Lind awoke in the softest bed he had ever been in in either life. He almost wanted to drift off to sleep but a quick check of himself made him bolt upright and regret the movement immediately. He felt a massive headache and sore in his entire body. He had over extended himself!
No damage to his meridians but his elemental cores were now at the peak of tier 6! How was that possible?! In fact, why was he in bed? The last clear memory he had was of resonance between him and the stone dral core.
As if recalling a night of drunkenness, his mind replayed the foggy memories and shock filled him to the brim. He had made an elixir without a cauldron! He had done it with his own Qi and the available Qi around him. He could not recall the full details, but the feeling was there clearly and he could ask Younger Twin about it later.
His movements caught Irene's attention and she quickly brought water over to Lind he gratefully swallowed. Lind noticed she was looking at him oddly. He flushed as he realized he had done something he should not have in the middle of the auction house.
"I am sorry for letting my curiosity get the best of me. I had an enlightenment and followed it without thought of the consequences." Irene's eyes widened for some reason but then she seemed to look relieved.
"It is no problem, honored guest, but in future, I recommend waiting until a more appropriate spot as you did cause quite a stir for all the guests." Lind was stunned and then slowly made his way to the open window. He saw the crowd was still below but no activity was on the stage at that time. His confusion was clear and was replaced by shock again as Irene narrated what she could.
"A lightning strike at my elixir?!" Lind vaguely recalled something like a flash at the end but he did not really remember the very end of the process well. He would have to meditate on it later. He found the new storage pouch and had Irene remove the vials for him.
Lind stared in awe at the 4 glowing vials. His Eyes could see the flow of 6 elements, now balanced somehow, in each one. He had no idea what this elixir did though. Reluctantly, Lind put the vials into his own pouches to let Younger Twin see them later.
A flickering motion on the stage brought Lind back to the window and saw Mythra in a pale green robe now that somehow complimented both her colors well. Lind saw the energy return to the stage and wondered where things were now.
"Apologies for our delay honored guests. We have confirmed that no items were distrubed by the unusual issue yesterday. Due to the delay, a complimentary meal will be distributed to all according to their cultivation." This was not a small thing! Lind felt immense guilt as the meat of aether beasts was very helpful to cultivators. It was, however, difficult to prepare to get the most out of it and he was sure the Sapphire Auction House could do just that. Lind looked to Irene with his forlorn look and she actually giggled.
"Your privacy is assured, honored guest. As no damage was done to property or guest, I have no reason to report this. We are all sworn to protect our guests so long as no harm is done." Lind felt no relief from this. After a pause he pulled out 2 vials from another pouch. One was the mid grade 2 earth elixir he had created only yesterday and the other was a peak grade 1 recovery elixir.
"Please donate these to old Ye. I must make this right!" Lind could not give his new elixir as he had no idea what it did and he knew elixirs were highly sought after. Irene looked confused but took the 2 vials and nodded. Her thoughts were clear to Lind but then a word brought his attention back to stage.
"As some of you have waited a long time, we are now glad to start our grade 1 item sale with this rare commodity!" A small pedestal was brought out but this time it was by a familiar face. Old Ye looked regal in his dark blue robe and many bowed in respect to him from the audience. Mythra smiled wide as she pulled away the cloth cover. "A peak grade 1 stamina and healing elixir!
The small red vial seemed small compared to other items sold before but there was pin drop silence in the auction house. It was not like before where the stone dral core was confusion, this was shock and awe! The tension was far beyond what happened when the bidding wars for rare grade 2 herbs occurred.
Lind was curious how this would go, but the bidding was not opened first, instead Mythra bowed to Old Ye.
"As most of you know, I am an Advanced Alchemist, or peak grade 3. I have consulted, however, with my superiors at peak grade 4 and confirmed the authenticity of this vial. The elixir is only peak grade 1, but retains 73% of its effects through tier 3 of the Soul Realm and drops off after that. There are 4 doses per bottle and we have 6 vials." As Ye spoke, 5 more pedestals were placed out. Mythra stepped back up and took the audience's attention.
"We have other elixirs also if you have not perused our selling list yet so be aware there are 2 more grade 1 elixirs with 6 vials each and then 2 mid grade 2 elixirs at 1 vial each." Her words were like dropping a bomb. She wisely stayed silent until most of the murmurs settled and continued. "We will sell 1 vial at a time, there are no restrictions on stones."
Lind had not known what to set and old Ye had agreed to simply let the buyers decide. Once Mythra said no restrictions it was like the VIP suites were a Christmas tree. Voices were shouting and trying to drown out each other. It was chaos. Lind could not keep track but he saw the Mythra was swiftly using a tablet and the display constantly updated on the projections.
Lind saw it finally slow down and felt his body go numb.
"1–100 World Stones!" Even Irene could not keep calm as she realized what Lind had given her now. This was only grade 1, but he had also given her a mid-grade 2. It was far more than needed to cover the cost of the aether beast meat! The bids continued until stopping at a whopping 150 World Stones.
