Chapter 318: Chapter 305: Flood Dragon Egg
"Fiery Sun Divine Iron" is a top-grade fire attribute spiritual object and also the highest-grade material that can be bought with Spirit Stones. Higher-grade fire attribute spiritual objects cannot be purchased with Spirit Stones.
Among the four lifebound spiritual artifacts Zhouyang intended to refine, "Fiery Sun Divine Iron" is one of the substitute materials for refining the "Qianyang Golden Lamp", serving as an alternative to the hard-to-find "True Sun Gold".
The previous conversation with Master Cyan Yang had already made Zhouyang realize that if he were to choose inferior materials to refine his lifebound spiritual artifact, opting for refining the "Qianyang Golden Lamp" and "Qianyang Golden Tower" was the most feasible choice.
As for the other two lifebound spiritual artifacts, "Qianyang Treasure Pearl" and "Qianyang Treasure Mirror", the substitute materials are equally as hard to find as the primary materials, and even if they are refined using substitutes, the cost-effectiveness does not surpass that of the former two artifacts.
Thus, he’d rather refine the first two artifacts first and slowly search for materials to refine the other two artifacts as his cultivation grows stronger in the future.
Therefore, for the "Fiery Sun Divine Iron" that appeared at the auction, he was determined to win it!
"Three hundred fifty thousand Spirit Stones."
This was Zhouyang’s first bid.
Naturally, this price was quickly outbid.
Yet he was undeterred and quickly called out a second bid: "Three hundred ninety thousand Spirit Stones."
"Four hundred thousand Spirit Stones." A competitor swiftly increased the price, surpassing Zhouyang’s bid.
Seeing this, Zhouyang gritted his teeth and suddenly shouted, "I bid five hundred thousand Spirit Stones!"
Five hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones!
This had already exceeded the price of an ordinary Tier Five Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact and was equivalent to the price of a Tier Five Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact!
Thus, upon hearing Zhouyang’s bid, the competitors fell silent.
Not everyone, like Zhouyang, could inherit the wealth of two Golden Core Stage cultivators and obtain a large number of Spirit Stones.
Five hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones is an enormous sum, whether for those Purple Mansion Stage cultivators who have yet to form their core or for those newly advanced Golden Core Stage cultivators.
It’s not that they couldn’t afford this sum, but once they spent such a sum on purchasing "Fiery Sun Divine Iron," they would have no hope of acquiring materials to aid in core formation or other spiritual objects in the future.
Furthermore, Zhouyang’s bold move of increasing the bid by ten thousand Spirit Stones was shocking to many, making them wary of underestimating his determination.
So, after a prolonged silence, the auctioneer Yun Yiyi, seeing no further bids, directly announced the sale.
It wasn’t until this moment that Zhouyang’s anxious heart finally settled.
To be honest, even though he had many Spirit Stones on him, spending five hundred thousand Spirit Stones in one go still made him feel anxious and fearful.
The main reason for this feeling was that the items he bought could not be used immediately. This was equivalent to spending tens of thousands of Spirit Stones in vain.
However, he had no choice but to buy it.
Because such high-level spiritual objects as "Fiery Sun Divine Iron" are not something one can encounter at any time. Missing this chance meant he might not find it later when he needs it, and who knows how much time and money he would have to spend to find it then.
But after purchasing this spiritual object, his remaining Spirit Stones steeply dropped to just over four hundred thousand, including the two hundred thousand Spirit Stones given to him by Zhang Yunpeng to buy "Purple Heart Jade Marrow".
The auction continued.
As the auctioneer Yun Yiyi brought out one treasure after another to be sold today, the atmosphere in the auction hall grew increasingly enthusiastic, and the number of bidders also increased.
Before entering the Illusion Realm earlier, Zhouyang had counted that there were as many as thirty to fifty Golden Core Stage cultivators attending this auction today, including individuals like Xu Zhengyang, who came from renowned major sects.
These were the leading force of this grand auction. Although the Illusion Realm concealed the identities of those present, Zhouyang knew that at least seventy percent of today’s auctioned treasures would end up in the hands of these Golden Core Stage cultivators.
Typically, the treasures would grow rarer as the auction proceeded, and so would the final transaction prices.
By the time the seventieth treasure was reached, Zhouyang and other Purple Mansion Stage cultivators could only watch, as by then, the transaction price for each treasure wouldn’t be less than fifty thousand Spirit Stones.
"The eightieth treasure, a unique secret elixir **Longevity Treasure Pill** created by the Longevity Hall of Donghua Continent’s top sect in the Cultivation Realm, personally refined by Master Chang Chun, a Nascent Soul Stage Zhenren from Longevity Hall. The time spent on alchemy alone took three years. A Nascent Soul Stage cultivator can extend their lifespan by fifty years with this pill, while a Golden Core Stage practitioner can extend their life by one hundred fifty years. The starting price is one million low-grade Spirit Stones, with increments not less than ten thousand Spirit Stones per bid!"
Boom!
When the second-to-last treasure of this auction was brought out by Yun Yiyi, the auction reached its fever pitch.
Life-extending treasures have always been among the most precious treasures in the Cultivation Realm, and those that can extend the lifespan of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator are rare to come by even in a millennium.
Fifty years may seem short compared to the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator’s lifespan of three thousand years, but it is still fifty more years of life!
Even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, as powerful as they are, wouldn’t mind having more years, would they?
