Yuan Ming was astonished after hearing Gui Jiu's introduction. He had not expected that the auction had just begun and the "Red Fire Heart Method," a core cultivation technique of a sect, was already up for bid.

Yuan Ming recalled that when he had possessed Wulu, he had seen him accept a mission from his clan to steal the "Red Fire Heart Method."

And Wulu had succeeded!

At the same time, he began to worry for Wulu. Although he did not know much about the Fire Origin Sect, it was at least a sect with a prestigious heritage. Now, one of its core techniques was being openly auctioned off at the Tianxiang Auction. Wasn't Wulu's family afraid of bringing disaster upon themselves?

As he was thinking this, suddenly, within the private box, an elderly man in brocaded clothes with a ruddy complexion stood up, bowed to the entire audience, and announced loudly,

"I am Luo Tian, an elder of the Fire Origin Sect. Unfortunately, not long ago, a traitor emerged from our sect and stole our sect's technique to sell at auction. I beg my fellow daoists to do me the honor of not bidding. Our sect will offer a token of appreciation afterward."

"Heh heh, no wonder the Tianxiang Auction decided to use anonymous bidding this time. They were preparing to trap the Fire Origin Sect. This is going to be quite the spectacle," Wang Chongshan chuckled mischievously, looking delighted by the trouble brewing, and turned to Yuan Ming to say,

"I have heard that the lord of Little Lake City, before advancing to the Nascent Soul Stage, had some grievances with this Fire Origin Sect. The specifics are now unclear, but it is said that he was instrumental in the rapid decline of the Fire Origin Sect. It is also him behind the scenes of the Tianxiang Auction. He purposely placed Fire Origin Sect's technique as the first item to stir up the atmosphere and to spite the Fire Origin Sect. However, I estimate that in the end, it will simply cost the Fire Origin Sect a lot of money, but the technique probably won't end up in others' hands. If other sects were harmed in a similar way, the city lord's days would not be pleasant."

"Based on what Fellow Daoist Wang said, it seems likely that it was the city lord who sent someone to steal the technique," Yuan Ming intentionally asked.

"Most likely. But if it really came to an investigation, it would definitely have nothing to do with the city lord," Wang Chongshan said. "Fellow Daoist Hagon, you might not see this often, but whether in the Central Plains or elsewhere, there is never a shortage of people willing to do the dirty work. It all trickles down through layers of outsourcing until the person who actually did the job probably doesn't even know what they were handling. Even if they were caught, they couldn't reveal who masterminded it."

On the other hand, Luo Tian's declaration seemed to have little effect. The price called by Gui Jiu kept climbing almost without pause, and Luo Tian's expression grew darker and more unpleasant, even as he continued to bid.

"…Twenty-one thousand four hundred spirit stones, is there anyone willing to bid higher?" After Gui Jiu called out another price, she surveyed the room and, after waiting for a moment, nodded her head, closed the wooden box, and placed it back on the stone platform.

Seeing this, Luo Tian let out a sigh of relief, immediately turned, and left the private box, clearly unable to bear staying any longer.

Twenty-one thousand four hundred spirit stones for a technique that could be cultivated up to the Core Formation Stage, Yuan Ming did not know whether this price was expensive or not, but for the Fire Origin Sect, no amount of spirit stones would justify letting their technique spread outside.

However, once the sect bought their own technique at a price far beyond normal, and the Tianxiang Auction ended and this news got out, surely many would laugh aloud.

City Lord Luu of Little Lake City, with this move, orchestrated a blatant scheme, trampling both the prestige and substance of the Fire Origin Sect underfoot, while his Nascent Soul Stage strength made the Fire Origin Sect dare not speak out.

In the Cultivation World, everything still ultimately depended on strength.

Yuan Ming sighed about the situation and turned his attention back to the auction.

"Next up is the second item of this auction, three pieces of Moon Cold Iron, taken from…"

On stage, Gui Jiu presented one distinctive item after another, including both spiritual materials and elixirs as well as Magic Tools Talismans. Regardless of the item, she promoted them extravagantly, as if not buying would be a regret in one's life.

Under her leadership, many items sold for at least twenty percent higher than usual prices. Although it was an anonymous auction with no open call for bids, the atmosphere grew increasingly heated, surprising Yuan Ming.

Suddenly, Yuan Ming began to notice something.

Every time Gui Jiu quoted a price, the tone of her voice slightly varied, sounding as if different people were bidding. Moreover, it seemed that special magic artifacts were installed in the auction hall, continuously playing string music, connecting Gui Jiu's voice seamlessly, leaving no gaps and clearly interfering with normal thinking, making the atmosphere even more intense.

However, Yuan Ming was not swept away by impulse. He occasionally bid on a few items of interest, but only up to a point. Once the price exceeded his expectations, he would immediately abstain.

By that point in the auction, he had not purchased a single item.

However, as Gui Jiu picked up another item from the rising stone platform, Yuan Ming suddenly sat up straight.

"The next item up for bid comes from the Xuanhua Spirit Incense Shop in Little Lake City."

