This was the Enlightenment Pill! An elixir that could directly raise someone at the Dao Integration Realm by a minor stage.
However, everyone knew that this Enlightenment Pill was bound to be contested by the great sects and powerful clans. The starting bid might be so high it would make their jaws drop. Still, that was fine—they could just enjoy the show!
"Enlightenment Pill. The starting bid is fifty million high-grade spirit stones. Each bid must be at least five million high-grade spirit stones higher than the last."
"Since everyone's still watching, allow this old man to get things started! Fifty-five million high-grade spirit stones!"
The Great Elder of Mingyang Sect spoke in an unhurried voice.
"Sixty million high-grade spirit stones!"
"Seventy million high-grade spirit stones!"
"Seventy-five million high-grade spirit stones!"
The people from the various sects and clans were determined to get their hands on this Enlightenment Pill.
"Da Bai, do you want this Enlightenment Pill?"
"Can I really have it, Master?"
"It's cheap."
"Besides, you can't handle the medicinal power of the Colored Scale Fruit yet. You might as well eat this Enlightenment Pill to improve yourself."
"Wuwu X﹏X, Master, you're too good to me."
Da Bai gazed at Qing Mo with tears in his eyes.
The price of the Enlightenment Pill had already climbed to eight hundred million high-grade spirit stones, and the bids were gradually slowing. Even a first-rate sect would feel the sting of taking out eight hundred million high-grade spirit stones all at once.
Everyone in the venue was already dumbstruck. Eight hundred million high-grade spirit stones! Where had they ever seen so many spirit stones?
"Yu Rou, how many high-grade spirit stones do we have left?"
"Master, we only have a few tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones left."
Liu Yurou blushed a little, feeling as though she'd spent too much. The two hundred million high-grade spirit stones she and Qing Mo had brought between them had dwindled to a mere few tens of thousands.
"Use this to bid."
Qing Mo tossed Liu Yurou a storage ring. Inside lay more than ten thousand Supreme Spirit Stone Veins.
Liu Yurou was completely stunned.
"Now that's what I call rich!"
"Ninety million supreme-grade spirit stones!"
(Low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, supreme-grade spirit stones. 1:10)
As Liu Yurou raised the bid, Qing Mo browsed the System Mall, looking for a physique suitable for her. Though she already had an Innate Spirit Physique, in Qing Mo's eyes, it still fell short.
"Primordial Physique, Chaos Physique, Myriad Dharma Dao Physique..."
Everyone present sucked in a sharp breath when they heard Liu Yurou's bid. Even the Hidden Sects weren't this wealthy!
Only the once-in-a-decade auctions held in the Central Continent ever saw people bidding with supreme-grade spirit stones.
"Miss, this old man suspects you don't actually have that many supreme-grade spirit stones."
"Heh. This young master suspects you don't have that many supreme-grade spirit stones either."
"Does the Auction House just let people drive up the price like this?"
Everyone present eyed Liu Yurou with suspicion.
"You don't have it, so you can't stand seeing someone else with it? What a joke.
"Have someone from the Auction House come and verify whether I can actually produce these supreme-grade spirit stones!"
Qiu Yue went to check in person. She had hosted countless auctions for the Auction House, but she had never seen anyone bid so high!
Liu Yurou let her see the more than ten thousand Supreme Spirit Stone Veins inside the ring, and Qiu Yue froze in shock.
"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?"
It took her a good while to recover. As she left the private room, she glanced deeply at Qing Mo, who had his eyes closed while petting the cat in his arms. She had no idea what he was thinking.
After Qiu Yue verified that Liu Yurou could produce ninety million supreme-grade spirit stones, the entire venue erupted in an uproar.
A thought crossed the minds of many people present: The parched die of thirst while the flooded drown. I'm so poor I could die (ಥ﹏ಥ).
"Don't finish them off too quickly later. Play with them first and see how many people are in a hurry to take shortcuts. Once you've had your fun, wipe out the forces behind them while you're at it."
