Cultivation Begins From The Desert
Chapter 195 - 193: Auction (Part 1)

Chapter 195: Chapter 193: Auction (Part 1)

"Isn’t this just like TV shopping!"

Inside the auction hall of Immortal Sun City, Zhouyang looked at the Projection Crystal Mirror and Sound Transmission Conch in the small compartment and automatically slipped into a somewhat familiar experience.

In his previous world, many ordinary people had such experiences; basically, every household could do this.

However, in this Immortal world where one could fly and escape into the earth, things that ordinary people could do in the past life were only accessible to high-tier cultivators here, and ordinary cultivators might not even have heard of them.

His gaze swept over the Projection Crystal Mirror and Sound Transmission Conch, then he patted Xiao Ying’s jade hand to let her sit on the jade stool beside him and looked curiously at Cao Wenjin, asking, "Elder Cao seems very familiar with this place; could it be that you have been here before?"

Cao Wenjin’s face showed a fleeting, hazy expression, as if he had recalled some past events.

After a moment, he nodded slightly and said, "I came here once before, but at that time, I was just a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, attending the auction only to gain some insight, and never actually competed in bidding."

"I see."

Zhouyang nodded in understanding and didn’t ask anything more.

Then, the three waited quietly for about half an hour before the Projection Crystal Mirror in the room suddenly flickered with spiritual light, displaying a vivid scene.

The scene showed the center area of the white Treasure Tower’s auction platform, where a middle-aged beautiful woman in a red palace dress was standing.

Zhouyang looked over, and saw the red-dressed woman smilingly say, "I am Liu Yunyan, the auctioneer for this auction, and next, I will preside over the entire auction. I hope each elder and fellow Daoist will achieve their wishes today."

"Alright, I know everyone’s time is precious and doesn’t have time to listen to me ramble, so let’s officially start with the auction of the first treasure!"

Following her words, Liu Yunyan waved her jade hand over the auction table, and a jade bottle appeared on it.

"The first treasure is five Foundation Establishment Pills, starting at fifty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, with each bid increment not less than one thousand Spirit Stones. Please state your bid price to the Sound Transmission Conch if you intend to bid."

Inside the small compartment on the twenty-eighth layer of the white Treasure Tower, upon hearing Liu Yunyan’s alluring and magnetic voice in the Projection Crystal Mirror, Zhouyang felt a wave of heat, unexpectedly finding that the first auction item was the treasure of Foundation Establishment Pills.

Yet, he could only covet it to no avail; he was utterly penniless, with all his Spirit Stones with Cao Wenjin. Despite his desire for the Foundation Establishment Pills on the stage, he could not bid, ultimately watching a cultivator from an eleventh-floor compartment take the five Foundation Establishment Pills for eighty-nine thousand spirit stones.

"Congratulations to the Daoist friend in room G on the eleventh floor for successfully acquiring the first treasure of this auction. Next is the second treasure, a Tier Four Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Profound Frost Sword, personally refined by a Tier Four High-grade Refiner, this artifact..."

In the Projection Crystal Mirror, Liu Yunyan took out a blue Flying Sword emitting white cold air and infused it with magical power, causing the sword to "whoosh" into a Sword Testing Stone dozens of meters in front of her. Instantly, the whole yard-long Sword Testing Stone was frozen by the cold air released by the sword.

"Tier Four Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, Profound Frost Sword, starting at thirty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, with each bid increment not less than one thousand Spirit Stones."

Items that make it to the auction, whether elixirs, artifacts, spirit talismans, arrays, or other treasures, are all valued over ten thousand, and their final transaction prices are often higher than market prices.

But don’t think those bidding on treasures are losing out, because anything that reaches the auction, save for elusive elixirs, is a gem among Daoist Techniques, artifacts, spirit talismans, arrays, etc.

These things are rarely seen outside in shops and are only brought out for auction and exchange at auction shows and private trades.

"Now for the seventh auction item, the rare Demon Beast Earth Dragon Worm relics—about the Earth Dragon Worm, there’s no need for me to say much; you Daoist friends must already be aware. This Demon Beast spends its life hundreds of meters underground and excels in concealing its aura. From what I know, the last time Earth Dragon Worm relics were put up for sale was over a hundred and seventy years ago!"

"In any case, this treasure highly values destiny; Daoist friends who know its value will naturally use gold to exchange for it; those who don’t, if interested, might purchase for collection, maybe giving rise to great benefits one day."

"Alright, everything is said, now starting the auction of a ten-meter-long Tier Three High-Grade Demon Beast Earth Dragon Worm relics, starting at five thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, with increments not less than five hundred Spirit Stones!"

Zhouyang waited around a quarter of an hour before finally awaiting his consigned Earth Dragon Worm relics.

Such treasure had once been exchanged for by Zhu Ziyu with Foundation Establishment Pills, displaying its rarity. He also wanted to see if others would be interested in this treasure.

But to his disappoint, after Liu Yunyan announced the starting price, there was no bid for up to dozens of breaths.

According to the auction rules, if no bid was made within a hundred twenty breaths after the announcer stated the starting price, the item would be considered unsold.

"Five thousand five hundred Spirit Stones!"

Zhouyang gritted his teeth and shouted out a bid higher than the base price to the Sound Transmission Conch under Cao Wenjin’s piercing gaze.

After shouting, he cupped his hands to Cao Wenjin, saying, "Ancestor, don’t be mad; this item is what I consigned. I don’t believe it’s worth less than five thousand spirit stones, so I’m trying to lift the price."

