Behind the Imperial Heaven Pavilion, in the auction hall, the female cultivator presiding over the auction activated her Spirit Light, revealing the second item for sale. Han Yi's heart jolted, his eyes widening in shock.
Before him, within the glowing screen on the wall, a battered arm armor materialized. Though he had never seen this particular piece before, the aura emanating from it was unmistakably connected to that of the Myriad Nether Tome.
If he had been blindfolded and only sensing the aura, he would have mistaken this for a weakened version of the Myriad Nether Tome.
"An artifact from Myriad Nether City!" Han Yi thought with conviction.
His suspicion was confirmed.
The female cultivator began her explanation in a measured tone: "This artifact originates from the Ancient Nether Dao Domain, a domain ruled by an Overlord-level power—the Myriad Nether City—for millions of years."
"This arm armor is likely a fragment of a Heavenly Venerable Ancient Artifact. Though damaged and its Spirituality lost, its material quality remains exceptional. Once restored, it could reach the peak of Dao-grade artifacts. Moreover, as Fellow Daoists familiar with Myriad Nether City know, all its artifacts share a common origin. This makes the arm armor highly valuable for research purposes."
"Starting bid: 300 million Dao Crystals. Minimum bid increment: 20 million Dao Crystals."
Before this, Han Yi had heard Daoist Suyin mention that a damaged Heavenly Venerable Ancient Artifact would appear at the auction, but he never expected that the first such artifact he saw would have any connection to him.
Strictly speaking, this arm armor couldn't be considered a damaged Heavenly Venerable Ancient Artifact. It was merely a small part of a complete suit of armor, its Spirituality completely lost, leaving only its material value and research potential.
Precisely because of this, its price was surprisingly low, with a starting bid equivalent to only a slightly better high-rank Dao Artifact.
Han Yi didn't immediately bid. He waited two breaths before joining the bidding, and even then, he increased the bid slowly. After all, this was only the second item being auctioned, and it had limited practical use, so few people were participating in the bidding.
When the bid reached 630 million Dao Crystals, no one followed up. After three breaths of silence, the female cultivator presiding over the auction declared the bidding round over. Han Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief inside.
Anyone else would have hesitated long and hard before spending 630 million Dao Crystals on something with seemingly little practical use. But Han Yi was different. This was an artifact of Myriad Nether City. Perhaps this arm armor belonged to a Deputy City Lord. As the holder of Myriad Nether City's Supreme Inheritance, the Myriad Nether Tome, he might be able to uncover hidden potential through its power.
On the glowing screen on the wall, a cultivator removed the Jade Box, and another brought forward a third. The female auctioneer waved her hand, and Spirit Light illuminated a golden Three-Legged Cauldron.
After a quick glance at the cauldron's description, Han Yi lost interest. At that moment, a knock sounded at his door, and a shopkeeper entered.
This shopkeeper was only at the First Step of the Dao Realm. He respectfully placed the Jade Box before Han Yi, who in turn placed the required 630 million Dao Crystals into a Cosmic Pouch and handed it to the Dao Realm cultivator.
After the cultivator left, Han Yi eagerly opened the Jade Box. Though small from the outside, its interior was spacious enough to hold a half-meter-long arm armor.
The arm armor was entirely pitch-black, its surface appearing quite battered and worn. The edges at both ends were uneven and slightly damaged.
Han Yi didn't remove it from its case. Instead, he took a deep breath and patiently stored it away. This wasn't the place to examine the arm armor—not only because they were in the Imperial Heaven Pavilion, which might be secretly monitored, but also because he didn't fully trust this place.
Moreover, the True Form of the Myriad Nether Tome was located in the Vast Heng Dao Domain, separated by an entire Dao Domain. Han Yi couldn't sense the Myriad Nether Tome here, nor could he draw upon its power to examine the arm armor.
Therefore, the best time to examine the arm armor would be after returning to the Vast Heng Dao Domain, or even after returning to the Primordial World.
After stowing the arm armor, he continued observing the auction.
The third item up for auction was a Three-Legged Golden Cauldron, which went for 890 million Dao Crystals. The fourth item was a bottle of a special, miraculous liquid called Scripture Recitation Marvelous Liquid, which fetched a staggering 1.36 billion Dao Crystals. This liquid could increase the probability of a Great Luo Immortal Venerable breaking through to the Dao Realm by fifty percent.
Don't underestimate this fifty percent increase. A Great Luo breaking through to the Dao Realm is achieving Dao, the most crucial transformation a cultivator can undergo.
