The first item up for auction was actually a top-grade magic artifact with considerable power. This immediately stirred up the crowd.
The artifact was praised to the skies and searched for nowhere on earth by that eloquent, tall, thin man, who gestured dramatically as he spoke. Even Han Li felt an impulse to reach for his spirit stones and buy it, much less the other cultivators in urgent need of a top-grade magic artifact.
As expected, the moment the starting price of two hundred spirit stones was announced, three or four impatient bidders immediately called out their offers. In the blink of an eye, the Firecloud Sword was pushed above three hundred spirit stones, causing the other cultivators who had wanted to bid to abandon the thought at once.
Although the Firecloud Sword's accompanying firecloud attack was quite good, it was plainly a cut below a truly fine top-grade magic artifact. Spending three hundred spirit stones to bring it home would make it rather tasteless.
But if some people were unwilling to buy it, there were naturally others willing to play the fool.
For those who wanted it, the items to be auctioned later might be better, but they had no chance of getting their hands on them. Buying the decent top-grade magic artifact in front of them was more practical.
Thus, after a fairly smooth struggle among several Qi Condensation cultivators, the Firecloud Sword was sold for just over four hundred spirit stones.
The cultivator wearing a doll mask paid the spirit stones, then happily carried the sword back to his seat, looking as though he planned to take the treasure home and pass it down as a family heirloom. The sight made several other cultivators laugh.
After the tall, thin man waited for him to sit down, he cleared his throat and spoke again.
“Our shop’s second item is an artifact-refiner’s favorite: a top-grade Red Nether Furnace. This furnace has passed through the hands of many artifact-refining masters and has even produced numerous masterpieces among top-grade magic artifacts. The Illusory Sound Sword, the Azure Flood Dragon Banner, and the Blackflame Pearl, for example, were all refined with it. It is said to provide a certain bonus when refining magic artifacts. Whether that is true or not, our shop cannot say. Still, with a starting price of four hundred spirit stones, this auction is absolutely not expensive.”
As he spoke, the man took a crimson alchemy furnace from his storage pouch and placed it on the table for everyone to examine.
Boom!
Although no cultivator in the hall spoke loudly, the atmosphere instantly flared. Many fixed the furnace with burning gazes, clearly determined to obtain it.
Han Li sat quietly in a corner, coldly observing everything. When he heard that the Azure Flood Dragon Banner in his possession had also come from this furnace, he was somewhat surprised—but that was all.
He knew nothing about artifact refinement and naturally had no idea what the furnace was worth. But if something was not useful to him, he would never bid for it. Han Li could still manage that much. Besides, although he had quite a few spirit stones on him, they had to be spent where they mattered.
“Four hundred and fifty!”
“Four hundred and seventy!”
“I bid five hundred spirit stones!”
“…”
Regardless of what Han Li thought, the alchemy furnace known as the Red Nether Furnace was soon driven to a terrifying price.
“Seven hundred and eighty spirit stones!”
The offer was shouted through clenched teeth by a fat cultivator wearing a yellow cloak over his head.
“Eight hundred!”
A female cultivator seated not far from the fat man calmly raised the bid again, making him clench both hands in fury.
At this point, the price was practically astronomical, and everyone else had long since withdrawn from the competition. They could only watch with unwilling eyes as the two wealthy Foundation Establishment cultivators continued to raise the price, again and again.
“Eight hundred and fifty! Madam, if you can still raise it by even one spirit stone, this furnace is yours!” After making one final increase, the fat man glared angrily at the female cultivator and spat out the words.
“Eight hundred and fifty-one!”
The moment the fat cultivator finished speaking, the female cultivator let out a cold laugh and deliberately announced a number only one spirit stone higher. The fat face beneath his cloak turned as red as blood. Yet after shooting her several venomous looks, he truly stopped bidding.
And so, the female Foundation Establishment cultivator paid an astronomical price for the renowned alchemy furnace. Whether it was worth the money was anyone’s guess.
Perhaps the fierce bidding had agitated the nerves of the many cultivators. The hall’s originally subdued atmosphere suddenly became heated. One top-grade magic artifact and rare material after another was snapped up by the enthusiastic crowd.
