Everlasting

 

After the knotweed root was delivered, Chen Feng swiftly planted it within the Longevity Tower. With that, another 3,000-year-old spiritual herb was added to the herbal fields within the Longevity Tower.

With a thought, Chen Feng mobilized a portion of the Longevity Tower’s power and used it to strike the knotweed root. The knotweed root shook slightly and it immediately shone with a soft lustre. Next, the knotweed root slowly grew in size and the human face on its surface slowly disappeared. Then, with a popping sound, a human-shaped silhouette of light extricated itself from the knotweed root before running and jumping around the knotweed root.

That was the knotweed root’s herb spirit. Someone had originally sealed it, but Chen Feng had unravelled the seal, allowing it to break free from its body. 

“All right! Now, it is time for the second auction treasure!” The auctioneer waved his hand and a female cultivator walked in with a plate. Once again, Chen Feng was surprised to find that there was an emerald-green wine gourd on the plate.

“This time, we will be auctioning a bottle of fine wine that has been kept for 10,000 years!” the auctioneer said.

“It’s actually a bottle of wine!” said a shocked Jian Xiaotian.

“This is quite unexpected. However, the cultivators in the hall look fairly indifferent. This means that this auction house would often auction some peculiar items,” Chen Feng said.

“This is no ordinary wine. After an appraisal process by our appraisers, we found that it contains 99 types of rare herbs. Taking it can consolidate a cultivator’s mind and increase his or her cultivation base. This gourd contains a total of five kilogrammes of the wine,” the auctioneer began describing the wine.

“Where did this wine come from?” one of the cultivators inside the auction hall asked loudly.

“He he! It was found within an ancient ruin. The starting price is set at 10,000 Prized crystals. Every bid increment is set at 100 Prized crystals. Now, the bidding begins!” Having said that, the auctioneer stopped talking and simply stood to the side, waiting for the cultivators to start bidding.

“Are you serious? The starting price for a bottle of wine is 10,000 Prized crystals? 10,000 Prized crystals are enough for several years of my cultivation practice!”

“Yes. Besides, I do not believe that it can increase my cultivation base!”

“He he! I am not fond of these things. Even if it is only at 1,000 Prized crystals, I will still not buy it. I’ll just be watching from the side!”

“10,000 Prized crystals! This bottle of wine is truly expensive!” Jian Xiaotian said with a smile.

Chen Feng, on the other hand, felt his heart stir. He recalled how a bowl of wine from the cyan-robed man could increase his cultivation base by 100 years. Could this wine also possess such a kind of effect?

“I offer 10,000!”

After a moment of silence, an old man finally spoke up. Looking at him, everyone saw that the old man had a tall stature and a ruddy face. Additionally, his body exuded a faint scent of wine. Sensing that, they figured that he was a wine lover.

“Hey, hey! Old drunkard, I offer 10,100!”

“10,200!”

“10,300!”

As soon as someone took the lead, others began bidding as well.

“30,000.”

To Jian Xiaotian’s surprise, Chen Feng was bidding as well.

“What is this, Brother Chen? Do you think you have too much spirit stones on you?” Jian Xiaotian could not stop himself from laughing.

“Yes. With so many spirit stones, there is no telling when we can finish using them. Besides, if we are to consider our cultivation needs, the Longevity Tower still has some immortal energy. Thus, we will not be using those spirit stones for now. Might as well use them to buy some interesting items,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“We have another little wine lover there.” The few old men who were bidding reflexively exchanged glances.

“Ha ha! I have my eyes set on this wine! I offer 30,300!” One of them, an old man carrying a big gourd, spoke up.

“40,000.” Chen Feng continued to raise the price.

“40,400.” The old man refused to back down.

“50,000.” Chen Feng’s voice remained calm.

“50,100!”

“60,000.”

Finally, the old man was defeated and the bottle of wine was delivered to Chen Feng.

“I think the others must think of you as a prodigal son from some big family,” Jian Xiaotian said with a grin.

“Some might think of us as fat sheep.” Chen Feng smiled as he opened up the gourd to check its contents. Next, a faint scent of wine wafted out to fill the entire private room.

Chen Feng was right. The first two treasures auctioned were bought by Chen Feng. It was only natural that many people would feel unhappy. Thus, there were indeed those who bore malicious designs against them. It was possible that they would make a move on Chen Feng after the auction was over.

Next up, the following items auctioned were more typical. There were Prized artefacts, medicinal pills, rare ores and some rare herbs. The auction hall grew loud and lively. However, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian did not participate and simply watched as the other cultivators competed for the treasures.

“This auction house is really lively. Even those from some large cities cannot match up to this,” Jian Xiaotian said, grinning.

“Most importantly, there are mostly loose cultivators here. Although there are also those from the various great sects, they are few in number.” When he entered the auction house earlier, Chen Feng had utilized his soul power to scan the place.

After continuing the auction for half a day, the auction house then brought out a dark-black stone; it was one metre square in size. The stone was placed on the table in the middle of the auction hall. 

“What is this thing?” Everyone there grew curious.

“Just a broken stone. I can’t find anything special about it. Did the auction house make a mistake?”

“I don’t think this stone is as simple as it looks. My divine sense is actually incapable of seeing through this stone!”

