Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 536

Han Li stood before the same massive stone platform as before.

The Treasure Light Hall was now draped in a five-colored protective barrier, making it look mysterious and beautiful. However, what surprised Han Li was the fact that a single-story building made of carved white stone had appeared in the void above the Treasure Light Hall.

Although its area was only about a third of the stone platform, it was still a large object floating in the air.

In front of him, a Foundation Establishment cultivator wearing a yellow robe was respectfully giving him various explanations, as Han Li had already revealed his Nascent Soul cultivation.

In front of the pavilion, cultivators in similar attire were doing the same for other Nascent Soul cultivators, while Core Formation cultivators were each looking at the steles in front of the pavilion.

“The Nascent Soul-level auction has been moved to the Nine Heavens Hall above, and the Core Formation-level auction will still be held in the Treasure Light Hall. The entrance fee for the Nascent Soul-level auction is one thousand spirit stones per person, and the Core Formation-level auction is one hundred spirit stones per person. Is that correct?”

Han Li withdrew his gaze and spoke calmly to the cultivator in front of him.

“That’s correct. This time, there are more cultivators attending than usual, so the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had to urgently borrow the Nine Heavens Hall. The spirit stones are also to limit the number of people. If anyone could enter, even a place ten times larger wouldn’t be able to accommodate everyone. But for seniors like you, it’s not a significant amount, is it?”

“One thousand spirit stones, you say? You’ll be making a fortune just from the entrance fees. But as you said, if I can get what I want, it’s a price worth paying. Forget about the Core Formation-level auction, I’ll only attend the Nascent Soul-level auction.”

Han Li flipped his hand and tossed ten mid-grade spirit stones to the cultivator in the yellow robe.

“Please enter. The Nascent Soul-level auction is held in the morning. This is your auction badge; with this, you can attend all the Nascent Soul-level auctions you wish.”

The cultivator in the yellow robe put the spirit stones into his pocket and took out a jade badge with a number on it from his sleeve, handing it over respectfully. Han Li took the jade badge and immediately turned into a streak of blue light, heading towards the pavilion in the air.

Other Nascent Soul cultivators also listened to the explanations and headed there.

At the entrance of the Nine Heavens Hall, there was no one guarding it except for a white light barrier. When he infused spiritual power, a red light emanated from the jade badge in his hand, disrupting the barrier.

Without hesitation, he turned into a streak of blue light again and disappeared inside, and the barrier returned to normal. Over the course of two hours, hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators entered the Nine Heavens Hall, and three loud bell sounds rang out.

The auction had finally begun.

***

Han Li sat in the furthest corner of the hundred-zhang-wide [approximately 330 meters] pavilion, calmly looking ahead. In front, a middle-aged man wearing a light-colored robe was holding a yellow crystal and introducing it.

“The Yellow Ginger Crystal can only be found a thousand feet below the Great Desert west of the southern border. It has a hard texture and contains a large amount of earth-attribute spiritual energy, making it a good material for refining earth-attribute magical treasures. The starting price is eight thousand spirit stones, and bids must increase by at least one thousand spirit stones.”

The cultivator in charge of the introduction was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, calmly explaining the item. Upon closer inspection, he was a cultivator who had reached the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage, the highest cultivation level among those present.

The Yellow Ginger Crystal was indeed a good material for refining earth-attribute magical treasures, but the price did not skyrocket. Only three or four people bid a few times before an unknown cultivator took it for twelve thousand spirit stones.

The subsequent auctions proceeded similarly. Han Li sat in his chair, calmly observing the situation.

It was unlikely that any extraordinary items would appear on the first day of the auction, so unless it was something they desperately needed, most cultivators did not step forward. Most of the items were valuable, but they were things that could be obtained with time.

Therefore, Han Li did not pay much attention to the auction and instead looked around at the Nascent Soul cultivators inside the pavilion. Although they were not the top cultivators of the Great Jin, they were indeed gathered from various forces.

What caught his attention the most were the monks with shining foreheads sitting in the middle.

Some were as thin as matchsticks, some were plump, and some had kind faces with pure white beards. Although their appearances differed, they were all wearing gray monk robes and had their eyes lowered, exuding the aura of high-ranking monks.

Han Li was encountering high-ranking cultivators from Buddhist sects for the first time and wanted to observe them closely. However, the oldest monk immediately looked in his direction. Although his gaze was warm, Han Li was startled.

Their senses were so sensitive; there was a reason why the Buddhist sect was on par with Confucian sects in the Great Jin. Han Li did not want to make an enemy for no reason, so he immediately withdrew his consciousness and pretended not to notice. The old monk’s gaze then naturally turned away from him.

Besides them, there were many others in the pavilion whose identities could be determined by their attire. Han Li compared them one by one with the information he had gathered about the forces of the Great Jin, doing his best to memorize their faces.

As Han Li had expected, only a few rare treasures appeared towards the end. Then, as if a ripple had spread through the calm pavilion, the cultivators began to stir.

As treasures were successively auctioned off at unimaginable prices, the atmosphere became even more heated. In fact, Nascent Soul cultivators were willing to spend spirit stones for items they desired.

“One piece of Ink Gold. The starting price is thirty thousand spirit stones, and bids must increase by at least two thousand spirit stones.”

