Chapter 2367: True Immortal Descends Four Elders of the Merchants' Alliance

It was clear that this alien Grand Ascension cultivator, residing in a flying pavilion, was unaware that the true bidder competing against him was merely a junior at the Void Refinement stage. Upon hearing this, Xue Po’s expression subtly changed, and she couldn't help but look at Han Li. "It's alright," Han Li said, his expression unchanged. "Since this is an auction, the highest bidder naturally wins. If you truly need it, Fellow Daoist Xue, don't have any reservations; just bid for it."

"Thank you, Senior!" Xue Po said gratefully, her tense expression relaxing. "With your words, this junior feels relieved." She then moved her finger on the circular plate a few more times and called out a price of "fifty-five million."

Raising the price by three million spirit stones at once astonished many of the alien cultivators in the main square. The Grand Ascension patriarch who had made the initial bid also fell silent. Even after Hu Yushuang on the stone platform confirmed the bid three times and the ownership of the Golden Marrow was finally decided, no sound emerged from his flying pavilion. It was unclear if this Grand Ascension old monster genuinely felt the item was not worth such a high price, or if… As a result, Xue Po was naturally overjoyed. A moment later, a servant dispatched by the merchant alliance delivered the item, and she immediately paid the spirit stones on the spot.

"I can't believe how wealthy Sister Xue is, producing such a large sum of spirit stones without batting an eye," Zhu Guo'er said with a hint of envy. She waited until the servant left, then looked at the small purple bottle Xue Po was holding and admiring. Given her age and cultivation level, Zhu Guo'er naturally couldn't have many spirit stones on her.

"You jest, Sister Guo'er," Xue Po said with a sigh. "These spirit stones are the result of my true form accumulating them over many years. I didn't expect such a rare item as the Golden Thunderlion Marrow to appear so early. Otherwise, I would have waited longer before making a move. But now that I've bought this treasure, I definitely won't be able to bid on any further auction items." With a flash of spiritual light in her hand, she put away the small bottle.

"However," Zhu Guo'er said with a playful smile after tilting her head and thinking for a moment, "I think it was wise for Sister to make a move now. While there might be more precious items than this Golden Marrow among the upcoming auction items, the bidding prices for them will definitely be far higher than this. It's only the beginning now, and many people are probably still holding back, waiting to see what else comes up. Otherwise, Sister wouldn't have been able to acquire the Golden Marrow so easily."

"This is also thanks to Senior Han being here," Xue Po said, looking at Han Li with deep gratitude. "By myself, I would never dare to compete with a Grand Ascension patriarch for anything. Even if a Grand Ascension patriarch wasn't participating in this auction, others likely wouldn't have given up on the Golden Marrow so easily." "I had originally thought I might need to borrow some spirit stones from Fellow Daoist Xue," Han Li said with a faint, noncommittal smile. "It's naturally better that you acquired this item yourself."

At this moment, his gaze once again fell upon the center of the main square outside the flying pavilion. The auction began with such a rare item as the Golden Marrow. Even Han Li was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but feel a hint of anticipation for the items to come.

On the stone platform, Hu Yushuang had already picked up the second, slightly longer wooden box and opened it. The moment the dark wooden box opened in the woman's hands, a dragon's roar echoed out. A beam of green light shot out, and after a flicker, it transformed into a green flood dragon, several dozen feet long, soaring into the sky with bared fangs and brandished claws, as if trying to seize the opportunity to escape.

"Hmph, get down," a cold snort suddenly rang out from the five-colored clouds above. Then, with several soft sounds, several golden beams shot out from other nearby clouds, and in a flash, they accurately struck the green flood dragon. The flood dragon let out a mournful cry, its body trembled, and it fell from mid-air.

At this moment, the woman below, seizing the opportune moment, chanted incantations under her breath and pointed a finger at the green flood dragon. The green flood dragon's body twisted, and after its light receded, it reverted to a misty green treasured sword, slowly floating down. Hu Yushuang then raised her hand and gestured towards the air, pulling the treasured sword directly into her hand, then gently rubbing it between her palms. The green light on the surface of the long sword immediately receded completely, and the dragon's roar abruptly ceased. A faint blue light flickered in Han Li's eyes, allowing him to see the item clearly. The sword had an ancient and simple appearance, about a foot long, with its very short blade and hilt each taking up half the length. The blade was covered in densely packed scale-like spiritual patterns, and the hilt subtly formed a green flood dragon's head, faintly holding a crescent-shaped crystal in its mouth.

"The Azure Flood Dragon Moon-Soaring Sword," the beautiful woman explained with a smile, holding the long sword before her, "is one of the three spiritual swords owned by the Moon-Soaring Elder, renowned across Feng Yuan Continent a hundred thousand years ago. During its refinement, it was not only soaked in the essence blood of over a dozen intelligent azure flood dragons, but after its formation, the Moon-Soaring Elder spent several centuries of arduous effort to continuously infuse it with the power of moon essence. Its immense spirituality and power can be well imagined. Fellow Daoists who are interested may come forward to inspect it."

