Chapter 60

Walking slowly along the street, Qin Fengming had no particular destination in mind. Unconsciously, he found himself at the entrance of an auction house. ……www..com……

The auction at Huangque Mountain lasted for three days, with an auction held each day. However, the two top-tier magical artifacts would only appear on the last day.

It was still early today, and many cultivators were entering the auction house one after another.

Qin Fengming was not particularly interested in the auction. He had only come to broaden his horizons. However, if he encountered something he liked, he would not hesitate to bid. After a brief thought, he stepped inside.

The auction house was a vast hall, with a diameter of about thirty to forty zhang. There were rows of cushions on the floor, numbering in the hundreds. At the front was a wooden platform about one zhang high, with a long table half a zhang high placed on it.

At this moment, quite a few cultivators were already seated in the hall, all at the Qi Gathering stage. Many of them, like him, had their faces covered with black veils. The auction had not yet started, and some familiar cultivators were whispering to each other.

Qin Fengming, attending for the first time, sat in a secluded corner. More cultivators continued to enter.

After more than half an hour, a door behind the platform slowly opened, and one man and two women walked out. The man was about sixty years old, and his cultivation was at the Great Perfection stage of Qi Gathering. The two women were in their twenties, with beautiful appearances, but their cultivation was only at the fourth layer of Qi Gathering.

Each woman held a jade box in her hands, covering something inside. The old man approached the long table, scanned the crowd, and with a relaxed expression, cleared his throat and said:

"Welcome, fellow daoists, to our auction. I will be the host today. Some of you may recognize me; I am You Chang, and I have been serving in this auction house for over thirty years. Whether you are attending for the first time or have attended before, the auction rules remain the same: the highest bidder wins. If you don't have enough spirit stones, you can use other items as collateral, but the items must be appraised by our appraisers, and we do not accept unreasonable prices."

"Enough talk. Let's start with the first item: a first-stage demon beast pangolin's front claws. These claws are excellent materials for crafting magical artifacts." The old man, You Chang, was very experienced and did not hesitate, immediately starting the auction of the first item.

As he spoke, one of the women stepped forward, pulled off the silk cloth, and opened the jade box, revealing a pair of black claws inside.

"The starting price for this item is forty low-grade spirit stones. Fellow daoists, you can now bid."

A first-stage demon beast pangolin was rare in Liang Kingdom, but with some effort, it could still be found. A starting price of forty spirit stones was not unreasonable.

At this moment, a few people began to bid, but only a few. In the end, one person won the bid with sixty-five spirit stones.

The old man did not pause for long, cleared his throat, and continued:

"The second item for auction is a supreme material for crafting magical artifacts: Phoenix Tail Stone. This stone contains an extremely large amount of fire energy, making it perfect for crafting fire-attribute magical artifacts. It provides a bonus for fire-attribute cultivators. The starting price is sixty spirit stones." Another woman stepped forward, opened the jade box, and revealed a fiery red mineral inside.

Qin Fengming knew about the Phoenix Tail Stone. It was indeed excellent for crafting fire-attribute magical artifacts and provided a bonus for fire-attribute cultivators. However, this material held no interest for him.

This time, more people bid, all of them fire-attribute cultivators. Qin Fengming had no intention of bidding. He had come to sell items, not to buy. Of course, if he found something he liked, he would not hesitate to bid.

After a tense bidding process, the Phoenix Tail Stone was finally won by a cultivator with a black veil for ninety-two spirit stones.

Several more items were auctioned off in this manner. By now, Qin Fengming had a good understanding of the auction process. Seeing that it was not too early, he stood up and walked towards an auction house manager.

"May I ask what you need help with, fellow daoist?" The manager, surprised to see Qin Fengming approach, asked.

"I have a magical artifact that I would like to auction through your esteemed auction house. I wonder if your house would be willing to accept it?"

Hearing this, the manager was delighted and quickly said, "Please follow me to another room for detailed discussion."

He led Qin Fengming into a small parlor, where there was a tea table and four chairs. After they sat down, a young girl came in to serve tea.

After the girl left, the manager asked, "May I ask what kind of magical artifact you wish to auction? If the quality is below that of a high-grade magical artifact, our auction house will not accept it."

Qin Fengming chuckled but did not answer. He placed a stone box on the tea table, flicked his finger, and the lid of the stone box opened, revealing a two-inch-long small sword inside, shimmering with both green and purple light.

Seeing the small sword, the manager was taken aback. He had worked in the auction house for many years and had seen countless high-grade magical artifacts. Just by looking at the small sword, he knew it was extraordinary. He picked up the small sword, infused it with a bit of spiritual energy, and saw it instantly grow to over three feet long, with a sword tip that flickered with sword light. The small sword seemed to want to fly away, jumping in his hand.

After examining it, he placed the small sword back in the stone box and stood up, saying, "Please wait a moment, fellow daoist. I will bring an appraiser to appraise it." He then left through another door.

After a short while, the manager returned with an old man, introducing him: "This is Elder Wang, our chief appraiser. He has been appraising for several decades and has never made a mistake. He has appraised countless magical artifacts."

The old man nodded at Qin Fengming but did not speak. He walked straight to the tea table, picked up the small sword, and examined it carefully. As he examined it, he seemed deep in thought, occasionally shaking his head. The young man, seeing this, became somewhat nervous, even more anxious than Qin Fengming.

After a moment, he put down the small sword and said to Qin Fengming, "I cannot determine the origin of this sword, but I can confirm that it is an excellent high-grade magical artifact. If the materials were even better, it could have been a top-tier magical artifact. It is truly a pity."

"May I ask what starting price you plan to set for the auction?" Elder Wang asked.

"Three hundred low-grade spirit stones," Qin Fengming replied without hesitation.

Hearing this, the old man hesitated for a moment and then nodded, saying, "Very well, as you wish. Our auction house will accept this item, but after the auction, you will need to pay a ten percent handling fee."

Qin Fengming chuckled and said, "That is reasonable. I will wait for good news."

The old man and the young man happily put away the stone box and left the small parlor.

Qin Fengming returned to the main auction hall, sat in the corner, and closed his eyes to rest.

After two more items were auctioned off, suddenly, a woman walked up to the platform from the back and whispered something to the old man, You Chang, handing him a jade box. The crowd below began to murmur, wondering what had happened.