Chapter 2056: Dark Blood Five-Color Bell

This was an elderly demon with a dark complexion and deep wrinkles on his forehead.

He calmly walked up to the stone platform, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings. Immediately, a terrifying aura emanated from him, causing many weaker demons to subtly change their expressions upon sensing it.

This old demon was actually a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator, seemingly only half a step away from reaching the Body Integration stage. With such astonishing cultivation, in a place like Blood Crow City, apart from Han Li and other human cultivators, it was hard to say he was second to none, but there were certainly very few who could be compared to him.

“My name is Yue Liantian, and I am one of Blood Crow City's elders. I believe many of you present here know me. For this auction, I have been invited by the owner of this place to serve as the host. I hope all fellow cultivators will give me face and adhere to the rules of this auction. Otherwise, do not blame me if I become merciless when the time comes. These eight fellow cultivators are the enforcement guards for this auction. With them present, you can be absolutely assured of safety during the event.” The elderly demon said calmly, and as soon as his voice fell, he clapped his hands lightly a few times.

Immediately, eight ferocious demons, at the early to mid-Void Refinement stage, rose from the front-row seats. They positioned themselves around the stone platform, their faces devoid of expression.

“Bloodhand Jingyun”“Ironbreaker Hun”

The surrounding demons recognized the faces of these eight demons. Many gasped in surprise, and a stir went through the crowd. Evidently, these individuals had quite a reputation in Blood Crow City, and many who looked at the eight of them showed a hint of reverence.

Naturally, Han Li showed no surprise at the presence of the eight Void Refinement cultivators. Instead, his gaze swept around, wanting to see if Old Ancestor Long and others were also attending this auction. To guard against any Demon Venerable-level demons secretly attending this auction, Han Li did not use his vast spiritual sense. Instead, he relied solely on his Spirit Eyes ability to directly peer through any suspiciously dressed demons. However, after a quick scan, he found nothing.

Could it be that the Spirit Race and the others hadn't come to this auction? Han Li felt a little strange. Indeed, ever since they parted ways, he hadn't encountered anyone else in the city. It was as if Old Ancestor Long and the others had all gone into hiding, each with their own objectives.

At this moment, the elderly demon solemnly announced the start of the auction. A nearby hall door opened, and a line of demon women, each holding a tray, emerged from it. Each of them had graceful figures and stood behind Yue Liantian. The elderly demon gestured without turning his head. Immediately, one of the women respectfully stepped forward and held up the tray in her hands.

“The top-grade demonic artifact, the 'Dark Blood Five-Color Bells,' consists of five blood-demonic bells. When used against an enemy, they can individually create five different miraculous effects: confusion, potent poison, slowness, boiling blood, and illusions. The starting bid is five million demon stones!” The elder calmly stated as he lifted the black cloth covering the tray.

On the tray, five thumb-sized silver bells were revealed. Their surfaces were covered in faint black demonic patterns, and they were strung together by a golden ring.

“What, the Dark Blood Bells? This treasure's reputation is such that it can rank among the top ten even among top-grade demonic artifacts!”“But this treasure can only be forged by Master An from Haiyun Mountain. How could it appear in such a remote place as Blood Crow City?”“Who cares? Just the appearance of this treasure makes this auction worth attending. If such a valuable item is presented at the start, who knows what priceless things will appear later!”

As soon as the Dark Blood Bells appeared, they once again caused a stir of excited discussion in the hall. Most people looking at the set of five demonic bells showed expressions of pleasant surprise and greed.

Upon hearing the treasure's name, Han Li was also taken aback. “Dark Blood Five-Color Bells... why does this treasure sound so familiar? It feels like I've heard of it somewhere before.” Han Li, sitting on the stone stool, couldn't help but ponder.

At this moment, the bidding for the demonic artifact instantly began with a flurry of enthusiastic offers.

“Five million!”“Six million!”“Eight million!”“Eleven million!”

It was only a top-grade treasure, yet in the blink of an eye, the bidding surpassed ten million. This left Han Li secretly astonished. It was important to note that, based on his understanding of Blood Demon Realm prices over the past few days, a regular top-grade demonic artifact typically cost only two to three million demon stones. This set of Dark Blood Five-Color Bells had instantly soared to more than five times that price, and it seemed the bidding was far from over.

“Huh! Dark Blood Five-Color Bells! Glazed Five Marvel Bells! Isn't this precisely the name of a treasure recorded in the 'Profound Heaven Artifact Forging Art'?” As Han Li's mind raced, he finally recalled the somewhat similar name. Back then, when he obtained the Immortal Realm Forging Art from a golden jade book, besides the method for forging the Primordial Five-Element Mountain, it also recorded several methods for refining Post-Natal Profound Heaven Treasures, and the Glazed Five Marvel Bells were one of them. However, even though Han Li knew how to refine these Profound Treasures, he simply lacked the Immortal Realm materials, which were only heard of but never seen by others. Thus, he could only sigh and put them out of his mind. The effects of these Dark Blood Five-Color Bells sounded astonishingly similar to the divine abilities of the Glazed Five Marvel Bells. This was why, upon hearing the demonic artifact's name, he suddenly recalled this matter.

