Shun Long saw that the beautiful, yellow-robed young woman who was standing on the main stage, had an enchanting smile on her face as she faced the crowd in front of her, before she bowed slightly and introduced herself in a warm voice that was akin to a gentle breeze that warmed up the entire venue
''Dear guests of our 'White tiger chamber of commerce', my name is Jia Guiying and I will be your auctioneer for today's auction. I want to thank you all, esteemed guests, for coming.
Since many of our esteemed guests today have even come from various parts of our central region, our 'White tiger chamber of commerce' has prepared many exceptional treasures for today!''
Quite a few people in the crowd stared at the beautiful young woman who had appeared on the stage with love-struck eyes, before someone said soon after
''Indeed, miss Jia is worthy of being called the most stunning jewel of Murong city. Since she is the auctioneer today, I am sure the rumors about the earth flame must be true!''
''Of course they are true! Do you think that so many experts would be present today if they weren't? I heard that today's auction will even have some other treasures other than the earth flame that can entice Sovereign realm experts to go all-out!''
People in the crowd immediately began chatting with each other shortly after Jia Guiying's appearance, and Jia Guiying herself merely smiled and didn't speak when she saw this scene, allowing the excitement of the crowd to reach its peak before they began the auction.
After all, as a talented auctioneer, she knew that only when the crowd couldn't contain their excitement any longer, would the prices of the auction reach a new high.
A minute later, Jia Guiying bowed to the crowd for a second time, before her gentle voice entered the ears of every single person present in the venue
''Then, esteemed guests, without further ado... let us begin with the first item of today's auction!''
As Jia Guiying clapped her hands, 2 beautiful young women dressed in red robes walked out from the back of the auction venue, carrying with them 2 bottles that were filled with alchemy pills.
Some of the people in the crowd stared at the pills curiously, while the eyes of the most experienced ones quickly lit up.
At the same time, Shun Long's eyes flashed momentarily inside his private room, before he mumbled in a calm voice
''High-grade rank 7 pills?''
Indeed, Jia Guiying verified Shun Long's and the others' guesses barely a moment later, as she took one of the pill bottles in her hands and gently removed one of the pills inside, showing it to the crowd in front of her before she said
''Dear guests, as many of you have already guessed, the first item for today's auction is a set of high-grade rank 7 'Limb restoring pills' made by Grandmaster Hu Dai himself!
Grandmaster Du Hai is the greatest alchemist in our Murong city, and this set of high-grade 'Limb restoring pills' made personally by him, can even allow a person who isn't a body refinement cultivator to restore a missing limb without any issue.
As long as you are not a Sovereign realm expert, just one of these pills will allow you to restore a missing limb within a day after consuming it!
I am sure that everyone here understands how rare these high-grade rank 7 'Limb restoring pills' are, and that you normally won't be able to see them even if you tour through half of our northern part of the central region!
The starting price for these 18 pills will be 70.000 high-grade spirit stones, and every subsequent increase must be a minimum of 500 high-grade spirit stones!''
The crowd didn't hesitate to start bidding, as a person in the lower seats instantly called out his bid
''70.500''
''71.000!''
''73.000!''
In the blink of an eye, the price climbed all the way to 80.000 high-grade spirit stones and it was still going strong.
Although these rank 7 'Limb restoring pills' didn't require any exceptionally rare rank 7 medicinal herbs to concoct, due to how difficult the actual pill refinement of the pills was, they were considered to be quite rare rank 7 pills that many cultivators coveted.
A few minutes later, the price finally stopped as a person in the lower seats obtained the 'Limb restoring pills' for 93.000 high-grade spirit stones!
Of course, the person who had obtained them was a late-stage Dao Emperor who happened to be sitting in the lower seats, since only some extremely powerful middle or late-stage Dao Emperors, as well as people from extremely strong powers, could afford to pay such a high price for 2 bottles of pills.
But of course, to those experts, even a hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones were nothing if they could restore a missing limb.
These pills were no different from offering a second life to those who weren't training in body refinement!
Jia Guiying clapped her hands and congratulated the old man who had just won the pills, before the second item of the auction soon came out.