Hearing his explanation, Cao Wenjin’s expression eased, but he still warned sternly, "Don’t say that I didn’t warn you boy, if you dare shout nonsense at the price, you must bear the consequences yourself; don’t think I’ll pay a single spirit stone for you!"

"Rest assured, Ancestor, I understand the importance of this matter."

Zhouyang nodded as his attention fixated entirely on the Projection Crystal Mirror.

His bidding was undoubtedly a test; if no one was interested in the Earth Dragon Worm relics, they would return to him.

If someone was indeed interested in the treasure, the reason for their delayed bidding would be intriguing.

Indeed, Liu Yunyan, upon hearing Zhouyang’s bid, was the first person to breathe a sigh of relief.

Although she didn’t understand why the people from Profound Sun Pavilion would include a segment of Earth Dragon Worm Relics in the auction items, as an auctioneer, the failure of any treasure to sell was a blemish on her career.

Now Zhouyang had bid, and even though he only raised the price once above the base price, it was enough to prevent the treasure from failing to sell, relieving her as the auctioneer.

So after Zhouyang completed his bid, she was counting every breath, preparing to finalize the transaction once 120 breaths passed.

In her thoughts, she did not expect anyone else to bid.

What surprised her was that after 115 breaths, another person bid.

"Six thousand Spirit Stones!"

A deep voice sounded through the Sound Transmission Conch, reaching Liu Yunyan’s ears, leaving her momentarily surprised, then she quickly displayed a radiant smile and loudly announced, "A fellow cultivator from Room Ding No. 17 bids six thousand Spirit Stones, is there anyone willing to bid higher? Remember, this is a treasure that appears once every 170 years, and even if it can’t be used for now, buying it as a collectible is surely worthwhile!"

"Six thousand five hundred Spirit Stones!"

Excitedly, Zhouyang quickly shouted his bid, his face full of enthusiasm.

Someone had bid, confirming his guess that the Earth Dragon Worm Relics truly had great value.

Zhouyang: "Seven thousand Spirit Stones!"

"Nine thousand Spirit Stones!"

Zhouyang: "Ten thousand Spirit Stones!"

"Twelve thousand Spirit Stones!"

Zhouyang: "Fifteen thousand Spirit Stones!"

"Seventeen thousand Spirit Stones!"

...

When the bid was raised to seventeen thousand Spirit Stones, Zhouyang dared not bid higher. This was already equivalent to the price of a Foundation Establishment Pill, and he feared that if he raised the price further, the other party might back out, leading to a substantial loss for him.

"Well young man, despite your youth, you have such skill and courage, truly making this old man look at you with new eyes!"

In the small compartment, after Liu Yunyan finally announced the transaction price, Cao Wenjin looked at Zhouyang with a surprised expression and sighed.

It’s not unusual for bidding inflators to appear in auctions, but ones like Zhouyang who dared to inflate the price to double are rare; especially since, this treasure was consigned by himself for auction.

It’s important to note that if the buyer had given up before Zhouyang, he wouldn’t merely retrieve the Earth Dragon Worm Relics; he’d also have to pay Profound Sun Pavilion at least fifteen hundred Spirit Stones in handling fees.

According to auction rules, if the final transaction price for consigned items is less than twice the starting price, the auction house charges a commission of five percent of the transaction price. If the price is between two and three times the starting price, then the commission is ten percent. If the price exceeds three times the starting price, the commission rises to fifteen percent.

Overall, the higher the auctioned treasures’ prices at an auction, the higher the commission the auction house collects, reaching as high as fifty percent!

And auctioneers usually receive a tenth of the commission collected by the auction house as their own commission.

Don’t think a tenth is little; after a large-scale auction, just this commission can bring an auctioneer thousands or even tens of thousands in Spirit Stones!

Hence, Cao Wenjin was amazed by Zhouyang’s audacity—a loss of fifteen hundred Spirit Stones may seem small, but simply for shouting a few words, not only he did not earn a single Spirit Stone, but instead had to suffer such a large loss—so the loss can be quite extensive.

"The elder praises me too much; it’s just some minor trick, unworthy of grandeur, definitely not deserving of such accolades from the elder."

Zhouyang shook his head, without feeling any pride in it.

He certainly wouldn’t tell Cao Wenjin that the confidence in his bidding came from the "Kan Yuan Spiritual Water" yet to be released—once this treasure was sold, no matter how he shouted the bids, he would not suffer a loss.

As the auction continued with treasures being sold one by one, the "Kan Yuan Spiritual Water," which Zhouyang had eagerly anticipated, was finally presented by Liu Yunyan.

"Next, fellow cultivators at the Purple Mansion Stage practicing Water Element Techniques should pay close attention, for this treasure concerns your opportunities for achieving Dao!"

In the Projection Crystal Mirror, Liu Yunyan rarely set aside her charming demeanor, and solemnly took out a transparent Crystal Jade Bottle. The item contained in the bottle was nothing less than the "Kan Yuan Spiritual Water" consigned by Zhouyang.

"A portion of Tier Four Celestial Spirit Object [Kan Yuan Spiritual Water], the value of this item needs no further explanation from me, you knowledgeable cultivators are already aware, therefore the starting bid for this item is seventy thousand Spirit Stones, each increment not less than three thousand Spirit Stones!"

Liu Yunyan seriously held the Crystal Jade Bottle high, ensuring everyone could clearly see the water-blue liquid inside.

"Seventy-five thousand Spirit Stones!"

"Eighty thousand Spirit Stones!"

"Ninety thousand Spirit Stones!"

The atmosphere in the auction hall instantly heated up due to the exhilarating bids, making Zhouyang’s heart race.