Clearly, this alien Mahayana elder had no idea that the one truly competing against him from the flying chamber was merely a junior at the Spirit Refining stage.
Upon hearing these words, Xuepo's expression shifted slightly, and she couldn't help but glance toward Han Li.
"It's fine. This is an auction, after all—the highest bidder wins. If you truly need it, Fellow Daoist Xue, don't hold back. Just bid," Han Li said calmly, his expression unchanged.
"Thank you, Senior! With those words, I can rest easy." Xuepo relaxed visibly, her voice brimming with gratitude.
She then tapped the disc a few more times and called out a price of "fifty-five million."
The sudden leap of three million spirit stones in a single bid sent a ripple of surprise through the alien cultivators gathered in the plaza.
The Mahayana elder who had made the initial bid fell silent, remaining quiet until Hu Yushuang on the stone platform confirmed the price three times and ultimately declared the winner of the Golden Marrow. Even then, no sound emerged from his flying chamber.
It was unclear whether this Mahayana old monster truly felt the item was no longer worth such a price, or whether— In any case, Xuepo was naturally overjoyed. After only a short wait, a Commerce Alliance attendant delivered the item to their chamber, and she paid the spirit stones on the spot.
"I never expected Sister Xue to be so wealthy—pulling out such a massive sum of spirit stones without even blinking." After the attendant left, Zhu Guo'er, seated beside her, eyed the small purple vial in Xuepo's hand with unconcealed envy.
Given her age and cultivation level, she naturally couldn't possess many spirit stones of her own.
"Little Sister Guo'er, you joke too much. These spirit stones are the result of my main body's savings over many years. I never expected such a rare item as the Golden Lightning Lion Marrow to appear right at the start. Otherwise, I would have waited a bit longer before making my move. But having spent this fortune on this treasure, I'm afraid I have no hope for the items still to come." Xuepo sighed, and with a flash of spiritual light, she tucked the small vial away.
"But I think it was wise for you to act now, Sister. While there may be even rarer items later in the auction, the bidding prices for those will surely far exceed what you paid today. We've only just begun, and I suspect many people are still holding back, waiting to see what comes. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to secure the Golden Marrow so easily." Zhu Guo'er tilted her head in thought, then chimed with a grin.
"This is all thanks to Senior Han's presence here. On my own, I would never dare compete with a Mahayana elder for anything. Even if that elder hadn't attended this auction, I doubt the others would have given up the Golden Marrow so easily." Xuepo glanced at Han Li, her gratitude plain in her eyes.
"I had originally thought I might need to lend Fellow Daoist Xue some spirit stones, but you secured it on your own—which is even better." Han Li smiled faintly, offering a noncommittal response.
At this moment, his gaze drifted once again toward the center of the plaza outside the flying chamber.
That the auction had opened with something as rare as the Golden Marrow had caught even Han Li by surprise, and he now found himself genuinely looking forward to what would come next.
On the stone platform, Hu Yushuang had already picked up the second item—a slightly longer wooden box—and flipped it open.
The instant the pitch-black box opened in her hands, a dragon's roar erupted from within.
A streak of azure light shot outward, and with a flash, it transformed into a cyan flood dragon over a hundred feet long. The creature bared its fangs and brandished its claws, soaring toward the sky as if attempting to seize the chance to escape.
"Hmph. Get down."
From the five-colored clouds overhead, a cold snort suddenly rang out. Then, with several muffled pops, several beams of golden light shot out from nearby cloud formations. With a flash, they struck the cyan dragon with unerring precision.
The dragon let out a piteous wail, trembled throughout its body, and plummeted from midair.
Below, the woman seized the precise moment, her lips murmuring incantations as she pointed a finger at the falling dragon.
The dragon's body writhed, its radiance contracted, and it reverted into a hazy cyan sword that drifted slowly downward.
Only then did Hu Yushuang raise her hand toward the sky, capturing the sword directly into her grasp. She held it in both hands and gave it a gentle rub.
The azure glow on the sword's surface immediately vanished, and the dragon's roar cut off abruptly.
Han Li's eyes flashed briefly with a faint blue light, and he studied the item in crystal-clear detail.
The sword had an ancient appearance, no more than a foot in length, but its blade was remarkably short—occupying roughly half the total length, with the hilt taking up the other half.
The blade's surface was covered in dense, scale-like spiritual patterns, while the pommel was shaped into the head of a cyan flood dragon, its mouth gripping a crescent-shaped crystal.
"The Azure Dragon Ascending Moon Sword—one of three spiritual swords once owned by the Moon-Reaching Elder, who made his name across the Fengyuan Continent a hundred thousand years ago. During its forging, it was soaked in the vital blood of over a dozen sentient cyan flood dragons. After its completion, the Moon-Reaching Elder spent centuries of painstaking effort channeling the power of the moon's essence into it, again and again. Its spiritual nature is formidable, and its power goes without saying. Any Fellow Daoist interested may come forward to examine it." The beautiful woman held the sword before her and offered this brief introduction with a warm smile.
As soon as she finished, several people in the plaza actually rose to their feet and filed onto the stone platform to inspect the sword. Some nodded, others shook their heads—in a short span, nearly thirty people had taken a look.
After the last person stepped down, Hu Yushuang raised the sword slightly and, without further hesitation, declared: "The Azure Dragon Ascending Moon Sword is now open for bidding! Starting price: seven million spirit stones, payable only in supreme-grade spirit stones!"
The starting price for this treasure was noticeably lower than that of the Golden Marrow.
But in exchange, far more people had their eyes on this sword of extraordinary provenance.