The Auction’s Grand Finale: Beauty, Riches, and Ice Jade

Time swiftly advanced to the day of the auction.

Bing Yingying, her arm linked with Xia Yi’s, presented their invitation and was then led by a maid to their private viewing box.

Given Xia Yi’s esteemed status as a first-rank guest elder, their box was adorned with the utmost luxury, boasting every conceivable amenity and more.

After Bing Yingying, a dark expression clouding her face, dismissed the dozen or so scantily clad maids from the box, the auction officially commenced.

“Welcome, esteemed guests, to today’s Myriad Treasure Pavilion auction. I shall not waste your time with further pleasantries. Let the bidding begin!”

With a decisive command from the elderly auctioneer on the dais, the first item of the auction was unveiled.

It was, surprisingly, a colossal egg, nearly half a person’s height.

As introduced by the auctioneer, this gargantuan egg belonged to a Tier 4 Demonic Beast: the Swift Gale Roc.

The Swift Gale Roc was a formidable Tier 4 Demonic Beast, renowned for its impressive flight speed and considerable power.

It made for an excellent mount.

The Myriad Treasure Pavilion’s auctions in Azure Feather City typically drew cultivators of the Golden Core stage, though the majority were Foundation Establishment and Core Formation realm practitioners.

Presenting a Tier 4 Demonic Beast egg right from the start was clearly intended to ignite the atmosphere.

Neither Xia Yi nor Bing Yingying held any interest in the egg.

They reasoned that spending time nurturing a beast from scratch was less practical than investing that effort in their own cultivation.

“The starting bid is ten thousand spirit stones, with each subsequent bid not less than five hundred spirit stones. Let the bidding commence!”

“Twenty thousand spirit stones!”

“Twenty-five thousand…”

“Thirty thousand!…”

While Xia Yi and Bing Yingying remained uninterested, others certainly were.

Indeed, acquiring a mount that could both fight and flee offered a compelling advantage.

Before long, the Swift Gale Roc’s egg was claimed by someone in a private box for sixty-one thousand spirit stones.

Though this price was somewhat inflated for a Tier 4 Demonic Beast egg, it wasn’t excessively so.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere of the auction was utterly ignited by this sale.

Several subsequent items were successfully auctioned off at prices exceeding their initial valuations.

The Myriad Treasure Pavilion truly lived up to its name, presenting many items Xia Yi had never before encountered.

There were chickens that played basketball, eels skilled in elbow strikes, and even super-hundred-ton boulders capable of crushing people to death.

The primary appeal was its ‘all-encompassing’ nature, offering a bizarre assortment of goods, from cultivation techniques and elixirs to trinkets, toys, and even nearly-new personal puppets.

And invariably, these items fetched unexpected prices.

This prompted Xia Yi to muse on the ‘diversity of humanity’.

As time wore on, the auction swiftly approached its final five items.

It was then that Xia Yi’s two Beauty Enhancing Pills were presented.

“Ladies and gentlemen, these may very well be the most precious items offered today.

The formula for these two pills has long been lost; each consumed pill means one less in existence.

Ingesting this pill will bestow skin as smooth as congealed fat, restoring one’s visage to the peak of youthful beauty! Wrinkles and dullness will vanish overnight, bringing back the splendor of youth.

Many of you have surely guessed it—indeed, these are the long-lost Beauty Enhancing Pills!

Two Tier 3 Beauty Enhancing Pills, with a starting bid of fifty thousand spirit stones, and each subsequent bid not less than one thousand spirit stones!”

The moment the auctioneer uttered the name ‘Beauty Enhancing Pills,’ the hall erupted.

“What?! Tier 3 Beauty Enhancing Pills?!”

“I don’t care, you must buy them for me. Otherwise, don’t even think about getting into my bed ever again!”

“Ohohoho~ These Beauty Enhancing Pills are mine, I declare as your queen!”

…

The allure of pills that could beautify and restore youth was immense for female cultivators.

The women in the audience were determined to secure these two pills.

The price soared, reaching eighty thousand spirit stones and still climbing.

That two Tier 3 Beauty Enhancing Pills could command such an exorbitant price was beyond Xia Yi’s expectation.

Only now did he gain a comprehensive understanding of their value and the profound importance of beauty to women.

‘No wonder Master and Martial Aunt were so determined to acquire that Snow-Silver Ice Clam back then. So, beauty-enhancing properties are truly this valuable.’

While Xia Yi was still lost in contemplation, the female cultivators below were practically fighting tooth and nail.

