98: Two top-grade magic treasures cost a fortune.

A moment later, Su Ling, holding a jade tablet engraved with 'Ding-3400', walked slowly into the Myriad Treasures Pavilion auction house.

The auction house used the Heavenly Stems to mark areas, with each character representing ten thousand people.

This meant that at this moment, there were roughly over forty thousand people gathered in the venue for the auction.

His seat was located on the third floor. The hall below was packed with Cultivators; a rough glance revealed over twenty thousand people, most of whom were in the Core Formation Stage.

Only four Nascent Soul Cultivators with unfathomable auras, dressed in the attire of Guest Elders of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, sat on the fourth floor, scanning the entire venue with torch-like gazes to maintain order.

Only then did Su Ling fully understand why this auction could last for seven days.

There were simply too many people participating in the bidding.

Moreover, people were continuously taking their seats, staring intently at the center of the venue.

This National War, which had swept across the entire Canglang Sea, had attracted too many gazes.

And the items displayed on the stage were all prepared specifically for the needs of Core Formation Cultivators:

From the 'Earth-Splitting Axe', a Medium Grade Magic Treasure that could amplify Earth-element Cultivation Techniques, to the 'Golden Light Protective Talisman' that could withstand attacks from the Late-stage Core Formation, to the 'Clear Spirit Pill' that could quickly restore spiritual power, every item caused the Cultivators below to compete in raising their placards.

Especially those Medicinal Pills and Spirit Medicines marked with 'increases the chance of Nascent Soul Condensation', such as a 'Nascent Soul Lotus Fruit' with purple veins, which triggered a frantic scramble among Peak Core Formation Cultivators the moment it appeared, with bidding shouts rising one after another.

In the end, it was sold for the price of two million Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

It was almost approaching the value of the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Ice Marrow, which was of great use even to those in the Nascent Soul Stage.

Su Ling watched the items on stage while listening to the whispers of nearby Cultivators, gaining a clearer understanding of the rules for this National War.

The location for the seven-nation melee was indeed on a small Plane outside the territory, a place where Spiritual Qi was thin but the land was vast, enough for a million Cultivators to engage in slaughter.

The National War would last for fifty years, during which Cultivators could withdraw at any time, but once they withdrew, they could not enter again.

In the end, rewards would be given based on the point rankings of the Cultivators from each nation, and the rewards were extremely generous.

Not only was there a chance to be admitted into the Seven Great Sects and learn top-tier Cultivation Techniques, but one could also obtain high-grade magic treasures, as well as supreme treasures like the 'Nascent Soul Condensation Pill' that could significantly increase the chance of Nascent Soul Condensation.

It was even possible to obtain a Spiritual Artifact!

Of course, only the top ten top-tier experts in the point rankings could obtain a Spiritual Artifact.

Precisely because of this, so many Late-stage Core Formation and Peak Core Formation Cultivators were frantically scrambling for items that could boost their strength and increase their chances of Nascent Soul Condensation.

They had clearly already made up their minds to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage during the National War, relying on stronger power to sweep up points and fight for a smooth path toward the Dao of Immortality.

Su Ling's fingers tapped the table unconsciously as he began to weigh in his heart: Should he sign up to participate in the National War?

With his strength, ordinary Peak Core Formation Cultivators were no match for him.

The Azure Heaven Thunder Method with its overbearing attacks and rapid movement, the Ghost Soul Arrow that could kill in one hit, plus the newly acquired soaring wing boat—both his mobility and lethality far exceeded those of Cultivators at the same rank.

However, those Disciples from the major Sects could not be underestimated; they often mastered top-tier Cultivation Techniques and sets of Magic Treasures, and might even understand the art of Formation, so any carelessness could lead to danger.

More importantly, with over a million Core Formation Cultivators gathered on a small Plane planet, the dangers within went far beyond just opponents.

Just the misjudgments between Cultivators and the melee caused by fighting for resources were enough to cause many Cultivators to perish.

Su Ling could even imagine such a scene: dozens of Core Formation Cultivators fighting fiercely over a single Spirit Medicine, only for another passing group of Cultivators to reap the benefits as the fisherman.

Or one side forming a large Formation of hundreds or even thousands of people, crushing their opponents like a tide, causing even Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators to avoid their edge upon seeing them.

He knew deeply that with the foundations of the major Sects, they must possess such super Formations.

Otherwise, this melee would not deserve the name 'National War'; at most, it would be a street brawl of a bunch of cultivation bums, just on a larger scale.