Instantly, countless soul powers began inspecting the piece of stone. Even Chen Feng had released his soul power to swiftly inspect it. However, when Chen Feng’s soul power made contact with the stone, it would immediately slip across the surface of the stone. There was simply no way for it to enter and investigate the interior of the stone.

There is something strange about this stone, Chen Feng thought.

“Eh? Kid, you must buy up this stone!” Suddenly, Tower, who had not said anything for the longest time, suddenly spoke up.

“What exactly is this stone?” Chen Feng’s heart gave a thump and he asked. Something that could interest Tower must surely be something good.

“He he! Don’t ask so much questions now. Buy it up first,” Tower said with a chuckle.

“All right.” Chen Feng nodded his head and waited for the auctioneer’s introduction.

“The seniors of our auction house brought this piece of stone out from Steelcloud Plane. It is characterized by its incomparable hardness. Neither blade nor sword could pierce through it. Additionally, it contains a unique power, which makes it so that not even the soul could penetrate the stone,” the auctioneer explained.

“Steelcloud Plane! This piece of stone is actually from Steelcloud Plane?” Many of the cultivators there quickly cried out in shock.

“Steelcloud Plane?” Chen Feng frowned and he began recalling what he knew about Steelcloud Plane.

“Ha ha! The Steelcloud Plane is located 5,000 kilometres up in the sky. It is a spatial rift found within a spatial turbulence zone. Entering it will require a minimum cultivation base of the Human Immortal stage. It seems a Human Immortal had brought this piece of stone out. How unexpected. This auction house has quite the backing,” Jian Xiaotian said with a chortle. 

“However, even if it is a stone from the Immortal Plane, it is still just a stone. At the very least, I cannot see anything special about it.”

Almost 90 % of the cultivators inside the auction hall shared the same opinion as Jian Xiaotian. Regardless of its origins, it was still just a piece of stone in the end, no? Most importantly, they were unable to see anything special about it.

“Say, Auctioneer Sun! Is there anything else special with this stone?” A muscular man suddenly asked.

“Eheh! Those are the only characteristics of the stone,” the auctioneer said with a smile.

Truth be told, the auctioneer was secretly smiling bitterly to himself. The stone was just too tough. Not even Sacred artefacts could break it. Additionally, not even the divine sense of the Human Immortal who obtained this stone could check what this stone was. If it weren’t for the fact that the Human Immortal senior had obtained this stone from Steelcloud Plane, a highly unusual place, the auction house would not have brought this out. Additionally, the auctioneer himself was uncertain if this piece of stone could be sold off.

“All right. Now, let’s go to its starting price. The price-” When the auctioneer started talking about the starting price, he reflexively faltered.

“Auctioneer Sun, what is the starting price?” one of the cultivators there could not stop himself from asking.

“The starting price is, 500,000 Prized crystals,” the auctioneer said, gritting his teeth.

“What? Half a million? And Prized crystals to boot? Did I hear you correctly? Auctioneer Sun, did you make a mistake?” Hearing the auctioneer’s words, the entire auction hall was suddenly in an uproar. Some cultivators could not stop themselves from hollering.

Forget the cultivators in the auction hall, even the VIPs within the private rooms were discussing the matter in hushed tones.

“Uncle Wang, can you see anything special about this stone?”

Inside a private room, a highly arrogant-looking young master was asking the old man beside him. Surprisingly, the old man was an expert with 8 Lightning Tribulations under his belt.

“I cannot. No questions are needed to know that a Human Immortal had brought this stone back. If even a Human Immortal expert cannot figure it out, my eyes would be even less capable of figuring it out,” the old man replied with a wry smile.

“In that case, buy it up first and study it properly back at home. Something that not even a Human Immortal can figure out must surely be something good,” the young master said coolly.

“Young Master, our objective this time is for the last few items. If we use up our spirit stones, I fear we won’t be able to compete with the others. When we came in, we also saw Young Master Wan Xie and Young Master Wu Qing,” the old man said.

“Humph! Would I fear those two fellows?” Hearing those words, the young master’s eyes flashed with a harsh light. However, he said nothing else. Clearly, he was feeling slightly apprehensive about the two fellows.

…

“Interesting. This stone is interesting. For a Human Immortal to bring it out from Steelcloud Plane, it must hold a certain value. This stone will belong to me, Young Master Wan Xie!” said a handsome-looking young master with a faint smile, a heretical atmosphere radiating from his face.

“Hey, hey! Wan Xie, do not look down on Starcloud City. The forces here are complicated and deeply-rooted. Just take this auction house for example, it has plenty of experts within them,” said a smiling youngster seated beside Young Master Wan Xie.

“Huo Sheng, you think there is someone in this little city who dares oppose you and me?” Young Master Wan Xie said with a grin.

“Better to be on the safe side.” Huo Sheng maintained his sunny smile.

…

“Not even a Human Immortal can break this piece of stone. If it can be refined, turning it into a body armour would be good. Whatever! I will buy it up, bring it back to the sect and ask master to melt it down.” A cyan-clad youngster was occupying a private room alone. He had not allowed even a single attendant to remain.

…

“Has the auction house gone crazy? They want to sell a piece of stone with unknown functions for 500,000 Prized crystals? What a joke! I believe no one will bid for it,” Jian Xiaotian said scornfully.

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