"Let's begin with the first item."
At this moment, a lady dressed in palace attire approached the auction platform, holding a long rectangular wooden box in her hands.
Feng Qing received the box and took out a fiery red Flying Sword, introducing it, "A high-grade Fire attribute Flying Sword, the Crimson Flame Sword. It's forged from the fire iron deposited for thousands of years at the bottom of a volcano. It enhances the power of Fire attribute attacks by ten percent."
"Starting bid is five hundred Spirit Stones, with each increase not less than ten Spirit Stones."
As soon as this was announced, the atmosphere below became lively. Magical Weapons that could amplify attack power were quite rare.
In the battles of cultivators, apart from cultivation level, external factors such as Magical Weapons, Talismans, formations, Elixirs, etc., also played a crucial role.
"Five hundred and five!"
"Eight hundred and ten!"
Soon, the price rose to eight hundred Spirit Stones. Wang Hong found it challenging to control even a Low-Quality Magical Weapon at the moment, and buying a high-grade Magical Weapon would be temporarily unnecessary for him, so he did not participate in the bidding.
In the end, a cultivator wearing a monkey mask bought the Crimson Flame Sword for nine hundred Spirit Stones.
"The next auction item is..."
The next few auction items were not what Wang Hong needed at the moment. However, it didn't hurt to broaden his knowledge a bit.
"As for the next item, please allow me to build some suspense," Feng Qing said, taking out a white mask from the tray and putting it on his face.
Then, a mist appeared around his face. When the mist dispersed, the old man Feng Qing had transformed into a handsome young man. Even with spiritual awareness probing, no abnormalities could be detected.
After another round of mist, Feng Qing directly transformed into the likeness of a maid holding the tray, perfectly lifelike.
It seemed the old man was having fun, as he changed faces more than ten times before reluctantly taking off the mask and placing it back on the tray.
This performance stirred great interest among the audience.
"This Magical Weapon is called the Misty Illusion Mask, crafted by a Foundation Building cultivator from the Thousand Illusions Sect. As for its specific function, I believe I don't need to explain, right?"
"Now, let the auction begin. The starting price is one hundred Spirit Stones, with each bid no less than ten Spirit Stones."
"Seven hundred for me!"
"Get lost! I bid eight hundred!"
"A thousand, I'm taking it!"
"One thousand one hundred."
Wang Hong also shouted several times in the crowd.
Although the current price was unlikely to be finalized, he joined in the bidding for the lively atmosphere, trying to become familiar.
He was determined to get this Misty Illusion Mask, no matter the cost. He believed that once he left Azure Void City, the Lin Family would immediately pursue him. With his current level, he had no confidence in surviving the Lin Family's pursuit.
In essence, he was currently blocked in the city by the Lin Family, which posed no immediate threat. However, for his long-term development, this situation was unfavorable. After all, there were many resources outside the city that couldn't be bought with Spirit Stones in Azure Void City.
With the Misty Illusion Mask, he could change his appearance at any time, sneak out of the city unnoticed, and break free from the current state of being locked down.
"Two thousand one hundred."
The price was still rapidly rising, showing no sign of stopping. In the end, it reached four thousand Spirit Stones, and the rate of increase slowed down.
After all, not everyone had to buy it. Four thousand Spirit Stones were not a small amount; they could buy four hundred Condensing Qi Pills. Compared to Magical Weapons, it was already a sky-high price.
At this point, only Wang Hong and two others were still bidding. One wore a smiling mask, and the other wore a bear-head mask.
"I bid four thousand three hundred and fifty," said the smiling mask.
The cultivator with the bear-head mask hesitated for a moment and then said, "Four thousand four hundred."
The cultivator with the smiling mask, upon hearing the bid, reluctantly sat down, apparently withdrawing.
The cultivator with the bear-head mask looked somewhat triumphant as he glanced in Wang Hong's direction. Another one had withdrawn, leaving only him and Wang Hong, and he could already see the glow of victory.
Wang Hong was about to make a bid when a cold, emotionless voice sounded.
"Four thousand five."
