Chapter 91: Auction Storm

The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, the largest auction house in the Ancient City of Green Wood, is located in the very center of the city. It is a magnificent nine-story building shaped like a pagoda, constructed entirely from warm, moist spirit jade and ten-thousand-year-old iron-core wood. It is resplendent with flowing light and possesses an extraordinary air of grandeur. Today, it has become the focal point of attention for the entire Green Wood Continent and even the surrounding regions.

Relying on the token of a manager from the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, Lin Xuan entered directly into the third-floor private box reserved for him. The interior of the box was elegantly furnished and equipped with an array to isolate spiritual sense probing. From within, one could clearly see the massive circular auction stage below, as well as the surrounding layers of ordinary seats filled with cultivators. The place was bustling with noise, and the atmosphere was fervent.

His spiritual sense swept lightly across the entire venue, and he could clearly feel dozens of powerful auras hidden in various private boxes. Among them were many in the late Nascent Soul stage and even at the peak. There were even a few obscure and profound auras that made him feel a faint, intangible pressure, presumably Nascent Soul cultivators who sat in charge of this city or old monsters passing through.

"It really has attracted quite a few monsters and demons," Lin Xuan thought to himself, sitting down calmly to wait for the auction to begin.

Before long, a female cultivator wearing a magnificent palace dress, with a charming appearance and a naturally alluring gaze, walked gracefully onto the auction stage. Her cultivation base was clearly at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. She was the gold-medal auctioneer of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion—Yun Yao.

"Welcome, fellow Daoists, to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion auction. I am Yun Yao, and I have the honor of hosting today's grand event." Yun Yao's voice was soft and beautiful, yet it carried a strange penetrating power that clearly reached every corner of the venue. The originally noisy hall immediately quieted down significantly.

She did not engage in much small talk and went straight to the point. The first few auction items were mostly rare spirit herbs, high-grade talismans, and decent magic treasures, which drew the cultivators below to compete, gradually heating up the atmosphere. But for most of the distinguished guests in the private boxes, these were merely appetizers.

Lin Xuan waited patiently, his goal clear—the Star-Purifying Lotus, and that piece of "unknown star iron" that had stirred a response within him.

Finally, when the auction reached its midpoint, a spirit plant sealed in a transparent cold jade box was presented. Its entire body was as crystalline as glaze, its branches and leaves showing a dreamy silver-blue color. In the center, it held a lotus flower on the verge of blooming, with specks of starlight flowing on its petals, as if a miniature starry sky were sealed within it. It was exactly the five-hundred-year-old Star-Purifying Lotus!

"The next item, a five-hundred-year-old Star-Purifying Lotus!" Yun Yao's voice carried a hint of incitement. "This lotus grows in a forbidden land where star power and wood spirit energy converge. It contains pure star origin, can cleanse foreign star power, purify the soul, stabilize the Dao foundation, and is even a main ingredient for refining various high-grade elixirs! The starting price is five thousand mid-grade spirit stones, with each increment no less than five hundred!"

As soon as her voice fell, bids rang out one after another.

"Five thousand five!"

"Six thousand!"

"Seven thousand!"

The Star-Purifying Lotus had unique effects. For cultivators who needed to expel foreign star power from their bodies or practiced star-type techniques, it was a rare treasure. The price climbed rapidly, soon breaking the barrier of ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones, and it continued to rise.

Lin Xuan did not rush to make a move. It was not until the price soared to eighteen thousand mid-grade spirit stones and the bidding voices began to thin out that he spoke indifferently: "Twenty thousand."

Jumping directly from eighteen thousand to twenty thousand showed his determination to win. The venue went quiet for a moment, and many gazes were cast toward this private box on the third floor.

"The fellow Daoist in private box A-3 bids twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones! Is there any higher?" Yun Yao's beautiful eyes shifted, looking toward the other private boxes that had been bidding earlier.

After a moment of silence, a feminine voice came from the opposite private box, B-6: "Twenty-one thousand."

It was someone from the Zhao family! Lin Xuan's spiritual sense keenly captured the aura coming from that box, which was of the same origin as Zhao Song, who had ambushed him earlier, and it was even purer and more robust. Clearly, it was a direct descendant of the Zhao family.

