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墨書 Inktalez
As soon as this object appeared, it drew everyone's attention. It was too ordinary, too commonplace. Even if it were thrown onto the street, no one would associate it with a Celestial Artifact.
At this moment, those so-called Ancient Ancestors could no longer hold back. They emerged from their private booths and approached the auction stage, scrutinizing the dark, ruler-shaped object before them.
The three Ancient Ancestors of the Long Family didn’t even raise an eyebrow at their arrival. As long as they were within this estate, they had no fear of being robbed; in fact, suppressing any attempts against them would be as easy as flipping a hand.
Streams of Spiritual Awareness flowed over the ruler-shaped object. No matter how hard they tried, they could not penetrate its surface or observe what lay inside. It was as if it were a lifeless object.
One Ancient Ancestor raised his head and asked, “What is going on?”
Dragon Plays in Water anticipated this question and nodded.
“Yes, that is correct. This Celestial Artifact cannot be penetrated by any Spiritual Awareness. When we first acquired it, we were puzzled for quite some time. It wasn’t until much later that we discovered this Celestial Artifact requires blood essence to activate, and it must be the blood essence of a Cultivator at the Void Realm or above.”
Dragon Plays in Water did not hide anything and directly revealed the drawbacks. Since they had decided to give up on it, there was no need to deceive anyone. For the sake of the Long Family's reputation, being straightforward would actually enhance public recognition of the Long Family. However, he withheld one piece of information: the amount of blood essence required was enough to drain a newly entered Void Realm Cultivator completely.
Of course, none of the Ancient Ancestors present would be foolish enough to use their blood essence to activate it on the spot.
“Elder Long, are you certain?”
“Yes, I swear by the Dragon Clan that every word is true.” At this point, Dragon Plays in Water straightened his back, shedding his previous frailty like a sharpened sword.
“Very well. It is not our intention to offend; it is simply a matter of great importance that requires us to be cautious.”
"Understand, if we encountered such a situation, we would also seek verification. Additionally, our Dragon Family can guarantee that if this item is not a Celestial Artifact, not only will we refund all auction funds, but we will also provide compensation." Dragon Plays in Water's words completely dispelled everyone's doubts.
Once the Ancient Ancestors returned to the private room, the auction officially began.
During this time, although the Ancient Ancestors did not discern anything, Zuo Dao saw it clearly. There was no doubt that it was a genuine Celestial Artifact; however, this particular Celestial Artifact was severely damaged. Without some special opportunity, it could very well fade into nothingness in a few hundred thousand years.
Yet once it was in his hands, there were countless ways to restore it; it just required a considerable investment. However, this was not a concern for Zuo Dao. He was determined to acquire this item, even if he had to give it to several sisters.
However, when Dragon Plays in Water announced the starting bid, everyone present fell silent. It wasn't because the price was too high; rather, it was too low.
One spirit stone, with no starting price.
When this price was revealed, everyone began to contemplate. A Celestial Artifact has spirit; thus, the price shouldn't be low. Even if you managed to win the bid for the Celestial Artifact at that price, you likely wouldn't be able to enjoy its benefits. This reasoning was understood by some, but there remained the issue of recognizing a master for the Celestial Artifact. If someone won the bid and no one from their faction was chosen by the celestial spirit, that would pose a problem.
Zuo Dao naturally did not have this issue. Since no one else made a bid, he reluctantly decided to speak up.
"One hundred."
His bid drew countless murmurs of discontent. Everyone was troubled about who would make the first offer, and while Zuo Dao's move seemed somewhat shameless, it nonetheless sparked a wave of bidding.
"One million."
"Two million."
"Five million."
The bidding soared rapidly, soon surpassing the ten million mark. Once it crossed that threshold, another barrier emerged, and some factions withdrew from the competition. What remained was a contest solely among the people of the Jia family.
Zuo Dao fell silent after making an initial bid, which disappointed many who had come to witness the excitement. They had expected a fierce showdown but were disheartened by how quickly it fizzled out, leading them to secretly scorn Zuo Dao.
At that moment, Zuo Dao was happily chatting with Three Women, completely oblivious to the ongoing bids. After all, once the final hammer fell, any previous calls would just be a waste of breath.
Their conversation revolved around trivial matters, merely passing the time. However, upon learning that Zuo Dao intended to purchase the Celestial Artifact as a gift for them, Three Women began to compete with one another. It wasn't so much about the Celestial Artifact itself but rather the significance it held. This would be Zuo Dao's first time giving away such a valuable item, and whoever received it first would symbolize their status in his eyes.
Even Zuo Dao was taken aback by the strong reaction from Three Women to his casual remark. In the end, he had no choice but to intervene personally to "suppress" their rivalry before it escalated.
Meanwhile, Zuo Dao released his Divine Sense, firmly attaching it to the Celestial Artifact. The artifact was gravely injured, and its Spirit Tool had fallen into a deep slumber, only subconsciously absorbing external energy.
However, as soon as Zuo Dao's Divine Sense made contact with it, there was a violent reaction. If not for the strength of his Divine Sense suppressing the Spirit Tool's turmoil, who knows what chaos might have ensued?
