Chapter 359: Chapter 357: Auction (Congratulating Alliance Leader 20230505021948214!)_1
"So it’s the ’Ice Fairy’ from Profound Ice Palace!"
Huang Huzi smiled and greeted her with a bow, "Fairy, have you also come for the Great Auction?"
"Naturally..." Feng Bingxian replied with a frosty expression that seemed to keep people thousands of miles away.
Only Fang Xi knew that the woman harbored warmth inside.
Observing her again, he noticed her cultivation was still only at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Undoubtedly, she came to the auction for treasures that would aid in reaching Core Formation.
Feng Bingxian also spotted Fang Xi, but in her eyes, he was merely a scholarly-looking cultivator at the early stages of Core Formation.
Although she found his face unfamiliar, she didn’t say much about it.
Soon, both received jade plaques representing Core Formation cultivators and settled into their respective Dongfus.
Fang Xi sat cross-legged, quietly cultivating, with no intention to seek past connections.
After all, he was here on serious business.
After a dozen days or so.
The Sky Mountain Great Auction began on schedule.
Fang Xi still in his scholarly guise, entered the private box.
Sitting cross-legged, he waited quietly for the auction to begin, then he suddenly sighed.
The Hovering Mountain Market had been bustling these past few days, with plenty setting up stalls as well.
He tried his luck as usual, but still came away with nothing.
"It seems... I really have no luck in this aspect..." Fang Xi sighed.
Just then, a fragrant breeze brushed by on the grand auction stage, and a striking woman clad in white fox fur appeared, "Honored guests who have traveled from afar, Green Leaf Commerce Association is greatly honored..."
"Who would have thought... The Green Leaf Commerce Association would invite out the ’Fairy Spirit Fox’."
Many cultivators sighed, their gazes on Fairy Spirit Fox filled with fascination.
Fang Xi glanced at her and then, uninterested, turned his gaze away.
She was just a female cultivator who practiced Charming Skills and had reached Core Formation, nothing special. In terms of beauty, she still fell short of his second disciple.
However, Fairy Spirit Fox had a completely different style from Old Man Tian Sha. She first graciously thanked the attendees, then playfully teased several cultivators. Only after many cultivators had grown impatient did she get to the point, "Now... the first auction item is ’Yellow Spirit Pill,’ three bottles. These pills can aid those at the initial stages of Foundation Establishment to break through to the midterm, with very little side effects, counted among the best of its kind for stage-breaking pills. The starting bid is..."
Fang Xi watched indifferently as various high-quality medicinal pills, magical treasures, talismans, and even rare objects were successively presented on stage, the atmosphere of the auction growing increasingly fervent.
Finally...
"We’ve come to the finale of this auction!"
Fairy Spirit Fox said with a smile, "Our association has specially prepared three finale items for the auction, which will certainly surprise everyone. Now... please welcome the first finale item on stage!"
To the astonishment of many cultivators, a little girl of about seven or eight years old, her face colored with nervousness and fear, was escorted onto the auction high stage by two maids.
For a moment, the room fell silent.
After a long while, a sneering voice rose from one of the boxes, "Ever since the Green Leaf Commerce Association made peace with the Blood Sect, has it also started to adopt the Demon Path’s style? Is this girl possessing a Spirit Body, or is she some superior Cauldron?"
"It seems Mr. Mo is speaking... Mr. Mo runs a school and educates people, with profound divine skill in the way of the Confucians, and certainly can’t stand such things..."
Cultivators who knew the identity of the Core Formation cultivator in the box nodded in agreement.
"Please rest assured, Mr. Mo, the Green Leaf Commerce Association has always been neutral, and we do not trade in cultivator slaves. This girl volunteered to be an item for auction. She’s not a Cauldron, but a cultivation genius with a Heavenly Grade Water Spiritual Root!" Fairy Spirit Fox said with a smiling face.
"What? A Heaven Grade Spiritual Root?"
Many Core Formation cultivators stood up as a familiar female voice rang out, "Such a talent, and your association is willing to sell her?"
"Of course, there’s some inside information regarding this matter. Our association would have liked to purchase her outright and cultivate her properly, but the party behind the seller didn’t agree... I can only reveal a bit of the inside story, that this girl comes from Jiang Country. Even though there are some complications, it’s nothing serious. Further details will be explained to the buyer after the auction," Fairy Spirit Fox said playfully, winking her eyes, "Such a cultivating talent is guaranteed to reach Core Formation in the future, and even Nascent Soul isn’t out of the question... The starting price is 300,000 Spirit Stones, and each increment must be no less than 10,000 Spirit Stones!"
The price was indeed modest, stirring the interest of many cultivators.
Of course, the loyalty of such talented individuals purchased in this manner was indeed dubious, and they might not receive too much resource investment. Yet, training them up to Core Formation, with the least input of resources and the most stable profit, was enough to tempt many powers.
Moreover, a Heavenly Spiritual Root wasn’t always cultivated; there were many other uses, like the ’Pill-Stealing Skills’ Fang Xi knew of, or perhaps to train them as Cauldrons, or even to Refine Corpses...
Even offering them to Cultivating Immortal Families to improve offspring cultivation talents was a distinct possibility.
’The reason for this is that cultivation requires investment of resources, which can be excessive at the early stages... Training to Core Formation is manageable, but to form a Nascent Soul, even with a Heaven Grade Spiritual Root, requires an overwhelming amount of resources... With those resources, one would naturally prefer to prioritize one’s own people, or oneself... To invest such resources in a Heaven Grade Spiritual Root with dubious loyalty and origins would be foolish!’