The bidding shouts remained intense, but Su Ling fell into deep thought.

Participating in the National War meant having the Opportunity to obtain chances unimaginable to ordinary people, but it was also accompanied by life-and-death risks.

But if he missed this Opportunity, he would have to wait at least another fifty years to enter the Seven Great Sects to Cultivate.

And what was the difference in danger between the National War between the two Imperial Dynasties and the seven-nation melee?

Having experienced the Liao Qinglin affair, Su Ling had already developed the idea of finding a Sect to rely on.

...

The seven-day Myriad Treasures Pavilion auction finally came to an end. When Su Ling walked out of the auction house, the morning mist on Lingwu Island was shimmering with a pale golden light.

That was the trace of morning light piercing through the Spiritual Qi mist, but it could not shine into his complex state of mind, which was intertwined with heartache and anticipation.

The harvest from this auction far exceeded expectations, but it also almost emptied his savings.

The Mountain-Suppressing Seal, Star-Sheltering Mirror, and Zhenhuang Sword seized from Liao Qinglin, plus the cloud sparrow boat, along with a pile of miscellaneous Magical Artifacts and Talismans, sold for a high price of over 3.6 million Low-Grade Spirit Stones in total.

Adding the over 3 million Low-Grade Spirit Stones left in Liao Qinglin's Storage Pouch, nearly 7 million Spirit Stones of wealth were ultimately exchanged for only two high-grade magic treasures and a dozen bottles of Medicinal Pills suitable for Core Formation Cultivators.

Su Ling stroked the storage bracelet, clearly sensing the spiritual power fluctuations emitted by the two high-grade magic treasures.

They were the thunder fang shadow splitting sword and the gilded coiling dragon bell, Magic Treasures he had won at a sky-high price after fighting several rounds with several Peak Core Formation Cultivators at the auction.

'thunder fang shadow splitting sword, High Grade Flying Sword Magic Treasure, forged from the bones of a thousand-year-old Thunder Howling Beast, and rare spiritual metals like Thunder-Echo Crystal and Purple Gold Sand. When slashing, it can trigger localized thunderstorms, and when flying, it can split into three sword shadows to launch attacks simultaneously, suppressing Wood-element and cold-type Cultivation Techniques.'

'gilded coiling dragon bell, High Grade defensive Magic Treasure, made primarily from deep-sea gilded gold, supplemented with the essence blood of a deep-sea dragon. The bell body is carved with nine dragons. When activated, it can form a coiling dragon shield for protection. When enduring Spell attacks, the golden dragon phantom on the bell body will actively devour part of the attack energy and convert it into its own spiritual power to replenish the coiling dragon shield.'

A hint of bitterness could not help but rise in Su Ling's heart.

Except for the thousands of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones he had kept for future cultivation or emergencies that he could not bear to use, his Low-Grade Spirit Stones were almost exhausted.

This massive hemorrhage was all because on the third day of the auction, he had finally made up his mind to participate in this seven-nation National War.

There was still one month left until the registration deadline for the National War, and Su Ling did not dare to delay.

He first took a detour to the Lingwu City Lord's Mansion and registered under the name 'Han Yu'.

Afterwards, he wasted no time in renting an Immortal Cave with abundant Spiritual Qi in the suburbs of the city to begin nourishing the two newly acquired supreme grade Magic Treasures.

When he sat cross-legged on the stone bed in the Immortal Cave and injected spiritual power into his Dantian Qi Sea, he could clearly see four Magic Treasures and one Spirit Treasure floating within:

The scarlet gold bow radiated sharp golden light, the thunder fang shadow splitting sword was entwined with fine arcs of lightning, the gilded coiling dragon bell circulated with a warm purple-gold luster, and the soaring wing boat unfolded a cyan-wing-shaped phantom, added to that pair of cyan-purple azure roc wings, which were a Medium Grade Spirit Treasure.

With offense, defense, and flight all covered, this was already the top-tier configuration that a Core Formation Cultivator could possess.

Su Ling took a deep breath, and wisps of pure magic power escaped from the nine-patterned purple gold core, slowly injecting into the thunder shadow sword and the coiling dragon bell.

For the next month, what he had to do was to completely refine these two high-grade magic treasures and make them a part of his own body.

Only in this way could he have a bit more confidence to survive in that extraterrestrial battlefield where a million Cultivators were slaughtering each other.