Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Mountain Velvet Beast
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Chapter 84: Mountain Velvet Beast
Upon reaching the third floor, they found themselves in a spacious, hollowed-out mezzanine hall. There were no rows of seats as one might expect; most of the cultivators who came here were standing.
Only the private rooms on the mezzanine level had seats. There were twelve of them in total, all reserved for the disciples of top-tier immortal clans and Foundation Establishment Ancestors.
Yu Daniu was not yet an elder and couldn't represent the Yun Clan, so he wasn't qualified to enter a private room.
The three of them stood among the crowd in the circular hall. Fortunately, it was spacious, so even with over a hundred cultivators, it didn't feel crowded.
"Father, Grandfather and my cousin-uncle are here," Yun Xiaoniu said softly.
At the entrance to the third floor, Yun Bufan, dressed in green robes and a cloud-patterned crown, walked at the forefront. His aura was restrained, making him look like a young master from a noble family, handsome and refined.
Following behind him were Yu Daniu's father-in-law, Yun Xiaoqian, and Deacon Yun San.
They walked directly up another passage and entered one of the private rooms on the mezzanine.
A short while later, another Foundation Establishment Ancestor arrived, followed by two talented young men in the late stage of Qi Refining.
"Brother Jianghe, do you see that senior? He's a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Lu Clan, a top-tier immortal clan in our Eastern Region."
"The Puppet Immortal Lu Clan?"
"Yes, that's the one."
Chen Jianghe couldn't help but recall the records in the *Yun Clan Journal*. The Lu Clan was a top-tier immortal clan in the Eastern Region of the Tiannan Domain. It was rumored that, like the Beast Taming Immortal Zhou Clan, they had a Core Formation expert overseeing them.
Moreover, the Lu Clan was renowned throughout the Tiannan Domain for its puppetry arts, hence their title as the Puppet Immortal Clan.
Subsequently, Yu Daniu pointed out the private rooms on the mezzanine, illuminated by glazed lamps, and introduced the families within them to Chen Jianghe one by one.
To Chen Jianghe's surprise, there were even Foundation Establishment immortal clans from the Western Region of the Tiannan Domain.
The Tiannan Sect separated the Western and Eastern Regions. To reach Mirror Moon Lake from there, one had to travel at least fifty thousand miles.
It seemed the allure of a third-grade, low-tier bloodline spirit beast cub was truly powerful.
This was especially true for Foundation Establishment immortal clans. They didn't lack the resources to raise a spirit beast, but they did lack cubs with third-grade bloodlines.
If they could win the bid, it would be almost equivalent to the clan gaining another Foundation Establishment Ancestor.
"Daniu, why doesn't the Yun Clan just buy the third-grade, low-tier bloodline cub discreetly?" Chen Jianghe asked in a low voice.
Yu Daniu gave a wry smile and gestured with his chin toward the private room of the Puppet Immortal Lu Clan.
At that moment, Chen Jianghe understood.
The Yun Clan had been too prominent lately. Not only had Yun Bufan successfully broken through to Foundation Establishment, but they had also gained a second-order spirit beast.
That was equivalent to having three Foundation Establishment-level experts in one clan.
To maintain its dominant position in the Eastern Region, the Lu Clan would absolutely not allow the Yun Clan to continue growing like this.
They might not have come to bid for the third-grade, low-tier bloodline cub, but they would certainly prevent the Yun Clan from acquiring it.
Therefore, if the Yun Clan wanted to produce another Foundation Establishment Ancestor, it was clearly not feasible to do so openly. Their only option was to purchase Foundation Establishment Pills in secret.
Alternatively, they could raise a second-grade, high-tier bloodline spirit beast, but how could they be lucky enough to obtain another second-order spirit beast core?
Even if they did, a second-grade, high-tier bloodline spirit beast only had a thirty percent chance of advancing to the second order.
*Dong!*
With the sound of a bell, the entrance to the third floor closed.
A dark gold platform slowly rose from the center of the circular hall, and from it, a crystal cylinder ascended.
An elderly man in magnificent robes walked up with a gentle smile on his face. His gaze swept around the room, and he gave a slight bow.
"Welcome, fellow Daoists, to the Treasure Pavilion's auction. My surname is Chen, and I am currently the manager of the Treasure Pavilion in Mirror Moon Market City. I ask that all fellow Daoists abide by the Treasure Pavilion's auction rules during the event."
