As Wang Wuzhong opened the jade box, sharp glints of light appeared in the eyes of many below. Although their faces were concealed by the magical black veils, Li Yan could feel the desire revealed in their gazes.
Immediately after, Wang Wuzhong said in a deep voice, "The base price for this item is one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. Each chant must not be less than two hundred low-grade Spirit Stones. Alright, everyone may begin!" He was very direct, seemingly lacking the awareness that a master of ceremonies needed to hype up the items. He didn't seem worried at all that someone might not recognize the treasure. After a simple two or three-sentence introduction, he announced the start.
Li Yan heard a wave of gasps. One thousand Spirit Stones —the price was frighteningly high. This was just one of the materials for a Magical Treasure. Although it wasn't easy to obtain, it could still occasionally be seen in some marketplaces. For it to require so many Spirit Stones ... Li Yan had originally felt somewhat confident with the hundred thousand-plus Spirit Stones he had on him, but now it seemed that things were not as he had imagined.
The hall was silent for only a moment before a black-robed person in the third row raised their hand. "I bid fifteen hundred Spirit Stones."
This person's bid immediately drew a round of derisive laughter. However, the tones of these voices were almost indistinguishable, with only slight differences in volume, making it sound as if one were in a cave filled with mixed echoes.
The person paid it no mind, probably just testing the waters. In any case, it was impossible to see any expression of dissatisfaction.
"Two thousand," another voice said.
"Two thousand two hundred..." For a time, identical voices sounded one after another with little pause in between.
Li Yan wasn't interested in the Heaven's Gate Sand and just watched quietly. After a while, he felt it was a bit strange, because not a single person in the dozen or so private boxes hanging above his head had spoken, all seeming to lack interest in this item.
Before long, the bidding price finally settled at "four thousand five hundred Spirit Stones." This price was already extremely high for Heaven's Gate Sand. It was, after all, only a high-grade Level 1 refining material, not yet reaching the peak standard of Level 1.
"If no other Fellow Daoist continues to chant, then the Heaven's Gate Sand will belong to that Fellow Daoist," Wang Wuzhong said with a hint of a smile, seemingly very satisfied with this price.
"I bid six thousand Spirit Stones!" Just as everyone thought this first transaction was about to be settled, a voice came from above.
Li Yan heard it clearly. The voice came from a box to his side. Due to his seating position, he was directly under the boxes above and could only see the floor of the level above him. However, he could see a few boxes on either side. This voice came from a room on the left, its outer wall glowing with the pattern of a red rose moon.
For a moment, the hall fell silent, and the smile on Wang Wuzhong's face on the high platform in the center grew even wider.
"Damn it, it's just a few dozen grains of Heaven's Gate Sand. Is this person bored out of their mind?"
"Exactly. The finished Magical Treasure refined from this might not even be worth ten thousand Spirit Stones, and it still needs other refining materials," someone said sourly.
"Not necessarily. If they're not using it as a main material, but as an auxiliary material for a higher-grade Magical Treasure, then it could still be worth it," another person said slowly.
Li Yan listened and nodded in his heart. The main thing about this item was its rarity, not its high rank. But it still depended on its use. Some mid-to-high-grade earth-attribute magical treasures might need this item as an auxiliary to unleash greater power. Without it, the internal formation of the Magical Treasure would lose much of its efficacy. Sometimes, even if you knew it wasn't worth the price, someone would have to grit their teeth and buy it.
…
Next, a series of transactions continued. Among them were the eyes of the Level 2 Golden Flood Dragon Python and the water-attribute Magical Treasure, the "Water Continuous Pearl Sword," which Ouyang Jinfei had mentioned. These seven or eight treasures were all successfully auctioned off by cultivators. However, Li Yan discovered that whenever someone from the boxes above made a bid, the item would almost always end up in their hands. The financial power of these people was truly staggering. At one point, several boxes competed for a single treasure—the set of Water Continuous Pearl Sword. Although it was only considered mid-stage elementary-grade among magical treasures, it was a complete set, consisting of seven small swords. Sets of magical treasures were always rare, mainly because not many cultivators could gather enough of the same material. Even if one found the same material later to refine a few more, there would still be differences between the same materials. This would cause discrepancies within the set of magical treasures. This discrepancy could be in the rank, but most importantly, due to variations in the size of the material, it would affect the coordination and unity of the individual magical treasures during control, making it impossible to wield them at will. This would cause extremely subtle flaws like a moment of stagnation during use, which was fatal in a cultivator's battle. Therefore, ninety percent of magical treasure sets were refined from the same batch of materials, making them extremely rare. That required a large batch of materials, and heavenly materials and earthly treasures had always been sought after by cultivators. Being able to obtain even a small portion was already a great stroke of fortune.
The final price for the Water Continuous Pearl Sword was called out by someone in a box at two hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones. By this calculation, each small sword was worth more than thirty thousand. Of course, if the swords were auctioned one by one, a single sword fetching over ten thousand would be the absolute limit. The price of a set of magical treasures was not calculated this way.
Li Yan couldn't see the pattern on the box that had won the bid for this set of Water Continuous Pearl Sword; he could only marvel in his heart.
The eyes of the Level 2 Golden Flood Dragon Python were also taken by someone in a box—the same box with the glowing red rose moon pattern that Li Yan could see. This person had only spoken twice: once at the very beginning, and once for the Golden Flood Dragon Python's eyes. After that, they did not participate in any other bidding.
The final price for the eyes of the Level 2 Golden Flood Dragon Python was set at one hundred and seventy thousand Spirit Stones. Although this price was very high, two Level 2 refining or alchemy raw materials were simply incomparable to Level 1 raw materials. It was normal for the price to multiply. One had to know that most Golden Core cultivators only had a single elementary-grade Magical Treasure.