’The fate of this girl is likely to be quite tragic, on par with that Chen Ping who possessed a Blood Talisman Spirit Body, squeezed dry and left with nothing...’
’In Yuan Country over the years, there has been a number of Heaven Grade Spiritual Roots, but the number of Nascent Soul old monsters remains just a handful...’
Fang Xi suddenly thought of an old friend from Green Bamboo Mountain Market but sighed quietly, without making a bid.
He had no intention of taking an apprentice, so the Heaven Grade Spiritual Root was of no use to him.
In the outside world, Fairy Spirit Fox had several Core Formation cultivators step forward to examine the girl, and after confirming she indeed possessed a Heaven Grade Spiritual Root, the auction began immediately.
In the end, it was acquired for 530,000 Spirit Stones by an unidentified Core Formation cultivator.
’It seems that in the eyes of these Core Formation cultivators, a purchased Heaven Grade Spiritual Root is valued similarly to a slightly inferior Core Formation-level spiritual object, not even as desirable as a Five Elements Core Formation Pill...’
Fang Xi yawned, when suddenly Fairy Spirit Fox’s voice reached his ears: "The second finale auction item... the Spirit Origin Pearl!"
His eyes snapped open, gazing at the fist-sized Spirit Pearl in Fairy Spirit Fox’s hands, which radiated Five-Color Radiance.
With his Divine Consciousness, he could naturally sense that the Spirit Pearl was slowly increasing the concentration of the Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi around it!
And at that moment, Fairy Spirit Fox continued: "Some Sirs may not know about the ’Spirit Origin Pearl.’ This pearl is a natural wonder of the world, created by serendipity. Combined with an array, it can even create a small-scale Spiritual Vein. This ’Spirit Eye Item’ is just the lowest grade of its kind and can only create a Spiritual Vein of about the first rank. However, using it in such a way would be a waste... The most suitable use for it is for Core Formation cultivators like ourselves to carry it around, so that even in the mortal world, our cultivation speed can be increased slightly."
"And if it is placed in a Dongfu, it can make the spiritual qi inside even better. The starting bid for this Spirit Origin Pearl is 500,000 Spirit Stones!"
"550,000!"
"580,000!"
...
The price of the Spirit Origin Pearl quickly skyrocketed.
For Core Formation cultivators, other people’s qualifications are irrelevant; only their own breakthroughs in cultivation are what truly matter.
Thus, any spiritual object useful for Core Formation cultivators often sells for a high price.
Fang Xi watched the auction casually as the price of the Spirit Origin Pearl climbed steadily, finally reaching 750,000.
At this price, most Core Formation cultivators had been eliminated, leaving only two people still bidding.
"I am an elder of the Mixed Origin Sect, and I hope this Sir could show some respect."
Fang Xi suddenly caught a Divine Consciousness Transmission and couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
’It seems there are such people everywhere, but at least he didn’t shout it out in public, preferring to threaten in secret. He still has some brains...’
After the elder from Mixed Origin Sect’s threats, indeed the competitor withdrew.
Fairy Spirit Fox seemed oblivious: "The bid from Sir in box number Yi seven is 760,000 Spirit Stones, any higher bidders, or else this Spirit Eye Item will belong to the Sir in Yi seven..."
"800,000!"
Fang Xi called out without haste.
"800,000! A bid of 800,000 from Sir Yi six!"
Fairy Spirit Fox immediately cast a flirtatious glance over.
"This Sir..."
At that moment, Fang Xi also received a transmission from that elder of the Mixed Origin Sect, but he just coldly smiled and sent a single word back: "Scram."
Bang!
Within the Yi seven box, a purple-robed youth crushed the teacup in his hand: "To actually show such disrespect to our Mixed Origin Sect..."
"Brother, you’re being affected..."
Next to the purple-robed youth sat a female cultivator of Core Formation level: "We were only sent here for that mission... Now that Green Leaf Commerce Association and Blood Sect have been implicated, it’s time to return and report."
"Hmph..."
The purple-robed youth snorted: "Since Green Leaf Commerce Association and Blood Sect reconciled, our Mixed Origin Sect has indeed been under great pressure..."
"This person having 800,000 Spirit Stones means his background and personal strength are unfathomable... It’s not wise to stir up trouble."
The female Core Formation cultivator sighed.
"Humph, it seems we have no choice." The purple-robed youth seemed to have thought of something and actually restrains himself, watching Fairy Spirit Fox call the final price three times, and the Spirit Origin Pearl fell into someone else’s hands.
"Next up, is the very last item of this grand auction—the Aquatic Gold Core Pill!"
Fairy Spirit Fox giggled, commanding her maid to present the final item.
"A Gold Core Pill..."
Many cultivators were murmuring, their eyes filled with a determined look to win.
"It’s actually an Aquatic Gold Core Pill; that girl Feng Bingxian is in luck."
In the box, after completing the deal for the Spirit Origin Pearl, Fang Xi saw this scene and slightly smiled.
Although the Aquatic Gold Core Pill is most suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators who practice water attribute techniques, it won’t lose much effectiveness for those with ice attribute Spiritual Roots, likely maintaining about ninety percent of its efficacy.
For many ice attribute Spiritual Root cultivators, it was indeed the optimal choice for Core Formation.
Sure enough, he heard an excitable female voice ringing out: "700,000 Spirit Stones!"