Chapter 103 - Desolate Seeds of Kongtan
The gavel struck the heavy wooden block. A sharp crack silenced the murmurs of the audience on the lower floor.
"The Grand Auction of Qiancheng begins," Elder Feng announced, his voice carrying clearly to every corner of the majestic hall.
The iron doors behind the stage did not open yet. Instead, Elder Feng raised a hand, gesturing to the center of the wooden stage.
"We shall begin with a few ordinary lots to settle the mood first," he said, smiling. "The first item is an Earth Tempered Steel Dagger. It was forged in the volcanic fires of the Southern Ridge, refined seven times, and is suited for disciples needing a reliable blade. Bidding starts at two thousand spirit stones."
On the main floor, several hands rose immediately.
"Two thousand two hundred!" a young man shouted. He wore the blue-and-white robes of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, his posture upright. A sword was strapped to his back, and his robes identified him as a disciple of the Heavenly Cloud Sect’s Sword Peak.
"Two thousand five hundred," a muscular cultivator roared from the opposite side. He was clad in simple sleeveless cotton, his knuckles calloused. He belonged to Martial Peak, his voice booming over the crowd.
The bids rose quickly as other disciples and rogue cultivators joined in.
"Three thousand!"
"Three thousand two hundred!"
Su Ming watched from the window of his room, sipping his tea. He did not bid. Such a dagger was useless to a Nascent Soul cultivator, and even his disciples on White Lotus Peak had better weapons.
The dagger was eventually sold to one of the Martial Peak disciples for three thousand six hundred spirit stones.
Next came a batch of Pill Gathering Powder. It was a standard alchemy supplement, useful for refining pills. The bidding started at three thousand spirit stones.
This time, several students from the Heavenly Dawn Academy joined the fray. They sat together in a quiet cluster on the lower floor, holding their ledgers and calling out bids in calm, measured voices.
"Three thousand five hundred," one scholar said.
"Three thousand eight hundred," a young female cultivator countered. She sat near the front, dressed in a bright red robe that marked her as a disciple of the Heavenly Phoenix Sect. Her hair was tied with a golden ribbon, and she looked at the scholars with a competitive glare.
The bidding went back and forth until the scholars claimed the powder for four thousand two hundred stones.
A dozen stalks of Fire-Cloud Grass followed, starting at four thousand stones. It was a common element herb, but its quality was above average. The Heavenly Phoenix Sect disciples bid aggressively for it, their red robes shifting as they gestured. They won it quickly for five thousand stones.
Throughout these opening bids, the private rooms on the second floor remained completely silent. Not a single sound came from the VIP rooms. Su Ming rested his hands in his sleeves. He knew the major players were saving their wealth. They had not come to Qiancheng for common herbs or basic weapons.
***
Elder Feng stood behind the podium, watching the final lot clear the stage. His expression was warm, his eyes scanning the tiers of seats. He was an experienced host, knowing exactly how to command the room.
"Now that the audience has warmed up," Elder Feng said, his voice dropping to a low, rhythmic tone that naturally drew every eye back to him. "It is time to move on to the main event of this year’s Grand Auction."
A quiet wave of whispers ran through the crowd.
"As many of you may have heard, the merchant guilds made a grand discovery last month," Elder Feng continued, his smile growing wide. "They uncovered a sealed section of the Sunken Ruins of Kongtan. According to our ancient records, this region was once home to the Green Lotus Valley, the Holy Hand of Alchemy."
He paused, letting the name sink in.
Su Ming had read about Kongtan before in the sect library. The records were fragmented, but they described the valley as a place of myth. Listening to Elder Feng, he wondered if the valley had been a secret realm, or perhaps a grotto-heaven to be called a Holy Land that had collapsed.
During his recent study about these, he has uncovered many different things. Secret realms and places like that were classified into many different things. There was a secret realm, there were pocket spaces, there were blessed lands, there were Grotto heavens. The term Holy Land was very generic in that regard. Stopping his mind from drifting in his thoughts, he focused back.
"In the ancient era before the immortals disappeared, that valley was a legendary holy land of Alchemy," Elder Feng continued, a look of reverent awe crossing his face. "It was a place where, as the ancient history textbooks tell us, Alchemy Saints walked the valley like ordinary men, refining pills that could defy the heavens and cultivating immortal herbs that are now lost to time. Today, we bring you the first treasures recovered from those ancient vaults."
***
Behind the central stage, the iron doors swung open. Two silver-robed assistants carried a jade box onto the stage and set it on the pedestal.
The box was opened, revealing three dry, grey, stone-like spheres. They looked more like pebbles than anything organic.
Elder Feng gestured toward the box. "We present the Three Desolate Spirit-Seeds of Kongtan."
As soon as the box was opened, several cultivators on the floor attempted to project their divine sense onto the stage to inspect the lot. However, the air around the pedestal rippled slightly.
A protective barrier hummed, radiating from the wooden podium. The stage array completely blocked any incoming divine sense. Cultivators gasped as their mental probes were deflected, leaving them unable to scan the seeds. They had to rely on visual inspection and the auctioneer’s description.
"These seeds were recovered from a sealed stone vault deep within the ruins," Elder Feng said. "Under normal circumstances, seeds from a holy land like the Green Lotus Valley, even as dried as this, would start at least at ten thousand spirit stones. They are relics of a bygone era, after all."
He paused, looking around the room before sighing with a touch of theatrical regret.