Chapter 197 - 137: Conspiracy, Ji Wujin Comes to the Door

Chapter 197: Chapter 137: Conspiracy, Ji Wujin Comes to the Door

"Welcome, fellow Cultivators, to the New Year’s Eve auction. We have a total of nineteen treasures up for auction today. Fifteen are for our Qi Refining friends, and four are for our esteemed Foundation Establishment Elders..."

Chen Jianghe sat in one of the tiered seats, resting with his eyes closed.

However, he didn’t miss a single word the auctioneer said. This was his first time attending such a conventional auction.

’There are surprisingly few items for Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Most are for the Qi Refining Stage.’

Soon, the auction for the treasures began.

The first treasure was a High-Grade Flying Sword with an attribute. The starting price was three hundred Spirit Stones, and it ultimately sold for six hundred and twenty Spirit Stones.

’The price is quite reasonable.’

He had attended an auction at Jingyue Lake once before. Attributed High-Grade Flying Swords, once they appeared at auction, almost never sold for less than five hundred Spirit Stones. Even in private trades, the price was about the same. As a Grand Marketplace, it was normal for the final prices at Qinghe Marketplace to be a little higher or lower.

The second, third, and fourth treasures were also attributed High-Grade Flying Swords.

They sold for five hundred ninety, five hundred seventy, and six hundred ten Spirit Stones, respectively.

Chen Jianghe had no desire to buy a Flying Sword.

He had no plans to leave Qinghe Marketplace, so such an item was completely useless to him.

’Of course, if I really were to leave the Marketplace, I’d have to have a Flying Sword. Otherwise, I’d fly too slowly and wouldn’t be able to escape if I ran into danger.’

The fifth treasure was a High-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact, which also had an attribute.

It was a piece of Wood Attribute Armor that could not only block thirty percent of the damage from a Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivator but also repair injuries and restore Magical Power during battle.

The starting price was five hundred Spirit Stones.

It sold for eight hundred and twenty Spirit Stones.

He was somewhat interested in this High-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact, but he was short on funds and didn’t have enough Spirit Stones to purchase it.

He had come here this time with a specific goal.

The sixth treasure was a bottle of ten Nourishing Spirit Pills. The starting price was eight hundred Spirit Stones, with minimum bid increments of ten Spirit Stones.

’Nourishing Spirit Pills cost eighty Spirit Stones each in the Immortal Sect Marketplace. When auctioned in outside Marketplaces, they’re usually sold in bottles of ten with a starting price of eight hundred Spirit Stones.’

In just twenty breaths,

the price of the Nourishing Spirit Pills had already risen to nine hundred and ten Spirit Stones.

"Nine hundred and thirty Spirit Stones."

"..."

"Nine hundred and seventy Spirit Stones."

"Nine hundred and eighty Spirit Stones."

"..."

"One thousand one hundred and ten Spirit Stones."

Chen Jianghe watched the price of the Nourishing Spirit Pills skyrocket. He didn’t join the bidding; it had already far exceeded the pills’ actual value.

By almost half.

’With the one thousand seven hundred ninety-one Spirit Stones and twenty grains of Spiritual Sand I have, I could definitely win this bottle of Nourishing Spirit Pills. But I don’t want to be that sucker.’

In the end, the bottle of Nourishing Spirit Pills sold for one thousand one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones, a premium of three hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

The seventh treasure was another attributed High-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact.

It was an Earth Attribute Shield capable of nullifying thirty percent of an attack from a Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivator. Against Earth Attribute Magic Attacks, it could nullify fifty percent.

Chen Jianghe didn’t like it, which saved him eight hundred Spirit Stones.

The eighth treasure, however, made his eyes light up.

"Next up is our eighth treasure."

As the beautiful Female Cultivator spoke, she extended a pristine, jade-like hand to lift the red silk cloth, revealing a short, dark-green jade pillar.

"This is a Special Magical Artifact for a Spirit Beast. Fellow Cultivators who are raising Primate Spirit Beasts are in for a treat."

"This Moyu Stone Rod was refined from Profound Crystal Jade Stone. It can change size, growing as large as ten zhang or shrinking to the size of an infant’s arm. It is inscribed with a triple Gravity Array, and a single strike can unleash the Power of Ten Thousand Jins..."

"The starting price is five hundred Spirit Stones, with minimum bid increments of ten Spirit Stones."

Chen Jianghe looked at the dark-green jade pillar on the auction stage, then glanced at the surrounding Cultivators. The entire auction hall had fallen into a strange silence.

’No one is bidding? What’s going on?’

Chen Jianghe was a little stunned. From the auctioneer’s description, this Moyu Stone Rod seemed like a decent Special Magical Artifact.

’How come not a single Cultivator has placed a bid?’

He wanted to buy a Special Magical Artifact for Fur Ball, but he couldn’t right now. He still needed to buy the Spirit-Encompassing Spirit Liquid.

A hundred breaths passed.

Still, no one placed a bid.

Several minutes went by.

The auctioneer covered the item with a blue silk cloth, signifying that the eighth treasure had failed to sell. The auction for the ninth treasure would now begin.

"Ridiculous. It’s failed to sell a dozen times now. Is this a private consignment, or does it belong to the Hundred Treasures Tower itself?"

"A Special Magical Artifact with no attribute is no different from a fire poker."

"Haha! And they’re asking five hundred Spirit Stones for that."

"It must be a private consignment. The Hundred Treasures Tower wouldn’t be stupid enough to think that Special Magical Artifact is worth five hundred Spirit Stones."

"After being listed a dozen times, the handling fees must be over a hundred Spirit Stones by now!"

"Don’t say that. What if some rube comes along and happily thinks they’ve ’found a bargain’?"

"..."

As the item failed to sell, many of the Cultivators began to murmur amongst themselves.

Suddenly, Chen Jianghe felt a little offended.

’If I weren’t short on Spirit Stones, I really would have bid on that Special Magical Artifact. I even thought I might be getting a bargain. But now, it seems my own experience is lacking.’

’Special Magical Artifacts bought for Spirit Pets should almost always have an attribute, preferably one that matches the Spirit Pet’s own. Only then would it significantly enhance the Spirit Pet’s combat power. This Moyu Stone Rod, for instance, has no attribute. An Artifact Refiner merely engraved a triple Gravity Array on it. It really isn’t much different from a fire poker.’

The ninth treasure was a Tier One High-Grade Spirit-Encompassing Spirit Liquid.

The starting price was one thousand Spirit Stones, with minimum bid increments of twenty Spirit Stones.