"Twenty-five thousand." Lin Xuan increased the bid again, his tone without the slightest fluctuation.

This price had already slightly exceeded the conventional market price of the Star-Purifying Lotus, and a low murmur of shock rippled through the venue.

Private box B-6 was silent for a moment, and that feminine voice spoke again, carrying a hint of coldness: "It seems the fellow Daoist is determined to have this item? Very well, I shall yield it to you. I hope the fellow Daoist... uses it well."

The implied threat in these words was self-evident.

Lin Xuan acted as if he had not heard.

In the end, the Star-Purifying Lotus was won by Lin Xuan for the price of twenty-five thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Soon, a maidservant respectfully delivered the cold jade box containing the Star-Purifying Lotus into the private box. Lin Xuan paid the spirit stones, checked that everything was correct, and carefully put it away. With this item, the residual star power in Feng Xi's body could finally be expelled.

The auction continued, and several more sensational treasures appeared. There was even a damaged low-grade spirit treasure-level flying sword that sold for the sky-high price of one hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones, pushing the atmosphere to a climax.

Lin Xuan waited patiently until the auction was nearing its end, when Yun Yao ordered someone to bring up a tray covered with a red cloth.

"Fellow Daoists, next is one of the final three grand finale items of this auction!" Yun Yao lifted the red cloth, revealing a piece of peculiar metal about the size of a washbasin, dark and dull, its surface covered with irregular holes as if it had been struck by a meteorite. It looked unremarkable, even somewhat ugly, but the moment it appeared, an extremely subtle yet strange fluctuation that seemed capable of triggering a resonance with the stars of the heavens quietly permeated the air.

It was exactly that piece of unknown star iron!

In the private box, Lin Xuan's pupils contracted slightly. It was not because of the appearance of this star iron, but because the moment it appeared, the Chaos Dao Seed fused with the star core in his dantian uncontrollably trembled slightly, sending out a strong sense of longing and resonance! This feeling was even a hint stronger than when he had first encountered the star core!

"This item was obtained by a senior of our pavilion from the ruins of an ancient starry sky battlefield. Its texture is indestructible; even a Soul Transformation cultivator would find it difficult to leave a mark on it. It contains strange star power, but its nature is unknown, its use is unclear, and our pavilion's appraisers cannot determine its specific grade or origin," Yun Yao introduced. "The starting price is eight thousand mid-grade spirit stones, with each increment no less than one thousand."

A brief silence fell over the venue. An unknown metal with an unclear purpose, yet with such a high starting price, made many cultivators shrink back. After all, not everyone was willing to spend a large sum of money to buy a piece of "scrap iron" that might be completely useless.

However, for certain cultivators who specialized in artifact refining or were sensitive to star power, this item held no small attraction.

"Nine thousand!" An aged voice came from a second-floor private box.

"Ten thousand!" Another voice rang out.

The bidding proceeded slowly, and not many people participated.

Lin Xuan knew he had to make a move. This item was crucial to him; it might be related to the inheritance of the Primordial Dao Ancestor, or even the further evolution of the Chaos Dao Seed!

"Twenty thousand." He once again quoted a doubled price.

This price made the few cultivators who were originally bidding hesitate.

But just then, that feminine voice sounded again from private box B-6: "Thirty thousand."

An increase of ten thousand directly! It was clearly a deliberate attempt to argue and retaliate for Lin Xuan taking the Star-Purifying Lotus earlier.

The crowd in the venue immediately became interested; it seemed there was a good show to watch.

Lin Xuan's eyes were slightly cold. The people of the Zhao family were indeed like maggots on the tarsal bone.

"Fifty thousand." His tone was flat, as if he hadn't thrown out fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones, but five stones.

"Sixty thousand!" The Zhao family's box followed closely.

"One hundred thousand." Lin Xuan doubled it again.

"Hiss—" A collective gasp of cold air sounded throughout the venue. One hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones to buy an unknown piece of metal? This was simply crazy!

