Originally, they had planned to start the auction with a batch of thirty mid-grade Spirit Absorption Pills, whose effects were far inferior to the high-grade ones. In the world of immortal cultivation, the price of mid-grade Spirit Absorption Pills was around twenty spirit stones per pill.
However, the price of high-grade Spirit Absorption Pills was entirely different. In a city like Yuanling, where high-level alchemists were rare, a single high-grade Spirit Absorption Pill could fetch up to 200 spirit stones. Even in cities with more alchemists, the price would still be over 100 spirit stones per pill.
This was far above the starting price set by Lingxian Sect.
But this auction wasn't about making a huge profit from spirit stones. How many spirit stones could the sects in the mortal realm possibly have? Even if they were completely drained, what difference would it make?
Lingxian Sect wasn't interested in a one-time deal. Their goal was to raise the overall level of the mortal realm's sects. A long-term business, where everyone exchanged goods and services regularly, was far more valuable.
Soon, another box appeared on the small table beside Liu Yunan. This time, the box was larger than the one used for the Spirit Absorption Pills.
After the Spirit Absorption Pills set the stage, even though the following pills weren't as valuable as the first, they were still far better than anything these sects had ever had access to. Everyone knew now that Lingxian Sect was offering real treasures, so they eagerly awaited the next item.
"The next auction item: five pounds of premium five-grain spiritual seeds!" Liu Yunan opened the large box on the table, revealing five compartments filled with different types of grain seeds, packed to the brim.
Each seed was plump and gleaming with a lustrous sheen. Even those unfamiliar with grains could tell at a glance that these seeds were of exceptional quality.
The spiritual seeds originally provided to Lin Xiao by the system weren't particularly superior—they were just ordinary-quality seeds commonly found in the world of immortal cultivation. However, these premium spiritual seeds had been carefully cultivated over the years by elders in Lingxian Sect's spiritual field group, who had a passion for farming. With proper care, the grain produced from these seeds would far exceed both the quality and quantity of most spiritual grains found in the world of immortal cultivation.
Of course, the spiritual fields in Lingxian Sect were already fully planted with these high-quality seeds. The ones being auctioned were surplus seeds from the sect.
"Starting bid, 500 spirit stones!" Liu Yunan announced the starting price.
This time, the crowd did not immediately bid. Instead, they hesitated and used their spiritual senses to inspect the seeds closely, trying to determine whether they were worth 500 spirit stones.
Due to various factors, the spiritual grains in the mortal realm were of poor quality, and the fields weren't fertile enough. As a result, although most sects had dedicated spiritual fields, the yield was not substantial.
Moreover, due to the scarcity of spiritual ingredients, spiritual chefs were few and far between in the mortal realm, and their culinary skills were not highly refined. The spiritual food they produced didn't provide much benefit to cultivators.
For a long time, spiritual grains had been viewed as a supplement, useful only when spirit stones or pills were insufficient—a "better than nothing" kind of resource.
So, when the cultivators saw Lingxian Sect auctioning five pounds of spiritual seeds with such fanfare, they were uncertain.
After seeing Lingxian Sect's earlier display with the Spirit Absorption Pills, it was unlikely they were joking.
But these spiritual seeds… Even if the seeds were high-quality, the fields weren't fertile. Could the increase in yield really be worth 500 spirit stones?
Many began to wonder if Lingxian Sect had set the wrong price.
If the starting bid had been 50 spirit stones, they would have jumped at the chance.
Just as the crowd was contemplating this, a voice suddenly rang out from Booth Nine.
"Five hundred fifty!" The voice was firm and decisive, without a trace of hesitation.
The other cultivators turned to look toward Booth Nine, curious about who had placed such a quick bid.
Weren't they afraid of losing money?
Perhaps emboldened by the initial bid, another booth followed suit.
"Six… five hundred sixty."
No sooner had the words been spoken than Booth Nine called out again: "Seven hundred!"
The booth that had just bid fell silent.
The other booths, seeing how quickly Booth Nine had raised the bid and how assertively they were adding more, began to suspect that Booth Nine was a plant sent by Lingxian Sect to drive up prices.
Could this person be intentionally bidding to create the illusion that the item was more valuable than it was?
However, Liu Yunan didn't drag out the process as they had imagined, waiting for more bidders to jump in. Instead, just as before, he calmly called out "Once, twice, three times!" and brought the gavel down to finalize the sale.
This left the crowd feeling even more uncertain.
Could it be that these seeds were actually worth the price, and they just didn't know it?
It wasn't only the other booths that were confused—even Elder Lü in Booth Nine didn't quite understand.
"Sect Leader, we don't lack spiritual seeds. Why spend 700 spirit stones on this?"
Han Shangyi knew that if he didn't explain now, Elder Lü would question every subsequent purchase. So, he transmitted a message to him: "I received word that anything related to agriculture in this auction is valuable. And right now, the other sects likely don't realize how valuable these items are. This is a great deal for us."
Elder Lü immediately thought of the sect leader's daughter, who had joined Lingxian Sect.
"Your daughter told you that?"
Han Shangyi's face stiffened slightly, feeling awkward at being found out, but he reluctantly nodded. "Yes… yes."
Elder Lü, seeing his uncomfortable expression, chuckled with envy. "Ah, having a daughter is a blessing."
"If Wei Xu said so, then let's buy them. Our sect has accumulated quite a bit of spirit stones over the years anyway."
And so, it continued.
Liu Yunan announced, "Next, we have ten premium spiritual fruit tree saplings. Starting bid, 500 spirit stones!"
Booth Nine: "Eight hundred!"
Other booths: …
Liu Yunan: "One pound of premium spiritual vegetable seeds, starting bid, 200 spirit stones!"
Booth Nine: "Five hundred!"
Other booths: …
Item after item of premium seeds and saplings were all won by Qinghe Sect without exception.
By this point, the other booths no longer suspected that Booth Nine was a plant sent by Lingxian Sect. After all, no plant would buy up everything for themselves without leaving anything for others.
Could it be that those seeds and saplings were actually incredibly valuable, and they just didn't know it?
While everyone was still pondering this, Liu Yunan made his next announcement.
This time, however, there wasn't another box on the small table beside him. Instead, a large bamboo cage appeared behind him.
Everyone looked over and saw that inside the cage were two round, plump… piglets?
Liu Yunan gestured toward the cage and introduced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the next item up for auction is these two spiritual piglets."
"One male, one female. Once they're grown, they can be used for breeding. A great deal!"
"Starting bid, 800 spirit stones!"