After hearing this price, Li Yan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The Crystal Bone Water he needed was only a Level 1 material, and he had a total of one hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones on him, including what he had sold in the city the day before. It seemed that it would be enough no matter what.
The Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike was a growth-type Magical Treasure. It was primarily based on the "Infinite Wanderer" tree. The other five main materials were actually used to refine the "Infinite Wanderer" tree. The "Infinite Wanderer" tree was exceptionally hard and needed other materials to melt it, turning the hardest steel into the softest silk. Therefore, Li Yan only needed Level 1 Crystal Bone Water.
In the remaining time, after two more items were auctioned, Li Yan watched as Wang Wuzhong held a small porcelain bottle in his hand, and a long-awaited voice finally reached his ears.
"Crystal Bone Water, spat by the Level 1 demonic beast, the Crystal Bone Leech. It has adhesive and corrosive properties, ignores the five elements, and can melt anything. This porcelain bottle contains eight drops of Crystal Bone Water. The base price is thirty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. Each chant must not be less than one thousand Spirit Stones."
Listening, Li Yan knew it was just as he had guessed. He had long known that the starting price for this item would not be low, because the Level 1 demonic beast, the Crystal Bone Leech, was almost extinct in this realm. This demonic beast's attack power was average, but the water it spat was frequently used in ancient artifact refining. It had a melting effect on almost all five-element attribute items. What was most precious was that the essence of the refining materials melted by it was almost not lost. This led ancient cultivators to use this item to dissolve many hard refining materials. Although the Crystal Bone Leech's attack power was not weak, it was ultimately a Level 1 demonic beast, which led to its near extinction. In the current cultivation world, although one might occasionally hear of someone capturing a Crystal Bone Leech, they were few and far between.
At the same time, Li Yan knew that modern artifact refining grandmasters had long since improved their refining methods. There were many materials that could replace Crystal Bone Water. It was just that these materials had some limitations. Although they didn't greatly affect artifact refining, there would be some loss in the refined materials, but it was all within a controllable range. Otherwise, without Crystal Bone Water, cultivators wouldn't be able to use spirit artifacts and magical treasures at all. So, although Crystal Bone Water was rare, not many people would be willing to pay such a high price to buy it.
As Li Yan expected, after Wang Wuzhong finished speaking, a long time passed before a black-robed person in the hall said, "Thirty-two thousand Spirit Stones."
The moment this person called out the price, it drew a wave of sighs. Many people looked at that person, thinking they must be crazy to raise the price by two thousand Spirit Stones at once.
Since everyone looked the same now, Li Yan saw clearly that when that person raised their hand to signal, their cuff had a white narcissus on it.
After this person called out the price, it became quiet for a moment. A Magical Treasure was only worth so much, and there were many things that could replace Crystal Bone Water. Although Crystal Bone Water caused very little loss to the material itself during refining, one had to consider whether that little bit of loss was worth it.
Just as everyone was hesitating, Li Yan suddenly raised his hand and said, "Thirty-three thousand Spirit Stones." He didn't add much, just the minimum increment. Li Yan was afraid that if he added too much at once, it would arouse others' suspicion, and they might even bid a high price at all costs. Then he would suffer a great loss.
The person with the white narcissus on their cuff didn't turn around. The moment Li Yan's voice fell, they raised their hand again. "Thirty-five thousand." Once again, they added two thousand Spirit Stones.
Li Yan smiled faintly. It seemed this person also needed the Crystal Bone Water. Just as he was about to speak again, a voice suddenly sounded from a box above. "Forty thousand Spirit Stones." This voice came from a box somewhere above Li Yan's head, which he couldn't see. This voice made Li Yan's brows furrow. He hadn't expected the boxes above to participate. This was exactly what he didn't want to see.
"I bid forty-five thousand Spirit Stones!" Just as Li Yan's brows furrowed, another surprise occurred. Someone from another box above made a bid. Li Yan could tell this voice came from a different direction. This was the second box to participate. A faint sense of foreboding rose in Li Yan's heart.
At this moment, the person with the white narcissus on their cuff raised their hand again. "Fifty thousand." Although the voice was the same as everyone else's, Li Yan could hear the impatience in it. These few bids, or rather, chants, happened as fast as a rabbit starts and a falcon swoops, leaving everyone in the hall unable to react.
When the voice of this person in the hall fell, a buzzing sound immediately erupted.
"Is Crystal Bone Water that valuable now?"
"Even if you use something else to melt a raw material, how much loss can there be? Besides, you can also melt two raw materials at the same time to get a larger quantity."
"Maybe they only have one piece of that raw material, but... but this is much more expensive than an ordinary Magical Treasure..."
"..."
Amidst the discussions, another voice came. "Fifty-three thousand Spirit Stones!"
Instantly, the hall fell silent. Li Yan was stunned to find that this voice came from the box with the glowing red rose moon pattern.
"Three boxes have participated in this one. Could it be that the use of Crystal Bone Water I know of is wrong, and it has other, more important uses?" Li Yan's mind was in a daze for a moment. Including him, five parties had entered the fight for the Crystal Bone Water.
What left Li Yan speechless next was that before he could speak, a box above spoke again. "Fifty-five thousand Spirit Stones."
"Sixty thousand!" The black-robed person with the white narcissus on their cuff in the hall raised their hand without moving.
"Sixty-two thousand!" the box with the glowing red rose moon pattern said.
"Sixty-five thousand!" someone from another box above Li Yan's head shouted.
…
Li Yan fell silent for a moment. He didn't know what was happening, why so many people had suddenly joined in, and all for just a few drops of Level 1 Crystal Bone Water.