Turbulence at the Auction, Unfathomably Rich!

The ripples from the Outer Sect Competition had barely subsided when Qingyunzi delivered another gilded invitation to Li Wuyang. It was for a "Centennial Auction," jointly hosted by the three major powers of the Spiritual Stream Realm, to be held in Tiangong Workshop's main city, Tiangong City. He was invited as a distinguished guest.

"An auction? I'm familiar with those!" Li Wuyang's interest was piqued. Back in the Primordial World's Myriad Treasures Tower, he could only watch the excitement from the sidelines. Here, however, he was practically a "local tycoon." After all, he still had plenty of "junk" brought from the Primordial World. Even a few scraps would likely cause a sensation in the Spiritual Stream Realm.

He decided to go, partly to see if he could snag any bargains, and partly to exchange some of his unused items for spirit stones.

Before departing, he specifically entrusted Earth Doll to Xuan's care (Xuan: Cold Gaze.jpg), bringing only Little Fire and Yingying. Riding a rather dashing immortal crane provided by the Qingyun Sect (Huaihuai had gotten lost in the spacetime turbulence), he arrived at Tiangong City.

Tiangong City was indeed magnificent, its architecture primarily metal and stone, exuding an industrial... no, a refining style. The auction hall itself was resplendent and packed with people.

As a distinguished guest, Li Wuyang was ushered into a private room on the second floor, offering an excellent view. The adjacent room housed high-ranking officials from the Hundred Herbs Valley and Tiangong Workshop, while across from him were patriarchs of various cultivation families, each exuding an extraordinary aura.

The auction began, and one treasure after another was presented, eliciting a chorus of bids from the audience. Magic treasures, elixirs, cultivation techniques, spirit materials – to Li Wuyang, most of them were unremarkable and failed to stir even the slightest interest. He even felt a bit drowsy.

That is, until the final item was brought forth – a damaged, rust-covered bronze shard.

The auctioneer introduced it: "This item was unearthed from ruins on the edge of the 'Sea of Falling Stars.' Its material is unknown, but it is incredibly hard and is suspected to be an ancient artifact. The starting bid is one thousand high-grade spirit stones!"

The crowd's reaction was muted. A piece of scrap metal, with a starting bid of a thousand high-grade spirit stones? Only a fool would buy it!

However, in Li Wuyang's private room, as he dozed, the Great Dao Imprint in his sea of consciousness suddenly stirred slightly! Though faint, he could sense it! The shard retained a trace of an extremely ancient, extremely weak... primordial chaos aura! It was somewhat similar to the aura on Xuan, but more mixed!

"Good stuff!" Li Wuyang instantly woke up! This thing might be related to the Chaos Demon Gods! He had to have it!

He directly activated the bidding artifact and lazily stated, "One thousand one."

His voice, amplified by the sound-enhancing formation, spread throughout the hall. Everyone paused, looking up at the second-floor private room. Who was this big spender?

In the Hundred Herbs Valley's private room, an elder hesitated. He thought the shard might be useful for researching ancient medicinal formulas and tentatively raised the bid: "One thousand two."

Li Wuyang didn't even lift an eyelid. "Two thousand."

The entire hall erupted! A jump of eight hundred? What kind of move was that?

The Hundred Herbs Valley elder's face darkened, and he withdrew. It wasn't worth it for a piece of scrap metal.

The auctioneer excitedly shouted, "Two thousand high-grade spirit stones! Are there any higher bids? Two thousand, first call! Two thousand, second call..."

"Two thousand five!" a sinister voice echoed from a family's private room opposite. It was the patriarch of the Wang Family, the largest cultivation family in the city. He purely wanted to drive up the price out of spite for this "Qingyun Sect expert" who had recently been making waves, seeing Li Wuyang's determination to acquire it.

Li Wuyang smiled. Was he trying to out-rich me? He slowly took a sip of tea and uttered two words: "Five thousand."

Pfft--!

Someone in the audience spat out their tea! Five thousand high-grade spirit stones! For a piece of rusty copper?! This wasn't just a big spender; this person had too much spirit stone to burn!

The Wang Family patriarch was also stunned. He had intended to stop bidding at three thousand, but the other party had doubled it! His face turned ashen. He didn't dare to continue. What if the other party was deliberately trying to trap him? He would suffer a huge loss.

Ultimately, Li Wuyang acquired the unappealing bronze shard for the astronomical price of five thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Everyone looked at Li Wuyang's private room as if he were an idiot. Qingyunzi, sitting beside him, wiped a cold sweat from his brow, thinking: Daoist Friend Li's actions are truly profound and unfathomable... (I can't understand them!)

In the subsequent auction, Li Wuyang took a fancy to several rare spirit herbs that weren't considered much in the Primordial World. Each time, after someone else bid, he would directly double or even triple the price, outbidding them with overwhelming force and giving no one else a chance.

The entire auction had essentially become his personal showcase. Ruthlessly rich! Simple and brutal!

The representatives of other factions looked extremely displeased, especially the Wang Family patriarch, who felt utterly humiliated. However, they couldn't ascertain Li Wuyang's background and dared not act rashly.

When the auction ended, Li Wuyang, completely satisfied, took his "junk" acquisitions and, under the complicated gazes of the crowd, gracefully departed.

Upon returning to the Qingyun Sect, he eagerly began studying the bronze shard. After carefully refining the rust with Primordial Purple Qi, the shard revealed its true form. It was inscribed with blurry, distorted runes that belonged to no known civilization, emitting an even more pronounced primordial chaos aura.

"What exactly is a fragment of this thing?" Li Wuyang murmured to himself. He felt that behind this shard might lie secrets about the Sea of Falling Stars, and perhaps even about the Chaos Demon Gods.

It seemed his trip to the Sea of Falling Stars three years from now was inevitable!