"I now declare this year's New Year's Eve auction officially open."
"There will be a total of twelve treasures in this auction. Now, for the first treasure."
As Manager Chen of the Treasure Pavilion finished speaking, a beautiful female cultivator in revealing attire walked up, holding a golden tray covered with a red silk cloth.
She placed the golden tray on the crystal cylinder, stepped aside, and smiled at the crowd.
Seeing that everyone's attention was fixed on the crystal display stand, Manager Chen announced loudly, "The first treasure is a fist-sized piece of Hundred-Year Ice Soul. It can be used for artifact refinement or to assist in body tempering. The starting price is four hundred spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than ten spirit stones."
As his voice fell, the alluring female cultivator unveiled the red silk cloth. A piece of white jade the size of a fist emitted a cold, white light, causing the temperature in the entire auction hall to drop slightly.
"Four hundred and twenty spirit stones."
"Four hundred and fifty spirit stones."
"..."
"Five hundred and ten spirit stones."
"..."
Chen Jianghe looked at the bidders. They were all well-dressed, late-stage Qi Refining cultivators with special emblems embroidered on their clothes, clearly disciples of various clans.
A few rogue cultivators also called out bids, but their voices were quickly drowned out.
"It's actually Hundred-Year Ice Soul?"
Chen Jianghe knew of this rare treasure of heaven and earth. It was an essential auxiliary treasure for the body tempering technique, the *Frigid Pool Body Tempering Art*.
It could also be used to refine flying swords, bestowing them with an elemental attribute and giving them a special attack power.
Just then, a voice came from the Yun Clan's private room on the mezzanine.
"Six hundred and thirty spirit stones."
Hearing this voice, a flicker of excitement crossed Yun Xiaoniu's eyes. He said to Yu Daniu, "Father, it's Grandfather. He's going to bid for the Hundred-Year Ice Soul for you."
Yu Daniu nodded.
After breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, he had switched to cultivating the *Condensed Origin True Water Scripture* and was also practicing the *Frigid Pool Body Tempering Art*, which required Hundred-Year Ice Soul.
However, he didn't need that much—only a piece the size of a thumb would suffice.
Chen Jianghe felt a pang of envy. When Yu Daniu broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining, his clan provided him with a new cultivation technique and a body tempering art.
He, on the other hand, had to save up spirit stones to buy them himself.
"Six hundred and thirty spirit stones, going once! Six hundred and thirty spirit stones, going twice! Six hundred and thirty spirit stones, going three times... Sold!"
With the final strike of Manager Chen's gavel, the fist-sized piece of Hundred-Year Ice Soul was won by Yun Xiaoqian.
The second and third treasures were also rare items for assisting in body tempering. They were sold for four hundred and seven hundred spirit stones, respectively, to the Foundation Establishment Ancestor who had traveled from the Western Region.
The fourth treasure was a high-grade flying sword, but it was one with a special attribute.
"This flying sword was refined using Nine Yang Firestone as the primary material. It possesses violent fire-attribute energy. When used by a cultivator practicing a fire-elemental technique, it can increase their attack power by ten percent."
"The starting price is four hundred spirit stones, with each bid increment no less than ten spirit stones."
The moment he finished speaking, the price was called up to five hundred spirit stones, but it lost momentum after that. Clearly, the value of this flying sword was in the range of five hundred to six hundred spirit stones.
In the end, it was won by a rogue cultivator for five hundred and sixty spirit stones.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh treasures were also high-grade flying swords with attributes. They were sold for five hundred and twenty, five hundred and thirty, and five hundred and seventy spirit stones to two rogue cultivators and a clan disciple, respectively.
The eighth treasure was a bottle of Spirit Nurturing Pills, which could assist cultivators in practicing spiritual cultivation methods and strengthening their souls.
This, in turn, would increase their chances of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment.
There were ten Spirit Nurturing Pills in the bottle. With a starting price of six hundred spirit stones, it was won by the Yun Clan for nine hundred and fifty spirit stones.
In the southern lands of the seventy-thousand-mile Vast Heaven River, Spirit Nurturing Pills were only sold in the market cities of immortal sects. In other markets, they were sold exclusively through auctions.
Spirit Nurturing Pills were high-grade spirit pills, and they were used to enhance the soul, so their price was steep, with a single pill valued between eighty and one hundred and twenty spirit stones.
