Right, it was the aura of life. A stone could also have a hint of life? Zhao Hai didn’t object to this thought. The characteristics of life in stones are different to ordinary lives. Stones might be dead to ordinary people, but to Zhao Hai who had a high level of spiritual force, things were different. He could communicate with all things, he knew that stones could also contain life.
The stone underneath the transparent container gives Zhao Hai a very strong aura of life. It made people feel that it was an animal, not a stone. Although it was not moving, Zhao Hai felt that it seemed to be accumulating strength. It was as if it was a tiger lying on the ground, ready to pounce on the enemy.
Besides Zhao Hai, nobody else knew what the stone was. They all looked at the stone with curiosity.
Zhao Hai believed that the others couldn’t feel that the stone had the aura of life. Although the aura of life contained inside the stone was intense, it was a different aura from most beasts. They might think that the stone was special, but they wouldn’t know that the stone contained life.
Sure enough, as Zhao Hai thought, Ling Dong gestured towards the stone and said, “This is the Ninehole Flying Stone. It’s a very peculiar stone. Don’t look at it lying dormant right now, it is because of the cover. If I open the cover, it will immediately fly away. The use of this stone is still unknown, it is a strange treasure that was released by the Forbidden path Sect. The stone has been refined, but it has no effect. It isn’t only hard, it also repels water and fire. If you win it, you need to restrain it immediately otherwise it will fly away. We still don’t know how to use this item, so you have to study it yourself. The starting price of the item is six thousand jade essence. Each bid must not be less than 500 jade essences.”
Upon hearing Ling Dong, everyone in the hall stared. A piece of stone whose use is unknown. Moreover, it might fly away. Who would want it? Therefore, after Ling Dong opened the bidding, nobody placed a bid.
Seeing the hall’s reaction, Ling Dong couldn’t help but smile bitterly. The stone wasn’t actually from the Forbidden Path Sect. He just said so to boost the saleability of the item. Actually, this stone was something that a rogue cultivator took out from Gale Canyon. The rogue cultivator was a Teleportation Stage expert. Ling Dong felt that the stone was valuable, so he had it sent to the Forbidden Path Sect However, the sect didn’t take the stone seriously. They tried refining it but found that it couldn’t be refined.
In the end, the stone was returned to Ling Dong. The auction house spent 6 thousand jade essences to buy the stone. Since Ling Dong was a businessman and hated taking a loss, he put the stone up for auction with the starting price being 6 thousand jade essences. At the very least, he wanted to recoup his capital. He didn’t want to have something in his hand that nobody wants.
Just as Ling Dong thought that the stone wouldn’t be sold, a bid came, “Seven thousand jade essences.”
Ling Dong’s heart shook. He turned his head and saw that it was Zhao Hai who shouted the bid. Zhao Hai didn’t care where the stone came from. It might not be useful to others, but it has some use for him. This was the first time he saw a stone like this, so he needs to have it.Similarly, Ling Dong didn’t care for the reason Zhao Hai placed a bid. Seeing that he was about to get rid of the stone, he shouted, “This gentleman is asking for 7 thousand jade essences! Is there any other bid?”
“Eight thousand jade essences!” Another bid surprisingly came up. Ling Dong followed the voice and couldn’t help but stare. The one increasing the price was Young Master Wu.
Young Master Wu sat with a calm face, not even looking at Zhao Hai. When Zhao Hai turned his head and saw Young Master Wu’s appearance, he knew what he was thinking about. He wanted Zhao Hai to spend more money. Zhao Hai didn’t mind it as he smiled faintly and said, “Ten thousand jade essences.”
Whoosh! People in the hall were surprised. They didn’t expect a seemingly useless stone to fetch such a price. The way Zhao Hai looked in the eyes of those in the hall changed. They seem to be seeing a madman. In their eyes, Zhao Hai was a money crazed person. A standard lunatic.
At the same time, some people looked at Zhao Hai with greedy eyes. Zhao Hai revealed his cultivation level at the Soul Fusion Stage. That wasn’t to say that he was the weakest person in the auction hall, but such a person actually carried so much money! This was equal to a child carrying a gold brick while walking on the street. He was waiting for people to rob him! That was what some people were thinking.
Hearing Zhao Hai shout out his bid, Young Master Wu’s eyes couldn’t help but narrow. Then he said, “12 thousand jade essences!”
A louder clamor was heard in the hall. Nobody expected Young Master Wu to increase the bid to 12 thousand jade essences. This wasn’t what everyone was expecting. Why would such a stone fetch a high price?
But what people didn’t know was that the moment Young Master Wu shouted his bid, a tense expression flashed through his face. But he covered it up very well.
As he turned his head towards Young Master Wu, Zhao Hai said, “13 thousand jade essences.”
Young Master Wu turned to Zhao Hai, then a faint smile appeared on his face. Everyone immediately knew what he thought. Zhao Hai used 13 thousand jade essences to purchase the blade technique, offending Young Master Wu in the process. This time, he deliberately raised the price of the stone to make Zhao Hai spend more money.
Thinking of this, people in the auction hall couldn’t help but smile. Some of them laughed out loud, “Hahaha. These people are lunatics. It seems like money has turned them stupid. They can’t even see that someone was deliberately raising the price! The auction house loves these people!”
“Right, if there are more of these people, the auction house will certainly celebrate. Hahaha.”
Ling Dong didn’t care about these words. He looked at Zhao Hai with a calm expression. His intuition told him that Zhao Hai wasn’t simple. He continued to increase his bid, not to spite Young Master Wu, but because he really wants to obtain the stone.
