Chapter 482: Abnormal Bidding

As soon as the auction began, someone offered 150 top-quality spirit stones.
The bidder was an elderly man in the middle stage of the Yuan Ying realm. He chuckled and said, “As all fellow cultivators know, my famous magical artifact, the ‘Miao Hua Chessboard,’ is rather low in quality. Top-grade spirit treasures are no longer suitable for my current cultivation level. Yet, I have deep affection for it. That’s why I really want to get this ancient weapon refinement talisman.”
“Haha, Old He, if you want it, I want it too!”
A burly man with a red face shouted, “I’ll offer 200 spirit stones—I also want to upgrade my Li Jun Kuang Zhan!”
“250 spirit stones!” An old woman with white hair and a black veil slammed her staff on the ground forcefully. “My staff is even more difficult for me to part with.”
“300 spirit stones!”
“350 spirit stones!”
From the very start, the bidding prices kept rising. Su Che could tell that there were at least a dozen cultivators at the middle stage of the Yuan Ying realm who were highly interested in this talisman. Moreover, these bidders knew each other well—they would even explain to others which magical artifact they intended to upgrade.
This wasn’t surprising. On such a small cultivation planet, the total number of cultivators at or above the middle stage of the Yuan Ying realm wouldn’t exceed a hundred. It was only natural for them to know and be familiar with one another.
With successive bids, within just a few rounds, the price of the ancient weapon refinement talisman rose to 850 top-quality spirit stones. But from that point on, the bidding pace slowed down significantly.
Because soon, the price was about to reach 1,000. 1,000 top-quality spirit stones—even the leaders of super sects would find it a substantial amount and need to carefully consider whether it was worth it for such a one-time consumable.
Although it was an ancient rare treasure that could guarantee a 100% success rate in upgrading a magical artifact, one still had to consider whether they could afford the precious materials required for the upgrade. If not, holding such an expensive talisman that couldn’t be used for anything else would clearly be unprofitable…
“1,000 spirit stones!”
A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious robes finally pushed the bidding price over the 1,000 mark.
Immediately, someone said sourly, “The Phoenix Dance Eternal City truly has great financial strength.”
The middle-aged man, the “Lord of Eternal City,” smiled faintly and nodded slightly at the speaker. “Fellow cultivator He Lan, you’re too kind.”
“Hmph…”

The fair-skinned man known as “Helan Daofriend” sneered several times, his expression showing displeasure, for the 950 spirit stones he had just called out was already the limit he could bear. If it exceeded 1,000, he would have to withdraw from the bidding for the weapon-refining talisman.
The atmosphere in the arena temporarily froze; it seemed no one else wanted to raise the bid.
The host asked with a smile, “The price is now 1,000 spirit stones. Is there any other elder who wishes to bid?”
By rule, this question was asked three times, followed by a count of ten seconds. If still no one bid, the decision would be finalized.
“Is there any other elder who wishes to…”
When the host asked for the second time, someone shouted…
“1,200 spirit stones!”
It was naturally Su Che who made the bid. At such a critical moment, increasing the price by 200 at once was clearly meant to intimidate everyone—suggesting that if they continued to raise the bid by 50 each time, they wouldn’t even be qualified to compete with him.
Whoa!
Everyone’s gaze immediately turned to Su Che. The people in the arena had already been curious about this completely unknown late Yuan Ying stage cultivator, and now they were certain he was a wealthy newcomer from elsewhere.
The seemingly certain winner, the Lord of Nevernight City, changed his expression. After glancing at Su Che several times, he considered giving up on the bid but still felt unwilling to do so. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, “1,500 spirit stones!”
Since Su Che had increased the bid by 200 earlier, if he didn’t want to lose face, he had to raise it by at least 300 to show his generosity. If he won, he would get the treasure; if he lost, he wouldn’t lose face at all.
“2,000.”
Su Che’s expression remained calm, as if 2,000 high-quality spirit stones meant nothing to him.
Indeed, after obtaining dozens of spirit stone veins from the Witch Tribe’s primitive stars, not to mention high-quality spirit stones, even if he had to pay 2,000 of those legendary top-tier spirit stones at once, Su Che wouldn’t bat an eye.
2,000 high-quality spirit stones just to buy one weapon-refining talisman—what was this person thinking?
The Yuan Ying stage cultivators from Linlu Star looking at Su Che had strange expressions, seemingly implying he was a foolish spendthrift.
Unbeknownst to them, what they saw as a one-time expense held completely different significance in Su Che’s eyes. Even if he had to pay 20,000 high-quality spirit stones, he would still acquire it without hesitation.
At this moment, everyone present believed the fate of this ancient weapon-refining talisman had been decided—no one could be more foolish than Su Che. Yet…
“5,000 spirit stones!”

