67: stillbirth

"The next item to be sold is a thousand-year-old spiritual plant, with a starting bid of one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. It has the effect of nourishing Meridians and assisting with Breakthroughs of a Bottleneck, especially suitable for Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage..."

"Two thousand Spirit Stones."

Before the auctioneer could finish the introduction, Zhou Yan calmly announced his bid.

After he made his bid, there was no follow-up in the venue for a moment; only whispers with lowered voices arose from all around.

"No way? He's making a move again?"

"Which Sect's Young Lord is this, anyway? I've never seen anyone buy things like this..."

"Spiritual plants, Ore—as long as it's Materials, he wants a piece of everything... Roughly calculating, he must have spent over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones tonight, right?"

"That is truly terrifying!"

Zhou Yan ignored the surrounding discussions and just lowered his gaze slightly, quietly waiting for the auctioneer to drop the gavel.

He felt a bit helpless inwardly. If he had known the level of this auction was so ordinary, he really should have requested a private box, which would have saved him from becoming the focus of the entire venue time and time again.

However, upon second thought, it wasn't his own Spirit Stones he was using anyway, and... these things might not really count as being "spent."

Since it was a freebie, it didn't matter if he showed his face more; just consider it the cost of being a shill for their auction.

Thinking of this, the corner of his mouth under the mask curled up silently.

As this thousand-year-old spiritual plant was once again pocketed by Zhou Yan, the auction gradually drew to a close.

The atmosphere in the venue had originally loosened up a bit, with many people whispering to each other, calculating their gains for the night.

But soon, everyone's attention was pulled back by the final lot.

The lights on the stage suddenly converged, and two guards solemnly carried a Black Ice Jade tray onto the high platform.

Resting quietly on the tray was an egg about the size of an infant's head.

The eggshell presented a grayish-white color completely devoid of Life Qi, its surface covered in fine yet long-dimmed scales, with several dark red veins winding across it, like dried and congealed bloodstains.

The aura it emitted was extremely weak, almost indistinguishable from a common stone; only those with exceptionally keen spiritual perception could faintly perceive that trace of ethereal, cold, and rigid spirituality deep within the eggshell.

The auctioneer's voice also changed, shedding the agitation from when he was promoting the Qingyuan Qi Nurturing Pill earlier, and gaining a bit more steadiness and objectivity.

"Fellow Daoists, this is the final lot of this auction, and also the most important one. I believe most guests present have already heard rumors about its origins."

"A hundred years ago, that Peak Fourth-Stage Wicked Dragon that ravaged the Northern Abyss border was slain by the State-Protecting Great General. Afterward, some people found two Dragon eggs in its nest."

"One was a live egg, and one... was a dead egg."

"According to investigations, the main purpose of that Wicked Dragon stirring up storms and slaughtering living beings back then was to attempt to forcibly revive this dead offspring using the secret technique of ten thousand spirits blood sacrifice."

"The whereabouts of that live egg remain unknown to this day, with no news whatsoever. As for this dead egg before us, it ended up in our Night Roaming Ruins due to an Opportunity."

"And to repay the long-term support of all our distinguished guests, we have specially presented this item today."

"This egg, nourished by the Wicked Dragon's secret technique, although it ultimately failed to Heaven-Defyingly change its fate and fully revive, unexpectedly retained an extremely weak trace of spirituality."

"After joint appraisal by the three Great Masters of this auction house, the spiritual marrow of this egg is exhausted, its Foundation completely destroyed, and its essence is no different from a dead object, leaving only this remnant anomaly derived from blood sacrifice."

"Therefore, it is finally classified as a pseudo-fourth-stage treasure, with a starting bid of one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones! Each bid increase must not be less than ten thousand!"

A wave of suppressed discussion broke out under the stage, but it was far less enthusiastic and restless than when competing for the Qingyuan Qi Nurturing Pill and other lots earlier.

Everyone knew that the potential value of this thing was extremely high; whether trying to refine the possibly remaining Dragon Bloodline within it, or using it as a primary material to forge Magic Treasures or Medicinal Pills, it could be considered top-tier.

But its risks were equally huge.

With such a high price, if it were ultimately discovered that it could not be utilized, or if its internal defects were greater than estimated, it would be a total loss. This was undoubtedly a high-stakes gamble.

A brief silence permeated the venue.

A moment later, the cold voice of that female Cultivator from the Qinglan Sect came from a private room on the second floor.