"Yes, Master. I'll play with them for a while first."
"Da Bai, stay by my side for now. When I tell you to attack, then you move."
Qing Mo gently patted Da Bai, who was sprawled in his arms with all four legs in the air.
"One billion high-grade spirit stones!"
The Great Elder of Mingyang Sect looked grim.
"One billion and fifty million high-grade spirit stones. I ask the young lady to do me this small favor. This prince will repay you handsomely in the future."
"It's an auction, so the highest bidder wins! Two hundred million supreme-grade spirit stones."
Liu Yurou had no intention of wasting any more time. She doubled the bid outright.
"Little girl, just because you get your hands on something doesn't mean it belongs to you."
"Looks like this Enlightenment Pill wasn't meant for me."
Qiu Yue's face flushed with excitement. This successful auction had broken her record as a host, and the young woman bidding against everyone was very likely a master-servant pair with the young man in the private room.
Earlier, when she had verified the bid, that young man had kept his eyes closed. He hadn't seemed to care at all that she could see the Supreme Spirit Stone Veins inside the ring. Either the ring wasn't his, or he simply didn't care about the veins inside it.
Qiu Yue leaned toward the latter.
"Will anyone bid higher? If not, this Enlightenment Pill belongs to this young lady."
The entire venue fell silent.
"Congratulations to this young lady for successfully winning the Enlightenment Pill."
Someone promptly brought the Enlightenment Pill over to Liu Yurou. Da Bai spotted it and immediately leaped into her arms, staring fixedly at the pill.
In full view of everyone present, Liu Yurou placed the Enlightenment Pill in Da Bai's mouth. The aura that should have erupted was instantly concealed by Liu Yurou, and nothing happened at the venue.
Only the First Prince sensed something slightly amiss. His sixth sense told him that the cat and the woman were dangerous, and that he must never make an enemy of them.
He trusted his sixth sense completely. It was thanks to it that he had survived the trials he faced while advancing his cultivation.
"Do you have any last words? You can say them now. You won't get the chance later."
Patriarch Lin stared at Liu Yurou with murderous intent in his eyes. The Great Elder of Mingyang Sect was no different.
Everyone present had already begun calculating how they could go after Liu Yurou.
Once the auction was over, Patriarch Lin and the Great Elder of Mingyang Sect were already waiting with their people at the entrance for Liu Yurou to come out.
The Purple Frost City Lord had been accompanying the First Prince the whole time. Seeing a chance to make an impression on the Great Elder of Mingyang Sect, he was about to act when the First Prince stopped him.
"If you don't want to die, stay out of this."
The First Prince warned him expressionlessly. Then he said, "Whatever grudges you have, settle them outside the city. Purple Frost City is the third most prosperous city in the Luotian Dynasty. It would be difficult to explain to Father if you damaged it."
Patriarch Lin agreed at once. The Great Elder of Mingyang Sect also did the First Prince a favor, since this wasn't the Eastern Wasteland.
Qing Mo and Liu Yurou had just left the auction venue when they immediately flew toward the outskirts of the city. Patriarch Lin and the Great Elder followed close behind, along with many others hoping to grab a share of the spoils.
As soon as they reached the outskirts, Qing Mo slipped into the spatial interlayer, leaving Liu Yurou alone outside. The others also noticed that the man who had been standing beside her had suddenly vanished. He might have used some kind of secret art to abandon the woman and flee.
"Little girl, you have terrible taste! You picked a cowardly man who's afraid of death!"
"Stinking woman, I'll cripple you first, then take you to my son and have you sliced into a thousand pieces!"
To play along with them, Liu Yurou deliberately revealed the spiritual power of a late-stage Spirit Refining cultivator. Patriarch Lin was also at the late stage of Spirit Refining, but the aura he released was even stronger than hers.
Patriarch Lin planned to go all out from the start, giving Liu Yurou no chance to use any trump cards. But the longer they fought, the more alarmed he became. No matter what moves he used, his opponent could easily break them.
Before you continue