The seller's demand for a Wisdom Path inheritance was an unreasonable ask. Fang Yuan had previously offered a list of immortal materials — at least the Immortal Gu Masters all had some of those on hand — but a Wisdom Path inheritance was exceedingly rare.
Moreover, even a Wisdom Path Immortal Gu Master would not sell their own inheritance, the very foundation of their power, so easily to someone else.
Chu Du did not have a Wisdom Path inheritance, and neither did Feng Jiuge.
The only thing Fang Yuan had was a partial Wisdom Path inheritance, and a severely incomplete one at that — far from meeting the requirement.
He sat in his seat, licking his dry lips in silence, his anticipation growing ever stronger.
For a moment, neither Secret Chamber No. 10 nor Overlord Immortal Chu Du spoke again, and the great hall sank into an eerie silence.
Gradually, murmurs began to rise throughout the hall.
"Demanding a Wisdom Path inheritance? That condition is just too harsh."
"It's easy to get a Wisdom Path Immortal Gu, yet they delusionally want a Wisdom Path inheritance? Hah."
"This is pure greed at work. Neither Secret Chamber No. 10 nor Overlord Immortal can produce something like that. The heated atmosphere just now has been completely ruined. This Great Strength Gu might end up failing to sell!"
"It's no big deal, though. Immortal Gu that fail to sell will go through a second round of auction according to procedure."
The seller of this Great Strength Gu had also sensed that something was wrong. Anxious, he quickly moved to salvage the situation.
After receiving a secret transmission from the seller, Qin Baisheng announced: "The Wisdom Path inheritance need not be complete — even a partial one will do. Of course, the more complete it is, the better."
Fang Yuan laughed. He happened to have a very incomplete Wisdom Path inheritance on hand.
From within Secret Chamber No. 10 came his bid: "I happen to have a partial Wisdom Path inheritance."
When Chu Du heard Fang Yuan's bid, his heart lurched. He didn't even have a partial inheritance. But a sliver of hope still lingered in his heart, and that hope naturally fell upon the Orchid Sword Master. In his view, the Orchid Sword Master was backed by the Phoenix Immortal Prince, with extremely deep resources — surely it wasn't impossible for them to have a partial Wisdom Path inheritance.
Feng Jiuge smiled bitterly.
The Spirit Fate Studio did indeed have some partial Wisdom Path inheritances in their collection. But he didn't have one on hand at the moment. He hurriedly sent a message through the Earth Tunneling Gu in his Immortal Aperture, contacting the other nine Central Continent Immortal Gu Masters.
The nine Central Continent Immortal Gu Masters naturally knew about Feng Jiuge's operation. In fact, they had already secretly positioned themselves near the Scarlet Reed Marsh, waiting to receive him.
After receiving Feng Jiuge's message, two of them did have partial inheritances. One was Old Calculator, from the Ancient Soul Gate — a Wisdom Path Immortal Gu Master himself. The other was Chen Zhenchi of the Ten Thousand Dragon Dock, a flying grandmaster who had once explored some ruins and accidentally obtained one.
Feng Jiuge was naturally delighted to receive their responses and quickly entered negotiations.
A Wisdom Path inheritance, even a partial one, was extremely valuable. Old Calculator and Chen Zhenchi were not of the same sect as Feng Jiuge, and even the closest of allies keep clear accounts.
After a brief exchange, Feng Jiuge finally struck a deal with Chen Zhenchi, paying a steep price to purchase his partial Wisdom Path inheritance.
But once he had it in hand, Feng Jiuge hesitated.
He could, of course, give the partial Wisdom Path inheritance to support Chu Du. But doing so would be far too transparent.
He had previously deceived Chu Du into believing his interest lay in the Zhengtian Silver that Overlord Immortal possessed. Now, to fund such a precious partial Wisdom Path inheritance for merely some Zhengtian Silver — that would be like sacrificing a watermelon for a sesame seed. It simply wouldn't hold up to scrutiny.
Feng Jiuge could well imagine that the moment this inheritance was produced, Chu Du would immediately suspect his true intentions!
"If only I had someone at my side who knew the full picture and could step in at a time like this," Feng Jiuge lamented again. "In this situation, the chances of the seller choosing Secret Chamber No. 10 are about eighty percent! What a pity that during an Immortal Gu auction, one cannot contact the seller directly."
Just as Feng Jiuge was willing to risk Chu Du's suspicion and bring out the partial Wisdom Path inheritance to support him, Chu Du spoke up: "I don't have any inheritance. I'm withdrawing from this auction."
Feng Jiuge was stunned.
It turned out that after waiting a while, the already slim hope in Chu Du's heart had gradually faded to nothing.
Putting himself in their shoes, he considered that his relationship with the Orchid Sword Master and the Phoenix Immortal Prince was not deep to begin with — they were only helping him for the Zhengtian Silver. Even if they had a partial Wisdom Path inheritance, why would they sacrifice so much to help him? For a mere six hundred jin of Zhengtian Silver?
Obviously impossible.
Chu Du was a clever man. Though he was an independent cultivator, he still had his pride. Fang Yuan had already placed his bid, and with so many watching, Chu Du could not simply sit there in silence.
So he candidly admitted defeat and withdrew from the auction entirely.
Feng Jiuge's expression darkened. In the instant Chu Du announced his withdrawal, he understood the entire chain of reasoning.
At this point, Fang Yuan's victory was already a foregone conclusion, and Feng Jiuge didn't know what to say.