Fantasy, starting with a treasure bowl

"Five hundred thousand!"

A cold, sharp male voice drifted from below the stage, interrupting the bidding among the scattered cultivators around them.

"What a powerful aura!"

"Could this man be Zhou Tianhu, the leader of the Iron Fork Gang?"

"It can't be wrong. No wonder he took a liking to this Grade 5 Lung-Burning and Body-Forging Pill. What bad luck..."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a burly middle-aged man standing with his hands behind his back and an iron fork at his waist. At this moment, not only was his aura incredibly powerful, but also wisps of blood-red mist were swirling around him, clearly indicating that he was also a body-refining martial artist of considerable strength.

"Zhou Tianhu, the leader of the Iron Fork Gang?"

Inside the private room, Lu Feng also raised his eyebrows slightly, looking curious.

Although the opponent's Yuan Power cultivation was relatively average, only at the sixth level of the Meridian Opening Realm, his physical strength and physique were exceptionally amazing, even comparable to Lu Feng who had cultivated the fourth level of the Gara Nirvana Sutra!

It should be noted that the Nirvana Sutra of Gara is the life-bound cultivation technique left behind by Feng Yunnan, the most powerful prince of the former Yan Han Dynasty, while Zhou Tianhu in front of him is just an unknown body-refining martial artist in the capital.

"This person has a special constitution. Once they absorb external spiritual energy to cultivate, it will cause their meridians and blood to stagnate and not disperse. If this continues, they may even explode and die..."

"Therefore, every now and then, this man would have his gang members find some prostitutes to relieve his lust. In this capital city, he was quite a martial arts oddity."

Seemingly noticing the curiosity in Lu Feng's eyes, Jia Youqian immediately explained.

Although he himself did not have much interaction with Zhou Tianhu, the leader of the Iron Fork Gang, as a person from the capital and the future young master of the Tianxia Business Gang, he knew the latter's background very well.

"The Iron Fork Gang leader needs a woman to resolve the aftereffects of his training? He's really something else..."

After hearing Jia Youqian's explanation, Lu Feng's lips curled up slightly, revealing a hint of amusement.

"Brother Lu, don't you have any treasures that catch your eye?"

With a gentle wave of his feather fan, Jia Youqian glanced at Lu Feng beside him again.

Because, so far in this auction, the other party has been watching from the sidelines without making a bid, which has undoubtedly surprised them.

In Jia Youqian's view, Lu Feng not only had impressive Yuan Power cultivation, but was also a second-grade alchemist. He must be quite wealthy, with enough money to buy at least a fifth-grade pill.

Faced with Jia Youqian's probing, Lu Feng simply shook his head, then glanced at the other VIP boxes in the stands.

At present, the auction has just begun and the treasures being sold are not of great value to them.

In addition, the VIP rooms in the auction stands are divided into three levels: Dragon, Tiger, and Leopard, but so far no VIP guest has made a bid.

It is clear that these treasures are just an appetizer, and the real main event is the items that will be auctioned later!

Seeing that Lu Feng didn't say much and only looked at the other VIP rooms, Jia Youqian didn't ask any further questions, seemingly having guessed something as well.

His idea was similar to the other party's: to preserve his wealth and resources in order to cope with the more intense bidding in the future.

...

On the other side, on the auction stage

"Five hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, anyone else want to raise the price?"

Seeing the bidding around him become sparse, Jin Buhuan frowned slightly and continued to hint.

However, the audience remained eerily silent. Only a few rogue cultivators at the Qi Condensation Realm mustered their courage and raised their hands, but they quickly withdrew them the next second, clearly quite wary of Zhou Tianhu, the leader of the Iron Fork Gang, who was standing to the side.

After all, the Iron Fork Gang is an eighth-rank gang in the capital, with at least several hundred members under its command. Moreover, Zhou Tianhu himself is a body-refining martial artist with considerable strength, and ordinary people at the sixth level of the Meridian Opening Realm are almost no match for him!

In contrast, most of the rogue cultivators around the stage were relatively weak. Apart from a few experts at the Opening Meridian Realm, they were mostly martial artists at the Condensation Realm. Therefore, even if they were wealthy, they did not dare to continue bidding with Zhou Tianhu, otherwise they would likely have the chance to buy the goods but not the chance to spend them!

"500,000 low-grade spirit stones once, twice... Sold!"

Seeing this, Jin Buhuan was somewhat annoyed, but he didn't waste any more time.

