Chapter 258: Blood King Crown
Jiang Li and the ancestor were so surprised because what they saw was none other than the cornerstone of the Scripture Storage Valley, a missing piece on the core stone monument of the Scripture Imparting Hall’s ancient ruins!
More than 270 years ago, the battle for the ruins before the establishment of the Scripture Storage Valley was extremely intense.
They had destroyed the Scripture Imparting Hall, which was the core of the inheritances.
This also caused most of the cultivation methods and inheritances in the Scripture Storage Valley to be incomplete.
Only a small portion were lucky to be intact.
For example, Jiang Li’s core spirit refinement cultivation method, the Great Carefree Bodhisattva Heart Sutra. The sect clearly knew how powerful this cultivation method was, and it was not inferior to or even superior to the four great inheritances of the Scripture Storage Valley.
However, why was it that after so many years, they were still unable to complete it, nor did they request Jiang Li to enter the Scripture Imparting Hall again to slowly complete the cultivation method?
That was because they had already tried it.
The stone monument that contained the later parts of the Heart Sutra was clearly damaged and lost. No matter how they tried, they could not obtain the rest of the content.
It was only by relying on Jiang Li’s status that he was able to cultivate this technique.
The Scripture Storage Valley had once spent a great deal of effort to gather these lost fragments from back then. Over 200 years had passed before the Scripture Imparting Hall was restored to what Jiang Li saw now.
However, he did not expect to encounter it in the Eastern Region’s Phoenix Sun City when the sect could not find it in the Great Mountain Region.
“Calm down first, don’t worry.”
Jiang Li and the others did not immediately bid. Instead, after a while, after the atmosphere became cold for a long time, they tentatively placed an initial bid.
This was to prevent others from knowing their desire for this item and prevent them from raising the price maliciously.
As expected, after the No. 73 second-rate VIP room made a hesitant bid, the scene was still very quiet.
In the next second or two, the auctioneer on the stage clearly knew that the value of this thing was limited. It was already quite lucky that someone made a bid, avoiding an awkward auction round.
The planted bidders they arranged were naturally silent in this case.
Jiang Li successfully bought this fragment of the Scripture Imparting Hall’s stone monument at the bottom price of 90,000 low-grade spirit stones.
When the service staff delivered the fragment and the spirit stones from Jiang Li’s own auction, he and Ancestor Zhu could not believe that things would actually go so smoothly.
Honestly speaking, Jiang Li’s luck could only be considered to be not bad that he encountered this fragment. Everything else he possessed was obtained through hard work.
Like the Immortal Slaying Flying Sword, Asura’s corpse, Nine Nether Wood, etc.
But recently, he discovered that things seemed to have gone a little smoother.
From time to time, there were some good things that came to him without him needing to do anything.
For example, this stone tablet fragment, or the news from the escape team of the Hundred Tempering Mountain that he had lost contact with before, or the extremely outrageous decision at the Great Mountain Cultivation Conference that directly made him the Alliance Leader of the Great Mountain Alliance.
All of these events seemed to have happened after the Hundred Tempering Mountain battle.
In other words, it should be after he obtained the status [Merit Blessing (Small)].
From a certain perspective, this merit was very similar to the concept of “character”.
A person with good character would often have good luck.
Jiang Li was able to become the Alliance Leader of the Great Mountain Alliance partly because his strength was extraordinary and he had outstanding contributions. On the one hand, he had a wide range of friends and was very popular. On the other hand, they were forced by the situation to find a leader that they could control.
However, it seemed that the merit blessing also played a huge role.
In this way, since this fragment had suddenly appeared before him under such circumstances, Jiang Li had reason to believe that there was an ancient inheritance that was greatly beneficial to him within it. It seemed that he had to find an opportunity to return to the sect someday.
Of course, luck did not represent everything. Jiang Li’s merit blessing was considered ‘small’, so he naturally could not attribute everything to illusory luck. Everything had to be planned before taking action, otherwise, he would probably die without knowing how.
…
The auction continued for a long time.
Fortunately, the sense of time for cultivators was different from ordinary people.
Having meditated all year round, their mental strength was much stronger than ordinary people.
Even on the most boring rounds, the things up for bid were actually rare and good. No matter what, it was good to broaden one’s horizons.
After this continued for half a day, the mind of the auctioneer on the stage suddenly shook, and his voice suddenly rose.
Even Jiang Li looked a little stunned when he saw this auction item.
