"Everyone, please take a look — this is a thousand-year Wind Willow." The female Gu Master pointed at the item on stage, introducing it at a leisurely pace.
"Wind Willow is a rare and precious auxiliary ingredient for Gu refinement. It requires a special environment — the power of wind — in order to grow continuously. Because Hurricane Mountain has strong winds year-round, it produces large quantities of Wind Willow."
"Ordinary Wind Willow only survives for decades or a century at most. But this particular Wind Willow, offered as an auction item, is over a thousand years old and can be used as an auxiliary ingredient for Fifth Transformation Gu refinement! The starting price is fifty thousand Yuan Stones. The auction begins now."
The moment the female Gu Master finished speaking, bids began flying in.
"Fifty-five thousand!"
"Fifty-eight thousand."
"Sixty-five thousand."
"Seventy thousand."
The price kept climbing. Many people joined the bidding — most of them professional Gu refiners.
Thousand-year Wind Willow was extremely rare. Even the Ju Family, which had stood on Hurricane Mountain for several hundred years, now had only eighteen stalks in reserve.
Wind Willow had no trunk. It only had roots embedded in mountain rock and a single branch.
When the strong winds blew, this lone branch would dance with the gusts, like slender seaweed swaying beneath the waves.
The thousand-year Wind Willow on stage had been coiled up by hand, but its total length had to exceed a hundred meters.
Fang Yuan tried to throw in a bid. Sure enough, Shang Yazi immediately spoke up, raising the price by five thousand.
But in the end, the Wind Willow was claimed by a Gu Refining Grandmaster for nearly a hundred thousand Yuan Stones.
"The thousand-year Wind Willow was already the eighth item up for auction. Throughout this time, I've tried to make a move, and every time Shang Yazi has sniped me. If I don't bid, he doesn't bid. It seems this man came to the auction specifically to oppose me to the very end." Fang Yuan's eyes flickered as he gained a deeper understanding of Shang Yazi's petty nature.
Time slipped by without notice.
The ninth item. The tenth item...
"What we're presenting next is the twelfth item. This is a Wind Chasing Gu — a Fourth Transformation Movement Gu that grants a Gu Master the speed to chase the wind. The starting price is one hundred and eighty thousand." The female Gu Master's crisp voice echoed throughout the entire auction hall.
"Nineteen ten thousand."
"Two hundred thousand!"
"Two hundred and twenty thousand!"
"Two hundred and fifty thousand!!"
...
The Wind Chasing Gu was one of the most popular auction items, and the moment it appeared, it ignited the auction hall's first frenzy.
Many people joined the bidding. The private rooms that had been quietly silent before now rang out with successive bids.
Among the Wind, Light, Lightning, and Cloud categories of Gu, Movement-type Gu were all quite outstanding. The Wind Chasing Gu was a Fourth Transformation Gu that provided a massive speed boost to its user.
Fang Yuan tried calling out a price, and Shang Yazi immediately followed, suppressing Fang Yuan's bid.
Fang Yuan stopped bidding, and their prices were quickly swallowed by the subsequent waves of offers.
New competitors kept joining the fray, but at the same time, more and more people watched the relentlessly climbing prices and reluctantly chose to give up.
When the Wind Chasing Gu's price rose to three hundred and fifty thousand, only two Gu Masters remained in contention.
One was Elder Yi Buhui of the Yi Family, and the other was Elder Fei Luanfeng of the Fei Family.
The relationship between the Yi Family and the Fei Family was far from cordial, and the rivalry between the two elders was tinged with hostility.
In the end, the Wind Chasing Gu sold at the high price of four hundred and forty thousand to Elder Yi Buhui.
Even though Fang Yuan had over two million Yuan Stones, he did not join the competition.
The Wind Chasing Gu contained Dao patterns of wind. If he used it, the various beast shadows on his body would interfere with it, drastically reducing its effectiveness. The Wind Chasing Gu simply wasn't suitable for Fang Yuan.
"If it were a Fourth Transformation Immortal Wind Gu, I might have been interested in bidding. Unfortunately, it was only a Wind Chasing Gu."
Fang Yuan possessed a secret recipe. He could use an Immortal Wind Gu along with seven Bright Star Gu and other auxiliary ingredients to refine an "Immortal Anchoring Gu."
Dream Entry, Carefree Wandering, Immortal Anchoring, and Wine God Wandering — collectively known as the Four Great Movement Gu.
All four were Fifth Transformation Gu.
Dream Entry allowed a Gu Master to enter another person's dreams. Carefree Wandering excelled at evading attacks. Immortal Anchoring was a single-use consumable Gu, but it could teleport a Gu Master to anywhere in the world they wished to go. Wine God Wandering was the most unique of all — it first appeared in the Records of the Human Ancestor, but its details need not be discussed here.
Fang Yuan had memories of his past life and therefore knew the secret recipes for both Carefree Wandering and Immortal Anchoring. Of the two, Immortal Anchoring was the one he needed most, but its refinement success rate was extremely low, and he could not even gather all the necessary materials. For now, he had no choice but to set it aside.
"All right, next up is the thirteenth item of today's auction. A... Labor Gu!"
The female Gu Master gave a lengthy introduction from the stage, though in truth she hardly needed to explain — the eyes of many Gu Masters were already shining with light.
"I must have this Labor Gu — no one can stop me. Two hundred thousand Yuan Stones!" Before the female Gu Master had even finished stating the price, Fang Yuan was already shouting his bid.
Fang Yuan's words drew a displeased response from Ju Kaibei: "Young man, so hasty. I bid two hundred and fifty thousand."
"Three hundred thousand." Right beside him, Shang Bixi spoke up immediately.
"Five hundred thousand!" Fang Yuan threw out a staggering price.
The entire auction hall erupted in commotion.
"That voice — it must be Gu Yue Fang Zheng!"
"He's truly wealthy beyond measure! Five hundred thousand for a single Labor Gu?"
"He's won so many matches at the martial arena — his finances must be formidable."
People exclaimed one after another, and the faces of several Strength-path Gu Masters turned bitter. They had harbored hopes for the Labor Gu and wanted to try their luck, but with Fang Yuan making such a move, they were eliminated before they even had a chance to bid.