novelapdf Chapter 552 Tongyuan Auction House! Soul Jade!
Chapter 552 Tongyuan Auction House! Soul Jade!
This man in black was named Yin Gu, the sect leader of a small sect in Yunzhou. This sect was called the Misty Concealment Sect, specializing in stealth techniques and using insidious methods. Although it wasn't a top-tier power in Yunzhou, no one dared to provoke it easily.
Yin Gu himself is an expert in assassination. He once assassinated a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator with his early Nascent Soul cultivation. He succeeded in one strike and fled thousands of miles away. He has never failed.
A day earlier, Zhou Yuanhua found him. Zhou Yuanhua promised that as long as Yin Gu could kill Chen Mu, he would recommend Wuyin Sect as one of the seven sects of Yunzhou in the name of Yunzhou, and would give him a Nascent Soul Pill as a reward.
Yin Gu had no reason to refuse.
Chen Fan opened his eyes, expressionless, picked up the corpse of Yin Gu, and then let the golden bowl devour it completely!
He sat down cross-legged again, closed his eyes, and continued to sort through the other information in his Yin Bone Memory.
These fragmented memories were scattered and disorganized, mostly consisting of trivial matters. However, as the Soul Searching Technique deepened, a name suddenly jumped into his mind.
Tongyuan Auction House.
The largest auction house in the capital holds a major auction every ten years.
This year's auction happens to be held just before the National Games, and several Nascent Soul level magic treasures, elixirs and cultivation techniques will be on display, with a supreme treasure for cultivating the soul as the grand finale.
This treasure is called Soul Jade. It is said to be a fragment of a magic weapon belonging to an ancient powerful cultivator of the Soul Path, and it is of great benefit to the cultivation of Soul Path cultivators.
Moreover, the Wang family has also set its sights on this Soul Jade.
Wang Teng, a candidate for the Nascent Soul group in Youzhou, is a direct descendant of the Wang family and has a mid-Nascent Soul cultivation level.
Besides participating in the national competition, his other purpose in coming to the imperial city was to obtain the Soul Jade!
The Wang family ranks first among the eight major families and is extremely wealthy. Wang Teng brought plenty of spirit stones with him on this trip, determined to succeed.
Chen Fan slowly opened his eyes, a thoughtful look flashing in them.
Wang Teng.
The only information he heard from Zuixianlou was that Wang Teng was a direct descendant of the Wang family, but he knew nothing about his methods or tricks!
The Wang family of Dayu is famous in Tiannanxing for its fire-based techniques. Wang Teng specializes in fire-based magic, which should theoretically have nothing to do with the Soul Path.
Why would he want to fight for a Soul Dao magic weapon?
Either he bought it for someone else.
Or perhaps he has other secrets.
With a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, Chen Fan felt that there was no harm in going to take a look anyway.
After all, firstly, he could find out Wang Teng's background, and secondly, if the Soul Jade was really as powerful as Yin Gu's memories described, he might be able to compete for it.
It should be noted that although the Black Soul Banner has already advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, if it could obtain a fragment of a magic weapon from an ancient powerful cultivator of the Soul Path and refine it, it might be able to allow the million souls within the banner to advance further.
Moreover, since he was going to run into someone from the Wang family, he had to say hello.
Although we can't kill them openly, we can take a look from afar and remember their aura so that we can identify and kill them in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons in the future!
Chen Fan stood up, changed out of his gray cloth clothes, put on the gray cloak again, and covered himself with the human skin mask.
In a short while, a middle-aged monk with a sallow complexion and slightly protruding cheekbones appeared in the mirror.
He pushed open the door of the side room and slipped out of the inn without a sound.
Tongyuan Auction House is located in the middle of the most bustling Zhuque Avenue in the imperial city, occupying an entire four-story building.
The building was constructed entirely of dark black spirit jade, with upturned eaves and corners. A row of gilded palace lanterns hung beneath the eaves, each containing a spirit candle made from the oil of a third-tier demon beast. The light shone through the glass dome onto the street, turning half of it a pale gold.
