The stone that had been photographed was quickly delivered to Shi Xuan's private room. Shi Xuan reached out and picked it up; it was light and flimsy, with almost no weight. It did seem useless at first glance, but as a decoration, it was quite suitable. Shi Xuan decided to ask his fourth senior brother to polish it more beautifully later, so he could make a set of buttons.
Shi Xuan wasn't interested in the next few items auctioned off, until the tenth item, when an assistant brought in a tray containing a blue bead. The bead was perfectly round, its surface covered with a layer of shimmering blue light—a very bright and dazzling blue.
The emcee placed the tray on the table, carefully picked up the pearl, and introduced it: "This is a Blue Shark Pearl from the South China Sea. As you may know, this is the second Blue Shark Pearl to be sold in our auction house. It was cultivated for many years inside the bodies of South China Sea merfolk. In addition to its exceptionally beautiful appearance, the powder from the Blue Shark Pearl can be used for alchemy and weapon crafting, making it a rare and valuable material!"
Before the emcee could finish speaking, Lu Shenzhi transmitted his voice to Shi Xuan in his mind, saying, "Take a picture of this bead."
"Are you useful?" Shi Xuan asked.
Lu Shenzhi said, "This bead is not simple; I can sense the aura of a Soul Gathering Stone."
Could it be a Soul Gathering Stone disguised as a Blue Shark Pearl? Although it seems highly unlikely, it's better to be wrong than to miss out. I really have to bid on this pearl.
"Starting bid: fifteen high-grade spirit stones!"
As soon as the emcee finished speaking, the familiar light shone in Box Number One, and the large characters formed by spiritual energy reappeared: Fifteen.
"The VIP in Box Number One has bid fifteen high-grade spirit stones. Are there any other VIPs making bids?"
Shi Xuan casually replied, "Twenty."
Master of Ceremonies: "Box number nine has bid twenty high-grade spirit stones. That's twenty already. Does anyone else want to bid?"
The number one VIP room immediately produced the number 23.
Without the master of ceremonies speaking, Shi Xuan said again, "Thirty."
She's quite wealthy now, so if she has to spend these spirit stones, she should spend them lavishly, not be stingy.
Not to be outdone, Box Number One also displayed its "35".
Shi Xuan remained calm in his tone: "Fifty."
The emcee announced excitedly, "The VIP in Box Nine has bid fifty high-grade spirit stones! Fifty high-grade spirit stones! Anyone else want to add more?"
This time, the person in VIP room number one seemed to pause for a moment before continuing: "Wu Wu."
Shi Xuan said lazily, "One hundred."
If this blue bead really is a Soul Gathering Stone, I'd bid for it no matter how many times I paid, let alone a hundred.
Leng Rufeng, who was standing next to Shi Xuan, looked at her in astonishment. One hundred high-grade spirit stones to buy a blue shark pearl? Was the round-faced master making an impulsive purchase or did she just have too many spirit stones and not care?
At this point, the people in the seats had already started discussing it.
[Huh? I remember the Blue Shark Pearl that sold last time was only twenty-one high-grade spirit stones, this time it cost so much more?]
[Who are the big shots at this auction? It's just a blue shark pearl, how can it be worth so much?]
[The last time it sold for twenty-one was because that female cultivator thought it looked good.]
[The effects of blue shark pearls aren't anything special, so why are they so expensive?]
Maybe they're just trying to save face.
...
"Hmph," a cold snort came from VIP box number one, followed by a slightly hoarse male voice: "I urgently need this Blue Shark Pearl, fellow Daoist, why don't you give it to me?"
These words, accompanied by a cold snort, were undoubtedly a threat. He had been displaying his ability to condense spiritual energy into characters, and now he was even uttering threats, clearly implying that if he didn't give in, he would suffer the consequences.
Shi Xuan did not answer. She activated the "All Things Grow" technique, allowing the spiritual energy of all things to condense together and form a very dense character shape in front of her. Then, she struck out the two characters in front of her with a palm.
The two characters flew out from Box 9 and hovered in the very center of the auction hall. The two enormous golden characters "不让" (not allowed) stunned everyone present.
It's just wall decoration, everyone knows how to do that.
The characters formed by Number One were always on the outside of the private room wall; the characters were small and fleeting.
When the two large characters that Shi Xuan had condensed hung in the middle of the hall, they looked as tall as two people, and their golden color was very rich. It took several breaths for them to gradually dissipate. It was clear at a glance which one was better.
The two large golden characters were so striking that the hall fell silent for a while before a heated discussion broke out.
[My goodness, could it be that a Nascent Soul stage expert has come to participate in our little auction?]
[Very likely. Don't forget that there's also an auction for the treatment slots of the Round-Faced Master today. It's not impossible that there might be injured infant-less powerful beings among them.]
I attend this auction every month, but I've never seen anything like it!
...
After Shi Xuan revealed his skill, there was no further movement from VIP room number one, and no one else offered to bid. No one else was willing to spend over a hundred high-grade spirit stones for a blue shark pearl, so Shi Xuan naturally won the bid.
Next, there were some common medicinal pills, spiritual plants, or magical artifacts. Shi Xuan picked out a few spiritual plants that interested him and took pictures of them.
Halfway through the auction, the master of ceremonies produced a bronze token engraved with the character "圆" (Yuan, meaning round/round) and announced loudly, "The exciting moment has arrived! The next item is a spot for Master Roundface to heal your dantian! As everyone knows, Master Roundface once publicly healed a cultivator with a damaged dantian in our trading area, and after the treatment, he was able to cultivate normally. For someone whose dantian is damaged and unable to cultivate, this is undoubtedly a tremendous opportunity..."
As Shi Xuan listened to the repeated calls of "Master Round Face" in the private room, he had long since given up on regretting his hasty choice of name. He just felt numb all over. Calling someone that name all the time made no difference. Everything was meaningless, so why bother?
The emcee continued, "We have three spots available for this auction. No need for further introductions, I think many of our distinguished guests are here specifically for these spots. Without further ado, let's begin! The starting bid is five thousand high-grade spirit stones!"
"Fifty thousand high-grade spirit stones!" As soon as the emcee finished speaking, the fifth VIP box immediately raised the price to fifty thousand.
Which wealthy family is out and about? Are they just asking for prices based on gut feeling?
But this price increase really surprised everyone, raising the price tenfold at once. This was only the first spot; there were still two more to go, so it wasn't necessary to compete with him for this one.
With this mindset of waiting for the next person, after the fifth VIP room was called out, no one else raised the price, and the first spot was sold for a fixed price of 50,000 high-grade spirit stones.
Leng Rufeng, who was standing to the side, seemed dissatisfied with the result. He muttered to Shi Xuan, "It seems that the publicity was not done well, and too few people came."
Shi Xuan glanced at him and said, "Some people only spent five thousand and still owe money."
Leng Rufeng shrank back and remained silent.
After more than a dozen items were brought out for auction, the emcee took out another bronze token and announced loudly, "Now we will bid for the second Dantian healing spot from the round-faced master!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
