Chapter 114: The Auction (Part 3)

"Next, we present the highly anticipated Premium Nascent Soul Pill, capable of increasing the success rate of forming a Golden Core or a Nascent Soul by twenty percent."

"As everyone knows, to improve the odds of forming a Nascent Soul, one must seek out incredibly rare, heaven-sent treasures, and obtaining such items is always a matter of pure destiny."

"This time, Master Lin has utilized the ten-thousand-year reserves of the Star Palace to gather the necessary materials. This included a vast quantity of ten-thousand-year-old spirit herbs. It took six full sets of materials to successfully refine only three pills."

"The highest quality pill was kept for the Palace Master, and the remaining two have been brought here for auction."

"The starting bid for the first Nascent Soul Pill is fifty thousand spirit stones, with a minimum increment of two thousand spirit stones per bid."

Ji Longyue guided the crowd with her alluring voice, and once she finished, she struck the auction block before her with a resounding thud.

"Let the bidding begin."

"Eighty thousand spirit stones."

The bid came directly from a Heaven-grade private room, leaving the peak Golden Core cultivators no room to even react.

"Eighty thousand once..."

"One hundred thousand."

"One hundred thousand once."

"One hundred and twenty thousand."

"One hundred and twenty-five thousand."

"One hundred and thirty thousand."

"Two hundred thousand once, two hundred thousand twice, two hundred thousand three times."

"Congratulations to the friend in Heaven-grade Room Eighteen for winning this pill with a bid of two hundred thousand spirit stones."

After repeating the price three times, Ji Longyue brought the gavel down with a heavy blow.

The first pill had only fetched a little over two hundred thousand spirit stones, falling slightly short of Lin Yang's expectations. However, it had been purchased by the two ancestors of the Shui family, who had essentially emptied their coffers to secure this future pass to the Nascent Soul stage for their granddaughter. It was unlikely they had been ruined by the cost, and Lin Yang had only brought two pills to auction. Each pill had consumed three ten-thousand-year-old spirit ingredients, and he had no intention of refining more in the near future.

He planned to keep the remaining three for his own use or for emergencies. The materials were too difficult to find; he did not want to waste his future time chasing resources for the sake of immediate spirit stones. He only needed enough resources and spirit stones to purchase attribute points. However, his cultivation technique was beginning to lag.

His Five Elements Art was nearing the pinnacle state. Once he reached the peak, it would be the moment to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. After reaching that pinnacle, he would likely need a massive amount of spirit stones to upgrade further.

Lin Yang counted on his fingers and realized that the few million spirit stones he had earned were far from enough. It seemed he would have to be patient and accumulate wealth slowly; at least he still had forty years. He needed to find a way to open an auction house in the Yue or Jin nations. In the Jin nation, it would be best if he didn't appear personally, as the cultivators there played by few rules. The so-called orthodox and demonic sects could paint black as white and white as black, so earning money under their noses had to be done discreetly and with great caution.

As for why he dared to be so brazen in the Chaotic Star Sea, it was entirely because the Star Duo were still present. He had also paid his protection fees; otherwise, he would never have dared to appear openly. Otherwise, the people in these Heaven-grade rooms alone would have picked him clean.

"Next is the final pill, and our last auction item."

"Starting bid at fifty thousand spirit stones."

Before Ji Longyue could finish, someone had already impatiently shouted a price.

"One hundred thousand spirit stones."

"One hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones."

"One hundred and seventy thousand spirit stones."

"Two hundred and twenty thousand spirit stones."

The price stalled there. Ji Longyue tried to encourage the crowd to raise it further, but perhaps they had spent too much already. Those who wanted it couldn't afford it, and those who could afford it didn't need it.

"Two hundred and twenty thousand spirit stones once, two hundred and twenty thousand twice, two hundred and twenty thousand three times."

"Congratulations to Heaven-grade Room Twenty-four for winning the final pill and our last auction item."

Ji Longyue brought the final gavel down heavily. By 2:00 AM, the last item had been sold. She delivered a long-winded closing speech, essentially urging everyone to spread the word and return next time. More importantly, she announced that the Pill Array Pavilion would be opening branches on the other thirty-six main islands, hoping for everyone's support.

With a clap of her hands, a troupe of dancers took the stage to liven up the atmosphere. Slowly, the crowd began to disperse amidst the festive mood; few people remained to watch the dancing at such a late hour.

Backstage, Lin Yang calculated the spirit stones he had obtained. Since he did not charge a commission for auctioning others' items, everything he sold belonged to him. In total, he had auctioned a few dozen items, mostly pills and arrays, totaling nearly 2.5 million spirit stones. He had also collected some rare herbs he favored, enough to sustain his cultivation for the next dozen years, and the spirit stones were sufficient to boost his professional ranks.

"Open panel."

Name: Lin Yang
Age: 35/500
Cultivation: Early Golden Core (2.08 million/10 million)
Technique: Five Elements Art (2,080/20,000) Master.
Primary Profession: Third-tier Junior Alchemist.
Secondary Professions: Second-tier Premium Talisman Master, Second-tier Premium Array Master, Second-tier Premium Blacksmith, Second-tier Premium Beast Tamer, Second-tier Premium Puppeteer.
Spirit Stones: 2.992 million
Attribute Points: 82,000

"Recharge 2.98 million spirit stones."

Lin Yang thought silently. In an instant, all the spirit stones in his storage bags vanished. The mountain of stones flowed into the system, converting into 290,000 attribute points.

"Adding to alchemy takes 200,000 attribute points, so I'll add to array formation next."

With that thought, Lin Yang tapped on Alchemy and Array Formation. Instantly, his mind was flooded with a sea of mental fragments. They gnawed at his consciousness, yet his already powerful Nascent Soul continued to grow stronger. It took him half an hour in his room to digest all the fragments. He felt his mastery of array formation had reached a new level.

A breakthrough in a realm brought a geometric increase in power; he could now build a perfect teleportation array on his own. Furthermore, his alchemy success rate would increase by another ten percent, and his speed would improve, which would be highly effective in reducing the consumption of medicinal herbs.

"Open panel."

Name: Lin Yang
Age: 35/500
Cultivation: Early Golden Core (2.08 million/10 million)
Technique: Five Elements Art (2,080/20,000) Master.
Primary Profession: Third-tier Intermediate Alchemist, Third-tier Junior Array Master.
Secondary Professions: Second-tier Premium Talisman Master, Second-tier Premium Blacksmith, Second-tier Premium Beast Tamer, Second-tier Premium Puppeteer.
Spirit Stones: 12,000
Attribute Points: 2,000

"Damn, back to square one."

Looking at the remaining 12,000 spirit stones, he felt his heart bleed. But it was all worth it. The coming days would be dedicated to unceasing cultivation. Then, he would set things in motion in the Yue nation, striving to reap benefits during the war between the orthodox and demonic paths.

In a few decades, he would no longer be a pawn drifting with the wind; he would become a player among the nations. He hated the feeling of being swept along by the currents—or rather, being forced into it. Once he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, he would be the one to change the course of history.