When Chen Fan arrived, a long queue had already formed outside the auction house.
The cultivators participating in the auction ranged from the Qi Refining stage to the Nascent Soul stage. Most of them were dressed in luxurious clothes and gathered in small groups to talk in hushed tones.
Four black-robed stewards, all late-stage Core Formation cultivators, stood at the entrance, verifying each invitation.
Those cultivators without invitations must pay an entrance fee of one hundred mid-grade spirit stones to obtain a seat at the back.
Chen Fan paid the spirit stones, received a number plate, and was led to sit down in the corner of the lobby on the first floor.
This spot was right next to the pillar, with empty seats on both sides, which suited him perfectly.
He pressed down the brim of his cloak, steadily suppressing his cultivation aura at the late Foundation Establishment stage, and then calmly spread out his divine sense.
The auction hall is extremely spacious and can accommodate thousands of people.
The first floor has regular seating, the second floor has private rooms, and the third floor has VIP rooms.
The spiritual light barrier outside the private room was layered upon layered, and even Chen Fan's divine sense could not penetrate it. He could only vaguely sense a few particularly powerful auras, at least those of Nascent Soul cultivators!
One of the auras was as hot as fire, and even through the barrier, one could feel the scorching fire elemental power.
The way that energy circulated was exactly the same as the fire-based cultivation method passed down by the Wang family, so it must be Wang Teng.
Chen Fan withdrew his divine sense, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes to rest.
About an incense stick's time later, with a melodious chime, the auction officially began.
The auctioneer was a beautiful female cultivator dressed in a red palace gown. She was at the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm, with a slender figure and charming appearance. Every smile and frown of hers was captivating.
She walked slowly onto the central auction stage, her voice as clear as a nightingale's song: "Fellow Daoists, I've kept you waiting. I am Liu Hongmian, and I will be presiding over today's Tongyuan Auction. As usual, the highest bidder wins, and there's no going back once the hammer falls. If anyone disrupts the auction, don't blame me for being rude."
A burst of good-natured laughter immediately erupted from the audience.
Liu Hongmian covered her mouth and chuckled, then clapped her hands, and two maids came up onto the stage carrying a jade plate.
On the plate was a crimson pill the size of a longan, with flame patterns flowing across its surface, radiating a rich fire elemental energy.
"A fourth-tier Crimson Flame Pill, if taken by someone in the early Nascent Soul stage, can improve their fire-attribute cultivation techniques after ten years of arduous training; it also has considerable effects if taken by someone in the mid-Nascent Soul stage. Starting bid: one thousand mid-grade spirit stones; each bid must be at least one hundred."
As soon as Liu Hongmian finished speaking, someone in the audience raised a sign.
Fourth-grade pills are rare even in the imperial city, and they quickly attracted several rounds of bidding, eventually being sold for three thousand mid-grade spirit stones.
The next few items are a flying sword at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, a set of small mountain-protecting array flags, and a 500-year-old Frost Spirit Mushroom, all of which are rare treasures.
Bidders were enthusiastic, and prices rose all the way up. The set of mountain-protecting array flags even fetched a high price of eight thousand mid-grade spirit stones.
Chen Fan did not raise his paddle. These things were nothing special to him.
The wealth he plundered from the ruins of the Soul Refining Sect included hundreds of thousands of top-grade spirit stones; ordinary Nascent Soul level treasures were simply beneath his notice.
The auction continued until the seventh item was brought to the table.
Liu Hongmian lifted the red silk on the jade plate, revealing an ancient jade slip inside.
The jade slip is dark blue-green with slight wear on the edges, indicating its antiquity.
She picked up the jade slip, her voice gentle yet solemn: "A Fifth-Rank Alchemist's Manual, written by a fifth-rank alchemist, recording the refining techniques for over thirty fourth-rank pills, as well as complete formulas for three fifth-rank pills. Starting bid: three thousand mid-grade spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than three hundred."