Even a Heavenly Venerable couldn't easily help a Great Luo cultivator break through to the Dao Realm. This marvelous liquid, however, could significantly increase the success rate of such a breakthrough, making it inevitable that fierce bidding wars would erupt. Even Han Yi bid several times, but he stopped after surpassing one billion Dao Crystals.
Originally, Han Yi had over eleven billion Dao Crystals left after purchasing the Dao Sword, plus the substantial amount he had obtained from numerous Myriad Nether Avatars—approximately thirty-seven billion Dao Crystals.
After purchasing the arm armor, he now had four billion two hundred million Dao Crystals remaining.
He would only use these Dao Crystals if absolutely necessary, preferring to wait for a Source Crystal to appear at an auction.
As time passed, one item after another was placed on the auction platform and swiftly sold.
Han Yi remained patient. The auction would last three days, giving him ample time to wait. Even if a Source Crystal didn't appear at this auction, he could always wait for the next one.
To his surprise, however, after eight hours—just under half a day—the Source Crystal he had been anticipating finally appeared on the auction platform.
"Next up is a batch of Source Crystals. This batch will be auctioned in ten separate lots, and we will now begin the first lot."
"Starting bid: one billion Dao Crystals. Minimum bid increment: one hundred million Dao Crystals."
In the room, Han Yi's heart lurched as he stared at the glowing screen. Through it, he saw three prism-shaped crystals, each emitting a captivating aura. The crystals were a pale yellow, radiating an alluring energy.
Han Yi glanced at his panel, disappointed to find no notification of a Life Seed discovery.
If he could absorb Source Crystals remotely, he would have snatched them up after the auction, achieving a true "freebie" in the most literal sense.
Unfortunately, the jade box containing the Source Crystals had powerful isolation properties, preventing even his panel from absorbing them remotely.
As the female cultivator's voice faded, bids began popping up on the screen—offers from cultivators in other rooms. The rapid succession of bids indicated that most cultivators couldn't restrain themselves, joining the frenzied bidding war.
Han Yi was no exception. He submitted several bids, but each was quickly overtaken by higher offers.
After a full minute, the bidding for the three Source Crystals gradually slowed. Ten breaths later, no new bids appeared, and the final price settled at fifty-two billion Dao Crystals.
Han Yi shook his head slightly. The final price was clearly inflated.
Han Yi remained patient. The female cultivator in charge had announced that the auction would proceed in ten batches. With nine batches still to come, he reasoned that bidding would eventually return to rationality, leaving him ample opportunity to secure the Source Crystals.
Sure enough, the second batch of three yellow, diamond-shaped Source Crystals saw a noticeably slower pace of bidding. The final price settled at 4.2 billion.
The third and fourth batches followed...
When the fifth batch came up, Han Yi made his move. With a daring bid of 3.9 billion, he narrowly won the three Source Crystals. Only when the auction confirmed his victory did his tense heart finally relax.
He didn't dare wait for later batches. He couldn't gamble whether prices would become more rational or even more frenzied. Securing the crystals now was the safest course of action.
Paying 3.9 billion for three Source Crystals was an exorbitant price, even for a cultivator at the Dao Harmonization Realm. It was a costly gamble.
However, Dao Crystals held little value for Han Yi. Source Crystals, on the other hand, could be transformed into Life Seeds, which enhanced his cultivation, cultivation realm, and Dao Techniques—essentials he desperately needed.
The price for the sixth batch dropped another 300 million, settling at 3.6 billion. The seventh batch rebounded to 3.8 billion, the ninth returned to 4 billion, and the tenth remained at 4 billion.
For Han Yi, waiting until the sixth batch could have saved him 300 million Dao Crystals, but he didn't regret his decision.
He simply observed the remaining batches. With only a little over 300 million Dao Crystals left, he couldn't afford to participate in the auctions.
After all ten batches of Dao Crystals were auctioned off, ten shopkeepers delivered the corresponding numbered Jade Boxes to the winning bidders' rooms. Han Yi also received his second Jade Box.
After paying with the Source Crystal, he didn't immediately open the Jade Box. Instead, he swiftly stored it in his Divine Aperture World. Then, he focused his gaze forward, his expression calm, but his heart was already racing with anticipation.
Suddenly, the change he had been anticipating and expecting occurred. His eyes lit up with intense excitement.
At that moment, a line of text appeared on his retinal display, within the Panel:
Life Seed detected. Absorb?