“Is this just a pure coincidence, or does someone in the Demon Realm also know the method for refining these Profound Treasures, and thus unintentionally created an imitation?” Han Li couldn't help but ponder to himself.

Unfortunately, although he had consigned a batch of demonic artifacts for auction two days prior and received an advance of nearly ten million demon stones, it was clearly not enough if he wanted to bid on the top-grade demonic artifact before him. Moreover, while this item possessed peculiar divine abilities, it was only at the level of a top-grade demonic artifact and wasn't of much use to him. Even if he acquired it, at most, it would only serve for reference and study. Therefore, Han Li could only suppress the doubts in his heart and quietly wait to see who would ultimately acquire this treasure.

Ultimately, this highly renowned demonic artifact in the Demon Realm was successfully bid on by a mysterious demon, whose body shimmered with green light and who wore a silver ghost-face mask, for the astonishing price of fifteen million. This prompted many high-level demons present to cast surreptitious, ill-intentioned glances at him. However, this demon, who had concealed his true appearance, after personally paying the demon stones and receiving the Dark Blood Five-Color Bells from the old demon, showed no intention of lingering and promptly swaggered out of the auction house. Even though many demons present were secretly harboring other intentions, it was not convenient for them to immediately follow him out under everyone's gaze. Only a few demons, also with their true appearances concealed, left their seats and followed him out without the slightest hesitation.

Yue Liantian, ignoring all of this, then raised his hand and pulled off the cloth covering the tray held by the second woman. This revealed a fist-sized, translucent blue crystal that emanated an astonishing chill.

“A crystal core from a rare demonic beast, the Ice Gourd Beast. It can be used to refine precious ice-element demonic artifacts or to concoct several types of elixirs for special purposes. The starting bid is two million demon stones!” The elderly demon held up the blue crystal core and stated without hesitation.

“Two million three hundred thousand!”“Two million five hundred thousand!”

Although the price of this demonic beast crystal core could not compare to that of the Dark Blood Five-Color Bells, it was still a rare material needed by some demons. As soon as it was presented, over a dozen people immediately began to bid for it. Ultimately, a slender demon successfully bid on it for over four million.

For the remainder of the time, the elderly demon named Yue Liantian showcased the items on the trays one by one. After all of them were auctioned off, another group of demon women immediately came out, carrying other auction items. The auctioned items were similar to those found in Spirit Realm auctions, mostly consisting of mineral materials, spirit herbs, elixirs, and similar things. From time to time, there would also be some demonic artifacts of extraordinary quality and effect interspersed among them. Han Li quietly watched as item after item was auctioned off to other demons, his face devoid of expression. He showed no intention of participating. Only when a few of the demonic artifacts he had put up for auction fetched considerable prices did a faint smile appear at the corner of his mouth.

However, none of the subsequent auction items managed to fetch prices as astonishing as the first demonic artifact. The highest-priced item among them was an elixir said to increase the chances of breaking through bottlenecks in demonic cultivation for Void Refinement stage cultivators. Although it only offered a half-chance, it still sold for thirteen million demon stones.

“All right, it's time for the final part of this auction. Heh heh, there are only two finale items this time, but I assure you, each of them is no less valuable than the Dark Blood Five-Color Bells—in fact, from some perspectives, they might even be worth more.” Yue Liantian said with a mysterious expression.

At this moment, two more demon women, both astonishingly beautiful and possessing extraordinary temperaments, emerged from the hall door. This time, neither woman carried a tray. Instead, one held a green wooden box about a foot long, while the other's hands were empty. Seeing this, most of the demons attending the auction showed expressions of interest.

Yue Liantian raised his hand and directly drew the wooden box from one of the women’s grasp. With a flick, he opened the lid, revealing a silently resting, hazy white, brick-shaped object inside.

“A Saint Brick, containing several cultivation methods of the Crying Spirit Saint Ancestor from two million years ago! The starting bid is thirty million demon stones!” The elderly demon carefully took out the item, held it high with both hands, and declared in a deep breath.

“What, the Crying Spirit Saint Ancestor? Could it be that Saint Ancestor, who was second only to the three Grand Ancestors back then?”“Impossible. How could a Saint Brick recording his venerable divine abilities appear here? Such a priceless item should only appear in the auction houses of the largest Saint Cities.”

As soon as Yue Liantian finished speaking, the entire auction house erupted in an uproar. Some demons were overcome with both surprise and joy, while others wore expressions full of doubt.

“Silence! This auction house has already had it authenticated, and we can guarantee to all fellow cultivators, without a doubt, that this is indeed an item left behind by Lord Crying Spirit. If there is any falsehood, this auction house will compensate ten times the auction price. On this point, please rest assured, fellow cultivators. As for why it appeared in our auction, there are actually other reasons.” The elderly demon’s face darkened, and his voice resonated throughout the hall, instantly quelling the noise.