"These three sticks of incense I hold are the seductive scents secretly produced by the Xuanhua Spirit Incense Shop. The materials are extremely rare, and most notably, once lit, there are no fluctuations of Spiritual Energy at all, completely silent and traceless."

As he said this, there was a light gasp from the audience, and some began to whisper among themselves.

"Just by inhaling the smoke of this incense, even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator will fall into unconsciousness in a short time, completely at the mercy of others. The only drawback of this incense is that it performs poorly in open areas. How to use it specifically will depend on everyone's innovation. At the request of the owner of the Xuanhua Spirit Incense Shop, this auction will sell only three sticks, with a starting bid of one hundred Spirit Stones for each. Due to limited materials, this seductive scent is not available for sale in the shop."

No sooner had Gui Jiu finished explaining, his expression shifted and he immediately said, "Good, a Fellow Daoist has already bid one hundred and ten Spirit Stones, I wonder... It seems many Fellow Daoists are interested in this incense. The price has now gone up to one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones, no, one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones. Any more bids?"

Listening to the constantly changing prices mentioned by Gui Jiu, a smile gradually appeared on Yuan Ming's face.

Soon, the three sticks of seductive scent Yuan Ming offered were all sold at a price higher than expected. After deducting the commission, he netted nearly six hundred Spirit Stones in income.

The seductive incense Yuan Ming offered for auction had been tried and tested in real combat; now, by putting it up for auction, he was also testing the value of his product. Earning an extra batch of Spirit Stones was secondary; more importantly, he aimed to establish a strong reputation for the Xuanhua Spirit Incense Shop while cultivators from all around were gathered in the city.

After the auction of Yuan Ming's Spirit Incense, Gui Jiu, without missing a beat, presented the next item up for auction.

"The next item for auction is perhaps the most unique one of this auction."

As he spoke, Gui Jiu opened the wooden box storing the item and displayed its contents.

Lying in the box was a green wooden post. Although it had been cut, it showed no signs of decay or wilting. On one side of the stump, several small tender buds of varying sizes were growing, emitting a faint glow and appearing quite magical.

"This piece of spirit wood was once parasitized by five Yimu Purple Mushrooms, which co-exist with the spirit wood. Not only are these mushrooms exceptionally medicinal on their own, but the spirit wood that hosts them also undergoes special changes, imbued with vigorous life force. The Yimu Purple Mushrooms have been removed, and after special treatment, this piece of wood is an excellent top-grade spiritual material, especially suitable for refining Wood Magic Tools. Most notably, after appraisal, this is a piece of thousand-year level spirit wood," Gui Jiu elaborated non-stop.

This was the first appearance of thousand-year level spiritual material in this auction, and at this point, all the cultivators in the hall turned their eyes to the item Gui Jiu held, their eager gazes almost wanting to swallow the wooden post whole.

Just then, from a private room, an old man's hoarse voice rang out, "I'm afraid that the introduction to this item is not complete, is it? If I'm not mistaken, this piece of spirit wood comes from a thousand-year-old Water Crown Tree, containing conflicting Water and Wood Spiritual Energies, making it impossible to serve as the main material for refining magic tools!"

"Senior Song indeed has sharp eyes. However, this spirit wood, having endured a millennium, even if it cannot serve as the main material for refining, if treated specially, as an auxiliary material during the upgrade of top-grade magical tools, it still holds certain value. And with everyone here being elites from various fields, perhaps there could be more ingenious uses yet to be discovered. Hence, the starting bid for this item is set at three thousand Spirit Stones, which is quite fair," Gui Jiu frankly admitted and then quickly announced the starting bid after an explanation.

After hearing her words, the cultivators in the hall regained their calm and began to discuss among themselves.

Through the discussions of the people, Yuan Ming learned that the Water Crown Tree was an extremely special type of spirit wood, just as the old man with the surname Song in the private room had described it. It possessed both Water and Wood Spiritual Energies, constantly in conflict with each other, making it unsuitable as the main material for refining tools no matter its thousand-year cultivation; the refining process often resulted in easy failure, and its medicinal value wasn't high either. Using thousand-year-old spirit wood as an auxiliary material was too luxurious when other substitutes were available.

As the chatter in the crowd gradually dwindled, Gui Jiu began the auction, but this time unexpectedly met with a cold response, with no bids for a long time.

"It seems that the Fellow Daoists here aren't very interested in this piece of spirit wood, no matter, there are still more treasures waiting for everyone. So I declare this auction... wait a moment, someone has bid three thousand Spirit Stones! Three thousand Spirit Stones for the first time, are there any other bids? Three thousand Spirit Stones for the second time..." Just as Gui Jiu was about to declare the auction a failure, she suddenly paused, then spoke.

However, Gui Jiu's last efforts were in vain. Except for the unknown cultivator who bid at the last moment, everyone else watched indifferently, with no further bids.

Eventually, this thousand-year-old Water Crown Tree spirit wood was sold for the base price of three thousand Spirit Stones.

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