Staring at the rusty iron halberd that appeared in Jia Guiying's hands, Shun Long's lips curved up slightly as he watched the auction.
His iron halberd eventually sold for 80.000 high-grade spirit stones, and someone came to Shun Long's private room a few moments later to deliver him 76.000 high-grade spirit stones.
Clearly, those 4000 high-grade spirit stones were the 5 percent fee that the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' would get from every transaction.
The third, the fourth, and the fifth item of the auction soon followed, and nearly every single one of them sold for more than 30.000 high-grade spirit stones!
Unfortunately, none of those items were of any use to Shun Long who kept enjoying his wine calmly, while the wine's scent had already started to spread to some of the nearby private rooms by now, attracting the attention of the experts inside those rooms, who sent their soul sense to check Shun Long's room soon after.
Of course, since none of those experts could see through Shun Long's cultivation base and they were all enemies during the auction, none of them dared to approach him during this time.
A little more than an hour later, after more than 10 items had already been auctioned, a bright smile suddenly blossomed on Jia Guiying's face, as the beautiful yellow-robed young woman faced the crowd and said in a warm voice
''Dear guests, our next item is an exceptionally rare rank 7 medicinal herb that is very rarely seen even in most auctions, and it can even compare to some rank 8 medicinal herbs in terms of rarity. Our 'White tiger chamber of commerce' happened to obtain it by pure luck a few days ago, and we decided to auction it today!''
As she finished speaking, Jia Guiying personally went over to carry a small jade box on the main stage, revealing a seven-petaled flower inside the box that was emitting a bright light.
Staring at the flower in Jia Guiying's hands, Shun Long's eyes instantly lit up as he said with a smile
''A 'Golden light flower'!''
.
781 golden light shit
It wasn't just Shun Long who was startled upon seeing the seven-petaled flower in Jia Guiying's hands, as the people in the audience seats and even some of the experts inside the private rooms seemed to have suddenly turned serious, as they turned their gazes towards Jia Guiying soon after.
With a smile on her face, Jia Guiying nodded her head and continued a moment later, as her warm voice reverberated throughout the fifth floor
''As many of you, dear guests have already guessed, our next item is indeed a rank 7 'Golden light flower'. I am sure that the esteemed star-rank alchemists present here today all recognize the value of this priceless flower better than me, so I will avoid embarrassing myself.
It is said that as long as a 'Golden light flower' is refined into a pill, it can heal almost any kind of injury, including injuries in a person's soul. High-grade and top-grade rank 7 pills refined by a 'Golden light flower' can even be consumed by Sovereign realm experts, making their value comparable to some extremely rare rank 8 pills.
The starting price for this 'Golden light flower' is set by our 'White tiger chamber of commerce' at 80.000 high-grade spirit stones, while each subsequent increase must be at least 1000 high-grade spirit stones higher than the last bid.''
Silence filled the auction venue for a brief moment after everyone heard Jia Guiying's voice, before people began shouting out their bids soon after.
''85.000 high-grade spirit stones.''
''86.000!''
''87.000.''
''90.000!''
Less than a minute had passed since the auctioning of the 'Golden light flower' had begun, and the price had already exceeded the 100.000 high-grade spirit stones mark, and it was only then that it started to actually slow down.
Even Shun Long was inwardly surprised when he saw that the price of a rank 7 medicinal herb had already exceeded that of a peak 1-star weapon.
Shun Long's surprise was only natural, since the value of raw medicinal herbs would always be far lower than the actual pill concocted in the end, and this was even more so for a medicinal herb like the 'Golden light flower' that even star-rank alchemists found it had to fully extract its essence.
And yet, once he remembered the prices of the rank 7 medicinal pills that he had seen back in the 'Myriad Pills pavilion' within the Northern Sovereign's city, Shun Long realized that the price of the 'Golden light flower' was still within reason.
After all, some extremely rare rank 7 pills were sold for hundreds of thousands of high-grade spirit stones while the more expensive ones reached close to a million high-grade spirit stones instead!
With a serious look in his eyes, Shun Long continued to watch as the price of the 'Golden light flower' kept climbing upwards without any signs of stopping anytime soon.
However, Shun Long was still prepared to go all-out to obtain the flower, regardless of the final price.
