Chapter 24: The Auction

Thirty years had passed, and the greatest focus in the cultivation world now lay at Beast Peak. The news that Qu Yi was holding an auction for entry slots had long spread throughout the cultivation world. Undoubtedly, all cultivators were very interested in knowing how many spots from the ten major sects would go to the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion, and which powerful cultivators at the Tribulation stage from each sect would enter it.

By this time, Beast Peak was already surrounded by cultivators from the ten sects. They occupied positions in all ten directions, preventing cultivators from other parts of the cultivation world from flying to Beast Peak.

In a valley near Beast Peak, the cultivators at the Mahayana stage from the ten major sects had gathered, along with twenty powerful cultivators from each sect at the later stages of the Tribulation phase. In the ten directions at the center of the valley, the cultivators from Beast Peak had already set up seats, while a bidding platform had been built in the very center.

At that moment, Qu Yi stood alone on the bidding platform. Yes, as the thirty years expired, Qu Yi arrived at Beast Peak on time. The others inside the Dimensional Sphere had been sent out in batches five years ago to various places in the cultivation world. Now, only Qu Yi was left at Beast Peak.

The powerful cultivators from the ten sects at the Tribulation stage surrounded the bidding platform, watching Qu Yi and waiting for him to speak.

Outside the valley, three cultivators from each of the ten sects at the Mahayana stage stepped forward. They casually extended their palms, releasing their primal energies. Thirty streams of primal energy converged together, quickly forming a light gray spherical space that sealed off the cultivators from the ten sects and Qu Yi inside.

This was the Primal Seal—a self-contained space from which the cultivators could no longer escape, unless the spells they cast inside were stronger than the combined power of those thirty streams of primal energy.

Inside the Primal Seal space, each of the cultivators from the ten sects took out a bright and dazzling night pearl, instantly illuminating the entire space.

Seeing that the seal was in place, Qu Yi smiled and glanced at the powerful cultivators from the ten sects. He then took out three Eight-Directions Swords and waved them in front of everyone’s eyes to reassure the leaders of the ten major sects.

“Gentlemen, these three Eight-Directions Swords can carry twenty-four cultivators into the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion. I have already given three spots to Master Qinglong. Including my own spot, only twenty spots remain for auction,” Qu Yi introduced with a smile.

Whoa!

Immediately, Ta Ming from the Taiyuan Sect, Qing Xu from the Qingyun Sect, Lan Wei from the Lanyang Palace, Ying Hua from the Yingtian Sect, Jin Xiong from the Jinyang Sect, Bi Chi from the Biyan Peak, and Cang Huang from the Cangyang Valley—these seven sect leaders all turned their gazes toward Qinglong, filled with envy.

The Earth Dragon of Cliff of the Crescent Moon and the Water Dragon of Nine Palaces Island, along with the Green Dragon, all wore a faint smile. It turned out that the Green Dragon had already divided these three spots equally, with each of the three demon cultivation sects getting one.

Initially, the Green Dragon had told the Earth Dragon and the Water Dragon not to pursue Qu Yi, which won him Qu Yi’s favor. Therefore, they didn’t dare take all three spots for themselves and had to divide them equally.

Qu Yi paid no attention to the reactions of the sects’ strong members. Smiling, he continued, “The minimum bid for each spot is one Origin Stone, with the highest bidder winning. Once a spot is bid for, each sect should immediately send someone who wants to enter the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion to stand at the auction stage. As soon as the auction ends, everyone will be teleported together into the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion.”

All the cultivators understood these instructions. After hearing them, they all agreed and urged Qu Yi to start the auction immediately.

Without delay, Qu Yi declared, “The first spot—bidding begins now!”

As soon as he spoke, Tai Ming, the leader of the Taiyuan Sect, immediately bid, “One Golden Press Stone!”

The Golden Press Stone, like the Sharp Gold Stone that Qu Yi had obtained, was also an Origin Stone of the metal element, containing metal-origin energy.

As soon as Tai Ming bid, Qing Xu, Lan Wei, and Ying Hua simply sat there smiling, showing no intention of bidding.

Jin Yang Sect, the leading sect in demon cultivation, whose leader Jin Xiong saw Tai Ming take the lead, quickly bid in response, “One Golden Press Stone, plus ten thousand top-grade spirit stones.”

Jin Yang Sect also focused on metal-based cultivation techniques and had some Origin Stones of the metal element in storage. They bid for the Golden Press Stone as well. As for those ten thousand top-grade spirit stones, they were a trivial amount for the ten major sects present—after all, these sects spanned the entire cultivation world and possessed countless top-grade spirit stones.

As soon as Jin Xiong finished bidding, Qing Xu from the Qingyun Sect immediately called out, “Two Wood Wheel Stones!”

Before his words faded, Bi Chi from the Biyan Peak raised his voice even higher, “Two Fire Soar Stones, plus fifty thousand top-grade spirit stones!”

Both the Wood Wheel Stones and the Fire Soar Stones were Origin Stones containing wood-origin energy and fire-origin energy, respectively.

Qu Yi listened smilingly and quickly understood—the four cultivation sects had united, just as the three demon cultivation sects had united, to compete for these twenty spots.

“Let them fight. The fiercer the competition, the more I’ll gain,” Qu Yi thought to himself.

Sure enough, as soon as Bi Chi finished speaking, Lan Wei from the Lanyang Palace loudly bid, “Three Fire Soar Stones!”

