novelapdf Chapter 553 Fifth-Grade Alchemist's Manual! Wang Teng!
Chapter 553 Fifth-Grade Alchemist's Manual! Wang Teng!
A commotion immediately arose from the audience.
The Alchemist's Manual is a priceless treasure, available everywhere. Even among Nascent Soul cultivators, a fifth-grade alchemist is a figure of considerable importance, so the value of their handwritten alchemy insights is self-evident.
Chen Fan slowly raised the number plate.
"Three thousand five hundred."
"four thousand."
"Four thousand five hundred."
The price was quickly pushed up to over seven thousand.
Chen Fan followed at a steady pace, raising the price by five hundred each time, neither rushing forward nor backing down.
He needs this manual.
Qiankun Furnace has advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, but his alchemy skills have always been developed through self-exploration, and his level can only be considered barely passable.
If one could obtain the insights of a fifth-grade alchemist, one's alchemy skills would surely reach a new level.
When the price broke through 10,000, only two competitors remained.
One was an aged-looking early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator in a private room on the second floor, and the other was a young woman at the peak of the Core Formation stage in the front row on the first floor.
"Twelve thousand." The young woman gritted her teeth and quoted the price, her face already turning pale. This was probably the limit she could afford.
The elderly man on the second floor hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and put down the number plate.
"Twelve thousand the first time, twelve thousand the second time..."
Chen Fan held up the number plate and said calmly, "Twelve thousand three hundred."
The young woman turned around abruptly, her gaze piercing like a knife as she looked at Chen Fan in the corner.
She bit her lip, but ultimately turned away and didn't raise the sign again.
Liu Hongmian smiled and brought down the gavel, and the jade slip was handed to Chen Fan by a maid.
Chen Fan took out spirit stones to pay, put the jade slip into his sleeve, his face still expressionless, but he was quite satisfied.
Buying a fifth-grade alchemist's manual for 12,300 mid-grade spirit stones is excellent value for money.
The auction continues.
The treasures that followed became increasingly precious. A defensive magic weapon for the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm sold for 20,000 spirit stones, and a fifth-order Breakthrough Pill sparked fierce competition among several Nascent Soul cultivators, ultimately fetching a record price of 50,000 spirit stones.
Chen Fan wasn't interested in any of these things; he simply leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.
His consciousness remained fixed on the private room on the third floor, and Wang Teng's presence was always there, without him raising a sign from beginning to end.
This young man is waiting for that grand finale.
Finally, as the auction drew to a close, Liu Hongmian's voice suddenly rose a few decibels, filled with undisguised excitement: "Fellow Daoists, what follows is tonight's grand finale treasure."
She personally brought out a semi-transparent jade box from backstage, its surface covered with densely packed sealing runes.
Through the box, one could see a thumb-sized, dark green jade piece lying inside. The surface of the jade piece was as smooth as water, but at its center, a faint, eerie light was slowly rotating, like a half-open, half-closed eye.
Even through layers of seals, every cultivator in the hall felt a chill that penetrated straight to their soul.
"Soul Jade is a fragment of the natal magic weapon of an ancient Soul Dao master. According to our appraisal, this jade contains extremely pure Soul Dao essence, which is of immeasurable benefit to cultivators practicing Soul Dao techniques. If refined with Soul Dao secret methods, it is even possible to comprehend fragments of the ancient Soul Dao cultivators' divine abilities from it."
Liu Hongmian paused, her voice carrying a hint of incitement: "The starting bid is 50,000 mid-grade spirit stones, with each bid increasing by no less than 5,000."
The entire audience erupted in uproar.
Fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones—this price exceeds the entire fortune of many early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
This is just the starting price; the real bidding is yet to come.
Sure enough, after a brief silence, the bidding erupted like a flood breaking through a dam.
"Sixty thousand!"
"Seventy thousand!"
"Eighty thousand!"
"One hundred thousand!"
The price soared at an astonishing rate, breaking through the 100,000 mark in just a few dozen breaths.
The main bidders were several Nascent Soul cultivators in the private rooms on the second floor and VIPs in the private rooms on the third floor.
The cultivators sitting on the first floor could only sigh in despair, not even qualified to hold up a sign.
Chen Fan did not move.
He leaned back in his chair, his cloak and hood pulled low, as if he were asleep.
When the price soared to 150,000, most competitors gave up.
Only a black-robed old man in the mid-Nascent Soul stage on the second floor and a late-Nascent Soul cultivator in a private room on the third floor remained locked in a struggle.
Just then, a voice came from the central private room on the third floor.
Two hundred thousand.
The voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. The tone was unhurried, with a matter-of-fact certainty, as if stating a fact rather than bidding.
The entire auction hall fell silent.
Two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones.
This price exceeds the entire fortune of many late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
The old man in black robes on the second floor changed his expression, but ultimately put down the number plate.
The late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator in the third-floor private room remained silent for a moment before also leaving.
Liu Hongmian's smile was so bright it almost overflowed: "Two hundred thousand for the first time, two hundred thousand for the second time, two hundred thousand..."
Chen Fan opened his eyes.
He held up the bidding paddle, his voice as calm as still water: "Two hundred and one thousand."
All eyes in the room turned to the figure in the corner wearing a straw hat and a gray robe.
With his late Foundation Establishment cultivation level, sitting at the end of the first floor, how dare this cultivator challenge the VIPs in the third-floor private room?
Liu Hongmian paused for a moment, but quickly regained her professional smile: "This fellow Daoist has offered 210,000. Is there anyone offering higher?"
There was a moment of silence in the private room on the third floor, then Wang Teng's voice rang out again, with a hint of amusement in his tone: "Two hundred and twenty thousand."
"Two hundred and thirty thousand." Chen Fan followed suit, raising his sign.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand." Wang Teng's voice turned cold.
"Two hundred and sixty thousand." Chen Fan remained unhurried.
The monks in the hall were completely dumbfounded.
A rogue cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage was actually bidding against the direct descendants of the Wang family of Youzhou, and each bid was worth tens of thousands of spirit stones!
This person is either insane or hiding their true strength.
Wang Teng was clearly aware of this as well.
The restrictions on the private room trembled slightly, and a blazing divine sense emerged from the room, sweeping over Chen Fan's entire body without any hesitation.
"Interesting." Wang Teng's voice came from the private room, this time addressing Chen Fan directly, "Fellow Daoist, your generosity is surely not that of an unknown person. I am Wang Teng, a direct descendant of the Wang family of Youzhou. Do you know who I am?"
This is revealing one's identity.
Most ordinary cultivators would have backed down upon hearing this. After all, offending the royal family in the Great Yu Cultivation Kingdom is no laughing matter.
Chen Fan didn't even lift his eyelids.
He turned his head to look at Liu Hongmian on the stage and said calmly, "Is your auction house's rule to determine the bid based on the bidder's status?"
Liu Hongmian's smile froze slightly, then returned to normal, but her voice became colder and more businesslike:
"Young Master Wang, the rules of Tongyuan Auction House are that the highest bidder wins, regardless of status. This fellow Daoist's bid is reasonable, and our house has no right to interfere."