Even if it was just for Jiang Tianfang's sake, Shun Long wouldn't let anyone else get their hands on this 'Golden light flower', otherwise who knew how many years Jiang Tianfang would have to wait until he healed himself.
A few minutes later, the price had already reached the 130.000 high-grade spirit stones mark, before Little Black's voice sounded inside Shun Long's mind a few moments later
''Master, if things keep going like this, the final price will certainly go past 200.000 high-grade spirit stones.''
Nodding his head, Shun Long agreed with Little Black and said after a moment of thinking
''I guess it's time.''
Shun Long then took a deep breath, before he called out from his private room in a hoarse voice
''150.000 high-grade spirit stones.''
''..''
The auction venue of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' descended into silence in the next moment, as the people sitting in the normal seats below, and even some people from the private rooms turned their attention towards Shun Long's room.
The sudden increase of 20.000 high-grade spirit stones for a single rank 7 medicinal herb naturally surprised quite a lot of people who only realized at that moment how high the price had risen by now.
At the same time, in the private room that was right next to Shun Long's, the silver-haired middle-aged woman in white robes who was emitting an aura that was clearly at the Sovereign realm mumbled to herself with a frown on her face
''I was planning to bid for the flower as well, but it seems that both this person and the people from the 'Black mist valley' want to fight for it... Fine then, I will let you have it. What I am interested in the most isn't this flower, but the earth flame itself.''
The 3 white-robed women next to the beautiful silver-haired woman were startled when they heard this, before one of them asked curiously
''Is master really going to give up? Even if it's the 'Black mist valley', in front of our 'White ice city' they won't dare to be too arrogant. As long as master declares that she is interested in this flower, perhaps they won't even dare to fight you for it!''
The silver-haired middle-aged woman looked at the white-robed young woman next to her and shook her head, before she answered in a calm manner
''They won't dare to fight? You underestimate the 'Black mist valley' quite a bit. Although it's true that our 'White ice city' is stronger than them, the valley lord of the 'Black mist valley' is a late-stage Sovereign realm expert just like our city lord. Why would they be afraid to compete with us? Besides, the person who has come to Murong city this time is that demon from the 'Black mist valley', Zhuan Jie. Forget about me, even if he had to fight a middle-stage Sovereign realm cultivator, he still wouldn't be afraid.''
As she finished speaking, the silver-haired middle-aged woman turned to look at Shun Long's private room for a brief moment, before she smiled and fell silent.
The fifth floor of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' was silent for a few more moments after Shun Long's bid, before Shun Long heard a cold snort coming from one of the private rooms near him, as the person inside that private room said in an overbearing voice
''160.000 high-grade spirit stones! Today, I, Zhuan Jie of the 'Black mist valley' will be the one who is going to win this 'Golden light flower'!''
At the same time, Zhuan Jie deactivated the formation around his private room, allowing everyone below him and even the other experts who were sitting inside the private rooms to see his facial features.
Seeing the tall dark-haired man with sunken cheeks and that pair of cold eyes that were staring at Shun Long's room directly, many people in the crowd couldn't hold themselves back from whispering among themselves
''It's really Zhuan Jie, the right-hand of the demon lord of the 'Black mist valley'! I've heard that he is at the peak of the early stages in the Sovereign realm. I didn't expect that the 'Black mist valley' would send him here today!''
''Things are going to be tricky! Now that Zhuan Jie has already declared his presence and that he wants to obtain the 'Golden light flower', I doubt that anyone else will dare to bid against him other than the experts of the 3 strongest powers in the northern part of the central region.''
''I am sure the 'White Tiger chamber of commerce' won't be happy with this either. They have already said that nobody is allowed to try and bully others through their status or background in their auctions. I wonder how miss Jia will handle this.''
Indeed, a cold light flashed through Jia Guiying's eyes in the next moment, as the beautiful young woman looked at Zhuan Jie and said in a displeased manner
''Senior Zhuan Jie, I am sure that you are aware of the rules of our 'White tiger chamber of commerce', and that trying to scare other guests from bidding is forbidden. Are you trying to challenge my authority today?''
A stifling atmosphere filled the entire fifth floor of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' at that moment, as everyone stared at Jia Guiying with wide-open eyes.
