"You kid, weren't those things before enough to keep me busy? Right now, I just want to quietly participate and bid on anything I fancy," Jingyang Shangren said leisurely, swirling the wine in his glass.

"Since this auction is being handled by your Baizao Mountain, why go to the trouble of participating? Why not just intercept anything you want? Or, if that doesn't work, just buy it from the sect?" Han Li asked, puzzled.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you don't understand... The items at this auction don't just belong to Baizao Mountain. Some are confiscated by Heishan Immortal Palace from other places, and some are sent by big shots from various sects... In short, this auction involves quite a bit, and it's not something I can easily meddle with," Jingyang Shangren said, shaking his head, before draining his cup.

"So, I can't count on your connections to save a bit of Immortal Essence Stones?" Han Li asked after a thoughtful nod and a drink of his own wine.

"The auction has its own set of rules, and the Immortal Palace is supervising it. I have to rely on my own luck to bid, let alone you. There's no room for maneuvering here. The only thing you can do is prepare more Immortal Essence Stones. Good things, like good wine, are priceless. If you see something you like, grab it early, or you'll regret it," Jingyang Shangren said with a smile.

As they spoke, people with "Golden Jade Silk" began to enter through the entrance one after another, choosing the best VIP rooms on the third floor.

After about an hour and a half, all the hundreds of VIP rooms in Yu Kun Tower were filled.

After a brief assessment, Han Li found that these people's cultivation was almost all above the Early-Stage Golden Immortal realm. There were even some old guys who had concealed their aura, making it impossible for him to detect.

After a little thought, he understood. With the high price and rarity of Golden Jade Silk, ordinary cultivators couldn't obtain it. Those who could get into Yu Kun Tower with Golden Jade Silk were unlikely to be True Immortals or below.

Those with insufficient cultivation or status wouldn't come for nothing. The city had hundreds of auctions and trade fairs prepared for them, and countless other gatherings.

At this moment, the tall-crowned old man from Baizao Mountain in charge of the affairs here, along with a white-robed man in Heishan Immortal Palace attire, walked onto the central circular auction platform.

"Oh, right, I haven't introduced him to you yet. That man is called Fu Yuhai. He's the head of the Immortal Palace branch established by Heishan Immortal Palace in the northern Immortal Territory, and also a Late-Stage Golden Immortal. But he doesn't have much real power here. The real boss is the Heavenly Court Inspector stationed in the city. But this person is usually reclusive and rarely shows his face," Jingyang Shangren explained to Han Li.

"It seems the Heavenly Court values this place quite a bit. I wonder how powerful that Inspector Immortal is?" Han Li asked casually, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Hard to say, this person is quite mysterious. Even I haven't seen his true form," Jingyang Shangren said, shaking his head and bringing the newly filled wine cup to his lips again.

In the short time he'd been talking to Han Li, an entire pot of fine wine had gone down his throat, and the palace maid puppet had brought another pot.

By this time, Fu Yuhai had finished his introduction and said all the high-sounding opening remarks.

The tall-crowned old man stepped forward and continued, "Bidding at the auction requires you to act within your means. Don't blindly raise the price. Once a bid is accepted, you can't go back on it. If anyone deliberately abandons their bid, this tower will definitely pursue the matter to the end."

"Now, the Yu Kun Tower Auction is officially open!" Fu Yuhai announced in a loud voice, glancing around.

As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them retreated, and a man of a different race dressed in colorful feathered robes floated up.

He had a very strange appearance, with extremely wide cheeks, a large mouth, and a very slender neck, looking like a toad's head on the neck of a colorful bird.

This alien was the auctioneer hosting the auction.

"Welcome, esteemed guests, to Yu Kun Tower, where you will join us in this grand auction..." Despite his unsightly appearance, his voice was clear and bright, with a special magnetism that made it very pleasant to listen to.

"Let's not waste any time and bring out our first treasure of the day, the 'Phoenix Cry Zither'."

As he finished speaking, a graceful and beautiful female cultivator with an appropriate smile walked up, holding a fiery red ancient zither with both hands.

The eyes of everyone present were naturally drawn to the zither.

Han Li glanced over and found that the zither was aptly named. The body was made of a precious wood called "Chicken Blood Wood," the head was carved into the shape of a phoenix head, and the tail was decorated with clustered feathers, carved into the shape of a phoenix tail.

The entire zither was as warm and smooth as jade, with wisps of red inside, like blood-colored clouds, making it look extremely gorgeous.

At the signal of the alien auctioneer, the beautiful female cultivator gently plucked the strings with her slender fingers, and immediately a series of melodious sounds came from it. Even those who didn't know much about music could tell that it was a masterpiece.

However, although this zither was very good, it was just a mundane object with no spiritual power at all.

