The auction continued. The auctioneer on stage spoke in a crisp, clear voice: "Up next is a portion of Solar True Fire. I'm sure many of you have heard about the recent extinction of a Sun Star in one of the Great Domains. This particular portion of Solar True Fire comes directly from that extinguished Sun Star."
As she spoke, a maid emerged from backstage carrying a round ceramic bowl. Within it, flickers of firelight danced and waves of heat washed outward.
Once the auctioneer finished her introduction, the entire auction house erupted in commotion. Yang Kai could distinctly feel powerful divine senses extending from the private boxes one after another, probing the authenticity of the Solar True Fire.
Yang Kai was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected the True Fire from that Sun Star to show up here — after all, the distance between here and that location was enormous. But when he thought about it, it made sense. Plenty of people had managed to obtain the Solar True Fire at the time, and the Fengyun Auction House was backed by one of the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands. Securing some Solar True Fire as auction merchandise was hardly strange.
The question was what grade it was. At minimum, Solar True Fire was Fourth Grade, though Fifth Grade was possible. He wondered which grade was on offer this time.
Merchants like Pei Buwan and Gongsun Hong were only Fourth Grade Open Heaven realm cultivators. A single Fourth Grade material for Open Heaven cultivation had the potential to produce a powerhouse on par with them, so naturally it drew their attention.
Yang Kai understood now. The items auctioned so far had mostly been things needed by Emperor Realm cultivators who hadn't yet condensed their Dao Seals. What came next would be the treasures that people like him actually craved.
"Fourth Grade Solar True Fire! Starting bid: one hundred thousand! Minimum increment: five thousand!" The auctioneer smiled and gestured invitingly.
The words had barely left her mouth before seven or eight bids rang out from the main hall, each voice laced with desperate eagerness. Yang Kai was mildly surprised — he'd assumed the upcoming lots would be exclusively contested by the distinguished guests in the private boxes, but it turned out the independent cultivators seated in the main hall had the means to compete as well.
Their voices were quickly drowned out by a bid from one of the private boxes: "One hundred and fifty thousand!"
The moment that price dropped, the clamor in the hall died instantly.
For a Fourth Grade Open Heaven material, one hundred and fifty thousand was a perfectly standard price. Back at Qiaodiao, Die You had once explained the pricing tiers to Yang Kai: a First Grade material went for fifteen hundred, a Second Grade was ten times that, and a Third Grade ten times again…
The Unblemished Gold Dew Yang Kai had purchased at Qiaodiao had been a Third Grade material, costing him fifteen thousand.
In an auction house, prices naturally ran somewhat higher, and when wealthy buyers were involved, there was no telling how high things could go — let alone that one hundred and fifty thousand was barely a standard bid.
Sure enough, another private box immediately chimed in with one hundred and sixty thousand. Every person sitting in those boxes was a prominent figure in the Star City, each carrying at least a million Open Heaven Pills. They themselves were already in the Open Heaven realm and didn't need the Solar True Fire personally, but they had junior disciples and descendants. With Fourth Grade materials appearing this rarely at auction, who would want to pass it up?
The Solar True Fire was hotly contested. The two private boxes went back and forth, pushing the price to two hundred thousand within moments. By then, the first bidder had fallen silent — the price had clearly exceeded his ceiling.
Two hundred thousand wasn't something he couldn't afford, but every Open Heaven cultivator had to condense seven types of force: Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. One material at two hundred thousand meant seven would cost one point four million, and success at the final stage wasn't even guaranteed. The price was simply too steep.
"Shopkeeper Sun, I'll take it then," came a hearty laugh from the second bidding box.
Shopkeeper Sun snorted coldly but said nothing.
"Going once," the voice repeated.
The auctioneer glanced around the room with a smile, raising her auction hammer. "Two hundred thousand, going once! Two hundred thousand, going twice…" Almost unconsciously, her gaze drifted toward Yang Kai's position. She found herself wondering whether the young man might jump in at the last moment — after all, he and the old man had completely dominated the bidding since the Great Dao Pill, snapping up virtually every subsequent item while everyone else stood no chance of competing.
But after the second call, Yang Kai showed no sign of bidding. She laughed inwardly at her own assumptions. Since he'd bought the Great Dao Pill, that meant he hadn't yet condensed his Dao Seal. What use would Fourth Grade materials be to him? Even if money was no object, that was no way to spend it.
"Three hundred thousand!" Yang Kai raised his hand.
The auctioneer's hammer froze midair. Her beautiful eyes went wide as she stared in Yang Kai's direction, and the entire hall erupted in uproar.
Earlier, when Yang Kai and Old Bai had been competing in the bidding, they'd won every round by overwhelming margins — but those lots hadn't been worth particularly much, and it was just a bunch of Emperor Realm cultivators fighting over them, so the truly wealthy hadn't paid much mind.
This was different. A single jump of one hundred thousand… Was he trying to antagonize himself?
"Kid, which sect are you from?" The Open Heaven cultivator who'd bid two hundred thousand was nearly apoplectic. His gaze pierced through the private box to glare downward, finding this young man utterly detestable — springing a surprise at the last moment like that. Was this a deliberate slap in the face?
"If you have the money, bid. If you don't, shut your mouth. What business is it of yours which sect I'm from?" Yang Kai didn't even turn around.