Chapter 245: The Secret Treasure Map Again

Chapter 245: Chapter 245: The Secret Treasure Map Again

"A Five-Stripe Elixir?" The white-haired elder stared blankly for a moment, then looked up at Yi Xiaoyao, seemingly at a loss for words.

He didn’t let it show too much, however. He simply said coldly, "The refinement method for Five-Stripe Elixirs was lost long ago. They’re impossible to appraise. Besides, what’s the point in you even asking?"

"Impossible to appraise?" Yi Xiaoyao frowned. "Your Celestial Cloud Auction House calls itself the number one auction house in the Chaotic Alliance Domain, yet you can’t even appraise an Elixir. What kind of ’number one’ auction house is that!"

At these words, the white-haired elder’s expression instantly soured.

"Hmph! It’s not your place to decide whether the Celestial Cloud Auction House is number one! And so what if we can’t appraise a Five-Stripe Elixir? Surely you don’t think you can actually produce one?"

The white-haired elder finished with a low growl, "If you’re here to cause trouble for the Celestial Cloud Auction House, then you’ve come to the wrong place."

Yi Xiaoyao sneered. "It looks to me like you’re the one making trouble. You can’t appraise the item I want to sell, so how am I supposed to auction it here?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, one of the three Jade Bottles on the table shot toward the elder.

The elder caught the Jade Bottle. As he began to open it, he snorted coldly again. "So, you’re saying all three of these bottles contain Five-Stripe Infant Spirit Pills? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my entire life..."

Before he could finish, the elder froze. His gaze was fixed on the Jade Bottle in his hand.

Inside, a cyan elixir with an incredibly rich Pill Fragrance was rolling around. As it moved, five distinct Pill Patterns came into view, reflecting in the elder’s eyes.

"If you don’t want the Celestial Cloud Auction House’s reputation to suffer because of you, you’d better give me an appraisal with a price I find satisfactory."

Yi Xiaoyao’s voice drifted coldly into the elder’s ears.

The corner of the elder’s mouth twitched. Far from being annoyed by Yi Xiaoyao’s threatening tone, his eyes instead revealed a hint of fervent excitement.

"This is... This is truly a Five-Stripe Infant Spirit Pill!"

The elder took a deep breath to compose himself, then eagerly tipped the Elixir into his palm.

After confirming the number of Pill Patterns again, he picked up several instruments from the desk and began to examine it meticulously.

"This Nascent Spirit Pill was refined using some special, ancient method. The Five Pill Patterns are perfectly clear, and it’s completely free of impurities. The medicinal power it contains far surpasses even that of a Four-Stripe Elixir. It’s nothing short of a miracle!"

Even for an Appraiser who had seen countless treasures, this was an exceptionally high evaluation.

"If I may ask, where did you obtain this Elixir?" the elder couldn’t help but ask.

Yi Xiaoyao snorted coldly. "You just need to tell me exactly how much these three Five-Stripe Infant Spirit Pills are worth."

The elder paused, then it dawned on him. In the appraisal business, asking about a treasure’s origin was the biggest taboo. In his excitement, he had just committed a major professional blunder.

"Ah, forgive my rudeness. My earlier words were also out of line, but..."

The elder’s expression turned troubled, and he gave a wry smile. "I truly do not know the price of a Five-Stripe Elixir. Furthermore, this Elixir is only a fourth-tier item, usable only by Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators. If we set the price too high, I’m afraid no one who wants it will be able to afford it."

Seeing Yi Xiaoyao’s growing dissatisfaction, the elder hurriedly said, "How about this? When we auction these Elixirs, we’ll set the starting price at one million Spirit Stones each. What do you think?"

"One million Spirit Stones?" Yi Xiaoyao was slightly taken aback.

He knew his own bounty was only one million Spirit Stones. This starting price was higher than the bounty on a Ninth-Realm Nascent Soul expert!

The elder, however, mistook his surprise for dissatisfaction and quickly added, "That one million is just the starting bid! After a round of bidding, I expect each Elixir to sell for at least two million Spirit Stones!"

Yi Xiaoyao nodded silently, but his mind was in turmoil. ’At this rate, the three Elixirs will sell for at least six million Spirit Stones.’

This made him sigh internally. ’Alchemists really do make money fast.’

"Three Five-Stripe Infant Spirit Pills... A treasure of this caliber will be auctioned in our top-tier auction hall. As the seller, you are granted complimentary access to the hall. Here is your VIP Jade Token."

When Yi Xiaoyao nodded, the elder handed him a Jade Token.

"I heard you’ll be auctioning a Sixth-Order Demon Core. Will that be in the top-tier auction hall?" Yi Xiaoyao asked.

