Auctioneer Yaya raised her hand with a smile and announced clearly, "Our second lot is the Warm Jade Flying Bird ornament. Carved from far north cold jade ore core by a master artisan, its jade nourishes the body and calms the mind. It is an ideal decorative collectible for Soul Masters who spend years cultivating and seeking enlightenment in tranquility."
"This jade ornament has no soul power requirements and combines elegance with practical benefits. The starting bid is one thousand Gold Soul Coins. Honored guests, you may begin bidding!"
As the second lot appeared, Lu Xuan and Ye Renxin, seated in their private box, reacted almost simultaneously, a flicker of surprise crossing their eyes.
While browsing the auction catalog earlier, Lu Xuan had taken a particular interest in this Azure Jade Bird Ornament alone. He had not expected his master to notice it as well. Master and disciple shared a tacit understanding, both recognizing what it might be.
This was no ordinary jade ornament. It was modeled after the exceedingly rare Azure Jade Bird Soul Beast.
These Soul Beasts were elusive and few in number. Ordinary Soul Masters might never encounter one in their entire lives. Even specialists who devoted themselves to studying Soul Beast records and research would likely fail to recognize its true nature.
Ye Renxin, however, possessed vast knowledge and experience, making him one of the few who could recognize an Azure Jade Bird. More remarkably, Lu Xuan's first soul ring had come from one!
Azure Jade Birds possessed icy flesh and jade bones, with physiques that ranked among the strongest of avian Soul Beasts. They could also harness a degree of spatial power to attack. Upon reaching a hundred thousand years of cultivation, they would turn entirely to jade, making further advancement difficult!
Unless someone had personally seen a hundred-thousand-year Azure Jade Bird and then devoted immense effort to deliberately recreating it, the Azure Jade Bird Ornament before them was very likely the jade-transformed body of an actual hundred-thousand-year Azure Jade Bird!
Lu Xuan did not yet know how to activate this spiritual treasure or what it could do, but he sensed a faint resonance within himself.
The Azure Jade Bird shared the same origin as his first soul ring. If he bought it, he could take his time uncovering its mysteries.
As it happened, Ye Renxin had reached exactly the same conclusion.
The Soul Masters below showed little interest in the Azure Jade Bird Ornament, and bidding proceeded slowly. Only after quite some time did the price reach two thousand Gold Soul Coins.
That bid came from someone in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Evidently, he had noticed that the ornament was no ordinary piece of jade and held something unusual.
Seeing that the moment was right, Ye Renxin said calmly, "Two thousand one hundred Gold Soul Coins."
His voice was not loud, but amplified by his soul power, it carried clearly throughout the auction hall.
For a moment, no one could tell where the voice had come from. Yet everyone could sense the profound soul power behind it and understood.
An exceptionally powerful Soul Master had entered the bidding!
"Could this Azure Jade Bird Ornament be something extraordinary?"
"If it made that powerful Soul Master bid, it must be more than some ordinary trinket!"
"Should we raise the bid?"
"Forget it. Offending a powerful expert over something we know nothing about would be foolish."
Many people below whispered among themselves. After weighing their options, they gradually abandoned the bidding.
In the end, Ye Renxin picked up the Azure Jade Bird Ornament, whose purpose remained unknown, for the bargain price of two thousand one hundred Gold Soul Coins.
The auction continued, with one lot after another brought onto the display platform, but nothing else caught Lu Xuan's or Ye Renxin's interest.
Before long, the auction attendants completed the transaction. The Azure Jade Bird Ornament was delivered to their private box and placed in Lu Xuan's hands.
"It does look rather nice." Lu Xuan kept his expression neutral, revealing none of the importance he attached to it. He lightly tapped the Azure Jade Bird with a finger and remarked with a casual smile, "It'll make a fine ornament for the study."
With that, he raised his hand and put the Azure Jade Bird into his storage Soul Tool.
The staff member handling the transaction thought nothing of it. After checking the payment and accepting the Gold Soul Coins, the attendant bowed and respectfully withdrew from the box.
Ye Renxin turned to Lu Xuan with a questioning look. Lu Xuan merely shook his head gently, signaling that there was no need to discuss it yet.
The instant he had touched the Azure Jade Bird, he had indeed felt something unusual. Still, he had no idea how to activate or use it.
The auction went on, with successive lots appearing onstage, but none caught Lu Xuan's or Ye Renxin's eye.
Three hours passed in a flash, and the attendants carried another lot onto the auction platform.
As the attendants removed the layers of brocade covering it, the entire display was revealed to the audience.
Unlike the small, individual items offered earlier, this lot was an entire intricately crafted, multitiered Rosewood Spirit Herb Display.
The wooden stand was precisely divided into thirty-six separate jade compartments of uniform size, each containing an unusual flower or herb.
The thirty-six plants were arranged at varying heights, their colors vibrant and varied. Spirit energy rose from them in gentle wisps, while strands of luminous white mist curled around the display. Even from far away, everyone in the auction hall could smell the crisp, rich fragrance of vegetation, refreshing the heart and mind.
Among them were Purple-Rhyme Ginseng Leaf for healing injuries and strengthening one's foundation, Star-Moon Bodhi Grass for soothing the mind and stabilizing the spirit, Nine-Bend Spirit Vine for clearing meridians, and Dreamlike Flying Flower for nourishing the soul.
The thirty-six plants offered benefits ranging from healing, cultivation, and strengthening one's foundation to tempering the body, calming the mind, and overcoming barriers. They included nearly every rare herb a Soul Master might need for daily cultivation, recovery, and reinforcing their foundation.
Most importantly, these ninety-nine plants had long since transcended ordinary spiritual plants. Every one had transformed into a genuine plant-type Soul Beast.
Their sole shortcoming was their low cultivation age. All fell between ten and a hundred years, with none exceeding a hundred.
Once they realized this, both the knowledgeable herb connoisseurs and the guests who were merely there to enjoy the spectacle pursed their lips and shook their heads.
This spirit grass collection was in superb condition. Wreathed in spirit energy, it looked dazzling, but its practical value for cultivation and medicine refinement was far from exceptional.
For high-level Soul Masters, it was ultimately a flashy but insubstantial collection, more gimmick than useful treasure.
A plant-type Soul Master looking to create a mimicry cultivation environment might be willing to buy it.
But anyone expecting miraculous, world-shaking effects would be hoping for too much.
The moment the spirit grass collection was carried onto the platform, the atmosphere visibly cooled. Much of the earlier excitement and chatter instantly faded.
Yet while others dismissed it, Lu Xuan's and Ye Renxin's eyes lit up in unison.
In terms of medicinal properties alone, not one of these ninety-nine spiritual plants could compare with the immortal herbs growing in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Taken individually, they were only slightly more valuable than the ten-year solitary bamboo commonly found in Soul Beast forests.
But the fact that all of them had become plant-type Soul Beasts changed everything. With careful nurturing and enough time, they might produce some unexpected surprises.
For instance, the Tree of Life sapling among them had barely reached eighty years of age. Though young, its potential was astonishing.
Once it had lived long enough to reach maturity, the soul ring it produced would be an excellent match for Ye Lingling.
Even if Ye Lingling's cultivation had already taken shape by then and she missed the opportunity to use it, nurturing it over the long term and leaving it for the Ye Family's younger generations would still create an irreplaceable legacy.
There was also the Stone-Pattern Jade Zhi, just over twenty years old. It was immature now, but with careful cultivation, it could grow into a top-tier spiritual medicine rarely found in the world.
Then there was the fifty-year-old Morinda Root. Those who knew their herbs would naturally understand its subtleties.
Before you continue