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Chapter 614: Abnormal Occurrence
Chapter 614: Abnormal Occurrence
Chapter 614: Abnormal Occurrence
As one auction item was brought out after another, the atmosphere in the venue became more and more electric.
Han Li's mind was focused solely on the Profound Zoysia Crystal, so he couldn't work up any interest in the treasures before him.
However, right at this moment, the auctioneer suddenly declared, "Our next item is called a Time Severing Flagon, a treasure that contains some time law powers. Anything put into the flagon, whether that be ordinary items or spirit and immortal treasures, will be preserved in their original state as if time has been stopped, and no change will occur even after millions of years. The starting price is five hundred Immortal Origin Stones."
"510!"
"520!"
"550!"
The price was quickly bid up to 670 Immortal Origin Stones.
Right at this moment, a black-robed figure placed a bid of seven hundred Immortal Origin Stones, and a brief silence ensued in the wake of this bid, only to be quickly broken again.
"710!"
This bid had been made by Han Li.
The black-robed man, who was also on the second floor, took a glance at Han Li, then placed a bid of 720 Immortal Origin Stones, to which Han Li immediately responded with a bid of 750.
The black-robed man remained unfazed and bid the price up to 760.
"Eight hundred!"
Once again, Han Li was raising the price by a significant increment, and almost everyone in the entire venue instantly turned to look at him with surprised expressions.
The black-robed man finally backed out of the bidding war.
"Is that flagon really worth that many Immortal Origin Stones?" Daoist Master Jingyang asked with slightly furrowed brows.
"For pill refinement masters like myself, we often have to refine certain special spirit liquids that are very expensive to make and can't be preserved for long, resulting in a great deal of waste. With this flagon, I'll be able to save far more Immortal Origin Stones down the line than what I'm paying for it now," Han Li explained.
In reality, he wanted to see if this flagon could store the spirit liquid or time crystals produced by the Heaven Controlling Vial, and even if it couldn't, this was still a rare item that contained time law powers, so it was worth the price for Han Li.
After that, the auction continued, and each subsequent auction item was more remarkable than the previous one, while the prices also steadily rose.
The bidding was becoming more and more intense, and among the auction items were two that had soul nourishment effects. Han Li participated in the bidding for both of them, but it seemed as if the black-robed man were intentionally targeting him, raising the prices until Han Li backed out of the bidding war on both occasions.
Han Li wasn't in desperate need for those items anyway, and he didn't want to attract too much attention, so he didn't insist on securing them.
Six hours flew by in a flash, and at this point, the auction had already progressed past the halfway mark, but the Profound Zoysia Crystal still hadn't appeared.
Han Li was unable to suppress his agitation, and he asked through voice transmission, "When will the Profound Zoysia Crystal appear, Fellow Daoist Jingyang?"
Daoist Master Jingyang suppressed his amusement as he replied, "Rest assured, as long as my memory serves me correctly, it should be the next auction item."
As soon as his voice trailed off, the auctioneer declared, "The next item is no ordinary treasure. It comes from a near bottomless ravine where countless living creatures have lost their lives. Despite the filth and decay that ran rampant in its environment, it remained pristine and untarnished. It is referred to as the essence of the soul, and just a single one can enhance the soul of a Golden Immortal by 10% to 30%."
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the stage as the auctioneer concluded, "The item that I am referring to is a Myriad Soul Herb, and the starting price is one thousand Immortal Origin Stones."
Han Li turned to Daoist Master Jingyang with a perplexed expression upon hearing this, and the latter was also looking back at him with a stunned expression, clearly completely taken aback by this turn of events.
"What's going on here, Fellow Daoist Jingyang? Could it be that you misremembered the sequence of items?" Han Li asked.
"I do enjoy my wine, but I'm not such a drunkard that I would misremember something so simple, particularly when it pertains to something that's so important to you. Hold on a second, I'll ask them what's happening," Daoist Master Jingyang replied with a slightly awkward expression, then immediately closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, a fierce bidding war was taking place, and it didn't take long before the price was bid up to over two thousand Immortal Origin Stones.
Treasures with soul nourishment effects were quite appealing to Han Li as well. With this Myriad Soul Herb, perhaps he would be able to speed up his progress in the Spirit Refinement Technique.
Hence, after a brief hesitation, he decided to also participate in the bidding, but right at this moment, Daoist Master Jingyang opened his eyes, seemingly having just communicated with someone through voice transmission.
Han Li immediately turned to Daoist Master Jingyang with an inquisitive gaze, and the latter looked back at him with a slightly apologetic expression as he explained, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, this item was a last-minute addition to the auction catalog. The next item should be the Profound Zoysia Crystal for sure."
"I see. Does this happen often?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Not at all. The final list of auction items is generally not going to be altered in any way. After all, last-minute additions need to be appraised on a last-minute basis as well, and that can be rather troublesome to arrange," Daoist Master Jingyang replied.