Therefore, the Yun Clan had gotten a good deal by winning ten Spirit Nurturing Pills for nine hundred and fifty spirit stones.
The ninth treasure was a piece of meteoric iron, five inches wide and four feet long, a material used for refining top-tier flying swords.
With a starting price of five hundred spirit stones, it was won by a rogue cultivator for eight hundred spirit stones.
Watching all this, Chen Jianghe felt dazzled. It seemed like every treasure being auctioned was something he needed.
But his cultivation level was insufficient, and his finances were lacking. He could only watch with longing.
"Brother Jianghe, the main treasures are up next," Yu Daniu said, a restless gleam in his eyes.
If the ordinary treasures were this enticing, one could only imagine what the main attractions would be like.
One of them was a third-grade, low-tier bloodline spirit beast cub, which Chen Jianghe already knew about. But what was the other one?
And the final treasure.
"Next, the tenth item for auction is a spirit beast consigned by the Zhou Clan."
As Manager Chen's voice fell, two cultivators carried a cage onto the stage. They unveiled the red silk cloth, revealing the spirit beast trapped inside.
It was a young Mountain Velvet Beast, small and adorable, less than two feet tall, with snow-white fur all over its body. Its form resembled an ape, making it a primate-type spirit beast.
"This is a Mountain Velvet Beast, a water-elemental spirit beast with a third-grade, low-tier bloodline. It can reach the late stage of the first order upon reaching adulthood. With proper nurturing, it has a fifty percent chance of becoming a second-order spirit beast. If you have a second-order spirit beast core, its chances increase to seventy percent."
"Without further ado, the starting price is one thousand two hundred spirit stones, with a minimum bid increment of fifty spirit stones."
As Manager Chen finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the hall.
The rogue cultivators looked on with fondness, but they lacked the wealth to bid. Even if they won, the spirit stones required for its subsequent upbringing would be a considerable sum.
Only rogue cultivators with second-order skills would have the financial means to raise such a spirit beast.
Other than them, there were the major clans.
"One thousand five hundred spirit stones."
The White Clan of Qiyun Mountain was the first to bid, directly raising the price by three hundred spirit stones, hoping to intimidate the other clans.
They were clearly overthinking it.
Yun Bufan's voice rang out at that moment, "One thousand five hundred and fifty spirit stones."
The Yun Clan was being watched by the Puppet Immortal Lu Clan, so they certainly wouldn't be able to obtain this third-grade, low-tier bloodline Mountain Velvet Beast.
However, the Yun Clan was also keeping an eye on the White Clan. The Mountain Velvet Beast could fall into anyone's hands, except the White Clan's.
Seeing the Yun Clan make a bid, the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Lu Clan didn't rush to quote a price. It was absolutely impossible to win the Mountain Velvet Beast for just one thousand five hundred and fifty spirit stones.
Instantly, voices emerged from other private rooms on the mezzanine.
"One thousand six hundred spirit stones."
"One thousand six hundred and fifty spirit stones."
"..."
"One thousand nine hundred spirit stones."
The bidding voices gradually dwindled. Two thousand spirit stones was about the upper limit for this Mountain Velvet Beast.
After all, buying it wasn't the end of it; a vast amount of resources was still needed to raise it.
A genuine Foundation Establishment Pill only cost two thousand spirit stones.
While the clans were bidding against each other, Chen Jianghe's gaze was fixed on the Mountain Velvet Beast.
He felt the bloodline pressure emanating from the third-grade, low-tier bloodline spirit beast.
"Is this the bloodline pressure of a third-grade, low-tier spirit beast?"
Chen Jianghe was shocked, a storm raging in his heart. The bloodline aura he sensed from the Mountain Velvet Beast was actually somewhat inferior to Xiao Hei's.
How could this not startle him?
It meant that the purity of Xiao Hei's bloodline was even higher than the Mountain Velvet Beast's.
A third-grade, high-tier bloodline meant that Xiao Hei could reach the peak of the late first order upon adulthood. In the future, even without a second-order spirit beast core, he would have a seventy percent chance of becoming a second-order spirit beast.
"How could its bloodline purity be so high?"
Chen Jianghe began to wonder. Was the *Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art* really that terrifyingly powerful?