The Zhao family's box was also silent for a moment, and that feminine voice carried a hint of annoyance: "One hundred and ten thousand! Fellow Daoist, leave a margin in all things so that we may meet again in the future!"

"One hundred and fifty thousand." Lin Xuan ignored the other party's threat entirely.

"You!" A suppressed angry snort came from private box B-6, but in the end, they did not raise the bid again. One hundred and fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones, even for a direct descendant of the Zhao family, was a huge sum. To spend it out of spite to buy an unknown object was not worth the loss.

"Private box A-3, one hundred and fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones! Sold!" Yun Yao's gavel fell faster than usual, and her beautiful eyes looked toward the private box where Lin Xuan was with a hint of astonishment.

This unknown star iron, which no one had been optimistic about, finally fell into Lin Xuan's hands for the astonishing sky-high price of one hundred and fifty thousand.

When the maidservant delivered the heavy star iron into the private box, Lin Xuan could clearly feel the joy and excitement coming from the Chaos Dao Seed. He paid the spirit stones and waved his hand to store the star iron in his dust ring, not studying it on the spot.

The auction ended, and Lin Xuan left the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion calmly under the gaze of countless curious, probing, and even greedy eyes.

He knew that his "lavish spending" at the auction today, especially the act of buying the unknown star iron at a sky-high price at the end, would inevitably attract more attention. The Zhao family, the Shadow Pavilion, the Star Palace, and other forces hidden in the dark would likely focus their eyes on him, this "Mu Xuan."

But he was fearless.

Returning to the inn where he was staying, Lin Xuan immediately set up heavy restrictions. He first took out the Star-Purifying Lotus and, using it as the main ingredient along with several other auxiliary spirit materials, refined a furnace of "Star-Purifying Elixirs." With his current cultivation and alchemy attainments, refining this elixir was not difficult.

The elixirs took shape, totaling three pills, each the size of a dragon's eye, silver-blue throughout, emitting pure starlight and a refreshing medicinal fragrance. Lin Xuan sent them into his cave-heaven magic treasure and fed them to Feng Xi, who was still sleeping and healing. The elixir melted upon contact, and the pure medicinal power began to gently dispel the tyrannical star power remaining in her body.

After doing all this, Lin Xuan solemnly took out that piece of unknown star iron.

Observing it at close range, he could feel its extraordinariness even more. Beneath the dark surface, it seemed as if countless star rivers were flowing, and those irregular holes, upon closer inspection, actually faintly formed a fragmented, vast star map! An ancient, desolate, and even slightly sorrowful intent faintly radiated from within it.

Lin Xuan tried to inject a trace of chaotic spiritual power into it.

Hum—!

The star iron suddenly shook, and the holes on its surface suddenly lit up, projecting countless fine rays of light that intertwined and combined in front of Lin Xuan, finally forming a fragmented yet infinitely profound three-dimensional star map! The star map rotated slowly, and one of the dim stars within it produced a strong resonance with the Chaos Dao Seed in his dantian!

At the same time, a massive, chaotic stream of information flowed along his spiritual power and forcibly surged into his sea of consciousness!

"This is... coordinates? And... a fragmented artifact-refining method? No, it's more like... some kind of... inheritance guide?"

Lin Xuan gave a muffled groan, exerting his soul power to the fullest to digest this torrent of information. He vaguely saw a scene: in a broken starry sky, an ancient, dilapidated palace constructed of stars was floating in the void...

He did not know how much time had passed before the light of the star iron slowly faded, returning to its previous dullness. And in Lin Xuan's sea of consciousness, there was now a vague coordinate pointing to the distant starry sky, as well as a fragmented body-refining method titled "Star Body-Forging Art" that seemed incomplete.

"This piece of star iron... really has a great origin! Is the place it points to another inheritance site left by the Primordial Dao Ancestor? Or a secret realm related to the Star Palace?" Lin Xuan's heart was shaken; he felt as if he had touched upon a huge secret.

However, just as his mind was surging with emotion, outside the inn, several powerful auras rose suddenly like smoke signals in the dark night, locking the entire inn firmly in place!

The killing intent had descended once again!