"I've already waited for so long, I can wait for a while longer. Having said that, whoever requested for this last-minute addition must be quite an important figure to have been granted such a privilege," Han Li said with a smile.
"Indeed. I was told that this person has some connection to the immortal envoy in the inner city, but if you ask me, I think this Myriad Soul Herb came directly from the immortal envoy himself. Only someone of his unfathomable cultivation base would be willing to put up such a precious item for auction," Daoist Master Jingyang said.
Han Li nodded in response, and he suppressed the urge to participate in the bidding for the Myriad Soul Herb.
All abnormal occurrences had to be treated with caution, and his instincts were telling him that something wasn't quite right here.
After a fierce bidding war, the black-robed man ultimately secured the Myriad Soul herb for the price of 3,500 Immortal Origin Stones.
The auctioneer seemed to be quite excited by the unexpectedly high price that the Myriad Soul Herb had been sold for, and he declared in an enthusiastic voice, "The next item is something that I'm sure many of you have been anticipating for a very long time."
As he was speaking, a green brocade box was delivered onto the stage by a yellow-robed young woman, and there were several talismans plastered to the box.
The young woman removed the talismans on the box, and it opened up on its own to reveal a fist-sized green crystal sitting inside.
The crystal was giving off a faint green glow, and it wasn't all that remarkable in appearance. Deep inside the crystal was a system of veins that formed the image of a flower.
The green crystal was giving off a peculiar fragrance, and everyone who caught a whiff of this fragrance instantly felt as if all of their internal organs had been cleansed.
Han Li's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the crystal, and he reflexively sat up a little straighter.
"This is a Profound Zoysia Crystal, otherwise known as a Floral Heart Stone, and it's a premium ingredient for refining pills that can help one expel baleful qi and overcome their baleful decay. I'm sure there's no need for me to tell you all just how valuable something like this is for fellow daoists seeking to reach the High Zenith Stage.
“On top of that, this Profound Zoysia Crystal came from a Profound Zoysia Flower that was over two hundred thousand years of age, and our Jade Kun Pagoda had to go to great lengths to secure it, so it's not to be missed. The starting price is one thousand Immortal Origin Stones, and each bid must go up by an increment of at least one hundred Immortal Origin Stones," the auctioneer declared.
"One thousand!"
"1,100!"
"1,300!"
A string of bids immediately came rolling in.
Just as the auctioneer had described, this was a highly sought after item for anyone wishing to make a breakthrough to the High Zenith Stage, so it was naturally going to be very hotly contested.
In the blink of an eye, the price was elevated to beyond two thousand Immortal Origin Stones, and at this point, the rate at which the bids were being made began to slow down.
"Haven't you been searching for this crystal all this time, Fellow Daoist Li? Why have you still not made a bid?" Daoist Master Jingyang asked.
"I'm determined to secure this crystal, but there's no need to get involved in the bidding war right away," Han Li replied in a calm manner.
As the price breached the 2,500 mark, the entire venue suddenly fell silent.
The bid had been made by a portly man dressed in lavish clothes. He appeared to be more like a merchant than a cultivator, and in his arms was a pair of extremely beautiful female cultivators who were feeding him tea and snacks, which he devoured with glee.
"Fellow Daoist Gui of the Heavenly Treasure Trade House has made a bid of 2,500 Immortal Origin Stones. Is anyone going to make a higher bid?" the auctioneer asked as he scoured the venue.
"Three thousand!"
The same black-robed man who had purchased the Myriad Soul Herb was also getting involved in the bidding war, and he had raised the price by five hundred Immortal Origin Stones in a single bid, causing quite a stir in the process.
A Profound Zoysia Crystal was extremely precious, for sure, but this price was already slightly higher than what it was worth.
"3,100!" the portly man retaliated.
"3,500!" the black-robed man harrumphed coldly, and it seemed like a sum of several hundred Immortal Origin Stones was nothing to him.
The portly man's expression darkened slightly, and he didn't place any further bids.
The two female cultivators beside him could see that he was quite incensed, and they sat beside him in a still and obedient manner, not daring to make any moves for fear of irking him even further.
"3,600!"
Yet another auction-goer was tossing their hat in the ring, and this one was an elderly man with a head of gray hair.
Han Li turned to take a glance at the gray-haired elderly man to discover that the latter possessed a tremendous aura, and it was one of the people whose cultivation base had been unfathomable to him.
"Do you recognize this man, Fellow Daoist Jingyang?" Han Li asked in a seemingly casual manner.
"That man is Feng Tianyao, a High Zenith Stage elder of the Purple Lightning Sword Sect situated on the northeastern border of the Black Mountain Immortal Region. If he's also trying to get his hands on the Profound Zoysia Crystal, then I'm afraid that you're going to be facing some very stiff competition, Fellow Daoist Li," Daoist Master Jingyang replied with a slightly sympathetic look in his eyes.