Chapter 1823: Crying Spirit Bloodwood

**Mortal Cultivation Saga - Main Text, Volume Ten: Battle of the Demon Realm**

The burly man, emanating black light, was none other than Emperor Basalt. The other demon, known as Lihuo, was naturally the Lihuo Flood Dragon King, one of the Seven Great Demon Kings.

This auction, surprisingly announced open by these two, came as a surprise to many.

However, after Emperor Basalt and the Lihuo Flood Dragon King descended from the high platform, an elderly man with silver hair, dressed in white robes, walked onto the stage.

Following closely behind him were two groups of young attendants carrying trays.

Each of them was fair-faced and bright-eyed, their trays completely covered by pieces of golden cloth.

“I, Tianyanzi, will be presiding over this auction, and I hope all fellow Daoists will give us your generous support!” the old man said with a chuckle, clasping his hands slightly towards the audience in the hall.

“Haha, with fellow Daoist Tianyan presiding over this auction, we feel much more at ease.” “Indeed, indeed! To say nothing else, Daoist Brother Tianyan’s discernment is renowned among both races.”

As soon as the old man spoke, it drew a wave of responses from many cultivators below. Clearly, Tianyanzi, a cultivator at the Mid-Void Refinement Stage, had quite a reputation.

The white-robed old man naturally wore a smile, bowed once more in all directions, and then directly announced:

“Fellow Daoists have traveled far to be here, and naturally, you wouldn't want to hear this old man ramble on with superfluous words. Now, let the auction begin! Attendant, bring out the first item.”

As soon as Tianyanzi finished speaking, he immediately gestured behind him.

The attendant at the very front cautiously took a few steps forward, raised the tray above his head with both hands, and respectfully presented it to the old man.

The white-robed old man then moved his arm and used a finger to lift off the golden cover from the tray.

Immediately, a crystal shimmering with silver light appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The crystal was only the size of a fist, but its surface unexpectedly bore a layer of natural patterns. Within the patterns, silver light glittered, as if countless silver threads were embedded within the crystal, making it exceptionally beautiful.

“A piece of Silver Thread Crystal, a top-grade material for refining metallic spirit treasures. This Silver Thread Crystal is exclusively found in the White Jade Gorge in the extreme eastern reaches of the human territory, and its typical annual output is less than half the size of this very piece. This illustrates its rarity. If even a small amount of this material is added to an ordinary flying sword, it will immediately become incredibly sharp, far surpassing other treasures of the same grade. If an item were entirely forged from this material, it would very likely become a spiritual treasure. Therefore, the starting bid for this item is three million spirit stones, with each subsequent bid not less than a hundred thousand. Bidding starts now!” After briefly introducing the item on the tray, Tianyanzi announced loudly.

This piece of Silver Thread Crystal was not even worth a glance to Body Integration Stage cultivators like Han Li, but for Spirit Transformation Stage and Void Refinement Stage cultivators, it was clearly highly enticing.

After all, the White Jade Gorge was directly controlled by Basalt City, and its usual meager output of Silver Thread Crystal was barely enough for Basalt City’s own consumption. The appearance of such a large piece this time immediately drew countless gazes of intense interest.

“Four million!”“Four point five million!” “Five million!”

A flurry of bids instantly appeared on a light screen above the high platform, displayed via the spirit array.

Ultimately, an unknown demon cultivator covered in long black fur forcefully acquired it with a high bid of seven point three million.

This outcome naturally left many human cultivators feeling quite disheartened!

Everyone knew that demon cultivators were generally not skilled in artifact refining, so for a demon to be willing to spend such a high price for this Silver Thread Crystal was truly beyond many people’s expectations.

Since the auction began with artifact refining materials, the subsequent items brought out for auction were naturally also rare items of the same category.

They were either rare materials for refining demon armors or essential items for refining other magic treasures.

However, after several rounds, most people in the hall showed a slight change in expression.

Seven or eight items in a row were all incredibly bid on and acquired by that black-furred demon cultivator from the beginning, at unbelievably high prices. It was as if this person didn't care about the number of spirit stones as long as they could obtain these refining materials, appearing to possess immense wealth.

As for this black-furred demon cultivator, aside from his exposed arms, his entire body was shrouded by a hazy, yellowish leather robe, only vaguely revealing an unusually fierce countenance, but his true appearance remained unclear.

Of course, this concealment could only hinder cultivators at the Spirit Transformation and Void Refinement stages, but for Body Integration Stage cultivators like Han Li, a slight expenditure of divine sense could forcibly penetrate the robe’s concealing power.

“It’s a Black Wolf Demon!” Han Li muttered, his eyes flashing blue after a quick scan, his brow furrowed. “And seemingly only at the early Void Refinement Stage. How can he be so extravagant with his bids? Could he be someone of significant background from the Wolf Clan?!”

Although Qi Lingzi and Young Master Hai clearly heard Han Li’s words from behind him, they were even less clear about the underlying reasons, so they naturally stood there, not daring to interject in the slightest.

At this moment, when a peculiar piece of silk cloth, radiating crimson light as if woven from flames, was presented on the stage by another attendant,

A commotion immediately broke out among the crowd below!

“Crystal Flame Silk! It’s actually fabric woven from Crystal Flame Silk!”“That’s incredible!”“It’s utterly extravagant!”

Many people stared at the crimson silk cloth with shocked expressions, while others made no attempt to conceal the greed on their faces, wishing they could rush onto the stage and seize the item.

