Auction Begins (Please Keep Reading)

The next morning, dappled shadows from the tall bamboo grove spilled across the courtyard!

Several spirit beasts that had once been sickly and listless began letting out cheerful roars as well.

In Ye Jingcheng's courtyard, seeing Ye Jingcheng rise, the Jade Ring Rat flapped its enormous ears and crawled onto him!

Ye Jingcheng patted the Jade Ring Rat's round, bulging belly.

"Stop growing nothing but a belly. Let those ears of yours grow some more!" Ye Jingcheng put the Jade Ring Rat into the spirit beast pouch, then stored the Crimson Flame Fox, which was dozing on the table beside him.

The Crimson Flame Fox still appeared somewhat languid. Under Ye Jingcheng's stroking, it let out soft, low chirps.

Ye Jingcheng sent it another stream of precious radiance and fed it a Spirit Feeding Pill.

"Your aura is nearly at the late first rank, isn't it?" Feeling the Crimson Flame Fox's spiritual power, Ye Jingcheng was overjoyed!

As expected of a demon beast that could grow to the late second rank!

When he had first raised the Crimson Flame Fox, it had likely only just reached the middle first rank.

After the Crimson Flame Fox slowly gnawed down the Spirit Feeding Pill, Ye Jingcheng stored it in the spirit beast pouch as well!

Today was the day of the auction!

At present, he had exactly two hundred and seventy spirit stones in his storage pouch.

When he stepped out of the courtyard, Ye Xinghe, Ye Xingyu, and Ye Jingli were already fully prepared to depart.

Since they needed to guard the shop, Ye Jingyun, Ye Jinghao, and Ye Xinghong stayed behind.

The Ye Family's spirit beast business had improved considerably lately. With too few hands, they would be somewhat overwhelmed.

"At this auction, bid on anything you want yourselves. The family may not be able to help you much," Ye Xinghe told the three of them once more before they left.

After saying that, the four of them headed toward a massive hall at the very center of the marketplace.

The hall stood beside Heavenly One Pavilion. In terms of grandeur, it was only slightly inferior to the latter. Its upper levels were carved with countless flying dragons and exotic beasts, each with a precious pearl clamped in its mouth.

At that moment, cultivators of all kinds were streaming inside.

"Ye Xinghe, you must have prepared quite a few spirit stones today!" A middle-aged man in blue silk robes, wearing a crown and sporting a small mustache, approached from afar with a grin.

This man was none other than Li Mutian, the Li Family's manager in Taihang Marketplace.

"No need for Fellow Daoist Li to concern himself. Rather, how many spirit stones have you prepared? Would you like me to lend you some spirit pills to sell in exchange for a few spirit stones?" Ye Xinghe shot back mockingly.

After trading a few barbs, they entered the grand hall one after another.

The hall was exceptionally spacious, with enough seats for over a thousand people!

There were even second and third floors.

However, the private rooms on the second floor were reserved for at least Purple Mansion families or Purple Mansion cultivators!

Foundation Establishment families like the Ye Family could only sit in the compartments behind the main seating area.

At this moment, quite a few cultivators had already gathered in the compartments, and the four great Foundation Establishment families of Taihang Marketplace had all taken their seats.

"Xingyu, take the two of them and sit down first. I'll be back shortly!" Ye Xinghe glanced at Ye Xingyu, patted him on the shoulder, and headed toward the auction hall's backstage area.

The Ye Family held a certain share in the auction and needed to submit some auction items and make a few arrangements.

Of course, Ye Xinghe also wanted to investigate whether the Bloodheart Pill was genuine.

Hearing this, Ye Xingyu nodded and led the other two to their seats.

As Ye Jingcheng sat down, he saw several members of the Li Family staring their way, their gazes brimming with disdain.

"No need to mind them. Back when our Ye Family was running rampant through Taihang, their Li Family was still wagging their tails and calling us Immortal Masters!" Ye Xingyu said softly after glancing over.

The Ye Family had been a Foundation Establishment family for a long time, while the Li Family had only prospered over the past one or two hundred years after producing a genius who joined the Taiyi Sect.

