All of a sudden, his voice drew to an abrupt halt as he returned to his senses, and his face turned deathly pale as an astonished look appeared in his eyes.
"Ah, so it's Fellow Daoist Cha of the Stone Pupa Race. I'm honored to have caught your eye; how about you stay with me for a few days after the auction? Perhaps we'll be a match made in heaven," Hu Yushuang giggled in a seductive manner, but a cold look had appeared in her eyes.
The middle-aged man forced a smile onto his face, and said, "I was only joking, Fairy Hu; I wouldn't dare to harbor such impure intentions toward you!"
He then hurriedly sat back down as if he were fleeing from a deadly scorpion.
"So that was only a joke? In that case, I'd advise you to be careful with your words. I'll let things slide on this occasion, but if anyone tries to make similar jokes, then I won't be so forgiving." Huang Yushuang's smile abruptly faded as she spoke, and her seductive aura turned into an extremely cold and forbidding one.
The middle-aged man's expression darkened further upon hearing this, but he didn't dare to say anything in response.
All of the other people on the plaza were quite alarmed by what they had just witnessed, and they didn't dare to appraise Hu Yushuang in the same brazen manner anymore.
"That's enough time-wasting, little girl. I didn't come here to watch you put on a show; hurry up and bring out the auction items." A displeased elderly voice suddenly rang out from one of the silver stone cabins.
Hu Yushuang's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and she hurriedly extended an apologetic bow. "Please forgive me, Senior; I'll present the first auction item right away."
She then quickly made a hand seal before pointing a finger in a certain direction, and a white jade table immediately emerged from a light formation beneath the stone platform.
Sitting on the table were three wooden boxes of different sizes, each of which was enshrouded under a white light barrier.
"This first auction item isn't something that can be found on the Tian Yuan Continent; it's a small vial of Golden Lightning Lion bone marrow that the trade guild only managed to obtain from the Thunder Continent after expending extensive efforts." Hu Yushuang pointed a finger at one of the light barriers as she spoke, and the wooden box within that light barrier was immediately drawn into her grasp.
"Golden Lightning Lion marrow?"
"Is it real? Even those of us who've never been to the Thunder Continent have heard of Golden Lightning Lions."
"To think that this is only the first auction item; this auction really is different from past editions."
Another stir ran through the entire hall as many people immediately directed their attention toward the small wooden box.
Hu Yushuang gently laid a hand down onto the box's lid with a seductive smile, and the lid immediately sprang off on its own, revealing a palm-sized purple vial with a faint silver talisman adhered to its surface.
"The Golden Lightning Lion is one of the three sacred beasts of the Thunder Continent, and mature specimens possess powers comparable to Grand Ascension Stage beings. Even from birth, they possess innate lightning manipulation abilities, and the Lightning Marrow Pills refined from its bone marrow can grant the consumer's physical body with a certain level of lightning resistance for a period of time. However, Lightning Marrow Pills are very difficult to refine, and there's no guarantee that even this entire vial of Golden Lion Marrow will ensure successful refinement.
"However, I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on how valuable such a pill would be to someone about to face a tribulation," Hu Yushuang introduced before pointing a finger at the small vial, releasing several specks of golden light that transformed into golden runes before vanishing into the silver talisman in a flash.
A dull thump rang out as the silver talisman sprang up from the small vial.
As soon as it did so, arcs of purple lightning erupted out of the small vial, forming a lightning net and drawing many gasps of amazement from all of the foreign beings present, some of whom were staring at the vial with intense yearning in their eyes.
Even though the Golden Lightning Lion marrow hadn't yet been revealed, the phenomenon that was already on display indicated that the rumors that it could be refined into pills that could help one resist lightning tribulations were most likely true.
Many of the attendees with other targets immediately changed their minds upon seeing this, and even some of the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the silver cabins were quite tempted.
"I didn't think that such a precious item would be the first auction item. Aren't you interested in the marrow for its lightning resistant properties, Senior Han?" the blood soul asked.