Fueled by the auctioneer’s enthusiastic encouragement, the price surged directly to one hundred thousand spirit stones!

This amount was already comparable to all the spirit stones Xia Yi had previously possessed.

Recalling the Snow-Silver Ice Clam that Pei Yunxiang kept, which occasionally produced Beauty-Enhancing Nourishing Pearls, Xia Yi felt as if he saw a massive money tree beckoning to him.

“One hundred and ten thousand spirit stones, going once!”

“One hundred and ten thousand spirit stones, going twice!!”

“One hundred and ten thousand spirit stones, going thrice!! Sold! Congratulations to the distinguished guest in Box Number 3 for acquiring two Tier 3 Beauty Enhancing Pills!”

While Xia Yi was engrossed in his grand schemes for wealth, his two Tier 3 Beauty Enhancing Pills had already been auctioned off.

The two Tier 3 Beauty Enhancing Pills collectively sold for one hundred and ten thousand spirit stones, averaging fifty-five thousand spirit stones per pill.

This was nearly ten times the price of a typical Tier 3 elixir, even surpassing elixirs of the same tier that possessed pill纹 [TL Note: ‘Pill纹’ refers to the unique patterns or markings that appear on high-grade pills, indicating superior quality and efficacy].

This terrifying premium left Xia Yi gasping in awe, truly a frightful sight.

With the Beauty Enhancing Pills sold, one of the remaining four items was an Ice Jade Ink Lotus.

Though named an ‘Ink Lotus,’ the Ice Jade Ink Lotus was, in fact, a black ice jade in the shape of a lotus flower, a type of precious gemstone.

The Ice Jade Ink Lotus possessed the wondrous ability to soothe the spirit and stabilize the mind; for ice-attributed cultivators, prolonged wear could even solidify their ice spiritual energy.

Furthermore, it offered a chance to condense a ‘Black Jade Frost Seed,’ enabling ice-attributed cultivators to unleash Black Jade Frost, which was both harder and colder than ordinary ice.

It was akin to the ‘Heavenly Flames’ from a certain ‘Battle Through the Heavens,’ though of a slightly lower grade.

After hearing the auctioneer’s explanation, Xia Yi immediately recognized the Ice Jade Ink Lotus as a perfect fit for Bing Yingying.

Bing Yingying, who had been lounging in his embrace, now disregarded their ‘playful’ moments and sat upright, her attention fully captured.

The Ice Jade Ink Lotus began with a starting bid of sixty thousand spirit stones, with each increment not less than one thousand spirit stones.

Such a rare treasure naturally incited a frenzy of bidding among the auction attendees.

Barely after the bidding commenced, the price of the Ice Jade Ink Lotus was driven up to one hundred and twenty thousand spirit stones.

Witnessing this, Xia Yi’s brows furrowed slightly as he pressed the bell to summon a maid.

After whispering a few words to the maid who entered, Xia Yi produced several Tier 3 elixirs marked with pill纹 [TL Note: ‘Pill纹’ refers to the unique patterns or markings that appear on high-grade pills, indicating superior quality and efficacy].

The maid accepted the elixirs and departed the box, returning shortly with a ring brimming with spirit stones for Xia Yi.

Without hesitation, Xia Yi took the ring and placed it into Bing Yingying’s hand.

Bing Yingying, who had been gritting her teeth and matching bids, was suddenly handed a ring by Xia Yi. Their hearts being intertwined, she instantly understood her husband’s intention.

She swiftly pecked Xia Yi on the lips, then declared a decisive bid.

“One hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones, going once!”

“One hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones, going twice!!”

“One hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones, going thrice!! Sold! Congratulations to the distinguished guest in Box Number 1 for securing this Ice Jade Ink Lotus!!”

Box Number 1 was, indeed, their very own private viewing box.

Upon realizing she had secured the Ice Jade Ink Lotus, Bing Yingying excitedly embraced her beloved, who had provided crucial support in that pivotal moment.

“Husband, you’ve given all your spirit stones to me! What about your immortal vessel then?”

Amidst her excitement, Bing Yingying also worried if Xia Yi still had enough spirit stones left to commission his ideal private immortal vessel.

Hearing Bing Yingying’s worried words, Xia Yi merely smiled. He supported his wife’s rounded bottom, making it easier for her to cling to him as he spoke:

“Yingying, don’t fret. I merely sold some elixirs I wasn’t using for the moment. As for the spirit stones for the immortal vessel, I still have them set aside, so you needn’t worry.”