As the exorbitant price of two thousand six hundred spirit coins was revealed, a burning desire ignited within the hearts of many cultivators present.
The atmosphere in the hall was thoroughly ignited, and gazes fell upon the other four wooden trays, with people secretly speculating about what rare spiritual treasures would appear next.
"The second item, the Seven-Star Soul-Stabilizing Lamp."
"This treasure contains nineteen layers of acquired restrictions, capable of transforming into seven stars to protect oneself, and possesses the miraculous effect of stabilizing and nourishing the soul."
"The starting bid is one thousand two hundred spirit coins."
Before the elder finished speaking, people were already vying to bid, the intensity of the competition surpassing that of the previous item.
In just half an hour, this treasure had already surpassed the Golden Sun Light-Splitting Axe and was acquired by a distinguished guest in a private room for a staggering two thousand nine hundred spirit coins.
The identity of this distinguished guest was recognized by many cultivators present as belonging to a top immortal sect from the Chongyuan Prefecture.
"The third item, the Vast Sea Spiritual Flame."
As the red cloth was lifted, this time there was no need for the elder to reach for it. A fist-sized flame, shaped like rolling waves, floated on the wooden tray, surging and churning.
The elder smiled at the flame and then, with a hint of excitement in his voice, announced, "The Vast Sea Spiritual Flame, ranked three hundred and seventh on the Spiritual Fire Ranking, with a starting bid of three thousand spirit coins."
Three hundred and seventh on the Spiritual Fire Ranking... Vast Sea Spiritual Flame!
Ji Yuan's eyes sparkled with excitement. He even stood up from his chair and walked a few steps to the edge of the private room.
At this moment, not only him, but also distinguished guests in many other private rooms, had come to the edge of the railings, their eyes fixed with intense brilliance on the high platform.
A ball of flame, like rolling waves, seemed to be reflected in their eyes.
"No! This shouldn't be the true Vast Sea Spiritual Flame!"
Suddenly, someone exclaimed with a hint of doubt in their voice.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan suddenly came to his senses. If this item were indeed the Vast Sea Spiritual Flame, it would absolutely not have a starting bid of merely three thousand spirit coins.
Although he didn't know much about the Spiritual Fire Ranking, he could guess that a spiritual flame ranked three hundred and seventh in the entire world would not appear here at such a low price.
"This is indeed not the complete Vast Sea Spiritual Flame," the elder on the high platform pondered. "This is one-fifth of the Vast Sea Spiritual Flame, and it is still in its nascent form."
It was precisely for this reason that Vast Sea Tower had set a starting bid of three thousand spirit coins. Otherwise, if it were the complete and fully matured Vast Sea Spiritual Flame, even ten thousand spirit coins would not be enough!
Any spiritual flame that made it onto the Spiritual Fire Ranking was a rare spiritual treasure in the world, far beyond what mere artifacts could compare to.
However, even if it was only one-fifth, and still in its nascent form, the value of the Vast Sea Spiritual Flame far exceeded three thousand spirit coins.
As expected, after a brief silence, someone immediately spoke up, offering a bid of five hundred spirit coins more than the starting price.
But clearly, it was impossible to obtain the Vast Sea Spiritual Flame with just this.
Ji Yuan, who thought he had already witnessed what it meant to spend lavishly, was now somewhat dumbfounded. Listening to the bids coming from each private room, he felt a sense of numbness setting in.
Hundreds, even thousands, of spirit coins seemed to be like ordinary copper coins in the mouths of these major powers. After several rounds of bidding, the price had already reached six thousand three hundred spirit coins!
"Eight thousand!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out from the main hall.
The bidding at the current trading fair was no longer relevant to the numerous cultivators in the hall; it was a struggle between the various powers in the private rooms.
No one had expected that at this particular moment, someone from the main hall would be able to join the competition!
As gazes fell, those who were previously confused now showed expressions of realization.
