Lu Wanyuan had never expected that he would stumble upon the very Spiritual Medicine he had been dreaming of, simply by coming here to broaden his horizons. He was overjoyed.
But when he finally came to his senses, the bidding had already begun.
They'd gone through several rounds of offers!
The next moment, he heard another bid from the far end of the Open-air Venue.
"2,000 Spirit Stones!"
The voice was clear and resonant.
It sounded awfully familiar.
Following the sound, he saw that the bid had come from Xiao Wanchang, who was sitting at the other end. There were also several people beside him.
Xiao Wanchang was staring fixedly at the Ice Spirit Grass on the stage.
The tall beauty had already removed the red cloth from the tray in her hands, revealing ten stalks of emerald-green Ice Spirit Grass. Each was placed in a red Wooden Box, arranged side by side on the tray.
Spiritual energy swirled around the grass, giving it an almost Immortal Qi-like aura.
This was the first time Lu Wanyuan had seen such a high-grade Spiritual Plant. Anyone could tell at a glance that the grass was worth a fortune.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Xiao Wanchang's bid was answered.
A new bid came from a private box on the second floor.
"3,000!"
At that, Xiao Wanchang looked toward the box on the second floor that had just bid.
He fell silent for a moment, then considered how crucial this grass would be to his future cultivation.
Then he called out a new price.
"5,000!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, every cultivator in the Open-air Venue turned to look at him.
Xiao Wanchang's heart sank. He'd been so focused on getting the grass that he'd forgotten he was bidding in an open-air venue full of rogue cultivators. He'd just brazenly revealed how much he had to spend.
That was extremely dangerous!
He had talent and excellent cultivation aptitude, but until he grew strong, all of that was worthless. He could die and vanish at any moment.
Thinking of this, Xiao Wanchang's face darkened. The people around him also looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Lu Wanyuan watched every one of their reactions.
He'd been about to make a bid himself.
But once he saw what was happening, he understood at once.
He quickly shut his mouth and said nothing more.
The rogue cultivators on the first floor wouldn't need thousands of Spirit Stones to attract attention. Anyone carrying more than a hundred would already be regarded differently by those around them.
It was like sharks catching the scent of blood!
The thought made Lu Wanyuan feel a little eager.
That fellow was in for a rough time.
If that was how things stood, he might as well lend a hand later. It seemed the "Concealment 2 Hours" Entry had finally found a use.
But hearing the other man's bid still made his blood boil.
Back when he was at Green Bamboo Peak, he hadn't even had a hundred Spirit Stones to his name, and he'd scrimped and saved every day. How could this fellow be so generous, bidding on Spiritual treasures like that?
The brat had at least five thousand Spirit Stones!
There was no need to think twice. Unless the fellow had stumbled upon some fortuitous encounter, there was no way someone as insufferably haughty as him could have so many Spirit Stones.
It had to be his mother, Ouyang Tingting, who'd given them to him. And where had Ouyang Tingting gotten those Spirit Stones?
From Lu Hu, of course!
As he seethed, he heard the old man on stage, Luo Zexuan, call out loudly, "The bidding has reached 7,000 Spirit Stones!"
"That comes to 700 for each stalk of Spiritual Medicine!"
"Don't assume that's an excessive price. I can tell you clearly!"
"Although Ice Grass is only a barely second-tier Spiritual Medicine and may seem insignificant compared with other Spiritual Medicines, its unique Pharmacological Properties and effects—"
"—have earned it the favor of countless cultivators. The main reason is that this Spiritual Medicine comes from the North Ice Plain, tens of millions of miles away. Just think of that distance!"
"It's worth every Spirit Stone!"
"So don't miss this chance. You may not get another opportunity to own any for ten years. After all, the Ice Grass grows in such harsh conditions that it's far from easy to find..."
After his tireless pitch,
the bid unexpectedly climbed to 9,000.
However, that offer had come from a private box on the second floor.
At that price, the cultivators on the first floor could forget about bidding. They were all a bunch of paupers.
Lu Wanyuan wanted to bid too.
But then he remembered that he was still in the open-air venue, so he had to give up.
He regretted it terribly. If only he'd gotten a private box on the second floor. Then he could have bid to his heart's content without anyone knowing.
It seemed the VIP boxes were worth every Spirit Stone. If he ran into another Auction like this, he'd secure a box first, whether or not he planned to buy anything.
Fortunately, he noticed that Xiao Wanchang was also staring fixedly at a box on the second floor—the one that had bid on and won the grass.
The grass must have been important to this fellow. Otherwise, he wouldn't look as if someone had died. He must have something in mind.
If so, there'd be a good show to watch.
