After Li Ya left, Yi Tianyun sat alone in the VIP room drinking tea, from where he had a clear view of the floor below. The auction was about to begin, so many people were already seated, whispering to each other and discussing the items on the block.
The Cultivators bidding down below—not all of them, perhaps, but the vast majority—were of the poorer sort. If they were truly wealthy, they would have co to the VIP rooms to bid, where they could keep their identities hidden and sit in comfort.
Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that so particularly idle Cultivators simply enjoyed sitting down there to bid. Regardless, Yi Tianyun was determined to win!
As ti passed, more and more people gathered in the auction hall. When night fell, the auction officially began. Auctions were held here almost daily, but the number of Treasures on offer depended on the circumstances of the day.
A list of items was generally provided to the Cultivators to see, so as not to waste anyone’s ti. They were straightforward about what was for sale and wouldn’t slowly tease the audience. Aside from a few special finale Treasures, most items were explicitly nad. Even for those that weren’t, their general type would be revealed.
’Is it finally starting...’
Yi Tianyun squinted down at the scene below. Most everyone had arrived. Soon, Li Ya walked onto the stage and began her address.
"I am delighted to see you all. The auction is about to begin, and I hope you all manage to purchase the Treasures you desire." Li Ya smiled faintly and motioned for an assistant below the stage to bring up the first item.
However, upon seeing Li Ya, many of the Cultivators began to chatter amongst themselves, paying little attention to the Treasure.
"Hey, isn’t that Pavilion Master Li’s youngest daughter? What’s she doing helping out over here?"
"I heard they’re just trying to look out for her. She’s not really competent at anything, so they could only send her here to ’help’."
"Makes sense. This line of work is pretty cushy, and she might even get to et so powerful experts. Pavilion Master Li is certainly looking out for her."
"No matter how useless his daughter is, she’s still his daughter. How could he just give up on her?"
...
No one was discussing the Treasure; instead, they were all talking about Li Ya. It seed her reputation was quite widespread, though it was all negative.
On stage, Li Ya’s smile stiffened. It was her first day, and she hadn’t expected to imdiately beco the center of discussion. However, she was ntally resilient enough to carry on and began introducing the first Treasure.
"The first Treasure is a dium-grade Soul Artifact: the Celestial Cold Treasure Sword. It is inscribed with a fourth-grade Extre Cold Divine Rune, which further enhances its freezing power on top of its inherent Ice Attribute!" Li Ya raised her voice and continued, "Bidding will be in Jade Spirit Stones! The starting bid is one thousand Jade Spirit Stones, and each raise must be no less than one hundred Jade Spirit Stones!"
The bid of one thousand wasn’t for one thousand individual stones, but rather a total value. Small fragnts of Jade Spirit Stone were acceptable currency, many of which weighed a few taels or up to about a jin. Using them for cultivation was excellent—far better than absorbing ambient Spiritual Sense or training outdoors.
With that, many people finally turned their attention to the weapon. It imdiately caught the eye of many, especially the Cultivators who specialized in the Ice Attribute.
"Fifteen hundred Jade Spirit Stones!"
"Eighteen hundred Jade Spirit Stones!"
"Nineteen hundred Jade Spirit Stones!"
The bids climbed rapidly, each one higher than the last. Clearly, a dium-grade Soul Artifact inscribed with a fourth-grade Divine Rune commanded a high price.
From his VIP room, Yi Tianyun watched with no interest. He could forge these dium-grade Soul Artifacts himself. Feeling bored, he picked up the auction catalog, which clearly listed the available Treasures.
More than twenty Treasures were up for auction in total. The complete Jade Spirit Stones he wanted were listed as the third-to-last lot, which had been publicly announced. The final two lots were kept secret. One was described as an Elixir Pill, and the other simply as a Treasure.
The listing was very clear: those interested in Elixir Pills should stick around, as it was guaranteed to be a top-tier one. As for the other Treasure, it was confird not to be a weapon or a piece of armor, but sothing with a unique effect. This raised a fair bit of anticipation.
Yi Tianyun had no interest in the other items. They were just various weapons and Elixir Pills. While their quality wasn’t low, they held no appeal for him since he could craft them all himself.
Out of sheer boredom, he took out so Artifact Refining Materials and started crafting a low-grade Soul Artifact. Currently, the best he could craft was a low-grade Soul Artifact, but with continued practice, he’d soon be able to make dium-grade ones. Even high-grade Soul Artifacts would eventually be within his reach.
Theoretically, it was still faster to just kill monsters. They usually dropped dium- or even high-grade Soul Artifacts, so the quality was guaranteed to be high.
Still, he planned on increasing his Mastery of the skill. Its current level was low, but it definitely had potential. In the future, being able to custom-make weapons or supply a large number of Soul Artifacts to his sect would make Forging an extrely valuable skill.
Just like that, he easily succeeded in crafting a low-grade Soul Artifact. By now, the auction below was finally getting to the Treasure he wanted. He put his newly forged weapon away and turned his attention back to the stage.
"The next item up for auction is mainly for masters of the Divine Rune! I trust you all know what it is—exceptionally whole Jade Spirit Stones!" Li Ya maintained her smile as she continued, "Almost every single one of these Jade Spirit Stones weighs over two hundred pounds! I’m sure that for Cultivators who practice with Divine Runes, a weight like that ans sothing special!"
As she spoke, assistants carried the Jade Spirit Stones onto the stage. Each stone was about the size of a human head, yet despite this relatively small size, each one weighed over two hundred pounds! Even smashed into fragnts and used as currency, their value would be imnse.
Many of the Cultivators’ eyes lit up, but most were rely curious to see who would buy them. Since the majority were not practitioners of Divine Runes, the stones held little aning for them personally.
"We have a total of six Jade Spirit Stones here. Each one weighs over two hundred pounds, and the heaviest is a staggering three hundred pounds!" Li Ya continued. "Unfortunately, the seller has given specific instructions: he wishes to sell them all at once, not in separate lots. Therefore, they must be purchased as a single set and cannot be sold individually. The price is quite high, and the paynt is not in Elixir Pills or Martial Arts, but in Soul Artifacts! Any type of Soul Artifact is acceptable, but it must be at least of the low-grade Soul Artifact Level."
"For the purpose of conversion, one dium-grade Soul Artifact is equivalent to thirty low-grade Soul Artifacts, and one high-grade Soul Artifact is equivalent to one hundred low-grade Soul Artifacts! To make the bidding easier, we will conduct it in units of low-grade Soul Artifacts. The final conversion can be made after the winning bid is placed."
"Now, let the auction begin! The starting bid is ten low-grade Soul Artifacts, and the minimum bid incrent is also ten low-grade Soul Artifacts. You may begin bidding now!"
"Fifty low-grade Soul Artifacts!"
"Fifty? You think you can get these Jade Spirit Stones for that? How naive! One hundred low-grade Soul Artifacts!"
"What a joke! One hundred is still way too low. I’ll offer two hundred!"
The auction had barely started, and the price had already shot up to two hundred low-grade Soul Artifacts! As expected, those skilled in Divine Runes were never poor. This was precisely why the seller of the Jade Spirit Stones had set the terms this way—to avoid any hassle.
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