Earlier, when the female cultivator placed the jade box containing the Source Crystal on the auction stage, Han Yi had tried to check his panel to see if he could detect the Life Seed and absorb it remotely. Finding this impossible, he surmised that the jade box's special properties must be suppressing the Life Seed's radiance.
At that moment, Han Yi anticipated this very scenario: if another cultivator won the Source Crystal, they would undoubtedly open the jade box. While the room's isolation defenses were strong, they couldn't compare to the Imperial Heaven Pavilion's specially crafted jade box. In that case, using his panel, he would likely be able to directly detect the Life Seed.
And he had already resolved that if he detected the Life Seed, he would absorb it immediately.
Now, the anticipated change finally occurred. Without hesitation, as soon as the line of text popped up, Han Yi mentally responded: "Absorb."
In that instant, the 134,681 units of Life Seed in his panel flickered slightly and began to increase.
Meanwhile, in a distant room, a Dao Harmonization Realm cultivator stared intently at three yellow prismatic crystals he had just removed from the jade box. The pale yellow glow they emitted was, to his eyes, the most dazzling color in the world.
However, his expression shifted as he keenly sensed the Origin aura within the three Source Crystals gradually diminishing.
As a Great Cultivator at the Dao Harmonization Realm, his thoughts moved with lightning speed. He swiftly sealed the Source Crystals using a Sealing Dao Technique, but the aura continued to fade. He then absorbed them into his Inner Dao, yet the decline persisted. Just as he was about to conclude that the Source Crystals from the Imperial Heaven Pavilion's auction were flawed, he tried placing them back into the Jade Box and closing the lid. After a few breaths, he reopened it and discovered that the Origin aura had remained stable during that brief period.
"Something's wrong. The Source Crystals are fine; it's the environment here that's the problem. Something is stealing their energy using an unknown method."
"We shouldn't linger here."
As a Dao Harmonization Realm cultivator, his judgment was razor-sharp. He refrained from immediately confronting the Imperial Heaven Pavilion, knowing that such a move would only result in his expulsion. After all, the pavilion was guarded by a Heavenly Venerable. If deemed a troublemaker, a single strike from this exalted being could utterly annihilate him.
Sensing something amiss in his surroundings and unable to find any clues, he swiftly grabbed the Jade Box and used the Escape Technique to flee the Imperial Heaven Pavilion. After putting a significant distance between himself and the pavilion, he opened the Jade Box again at a great height. Finding that the previous issue had not reappeared, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"As I suspected, my judgment was correct."
"Yet, to think there's a method capable of stealing Primordial Energy from a Source Crystal across space... it's utterly inconceivable. I've never even heard of such a thing."
The Dao Harmonization Realm cultivator, clutching the Jade Box, departed swiftly.
Meanwhile, at the auction behind the Imperial Heaven Pavilion, several other cultivators who had opened their Jade Boxes experienced similar issues. Like the first cultivator, they quickly deduced the problem and acted decisively, either closing their boxes or leaving the auction.
Naturally, some cultivators confronted the Imperial Heaven Pavilion directly, demanding an explanation.
In a certain room, Han Yi intermittently absorbed the Life Seed. When the final connection was severed and he could no longer absorb any more, he had only obtained slightly over two thousand units of the Life Seed.
He shook his head slightly, feeling a twinge of regret. Yet he knew this was the limit of what he could "steal" from the Imperial Heaven Pavilion. The other Dao Harmonization Realm cultivators weren't fools; they wouldn't let their Life Seeds flow away indefinitely. They would react swiftly, most likely by simply returning them to the Jade Box.
Therefore, he anticipated that the amount of Life Seeds he could absorb would be strictly limited. Still, he resolved to take whatever he could. This "freebie" opportunity felt absolutely fantastic.
Though the commotion lasted only a short time, the fact that a Dao Harmonization Realm cultivator demanded an explanation from the Imperial Heaven Pavilion caught the attention of several Vice Pavilion Masters. These Vice Pavilion Masters, all at the Dao Harmonization Realm themselves, discreetly investigated, even deploying a Heavenly Venerable Ancient Artifact stationed within the pavilion to trace the source. Yet, in the end, they found not a single clue. Even these Vice Pavilion Masters began to suspect that there might truly be something wrong with the Dao Crystals being auctioned.
Meanwhile, the mastermind behind this incident, sensing a faint fluctuation sweep over him before vanishing instantly, couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.