He'd wanted to kill this fellow for a long time. Now that the other man was practically asking for it, Lu Wanyuan would just have to do him the favor of playing the Yellow Bird!
Once he'd thought it through, he stopped paying attention.
Just as he'd expected,
the box on the second floor that had bid 9,000 Spirit Stones won the ten stalks of Ice Spirit Grass.
After that, one auction item after another went under the hammer.
Magical artifacts, pills, Cultivation Techniques, Spiritual Talismans, ores—every kind of cultivation resource imaginable.
The entire Auction venue was buzzing with excitement.
The event had certainly opened Lu Wanyuan's eyes. Faced with such a dazzling array of items, he committed them all to memory, thinking that if he got the chance, he'd know what to do with them in the future.
Several times, he'd wanted to bid. But each time, he saw Hu Yidao beside him watching the items onstage with great interest, and gave up on the idea.
Better to avoid unnecessary trouble. What would this fellow think if he won an item?
He'd come to this Auction to broaden his horizons, and that was all. He wasn't buying a thing!
"All right, thanks to all of you, fellow Daoists, for your enthusiasm. This Auction has gone exceptionally well, and we're nearly out of time!"
"I imagine you've all bought the items you wanted and are heading home with full hands!"
"Next is the final item of this Auction. But I'm afraid it will be out of reach for most of you!"
After speaking, Luo Zexuan looked over the crowd again, wearing a mysterious expression.
"Fellow Daoist Luo, why all the secrecy? Whether we're destined for it isn't up to you!"
"Exactly! Just bring it out already. We'll see what it is for ourselves."
"..."
The crowd below had been thoroughly worked up by Luo Zexuan. They all wanted a look at the treasure he was talking about.
Seeing the restless crowd, Luo Zexuan knew he'd built up enough anticipation.
He took a few steps forward. "All right, everyone, take a good look. Bring out the final item!"
He waved toward the backstage. A tall woman immediately came out, carrying a tray covered in red cloth, and walked up to him.
Then he lifted the cloth from the tray. On the red tray lay a pitch-black, gleaming token about the size of a palm, with strands of white spiritual silk swirling around it.
The crowd looked at it with disdain.
"Damn, what is that thing? Just an ordinary Magical Artifact. We've seen hundreds of those today, if not a thousand. There's nothing special about it!"
"Exactly! We thought it was some kind of treasure!"
"Right, Fellow Daoist Luo. That's pretty underhanded of you. You pull a stunt like this at the very end—don't you think that's disrespectful to us?"
Seeing their reactions, Luo Zexuan raised both hands toward the crowd and shouted, "Fellow Daoists, open your eyes and take a good look. Do you know what this is?"
"It is indeed a Magical Artifact, but do you still not recognize it? You still don't know what this thing is, even now. That's why I said it wasn't meant for you!"
"Fellow Daoist Luo, if that's the case, why didn't you say so earlier? You've got us all itching to know."
A cultivator below shouted in complaint.
"All right. This token is the Qingyun Sect's 'Clan Establishment Order.' With it, you can apply to the Qingyun Sect to establish a Cultivation Family and receive the sect's recognition!"
"You can obtain a Spirit Vein and establish your family! This is the order countless rogue-cultivator families dream of. The Qingyun Sect may only issue one of these every hundred years or so."
"After all, the number of Spirit Veins is limited. You can only hope to obtain this order by rendering great service to the Qingyun Sect!"
"Our Four Seas Alliance got this order from a rogue-cultivator family that rendered great service to the Qingyun Sect. But after their great service was done, the family fell into decline and was in no position to establish a viable Cultivation Family, so they entrusted the order to the Auction house to be sold!"
"All right, I've said my piece. The starting bid is Spirit Stones, and each bid must be at least 2,000 Spirit Stones higher than the last. Bidding starts now!"
After introducing it at machine-gun speed, Luo Zexuan started the bidding before the crowd had even had time to react!
The people below exchanged bewildered looks. Only now did they realize that this palm-sized, pitch-black token was none other than the famed "Clan Establishment Order"!
Possessing one was like having an inexhaustible source of spiritual energy, because it granted you the legal right to own a Spirit Vein—or so it was in name, at least.
Of course, the first condition was being able to defend it!
Lu Wanyuan, standing below, stared at all of this in a daze.
He'd already planned to establish a family with his brothers if he got the chance.
So he'd looked into the "Clan Establishment Order" in detail.
He knew it wasn't easy to obtain one.
The Qingyun Sect only issued a "Clan Establishment Order" when it felt threatened or was expanding on a large scale, rewarding those cannon fodder for working themselves to the bone.
But it was practically impossible for the Qingyun Sect, a hegemon, to be in danger. The only possibility was if the Demonic Beasts from the wilderness attacked.
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