Secrets of Frostfire (I)

Chen Wentian tried to keep a straight face while laughing inside. There was nothing better than doing nothing and letting others humiliate themselves. What kind of concept were six kilograms of orange spiritual crystal? It was a fortune for ordinary Spirit Lords. It was almost enough to buy any Spirit Lord Realm treasure they desired. To spend three times as much for a song tablet that might be useful for a mortal Sacred Daughter was ridiculous.

The auction continued with other items. Many were those from the Gift Register while a few interesting ones weren't. Chen Wentian took a break for a while as there was nothing he specifically wanted. He glanced at Yang Gehu. The man's handsome face was marred by an ugly expression. One of his peers seemed to be comforting him.

Still, it was only a minor victory, not a large one, and the battle still wasn't over. The Seven Potentates continued to bully the other attendees even if Yang Gehu was momentarily incapacitated. Whether it was valuable musical instruments, exquisite art pieces, or profound tomes, they fought with everyone and anyone.

They didn't always win but they didn't lose often. Some more wealthy independent immortals managed to win a few times. Some were affiliated with some other powers who bought some items.

A while later, another item that Long Yifei desired. It was a set of songs from the personal collection of a prioress of the Virtuous Order. As promised, Immortal Winter Hymn Xuan Xina had put up some of her songs for auction. Long Yifei did not want to accept such a heavy gift but she still wanted them as they were well suited for her development, even more than the song tablet before.

Chen Wentian again opened the bidding and as expected, Yang Gehu once again tried to oppose him. However, this time, Chen Wentian was determined to this item. He raised the bid by the minimum amount each time and wore his opponent out until they ran out of patience.

He was finally able to win the songs with a price of five-point-four kilograms of orange spiritual crystal. It still ended up being three times the expected sale price and a massive overpay. This in turn caused Yang Gehu's mood to greatly improve as making Chen Wentian waste money was just as good as preventing him from obtaining the actual item.

Chen Wentian shook his head and accepted his 'loss' this time around.

The Grand Annual Auction continued at a furious pace. Items flew off the stage while gold and spiritual crystals were spent in great waves. The amount of wealth being exchanged was incomparable to anything in the subcontinent.

Over a thousand immortals competed against each other in one room throughout the morning. The spiritual aura in the air was chaotic and stirring.

Chen Wentian attempted to bid on a few more items but lost out each time. The Seven Potentates continued to fight him at every turn. In addition to Yang Gehu, other idiots from their faction joined in the bullying. He could have fought back hard but sometimes he didn't have to. Other people wanted the same items too and there were a few times that the Seven Potentates lost out on items he had bidding on to other, unknown groups.

He still had plenty of money, enough to make another big purchase. However, he let the situation develop naturally and did not fight to the death for any more items. For an independent Spirit Lord of his background, being able to bring out over seven kilograms of orange spiritual crystal was already impressive. If he acted too wild and unreserved, it would arouse more animosity from the Seven Potentates as well as unwanted attention from other groups.

He had to spend money but he also couldn't spend too much. It was a vexing situation. Frustrated, he stopped paying attention to the auction and simply sat back to enjoy the scene. The journey of cultivation was a long one filled with all kinds of battles and dangers. It was important not to lose sight of the small details. It was good to be introspective.

He felt that this approach to dealing with the Seven Potentates was the only option. Although he didn't care too much about face or reputation, it was still necessary. If he didn't fight back at all and just let himself get rolled over, it would be bad for him and Long Yifei. Those annoying women of the Order would look down on him even more. He couldn't let his disciple be bullied because of him.

And it wasn't like he was just going to let these insults go. These bastards from the Seven Potentates could do whatever wanted for now but he was going to get payback for everything, even the smallest slight when the right opportunity came around in the future.

After a few hours of Spirit Lord Realm items, a few items at the upper realms popped up. The auction house was once again filled with buzzing energy as the powerhouses finally got into the action after a boring prelude.

"Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed immortals of Martial Brilliance Continent!" Auction Master Hu Bao shouted with way more excitement than his frail body could seemingly handle, "This next item is quite exciting! Everyone, please pay close attention!"

With an exaggerated gesture, a pink flower with seven petals appeared. It was stored in a cylindrical glass case along with its stem which was dipped into a milky white liquid.

Immediately, ice and fire spiritual energy emanated from the flower in great waves. The aura was light blue but also deep red at the same time. It was a mix of both as if the flower was a source of both attributes at the same time.

"This…"

"Amazing!"

Many immortals couldn't hold back their reactions. This was a treasure!

Hu Bao laughed, "Your eyes have not deceived you. This is a fully bloomed Frostfire Flower, a supremely rare flower that only appears in an area that is naturally imbued with both ice and fire spiritual energies. You all should know how rare such an environment is. And on top of that, the Frostfire Flower only blooms once every one hundred years after accumulating enough both types of energy."

"It just so happens that we have a Frostfire Nation which is among the Seven Potentates of Jiannan. They are expert practitioners of ice and fire Daos. But some guests or newcomers to the continent may not know that their secret art relies on dual-attribute constitutions in their upper ranking members so that they can cultivate both ice and fire together. Mmm, that's right! It is exactly as many of you have already guessed. This Frostfire Flower is a key ingredient in producing cultivators with such a dual-attribute constitution!"

"Such an item could be immensely useful to some but completely useless to others. The Golden Basin Auction House managed to obtain such a flower through great luck. We even almost lost it to an ambush but were able to thwart it with timely intervention of a talented friend." Hu Bao stroked his beard and he smiled mysteriously, "Anyway, enough of my rambling. Let's begin with a base price of one kilogram of orange spiritual crystal, any bidders?"

Frooh!

Just as Hu Bao finished his sentence, a surge of icy yet passionate spiritual energy erupted from the front rows.

"I offer one kilogram of yellow spiritual crystal!"

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