It could actually turn an ordinary beast with a first-grade, high-tier bloodline into a spirit beast with a third-grade, high-tier bloodline.
This was simply unbelievable.
There was no record of such a precedent in the *Yun Clan Journal*.
Suddenly, a shameless thought popped into his head. Could it be that he had exchanged for Xiao Hei's lifespan, and Xiao Hei had exchanged for his talent?
If this conjecture was correct, then his spiritual root talent should be a three-element true spiritual root.
He then shook his head, dismissing this self-aggrandizing thought.
"What a pity. With the Lu Clan watching, this Mountain Velvet Beast would have definitely been ours."
Yu Daniu's voice by his ear interrupted his wild thoughts.
He looked up at the auction stage and found that the Mountain Velvet Beast had already been sold. The Foundation Establishment Ancestor from the Western Region had won it for two thousand one hundred and fifty spirit stones.
In truth, this Mountain Velvet Beast had the potential to fetch up to two thousand five hundred spirit stones.
But after this distant guest placed his bid, the clans of the Eastern Region became surprisingly unanimous, ceasing their bidding. It was quite thought-provoking.
Next, the auction for the eleventh treasure began. It was a top-tier flying sword, without any attached attributes, with a starting price of one thousand spirit stones.
It was won by Yun Bufan for one thousand two hundred spirit stones.
Top-tier magical artifacts were extremely expensive. Most cultivators who had just broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm were still using high-grade magical artifacts.
Although a high-grade magical artifact couldn't unleash the full combat power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, there was no other choice; the price was simply too high.
The final treasure was a water-elemental cultivation technique, the *Myriad Waters True Scripture: Qi Refining Volume*, which could increase one's magical power by thirty percent after cultivation.
The starting price was two thousand six hundred spirit stones.
The moment the *Myriad Waters True Scripture: Qi Refining Volume* appeared, the entire auction hall was in an uproar. Clearly, no one had expected the Treasure Pavilion to auction such a water-elemental technique in Mirror Moon Market City.
A thirty percent increase in magical power was generally considered the hallmark of a legacy technique belonging to a Foundation Establishment immortal clan.
Its circulation was strictly forbidden.
Even if a rogue cultivator were to grit their teeth and bid, they would be jointly suppressed by the Foundation Establishment immortal clans.
"Two thousand seven hundred spirit stones."
Everyone thought it was the Yun Clan bidding, but to their surprise, the bid came from the Yun Clan's arch-rival, the White Clan.
However, no one else followed up, including the Yun Clan.
Every clan had its own legacy technique, no worse than the *Myriad Waters True Scripture: Qi Refining Volume*. There was no need to spend such an exorbitant amount.
Unless a clan had the intention of branching out a lineage to cultivate water-elemental techniques.
Now that the White Clan had won this technique, it felt like a move aimed at the Yun Clan, because the White Clan's legacy technique was wood-elemental.
Now that they had acquired a high-level water-elemental technique, did it mean they still coveted Mirror Moon Lake?
The auction concluded.
Chen Jianghe then realized that the Foundation Establishment Ancestor from the Western Region had already left quietly. The other Foundation Establishment Ancestors from the various clans also seemed to have departed around that time.
After the White Clan's ninth-level Qi Refining expert paid the spirit stones and obtained the *Myriad Waters True Scripture: Qi Refining Volume*, he also left quickly.
It seemed he was worried about being targeted by the Yun Clan, and also perhaps wanted to find his own clan's ancestor.
Chen Jianghe, Yu Daniu, and Yun Xiaoniu followed the crowd out of the Treasure Pavilion.
The stars hung high in the clear night sky. It was already midnight.
"Someone from the Western Region dares to come to Mirror Moon Lake to bid for the Mountain Velvet Beast. They're truly courting death."
"I'm afraid that Mountain Velvet Beast won't make it out of the Eastern Region."
"The Foundation Establishment immortal clans of the Eastern Region really got a bargain this time. They have a chance to get a third-grade, low-tier bloodline Mountain Velvet Beast without spending a single spirit stone."
"That chance won't be so easy to get. I'm afraid people will die."
"Haha, in any case, that Foundation Establishment Ancestor from the Western Region won't be able to escape."
"..."
Chen Jianghe had no interest in listening to this. He bid farewell to Yu Daniu and left Mirror Moon Market City.
With matters weighing on his mind, he was eager to return home.