As the auction continued, treasures sold one after another for high prices, and the fervor in the hall never waned.
Finally, after another dozen or so items, it was time for the Foundation Establishment Pills.
"Two Foundation Establishment Pills. I hardly need to introduce these, do I? Though Foundation Establishment cultivators like ourselves have no use for them, they are vital strategic resources for cultivation clans. With one of these pills, a clan might gain another Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Foundation Establishment Pills have rarely appeared in recent years, and you will never find them for sale on the ordinary market. If you miss this opportunity, who knows what year or month it will be before you see them offered again? Fellow Daoists representing your various factions, make sure you seize this chance!
"The seller has one requirement: bids should include pill formulas that can improve cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Stage, with preference given to bids offering more formulas. Now, these two Foundation Establishment Pills will be auctioned separately. Bidding for the first begins now!" the elderly man surnamed Li announced loudly, his voice full of enticement.
He had barely finished speaking when a long-haired cultivator in blue robes and a monkey mask shouted a bid:
"I offer one Qi-Gathering Pill formula, plus five hundred Spirit Stones!"
"I offer one Spirit Transformation Pill formula, plus seven hundred Spirit Stones!"
"Two formulas, for the Qi-Gathering Pill and Spirit Gathering Pill, plus eight hundred Spirit Stones!"
The bids for the Foundation Establishment Pill climbed again and again. Soon, someone offered two formulas, but once that bid was made, the number of bidders swiftly dwindled.
Only two remained in contention: a middle-aged cultivator of about forty, dressed in scholarly robes and sporting a long beard, and a cultivator wearing a rabbit mask. The latest bid had come from the middle-aged scholar.
The bidding was already very high, as Qi-Gathering Pills and Spirit Gathering Pills were both commonly used by Foundation Establishment cultivators in the cultivation world to improve their cultivation.
These formulas had been refined through the efforts of several generations. Each was worth a considerable sum-at least two thousand Spirit Stones if priced in stones. Under ordinary circumstances, however, no one would offer them for trade even if a buyer had the Spirit Stones.
Foundation Establishment Pills, however, were unusual. Their ability to cleanse the meridians and marrow only benefited Qi Refining Stage cultivators. Although they contained considerable spiritual energy, they offered Foundation Establishment cultivators next to no improvement in cultivation.
Yet these pills were crucial to cultivation clans. After all, they could potentially grant a clan another Foundation Establishment cultivator, affecting its various interests and the continuation of its lineage. Compared with a Foundation Establishment Pill, then, the formulas a clan possessed were not beyond trading.
At this point, the rabbit-masked cultivator gritted his teeth and said:
"I offer two usable formulas, for the Qi-Gathering Pill and Azure Dew Pill, as well as two ancient formulas, for Qi Refining Powder and the Peiyuan Pill!"
In the Southern Heaven Cultivation World, ancient pill formulas were much cheaper. For many of them, either the required spirit medicines had vanished and were impossible to find, or the medicines needed to be so old that refining the pills was all but impossible. Most were only useful for research, and some people even called them "useless formulas." Thus, an ancient formula generally cost only a few hundred Spirit Stones.
Xiao Yu was delighted by the bid, inwardly clamoring for the old man to accept it. He did not lack Spirit Stones; what he lacked were pill formulas. As long as the spirit medicines had not vanished entirely, he did not care how old they needed to be.
Unfortunately, Xiao Yu could not conveniently send a voice transmission to the man surnamed Li without risking exposure, so he could only wait anxiously among the audience.
Fortunately, after a long stretch without another bid, the elderly man surnamed Li finally awarded the first Foundation Establishment Pill to the rabbit-masked cultivator.
As expected, the middle-aged scholar won the second Foundation Establishment Pill. His final bid was two formulas, for the Qi-Gathering Pill and Spirit Gathering Pill, plus one thousand Spirit Stones.
After the Foundation Establishment Pills, several more treasures were auctioned before they finally reached the grand finale.
