SFS Chapter 51 The Broken Ancient Treasure
Chapter 51 The Broken Ancient Treasure
"Senior, this auction is divided into two sessions. The first session is mainly for fellow cultivators in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages."
The auction items mainly consist of magical artifacts, elixirs, and talismans, with the occasional rare spiritual material appearing.
The second half featured several highlight items prepared for the Core Formation stage seniors.
The sensible female cultivator led Qingfeng and the others along the passageway, explaining the auction details.
As they spoke, they had already reached the third floor of the auction house.
The receptionist stopped in front of a wooden door engraved with array patterns, took out a jade token and gently shook it. The door slid open silently, revealing an elegant interior space.
The room was about three zhang square, with a soft carpet of spirit beast fur on the floor and chairs made of spirit wood placed against the wall.
Outside the room, an entire wall was made into a transparent, glass-like material.
From the inside, one can clearly overlook the auction hall below, but from the outside, no one can see into the interior, ensuring excellent privacy.
"After the auction, there will be a private exchange session among Core Formation cultivators."
"Please rest here for a while, senior. If you need anything, please ring the silver bell on the wall, and I will come immediately."
After bowing respectfully to the female cultivator, he quietly withdrew and closed the door behind him.
"Young master, the view from here is truly excellent."
Yanli walked a few steps to the glass curtain wall and looked down.
Below is a huge circular auction hall that extends downwards in a stepped fashion, divided into three levels.
The bottom floor is the largest, with hundreds of people sitting densely packed together, most of them Qi Refining stage cultivators.
The middle floor had fewer seats, about a hundred people, whose auras were noticeably stronger; they were all Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The third floor, where Qingfeng was located, consisted of individual private rooms surrounding the auction hall.
There were roughly twenty or thirty rooms, clearly all prepared for Core Formation cultivators.
At this moment, on the auction stage, an auctioneer in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, dressed in a brocade robe, was introducing an item.
"This is the Azure Wave Heart-Protecting Bracelet, personally crafted by Master Chen. It is made primarily of century-old cold jade and incorporates materials from first-tier water-attribute monsters."
Once activated by spiritual energy, it can form a turquoise spiritual shield with considerable defensive power.
Especially suitable for fellow cultivators practicing water-attribute techniques. Starting bid: forty low-grade spirit stones; minimum increment: five spirit stones!
The auctioneer held a jade bracelet that was entirely blue and exquisitely crafted.
Qingfeng glanced at it and lost interest. This level of magical artifact was useless to him.
Yuan Yao, Yan Li, and the others had just purchased their desired defensive accessories from the Ni Chang Pavilion and were merely observing out of curiosity.
However, the Qi Refining cultivators on the first floor below were somewhat agitated.
Master Chen is quite famous among the weapon refiners in Tianxing City, and the quality of his works is guaranteed.
Moreover, this bracelet-shaped magical artifact has both defensive and cultivation-aiding effects, making it quite practical for Qi Refining stage cultivators.
"Forty-five spirit stones!" a voice rang out.
"Fifty spirit stones!" someone immediately followed.
"Fifty-five spirit stones!" After the third bid, the room fell silent for a moment.
"Congratulations to this fellow Daoist on winning this treasure for fifty-five spirit stones!"
The auctioneer looked around and, seeing that no one else was bidding, simply brought down the hammer.
Qingfeng nodded slightly. The price was fair. The actual value of the bracelet was between fifty and sixty spirit stones.
"It seems that Fengle Auction House's starting price is quite reasonable, without too much exaggeration."
Qingfeng took out his tea set and spiritual tea, brewing tea while watching the auction.
The quality of the subsequent auction items gradually improved.
From elixirs suitable for the Qi Refining stage and complete sets of high-grade magical artifacts, to rare century-old spiritual herbs and powerful talismans for the Foundation Establishment stage...
The more good items appear, the fiercer the bidding becomes.