Of course, no matter how quietly Ye Xinghe spoke, to cultivators, his voice was naturally still loud and clear!

Li Mutian immediately bristled, and the two younger cultivators rose to their feet, glaring toward the Ye Family!

Yet the three members of the Ye Family remained utterly unmoved. If the Li Family dared make a move in this marketplace, they would truly admire them!

"No need to perform such a grand standing salute!" Ye Xinghe also came over from afar, his face full of smiles.

The two cultivators wanted to keep glaring, but at one look from Ye Xinghe, they immediately shrank back.

Li Mutian also spoke.

"I hope your Ye Family is more than just sharp-tongued!"

After saying that, he spoke no further and merely looked toward the round platform in the auction hall.

Ye Xinghe, meanwhile, looked toward the private rooms above. Only after seeing that there were none of the cultivators he had imagined inside did he let out a sigh of relief.

At the same time, however, he was somewhat puzzled. Li Mutian would not normally provoke him at an auction.

His provocation today likely concealed no small scheme.

After all, angering an opponent at an auction would only make one pay a higher price for the things one wanted to bid on, or allow the other party to forcibly snatch away the auction item one desired.

"That Bloodheart Pill..." Ye Xinghe's thoughts grew more complicated.

"Thank you all for coming to Taihang Marketplace's auction. This little woman is Luo Xiang, the auctioneer for today's event!"

"The auction rules are the same as before: highest bidder wins. If you do not have enough spirit stones, you may use treasures as collateral, or have them auctioned on the spot!"

Luo Xiang wore a green dress, and beneath her slow, unhurried speech, her almost-bursting curves made quite a few cultivators breathe faster before they had even seen the treasures.

Especially the Rogue Cultivators.

"Jingcheng, she doesn't seem like a little woman at all!" Even Ye Jingli muttered beside Ye Jingcheng.

"All right, no more nonsense, or else the seniors and fellow cultivators will blame this little woman!"

"The first auction item is a first-rank high-grade Five-Child Rings artifact, a set artifact. When all five rings strike together, even top-grade artifacts may not be able to withstand them. The starting bid is eight hundred spirit stones, and each bid increase must be no less than ten spirit stones!"

Luo Xiang took out five silver rings. Beneath the spiritual light, the rings instantly erupted with blazing silver radiance.

Seeing this, Ye Jingcheng could not help but smile bitterly. For this single high-grade artifact, even all his spirit stones would not reach its starting price!

"Eight hundred and fifty!"

"Nine hundred!"

Once the Five-Child Rings artifact appeared, the ones bidding most eagerly were the Rogue Cultivators. This sort of set artifact was powerful, yet cheaper than a top-grade artifact!

Surprisingly, none of the Four Great Families placed a bid.

Very soon, the Five-Child Rings sold for one thousand three hundred spirit stones.

The auction hall grew much livelier as well. In such a setting, enormous figures stirred cultivators' excitement even more!

"Next is a first-rank high-grade spirit fruit, the Heavenly Leaf Fruit, the main ingredient for refining the Heavenly Leaf Pill. The starting bid is one hundred and fifty spirit stones, and each bid increase must be no less than five spirit stones!"

After the first auction item, the second was far less impressive.

Yet upon hearing this, Ye Jingcheng became somewhat excited instead. The Heavenly Leaf Fruit was worth roughly the same as the Red Dragon Fruit he wanted.

The Heavenly Leaf Fruit ultimately sold for two hundred and thirty.

Sure enough, after two more first-rank mid-grade defensive artifacts were auctioned, Luo Xiang accepted a red tray from the side.

The golden silk cloth atop the tray was lifted, revealing an almost translucent white jade box!

Within the jade box lay a vivid red spirit fruit—the very Red Dragon Fruit Ye Jingcheng had been longing for.

"A first-rank high-grade Red Dragon Fruit. It is of great use in refining many spirit pills, and even if consumed by fellow cultivators who practice fire-attribute techniques or by spirit beasts, its effects are excellent. The starting bid is one hundred and fifty spirit stones, and each bid increase must be no less than five spirit stones!"