Chapter 580: Chapter 577: Peerless Divine Weapon

Soul Capture stared ahead, unusually refraining from bidding immediately.

The venue was equipped with special spiritual energy devices, designed to block spiritual power probing and communication.

Soul Capture spoke blandly, "Cyan Vault, do you have significant use for this item?"

Enamored, the host, frowned. As the organizer, she naturally didn’t want bidders to communicate. But rules could only constrain the weak; she couldn’t afford to provoke any of the big shots present.

As long as it wasn’t blatant collusion, Enamored didn’t plan to interfere—

Just having Soul Capture from the Flower Bell Guild, a candidate for the Divine Throne War, was already a headache. Even more formidable was Cyan Vault from the Celestial Mansion, the legitimate holder of the ’Celestial Being’ title!

Cyan Vault remained silent, but Haotian, sitting nearby, bowed apologetically, "Senior Soul Capture, my uncle is bidding for me. I particularly need this item to meet the Dark Gold Equipment requirements. I apologize for that."

"You’ve just reached Level 7, right? Pushing too fast." Soul Capture remarked coldly, then closed her eyes and said no more.

"Soul Capture is a top Awakened, backed by the Flower Bell Guild. She wouldn’t be unable to come up with 1.5 million, right?" Bai Pu commented.

"That’s not how it works. A large guild needs to sustain operations, allocating limited resources to each member. It’s not possible to pour everything into one member; otherwise, the guild would collapse.

"As for Soul Capture, if she were to auction off the equipment and items on her, it would surely fetch a few million, but this 1.5 million is liquid funds and requires current spiritual points. It’s normal that Soul Capture can’t come up with it."

The Wushan Divine Lady explained.

"So, it’s the same for the Celestial Mansion. They wouldn’t give Haotian unlimited resource support." Bai Pu nodded and lifted his sign.

This was Bai Pu’s first bid.

"1.6 million."

Silence fell over the audience once more.

The gaze of Haotian’s uncle, Cyan Vault, shifted over.

Being observed by a holder of the legitimate ’Celestial Being’ title would certainly cause significant pressure, but Bai Pu, having stood firm against the Dragon King, was not fazed.

Faced with Cyan Vault’s scrutinizing gaze, Bai Pu sat as firm as Mount Tai, merely offering a slight nod and a smile.

"Ah, a rising star from the Jiangnan Region, Executive Gangxin. Since you want it, I won’t contend for this Yellow Rice." Cyan Vault placed down his sign, speaking calmly.

"Thank you."

Judging by his expression, Cyan Vault appeared indifferent. However, what he truly thought was unknown.

Haotian, by contrast, was far less composed, his face noticeably sullen as he took several deep breaths and whispered to Cyan Vault:

"Uncle, by yielding this time, others might think our Celestial Mansion is intimidated by a lad not even twenty."

"Gangxin raised the bid by 100,000 at once, clearly indicating he still has reserves."

Cyan Vault shook his head, "I conservatively estimate that Gangxin’s spiritual point account holds at least two to three million. Haven’t you noticed how popular his Character Cards have been selling lately? Yes, our Celestial Mansion is substantial, but we also have many Awakened to support. Competing head-on with someone going solo wouldn’t be wise."

Seeing Haotian still somewhat vexed, Cyan Vault sighed, "Think bigger. Our goal is the final Golden Named Artifact Equipment; we can’t deplete too much financial power beforehand."

...

"Mr. Gangxin has bid 1.6 million. Is there a higher bid?"

"1.6 million, going once..."

"1.6 million, going twice..."

During this time, Bai Pu was still somewhat apprehensive. What if some prodigal heir who bore a grudge against him decided to step in and mess things up?

Scanning the crowd, there were those eager to try, like the Border Town Wanderer—but ultimately, none of them stepped in.

1.6 million spiritual points was a considerable sum. For any major power, it wasn’t a small amount, and they wouldn’t give it to their strong second-generation brats for squabbles.

"1.6 million, going thrice, sold!" Miao Luo’s gavel fell.

Bai Pu sighed with relief. Even though spending 1.6 million spiritual points for 20 attributes was a bit extravagant, Bai Pu was a lone wolf and didn’t mind such things.

Bai Pu’s mental bottom line for the Yellow Rice was 2 million spiritual points. If it exceeded that, he would have to let go.

The alternative plan was to have Li Ling acquire agility-boosting equipment, replacing some of the power and endurance boosting equipment on Bai Pu. This would also meet the requirements for [Doomsday], as Bai Pu’s basic power and endurance currently far exceeded the Doomsday equipment’s needs.

Now that he had acquired the Yellow Rice, there was no need for Li Ling to specifically procure agility equipment.

This auction truly deserved the term "peak," with almost all items being of top grade.

Among them was a treasure that Bai Pu found fascinating, the [Red Phoenix Feather], reputedly from the Mist Area of the Silver Heart Great World, said to help Awakened comprehend the top grade mystical art "Nirvana Mystical Arts."

The [Red Phoenix Feather] was ultimately acquired by the Wushan Divine Lady for 1.4 million spiritual points.

"It’s a pity; this should just be a naturally fallen feather with little to no spirit beast essence blood remaining. If it contained the Red Phoenix True Blood, the ’True Feather’ would be invaluable, capable of replacing any Golden Named Relic as the climax of the auction."

"Is there a big difference between this feather and the True Feather?" Blood Spider inquired.

"Of course. Comprehending mystical arts isn’t about having as many as possible. Choosing two or three interrelated ones and cultivating them to mastery is crucial."

The Wushan Divine Lady explained, "Top-tier Awakened have taken their mystical arts to the extreme. What they seek is to transcend their insights, turning the abstract into the concrete, and realizing ’True Essence’!

"The priority and effect of True Essence far surpass any mystical art. The Red Phoenix True Feather has a small chance of helping Fire Element mystical art cultivators comprehend the Nirvana True Essence. Imagine how valuable that would be?"

Bai Pu recalled seeing Dai Sect on the Professional Plane who indeed mentioned that in the current Awakened World, the only areas left for his progress were combat techniques and ’True Essence.’ These could only be taught by the powerful natives of the Advanced Spirit Realm.

Remembering the imposing presence of Principal Bosh from the Garrison Warrior Academy, perhaps Principal Bosh was an expert who had comprehended True Essence?

Or at least, even if he hadn’t, he might be on that path. Principal Bosh’s insights could potentially aid Dai Sect in understanding True Essence, serving as a point of reference.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now presenting the last treasure of this auction. To express our sincerity, we won’t use an image demonstration. We’ll directly show you the item itself!" Miao Luo appeared confident.

Four Awakened, carrying a splendid long-handled weapon, slowly ascended the stage.

This weapon was over a zhang long, as thick as the base of a bowl, its sharp tip glistening coldly. Two wings unfolded, resembling the wings of a phoenix.

"Thank you for your patience. This Golden Named Relic Weapon is precisely the unparalleled Divine Weapon of Grand General Yuwen Chengdu from the ’Sui and Tang’ world — the Phoenix Wing Gilded Halberd!"