He had to both suppress and continuously soothe it. For some unknown reason, as soon as the Spirit Tool came into contact with his Divine Sense, it became extremely agitated and fearful. Normally, Zuo Dao's Divine Sense would evoke a sense of familiarity in the Celestial Artifact. Yet now, it was quite the opposite, leaving him puzzled.
After several futile attempts at communication, Zuo Dao withdrew his Divine Sense. The moment he did so, the seemingly lifeless Celestial Artifact returned to its previous state of slumber as if it had never stirred.
This only strengthened Zuo Dao's resolve to acquire this item; it was too strange that a Celestial Artifact could exhibit fear towards his Divine Sense. If there wasn't something significant at play here, he would never believe it.
In this world where immortals did not emerge, Zuo Dao couldn't think of any means other than his Divine Sense that could facilitate better communication with the spirit of a Celestial Artifact. Could this be a Bloodline Celestial Artifact? He quickly dismissed that thought since he felt no trace of Bloodline remnants within the artifact itself. However, there were many chaotic Bloodlines present—those definitely weren't left by its original owner.
"Yisan House, one hundred million." With this new discovery in mind, Zuo Dao decided not to wait any longer and placed his bid directly.
What does one hundred million mean?
Take the Dragon Clan as an example. An outer disciple can only receive one spirit stone a month, while a Direct Lineage disciple gets ten spirit stones. When it comes to the Steward level, it rises to fifty, and only at the Elder level does it reach one hundred spirit stones.
One hundred million spirit stones could support an Elder for one million months, which is over eighty thousand years. Among the Cultivators that Zuo Dao has encountered, the longest-lived has barely reached three thousand years. What does this imply?
A spirit artifact typically costs around three hundred thousand spirit stones, while a decent magical treasure is about one million. A holy demonic artifact would be around ten million.
The offer of one hundred million spirit stones stunned everyone present. Although the Long Family could produce such a sum, their vast estate also meant significant consumption. If they were to part with one hundred million spirit stones, the operation of the Long Family's assets would undoubtedly come to a halt.
Upon hearing Zuo Dao's bid, Dragon Plays in Water's eyes flashed with cold light. Although Zuo Dao had left a somewhat good impression on him earlier, he could not allow any fraudulent bidding to occur.
"Yisan House, one hundred million spirit stones. I first express my gratitude, but I must also say that this matter is serious. My clan needs to verify your qualifications as a guest. If there is any disrespect, I hope you can bear with it. However, if not, my Long Family is not so easily deceived."
Though Dragon Plays in Water's words were polite, everyone understood the underlying meaning.
"No problem; you may send someone to verify," Zuo Dao replied calmly. After all, the amount was too large for them not to be cautious; this was understandable.
"Thank you, friend." Although unaware of Zuo Dao's identity, Dragon Plays in Water still addressed him as an equal due to his willingness to spend such a large sum. If Zuo Dao truly had some remarkable background, the Long Family would definitely struggle against it. At least on Ice Shimmer Star, Dragon Plays in Water couldn't think of any force that possessed such formidable power.
Moments later, Zuo Dao heard a knock at the door and realized that the other party had sent someone to verify the funds. He gestured for Feng Miaomiao to open the door. Reluctantly, Feng Miaomiao stepped forward and welcomed them in.
For Zuo Dao's grand gesture, the Long Family also showed considerable respect; surprisingly, the visitor was one of the Elders—not one of the three on stage.
"I am Dragon Swallowing Water from the Long Family. May I ask for your name?"
Upon entering, Dragon Swallowing Water was startled. The higher one's realm, the more sensitive one becomes to danger. At first, he felt nothing at the door, but once inside the room, he sensed three powerful presences that radiated danger, with only one young male cultivator leaving him perplexed.
What realm was Dragon Swallowing Water in? The Void Realm, and he was a half-step into it as a cultivator. The three female cultivators before him were able to evoke such a sense of danger; what realm were they in? Could they be the legendary Robber Monks?
Thinking of this made Dragon Swallowing Water break out in a cold sweat. His clan had its own Void Realm cultivators, but none of them could instill such a feeling in him!
"Please don’t mind me, fellow Daoist; this is a necessary inspection." He lowered his posture significantly as he spoke.
"It’s fine. Take a look; is there enough here for one hundred million spirit stones?" As he spoke, Zuo Dao casually tossed him a ring as if discarding trash, not even glancing at it.
Dragon Swallowing Water quickly caught the storage ring thrown his way. As soon as his spiritual awareness probed inside, he nearly lost his grip.
What an enormous space! He was immediately drawn in by the mountain-like piles of spirit stones. They were neatly arranged within the space, with each pile containing at least tens of thousands. The interior was densely packed with these mountainous heaps of spirit stones.
Dragon Swallowing Water estimated that the spirit stones here could buy an entire Ice Shimmer Star. Especially since several piles emitted an aura completely different from the surrounding stones; just the purity of their spirit energy was dozens of times better. Could they be the legendary High-Quality Spirit Stones?
Seeing this, Dragon Swallowing Water finally lost his composure, his old face turning crimson. At that moment, his only thought was to take the ring and flee. However, just as that thought crossed his mind, three spiritual awarenesses locked onto him.
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