For Golden Core Stage cultivators, this "Longevity Treasure Pill" is a supreme treasure they would fight tooth and nail to acquire.
If they can extend their lifespan by one hundred and fifty years, it not only means they can outlive their peers by that many years, but it also significantly increases their chances of reaching the Nascent Soul Stage.
Therefore, the price of this "Longevity Treasure Pill" is much higher than that of the "Seven-colored Reishi" Zhouyang saw at the auction in Immortal Sun City; the starting bid is set at one million Spirit Stones!
But this price does not scare off those truly wealthy individuals at all. To compete for this treasure, many elderly Golden Core Stage cultivators are even willing to mortgage their personal Magical Artifacts.
Thus, the price ultimately continued to climb and finally settled at two million three hundred thousand Spirit Stones!
Two million three hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones!
Such a vast amount of Spirit Stones would empty the treasure vault of a typical small sect, yet it would not be enough.
Zhouyang even suspected whether a Nascent Soul Stage Zhenren had made a move; otherwise, it’s truly challenging for a Golden Core Stage cultivator to come up with such a large sum of Spirit Stones.
However, the "Longevity Treasure Pill" is not the most precious treasure at this grand auction; the most valuable item is undoubtedly the final centerpiece.
When Yun Yiyi presented this final item, every cultivator present was in awe.
It was surprisingly a Demon Beast Egg!
"The eighty-first treasure, a Flood Dragon Egg from a Tier Six Cyan Flood Dragon. The egg is remarkably lively, ensuring it can hatch. With its strong Jiao Dragon bloodline, fellow Daoists must be aware, acquiring it would be equivalent to owning a Tier Five Sect Guardian Spirit Beast, perhaps even a Tier Six Spirit Beast in the future!"
"Frankly speaking, if it weren’t for the formidable power of the East Sea Flood Dragon Race, and the Donghua Continent Cultivation Realm cultivators’ fear of vengeance from the Flood Dragon Race after the dragon matures, this treasure would never be put up for sale!"
"Therefore, the starting bid is one million five hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, with each increment not less than thirty thousand Spirit Stones!"
Ssss!
As Yun Yiyi revealed the true origin of the Demon Beast Egg she held, all the cultivators present couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.
The might of Flood Dragons as Demon Beasts is renowned among every cultivator.
When cultivators face other ordinary bloodline demon beasts of the same cultivation, they mostly have an upper hand, and even against demon beasts with slightly stronger bloodlines, they could still win or lose evenly.
However, if faced with a Flood Dragon, the likelihood of a cultivator being defeated is at least over eighty percent, and this disparity only increases with higher cultivation levels on both sides.
A Tier Six lower-grade Flood Dragon alone requires at least two Early-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators to match it in battle.
Furthermore, no matter how strong the beast’s parents are, unless they’re at the Tier Seven Demon Immortal level, other demon beasts are born with only Tier One prowess.
But Flood Dragons are different; a hatched baby dragon from their eggs starts off with Tier Two strength, and will invariably ascend to Tier Four within a century.
This is not the focal point. The focal point is that Flood Dragons, as the descendants of True Dragons, possess the True Dragon Bloodline Inheritance, each one awakening spiritual wisdom upon birth, capable of absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to cultivate on their own.
This is something even human infants can’t do; humans, regardless of talent, must wait until they are three or four years old before they can begin cultivation.
The most crucial point is that Flood Dragons generally have very long lifespans. A Flood Dragon of the same tier typically has five times the lifespan of a cultivator of the same tier.
That is to say, a Tier Five Flood Dragon’s lifespan is longer than a human Nascent Soul Stage cultivator!
In summary, if one can rear a Flood Dragon to serve as a Sect Guardian Spirit Beast, even if there is a generational gap among Golden Core Stage cultivators in the sect in the future, there won’t be a risk of the sect’s heritage being cut off.
It is thus conceivable how fervent the atmosphere was when Yun Yiyi announced the starting price.
In order to compete for this Flood Dragon Egg, all the Golden Core Stage cultivators went crazy. Some from small sects even went so far as to mortgage the sect’s Inheritance Spiritual Artifacts to vie for this Flood Dragon Egg.
Magical Artifacts, when lost, can be replaced later by acquiring materials and having someone refine them again or by repurchasing.
But if they missed the opportunity for the Flood Dragon Egg, they might not have another chance to acquire one in their lifetime.
Truth be told, if Zhouyang hadn’t just hatched a "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle" and if the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm had been more suited for Flood Dragons to survive, he might have considered mortgaging the few Tier Five Spiritual Artifacts in his Storage Bag to contend for the Flood Dragon Egg.
But now, he could only be like over ninety percent of those present, just an onlooker.
After half an hour of relentless bidding, the final transaction price of the Flood Dragon Egg settled at three million three hundred fifty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones!
Three million three hundred fifty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones!
This is truly an astronomical price!
Even a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, trying to come up with such a large amount of Spirit Stones in one go, would likely have to pawn some of their personal treasures.
Yet no one thought the Flood Dragon Egg wasn’t worth this price. In fact, some cultivators expressed deep regret when Yun Yiyi announced the transaction price, blaming themselves for not bringing more Spirit Stones or treasures.
If they had known beforehand that the Flood Dragon Egg would be on sale at today’s grand auction, they would have done whatever it took to purchase it!