Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 341 - Earth Essence

More than a hundred people were in the Heavenly Phase Realm, and an intense competition was about to unfold.

In addition to the Yu and Hou Clans, some medium-sized clans would also participate in the bidding.

Cultivators passing through Fan City would take advantage of this grand event. Seventh-grade demonic beasts were rare, and they could only be found in the deepest parts of the mountain range, which was dangerous, and no ordinary people would venture so deep.

"The starting price is one hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones, with a minimum increment of five thousand!" The exorbitant price instantly filtered out ninety percent of the attendees.

Those in the Heavenly Dipper Realm couldn't afford it, and those in the True Core Realm couldn't withstand the demonic aura even if given to them.

"110,000!"

"150,000!"

"200,000!" Bids were called, and the price was doubled in a split second, reaching two hundred thousand. The atmosphere was heated, and this place looked more like an auction now.

Each bid would be followed with applauses, and the price continued to climb.

"350,000!" A few breaths later, more people joined the bid, and the price soared. A seventh-grade demonic beast's actual value was 200,000 to 300,000 spirit stones.

The Scarlet Cloud Bull wasn't a rare demonic beast, with a value of at most 250,000 spirit stones. The current price was already one hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones above the market value, reaching its limit as bids began to decrease.

No one would spend another one hundred thousand spirit stones for a seventh-grade demonic beast unless they needed it urgently. Someone probably needed it to refine a pill, which was why the high price.

In the end, an elder from the Hou Clan bought the seventh-grade beast core, and Hou Chi even congratulated the elder.

Yu Chan was at a disadvantage in this round of bidding. When the beast core was removed, the demonic aura disappeared except for a faint smell of blood, almost undetectable.

The price of a beast core was close to all the items added together, and the bids would increase as the auction continued.

As more items were being sold, this aroused everyone's enthusiasm.

Furthermore, the price would continue to climb as the auction continued.

After the seventh-grade beast core, the next item threw the audience into a frenzy again.

"Coming up next is a xiantian treasure infused with powerful xiantian spirit. The starting bid is one hundred thousand spirit stones, with a minimum increment of five thousand."

The xiantian treasure corresponded with the Heavenly Phase Realm. It was also called treasure, but those in the Heavenly Dipper Realm could only forge ordinary spiritual treasure, and the spirituality wasn't high, barely capable of supporting human flight.

If someone in the Heavenly Phase Realm could gather enough xiantian spirit, they would be able to refine a xiantian treasure. The value of a xiantian treasure was also much higher than ordinary spiritual treasures.

Xiantian spirit was like an embryo that needed to be nurtured in the spiritual treasure before gaining its spirituality. It was also known as artifact spirit in the cultivation world, which was the true power of xiantian treasures.

Ordinary spiritual treasures were dead objects that required divine power to activate. However, once the xiantian spirit developed spirituality, it resembled a newborn baby becoming an artifact spirit capable of thinking independently.

One of the ten Immortal Emperors in the Celestial Realm was a manifestation of artifact spirit. After cultivating for tens of thousands of years and devouring other spirituality, it had slowly grown to become an Immortal Emperor.

Elder Tai took out a longsword and infused his divine sense into it. There was a white spot deep in the sword, which was an embryo that was still being nurtured.

By absorbing more spirituality, the embryo would gradually mature. This was to ensure the master of the artifact could use it more skillfully, and the artifact spirit could sense the master's next movement.

Many Heavenly Phase Realm experts who had missed the seventh-grade beast core showed regret on their faces, but the sudden appearance of the xiantian treasure made them excited.

Most Heavenly Phase Realm experts would forge their xiantian treasure, but some needed to gather more materials. If they could buy a ready-made one, it would save them a lot of time.

As for those who already had a xiantian treasure, it didn't matter because they could use the xiantian spirit in the longsword to nurture their xiantian treasure.

Liu Wuxie smiled bitterly because he wanted to buy this xiantian treasure. Even if there wasn't any Earth Essence, just extracting the spirituality in this xiantian treasure was plentiful enough.

"200,000!"

"250,000!" Elder Tai hadn't even announced the start of the bidding, but there were already people who couldn't wait any longer. The competition was even more intense than the seventh-grade beast core, with the price rising continuously, reaching 350,000 spirit stones.

"400,000!" a Yu Clan elder bid. Having missed out on the seventh-grade beast core earlier, he didn't want to miss this opportunity.

Perhaps to maintain the balance between the two clans, no one from the Hou Clan bid for the xiantian treasure. The Yu Clan's elder ultimately bought this longsword.

Liu Wuxie wanted to make a move several times but ultimately held back. A xiantian treasure was good, but it might not be compatible since he hadn't forged it.

The prices kept increasing for the remaining items, but those in the Heavenly Dipper and True Core Realms were practically ignored, becoming mere spectators.

In the early stages of the auction, most items were contested by the True Core and Heavenly Dipper Realms. The remaining items were contested by those in the Heavenly Dipper and Astral River Realms.

"The next item is somewhat special after selling the seventh-grade beast core and xiantian spirit. It's neither a pill, a beast core, nor a weapon. It's Earth Essence, and someone found it in an ancient tomb, entrusting it to our auction house to sell. There are about two thousand grains in total!"