Perhaps others were indeed powerless to participate in the competition between lineages and sects that had been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years, but this Xuanpo Elder possessed the confidence.
A remarkable individual who had been struck down in his cultivation realm multiple times, only to re-condense his Golden Core repeatedly, was expected to have such wealth.
After seeing Elder Xuanpo make his bid, the trading fair suddenly fell silent, and no one continued to bid for a long time.
On one hand, he was, after all, a former Grand Cultivator of the Golden Core stage. Although his cultivation had been shattered once more, who could guarantee that he wouldn't re-cultivate to that level again?
On the other hand, Elder Xuanpo's current bid had reached the limit of the item's worth; adding any more would not be worthwhile.
Of course, under normal circumstances, various factions might have competed. Such spiritual items, as long as they were not excessively priced, could be accepted with a slight premium.
However, with a final, climactic item still to come, it was not wise to deplete their resources too much elsewhere.
Even Feng Mian, who had intended to raise the price, had to abandon the idea after careful consideration, fearing that this might be a trap set to deplete his spirit coins prematurely.
In the end, this Vast Sea Spiritual Flame, which was only one-fifth and still in its nascent form, fell into the hands of Elder Xuanpo.
"With this, I'm afraid Elder Xuanpo's reputation will spread again before long," Qian Nishang murmured.
With his Extreme Cold technique and the power of the Vast Sea Spiritual Flame, few in the same realm could defeat him. It was even possible for him to contend against cultivators of higher realms with this.
"I wonder what kind of spiritual treasures the upcoming finale and the grand finale will be?" Ji Yuan couldn't help but murmur to himself.
Although Vast Sea Tower had sent out a list in advance, none of the lists, regardless of their tier, marked the final items. Everyone present could only guess based on the intelligence they had obtained.
"The fourth item, and the climactic item, an egg of a Black Flood Dragon."
The elder removed the red cloth and announced, "If nurtured properly, within a hundred years, it can add a third-realm spirit beast to oneself or one's sect."
Even with sufficient resources, it might be possible to cultivate it into a powerful assistant comparable to a Golden Core cultivator.
If one lacked the patience, after decades or even centuries, the Black Flood Dragon egg could be used through secret arts to extract its life essence, or even used to refine certain elixirs, still yielding a return far beyond its cost.
"The starting bid is five thousand spirit coins."
This price was indeed not low. If used to purchase artifacts, one could acquire several exceptionally good ones. However, for the egg of a third-realm demonic beast, the Black Flood Dragon, it was not excessively high.
A Black Flood Dragon, if nurtured to adulthood, could possess third-realm cultivation. Coupled with the formidable physique of a demonic beast and its far greater magical power compared to humans, it could suppress a late-stage cultivator in the early third realm without issue.
And if nurtured to the peak of the third realm, it could even contend with a Grand Cultivator of the Golden Core stage who did not possess a suitable artifact!
Most importantly, demonic beasts had extremely long lifespans, often starting from hundreds or thousands of years. A peak third-realm Black Flood Dragon could easily live for seven or eight hundred years.
Once it obtained sufficient opportunities and ascended to the Golden Core stage, it could protect a sect for over a thousand years!
Therefore, in a short period, the price of the Black Flood Dragon egg had already soared to nine thousand two hundred spirit coins!
Upon witnessing such a fervent scene, the expressions of Feng Mian and the other members of the demon race turned grim.
Demonic beasts and demon races were fundamentally the same; the only difference was whether they chose to transform into human form or retain their original shape.
Seeing the offspring of demonic beasts being auctioned like commodities naturally did not sit well with them, as members of the demon race.
However, the few members of the demon race also understood that this was the prevailing trend in the world. Although the demon race possessed formidable strength, they were not the protagonists of this world, and there were many things they were powerless to do.
"Just wait, everything will be reversed soon." Feng Mian murmured, looking at the excited human cultivators.
