"Hua, let’s go to the venue," Ye Xuan said.
Ignoring the chatter around him, he found Hua and headed straight for the auction house.
By the time they arrived, the venue was already packed. Ye Xuan found his seat using the number on his ticket: 1888, quite an auspicious number. Hua’s seat was 1889, right next to his. A corresponding number plaque rested on each seat, meant for bidding.
Since the two arrived early, the seats around them were still empty. Having nothing better to do, Ye Xuan closed his eyes. His Spiritual Body manifested in his Sea of Consciousness, and he began to practice his Martial Techniques.
Over the next half hour, the auction house filled up. An hour later, the event finally began.
A woman in a vibrant red qipao stepped onto the high stage. The dress clung tightly to her figure, its high slits revealing athletic thighs and glimpses of her pale waist, drawing every eye in the room. She walked with an alluring grace, her swaying hips radiating a seductive charm. This was today’s sexy auctioneer, possessing a figure of absolute temptation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the quadrennial grand auction has arrived once again," she announced, her voice dripping with enchantment. "I am your auctioneer for today, Hongyue. Without further ado, let’s commence the bidding. Our first item today will absolutely drive all of you crazy."
Hongyue clapped her hands, and two hostesses brought forward a box. It was over a meter long, indicating it held either a saber or a sword. As the box opened, a treasure sword was revealed inside.
"As you can see, this is a sword," Hongyue declared. "Its name is Changkong. Mid-tier Ghost Grade!"
The moment her words fell, the crowd erupted.
"What? Mid-tier Ghost Grade? Weapons of this caliber are incredibly rare!"
"It’s a pity. This is obviously reserved for the major powers. How could independent practitioners like us ever be qualified to compete for it?"
Ordinary cultivators could only stare at a Ghost Grade weapon in envy. It would undoubtedly be auctioned for Demon Soul Crystals—a currency that those with weak cultivation didn’t possess a single piece of!
"Alright, let us first test the weapon’s sharpness," Hongyue’s voice echoed out again.
Following her cue, a little girl and an elderly man in his fifties walked onto the stage. The old man held the girl’s hand as they stood in the center.
The next moment, a terrifying aura erupted from the old man’s body. The pressure was vast and boundless, crashing over the crowd like a roaring ocean. The vast majority of cultivators present felt as though a Big Mountain was pressing down on their shoulders. This old man was an expert at the Demon Spirit Realm.
"Tian, come here. Take the sword," Hongyue said, removing the weapon from its box and handing it to the eight-year-old girl.
Tian nodded and gripped the hilt. Without hesitation, she thrust the blade at the old man.
SHHK!
With a soft sound, the little girl easily pierced the old man’s abdomen with Changkong.
Even though he had unleashed his Spiritual Qi, he couldn’t block it! The old man was only at the first level of the Demon Spirit Realm, but this sword was a mid-tier Ghost Grade weapon! Weapons of this tier could easily puncture the skin of any cultivator below the sixth level of the Demon Spirit Realm. A first-level Demon Spirit Realm expert stood no chance.
Blood gushed from the wound until the old man consumed a stalk of Spirit Medicine, which quickly healed his injury.
"As you can see, this is the might of a mid-tier Ghost Grade weapon!" Hongyue announced. "Even a child wielding Changkong can injure an expert in the Demon Spirit Realm—provided they don’t dodge, of course.
"But I have said enough. The bidding starts now. The starting price is ten thousand Demon Soul Crystals, and each minimum bid increment is one thousand."
The moment she finished speaking, the bidding war began.
"Eleven thousand!"
"Thirteen thousand!"
"Twenty thousand!"
"Twenty-five thousand!"
"Fifty thousand!"
In just a few breaths, the price skyrocketed to fifty thousand. At this point, the only ones still calling out bids were the guests in the front row and the private VIP rooms on the second floor.
Ye Xuan did not participate. While a mid-tier Ghost Grade weapon was excellent, he already possessed an Earth Grade weapon. Why would he need a Ghost Grade one?
"One hundred thousand."
