ragginovel Chapter 110 New Wanbaoge Auction
Chapter 110 New Wanbaoge Auction
"How wonderful, some of my old acquaintances are still alive."
Li Jieqing subconsciously began to search for blood energy in his seat. In this bustling auction house, a woman in a thin dress was hosting on stage. Auction items were displayed next to a large, lacquered red pillar that rose from the first floor below. The surrounding halls were filled with the faint noise of cultivators, and there were also several private boxes where figures swayed.
A series of bloody auras emanated from the area, which Li Jieqing recognized.
There are probably three or four old acquaintances from the old Taipingfang market here, but they've all aged and deteriorated like Old Liu.
Just then, the woman hosting the auction on stage took out a longevity pill. This pill, with the Immaculate Jade Peach as its main ingredient, could extend one's life by ten years.
The moment this elixir appeared, it attracted a scramble among the crowd, with Li Jieqing's familiar faces, whom he sensed through his blood energy, vying for it with even greater fervor.
The starting price was two hundred spirit stones, but it quickly rose higher and higher.
Finally, he headed straight for the thousand spirit stones.
It should be noted that when Li Jieqing bought the Qingshui Sword from Wanbaoge, he only spent 750 spirit stones.
Of course, the Azure Water Sword was once just a high-grade magic weapon, but now, after decades of consistent use of the Treasure Nourishing Technique, its power has become even stronger than the top-grade magic weapon, the Ruyi Golden Sword. Li Jieqing himself is now unsure of the Azure Water Sword's grade.
Ignoring who would ultimately receive the longevity pill, Li Jieqing used his Blood-Seeking Technique to silently sense the woman on the stage and the cultivators in the special seats of the surrounding private rooms.
Strands of blood energy were collected once again.
Even though the private room was concealed by some kind of formation from Wanbaoge, Li Jieqing still sensed the blood energy within it. He had also mastered the Blood-Seeking Technique to a high level.
"Not the Fairy of Luxurious Colors..."
Li Jieqing shifted his gaze from the woman in the thin dress on the stage.
His blood-seeking technique differed from the demon-snatching talisman in its detection; it was silent and stealthy, asking only for blood essence without regard to magical power, making it difficult to detect. None of the many people in the auction hall noticed this.
Li Jieqing wanted to see if Fairy Shecai was there. If she wasn't dead, and knew that her old employer, Wanbaoge, had reopened on Xiaoxin Island, would she still come back to Wanbaoge?
No results have been found so far.
"The next treasure is two ripe Soul-Soothing Fruits!"
The female cultivator on the stage smiled and opened a jade box, revealing two purplish-black fruits inside. She said, "This can heal a cultivator's mental and spiritual depletion, suppress soul poison, and even has been predicted by a Foundation Establishment cultivator to increase the possibility of breaking through to Foundation Establishment. It is also of great benefit to Foundation Establishment cultivation."
That sounds nice, but how much of this fruit is considered too much?
Li Jieqing disliked Wanbaoge. After mentally refuting it, he raised his hand and called out a bid.
"Two hundred spirit stones!"
The starting price of the Soul-Soothing Fruit, 150 spirit stones, instantly increased by one-third.
Li Jieqing's motivation was simply that the core of the Soul-Soothing Fruit was an essential ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill, and he was determined to obtain it.
"Two hundred and twenty spirit stones."
"Two hundred and thirty-five spirit stones!"
"..."
The two Soul-Soothing Fruits weren't fought over as fiercely as the Longevity Pills earlier, but their prices still kept rising.
"Four hundred spirit stones."
Li Jieqing raised his hand again to bid.
This time, the cultivators in the hall who had been fighting over it looked at each other for a while and finally gave up.
Four hundred spirit stones was already a considerable sum, and the people who had been bidding earlier kept glancing over.
Li Jieqing remained unmoved beneath the black robe.
"Five hundred spirit stones."
