Chapter 1342: Securing the Scales
In the face of three true spirit scales, tens of millions of spirit stones were nothing but mere numbers. Everyone wanted to make a breakthrough with immediate effect.
After all, it was extremely difficult for Deity Transformation cultivators to progress, and the majority of Deity Transformation cultivators were stuck at the early-Deity Transformation Stage until the day they died.
The scales essentially provided a lifeline, and everyone immediately burst into a frenzy to try and secure the scales for themselves.
However, no matter how desperately one wanted to secure the scales, they had to be conscious of their limits.
After the price rose above 25,000,000 spirit stones, there were almost no cultivators left who were still participating in the bidding.
In fact, there were only three such cultivators left.
One of them was the same one who had just secured the True Toad Spirit Blood, and his voice was still as lazy as ever.
Among the other two voices, one was quite wizened and coarse, while the other was pleasant to the ears. It sounded as if the remaining two cultivators were an elderly man and a young female cultivator respectively.
The bids rolled in at increments of 1,000,000 spirit stones at a time, and the price was quickly approaching 30,000,000.
When the owner of that lazy voice made an astronomical bid of 30,000,000, the other two cultivators immediately fell silent.
It appeared that this price was already beyond what they were able to afford, so they could only give up.
All of the cultivators looked up in the air above the auction platform. There, the number on the massive disk was slowly changing color. Once it became completely crimson in color, that would mean a final price had been settled.
"31,000,000"
All of a sudden, an unfamiliar voice sounded.
As soon as this bid was made, all of the cultivators in the hall faltered momentarily before immediately turning their attention to the stone cabin that Han Li was situated in.
It appeared that even at such a jaw-dropping price, there were still people willing to make additional bids.
Within the stone cabin, Han Li sat with a calm and collected expression.
"32,000,000"
The lazy voice carried a hint of surprise this time.
"33,000,000"
Han Li immediately placed another bid without any hesitation.
"34,000,000"
This time, the lazy voice only placed the bid after a momentary hesitation.
"35,000,000"
Many of the cultivators present were struggling to pick their jaws up off the ground.
These were true spirit scales on offer here, but surely such a ridiculous price was too much! Even the spirit treasures that ranked at the bottom of the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll were only around this price.
"35,000,000? Hmph! Fellow Daoist Chi, I highly suspect that this fellow Daoist doesn't have that many spirit stones, and is only bidding to cause trouble for me. Shouldn't you be assessing whether he actually has that many spirit stones?" the owner of the lazy voice suddenly said in a cold manner.
"I'll be sure to verify this in person at the conclusion of the auction. However, everything shall progress as normal before then. Please continue, Fellow Daoists," the white-robed elderly man merely replied with a calm smile.
He clearly didn't want to offend either of the bidders before learning their identities.
"If that's the case, then I won't be placing any further bids. I want to see if this fellow Daoist truly can offer something worth 35,000,000 spirit stones as a bond." The owner of the lazy voice seemed to have grown quite frustrated, and he really did refrain from participating in any further bidding.
Thus, the number on the massive disk turned crimson, and the white-robed elderly man announced Han Li to be the new owner of the three true spirit scales. After that, the white-robed elderly man and the woman carrying the jade box began to fly toward the stone cabin that Han Li was situated in.
Soon, they reached the cabin before stopping.
The elderly man flipped his hand over to produce an azure badge. He waved the badge gently toward the stone cabin before entering the cabin with the female appraiser behind him.
After entering the room, the elderly man appraised Han Li for a brief moment before offering a smile and cupping his fist in a salute.
"Your treasure has been delivered, Fellow Daoist. It's time for you to issue the spirit stones. If you have something you can offer as a bond, Fellow Daoist He here will appraise its value and offer discounts accordingly. If you'd like, I can also invite the other two appraisers here as well." The white-robed elderly man was speaking in quite a polite manner.
"I trust your discerning eyes, Brother Chi, Fellow Daoist He. Have a look at this."
Han Li glanced at the jade box being carried by the woman before rustling his sleeve. A small brocade box that had been prepared well in advance emerged from within.
The white-robed elderly man had seen countless treasures in his time, and he merely accepted the box with a calm expression before opening the lid.
A burst of fragrant aroma immediately wafted throughout the entire cabin. The elderly man's calm facade completely crumbled at the sight of the contents of the box. "A myriad year spirit herb!"
The elderly drew a sharp breath before finally tearing his gaze away from the item in the box. He then turned to Han Li with a rather peculiar look in his eyes.
The woman's heart also jolted upon hearing the words "myriad year spirit herb". She strode over to the elderly man and also peered into the brocade box.