Yuan Yao, Yan Li, Wen Siyue, and Wang Ning all watched with great interest; they rarely had the opportunity to experience an auction of this scale.
Seeing the wide variety of treasures and the scene of cultivators bidding against each other, everyone found it quite novel and interesting.
Qingfeng leaned back in his comfortable chair, sipping his spiritual tea with a relaxed expression.
This short wait was nothing to him, and seeing how excited the girls were, he was happy to keep them company.
As the auction progressed into the later stages of the foundation-building phase, one particular item caused quite a stir.
The auctioneer then lifted up a shimmering, exquisitely designed silver necklace.
The pendant is a teardrop-shaped pale purple crystal with a shimmering light flowing inside.
"Purple Star Tear Chain, a top-tier special magical artifact!"
This chain not only releases a protective shield, but its amethyst pendant can also gather the power of starlight to emit evil-repelling starlight to attack enemies.
It also has the remarkable effects of calming the mind and spirit and resisting external evil influences!
This piece combines offense, defense, and support perfectly; it's truly a rare gem! Starting bid is 300 spirit stones, with each bid increasing by at least 20 spirit stones!
The moment this chain appeared, especially its multiple functions of offense, defense, and mental support, it immediately attracted the attention of many female cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage, and even some male cultivators present.
Then, the bids skyrocketed!
"Three hundred and fifty spirit stones!"
"Four hundred spirit stones!"
"Four hundred and fifty spirit stones!"
The price quickly broke through five hundred spirit stones.
The bidders were mainly Foundation Establishment cultivators on the second floor, with several female cultivators competing particularly fiercely, raising their bids without hesitation each time.
Qingfeng had no interest in the chain itself; with his current perspective and wealth, such a magical artifact was hardly worthy of his attention.
His gaze, however, fell upon a male and female cultivator in a corner of the second floor.
The male cultivator appeared to be in his thirties, with a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation level. His robes were old-fashioned, and his face had a somewhat simple and honest appearance.
Each time he bid, his brows would furrow unconsciously and his lips would purse slightly, clearly feeling the pinch at the price.
However, whenever he turned his head to look at the beautiful female cultivator beside him, who was in the early stage of Foundation Establishment and was looking at the necklace with expectant eyes, he would feel a pang of sadness.
He would immediately force a slightly awkward smile and then raise the number plate again.
"Five hundred and twenty spirit stones! Any fellow cultivators willing to bid?"
The auctioneer's voice rang out.
"Anything else... Congratulations to this fellow Daoist for winning the Purple Star Tear Chain with 520 spirit stones!"
The auctioneer asked three questions before finally bringing down the gavel.
The male cultivator in his thirties breathed a sigh of relief, while the female cultivator beside him instantly smiled broadly and looked up to say something.
The male cultivator smiled ingratiatingly, but his smile looked forced and tired.
Qingfeng withdrew his gaze, gently shook the folding fan in his hand, and a strange feeling welled up in his heart.
"Tsk, it seems that the cultivation world... isn't lacking in sycophants."
Qingfeng felt no sympathy whatsoever for an honest man who scrimped and saved to give all his spirit stones to a scumbag woman.
He turned his gaze back to the auction stage; the next items should be something that would pique his interest.
"Fellow Daoists, what follows are the last few items to be auctioned today."
The first item to be presented was a broken sword, an ancient treasure, from the cave dwelling of an ancient cultivator!
Although it is a damaged ancient treasure, it still retains powerful energy, which can be activated by cultivators in the late Foundation Establishment stage.
According to Elder Wu, a master craftsman of the Fengle Merchant Alliance, this broken sword was forged from ancient fire-refined iron and fire-repelling metal.
If there are senior cultivators who specialize in fire-attribute techniques or refine fire-attribute magic weapons, they can also refine it again and extract some materials.
The starting bid is 10,000 spirit stones, and each bid must be at least 500 spirit stones higher.
After the auctioneer announced the starting price, the timer began.