A clear voice suddenly rang out.
Huh?
Everyone’s gaze turned to a young, handsome man with an elegant demeanor.
Of course, he only appeared to be such a man; in reality, he was the leader of a sect that had existed for hundreds of years—the current head of the Supreme Sect, the Floating Divine Sect, the Lord of Qingyun.
“Brother Qingyun, are you talking about five thousand top-grade spirit stones?”
The Lord of the Eternal City emphasized the words “top-grade spirit stones,” and this question reflected everyone’s thoughts.
Increasing the amount to five thousand top-grade spirit stones at once was extremely strange and abnormal, surely arousing many suspicions.
“That’s right,” said the Lord of Qingyun with a calm smile. He tapped his own head and said to everyone, “I’m perfectly clear about what I’m doing. It’s simply because the true power of this ancient token far exceeds your imagination, so no matter what the cost, I must obtain it.”
After speaking, he turned to Su Che with a smile and said, “It’s obvious you’re also perceptive and understand the true value of this token. So, do you still intend to raise the price?”
Su Che nodded indifferently, but his mind was filled with doubts. He couldn’t help but ask Lao He, “For others, this token is just a one-time consumable. Could it be that he, like us, can extract its function as an upgraded magical artifact and turn it into a permanent skill?”
“I don’t know,” replied Lao He, also shrugging helplessly inside the Immortal Prison. “Maybe this token has other hidden functions, and only this Lord of Qingyun truly knows them.”
“Anyway, I must get this token!” Su Che resolved firmly. “I just don’t believe his spirit stones can exceed mine!”
“Ten thousand spirit stones!”
Su Che gently raised the bidding card in his hand and calmly announced this astonishingly high price.
Wow!
Even though these great cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage were all experienced rulers who had seen many things, they were still stunned by the figure of “ten thousand top-grade spirit stones.”
What kind of concept was ten thousand top-grade spirit stones?
To put it bluntly, even if a supreme sect could afford such a large amount of top-grade spirit stones, it would likely mean selling everything they had and going bankrupt.
What kind of treasure could be worth such a price?
They had seen ancient tokens before, and no matter how miraculous their effects might be, they shouldn’t be this extreme.
Could it be that everyone had misjudged it? Was it not just an ordinary ancient token?

Or perhaps both the Patriarch of Qingyun Sect and that mysterious person are just here to cause trouble, acting out a drama—pure nonsense. They certainly can’t produce that many top-quality spirit stones…
“Ten thousand top-quality spirit stones? Whether they can come up with that amount is still uncertain. Do we think we’re fools?”
Immediately, someone spoke coldly, expressing this doubt, which also reflected the thoughts of most people in the room.
“No problem.”
Facing everyone’s skepticism, Su Che smiled and nodded, then waved his hand gently…
Whoosh!
A sky full of starlight appeared before everyone’s eyes, only to vanish just as quickly.
It was fleeting, but it was enough!
Most of those present had advanced cultivation levels beyond the Yuan Ying stage. Through their spiritual senses, they could tell that the starlight Su Che had released was the brilliance of tens of thousands of top-quality spirit stones.
Though it was just for a moment, they were certain it wasn’t an illusion but indeed tens of thousands of top-quality spirit stones.
Su Che tilted his head at them, his eyebrows slightly raised, asking through his expression if they had any more questions.
They say one shouldn’t show off wealth, but Su Che was skilled and bold, unafraid at all. Just a mere cultivation planet—if you anger me, I’ll relocate all of you!
In Lao Hei’s words: It will increase the population of the Immortal Prison World, and soon, more Shadow Cultivators will die every day…
“He really can produce that many top-quality spirit stones!”
As a result, the way those present looked at Su Che changed significantly. Leaving aside those with greedy and malicious intentions, even the more benevolent gazes showed that he was indeed a powerful figure with great wealth. But was he here to show off on our Linlu Planet?
However, before they could recover from the shock of the previous dazzling starlight, they saw another even more brilliant display.
Whoosh!
The handsome Patriarch of Qingyun Sect also raised his hand, releasing an even larger area of colorful light—clearly representing an even greater number of top-quality spirit stones. The sheer quantity was so vast that even the powerful spiritual senses of those at the later stages of Yuan Ying couldn’t calculate the exact number in an instant.
“Twenty thousand!”
The Patriarch of Qingyun Sect laughed and said, “Don’t forget, this isn’t a performance—it’s a bidding contest to win treasures. It’s more important to finalize the deal quickly. I’ll bid twenty thousand!”
Though he was smiling, the expressions of several other Yuan Ying cultivators who were also leaders of powerful sects suddenly turned serious.

Among the super sects in the cultivation world of Linlu Star, everyone knows each other well and is certain that the Piaomiao Huashen Sect could never be so wealthy—there’s no way they could casually spend hundreds of thousands of high-grade spirit stones. A super sect might be able to afford trillions of low-grade spirit stones, but certainly not hundreds of thousands of high-grade ones. In fact, even if all the cultivators on Linlu Star pooled their efforts, it wouldn’t be easy to gather that much high-grade spirit stone in a short time. So, what was seen just now is extremely abnormal! Since it’s abnormal, it means that something major is about to happen today—perhaps even something significant for the entire cultivation world of Linlu Star. The people present are all wise and intelligent, capable of deducing many things from even the slightest clues. In short, what’s happening here is by no means as simple as bidding on a treasure…