Chapter 121: Auction
The chatter gradually ceased as a cultivator flew over to the platform again, the attention falling on him.
"Fellow daoists, as usual, we will enter the second phase of our Neighbourhood Gathering - the Auction!
The rules are the same as always: first, the main venue will be used as a great auction with many items purchased and found by fellow daoists that have been given to us for auctioning. Afterwards, there will be a short auction on each floor between cultivators before we enter the last phase!"
After saying this, two cultivators already came up with a tray on which lay two items hidden by a thin red veil.
The auctioneer lifted the veil and revealed two small pills, "The top-grade breakthrough pill to break through to the peak stage of Qi Refining!
The starting bid for one pill is 1.000 spirit stones, and each bid has to be at least 100 spirit stones higher!"
There was no delay and instantly cultivators who had been here before acted upon it -
"1.100 spirit stones!"
"1.200!"
"1.500 spirit stones, please-"
"No disruptions, just bid!" the cultivator in the centre instantly said when he saw a cultivator about to talk, his aura pressing on that man.
Instantly everyone once again knew it was indeed a Foundation Building cultivator!
They became quiet for a moment when Fengyu made a bid casually, "2.000 spirit stones."
"2.100!" another bid followed, and the bidding war continued.
"Senior brother, do you need that pill? I can borrow you some stones if you’re lacking!" Ling said when she saw this.
"No need, such pills are more poison than good. I just made a casual bid so the auction isn’t halted." Fengyu waved his hand, not caring.
He didn’t know that someone else listened to their conversation... after all, no one used sound-proofing barriers here...
The final price of the first pill was 4.200 spirit stones, while the second wasn’t much higher, only 4.300. After all, everyone knew that the price of this pill was around 2.000 - going double was the limit of most; any higher wouldn’t be worth it. They might just as well find a different way to purchase it. Those that continued to bid were the ones that needed it more urgently.
Several items followed one after another, among which were mostly pills and other items for cultivation.
Co Fei explained as she watched, "The ten first items are always items dedicated to cultivation; the second batch is mostly weapons, formations and other items useful for a cultivator."
Just as she said, the eleventh item was a small blue orb suitable for water cultivators.
Items followed one after another, and when it was the twentieth, it was actually a battle axe of the top grade with an extremely high quality - in the end, it was actually sold for 20.000 spirit stones to an old yet strong cultivator.
"Fellow daoist, do you know why the price is so high? Theoretically, a low-grade offensive weapon is around 100 spirit stones; going by the normal formula, the top-grade weapon should be at... 4.500 spirit stones!" Fengyu was surprised at the large price spike.
"Oh that’s just very average top-grade weapons. And actually, after reaching the top-grade, the price can’t be calculated normally.
If we went by the formula, then an auxiliary item at the top grade would cost around 10.000 spirit stones, but in reality, that’s just the bottom batch. The true top-grade items, peak of the first stage, those weapons even used by weak and newly advanced Foundation Building cultivators will cost up to 10 times more than the normal price." Co Fei had attended several auctions and knew the real value of them.
"Why is the difference so large?" Fengyu was confused as he looked at the item, feeling it wasn’t much better than the other items, only having a slightly stronger pressure.
"Well, the high-quality items I’m talking about are also called ’semi-second stage’ - these items all have an aspect of a second-stage weapon but the lower quality of the material forces them to become top-grade items. The core is that they’re crafted by cultivators with... True Inspirations!" as she said this, she looked deeply at Fengyu, trying to discern something from his expression.
"No wonder!" Fengyu simply nodded, not hiding his knowledge of these.
Reaching the peak stage in a creation art might not be difficult for average cultivators as long as they work hard enough.
But an inspiration is a different matter - it involves many things he didn’t know, but he knew that those without, even if they work hard all their life, can never compare to those who have it.
So it seemed that the difference in the item was likely hidden deeply, and only those cultivators who knew of it would bid so high.
"The last five items!" Co Fei exclaimed when she saw five trays being carried into the room.
"The last five?" Fengyu asked in confusion, wasn’t this too little?
"I mean, they’re the last five of the first stage!" she corrected, her eyes looking deeply at the five items.
"Fellow daoists all know, as usual, these five have been specifically prepared to fight against the Beast Tide!
Let’s start right away -
The first item, a top-grade Battle Protection Robe! The starting bid is 10.000 spirit stones, and each bid has to be at least 1.000 spirit stones!" the cultivator announced while making one of the female cultivators carrying the tray take out the robe, presenting it to the audience.
It was white-green, rather plain...
Now that Fengyu knew what he had to look for, when he inspected the robe, he felt the special pressure that he now identified as the influence of a True Inspiration!
Instantly, a wave of cultivators started bidding - the price hadn’t rested for a second, rapidly rising to 20.000 spirit stones!
Fengyu was shocked, as this was still way too high for a robe, even if it was a semi-second-stage!
But combined with what the cultivator said, it was obvious this was aimed at those that haven’t yet prepared all items for the Beast Tide.
He, too, needed it... but his financial resources were simply too low!
Considering that he wouldn’t fight on the front lines, he didn’t want to borrow anything and instead simply watched the cultivators doing everything they could to obtain this item.