After all, his role as the auctioneer was only to maintain order and act as a shill to drive up prices, and he couldn't control whether the martial artists in front of him wanted to continue bidding.

"Finally got it!"

As the white-clad maid slowly handed him the glass medicine bottle, Zhou Tianhu, sitting below the stage, was filled with excitement. He immediately reached out and grabbed the bottle, then turned and left.

Although the price of this Lung-Burning Body-Forging Pill was a bit high, costing him a full 500,000 low-grade spirit stones, it was still a fifth-grade pill and made by the "Purple-Robed Eccentric Doctor," so its quality was excellent and its efficacy was guaranteed!

As for the side effects of the Lung-Burning Body-Forging Pill, for a body-refining martial artist like Zhou Tianhu, it's nothing more than a cat scratching an itch, and it's not a big deal at all!

After Zhou Tianhu left, the next item for auction was presented by another maid in white, also covered by a black cloth. It seemed to be an unwritten rule of the auction that each item should maintain a sense of mystery before the auction officially begins.

...

"Next item up for auction: the Azure Blood Sword, a fourth-grade spiritual treasure. Starting price: 150,000, minimum increment: 50,000 low-grade spirit stones!"

"Next item up for auction: the Residual Wave Cloud-Slaying Blade, a near-fifth-grade martial art. Starting bid: 300,000, minimum increment: 100,000 low-grade spirit stones!"

"The next item up for auction is the Gold-Eating Rat Demon Core, its quality has reached the top level of the Profound Rank. The starting price is 80,000, and each bid must be at least 10,000 low-grade spirit stones!"

...

Before they knew it, several more hours had passed, and the auction was almost halfway through. However, the intense atmosphere in the arena remained undiminished, with bidding noises rising and falling everywhere, occasionally interspersed with shouts and curses.

"Fellow Daoists, the next item up for auction is somewhat special. It is neither a spiritual treasure, elixir, talisman, nor demon core, nor even a refining furnace, but rather a skull of a wild beast...!"

Jin Buhuan smiled and said in a meaningful tone.

"A wild beast skull?"

"What is this thing?"

"Uh, I don't know either, but it sounds like it's worth a lot of money...?"

Upon hearing this, the group of rogue cultivators below the stage were slightly taken aback. They then scratched their heads and looked at each other, their faces full of doubt, clearly unaware of the origin of the beast skull.

In contrast to the calm below the auction stage, a commotion erupted in the VIP rooms above the stands, as if a long-dormant lion had finally awakened and become fully active.

"As expected, the capital auction had beast skulls for sale. My trip wasn't in vain!"

"Hmph! After waiting forever, the main course is finally here...!"

"The starting bid for this beast skull is probably quite high. I wonder if I have enough spirit stones..."

"Hmm, with my current wealth and resources, as long as the Yun family, the Alchemist Guild, and the Imperial Guards don't compete, I should be able to acquire this beast skull..."

Inside the VIP rooms, the bigwigs from all sides were also looking on with great interest, undoubtedly eager to try their luck.

"Fellow Daoists, please be patient...!"

Just as everyone was discussing this, Jin Buhuan flicked his sleeve, seemingly sensing the opportune moment, and immediately added fuel to the fire, announcing, "The auction for the beast skull is about to begin...!"

As soon as Jin Buhuan finished speaking, the white-clad maid beside him understood instantly, immediately stepped forward, and then slowly lifted the black cloth covering the silver tray in her hand.

Swish!

A massive skull, resembling a meteorite and entirely brownish-yellow, lay quietly in the center of a silver plate. Around the skull were numerous claw marks like black lines, and it exuded a chilling, ferocious aura. Clearly, it was no ordinary beast's remains!

"This skull of a wild beast originates from the ancient saber-toothed winged tiger, which went extinct on the continent thousands of years ago. Although its surface is somewhat incomplete and there is considerable damage at the bone seams, its value is still quite high. Fellow Daoists, if you are interested, you may place an offer to bid..."

"The starting bid for this beast skull is two million, with each bid increment not less than five hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones...!"

Jin Buhuan's gaze first swept around the audience below the stage, then looked up at the VIP rooms above, clearly with a hidden meaning.

After all, compared to the group of rogue cultivators at the Qi Condensation Realm and Qi Opening Realm below the stage, the guests in the VIP rooms above the stands were truly rolling in money and were also the strongest contenders for this beast skull!