Yet even after twenty-odd items had been auctioned, Han Li still had not seen any formation flags or formation disks for sale. His patience began to wear thin.
Han Li could not help thinking that if this auction truly had nothing of that sort, he would have to visit the Starfall Pavilion again. Even buying several sets of the most basic formation tools would be better than nothing.
Just as he was thinking this, the tall, thin man at the front announced the name of the next auction item.
“A pair of high-grade magic artifacts—the Puppet Mechanism Beasts! Their strength is comparable to that of ninth-layer Qi Condensation cultivators. They are absolutely loyal and fear no death. Buy them, and it will be like carrying two personal bodyguards at your side. The starting price is only one hundred spirit stones!”
“Puppet Mechanism Beasts? My high-grade magic artifact is called a Puppet Archer. Could these be the same sort of thing?” Han Li’s heart stirred. He straightened up and began watching with serious attention.
The tall, thin man had already displayed two pitch-black, doll-like objects on the table. They were only the size of fists. Their shapes resembled lions or tigers, yet they were neither lions nor tigers. No one could tell what kind of monster had served as their model.
“Many guests may never have heard of the art of puppet mechanisms, or may have heard very little about it.”
“This is a branch of the Dao that originated from artifact refinement but is entirely different from magic artifacts. Though few people know of it here, it is extremely prosperous and popular in the Far West. There is even a sect called the Thousand Bamboo Sect that founded itself specifically around this art and has developed it to the utmost extreme. It is said that top-level puppet mechanism men can even contend with late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. As for calling this pair of mechanism beasts high-grade magic artifacts, that is merely our shop’s private classification. According to the formal grading system of puppet mechanisms, they should actually be called second-level puppet beasts.”
Seeing that the cultivators below did not seem very interested in the mechanism beasts and that no one was bidding, the man hurriedly recited the information he had prepared beforehand, hoping to arouse their interest.
But after hearing him out, the cultivators below showed only a little curiosity. No one was willing to spend one hundred spirit stones to take home two doll-like objects. Besides, what use could ninth-layer Qi Condensation bodyguards possibly have for the cultivators present?
“One hundred spirit stones!”
A voice rang out from a corner. Someone really wanted to buy the toys! The cultivators immediately turned their gazes toward that corner.
It was not Han Li, however. It was a masked man sitting in a corner on the opposite side—a bizarre and laughable fellow whose entire head was covered by an oversized gray cloth sack.
“One hundred and fifty spirit stones!”
Just as the other cultivators were thinking that the strange man was an outrageous spendthrift, another bid rang through the hall in a peculiar accent, each word pronounced with extreme stiffness.
This time, the cultivators in the hall were dumbfounded and once again looked toward the new bidder.
A burly man wearing a green cloak sat in the last row with his arms folded across his chest. The new bid had come from him. When the many cultivators looked over, he met their gazes coldly without the slightest sign of unease.
“Two hundred spirit stones!” The sack-headed oddity seemed determined to win and immediately called out again.
“I bid three hundred!” The burly man likewise refused to give an inch.
“Four hundred!”
“Six hundred!”
“…”
In the blink of an eye, the two men traded bids and drove the price of the pair of puppet beasts to an utterly unbelievable level.
By then, even the dullest cultivator in the hall could tell that something was wrong.
“Could these puppet beasts be hiding some astonishing secret?” Every cultivator could not help having the same thought.
After the cultivators throughout the hall exchanged several glances, their hearts began pounding. A few impatient cultivators with deep pockets even joined the bidding directly.
Some more experienced cultivators, however, were tempted while still harboring doubts.
Could these two be shills sent by the Secret Shop? Could they be deliberately raising a worthless item to an astronomical price so that someone else would be made a sucker?
Quite a few cultivators held this suspicion. Han Li was one of them. He watched coldly from beginning to end, showing not the slightest sign of being tempted.
“I bid nine hundred spirit stones, plus this item!”
Seeing more and more cultivators joining the bidding, the burly oddity grew anxious. He actually pulled something from his storage pouch. Then he strode up to the tall, thin man, took several large steps to the table, and set it down. He followed in his stiff voice:
“This item is worth several thousand spirit stones! It is more than enough to exchange for this pair of puppet beasts. Hand them over to me, quickly!”