Chapter 613: Unexpected First Item

"Have I not been busy enough these past few days?" Daoist Master Jingyang harrumphed in an indignant manner. "Right now, all I want to do is participate in the auction in peace and acquire whatever catches my eye."

"If your Hundred Creations Mountain is overseeing this auction, then why are you taking such a roundabout route by attending the auction? Why not just purchase whatever you want before the auction begins?" Han Li asked.

"Not all of the auction items come from our Hundred Creations Mountain, Fellow Daoist Li. Some were sent here from elsewhere by the Black Mountain Immortal Palace, while others came from certain major sects in the immortal region. There are many significant parties involved in this auction, so I can't just do whatever I please," Daoist Master Jingyang explained with a shake of his head.

"In that case, it sounds like I won't be able to save any Immortal Origin Stones through my connection to you," Han Li said with an amused smile.

"There's a set of rules that dictate how the auction is run, and the event is also overseen by people from the Immortal Palace, so no one has an unfair advantage over anyone else. The only thing that any of us can do is prepare as many Immortal Origin Stones as possible. Just like fine wines, fine treasures are priceless, and if you spot one, you have to make sure to claim it so you don't come to regret it in the future," Daoist Master Jingyang replied.

As the two of them were chatting with each other, some of the auction-goers had already begun filing into the venue, and they were making their way into the guest suites on the third floor.

Around two hours later, all of the hundreds of guest suites in the entire Jade Kun Pagoda had been occupied, and after a brief examination, Han Li discovered that all of their occupants were at or above the early-Golden Immortal Stage, including some unfathomable figures whose cultivation bases were undetectable to him.

Given how precious those Golden Jade Silk Squares were, they were all but unobtainable for the average cultivator, so it made sense that everyone attending the auction possessed such lofty cultivation bases.

Having said that, there were hundreds of other auctions that those other cultivators could attend, so their visit to the inner city certainly wouldn't be in vain.

Right at this moment, the thin elderly man from the Hundred Creations Mountain and a white-robed male representative of the Black Mountain Immortal Palace stepped onto the round stone platform together.

"That man's name is Fu Yuhai, and he's the head of the Black Mountain Immortal Palace's northern branch. He's also a late-Golden Immortal cultivator, but he doesn't have much actual jurisdictive power here. The one that's truly calling the shots is still that immortal envoy from the Heavenly Court that's stationed in the city, but he rarely ever makes an appearance," Daoist Master Jingyang explained.

"Do you know the cultivation base of that immortal envoy?" Han Li asked in a seemingly nonchalant, conversational manner.

"I do not. He's very mysterious, and even I've never had the chance to meet him," Daoist Master Jingyang replied with a shake of his head.

During the brief course of their conversation, Daiost Master Jingyang had already downed an entire flagon of wine on his own, and the puppet immediately brought out another flagon.

At this point, Fu Yuhai had already completed his introduction of the event, and the thin man from the Hundred Creations Mountain stepped forward to take his place as he declared, "Make sure to stay within your means during the auction and don't bite off more than you can chew. Once a bid is made, it cannot be revoked, so if anyone is found to be unable to afford a bid that they've made, then there will be consequences."

Fu Yuhai swept his gaze over the surrounding area, then took over from the thin man again as he declared, "Let the auction begin!"

With that, both of them stepped down from the stage, and they were replaced by a foreign male being dressed in colorful attire.

The man had a very strange appearance with an extremely wide face and a huge mouth, but a long and slender neck that made it resemble a colorful bird with the head of a toad.

This foreign being was the auctioneer that was going to be hosting the auction.

"Welcome to the Jade Kun Pagoda, esteemed guests. Today, I have the honor and privilege of serving as your auctioneer..."

Despite his rather unsightly appearance, the auctioneer had a very clear and engaging voice that was extremely pleasing to the ears.

"Without further ado, allow me to present our first item, the Phoenix Call Guqin."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a beautiful female cultivator stepped onto the stage while holding a red guqin with a professional smile on her face.

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to the guqin.

Han Li swept his gaze over the instrument to find that it had been crafted out of a type of precious wood known as Chicken Blood Wood, and the head of the guqin had been carved into the shape of a phoenix's head, while its tail resembled a spruce of phoenix tail feathers.