As soon as she finished speaking, some people in the main square indeed rose and successively walked onto the stone platform to examine the sword. Some nodded, others shook their heads; in a short time, nearly thirty people had done so. After the last person in front of her descended, Hu Yushuang slightly raised the long sword in her hand and said without hesitation: "The Azure Flood Dragon Moon-Soaring Sword is now open for bidding. The starting price is seven million spirit stones, and payment must also be made in supreme-grade spirit stones!"

The starting price for this treasure was noticeably lower than that of the Golden Marrow. In contrast, the number of people interested in this extraordinary sword was clearly much greater than for the previous item. The moment the woman's words fell, someone immediately spoke up: "Seven point five million!" "Eight million!" "Nine million!"

A phantom image of the long sword had already appeared on the light screen, and the bidding price next to it was changing so rapidly that it was impossible to clearly see the numbers for a moment. However, when the price reached twenty-six million, the bidding abruptly ceased, and no one else made a higher bid. Clearly, the alien cultivators in the main square all believed this price had reached its limit and was no longer worth contending for. As for the Grand Ascension patriarchs in the flying pavilions, they would not value such treasures and showed no intention of bidding. This Azure Flood Dragon Moon-Soaring Sword was thus directly auctioned off for twenty-six million.

After Hu Yushuang opened the third wooden box, what she took out was a fist-sized blood-colored ore, which was Blood Adamantite, a specialty of the Blood Sky Continent. This item was a material for refining certain special magical artifacts and treasures and was naturally and smoothly acquired for seventeen million.

In this way, the entire auction began with a good start. Exotic treasures and materials were successively brought out and nonchalantly auctioned off by Hu Yushuang. Among these items, not many caught the attention of the Grand Ascension cultivators in the flying pavilions. Out of nearly a hundred treasures auctioned off in one go, there were only a few sporadic bids. Han Li naturally wasn't interested in these items and didn't make a single bid. Xue Po, however, was quite tempted by several of the subsequent auction items, but once the auction prices were revealed, she had nothing more to say. With her wealth significantly diminished, she could indeed only gaze from afar at the remaining treasures.

The Helian Merchant Alliance seemed to know that these items wouldn't impress the Grand Ascension patriarchs in the flying pavilions. So, finally, halfway through the auction, they consecutively brought out five or six treasures even rarer than the Golden Marrow. Every one of these treasures was related to resisting the power of heavenly tribulations or delaying their arrival.

This time, the cultivators in the flying pavilions finally couldn't sit still. They unceremoniously began to bid and contend. Each item easily fetched a price of over one hundred million spirit stones. One special material, used for refining treasures to resist heavenly tribulations, was even directly auctioned off for the astronomical figure of four hundred million spirit stones. The alien cultivators at the Integration and Void Refinement stages in the main square finally understood what true wealth meant at this point, treating supreme-grade spirit stones as if they were worthless. Han Li was originally somewhat interested in that special material, but once the price exceeded two hundred million, he smiled and immediately gave up.

Once these five or six items appeared, the interest of most Grand Ascension patriarchs was finally piqued. Even though the quality of the subsequent auction items suddenly decreased, these old monsters still frequently made bids, acquiring quite a few of the following items.

As time slowly passed, the auction lasted for a full day, finally reaching its concluding stage. Fortunately, everyone present was a cultivator with profound magic power. By this point, not only did they show no signs of fatigue, but they were all in high spirits, looking even more energetic.

"I presume all Fellow Daoists have been waiting for this moment for a long time," Hu Yushuang said with a mysterious smile, then clapped her hands lightly. "Very well, I shall not waste any more words. Next, we will begin auctioning the three finale treasures of this event. I am confident they will satisfy everyone immensely."

A roar echoed from high above. The five-colored clouds suddenly parted, revealing a gigantic, glistening golden palace. Then, a Buddhist chant sounded from within the palace, and three stunning beauties, dressed in five-colored palace robes, flew out. Each held a silver tray, shrouded by a misty golden light screen. No sooner had the three palace-robed women flown out than figures flickered again within the golden palace, and four elderly men, dressed in various styles of attire, emerged. Each possessed an extremely powerful aura, and all of them were Grand Ascension stage patriarchs.

As soon as these seven landed on the stone platform, Hu Yushuang respectfully bowed to the four elders: "Greetings, Four Grand Elders. This junior had originally intended to pay respects to all four of you upon arriving at the Feng Yuan Continent, but I did not expect to find all four Seniors in secluded cultivation. I hope you will not blame me."

"Heh heh," said a thin old man, dressed in hemp robes with an ancient and peculiar face, as he waved his hand and smiled. "You must be the most promising direct descendant of Old Man Hu's fifth family. Your talent is indeed outstanding, beyond what ordinary people can compare to. As for these common courtesies, we have never paid them much mind, so you needn't worry. The four of us old fellows have recently been cultivating a divine ability simultaneously, and we are at a crucial point. If it weren't for the Venerable Ming insisting we come to oversee this event, we probably wouldn't have emerged from seclusion."