Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments-Chapter 78 - 76: Spending a Fortune to Win the Metal Element Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object

Chapter 78: Chapter 76: Spending a Fortune to Win the Metal Element Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object

The first item to appear on stage was a Middle Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact—the Thick Earth Robe.

"This Thick Earth Robe is a fine Magical Artifact, personally crafted by the Master of Discarded Sword."

"Over thirty catties of Thick Earth Sand were used in its creation, and the engraved Earth Shield Technique is strong enough to withstand three attacks from a Cultivator at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining."

"Furthermore, six catties of Red Radiance Gold were intentionally mixed in during the forging process, greatly enhancing the robe’s own durability."

"It would be extremely difficult to tear, even if struck directly by a Flying Sword."

The graceful and elegant auctioneer walked a circle around the high platform, holding up the Magic Robe as she gave her introduction.

Only then did she begin the bidding: "The starting bid for this item is one hundred Spirit Stones. Each increment must be no less than one Spirit Stone."

"I bid one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones!"

Someone immediately shouted a bid, and they were standing not far behind Xiao Chen.

He followed the voice and saw it was the young girl from when he’d left that morning.

After raising her hand and shouting the price, she clasped her fists tightly to her chest, an excited smile on her face.

Just bidding in front of everyone was enough to make her incredibly excited, as if she had done something amazing.

"I bid one hundred twenty-one!"

"One hundred twenty-five!"

Many Loose Cultivators also joined in on the fun.

In truth, everyone knew that a Middle Grade Magical Artifact was generally worth several hundred Spirit Stones, and Defense Type Magical Artifacts were typically even more expensive.

The reason the starting bid was set so low was simply to warm up the crowd.

But because of this, many Loose Cultivators with few Spirit Stones in their pockets also mixed into the crowd to call out bids.

In any case, a knowledgeable and wealthy Cultivator would eventually place a high bid and win the item.

They wouldn’t actually have to spend any money, but they could still get a sense of participation.

In fact, the Xiong Family had also arranged for a shill in the audience.

One of his tasks was to ensure that the first item wouldn’t be won by some Loose Cultivator just joining in for fun, only for them to be unable to pay, creating a farce.

However, before the shill could make a move,

Young Master Ji of the Ji Family won the first item after a Quarter Hour with a high bid of six hundred Spirit Stones.

The auctioneer enthusiastically invited, "We welcome this young master to the stage for inspection!"

One of the features of this public auction was on-the-spot inspection and on-the-spot payment.

The Xiong Family had even specially prepared a row of servant girls, kneeling at the edge of the high platform. Each held a tray high above her head with both hands, ready to receive the Spirit Stones.

Young Master Ji went on stage and gave the Magic Robe’s quality a symbolic inspection.

Then, with a wave of his hand, he took out six hundred Spirit Stones, instantly filling six trays.

Seeing so many Spirit Stones right from the start, the numerous Loose Cultivators in the audience immediately erupted in fervent discussion.

"That seems to be the young master of the Ji Family, right? As expected of a disciple from one of the six great families. He’s so lavish with his spending."

"Young Master Ji is from the Direct Lineage of the Ji Family. Of course he has plenty of Spirit Stones."

"I can only earn one Spirit Stone a month. At that rate, I’d have to save up for fifty years to afford that six-hundred-Spirit-Stone Magic Robe."

...

Xiao Chen had actually wanted to make a bid just now as well.

He currently only had the standard-issue Inner Sect Magic Robe. When he was out and about, it was inconvenient to wear if he wanted to hide his identity.

But after a moment of consideration, he decided to save his money for what really mattered, keeping it all for the fight over the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object later.

Besides, he had his Golden Armor Technique, which could serve as a suit of personal armor.

After the initial warm-up, the auction continued, interspersing three more Middle Grade Magical Artifacts with some common Spirit Pills, Talismans, and Low Grade Magical Artifacts.

