I conquered the cultivation world with scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

"make a deal."

With the hammer falling from Liu Hong's hand, Long Aotian was declared the final buyer.

Zhang San glanced at the damaged black sword and muttered to himself:

"This sword is so badly damaged, yet someone still bought it and spent five million. Tsk tsk, auction houses are really lucrative."

Jiang He didn't agree. She really didn't know much about swords, but she thought that if a broken sword could fetch five million, then how many people would be competing with her for the staff she wanted to bid on?

After Long Aotian slapped down the black cyan sword, the old man breathed a sigh of relief:

"We've pretty much got the Black Green Sword on this trip. When we get back, we can sharpen it and have a weapon refiner fix it a bit. It should still be usable, at least better than your old, broken swords."

By the way, do you have any other money on you?

Long Aotian looked down at his assets, then shook his head:

"I've earned about a million star coins. I'll go to the black market and play a few more matches in the next few days."

"Alright, the black market is a mixed bag. I've noticed you've improved a lot these past few days. I think you'll be able to advance to the Golden Core stage soon."

"Ah."

Long Aotian doesn't have many ways to make money. Previously, he registered as a contestant in the Black Market Arena Championship and earned some Star Coins by playing matches.

From the start of the individual competition, Long Aotian went on a winning streak. The more consecutive wins he had, the more money he earned. In just a few days, he made millions.

Jiang He looked down to the first floor and, with her eyesight, could make out the appearance of the cultivator who had just slapped away the black cyan sword.

Jiang He glanced at it and then looked away. The next few auction items also included spirit swords, but none of them were as stunning as the dark green sword that Jiang He had seen.

The first and second rounds of auctions have concluded.

The auction on the first floor was much less crowded.

Looking from the second floor, only a few scattered people remained on the first floor, including the cultivator who had taken the black cyan sword.

In the first two rounds of auctions, many people participated in the bidding in the private rooms on the second floor, but no one bid in the lit private rooms on the third floor.

Jiang He looked at the auction catalog in her hand.

His gaze swept back and forth between the mid-grade fifth-level alchemy furnace and the four mid-grade fourth-level spirit swords.

"The craftsman who crafted these five spirit swords and the craftsman who crafted this alchemy furnace are the same person."

"Yes, they were all made by Master Niu Qingfeng."

"Niu Qingfeng?"

Jiang He rarely came into contact with alchemy furnaces or similar artifacts, and coupled with his lack of systematic training, he didn't know much about weapon refiners or alchemists.

Zhang San is well-informed; he knows all too well about Niu Qingfeng.

“Niu Qingfeng comes from our Shenzhou. After being admitted to Wanjue Academy, he entered the Lingqi Sect, a major sect in weapon refining, and has now become one of the elders. In order to give back to his alma mater, he also serves as a teacher of weapon refining major at Wanjue Academy.”

"How did these items become connected with Niu Qingfeng?"

Such a person is certainly not short of money; judging from these competing items, they are several levels higher than the items in the previous two rounds of auctions.

"Of course, it was our boss Yan who acted as the middleman. Boss Yan and Niu Qingfeng were in the same year and apparently met at the university competition. They have some connection."

"I see. But how did you know so much detail?"

Jiang He couldn't help but be curious when she heard Zhang San's words, that he even knew about something like meeting someone at the academy's grand competition.

"Little sister, it's obvious you don't care about our empire's competitions. The Academy Competition and the Sect Competition are the most exciting times in the entire empire because they are broadcast live and almost the entire nation watches them. There were even quite a few stories written about them during that period."

"Script?"

"Hmm, it's basically a love triangle between the captain of the number one ranked team at Lingqing Academy and the vice-captain and captain of a team at Xiling Academy, and there's also a teacher-student relationship..."

Zhang San paused, as if recalling something:

"I remember there was a storybook that was very popular back then, something like 'Spoiled and Pampered: Cinderella Yan Zhen Runs Away with a Baby in the Night,' which was about Boss Yan and Niu Qingfeng."

Jiang He's lips twitched. So this seemingly respectable interstellar person was actually up to something quite cunning.

She used to be a popular author of domineering CEO novels, but she didn't expect that these novels would still have a market in this world.

"In short, these staffs and alchemy furnaces that appear at the black market auction are all genuine products, unlike those sold at street stalls."

Liu Hong smiled brightly, still as energetic as ever:

"The third round of auctions features a wide variety of items. The first item to be auctioned is a fire-type staff made by Master Niu Qingfeng. It is a mid-grade, fifth-tier staff with a starting bid of fifty million star coins!"

"!!! Fifty million star coins! This is outrageous! This is money-grubbing!"

Zhang San had attended many auctions and knew the prices of many items, but this was the first time he had ever seen an item with such a high starting price.

Jiang He silently clutched the 30 million star coins in her pocket, suddenly feeling extremely poor.

Compared to the well-informed Zhang San, she, who had never seen the world, was even more surprised.

Jiang He had originally hoped to find a bargain, but all of his possessions combined were not as valuable as this staff.

Even selling her wouldn't be enough to buy her.

Unlike Jiang He's poverty, some cultivators in the arena had already started bidding.

This auction was not widely publicized, and the tickets and time were not announced. Many cultivators obtained detailed information about the auction items through well-informed people like Zhang San.

Many people came specifically for this staff.

If a cultivator with a single fire elemental root specializes in magic cultivation, the variety of fire elemental spells alone far exceeds that of many other elemental spells. Not to mention that fire is an extremely domineering element with explosive damage.

With many high school seniors taking the college entrance examination these days, the market price of elixirs and sword manuals usually rises by at least three percent before and after the exam.

However, no high school senior will refrain from purchasing these items just because they are more expensive than usual; on the contrary, they will hoard large quantities of pills and talismans.

With the team competition approaching, more and more candidates are going on shopping sprees.

Many candidates attended the auction, including the two sisters from the Helian family, Helian Fenghua and Helian Xueyue, Liu Neng, the second young master of the Liu family in Shanyang City, and Su Yingying...

After Liu Yang of the Liu family was crippled by Jiang He, Liu Neng became one of the Liu family members on whom the family placed high hopes for this year's college entrance examination.

Unlike Liu Yang's high profile, Liu Neng was quiet and cautious. Since Liu Yang was crippled, Liu Neng, who grew up with Liu Yang and had a deep bond with him, suddenly became the focus of the Liu family, and his daily expenses increased accordingly.

Almost all members of the Liu family possessed fire-type spiritual roots, and Liu Neng was no exception. He was determined to obtain this staff and immediately instructed the servants in the private room to raise the price:

"Box 15, 1 million Star Coins!"

As soon as Liu Neng's private room made its bid, many people gasped. They had originally come to snag a bargain, but the items in the first two rounds had a large target audience, and many people left in the third round. The people remaining on the first floor were mostly scalpers who planned to buy up bargains and resell them.

Liu Neng's shout elicited a silent gasp of surprise from some.

When Jiang He heard about the 100 million star coins, she remained calm, but the next second she could no longer maintain her composure.