Just then, Li Jieqing thought he could get the Soul-Soothing Fruit, but suddenly another bid came from a private room. The bidder raised the price by another hundred spirit stones, with the same attitude as Li Jieqing, as if they were determined to get it.
"Five hundred and fifty spirit stones." Li Jieqing looked up slightly, half of his face hidden in the shadow of his hat.
"Six hundred spirit stones."
The man in the private room quickly called out a price; he was quite vigorous.
"Six hundred and fifty spirit stones," Li Jieqing said in a steady voice.
"Seven hundred spirit stones." The man's blood energy shifted for a moment, then returned to its original position.
"Seven hundred and fifty spirit stones," Li Jieqing said, his tone unchanged.
"...Eight hundred spirit stones."
"Eight hundred and fifty spirit stones."
Li Jieqing's tone remained unchanged.
However, he also decided that if the other party raised the price again, he would give up the competition.
It's not that there aren't any spirit stones, but rather that the determination to obtain them depends on the circumstances.
If two mere Soul-Soothing Fruits were sold for a price higher than a top-grade magic weapon, or even the same as a Longevity Pill, it would be far too outrageous and attract far too much attention.
Li Jieqing suspected that the people in the private room might know the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill, which was why they were willing to go to such lengths to fight for the Soul-Soothing Fruit.
Putting yourself in that person's shoes, if they knew the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill and discovered that he was disregarding spirit stones to fight for the Soul-Soothing Fruit, they would also become suspicious.
Once it exceeds this number, there's no need to compete anymore...
Li Jieqing's eyes remained calm and composed; he would accept any outcome.
He has only just arrived in the Seven Immortal Cities.
Don't strive for a short time, strive for a hundred years.
"Never mind..."
A sigh suddenly escaped from the private room, followed by silence.
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on obtaining two Soul-Soothing Fruits!" The woman on the stage looked delighted as she closed the jade box containing the Soul-Soothing Fruits, which was then carried down by a stone platform.
The man gave up bidding, and the Soul-Soothing Fruit fell into Li Jieqing's hands at a price of 850, which was still eye-catching but tolerable.
There were restrictions on the stone platform. After locking the jade box, they came down to Li Jieqing's position.
Li Jieqing invested 850 spirit stones to unlock the stone platform and obtain the jade box.
The jade box was reopened, revealing two purplish-black Soul-Soothing Fruits.
At this moment, after the stone platform retreated, a stream of cyan magic power suddenly flowed out from the private room and slowly floated in front of Li Jieqing.
Li Jieqing raised his hand and pinched it, only to hear that it was actually a magical transmission of sound, which was extremely subtle.
"Fellow Daoist, I am willing to offer four hundred spirit stones in exchange for one of the Soul-Soothing Fruits."
Li Jieqing did not respond, but simply crushed the magical power and dispersed it.
The auction is still ongoing.
Inside the private room, the man who had sent the telepathic message frowned as he pondered the situation.
"Is this person just a local bumpkin who can't communicate telepathically, or is he actually a subordinate of another rival, deliberately trying to ruin my plans?"
The Seven Immortals jointly govern the Immortal City, but they are not of one mind and there is competition among them.
As a result, their respective disciples and followers also formed their own factions. Over the past twenty years, the conflicts between them have become even greater than those between the Seven Immortals themselves.
The person in this private room is named Cheng Wu, a disciple of Bao Zhang Zhenren, one of the Seven Immortals.
The reason I'm now plotting to get my hands on this Soul-Soothing Fruit is because I heard that my master, Master Baozhang, needs it for alchemy, so I'm prepared to grit my teeth and spend a fortune to offer it to him.
Unexpectedly, it was snatched away by someone else, which made him somewhat wary.
In the public area, Li Jieqing didn't hear anyone angrily transmitting their voice again, nor did he hear any threats. No one around him said that the person in the private room was someone important or a cultivator that couldn't be offended.
So he put the telepathic message out of his mind and continued to focus on the auction like everyone else.