22: Chapter 22 The Xu Family Finds Trouble

"One hundred and ten Spirit Stones." A Loose Cultivator shouted in the main hall. After he spoke, many Cultivators joined the bidding queue one after another.

"One hundred and twenty."

"One hundred and thirty."

...

"Two hundred."

"Two hundred and fifty." A young man shouted from Room No. 3 of the Yi-grade. He looked down at the Loose Cultivators below with a look of utter disdain.

Seeing the auction price directly widened by fifty Spirit Stones, many Loose Cultivators had no choice but to stop there. Some of them glared angrily at the young man. They were already filled with dissatisfaction towards these Family descendants, and now that they were looked down upon, it was like adding fuel to the fire. However, they didn't start any trouble; after all, the deterrent power of the four major Foundation Establishment Families was still there.

"Three hundred." Another Cultivator in the Yi-grade room called out the price. Starting from here, the main force of the auction became a contention among the major forces of Qinghe County.

In the end, this set of Azure Nether Sabers was successfully bid away by the young Cultivator in Room No. 2 of the Jia-grade for a price of four hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

Then came the second piece, the third piece, ... all the way to the seventeenth piece.

During this period, Chen Yuanjin spent two hundred and seventy Spirit Stones to auction off a Tier 1 High Grade Magical Artifact. Originally, it shouldn't have cost so much, but the Xu Family got involved and maliciously drove up the price.

If Chen Yuanjin hadn't desperately needed a defensive Magical Artifact, she would have given up the bid long ago. Although her combat ability was formidable, her defensive means were too singular, having nothing else besides Talismans. Therefore, she was determined to get this Magical Artifact, and the Xu Family dared to bid precisely because they saw this point.

After obtaining it, Chen Yuanjin couldn't put this Magical Artifact down. Originally, she had some anger towards the Xu Family's behavior, but her anger had already dissipated now.

This Magical Artifact was named the Glazed Pendant. It was crafted from Tier 1 High Grade Glazed Stone Ore. Once activated, it could form a defensive barrier around the body, capable of blocking a full-strength strike from a Qi Condensation 7th Layer Cultivator.

As for Chen Changqing, he hadn't bid on any treasures so far, mainly because no treasures he needed had appeared yet.

"The next auction item is three bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills. Qi-Nourishing Pills have miraculous effects such as consolidating the foundation, nourishing Qi, and improving magical power. If a Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivator takes a bottle, it can reduce a year of hard cultivation. The starting price is one hundred Spirit Stones, and each increment must not be less than ten Spirit Stones." The short, plump Cultivator smiled, swept his gaze across everyone present, and said slowly.

As soon as these words were spoken, even some Loose Cultivators who usually couldn't bear to use Spirit Stones all joined the bidding queue. In just a short while, the price underwent an Ascension to two hundred Spirit Stones. This price could already buy a Great Nourishing Spirit Pill. Many Cultivators flinched at the sight of it, and even the Family Cultivators in the Yi-grade rooms rarely participated in the bidding.

Chen Changqing also perked up. Looking at those three bottles of Medicinal Pills, his eyes carried a hint of fervor. After waiting until few people were participating in the bidding, he seized the opportunity and also started calling out prices.

"Three hundred!" Chen Changqing shouted. Many Cultivators swished and looked over all at once.

"Whose prodigal son is this, raising the price by one hundred in one go?" Someone among the Loose Cultivators said angrily.

Even Chen Yuanjin was somewhat surprised.

"Changqing, this price has already exceeded the original value of that bottle of Medicinal Pills," Chen Yuanjin reminded him.

"Sixth Aunt, I know." Chen Changqing said nonchalantly. Anyway, he had plenty of Spirit Stones, and he didn't care about spending another hundred or so Spirit Stones.

"Is anyone else going to raise the price?" The short, plump Cultivator's gaze looked towards the Yi-grade rooms and even the Jia-grade rooms, expecting them to shout out a higher price.

After a while, when no one else was bidding, the short, plump Cultivator looked somewhat disappointed. "Three hundred Spirit Stones going once! Three hundred Spirit Stones going twice! Three hundred Spirit Stones going thrice! Sold, this bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills is won by the guest in Room No. 34 of the Yi-grade."

Then a maid walked out from the side. The short, plump Cultivator handed this bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills to her and instructed her to take it to Chen Changqing.

After a short while, Chen Changqing received the Qi-Nourishing Pills.