“Master, what is this Crystal Flame Silk? It seems many people greatly desire it,” Young Master Hai asked, unable to contain himself upon seeing the situation. Han Li smiled faintly, indeed offering a few explanations. “No wonder you don’t know about it! This Crystal Flame Silk is not a product of our human race at all, but a unique spiritual material of the Black Phoenix Clan. It is said to be a spiritual thread spat out by fireworms living in lava. However, each fireworm can only produce one thread in its lifetime, and it is only found in a certain lava region controlled by the Black Phoenix Clan, making it even rarer than the Silver Thread Crystal we saw earlier. Fire-attribute magic treasures refined with this material, if worn year-round by cultivators practicing cultivation techniques of the same attribute, can slightly increase their cultivation speed. Furthermore, treasures refined from this material also significantly boost the power of fire-attribute divine abilities. Many of the people seated here probably primarily or secondarily cultivate fire-attribute techniques. Thus, such a large quantity of Crystal Flame Silk naturally excites them.”

“So that’s how it is. No wonder these people are reacting this way,” Qi Lingzi also said with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, Tianyanzi below had already announced the starting bid for the Crystal Flame Silk, and a more fervent round of bidding immediately erupted, far surpassing the previous items.

In just moments, the price of the Crystal Flame Silk had already doubled, reaching an exorbitant figure.

However, due to this, the initially frenzied bidding finally quieted down, with only five or six individuals still refusing to yield to one another.

And that black-furred demon cultivator was prominently among them.

The final bidding result was not unexpected; the Black Wolf Demon cultivator indeed acquired it at an astronomical price.

As a result, this Black Wolf clan member naturally drew even more attention, and many individuals from both races frequently glanced at him, most of these gazes, of course, were unfriendly.

But at this moment, the words suddenly spoken by the white-robed old man on the stage immediately drew everyone's attention back to him.

“Heh heh, many fellow Daoists are not attending their first auction at the Myriad Treasures Convention, and naturally know that the order of auctions here is slightly different from typical auction events. We do not reserve all our most valuable items until the very end. Instead, we will present several highlight items in the early, middle, and late stages respectively. What we are about to bring out now is one such item, and I believe it will not disappoint most fellow Daoists and seniors.”

As the old man spoke, he suddenly clapped his hands twice.

Immediately, a captivating young maidservant appeared from a cart that had seemingly arrived unnoticed, carrying a half-foot-long emerald wooden box in her hands, and walked to Tianyanzi’s side with a charming smile.

The white-robed old man now wore a serious expression and carefully took the wooden box from the maidservant’s hands. Then, facing the audience, he slowly spoke again:

“Although some fellow Daoists may have heard of it, I wonder how many have actually seen the Crying Spirit Bloodwood, this spiritual item, with their own eyes! There is a small section of it right here in this box. This spiritual item has extremely wide-ranging uses. It serves as an auxiliary material for several great divine abilities, can directly refine a second avatar and a Calamity Averting Puppet, and is also the primary material for the famous treasure, the 'Blood-Crying Spirit Pearl'.” The old man spoke with a solemn expression.

Upon hearing Tianyanzi’s words, most people, however, appeared bewildered, while only a few immediately revealed expressions of wild joy.

“Crying Spirit Bloodwood? Isn’t this an item revered as sacred by the Spirit Race?”“How could such an item appear at our two races’ auction?”

Some cultivators who knew the origin of this item couldn’t help but exclaim from below the stage.

Han Li’s expression also subtly shifted, and at the same time, he clearly sensed numerous divine sense fluctuations emanating from the private rooms on the third floor. Clearly, many Body Integration Stage existences were also greatly interested in this Crying Spirit Bloodwood.

“Heh heh, as for the origin of this section of bloodwood, this old man is naturally not entirely clear. I can only assure all fellow Daoists that this section of Crying Spirit Bloodwood is absolutely genuine, with no falsehood whatsoever.” The old man finished speaking, then opened the box lid.

Immediately, a bloody aura surged out from the box, transforming into a thick mist of blood that swirled and twisted in the air, like a strange crimson serpent.

Tianyanzi took a deep breath, his eyes briefly flashing crimson-gold, then he spread the five fingers of one hand and abruptly reached into the box.

The next moment, a section about half a foot long and as thick as a thumb, a bizarre piece of wood, black and red and winding all over, appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The wood was dull and lacked luster, but incessantly emitted wisps of bloody mist. These wisps of blood mist constantly interwove and churned, shooting straight up into the air, as if alive.

“Calamity Averting Puppet!” Han Li stared at the item, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He had indeed heard of this Crying Spirit Bloodwood; it was actually the remains of a mutated wood-attribute Spirit Race member, and indeed, it was an item rarely seen even within the Spirit Race, perhaps once in ten thousand years.

Both the second avatar and the 'Blood-Crying Spirit Bead' were renowned, but what truly tempted him was naturally the Calamity Averting Puppet.

Although he could also refine Spirit Transformation Talismans that had calamity-averting effects, with his current significant increase in magical power, the effectiveness of these talismans had relatively weakened considerably. Even if cultivated for longer, they could no longer exhibit much of their calamity-averting divine ability.

This Calamity Averting Puppet, however, was a renowned exotic treasure that had long been circulated among the human race, and it similarly possessed the miraculous effect of averting disasters and substituting for calamities, even for Body Integration Stage cultivators.

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