The more precious the treasure, the simpler the middle-aged man’s explanation became. On the jade tray he was holding was a bizarre metal that was as black as ink but faintly shimmered with gold.

To think that the material he needed would appear so quickly; it was unexpected. Han Li had been searching for Ink Gold for a long time, so he had to get his hands on it this time.

“Thirty-six thousand.”

“Forty thousand!”

“Forty-five thousand spirit stones.”

Even before Han Li could bid, several people had already offered high prices.

Han Li narrowed his brows but was not flustered by the rising prices. Since it was something he needed, he would simply wait until the price went up and then make his move.

When an unknown cultivator bid a high price of sixty thousand spirit stones, the others who had been bidding dropped out.

“Sixty-five thousand.”

Han Li pointed at the jade badge, and a light of spiritual energy flashed as he made his bid. However, the other party seemed to need the material as well and hesitated for a moment before raising the price.

“Sixty-seven thousand spirit stones.”

“Seventy thousand.”

This time, the other party did not raise the price any further. No matter how precious Ink Gold was, seventy thousand spirit stones was too high a price. Seeing this, Han Li smiled.

The middle-aged cultivator in front was satisfied with the high price, but as was customary, he repeated the price twice and asked if anyone else would bid.

At that moment, a chilling voice was heard.

“Seventy-five thousand.”

Han Li and the middle-aged man were both dumbfounded, and the other attendees also found it strange.

“Eighty thousand.”

Han Li, having quickly regained his composure, immediately spoke.

“Eighty-two thousand.”

The other party raised the price again without any change in expression. This time, not only did Han Li’s expression change slightly, but the other cultivators could not help but check who he was.

A cultivator shrouded in black aura was sitting quietly in the back, and judging by the faintly visible outline, he seemed to be an old man.

Han Li did not want to waste any more time. He hardened his expression and offered an astonishing price.

“One hundred and twenty thousand spirit stones.”

With this many spirit stones, one could buy a decent ancient treasure, so it was far too high. The cultivators in the hall buzzed and looked at Han Li.

However, Han Li, who had changed his appearance again, only looked like a sickly cultivator with a yellow face. Han Li was not interested in the gazes of others and focused his attention only on the actions of the old man shrouded in black aura.

The old man was also startled by the price. If possible, he wanted to offer an even higher price to get his hands on the Ink Gold, but according to the news, even more important materials were expected to appear later.

If he spent so many spirit stones here, his chances of winning the later bids would decrease. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the opponent who had offered such a high price at once would not raise the price further.

After calculating in his mind, the old man eventually did not bid. The Ink Gold ended up in Han Li’s hands. As a result, Han Li and the old man drew the attention of several cultivators.

Han Li, however, sat in his chair, closed his eyes, and acted as if he had no interest in anything other than the Ink Gold. On the other hand, when the Fire Sand appeared, the old man competed with others and spent two hundred thousand spirit stones to obtain it.

Thus, the old man began to attract even more attention. Of course, the old man was not the cultivator who had paid the most spirit stones and won the most items at the auction.

Treasures such as high-grade ancient treasures and pills that increased cultivation were often traded for two to three hundred thousand spirit stones.

However, buying a single material for refining for two hundred thousand spirit stones was something that even a rogue cultivator would find difficult to do.

After the auction ended, Han Li mixed in with the other cultivators and left the hall. However, the Yin Fiend Sect cultivators were not visible at the market exit.

Han Li smiled and left the market without hesitation, while the old man shrouded in black aura suddenly headed towards a mansion in Jinjing. An old man wearing a black hat from the Ye family was waiting for him in a room of the mansion.

Upon seeing the old man in the black hat, the cultivator silently handed over the Fire Sand.

“I heard about the Ink Gold. If I had known you would offer such a high price, I would have prepared more spirit stones. But it’s fortunate that someone will be trading Ink Gold at the underground auction in a few days. I’ve already confirmed the items I want to trade, so please do your best again.”

“If it weren’t for this unexpected situation, the spirit stones that Brother Yunil prepared would have been sufficient. Don’t worry about the underground auction in a few days.”

“I’m relieved that Senior Go is going. This is the spirit stones prepared for you. I will give you double after this matter is finished.”

The old man in the black hat took out a jade box from the low table and gave it to the other party. Cultivator Go was delighted and checked the spirit stones inside the jade box, satisfied.

……

Later that night, two more Core Formation rogue cultivators visited the old man in the black hat’s room, gave him materials, and received spirit stones before leaving.

***

For the next few days, Han Li attended the auction at the Nine Heavens Hall every morning. Unexpectedly, he had obtained the item he wanted on the first day, so he had hoped that it might happen again on other days. However, the items he wanted did not appear for several days.

As the old man Bu had said, the rare materials that Han Li wanted were most likely to appear on the last day of trading for Nascent Soul cultivators.

Thus, Han Li temporarily put aside his thoughts about the underground auction and visited the Nine Heavens Hall every day.

***

On the day of the last auction a few days later, he found the material he needed and spent over ten thousand spirit stones to obtain it. After the auction ended, the attending cultivators poured out, and Han Li also mixed in with them and went down to the market.

However, he did not go directly to the market but quickly moved towards the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. Thanks to this, Han Li was able to avoid trouble for a while. At the market entrance, there was a group of Yin Fiend Sect elders, and among them was the Heavenly Orchid Saintess, whose face was covered with a veil.

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