The entire guqin was as translucent as jade, and there were crimson cloud-like patches within the material, presenting a gorgeous sight to behold.

Under instructions from the auctioneer, the female cultivator began to gently play the instrument, and even those who weren't well-versed with guqins could tell from the music that this one produced that it was of an exceptional quality.

However, arguably the most remarkable thing about the guqin was that it was just a normal instrument that was completely devoid of spiritual power fluctuations.

It was very puzzling to Han Li that the first item being sold in this prestigious auction was an ordinary, albeit high-quality, guqin.

"I'm sure all of you have heard of Pei Qingling, the Thousand Finger Goddess. Prior to embarking on her cultivation journey, this guqin was the instrument that she cherished the most. Only after she began cultivating did it gradually fall into disuse before ending up here today. The starting price is fifty Immortal Origin Stones, and each bid must go up by an increment of at least five Immortal Origin Stones."

As soon as the introduction was complete, a bid of fifty Immortal Origin Stones was instantly made by someone in a guest suite on the third floor.

The price was then immediately raised to sixty Immortal Origin Stones.

"Seventy!"

"Seventy-five!"

"Who is this Pei Qingling, Fellow Daoist Jingyang? Why is it just a normal instrument used by her is going for such a high price?" Han Li asked.

While it was true that the instrument displayed exceptional quality and craftsmanship, it was still just an ordinary instrument, and it wasn't even worth several dozen spirit stones, let alone Immortal Origin Stones.

For this sum of money, even certain Golden Immortal Stage pills or precious spirit materials and immortal treasures could be purchased.

"You've never heard of Pei Qingling?" Daoist Master Jingyang asked with a surprised expression. "She came from a family of musicians in the Golden Origin Immortal Region, and she possessed outstanding cultivation aptitude from birth, but chose to pursue music over cultivation during her formative years.

“On her sixteenth birthday, she performed the Soaring Phoenix Ballad, then suddenly declared that she was going to begin cultivating. From there, she made extraordinary progress, mastering the laws of sound and ultimately reaching the Great Encompassment Stage."

"I see..." Han Li replied with a contemplative expression.

"You may think this item isn't worth the price, but if someone ever gets the opportunity to present something like this to its original owner, then that would be a gift that's unmatched in terms of sentimental value. If Pei Qingling becomes the Sound Dao Ancestor, then this guqin's value will increase by an immeasurable degree," Daoist Master Jingyang continued.

Han Li nodded in agreement with this notion.

"I've heard that Pei Qingling is also a woman of extraordinary beauty, and that explains why there are so many male cultivators fighting over this instrument. It's clear that they're hoping that this guqin will somehow give them an outside chance of starting a blossoming romance with her, but of course, that's nothing but a naive dream," Daoist Master Jingyang chuckled.

In the end, the guqin was sold to a scholarly middle-aged man for 120 Immortal Origin Stones.

"Congratulations on securing the Phoenix Tail Guqin, Fellow Daoist. Our second auction item is a batch of Purple Yang Pills."

The female cultivator carried the guqin off the stage, and she was replaced by another female cultivator holding a purple platter, atop which sat a palm-sized white jade box.

"The Purple Yang Pill can be taken by both Golden Immortals and Jade Immortals, and there are thirteen in total in this batch. These pills are of an exceptional quality, and they're not to be missed. The starting price is one hundred Immortal Origin Stones," the auctioneer declared as he opened the jade box to reveal thirteen intricate pills that were shimmering with faint purple light, and a fragrant medicinal aroma instantly spread through the entire venue.

This was one of the many pills that Han Li had appraised, and they were indeed of an outstanding quality, so the starting price of one hundred Immortal Origin Stones was very reasonable.

"110!"

"120!"

"130!"

Before long, the price for the batch of Purple Yang Pills had been bid up to 160 Immortal Origin Stones.

This was a roughly suitable price, and any higher than this would be crossing into the territory of overbidding. Hence, no further bids were made beyond this point, and the pills were sold to a black-robed cultivator.

The third auction item was an Acquired Immortal Treasure of an extremely high quality. It was a formidable lightning fire badge that could be used even by late-Golden Immortal cultivators, and the starting price was 130 Immortal Origin Stones, while the final selling price turned out to be two hundred.