Seeing that things were starting to spiral out of control, the thin, tall man had already prudently tucked the pair of puppet beasts back into his storage bag!
Now, watching the burly man pull out a dark, lumpy thing that looked like a piece of scrap metal, and then try to force him to produce the auction item that had already skyrocketed in value, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and say bluntly:
"You'd best calm yourself down! We will appraise the value of your item in due course, but for now, it would be best to return to your seat! Otherwise, this establishment will take it that you're deliberately causing trouble, and we won't be so polite!"
Hearing the thin, tall man's threat, the burly man flew into a rage.
What sort of person was he? Back in his own sect, his every command was answered by thousands—when had he ever been treated with such indignity! He immediately clenched both fists and was ready to explode.
But just as he did, he caught sight of the strange figure wearing the bag over their head, and noticed the other person staring at him motionlessly, a hint of schadenfreude flickering in those eyes. This gave him pause! After a moment's reconsideration, he forcibly suppressed his fury, spun around, and walked back to his seat.
Some of the cultivators who had been expecting to witness a good show couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
The auction of the puppet beasts had to continue! But the dark lump had already been handed over to the trio seated in the sandalwood chairs. They were now discussing the item in hushed voices. Although their masks made it impossible to make out their exact expressions, their extremely cautious demeanor was plain for every cultivator to see!
After the trio examined the palm-sized, dark, cast-iron-looking object over and over again, they finally reached a consensus. Then the black-robed person in the center stood and announced in a loud voice:
"One piece of superior-grade Iron Essence, valued at two thousand spirit stones!"
After that, the man sat back down without uttering another word.
"Iron Essence?"
Every cultivator who heard those two words was startled in their hearts! Those who had been about to bid immediately shut their mouths and fell silent!
They all thought in astonishment—could this person actually be a great expert at the Core Formation stage? Otherwise, where would they have obtained Iron Essence?
This was a material for magical treasures that could only be refined using the core fire of a Core Formation cultivator. Under normal circumstances, any material refined by a cultivator would be immediately fused into their own magical treasures to boost their power! They would never let such materials slip out easily.
And these Iron Essence-type materials, if even a few qian or half a liang could be mixed into an ordinary magical tool, its power would absolutely increase dramatically—raising its grade entirely possible! This made their value soar even further!
Could it be that the burly man from just now was actually a Core Formation cultivator deliberately suppressing his aura, disguised as being at the Foundation Establishment stage? After all, low-level cultivators couldn't see through the true depth of a Core Formation cultivator!
Just as all the cultivators were growing wary and eyeing each other with suspicion—
Following a signal from the three behind him, the thin, tall man finally spoke up again:
"Is there anyone willing to bid above two thousand nine hundred spirit stones? If not, then this pair of puppet beasts belongs to this honored gentleman!"
The thin, tall man seemed to want to push the price even higher, so he deliberately drawled out his words, obviously trying to stall for time.
But which cultivator in the hall would dare casually place another bid? Since these people had been allowed to attend this auction, they were obviously no ordinary characters. They were either important figures from cultivation families or cultivators who had achieved great completion of the Foundation Establishment stage—but in the presence of someone who might be a Core Formation cultivator, who would dare bring trouble on themselves?
And even if this person wasn't a Core Formation cultivator, at the very least there had to be a great Core Formation expert standing behind them. So even though they might burn with desire to learn the secrets of those puppet beasts, not one of them was willing to stick their neck out as the first to bid. They could only sit there watching helplessly.
As for that strange person who had been exchanging barbed remarks from the very beginning, they too now sat there without a single word. It was unclear whether they had been intimidated by the Iron Essence, or simply couldn't scrape together that many spirit stones.
When
And just like that, the pair of puppet beasts unambiguously ended up in the burly man's hands. When he received the puppet beasts, his hands trembled slightly with excitement!
But this only made the hearts of the cultivators present itch with even greater curiosity. Most of them wished they could snatch the things away on the spot and carefully study their mysteries!
The burly man in the hood, having received the puppet beasts, immediately left his seat and headed for the stone door. But when he reached it, he found the stone door had been sealed shut from the outside! He pushed with all his might twice, but the door didn't budge an inch!