Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Harvesting the Talents of Demonic Beasts

Chapter 54 The Treasure is Touching
Luo Lian'er bowed gracefully, and the wicked glimpse of her snow-white breasts trembled, attracting a flurry of eager attention.

She smiled slightly at the reaction from the audience, seemingly quite satisfied, and then proceeded to explain the auction rules as usual.

It's simply a matter of who pays the highest price.

Furthermore, threatening or interfering with others' bidding is prohibited; using one's spiritual sense to probe others' identities is prohibited; bidding excessively high prices, exceeding one's own net worth, or maliciously raising prices and then refusing to pay is prohibited...

Once discovered, the offender will be expelled from the venue at best, their cultivation will be abolished at worst, and in extremely serious cases, the authority to execute the troublemaker on the spot is reserved.

"Then the auction shall officially begin!"

"Please present the first treasure, the [Flying Locust Mother and Child Stone]!"

Luo Lian'er's charming voice immediately rang out in the room. The voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Lin Changheng raised an eyebrow. This must be due to the amplification effect of some kind of magical artifact.

Then, a waitress in white walked onto the stage carrying a tray and stood facing the audience.

The tray stood upright, on which were fixed five irregularly shaped, golden stones, one large and four small, with a shimmering spiritual light on them.

"You've probably all heard of the name 'Flying Locust Mother-Child Stone.' It's a complete set of mid-grade offensive magic weapons that can control the smaller ones and use the smaller ones to assist the larger ones. The mother and child stones work together to strike the target."

"This is one of our signature magical artifacts. It is extremely complex to make, and only four sets are sold each year. Don't miss this opportunity."

"The starting price is 150 low-grade spirit stones. Each bid must be at least 5 low-grade spirit stones. The auction is now open. Please submit your bids!"

Luo Lian'er spoke with a smile and clearly explained the selling points of the item, immediately igniting a lively atmosphere among the audience, whose eyes were filled with excitement.

Clearly, the first item to be auctioned was an excellent choice. It not only instantly heated up the atmosphere, but Lin Changheng could also clearly feel a hint of longing in the eyes of many mid- and late-stage cultivators nearby.

"This magical artifact is so famous?"

Lin Changheng clicked his tongue in surprise. He did not travel outside and was averse to fighting and strife, so he had never heard of the name "Flying Locust Mother and Child Stone".

However, the price of ordinary mid-grade magic artifacts is over two hundred spirit stones, let alone a complete set of magic artifacts like this, which is even more expensive and far from the starting price.

However, he quickly realized that the host had intentionally set this up to give more people a chance to bid, create a lively atmosphere, and at the same time, demonstrate his absolute confidence in his own items.

And at this time——

One hundred and sixty low-grade spirit stones!

Someone couldn't resist and made the first bid.

One hundred and seventy!

"I'll offer 175 spirit stones!"

……

"Hehe, if you're short of money, don't even bother asking. I'll offer two hundred and fifty spirit stones!"

Bidding continued unabated until a young male voice suddenly rang out from the overhead room, raising the price significantly.

Immediately, most of the people in the room who were about to speak froze, looked up at the source of the sound, and finally reluctantly fell silent.

Those sitting atop the hill are all people with powerful backgrounds and substantial wealth, far beyond the reach of independent cultivators who rely on their own efforts.

Only a few people are still chasing it.

"Heh, what a boastful tone, two hundred and sixty!"

On the other side, someone retorted, even though it was the same room above.

"Two hundred and seventy." Some people in the audience were unwilling to give up and gritted their teeth to fight for it.

Seeing this, Lin Changheng, who had originally planned to make an offer, completely abandoned the idea.

Although I am tempted by this item, its reputation is too great and its popularity too high, so I'm afraid I won't be able to acquire it without paying a hefty price.

Not cost-effective.

It's better to save the spirit stones for other uses, to avoid running out of spirit stones when you encounter something you really need later, which wouldn't be ideal.

"Three hundred and thirty spirit stones! This is the highest price I can accept. If anyone can offer five more spirit stones, feel free to take it."

"If I weren't so fond of this mother-and-child magic artifact, I certainly wouldn't have pursued it at a price higher than that of a fine or mid-grade magic artifact."

After another round of squabbling, the young male cultivator who had spoken first in the upper room chuckled and uttered a few words. These words seemed to have actually jolted the other two, who were still somewhat caught up in the moment, back to reality.

After all, even the best mid-grade magic artifacts wouldn't cost more than three hundred spirit stones!

Genuine mother-and-child ritual implements, excluding fame and limited editions, will be more valuable than regular single ritual implements, but not to an outrageous degree.

For a moment, the room fell silent.

Surprisingly, no one else made a bid.

Have they really given up?
Luo Lian'er glanced around the stage and up at the top, and seeing that no one spoke, she could only announce loudly, "Three hundred and thirty spirit stones once, three hundred and thirty spirit stones twice..."

Her beautiful eyes glanced around encouragingly, but to no avail. She then smiled and said, "Three hundred and thirty spirit stones in three bids! Congratulations to this fellow Daoist for winning the [Flying Locust Mother-Child Stone]. A female attendant will guide you to complete the transaction shortly."

As soon as she finished speaking, Luo Lian'er clapped her hands again, striking while the iron was hot, and signaled for the second item to be brought to the stage.

"The second item up for auction is three [Spirit Explosion Pills]."

The brief words immediately sparked a lively discussion in the room.

Upon hearing the name of the elixir, Lin Changheng anticipated this change.

He naturally knew that this [Exploding Spirit Pill] was a breakthrough pill that could help one break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

For some cultivators whose cultivation level is stuck at the third level of Qi Refining and cannot advance further, it is something they dream of.

However, this pill still has a significant side effect: after taking it, the bottleneck at the next level will be significantly strengthened.

So what? We've already fallen so low as to rely on the [Spirit Explosion Pill] to break through; why worry about the future?

Or rather, what future is there to speak of?

After all, if one cannot even break through the bottleneck in the middle stage of Qi Refining, how can one possibly overcome the bottleneck in the later stage, or even the Foundation Establishment stage?
Taking another step forward is making a profit.

Without explaining what the pill was, Luo Lian'er, urged by the eager gazes of the crowd, directly said: "This pill will be auctioned separately with a starting price of thirty spirit stones, and each bid must be at least five spirit stones higher."

Immediately, a cacophony of bids began to rise.

Thirty-five!

Forty spirit stones!

"I'll put up fifty!"

……

"One hundred and twenty!"

Such a rapid pace, with the number of units more than doubling, surprised even Lin Changheng.

Finally, the first [Exploding Spirit Pill] was auctioned off for 150 low-grade spirit stones.

Then, the remaining two [Exploding Spirit Pills] continued to be fiercely contested.

The second one was surprisingly sold for 145 yuan.

Many people were eager to try their luck, thinking they had discovered the pattern and hoping to snag a bargain. However, the price of the third one instead soared to 170 spirit stones!

He immediately began to sigh repeatedly.

Lin Changheng found it quite interesting to observe these various situations from the perspective of an outsider.

……

The auction continued in an orderly manner.

It was noon in noon, and there was still no sign of it stopping.

"Lot 35, [Flying Cloud Boots]!"

Luo Lian'er's voice remained charming as she pointed to the tray.

Then everyone saw on the tray a pair of dark blue boots, which, to the naked eye, appeared to be made of demon hide.

(End of this chapter)