The first item auctioned at the famous Yu Kun Tower auction was actually a mundane object? This puzzled Han Li greatly, but the starting price that followed surprised him even more.

"I believe you've all heard of Pei Qingling, the 'Thousand-Finger Phantom Sound', right? This Phoenix Cry Zither was the instrument she cherished the most before she started cultivating. After she officially embarked on the path of cultivation, she gradually abandoned it. It has been passed down for many years, gathering dust until now. The starting price is fifty Immortal Essence Stones, and each bid must be no less than five Immortal Essence Stones," the auctioneer said eloquently, recounting the origins of the zither.

"Fifty Immortal Essence Stones, I'll take it," a soft, charming female voice immediately responded, coming from a VIP room on the third floor.

Immediately after, someone said, "I offer sixty Immortal Essence Stones."

"Seventy Immortal Essence Stones..." someone else bid.

"Seventy-five..."

"Who exactly is this Pei Qingling? Why can a mundane object she used be auctioned here? And why is the starting price so high?" Han Li asked, puzzled.

It was just a mundane object, not some immortal treasure. Even if it was an immortal treasure, if the quality wasn't up to a certain standard, it shouldn't be worth dozens of Immortal Essence Stones, no matter who used it.

It wasn't a matter of Immortal Essence Stones, but that it wasn't even worth dozens of spirit stones.

Dozens of Immortal Essence Stones was not a small amount. It was enough to buy pills, spiritual materials, or immortal artifacts that were beneficial to Golden Immortal cultivation.

"I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Li to have never heard of the 'Thousand-Finger Phantom Sound'? Pei Qingling came from a musical family in the Golden Origin Immortal Territory. She had great talent for cultivation since she was a child, but she was always obsessed with music and didn't cultivate. It wasn't until her sixteenth birthday, after she played a 'Rainbow Phoenix Breaking Formation Melody', that she suddenly announced that she would start cultivating. From then on, her cultivation progressed rapidly, until she entered the Dao with the Five Tones and cultivated to the Grand Luo Realm," Jingyang Shangren said slowly, after a moment of surprise.

"I see..." Han Li said thoughtfully.

"Don't think it's not worth it. If there's a chance to return this thing to its original owner, you'll forge a great connection. If that Pei Qingling really becomes the Five-Tone Dao Ancestor, the value of this thing could increase a hundredfold," Jingyang Shangren said with a smile, as if seeing through Han Li's thoughts.

"Indeed," Han Li had to nod in agreement after hearing this.

"Hehe, it's said that Pei Qingling is a rare beauty in both the immortal and mortal realms. Look at how fiercely those male cultivators are competing, their hearts may not be without those subtle, amorous thoughts... Of course, that's just wishful thinking," Jingyang Shangren said to Han Li through voice transmission, taking a sip of wine.

The latter nodded silently, looking like he agreed completely.

In the end, the zither was bought by a middle-aged man wearing a turban, with a solemn face and a scholarly aura, for one hundred and twenty Immortal Essence Stones.

"Congratulations to this fellow Daoist for obtaining the Phoenix Tail Zither. Next, let's bring out our second treasure, the 'Violet Yang Pill'."

After the auctioneer announced, the female cultivator who had held the zither went down, and another female cultivator walked up, holding a violet tray with a palm-sized white jade box on it.

"This item is a transitional pill from the Golden Immortal to the Taiyi level, and it is beneficial to cultivators two major realms above or below. There are a total of thirteen pills in one batch, all with perfect quality and excellent texture. I hope you fellow Daoists won't miss it. The starting price is one hundred Immortal Essence Stones," the auctioneer said, opening the white jade box.

As the lid of the box was opened, thirteen delicate pills the size of little fingers immediately appeared, with a faint purple light flashing on them and a mist rising faintly, filling the Jade Kun Tower with fragrant medicine.

This pill was one of the many spiritual medicines that Han Li had identified, and its quality was indeed excellent. The Jade Kun Tower's starting price of one hundred Immortal Essence Stones was truly not excessive, and could be considered a very low price.

"One hundred and ten Immortal Essence Stones," someone bid quickly.

"One hundred and twenty Immortal Essence Stones," someone immediately followed, raising the price.

"One hundred and thirty Immortal Essence Stones..."

Round after round of bidding, the Violet Yang Pill was quickly called up to "one hundred and sixty Immortal Essence Stones".

At this price, it was already quite reasonable, and it was not worth it to add any more. Therefore, after a cultivator in a black robe announced this price, no one continued to bid.

After the auctioneer asked three times, he auctioned the item to the black-robed person.

The third auction item was a high-grade Houtian Immortal Artifact, a powerful Thunderfire Token, suitable for Late-Stage Golden Immortal cultivators. The starting price was one hundred and thirty Immortal Essence Stones, and it was eventually sold for more than two hundred Immortal Essence Stones.