Just then, a guest in VIP Room 3 directly raised the bid to one hundred thousand. This was an astronomical figure. The entire auction house instantly fell silent.
"The guest in VIP Room 3 bids one hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals! Do I hear a higher offer?" Hongyue called out. "One hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals going once... One hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals going twice... One hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals..."
"One hundred and ten thousand."
Just as Hongyue was about to drop the hammer, the guest in VIP Room 1 raised their number plaque.
"VIP Room 1 bids one hundred and ten thousand! Does anyone else wish to raise the bid? If you miss out on a mid-tier Ghost Grade weapon today, you might have to wait another ten years for the next one!"
Meanwhile, inside VIP Room 3, an old man frowned deeply as he turned to his steward.
"How many Demon Soul Crystals did our Zhou Family prepare for this auction?"
"Patriarch, counting everything, we have exactly four hundred and fifty thousand," the steward replied. "But, Patriarch, do you really want to continue bidding? The people in VIP Room 1 are most likely lords from the Mou Family..."
"I know," the old man said, picking up his number plaque. "But this is a mid-tier Ghost Grade weapon. We’ve waited twelve years for something like this, and it has finally appeared. If I win it fair and square, the Mou Family can’t just rob me in broad daylight, even if they are the rulers of the town. Furthermore, the Mou Family’s ancestors set the rules long ago: the auction is based entirely on financial capability, and the highest bidder wins. The Mou Family cannot use their power to bully others."
"One hundred and eleven thousand!" he shouted.
"The price went up again! It’s the Patriarch of the Zhou Family!"
"The guest in VIP Room 1 is definitely from the Mou Family. I can’t believe he’s actually trying to compete with them. Putting aside whether he can even win, this is just asking for trouble."
"I can understand his reasoning, though. A mid-tier Ghost Grade weapon could easily be passed down as a family heirloom."
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, another bid came from VIP Room 1.
"One hundred and twenty thousand."
The guest in VIP Room 1 clearly possessed immense wealth. None of their bid increments were less than ten thousand.
Gritting his teeth, the old man in VIP Room 3 called out again, "One hundred and twenty-one thousand..."
No sooner had his words fallen—and before Hongyue could even speak—VIP Room 1 raised the bid once more.
"One hundred and thirty thousand!"
"Patriarch, one hundred and thirty thousand is already our limit," the steward urged. "Any more, and it just won’t be worth it. If there’s something good later in the auction, we might not have enough to buy it. Please think twice before acting."
"Sigh... Forget it. Let it go."
"VIP Room 1 bids one hundred and thirty thousand Demon Soul Crystals! Is there any higher?" Hongyue called. "One hundred and thirty thousand going once... One hundred and thirty thousand going twice... One hundred and thirty thousand going three times! Sold! Congratulations to the guest in VIP Room 1 for winning the mid-tier Ghost Grade weapon."
In the end, the sword was claimed by VIP Room 1 for the hefty sum of one hundred and thirty thousand Demon Soul Crystals. This was by no means cheap; even a prominent family in a Three-Star Main Town would be feeling the sting of such a purchase for quite a while.
"Alright, let us move on to the second item up for bid."
The auction continued seamlessly.
The second item was a batch of Level Five Spirit Revitalizing Pills. Elixirs of this grade could allow experts in the Demon Spirit Realm to rapidly replenish the Spiritual Qi within their bodies. However, the quality of these particular pills wasn’t very high; almost all of them were low-grade.
Spirit Revitalizing Pills were exceedingly common and could easily be bought at the elixir shops in the main town. Yet, they were always in high demand because they were consumed so quickly! Once a cultivator depleted their Spiritual Qi, it took a long period of rest to recover naturally. Thus, Spirit Revitalizing Pills were incredibly vital, especially when venturing out on expeditions.
"Here we have one hundred Level Five low-grade Spirit Revitalizing Pills, sold as a bundle," Hongyue stated. "The starting bid is fifty Demon Soul Crystals, with each minimum increment set at one Demon Soul Crystal..."