The cultivator with the bear-head mask, who thought victory was within reach, was taken aback as another contender emerged. He looked angrily in the direction of the voice.
It was a cultivator with a butterfly mask, gazing at him indifferently.
"Four thousand six," the bear-head cultivator immediately raised the bid without hesitation.
"Four thousand seven," the butterfly-masked voice remained cold.
About to bid again, the bear-head cultivator felt a tug on his arm from a nearby cultivator. Realizing, he reluctantly closed his open mouth.
Wang Hong's voice echoed. The butterfly cultivator seemed determined and increased the bid.
"Six thousand," Wang Hong bluntly raised the stakes.
"Seven thousand." Wang Hong was preparing to bid eight thousand, but there was no response for a long time.
Looking up, the cultivator with the butterfly mask was no longer calm. He stared at Wang Hong with bloodshot eyes.
Seeing this, the bear-head cultivator felt triumphant. "Turns out, he's just a paper tiger, boasting with no abilities!"
Wang Hong also felt that the cultivator with the butterfly mask was too good at pretending. He was ready to bleed a bit.
In the end, Wang Hong secured the Misty Illusion Mask for seven thousand Spirit Stones. Soon after, a maid delivered the mask to Wang Hong. He handed her a Storage Bag containing Spirit Herbs worth about eight thousand Spirit Stones.
The auction allowed various spiritual items to be used as offsets for Spirit Stones, but they were discounted at ninety percent of the market price.
Therefore, most cultivators preferred using Spirit Stones. Besides, collecting spiritual items was not easy, and one might not have enough of them.
Wang Hong, however, was different. As long as he had the opportunity to sell the Spirit Herbs in his possession, even if he earned a bit less, he was willing. His Space Spirit Herbs grew rapidly, and his small shop couldn't sell them all. Additionally, the Space land was waiting to be fed with Spirit Stones.
The Misty Illusion Mask fetched a high price, elevating the auction to a small climax.
Seizing the momentum, Old Man Feng Qing spoke, "The next item is an exceptional Magical Weapon. Yin-Yang Yinblade."
"An exceptional Magical Weapon already? This rare treasure that's hard to come by proves the strength of the Ten Stores Joint Auction," someone in the audience exclaimed.
"Yeah, and it's not even the grand finale."
Old Man Feng took out two small knife-shaped Magical Weapons from the tray and demonstrated them on the spot. The two knives danced around Feng Qing, casting shadows of light.
"Exceptional Magical Weapon, starting bid is one hundred Spirit Stones, with each increase not less than one hundred Spirit Stones."
In the end, this Magical Weapon was auctioned off for a high price of nine thousand Spirit Stones.
Feng Qing chuckled, stroking his long beard. "All the previous items were Magical Weapons. Now, we move on to the next round of auctions, featuring Elixirs and Spirit Herbs."
"The first item is a Barrier Breaking Pill. Qi Cultivation cultivators on the third, sixth, and ninth layers often face a bottleneck. Some may break through it without realizing, while others remain trapped for life. The Barrier Breaking Pill, made primarily from a hundred-year Scarlet Blood Ginseng, can break through any bottleneck in the Qi Cultivation stage. It even provides some benefits for Foundation Building. Starting bid is five hundred Spirit Stones, with each increase not less than fifty Spirit Stones."
Because artificially cultivating Scarlet Blood Ginseng was extremely challenging, only a small number of surviving plants remained. Both Foundation Building and Golden Core cultivators could use them. Therefore, the Barrier Breaking Pills openly available in Azure Void City never exceeded fifty annually.
This led to intense competition, as every Qi Cultivation cultivator could benefit from it. Even with good innate talent, one could use it during Foundation Building to increase the success rate without relying on the power of Elixirs.
In the end, this Barrier Breaking Pill was auctioned off for a high price of ten thousand Spirit Stones.
Wang Hong sighed internally; being an alchemist was indeed a lucrative profession. The price for such cherished Elixirs was more than ten times the cost.
Several other rare Elixirs were auctioned off at equally high prices.
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