Just then, Yun Qingyan, holding her hand, raised it, and a black wooden tag fell into her palm. “Bid,” he said, already noticing the slight disappointment on Meng Qi’s face. He chuckled softly, “Add a hundred earth-grade spirit stones.”
“But I don’t have that many,” Meng Qi hurriedly said. “You don’t need this item, Sovereign Qingyan. Since I can’t afford the price, let’s skip it.”
“Do you want it?” Yun Qingyan ignored her argument and asked again.
“I definitely want it,” Meng Qi replied, “but there’s nothing I can do if I can’t afford it.”
Yun Qingyan held her hand, and a strand of spiritual sense separated from the wooden tag. Immediately, the auction host announced, “A Fellow Daoist has bid… five hundred earth-grade spirit stones.”
Meng Qi: “???”
Su Junmo deliberately averted his eyes, not daring to look at the two. If possible, he would like to cover his ears too. The black wooden tag was the Lord’s, and he was the one bidding. There was really no need for him to call Meng Qi over and hold her hand like this…
“I am blind and deaf, I am blind and deaf…” Su Junmo slowly exhaled, muttering wordlessly to himself. Anyway, Meng Qiqi will not suffer any loss!
The bidding for the jade slips had indeed escalated quickly when it was still within the profound-grade price range, but once it reached earth-grade, everyone became more cautious. After all, a hundred earth-grade spirit stones were not a small sum, even for these major sects.
Now, with Yun Qingyan’s bid, the price shot up to five hundred earth-grade spirit stones, briefly silencing the valley. The bid was made telepathically via spiritual sense, not vocally, leading many to guess that it might be someone from the Feng Alliance, known for their financial prowess.
Moments later, the bidding continued. “Two thousand earth-grade spirit stones,” Yun Qingyan bid again, still holding Meng Qi’s hand. The auction host immediately announced the new bid.
“Two thousand five hundred earth-grade spirit stones,” a voice came from another side of the valley. Meng Qi, familiar with medical sects, recognized the voice as Feng Alliance’s Xue Chuan. They really were wealthy, she thought.
“Three thousand,” Yun Qingyan continued, gently raising Meng Qi’s hand. The auction host announced the new bid; except for Feng Alliance, other sects seemed to have given up bidding.
“Sovereign Qingyan…” Meng Qi turned to Yun Qingyan, “Maybe we should stop.”
“It’s fine,” Yun Qingyan replied, his eyes slightly lowered, a faint light flickering in them.
“But…” Meng Qi frowned, “This jade slip is useless to you, and I am just a Nascent Soul cultivator and might be unable to utilize its function to the full. If it was one or two thousand profound-grade spirit stones, I could buy it myself, but the current price…”
“It’s fine,” Yun Qingyan said calmly, “The jade slip is also useful to me.”
“…” Su Junmo cursed himself. Why did he come to Beyond The Heaven now? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until after the auction?
“Really?” Meng Qi’s brows furrowed slightly as she looked at Yun Qingyan.
“Mm,” Yun Qingyan chuckled softly, reassuringly, “It really is useful.”
Meng Qi had never doubted Yun Qingyan, but even she couldn’t help but feel a bit skeptical. The Feng Alliance side was silent for quite a while before Xue Chuan’s voice rang out again: “Four thousand earth-grade spirit stones.”
Now, even the non medical sects were somewhat shocked. They hadn’t expected the most intense competition of the auction to be among the medical sects. Over the past ten thousand years, the development of medical sects had been far behind that of sword and spell sects.
“Five thousand earth-grade spirit stones,” the auction host announced almost immediately, “Someone bids for five thousand earth-grade spirit stones.”
This time, the silence from the Feng Alliance lasted even longer. Xue Chuan sat quietly in their courtyard, surrounded by leaders of the three clans that made the Feng Alliance. His eldest son, Xue Chengxuan, stood behind him, speaking softly, “Father, this bidder is bidding so quickly, they must be very confident. I’ve noticed that, beside us, there are six other medical sects invited to today’s auction. But this bidder doesn’t seem to belong to any of them.”
Following the catastrophe two thousand years ago, the Medical Society Alliance was established, leading to more frequent interactions and connections among the medical sects compared to other cultivation branches. Xue Chengxuan was familiar with the seven invited medical sects, several of which he knew very well. He quickly realized this persistent bidder was not one of them. The seven of them always vocally announced their bids, whereas this person had been bidding telepathically through the auction host.
Therefore, the bidder could either be one of the seven sects, trying to conceal their identity to quietly acquire the jade slip. After all, ‘A man is not guilty of carrying a gem, but he invites trouble by possessing it’ — with only seven medical sects in attendance, it would be easy to guess which two ultimately secured the jade slips.
However, Xue Chengxuan thought this possibility was small, given the high price. Even the wealthiest Feng Alliance was hesitant to bid higher. It was certain the remaining six sects could not compete with them.
The only other possibility was that the bidder was not one of the seven.
“We should give up on this one and compete for the next jade slip.” After a moment of contemplation, Xue Chengxuan suggested.
Xue Chuan hesitated briefly before nodding. He had always relied heavily on his son and trusted him immensely. In recent years, many affairs of the Xue clan were actually handled by Xue Chengxuan.
The valley quieted down again. The auction host smiled and said, “If there are no further bids, then… the first medical cultivator jade slip is sold for five thousand earth-grade spirit stones. Congratulations to the fellow daoist who has acquired this slip.” She paused, then continued, “Now, we will auction the second medical cultivator jade slip…”
Meng Qi was no longer listening closely. Yun Qingyan held her hand, and a strand of his spiritual sense marked the black wooden tag in her hand. Meng Qi knew this meant the auction was successful. If the buyer wanted to remain anonymous, they could directly use this spiritual mark to collect their purchased item from one of Beyond The Heaven’s many relay stations. It was safe and convenient.
Five thousand earth-grade spirit stones… Meng Qi couldn’t help but tremble inwardly. Just about a year ago, she was a small-time medical cultivator who couldn’t afford twenty eighth-grade spirit stones. Things have improved significantly since then. When she went to Tianhai Pavilion to buy a magical treasure, she felt quite wealthy. But now, she had experienced an auction where bids were made in the range of earth-grade spirit stones.
Meng Qi was in a daze, not even noticing that Yun Qingyan was still holding her hand.
“The opening of the Ten Absolutes Mountain is very close, so this time Beyond The Heaven will allow buyers to take these jade slips directly with them,” Yun Qingyan said, his eyelids slightly lowered.
“Mm,” Meng Qi nodded.
“But Meng Qi…” Yun Qingyan raised his eyes and looked straight at her. He was extremely handsome, with perfect features that seemed flawless. Dressed in a white robe and lazily leaning against a recliner, he appeared even more stunning. Meng Qi, already shaken by the recent events, found herself even more dazzled when meeting Yun Qingyan’s gaze.
For a moment, she couldn’t look away.
“Only the person who won the item, or their closest kin…” Yun Qingyan’s voice was slightly husky, “or their Dao companion can claim it away.”
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