Before Elder Tai could finish, Liu Wuxie had already leaned forward, unable to contain his excitement upon hearing about the Earth Essence.

The woman beside him clearly saw his movements. Since Liu Wuxie's appearance, the woman had found many unusual aspects about him because he didn't seem like someone in the sixth level of the True Core Realm.

"Earth Essence? Does it really exist? I’ve heard it can only be found in ancient tombs that are at least thousands of years old," the man on the left said with contempt. Earth Essence was so tough that not even someone in the Heavenly Phase Realm could refine it.

This was because Earth Essence contained powerful earth-attributed energy. It was especially useful for cultivators of earth-attributed cultivation techniques, enabling them to advance several levels in their cultivation.

"This is great! I have reached the eighth level in the Earth Origin Art. If I refine this Earth Essence, I can reach the highest level and the Heavenly Phase Realm!" a cultivator in the pinnacle Heavenly Dipper Realm said he was determined to buy it.

Many people also expressed their interest in participating in the bidding. Even those in the Heavenly Phase Realm weren't an exception because Earth Essence was useful for anyone who practiced an earth-attributed cultivation technique.

Not only could Earth Essence be used to forge weapons, but it could also be used to forge armors. Furthermore, they could even be infused into warships, making them indestructible.

Everyone had a different purpose for the Earth Essence, but their desire to buy was the same. The atmosphere was more heated than the auction for the seventh-grade beast core and xiantian treasure, pushing the auction to the peak.

"The starting price for Earth Essence is one hundred thousand spirit stones, with a minimum increment of ten thousand." Though the increment had doubled from five thousand to ten thousand, it ultimately didn't matter as only the final price counted.

"150,000!" The cultivator who practiced the Earth Origin Art called out.

"200,000!" Hou Chi was the second to bid. His cultivation technique was not related to earth element, but he believed his master could use it. Thus, he planned to buy it for his master.

Liu Wuxie felt anxious because he had underestimated the value of the Earth Essence. This was just the beginning, and the price had already soared to 200,000. This meant the final cost might reach a terrifying number.

"250,000!"

"300,000!" Hou Chi bid again. He was the grandson of Hou Clan's grand elder and an inner disciple of the Azure Crimson Gate. His status couldn't be measured with his cultivation. Just because something was beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators in the Heavenly Dipper Realm didn't mean it was beyond his.

The first bidder gave up because 300,000 spirit stones were his limit.

The Yu Clan remained silent. It was as Liu Wuxie had expected: few in the Heavenly Phase Realm were bidding for it because it wasn't beneficial for them, and most gave up after some time. They still had to save their spirit stones for the final item.

"310,000!" Liu Wuxie bid after a brief silence from the surroundings.

When he called out the bid, the woman on his right looked at him like she was looking at a madman. She couldn't tell what Liu Wuxie was thinking about spending 310,000 spirit stones for Earth Essence when he was still in the True Core Realm.

A xiantian treasure was priced at about three hundred thousand, the same price as two thousand grains of Earth Essence. However, if anyone learned that Liu Wuxie was spending so many spirit stones for forging a spiritual treasure, they would probably think he had gone insane.

After all, most people would instead buy one if they could afford it, and it was more worthwhile.

Not only the woman on his right but everyone in the auction hall looked at Liu Wuxie. Many people had reached their limit after buying one item, and even someone like Hou Chi hadn't dared to bid on the previous items, afraid he would run out of spirit stones.

Liu Wuxie instantly became the most dazzling presence in the auction house, spending five thousand on a piece of junk and two thousand for five talisman papers. These things didn't match his identity at all.

The fragment was acceptable, but it was weird for someone in the sixth-level True Core Realm to buy sixth-grade talisman papers.

"Is he insane? Does he think he can bid anyhow he likes in the auction house? He will be executed on the spot if he's found maliciously bidding." There were instances where auction houses hired people to raise the bid whenever it stagnated in the past.

After all, who would be so irrational to buy a useless fragment and five talisman papers in the True Core Realm?

"Hahaha! Let's see how he embarrasses himself. That's 310,000 spirit stones we're talking about, and many people in the Heavenly Phase Realm didn't even have this much wealth." Everyone gloated as they looked at Liu Wuxie, waiting to see him in trouble.

Yu Huai had killed many cultivators to gather more than four hundred thousand spirit stones. Not everyone could kill many people like Yu Huai in just over a year, and collecting so many spirit stones through normal means was impossible. Thus, it was understandable that everyone would think Liu Wuxie didn't have that many spirit stones on him.

Elder Tai looked at Liu Wuxie with suspicion, wondering if Liu Wuxie was hired by the auction house to bid maliciously. But he knew better than anyone that he didn't recognize Liu Wuxie.

"Brat, you dare compete with me for the Earth Essence? I'll let you know the meaning of death!" Hou Chi was enraged. It was fine if someone else competed with him, but it had to be Liu Wuxie.

"Young Master Hou, are you only capable of making useless threats?" Liu Wuxie wore a harmless smile, showing no regard for Hou Chi. As long as he could get the Earth Essence, he would be able to upgrade the Heretic Blade into a spiritual treasure, and no one could stop him from leaving then.