At this moment, the three demon cultivators’ sects, which had also reached a joint agreement, could no longer sit idly and watch the performances of the cultivation and demon cultivation sects.
Qinglong, the leader of Bai Shou Peak, roared, “Four Wood Origin Stones!”
As soon as he spoke, four Wood Element Origin Stones appeared—Qinglong truly showed his boldness.
The addition of the three demon cultivators’ sects undoubtedly heightened the atmosphere even further. No one would give up easily to secure the first spot.
Qu Yi listened with a smile the whole time.
After what seemed like a long time, with the cultivation, demon cultivation, and demon cultivators constantly bidding, a decision was finally made.
Tai Yuan Sect obtained the first spot in exchange for ten Gold Element Origin Stones.
Immediately, under everyone’s gaze, a powerful cultivator from Tai Yuan Sect named Shan Cong stepped out of their seating area, went to the auction stage, and looked down at the cultivators from other sects with pride.
Tai Ming was very happy that his sect had gotten the first spot, despite the high cost. The cultivators from other sects, though not smiling, weren’t upset either about Tai Yuan Sect getting the first spot.
There were still nineteen spots left, so there was still a chance.
Qu Yi took the ten Origin Stones sent by Tai Ming and immediately stored them in his space ring before smiling and saying, “With such fierce competition, I’m quite pleased. Next, the auction for the second spot—bidding begins!”
Qu Yi, who had thought the second round would be even more intense, felt an unusual atmosphere in the room as soon as he finished speaking. The cultivators from the ten sects were eerily quiet, sitting motionless like stones.
The leaders of the ten sects were communicating through their spiritual senses.
No one responded for a long time. Qu Yi chuckled, realizing that the sect leaders had already started secret negotiations. He wasn’t too worried.
According to Qu Yi’s original plan, with twenty spots, obtaining just twenty Origin Stones would be sufficient for him.
He immediately began communicating with the Spirit of the Artifact.
“Spirit of the Artifact, it seems these ten sects are negotiating. It seems getting more Origin Stones from them this time won’t be enough.”

“It’s already a miracle to find a hundred Origin Stones in the cultivation world; you don’t need to be too greedy. I’m letting you exchange your quota for Origin Stones to prepare you for breaking through to the Mahayana stage. Although you already have five types of Origin Stones, it’s still not enough. After all, you practice all five elements, and to fully transform into an Origin Body in the future, you’ll need a great deal of Origin energy. With these Origin Stones, the transformation process will speed up significantly.”

“I see. So you’re thinking about my future.”

While Qu Yi was communicating with the Spirit of the Artifact God, the leaders of the ten major sects had already reached an agreement.

“Two Wood Wheel Stones!” Qing Xu from the Qingyun Sect suddenly called out.

After Qing Xu spoke, the leaders of the other sects remained silent, smiling at Qu Yi. Clearly, the quota had already been decided among the ten sects, to be taken by the Qingyun Sect.

Qu Yi didn’t point this out. After a while with no one raising their bid, he said with a smile, “Since only Master Qing Xu has bid, the second quota naturally goes to the Qingyun Sect. Please ask the fellow from the Qingyun Sect who wants to enter the Haotian Immortal Mansion to come to the auction stage.”

With that, a powerful cultivator from the Qingyun Sect named Bi Li, who was in the later stage of the Tribulation Phase, flew up to the auction stage and stood beside Shan Cong, who was already there, smiling at the people around.

Qu Yi calmly took the two Wood Wheel Stones thrown by Qing Xu.

Then, he continued with the auction for the remaining eighteen quotas.

As expected, the ten sects had already secretly allocated these remaining quotas, each bidding with two Origin Stones, after which the other sects stopped bidding.

Although Qu Yi knew the ten sects had made this arrangement, he remained unfazed and continued to host the auction calmly. In the end, after all twenty quotas were auctioned off, a total of forty Origin Stones were obtained: 24 Gold Element Origin Stones, 6 Wood Element Origin Stones, 6 Water Element Origin Stones, 6 Fire Element Origin Stones, and 6 Earth Element Origin Stones.

Among the twenty people from the ten sects who came to the auction stage were three from the Taiyuan Sect, two from the Qingyun Sect, one from the Lanyang Palace, two from the Yingtian Sect, three from the Jinyang Sect, one from the Biyan Peak, one from the Cangyang Valley, one from the Bai Shou Peak, three from the Xianyue Cliff, and three from the Jiugong Island.

The five sects that didn’t obtain the Eight Directions Sword—Taiyuan Sect, Lanyang Palace, Jinyang Sect, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island—had their five leaders personally fly up to the auction stage after bidding for a quota. All five of them also wanted to enter the Haotian Immortal Mansion.

Even the leaders of the other sects that obtained the Eight Directions Sword wanted to enter the Haotian Immortal Mansion themselves.

At this moment, Qu Yi had already gathered all the Origin Stones. Then, he looked at all the powerful cultivators in the Tribulation stage on the auction stage and smiled.
“Gentlemen, since the auction is over, let’s follow our earlier agreement. Now, take out the eight Directional Swords and activate them together to trigger the Sensing Array of the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion, so as to transport us there,” Qu Yi said with a calm smile.
Suddenly, Tai Ming shouted, “Wait! There are not just the three people on the stage from our Taiyuan Sect who will enter the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion; there’s one more spot available.”