit overnight. They ripen that night and fall to the ground, where they dissolve. They can only be collected with gold. Often, those who don't understand will find the next day that their hundred-year-old Blood Orchid, which was about to bear fruit, has suddenly disappeared, even the flowers. This is because the Blood Fruit have fallen to the ground and been digested. If you place gold objects under the flowers in advance, you will be able to collect every single Blood Fruit that falls."
Upon hearing this, Wu Sihai was filled with awe. He only knew the appearance of the Blood Orchid from ancient books and that it corresponded to the seven stars at night. It was through this method that he was able to determine that this was the real 'Seven Star Blood Orchid'. He never imagined that there were such intricacies in its cultivation. If no one had told him, who would have known the secrets behind it? After all, not everyone has the opportunity to cultivate the Blood Orchid.
The audience listened intently, some letting out a soft "oh," others nodding to themselves, looking as if they had suddenly understood. Wu Lixue, in particular, had stars in her eyes; this guy was amazing, even her grandfather seemed to admire him. Bi Zicong and his companions were also surprised that this guy knew so much; they really couldn't believe it.
Unbeknownst to everyone, in the secret chamber behind, the seller, after hearing Yue Qianchou's words, was stamping his feet in frustration. Just as Yue Qianchou had said, the flower had indeed bloomed once in a hundred years. When it was time to bear fruit, he was overjoyed, but the flower, which had bloomed beautifully that day, vanished the next day, leaving no fruit and not even a trace of its original bloom. This had troubled him for a long time, leaving him unable to understand and even doubting whether it was truly a Blood Orchid. Therefore, he decided to take advantage of this grand auction to sell it and avoid the heartache of seeing it again. Who knew it would be for this reason? How could he not regret it? But now that it was already up for auction, there was no going back.
"The flowers on this Blood Orchid are currently no bigger than a thumb, so they've probably been blooming for less than ten years. After a hundred years, they'll grow to the size of a teacup, at which point they'll bear fruit. Just be careful to collect the Blood Fruit using golden tools. Of course, some of you might think I'm exaggerating. Using the entire Blood Orchid to refine elixirs—how could prolonging life be such a pipe dream? Ha! But the problem lies in the refining process. Not just anyone can refine these longevity elixirs." Yue Qianchou said calmly, then turned to Wu Sihai and asked, "Is my explanation satisfactory?"
Just as the people below were hearing the crucial moment, he stopped speaking. They all looked at Wu Sihai with expectant and fervent eyes, hoping that he could get the buyer to reveal more information. Such valuable information was not something they could hear every day!
Wu Sihai glanced down and was immediately taken aback. The gazes of those present were too compelling to refuse. He was in business with everyone under the heavens; ignoring them would likely offend people. These people practically represented the forces of both the Cultivation World Righteous and Demonic paths in the cultivation world! It was as if the entire Cultivation World was begging him! The pressure was overwhelming, and he awkwardly smiled at Yue Qianchou, saying, "I see everyone is eager to hear more. If it's convenient for you, sir, could you perhaps reveal a little more?"
"Yes! Yes! If it's convenient for you, sir, you might as well reveal a little more..." Everyone responded enthusiastically. For them, it would be a pity to miss such an opportunity.
Yue Qianchou couldn't be bothered with them; the key was to give Wu Sihai face! He frowned and nodded, saying, "Since the head of the Wu family has spoken, I'll elaborate a bit more."
Wu Sihai quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no, every word you say is a gem, something you can't hear normally, how could you be so verbose?"
"Yes! Yes..." the crowd echoed, sounding rather like they were flattering him.
"Damn it! I feel like I'm lecturing a student!" Yue Qianchou shook his head slightly and continued, "The Seven Star Blood Orchid can indeed be used to refine elixirs that prolong life. Moreover, if the elixir is successfully refined, one pill should extend one's life by more than fifty years. Fifty years is just a figure of speech for ordinary people. For cultivators, a good pill can extend one's life by a hundred years. But the most crucial point is that the Blood Orchid is merely the medicinal guide for this elixir, and it is indispensable. At the same time, the Seven Star Blood Orchid corresponds to seven kinds of spirit medicine. Two of them are relatively easy to find. I believe that finding a thousand-year-old ginseng and thousand-year Ganoderma is not difficult for any sect. The most difficult to find is a rare treasure of heaven and earth, which is also the main ingredient of this elixir, called the 'Youtan Poluo Flower'. Together with the Blood Orchid, a total of eight spirit medicine are needed, along with the correct Pill Formula, to refine the elixir, which is called the 'Seven Orifices Exquisite Pill'."
"Ah..." "Youtan Poluo Flower..." "So it's the legendary 'Seven Orifices Exquisite Pill'." "How could this possibly be made?" There was a commotion below, and everyone felt that making this pill was as difficult as ascending to heaven. Even if they could find the correct Pill Formula, where could they find the Youtan Poluo Flower? It would have been better if they hadn't figured it out, but once they did, they found out that it was all just a legendary thing, which was a bit too disappointing.
To have gone this far was already a great honor for Wu Sihai. Yue Qianchou cupped his hands in greeting to Wu Sihai and walked down a few steps.
After hearing this, Wu Sihai felt as if he were in a dream! He gratefully cupped his hands to Yue Qianchou, and then sighed to Wu Tai, "Now that things are clear, let's continue the auction!" After saying that, he shook his head and went back behind the scenes. With things going like this, he was afraid that the price of the 'Seven Star Blood Orchid' would not go up.
Wu Lixue looked at Yue Qianchou, who had sat back down, her face full of admiration hidden under the black cloth. Bi Zicong and the other three were even more curious about his background; knowing such things couldn't be simple! At the very least, they had never even heard of it.
After shaking their heads and sighing, everyone began to speculate about the background of the first buyer. They had laughed at him for judging the size of the items he bought, but now it seemed that he was the real expert. Perhaps he had snagged a bargain in the first round of the auction.
On the stage, Wu Tai looked at the 'Seven Star Blood Orchid' with a wry smile. He had thought he could get a good price, but was that still possible? He glanced at the crowd and announced loudly, "Seven Star Blood Orchid, starting price three million high-grade Spirit Stones, highest bidder wins, minimum increment no less than one hundred thousand high-grade Spirit Stones, please bid!"
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