However, Ling Dong didn’t dwell on this matter too much. He only followed up, “Mister bids 13 thousand jade essences. Any other bids? It must be known that although we still don’t know how to use the stone, there are other strange things in the world. Take Detachment Gold, for example, it was unknown in the past but now all sects go all out to grab it. Although we don’t know what this stone is, its ability to fly is real. Maybe it will be a treasure in the future. Any other bids?”
People continued to laugh, someone even answered Ling Dong, “Shopkeeper Ling, how could you compare this stone with Detachment Gold? Detachment Gold is a high grade material that can still be used to make low-grade artifacts. What can this stone do? Fly and hit people? Hahaha!” Everyone also burst into laughter. The smile on Young Master Wu became even wider. He looked at Zhao Hai with a proud expression.
Ling Dong already counted to three, but nobody continued to bid. Finally, the stone was taken to Zhao Hai. When the old attendant reached Zhao Hai, he said, “Mister, the container will be given to you. But once the container is removed, it will fly away. Only Teleportation Stage experts can catch it. Don’t open the container on your own.”
Zhao Hai received the container and thanked the old attendant. This time, he didn’t pay immediately. The old attendant nodded towards Zhao Hai and then left.
Seeing that Zhao Hai didn’t pay this time, the people in the hall laughed even more. In their opinion, Zhao Hai no longer has any money. Otherwise, he would pay for the stone outright. After all, if he paid immediately, he would be slapping Young Master Wu’s face again.
Unfortunately for these people, Zhao Hai was truly rich. He has too much money, in fact. However, Zhao Hai didn’t pay right now because slapping Young Master Wu would be too cheap. He knows that the blade technique wasn’t Young Master Wu’s real target. Young Master Wu was saving his energy for a more valuable item. Getting the item that Young Master Wu really wants was the real slap that Zhao Hai wanted to give. Any slap at this time was meaningless.
Zhao Hai stored the container in his own spatial ring. Then he turned his head back to Ling Dong. Once the stone was handed over, Ling Dong waved his hand. A maid brought another tray with an antler on top. The antler was gray all around. It seems to have been cut directly from the head of a deer.
Ling Dong waved his hand towards the tray and said, “This is the antler of a Spiritwind Deer. Everyone should be aware that Spiritwind Deers are beasts unique to the Gale Canyon. It is docile but very strong. They won’t take the initiative to attack, but if you want to catch them, you will have a very hard time. They would rather die than get caught. The antlers of the Spiritwind Deer are a rare elixir that can replenish qi and blood. It’s good for body cultivators.”
“Other parts of Spiritwind Deers don’t appear on auctions, since the sects will take them away immediately. Although the antlers aren’t as good as the other parts, it is still good at replenishment. You don’t even need to refine the antler into a pill. You can crush them into powder and take them immediately. The starting price for the Spiritwind Deer antlers is 5 thousand jade essences. The bids must not be less than 300 jade essences.”
The antlers were priced lower than the stone. It should have been placed before the stone, but Ling Dong knew that the stone had a chance to be sold. Six thousand jade essences might be high for some rogue cultivators, it wasn’t much to the richer ones. And some rogue cultivators liked to study strange things, thus the reason why Ling Dong took the stone out for auction.
Spiritwind Deer antlers are very attractive to rogue cultivators. If Ling Dong auctions the antlers first, the rich rogue cultivators will have no money to bid for the stone. Therefore, Ling Dong placed the stone first and followed up with the antlers.
There is also another reason, it is that auctions also need to provide commodities to be bought. Although the bids would still be high, more cultivators could bid on them. This way, the auction attendants wouldn’t feel like the auction was for major powers to bid for precious treasures. Then they might no longer attend in the future.
The Spiritwind Deer antlers were taken out for those who have a bit of wealth. Although the antlers could replenish qi and blood, there are plenty of other items that could do the same. Stronger groups could get their hands on such items on other channels. Therefore, the antlers aren’t very attractive to those sitting in the front rows. On the other hand, the antlers are very alluring to those sitting at the back. They aren’t like those who have powers to support them. They can get ordinary herbs and materials, but items that could replenish blood and qi were rare for them. And medicine that could replenish qi and blood was very important for rogue cultivators.
Replenishing qi and blood isn’t only for body cultivators. In fact, rogue cultivators need this medicine whether they are body cultivators or not. This was because it was very easy for rogue cultivators to be injured and bleed, causing a loss of qi and blood. For a cultivator, losing qi and blood was a very serious thing. Even if they could restore their qi, if they lost too much blood, their combat strength would be affected. At most, they can only exert 75 percent of their strength. They can only rely on slow recuperation to return to their peak strength or use medicine that could replenish qi and blood. This was where the antlers could be useful.
Sure enough, after Ling Dong opened the bidding, the first rows didn’t make a sound. Instead, those at the back began to increase the price. In the end, the antlers were sold for 7,100 jade essences.
Ling Dong continued to auction off items. Their final prices weren’t very high at around six or seven thousand jade essences. The atmosphere of the auction also became better. This was because more people have been bidding for the items.
What appeared mostly were low to medium-grade items. These were not attractive to Zhao Hai at all. Therefore, he didn’t make any bids. As for people sitting in the back rows, they were able to get their hands on a few things. But most of these fell into the hands of ordinary rogue cultivators.
The auction has been going on for seven hours. Commodities that were sold numbered around a hundred. Although it wasn’t proportional to the attendees, it was a rare auction that happens once a year. But Zhao Hai also saw that the people sitting in the front row weren’t here for these items. Their goal has yet to appear.
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