Immediately after, the short, plump Cultivator continued to auction the remaining Qi-Nourishing Pills. In the end, the remaining two bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills were sold at prices of two hundred and twenty and two hundred and forty respectively. One bottle was won by Room No. 2 of the Yi-grade, and the other bottle was won by a Loose Cultivator.

After receiving the Qi-Nourishing Pills, that Loose Cultivator quietly left the auction while everyone was immersed in the next treasure auction. Quite a few Loose Cultivators had been staring closely at him. Seeing him leave, they trailed behind him together. It looked like these Loose Cultivators intended to take the path of robbery and cultivation.

However, no one took this episode to heart. After all, such things happened frequently in the Immortal cultivation world, and perhaps they would encounter this situation themselves later if they won a treasure.

The auction continued in an orderly manner. Until the thirty-sixth treasure was auctioned off, this auction took an on-site intermission.

...

An hour later, the second half of the auction began. The thirty-seventh treasure up for auction was a Cultivation Technique named "Breath-Hiding Technique".

"Although this Breath-Hiding Technique is incomplete, as long as you Cultivate it to Major Achievement, in the breath-hiding state, even if you only have the Early Stage Qi Refining cultivation base, the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Perfection absolutely will not be able to detect a single trace of your aura."

The second half was hosted by a voluptuous beauty in a red dress. She faced the crowd, casting lingering glances. Combined with her natural alluring temperament, it left many Cultivators so infatuated that their Divine Souls were turned upside down.

"Red Lady, according to what you said, when the cultivation base reaches the Late Stage of Qi Refining, can a Foundation Establishment Cultivator detect it after hiding breath?" Someone asked.

"According to personal verification by a Foundation Establishment Senior from our auction house, theoretically, yes," Red Lady explained.

"Theoretically?"

"Mhm, if you are born with a powerful Divine Soul, then you can achieve a state where even Foundation Establishment Cultivators cannot detect your aura."

"Then what use is this? Aren't you just playing with us?" This Cultivator suddenly stood up and shouted, stamping his feet.

"That's why we set the starting price of this Cultivation Technique at fifty Spirit Stones." Red Lady was also somewhat helpless. Originally, this Cultivation Technique shouldn't have appeared in the second-half auction.

"Changqing, this Cultivation Technique might suit you very well," Chen Yuanjin reminded him inside Room No. 34 of the Yi-grade.

"Mhm, it's just that there is no subsequent method to Cultivate to the Foundation Establishment level. Otherwise, even if this Cultivation Technique couldn't become the grand finale item today, the auction price would definitely rank in the top five. What a pity," Chen Changqing said.

Even so, he was indeed the most suitable person in the venue for this Cultivation Technique. Because his Divine Soul was constantly progressing under the nourishment of the dao bead, and he desperately needed this kind of Cultivation Technique to hide his aura, otherwise his Cultivation speed being too fast would provoke wariness from many people.

This Cultivation Technique was too tasteless, causing the current auction price to only reach around a hundred Spirit Stones. At this moment, Chen Changqing started calling out a price.

"One hundred and fifty Spirit Stones." As soon as Chen Changqing bid, he distanced himself from everyone else.

"One hundred and sixty." Someone shouted inside Room No. 10; those were people from the Xu Family.

"Two hundred." Chen Changqing felt the voice inside Room No. 10 was somewhat familiar. Glancing over, the person who made the bid also walked from the chair inside the room to the window. It turned out to be Xu Ruyi, the scorpion-like woman who had once threatened the Chen Family together with Wu Linchen from the Wu Family.

Chen Yuanjin's anger had already dissipated, but now she was provoked again. She stood up and coldly looked at Xu Ruyi. She didn't say anything, but the murderous intent carried in those eyes could be seen by anyone else.

"Two hundred and ten." Xu Ruyi looked at Chen Changqing with a smile on her face.

"Two hundred and fifty. If Fellow Daoist Xu still wants to continue bidding, then this Chen has no choice but to cede this Cultivation Technique to you." Chen Changqing's eyes flickered as he stated it directly.

"Hehe! Since Fellow Daoist Chen is determined to get it, this concubine will not seize what someone else loves." Xu Ruyi knew when to stop while ahead and no longer participated in the bidding. Anyway, the effect they wanted had already been achieved; otherwise, if Chen Changqing didn't continue bidding later, they would just be lifting a rock to drop it on their own feet.