AWB Chapter 74 Participating in the Auction
Chapter 74 Participating in the Auction
Five days later, Ye Xiaobai had fully recovered from his injuries. As a result of the misfortune, his cultivation had also improved considerably.
More importantly, under Liu Yuqing's "enthusiastic" guidance, Ye Xiaobai finally grasped the essence of swordsmanship.
The next time I encounter Liu Yuqing, although I will still be no match for him, at least I can withstand a few more moves.
Realizing that his own strength could not be greatly improved in the short term, and that he could only rely on external forces to defeat enemies with higher cultivation levels, such as late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators like Liu Yuqing, he had to rely on external forces.
Although the formation was good, it took some time to set it up. Thinking of this, Ye Xiaobai suddenly remembered that he had encountered the Soul-Locking and Bone-Corroding Powder before. After being poisoned, Qi Refining stage cultivators would be at the mercy of others without an antidote. So he went to the market to look for a similar pill formula.
The good news is that Ye Xiaobai found the recipe for the Foundation Condensation and Yuan Sealing Pill. The bad news is that the Spirit Sealing Grass he bought was too young, so the pill he made might not be as effective as he hoped.
"The more alchemists a novice makes, the better."
"I'll refine more pills; you never know when I might need them." With that thought in mind, Ye Xiaobai began refining Foundation Condensation and Yuan Sealing Pills.
During the refining process, Ye Xiaobai's keen sense of smell caused him to accidentally imprison his own spiritual power. Fortunately, he had prepared an antidote in advance; otherwise, the pill meant for the enemy would have been used on himself first.
The Foundation Condensation and Yuan Sealing Pill was successfully refined in the end, but Ye Xiaobai estimated that its efficacy might be slightly weaker for those in the late Foundation Establishment stage.
Just as Ye Xiaobai was celebrating the successful refinement of the Foundation Condensation and Yuan Sealing Pill, another piece of good news arrived.
When I bought the pill formula from the Treasure Pavilion, I asked the shopkeeper to keep an eye out for high-aged Spirit Sealing Grass, and today it finally arrived.
The shopkeeper said that the Wushan City market nearby has recently been expanded and a grand auction has been prepared to invite fellow Daoists from all directions.
I heard that this auction has prepared many rare treasures, including a 300-year-old Sealing Spirit Grass.
Ye Xiaobai was determined to obtain the Sealing Spirit Grass, and even sold the extra pills he had recently refined to exchange for some spirit stones.
The auction was scheduled to begin in two days. Since Li Xinyan was currently in seclusion, Ye Xiaobai planned to go by himself.
Before they knew it, the auction was about to begin. Ye Xiaobai was about to head out when Chen Ling, having heard about the auction, also wanted to join in the fun. She pestered Ye Xiaobai to take her along, and Ye Xiaobai had no choice but to bring Chen Ling with him.
An hour later, Ye Xiaobai and Chen Ling arrived at Wushan City safely.
The market town of Wushan City was indeed newly expanded, with new shops opening everywhere, attracting a large number of cultivators and creating a lively atmosphere.
It is understood that the market town falls within the sphere of influence of the Huanglong Sect, and therefore, there are also Core Formation stage elders of the Huanglong Sect stationed there. Ordinary people certainly wouldn't dare to cause trouble in this market town and offend the Huanglong Sect.
Chen Ling, looking at the bustling market, dragged Ye Xiaobai here and there, almost getting carried away with the fun.
Ye Xiaobai managed to stop Chen Ling's playful impulses in time and arrived at the location before the auction began.
Each person was charged an entrance fee of 100 spirit stones. Ye Xiaobai didn't care about the spirit stones at the moment. After paying the entrance fee, the auction house guard gave him two masks.
They also explained that everyone entering the venue must wear a mask to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
Ye Xiaobai put on the mask and entered the auction.
Upon entering the venue, Ye Xiaobai realized he was a bit late and could only squeeze Chen Ling into a corner, where there weren't even any seats available.
Looking up, the venue had three levels. The first level was filled with hundreds of people like Ye Xiaobai, while there were only a few seats in the middle of the venue.
The second floor has tables and chairs, and dedicated staff to refill tea and serve water. The third floor has some private rooms with only a small window visible, presumably for viewing the auction items and bidding.
Ye Xiaobai could only blame himself for arriving late. Forget about private rooms or even the elegant seats on the second floor; every seat was already occupied, with no empty spots at all.
Fortunately, everyone here is a cultivator, so standing for a while won't cause any major problems.
The auction began soon after.
"Everyone, please be quiet! The auction is about to begin!" a middle-aged man with a short beard shouted from the high platform in the center of the venue.
The speaker was Li Lin, the auctioneer at the auction house and also an outer elder of the Yellow Dragon Sect, who currently possessed the cultivation level of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
"I'm very happy that everyone has come to this auction house hosted by Yipinju. I am Li Lin, the person in charge of this auction house." Li Lin greeted everyone warmly.
"Stop talking nonsense! Bring out whatever good stuff you have!"
Many people in the audience shouted loudly.
"Alright, alright, I won't waste any more words. Let's officially begin our auction. The first item is a mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill."
"The starting bid for the essential pills for Qi Refining cultivators to advance to Foundation Establishment is 1 spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than 500 spirit stones. Let's begin!"
"Spiritual stone!"
"Spiritual stone!"
……
The crowd quickly began bidding frantically for the Foundation Establishment Pill, but it was useless to Ye Xiaobai, who already had several high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills in his storage bag.
Foundation Establishment Pills are extremely scarce for ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivators; they would sell everything they own to buy them.
The Foundation Establishment Pill was quickly sold for a high price in spirit stones.
Ye Xiaobai was shocked when he heard the final transaction price. If a mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill could sell for so many spirit stones, what would happen if it were his high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill? He would be rich overnight.
Ye Xiaobai thought that if he didn't have enough spirit stones, he would sell the high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills to exchange for spirit stones.
"Next up for auction are three 300-year-old Spirit Sealing Herbs—starting at 4 spirit stones, with each bid increasing by at least 1 spirit stones!"
"This herb doesn't seem to have any special uses, so why is it so expensive!"
“That’s right, I wouldn’t take it even if you gave it to me!” a bald cultivator mocked.
Some people in the audience started complaining, saying that it was unacceptable for such a high price to be offered for just any item at auction.
"Quiet! Here's the thing, this spirit herb can be used to refine special pills. It's not very useful for ordinary cultivators, but it's an extremely precious spirit herb for alchemists. Alright, enough talk, let the auction begin!" Li Lin said.
For a while, no one came to buy these three spiritual herbs.
Li Lin hurriedly asked, "Three 300-year-old Spirit Sealing Grasses for 4 spirit stones is not expensive at all. We can't miss this opportunity!"
Finally, after a while, a young male cultivator's voice came from not far from Ye Xiaobai: "Spirit stones!"
Li Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief; losing the auction would have been a significant loss.
After a while, seeing that no one else was bidding, Ye Xiaobai shouted, "Spirit Stones!"
"Spirit stones!" The male cultivator no longer hesitated.
……
"Spirit stones!" Ye Xiaobai finally shouted out this price. Any more and he would have considered selling the high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
Fortunately, the male cultivator didn't raise the price, which saved Ye Xiaobai a lot of spirit stones.
Next came some cultivation techniques and spiritual artifacts, which Ye Xiaobai also liked, but he didn't have any spirit stones to buy them, so he could only come to broaden his horizons.