Bidding

The starting bid of eight hundred spirit stones was undoubtedly expensive compared with every item auctioned before it.

Unlike those seeds, however, quite a few private rooms began placing bids this time.

It was difficult to say exactly how much spirit grain those so-called premium seeds could produce, but the two little spirit-pig piglets before them were unquestionably spirit-beast meat in the making!

The mortal world was thin in spiritual energy. Under ordinary circumstances, spirit pigs as well-bred in appearance as these were exceedingly rare, to say nothing of the wild and unruly spirit beasts that were already difficult to find.

And it was even rarer to see spirit beasts domesticated and raised as livestock capable of providing a steady supply of spirit meat.

The two spirit pigs were plump, white, and adorable. They were extremely docile even inside their cage. The fluctuations of spiritual energy around them were not weak, yet they were perfectly stable, without the slightest trace of a beast’s savagery. At a glance, it was clear that they had been exceptionally well trained.

If someone took them home and raised them properly, then while their sect might not be able to eat spirit-pig meat at every meal, they would at least be able to enjoy it a couple of times throughout the year.

As a result, the bidding was extraordinarily fierce.

“One thousand!”

“One thousand one hundred!”

“One thousand two hundred!”

“One thousand two hundred and fifty!”

…

The price climbed all the way to two thousand.

After all, even the Cloudsmoke Sect, which had previously thrown down two thousand spirit stones without hesitation, would find it difficult to produce another two thousand spirit stones in one go.

Thus, once the bidding reached two thousand, everyone changed the way they bid.

“Two thousand and ten!”

“Two thousand and twenty!”

“Two thousand and fifty!”

“Two thousand and fifty-five!”

…

At last, someone could not help but speak up.

“I say, Fellow Daoist from Private Room Five, everyone’s finances are tight. Adding ten spirit stones at a time is fine, but why have you started adding five?”

The person in Private Room Five immediately retorted, “What’s wrong with five spirit stones? Aren’t five spirit stones still spirit stones? Elder Liu never said we couldn’t raise the bid by five!”

And so—

“Two thousand and fifty-six!”

“Two thousand and fifty-seven!”

“Two thousand and fifty-eight!”

…

Inside Private Room Nine, Han Shangyi and Elder Lyu carefully calculated how many spirit stones their sect had left after purchasing the other items. They discovered that they could apparently still afford to bid.

“But if there are more good items later, we won’t have any spirit stones left to bid with,” Elder Lyu said worriedly.

Han Shangyi waved his hand grandly. “It’s fine. I’ve already calculated everything. The few major orders our sect accepted last month are due for inspection and delivery the day after tomorrow. Once those are completed, we’ll receive another substantial payment. If there are still good items later, we’ll be able to bid on them as well. At worst, we can stay in the city for a couple more days and wait for the sect to send the spirit stones over before settling the bill and leaving.”

At that, Elder Lyu suddenly understood. “That’s right, we still have last month’s orders! Hahaha, ah, it really is wonderful to have income!”

As he spoke, he turned toward the outside and called out cheerfully, “Two thousand one hundred!”

That price was only one hundred spirit stones more than the Naling Pill.

Yet nearly every sect present had already run out of spirit stones.

Some technically could still afford it, but they felt it was unwise to empty their sect’s reserves for two spirit pigs.

After all, a sect was not the possession of a single person. They still had an entire group of disciples to support.

The same applied to many of the imperial clans.

The imperial clans were poorer than the major sects to begin with. They had fewer people capable of producing resources and fewer resources at their disposal. None of them could casually spend such a large sum of spirit stones on two spirit-pig piglets.

After weighing the matter carefully, everyone ultimately decided not to continue bidding.

The male and female spirit-pig piglets were sold to Private Room Nine for two thousand one hundred spirit stones, amid the regretful gazes of the crowd.

Several more items were auctioned after the spirit-pig piglets, but most of them were worth less than the Naling Pill and the spirit-pig piglets.

After that, Lin Xiao sent a transmission to Liu Yunan, telling him not to bring out any more items for auction.

Based on the bidding just now, Lin Xiao had more or less figured out the financial strength of these sects and imperial clans. The items that came next would probably be beyond what they could afford at present, so there was no need to continue.

There would be plenty of opportunities in the future. There was no need to rush things now.

Their original purpose had never been to empty the pockets of these sects.

“This concludes today’s auction.”

As Liu Yunan’s voice fell, the various sects and imperial clans all seemed to breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

In truth, many of the sects and imperial clans present had not placed a single bid. It was not that they did not want to buy anything—they genuinely lacked the financial means.

After all, not every sect or imperial clan had a plentiful reserve of spirit stones at the moment. Some might have happened to encounter an elder or elite disciple breaking through, while others might recently have entered into different transactions. In any case, they simply did not have many spirit stones on hand.

When they heard that the auction had finally ended, they truly relaxed.

To be honest, this auction had been a rare spectacle for everyone present. Auctions were not unheard of in the mortal world, but they had never seen one with such a wide variety of items.

They had looked forward to what treasures might appear next, yet at the same time worried that their financial strength would not be enough to compete if something good did appear. In that case, they would only have to watch as the treasure fell into someone else’s hands and grow envious. Their feelings had been incredibly conflicted.

Now that they heard the auction was over, they were relieved at least that no more good items would appear.

Still, what a pity. Who knew whether they would ever have another opportunity to encounter something like this?

Just before the auction ended, however, Liu Yunan dropped two bombshell announcements on them.

“It doesn’t matter whether any of you managed to purchase something you wanted today. From now on, auctions at Venue One will be held once every six months. In addition, Venue Two and Venue Three next door will begin holding monthly auctions starting next month. The items auctioned there will be more suitable for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

“We welcome you all to attend again next time.”

“Also, considering that all of you have extensive family businesses and consume a great deal of spirit stones, there is a long-term business opportunity here in Xiushui City. I wonder whether any of you might be interested?”

After saying this, Liu Yunan swept his gaze across the various private rooms with a smile.

“Those who are interested may wait at the Transaction Affairs Center outside after leaving the venue.”

At that, everyone present was both surprised and delighted.

They were surprised that the auction would actually continue in the future. In the past, even when an auction occasionally appeared in the mortal world, regardless of whether the quality of the items could compare with those offered today, it had never successfully been held a second time. Such events were generally one-time affairs. Once everyone had auctioned off the things of some value in their possession, the matter was considered finished.

In essence, they were merely exchanging goods with other sects—an arrangement in which each side supplied what the other lacked.

Therefore, it was difficult not to be astonished upon seeing that Xiushui City seemed intent on turning auctions into a regular occurrence.

What delighted them was that if the items offered in future auctions were of a quality comparable to today’s, then with such a stable channel for obtaining cultivation resources, would their material shortages not be eased considerably?

Although accumulating spirit stones was difficult, they could still gather them gradually with enough time. But many rare resources were truly impossible to obtain.