Lind felt his arms shake as he realized this was the first vial! There were 17 more to go! It only got worse as the supply dwindled. Lind saw the final red vial go for 215 World Stones. He was rich! Just from those 6 vials, he had made close to 900 World Stones! He would have to find a way to safely walk away with that amount.
Lind nearly missed as the next round of elixirs started. The violet elixir was in even more demand! Qi replenishment on top of healing was a life saver for any cultivator. The lowest amount sold was 250 World stones and the final vial whent for 300! Lind could be considered far better off financially than any other Soul Realm cultivator outside of a noble house or young master of a powerful clan right now. Even Darkmoor Kingdom standards applied!
Lind was truly curious how the last vial would sell. He actually lowered expectations but he was mistaken. The problem of diseases affecting Body Refining and Soul Realm cultivators often required pills far beyond safety or their means to get. An elixir that resolved a fairly common ailment was in extreme demand. Each clear vial sold for no less than 400 World Stones.
Lind did some quick math and realized he now had over 4700 World Stones to his name! While a massive amount to an itinerant cultivator, he was humbled to know later items would crush this wealth by Sky Stones. Still, a lot of his material problems were resolved if he could safely transport this wealth back. He had no portable storage treasure at this time but he could now bid for one!
Lind realized he should ask Irene if such treasure were available.
As he looked over the list, more grade 1 items were bid over but they did not pull his interest. They did, however, sell for a considerable amount of at least 1 World Stone for them.
Lind knew this was the cooling down period before grade 2. It gave buyers time to see if they needed to request more stones or not for what was to come! Lind was sad at the selection of storage treasures. They were too flamboyant!
There was a dragon bracelet of bright red jade, a studded cerulean turtle pouch, and so on. It was like announcing you had a storage treasure to the world! Lind wondered why they would do that when he noticed something odd. They were all grade 1. He glanced and noticed a few had sold already but he thought back to the puzzles in his room. While they might have more elements needed to unlock them, they were also all grade 1.
"Irene, are there no grade 2 storage treasures?" He saw her frown as she quickly browsed through the lists but then shook her head. She then looked for something and timidly showed him something in grade 3.
Lind was stunned. It was a very unassuming bracelet. The grade 1 treasures topped out at 2 cubic meters, but this grade 3 bracelet stated it could hold 10 cubic meters! That was a massive space! The amount of items he could carry would be far beyond anything physically possible now. Lind then glanced at the starting price and felt his jaw drop.
"50 Sky Stones!" Lind did not understand. He knew storage treasures were not exactly common, but that sounded insane. Lind then thought of something. "What about a stationary storage treasure?"
Irene shook her head immediately and Lind realized she had already looked. He sighed and hoped old Ye had an answer to this problem. The items were wrapping up and Lind noticed that the storage treasures yielded at least 80 World Stones each at grade 1.
The tension rose as grade 2 began but instead of his elixirs, they brought out a massive jade case and revealed a crystal with shifting colors inside. Lind realized what it was. The harmonic crystal!
"At grade 2, we will begin with elemental tempering items and this is a rare acquisition. It was found in a Ruin near the Divine Sword Sect. The jade slip with it was unclear on its uses but called it a harmonic crystal. There are no restrictions." Silence descended by Lind quickly bid 1000 World Stones. Irene was in shock at his offer but he wanted to avoid all but the seriously interested parties.
Lind's tactic seemed to work as no one piped up after him and the harmonic crystal was easily one by him. Lind could feel Irene thought it was a waste but Lind could not be bothered to explain his situation. The other tempering crystals garnered far more interest as Lind received his item.
This time, he was cautious as while he had mostly recovered, he had no desire to repeat his previous mistake. Thankfully, the crystal was not easy to grasp. Lind tried resonance again and while he felt something, he did not get a strong response. He did, however, feel ill. It was nearly instantaneous and he quickly stopped. He looked at Irene but she seemed fine.
What was that? Why had he felt chills and fever all of a sudden but nothing once he stopped? Lind carefully put the jade cover back on and wondered how he would walk out with this thing. His question was clear to Irene and she used her tablet to call some porters over. He had it shipped off to his quarters at the Academy. Being a 6 elemental would make the need to study it clear but if anyone learned how much he spent on it, Lind started to sweat at that thought.
The flow of items continued until finally it was time for the mid grade 2 elixirs to arrive.
Lind truly wondered if these would be as popular as their grade 1 counterparts. The grade 1 elixirs had no restrictions on use, anyone could use them and benefit from it. These, however, were element specific. He also wondered if there was any reason to stay once the sales were done for the day. Nothing else really interested him and he could not reach the stones needed for the grade 3 bracelet.
Lind saw old Ye stand once again on stage but this time Mythra left the talking to him. The feeling of pressure would have crushed others, but the hale old man seemed to let it fall off his shoulders as if it was nothing.