At the same time, the Black Flood Dragon egg was eventually acquired by a sect for the astronomical price of nine thousand eight hundred spirit coins.
As the climactic item found its owner, the atmosphere in the hall did not diminish at all; instead, it became even more fervent.
"The grand finale of this trading fair..."
Feeling the gazes of many cultivators converging, the elder with Golden Core stage cultivation suddenly showed a smile.
He reached out and lifted the red cloth, and a fist-sized, fiery red stone emitting intense heat appeared in everyone's sight.
This stone was completely crimson, as if stained with blood. Strands of fire essence rose from its surface, releasing extremely high temperatures.
For ordinary cultivators of the first or second realm, not to mention holding it, they could not even approach within a few feet of it due to the high temperature.
Only with the physique of a peak second-realm martial artist could one withstand such high temperatures for a short period.
However, such temperatures naturally posed no threat to the elder with Golden Core cultivation. With a slight circulation of his internal magical power, he could easily counteract it without any harm to himself.
After this item appeared, almost all cultivators' breathing involuntarily quickened.
"The legend... is it true?" Ji Yuan murmured.
As the elder's magical power was infused, a phantom image immediately soared from within the crimson stone, letting out a clear phoenix cry in mid-air before returning to the stone.
"A spiritual stone imbued with phoenix essence blood," the elder said, looking around, and then smiled faintly, "The starting bid is thirty thousand spirit coins!"
Hiss!!!
Noise immediately filled the entire trading fair. Such an exorbitant price exceeded the understanding of ordinary cultivators!
Even the core high-ranking members of some major sects had likely never seen so many spirit coins!
Even if the entire Mingxin Pavilion were to be sold, it would fetch at most five to six thousand spirit coins. Exhausting all resources, it might be possible to produce around ten thousand spirit coins.
Thirty thousand spirit coins could likely only be produced by sects with a thousand-year legacy and a divine immortal figure as their patron, or by magnates like the Prefect.
Even so, it would be a severe blow, possibly even a significant loss of resources!
"Will someone really use so many spirit coins to buy a piece of rock?" Zhao Yuebai's eyes widened. Even the well-behaved Zhao Yuebai couldn't help but ask.
As his words fell, someone actually opened their mouth and added one thousand spirit coins to the original starting bid.
"Don't underestimate this piece of rock. If even a tenth of the divine effect can be successfully extracted from a drop of phoenix essence blood, it will still be worth the price!" Qian Nishang said, her eyes gleaming.
The phoenix was a mythical existence. Its traces had not appeared in this world for tens of thousands of years, and only a small number of related items remained in existence.
Among these, phoenix essence blood was the most precious!
If a drop of phoenix essence blood could indeed be extracted, even with only one-tenth of its divine effect, let alone thirty thousand spirit coins, countless influential figures would contend for it at three hundred thousand spirit coins!
"This item likely only contains a trace of phoenix blood, and it's hard to say if it's even essence blood," Ji Yuan mused.
Otherwise, Vast Sea Tower, despite its not insignificant power, would absolutely not possess such a precious item. Once news spread, it would surely attract several, or even more, great cultivators in person.
And seeing only third-realm cultivators present, with no Grand Cultivators of the Golden Core stage immediately visible, it was clear that this item was not true phoenix essence blood.
However, even if it were ordinary blood, if its divine effect could be completely extracted, even consuming it directly could instantly increase the lifespan of a great cultivator by several decades!
If used for alchemy, or even refined into an artifact, it could produce unimaginable effects.
"Thirty-three thousand spirit coins!" Feng Mian, with a solemn expression, placed his bid from a private room.
He scanned the entire hall with a fierce gaze, as if he would devour anyone who dared to compete with him.
It was understandable that he was so resolute. The phoenix was the ancestor of all birds, one of the origins of bloodlines. Even ordinary blood could greatly benefit avian demonic beasts.
It was even possible for them to break through their current realms with its help, or even imbue their bloodline with a trace of phoenix aura.