Nobody had expected that a middle-stage Dao King like her would be so arrogant in front of a renowned Sovereign realm expert like Zhuan Jie!
Even if she was the auctioneer of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce', Zhuan Jie himself was known as a merciless demon who could kill others with a snap of his fingers.
However, Jia Guiying didn't seem to be afraid of him in the slightest, as she stared at him with a questioning gaze.
Surprisingly, Zhuan Jie merely laughed a moment later, as he shook his head and said
''Bullying others? Little girl, I think you are mistaken. I simply declared that I am going to win the auction today. If there is some trash present here today who are too afraid to bid against me, then that simply means that they didn't deserve their spot in the first pl-''
''180.000 high-grade spirit stones.''
Before Zhuan Jie could even finish his sentence, Shun Long's hoarse voice came from his private room, attracting the attention of every single person present.
Silence filled the auction venue for a few more moments, before someone asked in a disbelieving tone
''Another increase of 20.000 high-grade spirit stones?! This person dares to bid against Zhuan Jie?''
The people in the normal seats down below were stunned when they heard Shun Long calling out another bid against Zhuan Jie so casually, but the experts inside the other private rooms like the beautiful silver-haired woman from 'White ice city' and the others were unperturbed.
After all, they had already sent their soul sense to scan every single person sitting inside the private rooms as well as those in the normal seats down below, and Shun Long was the only mystery in these experts' eyes.
Someone who could hide his cultivation in front of so many experts present, clearly wouldn't be afraid of someone like Zhuan Jie.
At the same time, the cold look in Zhuan Jie's eyes deepened as he stared at the blurry silhouette inside Shun Long's room, before he spoke a second later
''200.000 high-grade spirit stones!''
''220.000!'' Shun Long's voice echoed right after Zhuan Jie's, as Shun Long called out his next bid.
It was clear that Shun Long had already decided to get his hands on this 'Golden light flower'!
''The 'Flame Sovereign's hammer' and the 2 Saint middle-grade martial skills should sell for at least 200.000 more high-grade spirit stones. I doubt that this Zhuan Jie will be willing to spend close to half a million high-grade spirit stones for a single rank 7 medicinal herb.'' Shun Long thought to himself calmly as he waited to see if Zhuan Jie wanted to keep bidding.
Everyone on the fifth floor of the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' stared at Zhuan Jie curiously, including the experts inside the other private rooms.
Indeed, as long as it wasn't a matter of life and death, Zhuan Jie shouldn't keep fighting for the 'Golden light flower'.
After all, the 'Golden light flower' was nothing more than a rank 7 medicinal herb, and it was one of the most difficult medicinal herbs to extract its essence!
If Zhuan Jie spent hundreds of thousands of high-grade spirit stones to bid for it and ended up gaining nothing, he would truly regret that.
And yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, Zhuan Jie simply snorted and said
''You think that a few hundred thousand spirit stones mean anything to me? Today I will make you bleed as well! 250.000 high-grade spirit stones!''
''270.000!'' Shun Long called out in a calm voice before Zhuan Jie's own voice could even disperse.
At that moment however, just when everyone thought that Shun Long and Zhuan Jie would keep bidding against each other until one of them didn't have anymore spirit stones, a solemn voice came from the normal seats down below, attracting everyone's attention
''400.000 high-grade spirit stones!''
''400... 400.000?'' Someone in the audience seats asked in a stuttering voice as he turned to look at the person who had just called out this bid.
However, just like Shun Long, this person was clad in black robes that completely concealed his appearance.
The only thing that people could discern was his extremely powerful cultivation base.
Zhuan Jie narrowed his eyes as he looked at this black-robed person in the normal seats down below before he said calmly
''An early rank 9 Dao Emperor can actually take out 400.000 high-grade spirit stones like that? How interesting...
It's too bad that I still need to bid for the earth flame and I can't waste too many spirit stones on a measly rank 7 medicinal herb like this! You can have it this time.''
As he finished speaking, Zhuan Jie threw a provocative look at Shun Long before he activated the formation around his own private room, hiding his appearance once again.