The former all started at a bid of one hundred Spirit Stones.

After the warm-up, they were won by the Du, Guo, and Tian Families respectively, so coincidentally it was as if they had planned it.

The latter started at a bid of one Spirit Stone and were sold specifically to the Loose Cultivators who had traveled from afar.

Amidst the frequent shouts of bids, many Loose Cultivators were swept up by the atmosphere and joined the competition.

More than ten items in a row were all sold for very good prices.

In particular, one item in the middle, the Five-Colored Flowing Immortal Skirt, was bought by the young miss of the Guo Family for nine hundred and sixty Spirit Stones.

This made numerous female Cultivators burn with envy.

The young girl hugged her grandfather’s arm. "Wow, that skirt is so beautiful! It’s a shame the price is so high. It’s almost a thousand Spirit Stones."

"Grandpa, do you think the last Treasure will sell for over a thousand Spirit Stones?"

"I can’t even imagine how big a pile that would be. One, two... I bet all eighteen of these trays would be full."

For a girl used to counting out every single Spiritual Sand, such a sum was already hard to fathom.

The old man smiled and shook his head. "We’re only in the middle. Just you wait and see."

"Based on how things went back in my day, the final Treasure will probably sell for the high price of over two thousand Spirit Stones."

「7:45 PM.」

After six hours of continuous auctioning, it was finally time for the last item to be sold.

But the Loose Cultivators below the stage were all craning their necks, waiting with bated breath.

Everyone wanted to see what kind of treasures these last couple of items were.

"Fellow Daoists, the grand finale of this auction is the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo from the Central Domain!"

As the auctioneer pulled off the red cloth, a golden Sword Bamboo appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Xiao Chen’s gaze sharpened. That was the exact Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object he wanted!

He was actually missing both a Gold Spiritual Object and an Earth Spiritual Object.

As long as a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object appeared this time, there was a two-in-five chance it would be one he needed.

But upon actually seeing the result, he was still overjoyed. After all, this meant he was one step closer to Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment.

’Of course, I still have to win this Sword Bamboo first.’

The auctioneer on the stage did her best to introduce the Sword Bamboo, explaining its various benefits.

She especially emphasized that for Cultivators who intended to become Sword Cultivators, it was an incredibly rare Supreme Treasure.

After chattering on for a Quarter Hour, she finally announced, "The starting bid for this item is one thousand Spirit Stones, and each increment must be no less than fifty Spirit Stones."

Before her voice had even faded,

Xiao Chen shot his hand up and declared, "Two thousand Spirit Stones!"

The venue fell silent in an instant. Everyone’s gaze snapped toward Xiao Chen in unison.

Many people felt like they must have misheard.

Even the auctioneer hurriedly confirmed, "Fellow Daoist, did you just say two thousand Spirit Stones?"

Xiao Chen nodded in confirmation.

As if a giant boulder had been thrown into a lake, the crowd immediately erupted into a turbulent wave of noise.

The crowd burst into discussion, with many people trying to find out which family’s young master he was.

"Two thousand Spirit Stones, going once! Are there any other Fellow Daoists with a higher bid?"

"This Sword Bamboo came from a merchant caravan from the Central Domain the year before last. If you want to get another one now, who knows how many years you’ll have to wait."

"If you miss this chance, you may never get another one."

Hearing the auctioneer’s reminder from the stage, Tian Xunjian of the Tian Family looked at Tian Jianing, who was leading their family’s group. "Second Uncle, I’ve already decided to walk the path of a Sword Cultivator."

Tian Jianing nodded and raised his hand to bid, "I bid two thousand one hundred Spirit Stones."

The auctioneer immediately shouted, "The Fellow Daoist over here is willing to bid two thousand one hundred Spirit Stones!"

"Three thousand Spirit Stones!"

Without even thinking, Xiao Chen directly added another thousand Spirit Stones.

Such an outrageously aggressive bid made even Tian Jianing’s brow furrow.