Lying within the box, enshrouded in a ball of white light, was a pristine white spirit herb that was several inches in length. There were runes around it that were flashing like projections. "Myriad year spirit runes! That does indeed appear to be a myriad year spirit herb, but further appraisal will be required to verify its authenticity," the woman said in a slow voice after staring at the spirit herb for a long while.
"That's your area of expertise, Fellow Daoist He, so I'll have to trouble you to appraise this treasure." The white-robed elderly man was being quite respectful toward the woman.
The woman nodded before accepting the brocade box that was being handed over to her. She then flipped over her other hand, and a thin green jade ruler appeared. The ruler was around a foot in length, and there were over 20 peculiar spiral patterns carved onto its surface.
The woman's eyes flashed as she slowly extended the ruler toward the spirit herb in the box.
Before the green ruler had even come into contact with the spirit herb, white spiritual light erupted amid a low ringing sound. At the same time, the peculiar spiral patterns on the jade ruler lit up one after the other, emanating piercing green light.
After the 11th and final pattern lit up, the woman's calm expression was finally beginning to crack a little.
She carefully examined the spirit herb in the box once again before concluding in a firm voice, "This is indeed a myriad year spirit herb, and it's a Snow Wyrm Herb that's around 11,000 years old. Snow Wyrm Herbs are quite rare, so they're much more valuable than normal myriad year spirit medicines. I value this at around 7,000,000 spirit stones."
"7,000,000? That's around what I was expecting. Do you have any objections, Fellow Daoist?" The white-robed elderly man nodded before turning to Han Li.
"I'm fine with that price. I also have some more that you can take; they should be enough to pay for the auction item." Azure light flashed from Han Li's wrist, and four jade boxes appeared, all of which he tossed toward the white-robed elderly man in a calm manner.
The elderly man waved an arm to catch all of the jade boxes before opening them one by one.
He was trying his best to maintain a calm facade on this occasion, but the twitching of his eyelid still betrayed his emotional turmoil.
"Are these all myriad year spirit herbs?" he asked in a slightly hoarse voice.
"Why do you ask? Do you not accept such spirit medicines?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"Of course we do, Fellow Daoist." the white-robed elderly man chuckled in response, but the shock in his eyes was quite apparent.
The female appraiser was also starting to become rather skeptical.
She appraised the spirit herbs in the jade boxes one by one, following which an incredulous look appeared on her face.
Individual myriad year spirit herbs naturally weren't as precious as true spirit scales. However, they had much more practical applications as they could be used as ingredients to refine a wide range of pills. As such, they were demand always far exceeded supply for these treasures.
Furthermore, they were also extremely valuable, so they were basically the next best currency used on the market, second only to spirit stones. Perhaps shops would reject other items, but there wasn't a single shop that would reject myriad year spirit herbs.
"Seeing as Fellow Daoist He has verified the authenticity of these spirit herbs, then these three true spirit scales belong to you now, Fellow Daoist." A hint of curiosity flashed through the white-robed elderly man's eyes as he put on a wide smile and handed over the brocade box to Han Li.
"Thank you." Han Li made a grabbing motion, and the brocade box was drawn toward him. He briefly inspected the contents of the box before nodding with a pleased expression.
The white-robed elderly man was very curious about Han Li had come across so many myriad year spirit herbs, but he didn't articulate those questions. He merely stowed away the spirit herbs before departing from the stone cabin and returning to the auction platform.
Even though the elderly man and the female appraiser had spent quite a while in Han Li's cabin, this amount of time was naturally negligible to the cultivators outside, who would often meditate for months at a time.
However, all of them immediately turned their attention toward the duo as soon as they emerged. Everyone wanted to know whether the transaction had been a success.
"Rest assured, fellow Daoists, the transaction was a success. We'll now be moving on to the next auction item. This is a spirit treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, so it's even more valuable than true spirit scales. This is the Divine Spirit Treasures, Sea Razing Halberd. Its base price is 20,000,000 spirit stones!" The white-robed elderly man didn't disclose any information about Han Li, immediately moving on to announcing the next auction item instead. The elderly man among the trio of appraisers stepped forward right on cue, producing a shimmering blue short halberd from his spirit bracelet.
The cultivators in the hall were naturally extremely interested in this treasure as well. After the elderly man displayed some of the halberd's incredible abilities, an intense bout of bidding immediately commenced.
At this moment, Han Li's attention was focused entirely on the black scale in his hand, seemingly completely disinterested in the Divine Spirit Treasure being offered outside.
In the end, the short halberd was purchased by an unfamiliar cultivator for the same price of 35,000,000 spirit stones.
It was finally time for the last auction item to be revealed.