"One hundred and ten thousand."

Just before, it was she who, with overwhelming financial power, easily took down that set of Qingyuan Qi Nurturing Pills that had caused fierce competition.

"One hundred and twenty thousand."

Under the stage, the representative of Jiangzhou Medicinal Pill Workshop followed up with a bid; they had always held a keen interest in such special Materials containing powerful energy.

"One hundred and thirty thousand."

The voice of the Chen Family Head came from the other side, his tone still steady, revealing nothing of his true intentions.

The bidding increased slowly and cautiously, mainly concentrated between these three parties, with each increment being ten thousand Spirit Stones, appearing exceptionally careful.

The price gradually climbed to the three hundred thousand mark, the speed of bidding slowed down significantly, and a sense of weighing and hesitation permeated the air.

"Three hundred and ten thousand." The Qinglan Sect female Cultivator spoke again.

"Three hundred and twenty thousand." The Chen Family Head pondered for a moment before following up.

"Three hundred and thirty thousand..." The tone of the person from Jiangzhou Medicinal Pill Workshop revealed obvious hesitation.

Just as the price seemed to be heading toward a stalemate, that calm voice, which everyone had become somewhat familiar with, came from the corner of the hall again, easily breaking the rhythm.

"Five hundred thousand."

The voice was not loud, but it was like a huge boulder thrown into a calm lake, making the entire venue suddenly fall silent.

Numerous gazes instantly refocused on that masked, plainly dressed young figure.

Increasing the bid by one hundred and seventy thousand at once; this was exactly the same as his style when competing for those spiritual plants and Ores earlier, disregarding costs and crushing the entire venue.

The Qinglan Sect female Cultivator frowned as she looked over, the Chen Family Head's expression also tightened, and several other guests hiding their identities in private rooms were also somewhat displeased at this moment.

The auctioneer was invigorated and immediately raised his voice.

"This Fellow Daoist bids five hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones! Are there any other Fellow Daoists willing to increase the bid?"

A buzzing whisper suddenly arose under the stage.

"It's him again..."

"The spiritual plants just now cost over a hundred thousand, plus this Dragon egg... he has tossed out hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones by himself tonight!"

"Who on earth is this? Such financial power..."

The Chen Family Head's expression shifted uncertainly, with struggle and unwillingness clearly visible. He finally gritted his teeth hard, and almost squeezed out the sound.

"Five hundred and ten thousand!"

Almost the moment his voice fell, the voice in the corner calmly followed up without any pause.

"Five hundred and twenty thousand."

Understated, calling only the minimum increase.

If it were an ordinary person, they might think the other party was already lacking strength, and perhaps they could try a bit harder.

But Zhou Yan had already used this tactic more than once.

In the previous rounds, whenever someone tried to compete with Zhou Yan for spiritual plants or minerals, he would adopt a strategy that was almost insulting.

No matter how much the other party bid, he would only follow with the minimum increment.

This understated yet unyielding posture easily crushed the opponent's will.

At this moment, he was bidding like this again, and his stance was already clear: he was full of confidence and completely regarded this bidding war as a game.

The Chen Family Head's expression instantly became extremely ugly; he closed his eyes, leaned back heavily into his chair, and did not make any more sound.

The Qinglan Sect female Cultivator took a deep look at that corner, shook her head imperceptibly, and chose to give up.

The other families had long since ceased their efforts.

The auctioneer scanned the venue, waited for a moment, and seeing no one else respond, finally raised the wooden gavel high and brought it down heavily!

"Sold! Congratulations to this Fellow Daoist for winning this Dragon legacy egg!"

As the sound of the gavel settled, Zhou Yan let out a soft breath under his mask.

To him, spending this "huge sum," which undoubtedly seemed like an astronomical figure to others, was not much different from buying those "cheap" spiritual plants earlier.

Anyway, he didn't have to pay out of his own pocket, so why not?

He felt the various gazes of envy, jealousy, curiosity, and apprehension cast from around him, as well as the dense red dots on the mini-map, and felt only helplessness inwardly.

He regretted once again for overestimating the level of this auction and not choosing a private box.

However, Zhou Yan couldn't be bothered to deal with these little red dots; now that the auction was over, he had more important things to do.

He had to plan carefully on how to make a clean getaway after successfully "finishing that matter."

Thinking of this, the face under the mask couldn't help but want to smile.