Even for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator like him, three thousand Spirit Stones was no small sum.

He was in charge of Gourd Lake, held a nominal share in a Spirit Ore mine, and received a stipend from the Azure Flame Sect, but even so, he only earned about one thousand Spirit Stones in an entire year.

The other clansmen from the Ji, Du, Guo, and even the Xiong Family were also sizing up Xiao Chen.

Young Master Ji had actually wanted to try bidding as well, but seeing the situation, he decisively gave up the idea.

With so many Spirit Stones involved, raising the price on someone for something you didn’t particularly want was an easy way to make an enemy.

Tian Xunjian spoke with great urgency, "Second Uncle, I’ve been asking around for over a year. There’s no news of Sword Bamboo anywhere else."

Tian Jianing hesitated. Xiao Chen’s bidding was too crisp and decisive, and he couldn’t quite figure out the man’s background.

However, looking at the anxious Tian Xunjian, he still tentatively added the minimum increment: "Three thousand and fifty Spirit Stones."

"Four thousand Spirit Stones!"

Xiao Chen added another thousand Spirit Stones without so much as blinking, his determination to win obvious.

Not long ago, he had acquired over two thousand Spirit Stones from the Storage Bags of One-Eyed and Biaozi.

Adding the two-thousand-plus Spirit Stones from selling the Fire Crystals last time, plus some savings he’d accumulated from selling various Magical Artifacts and Elixirs,

he now had a grand total of five thousand five hundred and sixty-one Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag.

Besides, he had long been mentally prepared.

Achieving Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment and fusing a True Inner Core was a path to the heavens; he would not hesitate to spend every last Spirit Stone to achieve it.

Within Shattered Stone Valley, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

When had the Loose Cultivators ever seen such a spectacle? They subconsciously fell silent, their eyes darting back and forth, taking it all in.

Although it had nothing to do with them, they had all become subconsciously nervous.

Tian Xunjian felt his vision go dark. He looked at his second uncle, clinging to a final sliver of hope.

Tian Jianing gently shook his head. "Xunjian, it’s too expensive."

Tian Xunjian grabbed his arm. "Second Uncle, I can reach Foundation Establishment in two years at most! Just a little more! I can borrow it from the family. I’ll pay it back in the future!"

Tian Jianing lifted his hand off his arm. "Xunjian, you saw him. The other party acts like Spirit Stones are nothing."

"How high are we supposed to bid? Five Thousand Spirit Stones? Six thousand?"

In truth, from the perspective of developing a Sword Cultivator, if the final price was within Five Thousand Spirit Stones, it would not have been out of the question for the Tian Family.

But Xiao Chen’s insane bidding had thoroughly shaken Tian Jianing.

He felt that to actually win the Sword Bamboo in the end, they would probably have to pay a price of seven or eight thousand Spirit Stones.

That price was far too inflated; it was absolutely unacceptable.

And so, after hesitating, he ultimately gave up on the bidding.

The auctioneer on stage said a few token platitudes.

Once she realized the Tian Family had no intention of continuing to compete, she crisply called the price twice more and hammered down the final ownership of the Sword Bamboo.

Under the watchful gaze of the entire Shattered Stone Valley, Xiao Chen slowly walked onto the stage and, with a wave of his hand, showered it with four thousand Spirit Stones.

All eighteen trays were filled to the brim, yet they couldn’t even hold half the total amount.

The overflowing Spirit Stones that couldn’t fit on the trays scattered across the stage with a series of CLINKs and CLATTERs.

This scene was seared into the pupils of everyone present and carved deep into the heart of every Loose Cultivator.

At this moment, the young girl who had come with her grandfather to see the world finally understood why the old man had repeatedly mentioned the auction from fifty years ago before they came out today.

Because she had now personally experienced the same profound shock that had been left in her grandfather’s heart all those years ago.

And it was an even greater spectacle than he had described.