The elderly man surnamed Li cupped his hands toward the seated cultivators and said, "Fellow Daoists,
"Next is our shop's final item, and also the crowning treasure of this auction!" As he spoke, he took a Jade Box several inches across from his Storage Bag and set it on the table.
"Fellow Daoist! What exactly is it? If it's the crowning treasure, it must be something good. Hurry and open the Jade Box so we can have a look!" a man with a deep voice urged impatiently.
Many of the cultivators also stared curiously at the Jade Box in front of the elderly man surnamed Li.
Seeing this, the elderly man surnamed Li chuckled. "Very well, I shall give you all a look!"
As he spoke, he slowly opened the Jade Box, revealing a pure white pill the size of a pigeon's egg before everyone's eyes.
"A Core Condensation Pill!" An aged voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears.
"What! It really is a Core Condensation Pill? One of the finest spiritual aids for helping cultivators condense a golden core?"
"Indeed, it is a Core Condensation Pill! This pill helps Foundation Establishment cultivators condense their golden cores, increasing their chance of successful Core Formation by more than twenty percentage points. It is one of the finest spiritual aids for Core Formation! If my purse weren't so light, even I wouldn't be able to resist bidding," the elderly man surnamed Li said excitedly.
"Bidding for the Core Condensation Pill begins now. The starting price is four thousand Spirit Stones, with each increase no lower than one hundred Spirit Stones!"
Seeing the pill and hearing its introduction filled Xiao Yu with envy, but the moment he heard the starting price of four thousand Spirit Stones, he abandoned any thought of bidding. Not only did he lack that many Spirit Stones, but even if he won it, he could not use it yet, and it would draw covetous eyes. With his current strength, just one or two mid- or late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators would most likely be enough to finish him off.
"Four thousand five hundred Spirit Stones!" The first bidder immediately raised the price by five hundred, hoping to scare some people off. Clearly, however, he had been too optimistic. He had barely finished before another bid followed.
"Four thousand six hundred."
"Five thousand."
"Five thousand five hundred."
"Nine thousand Spirit Stones!"
The price soared steadily, and only when it reached the staggering sum of nine thousand Spirit Stones did the bidding begin to thin out.
Xiao Yu was left speechless at the bids. He had never imagined there were so many wealthy people. He really had been a frog at the bottom of a well, thinking that having several thousand Spirit Stones made him someone remarkable. Now, it seemed there were plenty of people with that kind of wealth.
By now, nearly everyone still bidding was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. They had cultivated for many years and amassed sizable fortunes, and their desire for the pill was even greater than that of early- and mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Nine thousand five hundred!"
A stout figure wearing a black hood shouted the bid through gritted teeth.
"Ten thousand!"
Not far from him, an average-built late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator wearing a tiger mask calmly raised the bid again, making the stout cultivator clench both fists in fury.
"Eleven thousand Spirit Stones!"
A female cultivator wearing a black bamboo hat, seated farther away from them, raised the price by a substantial amount in one stroke.
Everyone else fell silent. Few could afford the astronomical sum of eleven thousand.
"Eleven thousand five hundred! Fairy, if you can bid higher than that, I'll let you have this pill!" After a long silence, the stout cultivator glared angrily at the woman and spoke through clenched teeth.
By this point, everyone else had long since withdrawn from the contest. They could only watch the two deep-pocketed Foundation Establishment cultivators bid, their eyes filled with unwilling resignation.
"Eleven thousand six hundred!"
The moment he finished speaking, the female cultivator sneered and deliberately raised the bid by the bare minimum of one hundred Spirit Stones. His face flushed as red as blood with anger. Yet after shooting her several venomous looks, he truly made no further bid.
And so, the late-stage Foundation Establishment female cultivator ultimately purchased the Core Condensation Pill for an astronomical price!
Everyone was filled with envy. Some looked at the woman with eyes full of greed, while a smaller number had a vicious gleam in their gazes. It seemed quite a few stories would unfold once the auction ended.
Before you continue