The elder replied hurriedly, "Correct. The Sixth-Order Demon Core is indeed one of the items to be sold in the top-tier auction hall."

Yi Xiaoyao nodded, then took the Jade Token and walked out of the appraisal room.

In truth, Yi Xiaoyao had dozens more of these elixirs, but he had no intention of auctioning any more of them. Even with the Celestial Cloud Auction House’s excellent reputation, he worried about attracting unnecessary attention and trouble.

Stepping outside, Yi Xiaoyao was momentarily stunned by the sight of the massive, surging crowd filling the auction house.

The enormous Celestial Cloud Auction House contained over a hundred auction halls, and the number of people attending was naturally immense.

To get to the top-tier auction hall, Yi Xiaoyao had to follow the crowd ahead through a guarded checkpoint.

Yi Xiaoyao tried to push his way into the throng but retreated with a helpless sigh.

This was the Chaotic Alliance Domain, not some Dynasty Empire. Cut in line here, and someone would draw a blade on you without a second thought.

Backing away from the screaming mob, Yi Xiaoyao scanned his surroundings. His eyes soon settled on another entrance, separate from the main one.

The scene at that passageway was a world apart from the chaos here.

The wide passageway was laid with a thick, gold-trimmed carpet. Dozens of men in black stood flanking it, their expressions cold. The violent aura they faintly exuded was enough to intimidate the nearby crowd, keeping them from trying to force their way through.

As Yi Xiaoyao looked over, he saw a group of people step onto the carpeted path. They each held a jade token, which they presented to the men in black before swaggering through the passage and into the auction hall.

"Damn it! So what if you have a stupid VIP Jade Token? Nothing to be so proud of. This Celestial Cloud Auction House only cares about money. I’ve sold tens of thousands of Spirit Stones’ worth of items here, and they didn’t give *me* one."

Just then, a fierce-looking man who had tried to walk down the carpeted path was unceremoniously thrown out by the men in black. He cursed, full of resentment.

’A VIP Jade Token?’ Yi Xiaoyao thought, momentarily stunned. ’Could that be the Jade Token the Appraiser just gave me?’

"Damn it, what are you looking at? You looking to die?!" The fierce-looking man seemed to notice Yi Xiaoyao’s glance and, with eyes full of rage, bellowed at him.

Yi Xiaoyao paid him no mind and, to the man’s astonishment, walked directly toward the gold-trimmed path.

"Hmph! What an idiot," the fierce-looking man sneered at Yi Xiaoyao’s actions. He had just seen Yi Xiaoyao get pushed out of the regular queue, so he naturally didn’t believe that someone so plainly dressed could possibly have a VIP Jade Token for the Celestial Cloud Auction House.

After all, those tokens were only given to people of high status, or at the very least, to those who were auctioning items worth over one million Spirit Stones.

One million Spirit Stones. For most people in the Chaotic Alliance Domain, that was an astronomical sum they could never hope to save in their entire lives.

So, when the fierce-looking man saw that Yi Xiaoyao was still going to try and force his way into the VIP entrance—even after witnessing him get thrown out—the sneer on his face grew even more pronounced.

But in the next moment, the man’s fierce, mocking expression froze on his face.

Because Yi Xiaoyao only paused for a moment at the entrance to the VIP passage before casually strolling right in.

"Damn it, who has a VIP Jade Token and still tries to shove their way through the regular line? Is he crazy?"

Seething with jealousy and embarrassment, the fierce-looking man began to scratch his head in frustration. He could have sworn that just before entering the auction hall, a pair of teasing eyes from beneath Yi Xiaoyao’s black robe had glanced back at him.

Following the passage to its end, Yi Xiaoyao discovered that the VIP entrance led directly to the top-tier auction hall.

This auction hall was filled with row upon row of seats, all facing an auction stage that appeared to be constructed entirely from brilliant crystal.

Yi Xiaoyao found the seat corresponding to the number on his Jade Token and sat down.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, most of the seats in the hall had filled up. Then, the auction stage at the front suddenly lit up.

’It’s finally starting.’

Yi Xiaoyao murmured to himself as a middle-aged man walked out from behind the stage.

But in the next moment, his gaze was captivated by a transparent case rising up from the stage.

Inside the case was the first auction item, which appeared to be a map.

Or rather, an incredibly tattered Beast Skin Map that was just a little over a quarter of a whole.

And this map was incredibly familiar to Yi Xiaoyao.

Because in his Storage Pouch, he had a half-piece of a Beast Skin Map made of the exact same material and with the same style of markings.

It was the very same half-piece of the Secret Treasure Map that the Black Robe Hall Master had given him when he left the Great Shang Dynasty!

And now, he was actually seeing another piece of that very same Secret Treasure Map.

...

(This Chapter is 50% longer than usual!)