Although Zhuan Jie could keep bidding if he wanted to go all-out against Shun Long, in reality, he hadn't come to Murong city to bid for the 'Golden light flower', but he was here for the earth flame just like the rest of the experts.
If Shun Long really wanted to fight for the 'Golden light flower' and spend more than half a million high-grade spirit stones for it, it would be unlikely that he would have enough to compete with them for the earth flame later on.
What Zhuan Jie didn't know, was that Shun Long wasn't planning on bidding for the earth flame in the first place.
Of course, it wasn't because he didn't want to, but that he was certain that the final price would easily exceed a million high-grade spirit stones, and that this was nothing more than a conservative estimate.
The final price could very well be 2 million high-grade spirit stones or perhaps even higher.
Jia Guiying and the others all stared at Shun Long's private room curiously, waiting to see if he wanted to keep bidding.
Everyone understood that 400.000 high-grade spirit stones had already gone past the actual market value of the 'Golden light flower', but if an expert really wanted it, it wouldn't be unlikely for its price to go even higher.
And yet, Shun Long simply remained silent as he stared at the black-robed person in the audience seats down below who had just called out the bid of 400.000 high-grade spirit stones, without calling out another bid.
A deep look flashed inside Shun Long's eyes at that moment, as he then used his soul sense to ask Little Black
''Little Black, is that Jiang Tianfang?''
Little Black nodded his head and answered calmly, as his bright blue eyes stared at the black-robed person in the audience seats
''Master is right. Although he is using a special technique to mask his aura, it's impossible for him to hide his real identity from me. He is definitely Jiang Tianfang.''
Since his cultivation had only broken through to the early rank 2 of the Dao King realm and Jiang Tianfang had altered his aura using a special technique, Shun Long wasn't completely certain of his guess which was why he had to ask Little Black.
However, although Jiang Tianfang could hide his aura from others, how could he hide it from someone like Little Black?
Even the strongest experts of the cultivation world couldn't hide their true aura in front of the black dragon, as long as Little Black had met them once before.
A smile formed itself on Shun Long's lips after he heard Little Black's confirmation, and after a moment of silence, Shun Long said in a hoarse voice that reverberated throughout the fifth floor
''I was planning to refine a 'Heavenly purity pill' but perhaps it's not meant to be... So be it then.''
'''Heavenly purity pill'?'' Whether it was Zhuan Jie, the silver-haired woman from the 'White ice city' or the other experts inside the private rooms, they all looked puzzled as none of them had ever heard of the name 'Heavenly purity pill'.
And yet, the moment that Jiang Tianfang heard this, his body suddenly trembled, as his piercing gaze stared at Shun Long's private room with hints of elation and disbelief in his eyes.
The only other person who knew about the 'Heavenly purity pill' was Shun Long who had told him about it, as well as Jiang Chen and the others.
How could Jiang Tianfang not get this hint and realize what was going on?
At the same time, seeing that no one else wanted to bid for the 'Golden light flower' after Jiang Tianfang's bid, Jia Guiying smiled and said in a crisp and clear voice that reverberated throughout the fifth floor
''Congratulations to this esteemed guest for winning the bid for the 'Golden light flower'.''
Jiang Tianfang nodded and stood up, as he walked towards the back of the auction venue where he went to pay for the 'Golden light flower'.
Of course, neither Zhuan Jie nor the silver-haired middle-aged woman from the 'White ice city' and the others were surprised that Shun Long didn't keep bidding.
400.000 high-grade spirit stones were indeed too much for a rank 7 medicinal herb, and although the 'Golden light flower' was a rare rank 7 medicinal herb, it wasn't worth this price in the eyes of these Sovereign realm experts. Especially if they were planning to bid for the earth flame later on and they wanted to conserve their spirit stones.
A few moments later, Shun Long heard a knock on the door of his private room, as the young woman who had escorted him to his room said from the outside
''Esteemed guest, there is another guest that wants to meet you and he says that you are already acquainted with each other. Should I let him enter?''
Shun Long didn't even need to take a look at it, as he sensed the familiar aura of an early rank 9 Dao Emperor outside of his room and realized that it was Jiang Tianfang.
Nodding his head, Shun Long then said with a smile
''Let him in.''