Chapter 57: The Auction Begins

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Lin Chuan walked over and took down the jade token, discovering that it was inscribed with the auction's schedule and guidelines.

"Oh?"

Lin Chuan raised an eyebrow. "There are three grand finale items today. The first one is... a fragmented Saint-tier cultivation manual?"

"A Saint-tier cultivation manual?"

Zhang Lin strode over. "Even a fragmented one is worth a fortune! No wonder Young Master Wan came personally."

Lin Chuan continued reading. "The second item is an unknown ore, and the third... huh? The third is intentionally blurred, without even a name."

Suddenly, Little Fatty burst into loud laughter in Lin Chuan's mind.

"Interesting! Extremely interesting!"

"What is it?" Lin Chuan asked with a puzzled expression.

"I just scanned the auction item warehouse with my divine sense," Little Fatty's voice filled with excitement. "Do you know what that third item is? A piece of extraterrestrial meteoric iron!"

Lin Chuan's heart skipped a beat. "Is that the kind of meteoric iron that can be used as the primary material to forge a Saint-grade spiritual treasure?"

"Precisely."

At that moment, the door to the private room was suddenly knocked upon.

All five of them instantly grew alert. Signaling everyone to remain calm, Lin Chuan walked up to the door and asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?"

"Apologies for the disturbance, esteemed guests," came a servant's respectful voice from outside. "An exalted figure asked me to deliver a supplementary note to the auction catalog for you all."

Lin Chuan and Zhang Lin exchanged a glance and slowly opened the door. The servant kept his head lowered as he handed over a jade slip, then hurried away.

After closing the door, Lin Chuan cautiously inspected the jade slip, confirming it was free of danger before channeling his spiritual energy into it.

The jade slip projected a line of text, the contents of which caused everyone's expressions to change drastically:

"Young Friend Lin, please stay behind for a private chat after the auction. —— Qitian"

The handwriting on the jade slip slowly dissolved into the air, and a dead silence fell over the VIP room.

Lin Chuan could clearly hear the hurried breathing of Zhang Yida beside him and the slight, trembling clink of Li Yun's teacup.

"City Lord Qitian... wants to see you?"

Zhang Lin's voice was as dry as if he hadn't drunk water in three days. "Did he really notice us purely because of the Lingxiao Apothecary and the money house?"

Cold sweat beaded on Wang Tiehu's forehead, his thick fingers unconsciously rubbing the armrests of his seat.

"Being targeted by an Imperial Martial expert is by no means a good thing..."

Lin Chuan took a deep breath and forced a relaxed smile onto his face.

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"Don't panic. Qitian must have sensed the presence of Elder Zi. After all, Elder Zi was a Venerable Martial expert during his lifetime, so it's completely normal for an Imperial Martial expert to perceive the fluctuations of his remnant soul."

Unable to expose the existence of Little Fatty, he could only use this seemingly plausible lie to comfort the others.

This explanation caused Zhang Lin, his wife, and Wang Tiehu to visibly let out sighs of relief.

Only Zhang Yida's eyes flickered—he knew Lin Chuan was lying. Three months ago, when Elder Zi discovered that he possessed the "Tianyuan Soul Body," Little Fatty had personally manifested to examine him.

Zhang Yida was the only person other than Lin Chuan who knew that an even more powerful soul was hidden within the Blood Spirit Ring.

"The auction is about to begin."

Lin Chuan opportunistically changed the subject, pointing toward the auction stage that was gradually lighting up outside the spiritual crystal wall.

A beautiful female auctioneer dressed in a red qipao gracefully walked onto the stage. With picturesque features and a crisp, melodious voice, she spoke, "Welcome, esteemed guests, to the Tianyun Pavilion Annual Auction..."

Following the standard opening remarks, two maidservants walked onto the stage carrying a purple crystal tray.

On the tray rested a purple fruit the size of a fist, across whose surface tiny electric arcs occasionally sparked, emitting a faint crackling sound.

"This is..."

Lin Chuan narrowed his eyes.

Whispers immediately broke out across the auction hall. The majority of the people clearly did not recognize this auction item, and their faces were filled with curiosity.

