Chapter 293: Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation
The white shadowy figure stood gracefully on the auction stage, like a peerless enchantress. She infused her true qi into her voice, transforming it into sound waves that spread throughout the entire auction hall, saying: "White Gourd Fruit, starting bid, one thousand spirit crystals. Each bid must increase by no less than one hundred spirit crystals."
"One thousand two hundred spirit crystals!"
"One thousand five hundred spirit crystals!"
...
The martial artists in the auction hall continuously raised their crystal plaques, constantly refreshing the price.
Although the starting bid for the White Gourd Fruit was not high, there were many people who wanted to purchase it, and the competition was unprecedentedly fierce.
Any heavenly earthly essence that could enhance cultivation would mostly be snatched up by martial artists.
"The White Gourd Fruit, although said to be able to help an Earth Extreme Realm martial artist advance one realm, that is only theoretically possible and not absolutely certain," Si Xingkong said.
Zhang Ruochen nodded in agreement.
For example, Zhang Ruochen himself had taken a five-hundred-year-old Ice Domain Snow Lotus, yet he still found it very difficult to break through to the Earth Extreme Great Extreme Position.
Moreover, the White Gourd Fruit was only three hundred years old.
However, purchasing the White Gourd Fruit and giving it to Kong Xuan to consume would not be a bad idea.
Zhang Ruochen raised his plaque and called out: "Two thousand spirit crystals!"
"Two thousand one hundred spirit crystals!"
"Two thousand two hundred spirit crystals!"
The older generation of martial artists also joined in. Although the White Gourd Fruit was not very useful to them, they could buy it and give it to their younger juniors.
The White Gourd Fruit was different from a battle diagram.
If a battle diagram was given to a junior, they might think that obtaining it would make them invincible, which would instead increase their laziness and dependence on the diagram. The White Gourd Fruit, however, could enhance a martial artist's strength, which was the most practical benefit.
Spiritual fruits that could improve cultivation were rare and hard to come by.
The Commandery Prince of Minshu Commandery bid: "Five thousand spirit crystals."
Seeing this price, many people began to back down. After all, this price had already far exceeded the true value of the White Gourd Fruit.
Moreover, there was another reason: the bidder was the Minshu Commandery Prince.
In the Demon Ridge, there were not many who dared to offend the Minshu Commandery Prince.
"Forget it! The Minshu Commandery Prince himself is incredibly powerful, and he is also the junior disciple of the Taiqing Palace Master, Ye Huiyi. We can't afford to provoke him. There's no need to offend such a big shot for a White Gourd Fruit," Chang Qiqi advised.
Si Xingkong glanced at Zhang Ruochen and said: "I have a three-hundred-year-old Moon Spirit Jade Fruit, with medicinal power similar to the White Gourd Fruit. If you need it, junior brother, feel free to take it."
Zhang Ruochen was buying the White Gourd Fruit only to help Kong Xuan improve her cultivation. It was not absolutely necessary, and there was no need to offend the Minshu Commandery Prince for it.
"Alright! But the Moon Spirit Jade Fruit is after all senior brother's spiritual medicine. How can I take it for free? I'll also offer five thousand spirit crystals. What do you think, senior brother?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Si Xingkong lifted his wine gourd, took a sip, and said: "Whatever you want! Since you want to buy it, don't call me senior brother from now on. Five thousand spirit crystals doesn't seem like much. Fifty thousand spirit crystals, not one less, and I won't sell."
Zhang Ruochen smiled wryly. If he insisted on paying, it might anger Si Xingkong, which would hurt the bond between them as fellow disciples.
Thus, Zhang Ruochen accepted the Moon Spirit Jade Fruit that Si Xingkong handed over without spending a single spirit crystal.
As for the White Gourd Fruit on the auction stage, it was naturally purchased by the Minshu Commandery Prince.
The third auction item was a Spirit-level mid-grade blade technique. After fierce competition, it was eventually bought by someone from the Blood God Sect.
Bai Xuling began introducing the fourth auction item: "This is a set of formation flags refined by a fifth-rank formation master, called the 'Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation.' It consists of thirty-two formation flags. Once the formation is deployed, it can both attack and defend. When attacking, it has the power to kill a Heaven Extreme Small Extreme Position martial artist. When defending, it can withstand the attacks of a Heaven Extreme Great Extreme Position martial artist."
As soon as the words fell, a loud exclamation arose from below.
"This set of formation flags is comparable to a city-protecting grand formation."
"This set of formation flags is even more powerful than an ordinary city-protecting grand formation. It's definitely a good item. No matter how high the price, we must buy it."
"Our Helian Clan just lacks a clan-protecting grand formation. This set of 'Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation' flags is a must-have for us."
...
Seeing that the martial artists in the entire auction hall were attracted by the "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation" flags, Bai Xuling smiled slightly and continued: "The starting bid for this set of 'Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation' flags is eighty thousand spirit crystals. Each bid must increase by no less than one thousand spirit crystals. The bidding begins."
Hearing the starting bid, the crowd that had been arguing fiercely suddenly fell silent.
The starting bid was eighty thousand spirit crystals, equivalent to eighty million silver coins.
There were very few martial artists who could come up with such a huge amount of spirit crystals.
An elder of the Helian Clan gritted his teeth and finally decided to bid: "Eighty thousand spirit crystals."
