Chapter 973: 516 Chapter 973: 516 Yuquan Market.
At the auction, within a certain secret chamber, Lin Tianming leaned back in a chair crafted from precious peach wood, his gaze fixed upon the intense bidding below, revealing a helpless and wry smile on his face.
Over the past several days, he had been roaming around Yuquan Market continuously, his presence appearing in almost every large and small tavern, stall area, and even so shops.
With his mighty Divine Sense, no one in the market was able to detect him.
As a result, he freely changed his identity, secretly gathering all kinds of useful information.
At the sa ti, he had also spent a considerable amount of money to issue tasks, all for the purpose of finding any clues about the Dry Jade Grass.
Nevertheless, the outco was still not optimistic.
...
Fortunately, in these past few days the annual market auction had begun, causing a significant surge in the flow of people throughout the entire Yuquan Market.
It was a pity, though, that this auction was just a small gathering and did not include auctions for Golden Core Stage cultivators.
However, holding onto a try-and-see attitude, Lin Tianming still participated in the Foundation Establishnt Area’s auction.
By this ti, the auction had already been underway for half a quarter hour.
Thousands of Foundation Establishnt Cultivators gathered together; for these cultivators, the auctioned objects were rare treasures, hence the atmosphere was extrely heated.
However, Lin Tianming was quite apathetic, and after more than ten rounds of bidding, not a single treasure had managed to catch his attention.
As such, he simply paid attention to the proceedings, but had yet to bid.
Until this mont, the auction host below held a scroll in hand, his booming voice spreading throughout the entire venue.
“A simple map of the Five Poison Mountain from the Perilous Lands, which seems to contain a record of a Golden Core Relic Site. Bidding starts at 30,000 Spirit Stones, with each increase no less than 300 Spirit Stones.”
As soon as these words fell, the entire Foundation Establishnt bidding floor was instantly abuzz.
Nearly a thousand cultivators from the public area were now discussing fervently, with so rely spectating and many others considering entering the bidding.
Despite this, nobody spoke up, seemingly half-skeptical about the authenticity of the map.
Impatient, soone took the lead and asked, “Daoist Zhang, I fear it’s hard to discern the authenticity of this map.”
“Especially the Cave Mansion Ruins within it, which cannot be verified. Just a map starts the bid at 30,000 Spirit Stones—aren’t you trying to make fools out of us?”
“Yes…”
A Foundation Establishnt Seventh Level cultivator also stood up and chid in.
“Could it be just any map with so locations marked on it, claiming them to be Golden Core Cave Mansion Ruins? If so, earning those tens of thousands of Spirit Stones would be all too easy!”
These few statents imdiately set all the cultivators abuzz, and the atmosphere suddenly beca sensational.
It was clear that these Foundation Establishnt Cultivators were no fools.
Such incidences were not rare in the Cultivation World. Many cultivators had spent tens of thousands of Spirit Stones on false maps, venturing on treasure hunts only to find no treasure, and even more tragically, losing their lives.
With such occurrences increasing over ti, cultivators had beco exceedingly cautious about semi-truthful maps.
At this mont, the cultivator hosting the auction, seeing the scene below, appeared displeased.
However, given the large number of hecklers, and although he had reached Foundation Establishnt Ninth Level and had accumulated no small reputation in the auctioneer profession, he did not dare to offend so many cultivators simultaneously.
Therefore, the auctioneer surnad Zhang spoke seriously, “Fellow Daoists, I truly understand your doubts.”
“I have carefully examined this map, and according to my many years of judgnt, there is indeed a high probability that it is genuine.”
“In addition, the Daoist who provided this map has indeed entered the Cave Mansion Ruins and obtained so Third Grade Treasures on the periphery.”
“However, due to his own strength, he was not able to delve deeper, which is why he has put the map up for auction.”
“The consigner also ntioned that he cannot guarantee that there will be more treasures inside; if there were, then the starting bid wouldn’t be just 30,000 Spirit Stones!”
“As to whether or not you all believe it, the consigner does not force anyone. In short, if you wish to bid, bid; if not, we’ll simply end the auction there.”
Daoist Zhang’s explanation was quite indifferent, seemingly unconcerned about the cultivators’ thoughts.
Upon hearing this, the crowd below quickly fell into a silence.
After a long while, finally, a cultivator began to bid, instantly breaking the calm of the entire venue.
Evidently, even though Daoist Zhang was not completely certain of the map’s authenticity, Golden Core Relics still held a fatal allure for these Foundation Establishnt cultivators.
After all, reaching the Foundation Establishnt Stage, they were neither at the bottom nor could they be considered High Order Cultivators—they were stuck sowhat in between.
They all understood that if they failed to enter the Golden Core Stage, within a hundred and eighty years, they could end up as a heap of yellow dirt.
Although the authenticity of such maps was questionable, there were always so willing to take the risk.
Thirty or forty thousand Spirit Stones were not a small number, but if a Golden Core Relic Site truly existed, then obtaining just one or two Third Grade Treasures would be enough to compensate for the investnt in the map.
What was more important, if luck was on their side, acquiring a Nascent Soul Spiritual Item would be striking it rich.
And there were quite a few with this mindset. As the first person to bid led the way, more and more joined the bidding.
Soon, the map’s bidding price continued to rise, and after just over a dozen rounds of bidding, it had reached 43,000 Spirit Stones.
And with the fervent atmosphere of the venue, the price continued to climb.
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