The beautiful auctioneer smiled slightly. "Esteemed guests, this is the 'Thunder Tribulation Wuji Fruit' meticulously cultivated by the Wan family."

She gracefully lifted the transparent veil covering the fruit. "Ordinary thunder tribulation fruits wither after a millennium, but this one has been cultivated using the Wan family's secret arts to reach a medicine age of five thousand years, placing it at the lower-grade Heaven tier."

"A Heaven-tier spiritual fruit?!"

An uproar instantly erupted among the audience below.

The auctioneer continued her introduction, "This fruit possesses extraordinary efficacy, capable of helping a Peak Heaven Martial thunder-attribute martial artist condense a spiritual pill and break through to the Venerable Martial realm. The starting bid is one hundred million lower-grade spiritual stones, with each incremental bid no less than one million."

"One hundred million?!"

Wang Tiehu nearly leaped out of his chair. "Just for a fruit?"

Zhang Lin gasped sharply. "It can help someone break through to the Venerable Martial realm... No wonder it's so expensive. How many leaders of factions in Tianyun City have been stuck at the Peak Heaven Martial realm for decades without being able to advance an inch..."

Meanwhile, Lin Chuan's gaze landed on the illuminated Heaven-tier private room on the top floor.

Through the one-way spiritual crystal wall, he could almost see Young Master Wan's composed smile. A single fruit was priced at one hundred million; just how many such resources did the Wan family possess?

"One hundred and ten million!"

Someone downstairs could no longer wait to place a bid.

"One hundred and twenty million!"

"One hundred and three—"

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Bidding voices rose and fell one after another, the price climbing at an astonishing speed.

Lin Chuan noticed that most of those participating in the bidding were local factions of Tianyun City, many of whose family heads had reddened eyes and trembling voices as they called out bids.

"One hundred and seventy million!"

Pavilion Master Zhao of the Heavenly Eagle Martial House suddenly stood up, veins bulging on his forehead.

His eldest son was already one hundred and eighty-three years old, having reached the Peak Heaven Martial realm thirty years ago. Furthermore, his cultivation technique was also thunder-attributed; as long as he secured this Thunder Tribulation Wuji Fruit, his Heavenly Eagle Martial House could give birth to a second Venerable Martial expert, and it would be his legitimate son, in whom he placed high hopes.

The prior fear of offending City Lord Qitian seemed to have been washed away by the desire for the treasure.

After a brief silence, a soft, effeminate voice echoed from a second-floor private room: "One hundred and eighty million."

Pavilion Master Zhao's complexion turned ashen instantly, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, but he ultimately slumped back into his seat—this price had already exceeded the tolerance limit of the Heavenly Eagle Martial House.

"One hundred and eighty-nine million!"

The head of the Sun family gritted his teeth as he called out the final price.

The auctioneer swept her gaze across the entire venue, and confirming that no one else was raising the bid, she dropped her gavel to finalize the deal: "Congratulations to Family Head Sun for winning the Thunder Tribulation Wuji Fruit!"

Inside the VIP room, Lin Chuan gently shook his head.

A single fruit sold for nearly two hundred million, whereas he, relying on Little Fatty and Elder Zi and risking his life to scavenge in a secret realm for seven days, had only earned ninety million.

Such a gap was simply suffocating.

"The Wan family... truly has wealth rivaling a nation."

Zhang Lin muttered.

Little Fatty's voice suddenly resounded in Lin Chuan's mind: "Kid, envious?"

Lin Chuan replied in his heart: "A bit. But I'm more interested in how they managed to cultivate such spiritual herbs that surpass growth limits."

"Hmph, nothing more than crooked paths," Little Fatty said with disdain. "True heaven and earth spiritual treasures never need artificial intervention."

The auction proceeded.

The dozen or so auction items displayed next were all special spiritual herbs brought by the Wan family—thousand-year blood ginseng kings, five-colored lingzhi mushrooms, nine-turn mysterious yang grass... Every single one of them had broken through conventional growth limits, with their medicinal efficacy multiplied.

"It seems Young Master Wan's trip to Tianyun City is primarily to showcase the Wan family's breakthroughs in spiritual herb cultivation," Lin Chuan said thoughtfully.

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