The Helian Clan was only a sixth-rate clan with limited resources. Eighty thousand spirit crystals was already a significant amount of wealth for them. The elder of the Helian Clan, Helian Wen, could only mobilize at most eighty thousand spirit crystals.
Now, Helian Wen could only hope that other forces were not interested in the "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation." Otherwise, he had no hope of securing this set of formation flags.
Unfortunately, Helian Wen underestimated the importance that various forces placed on the "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation." Just after he made his bid, the VIP bidding room of the Yuntai Manor lit up with a price of "ninety thousand spirit crystals."
A direct increase of ten thousand spirit crystals!
It must be said that as a fourth-rate sect, the Yuntai Manor was indeed wealthy.
Immediately after, the VIP room of the Minshu Commandery Prince also lit up with a price: "One hundred thousand spirit crystals!"
"One hundred five thousand spirit crystals!" The VIP room of the Blood God Sect also showed a price.
All major forces valued this set of formation flags, not only for their own value but also for their research value.
It was well known that there were only two fifth-rank formation masters in the entire Demon Ridge, one from the Martial Market Academy and the other from the Inscription Guild.
The strongest formation masters in other forces were only fourth-rank formation masters.
If this set of "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation" flags was bought back and given to the fourth-rank formation masters in the sect for study, it would certainly improve their attainments in formations and might even allow them to refine a few more sets of "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation" flags.
That was the true value of the "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation" flags.
In just an instant, the price of the "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation" exceeded one hundred twenty thousand spirit crystals and was still climbing.
Huang Yanchen transmitted her voice directly into Zhang Ruochen's ear, communicating secretly: "Zhang Ruochen, the underwater dragon palace is full of dangers. We must purchase the 'Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation' to have a better chance of survival. How many spirit crystals do you have on you?"
After purchasing the "Cloud Dragon Diagram," Zhang Ruochen had only a little over ninety thousand spirit crystals left.
Zhang Ruochen asked in return: "How many spirit crystals can you come up with?"
Huang Yanchen said: "In our Qianshui Commandery's royal clan, the higher one's cultivation, the more money they can control. With my current cultivation, I can probably control up to fifty thousand spirit crystals."
"That should be enough."
Zhang Ruochen raised his crystal plaque: "One hundred thirty thousand spirit crystals."
When Zhang Ruochen made his bid, all the martial artists in the auction hall were astonished.
Treasures like the "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation" were generally only affordable by top-tier major forces. Hadn't they seen that even the Helian Clan had already given up?
"A young junior dares to bid for the 'Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation'? Who is he?"
Everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Ruochen.
Someone recognized Zhang Ruochen and said: "Isn't that the Ninth Prince of the Yunwu Commandery, Zhang Ruochen? He's said to be an extraordinary genius, with talent not inferior to his elder brother, Zhang Tiangui."
"A prince of a mere lower commandery also has the financial means to buy the 'Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation'?"
Someone sneered: "The financial strength of the Yunwu Commandery's royal clan should be about the same as the Helian Clan. Even if the Yunwu Commandery King were here, he probably wouldn't dare to casually call out a sky-high price of one hundred thirty thousand spirit crystals."
"You don't understand! Zhang Ruochen is not just a prince of the Yunwu Commandery; he has other identities."
"What identity?"
"The consort of the Qianshui Commandery. Didn't you see the Yanchen Princess sitting beside him? He's probably just helping to bid. The one who can really afford the 'Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation' is the Yanchen Princess."
"So he's just a kept man. Hmph."
Chen Xier, sitting not far away, showed a surprised expression. She was very puzzled. Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen had first bought the "Cloud Dragon Diagram," and now they wanted to buy the "Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Formation."
What exactly were they planning to do?
Both treasures were top-tier battle tools, worth a lot, and could kill enemies across realms.
But for the students of the Martial Market Academy, most of their time was spent at the academy, and they rarely encountered major dangers. When students sparred, it was usually with restraint. Even when going out for training, they generally wouldn't encounter too dangerous Heaven Extreme Realm experts.
Was it necessary for them to spend so many spirit crystals to buy such powerful treasures?
Spending such a huge amount of spirit crystals on battle tools was not as good as buying some high-grade pills to improve their martial cultivation. Couldn't they do the math?
"Something's wrong. There's definitely something wrong."
Chen Xier's eyes narrowed slightly. She glanced at Yan Yunhuan sitting beside her and smiled: "Zhang Ruochen is indeed the disciple of Lei Gezhu. He's young and wealthy, able to take out over a hundred thousand spirit crystals to buy a set of formation flags. If I could also get such a set of formation flags, I wouldn't have to worry about encountering those evil martial artists when I go out for training in the future."
Yan Yunhuan puffed out his chest, looking bold and confident, and said: "Just over a hundred thousand spirit crystals is nothing to our Yan Clan. If Sister Xier really wants that set of formation flags, I'll buy them for you, won't I?"
Chen Xier had been waiting for Yan Yunhuan to say that. She deliberately showed a surprised expression and said: "Really? But... it's too expensive!"
"It doesn't matter. As long as Sister Xier likes it, even if it's a star in the sky, I'll pluck it for you."
With that, Yan Yunhuan raised his crystal plaque and bid: "One hundred fifty thousand spirit crystals."