"Lightning Marrow Pills can indeed increase physical resistance against lightning tribulations, but the enhancement is essentially negligible for Grand Ascension Stage beings. On top of that, I'm different from normal Grand Ascension Stage beings in that my physical body can already rival that of even true spirit beings, so the enhancement will be virtually non-existent to me," Han Li replied, seemingly completely uninterested.
A hint of elation appeared on the blood soul's face upon hearing this, and she said, "If Lightning Marrow Pills have such limited efficacy for Grand Ascension Stage beings, then perhaps I have a chance."
"Oh? Are you interested in this item?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know where my true body is, but she's definitely not in a good situation. Not only is it quite possible that her cultivation base has remained stagnant for all these years, she wouldn't have been able to gather any treasures in preparation for her heavenly tribulation, either. As such, I'll have to work harder to prepare some in her stead," the blood soul replied with a wry smile.
"If you're interested in this item, then go ahead and buy it. If you don't have enough spirit stones, I can lend you some," Han Li encouraged.
"Thank you, Senior!" The blood soul was ecstatic to hear this.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he cast his gaze toward the center of the plaza again.
At this point, Hu Yushuang had already grabbed onto the small vial and was tipping it upside-down.
A drop of shimmering golden liquid flowed out of the vial, and as soon as it came into contact with the air, it transformed into a head-sized ball of golden lightning that was rumbling incessantly.
The doubts of all of the skeptics in the hall were completely erased upon seeing this, and they began to consider how many spirit stones would be required to purchase the marrow.
Hu Yushuang quickly inspected everyone's reactions, then smiled as she gently shook the vial, upon which it released a burst of silver light that drew the ball of golden lightning back into the vial.
"The starting price for this vial of Golden Lightning Lion marrow will be 10,000,000, and the purchase can only be made with top-grade spirit stones; the bidding begins now."
As soon as her voice trailed off, Hu Yushuang swept a sleeve through the air, and five pillars of light erupted upward from the light formation in unison, forming a giant light screen that was around an acre in size.
The screen was as smooth as a mirror, and the image of a small purple vial was depicted on its surface.
"20,000,000!"
The first bid instantly doubled the starting price, and many people were quite stunned to hear this.
The number "10,000,000" suddenly appeared beside the small purple vial projection on the light screen, and it immediately increased to 20,000,000.
"21,000,000!"
"23,000,000!"
A string of bids quickly rang out across the entire plaza
The number on the screen quickly increased with each bid, and in the blink of an eye, it had already exceeded 30,000,000.
This was an astronomical price considering it was only for a pill refinement material that wasn't even guaranteed to be able to refine the corresponding pill.
All of the auction attendees were quite wealthy, but they were beginning to consider whether they should give up on the item.
"35,000,000!"
A lazy male voice rang out, and the number being displayed on the light screen suddenly turned a crimson-golden color.
That bid had been made by a Grand Ascension Stage being in one of the silver cabins.
Many of the foreign beings' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.
They were only at the Body Integration Stage or Spatial Tempering Stage, and they didn't have the courage to compete with a Grand Ascension Stage being.
"36,000,000!"
Only after a long while did someone in the plaza finally dare to made another uneasy bid.
"37,000,000!"
That bid was made by another Grand Ascension Stage being.
On this occasion, no one dared to compete any further, and the entire plaza fell silent.
"You seem intent on securing this item, so I'll leave it to you, Fellow Daoist." The first Grand Ascension Stage being to have made a bid had a very gentle voice, and it wasn't apparent from this voice whether it was a male or female.
"Hehe, thank you, Fellow Daoist," the second Grand Ascension Stage being replied.
However, right at this moment, a bid of 38,000,000 was made from a third silver cabin.
Not only was everyone in the plaza quite surprised to hear this, even the bidder in the first silver cabin faltered momentarily before following up with a bid of 40,000,000.
"41,000,000!"
In the third silver cabin, the blood soul was holding a round disk while swiping her fingers through the air over it with a serious expression.
Meanwhile, Han Li was appraising her with a smile as he sat in his chair.
"42,000,000! This Golden Lightning Lion marrow is extremely useful for a junior of mine; if you're willing to hand it over to me, I'll be sure to present you with some compensation," the other bidding Grand Ascension Stage said.