The auctioneer carefully placed a velvet tray on the stage and faced the stage with a mysterious expression.
“Everyone, I’m afraid that no more than ten people present have actually seen the next auction item. However, there should be many people who have heard of it!”
Hearing the auctioneer’s introduction, everyone’s curiosity was stirred.
“A special fruit that grants lifespan, the Longevity Peach!”
The auctioneer shook his hand, and the red high-grade cloth was lifted.
Five rosy, round spirit peaches that were pink like blushing girls appeared in front of everyone.
A fragrant and clear fruit smell spread from the stage. With just a sniff, one could sense a supreme delicacy.
“This is… a specialty of the Mu family of the Peach Forest.”
Jiang Li understood as he looked at the five exquisite Longevity Peaches.
The Mu family’s Mu Chunyang was still secretly imprisoned in the Shu Mountain Demon Subduing Pagoda. Jiang Li naturally interrogated a lot of information about the Mu family.
This Longevity Peach that could grant 60 years of lifespan was the specialty of the Mu family.
As soon as the Longevity Peaches appeared, the auction hall became a little quiet.
Many cultivators below were attracted by the fragrance of the Longevity Peach and could not escape.
As for those factions who had heard of the title of the Longevity Peach, they were slightly stirred.
Just as the old auctioneer had said, this Longevity Peach was quite famous in the Eastern Region.
After all, one Longevity Peach could extend one’s lifespan by 60 years, and eating five was equivalent to 300 years.
One had to know that even Golden Core cultivators could only live for 500 years.
Many cultivators started on the path of cultivation in order to seek immortality.
These five Longevity Peaches could extend one’s life by 300 years, so how could they not be tempted?
Moreover, the further one went on the path of cultivation, the harder it was. Many top-notch cultivators at the Golden Core realm were wasting their time in front of a mountain pass and could not approach it. When their lifespan was about to end, they still had not broken through.
At this time, they would think of a way to delay the end of their lifespan, and this Longevity Peach was undoubtedly a very effective method.
It was said that because of the temptation of the Longevity Peach, the Mu Family of the Peach Forest had suffered a joint attack by top-notch cultivators.
In that attack, the Mu Family of the Peach Forest suffered heavy losses. Their territory was invaded by a group of top-notch cultivators and the family was about to be exterminated.
At that moment, the Mu family’s patriarch retaliated.
The boundless might that shook the heavens and the earth directly defeated the invading enemy, and it allowed the other powers of the Eastern Region to understand that there was a terrifying existence that could not be offended standing behind the Mu family.
After that, no one dared to seize the Longevity Peach anymore. Countless top-notch cultivators who were close to the end of their lifespan begged the Mu family, so they used this to rope in a large group of powerful external forces to help them.
From then on, the Mu family’s influence grew larger and larger, and in the end, they became a second-rate faction in the Divine Judgment Hall.
Today, it was extremely rare for the Mu family to auction five Longevity Peaches.
“If I give them to Father, he will definitely be happy.”
The Third Young Master of the Myriad Slaughter Sect, Wu Loulan, looked at the five Longevity Peaches and muttered softly.
“Young Master, these five Longevity Peaches are very expensive. The final transaction price will probably not be lower than 3 million low-grade spirit stones!”
“If we spend too many spirit stones now, will it affect the thing that the Sect Master wants?”
He naturally understood that Third Young Master wanted to use the Longevity Peaches to gain the favor of the Sect Master, but business was more important.
“What’s the rush? I know what to do. Even if we can’t obtain the Longevity Peaches, even if we don’t buy these few, we can use them to make the other factions expend more spirit stones. This way, the auction after this will naturally be more smooth.”
“Alright, Young Master Loulan is wise.”
The elder hesitated for a moment. He suspected that this young master still could not understand the priorities.
On the auction stage, the old auctioneer’s saliva flew everywhere as he exaggerated the effects of the sixty-year lifespan Longevity Peach.
As for the cultivators present, their eyes immediately burned when they heard that it could increase their lifespan by 300 years.
“I believe everyone should know the scarcity of this lifespan extension spiritual treasure in the cultivation world. However, it is so important. Regardless of whether you are young and frivolous or in your twilight years, having an additional 300 years of lifespan will not do any harm.”
“Therefore, the starting price of these Longevity Peaches is two million low-grade spirit stones, let the auction begin!”
The white-haired auctioneer’s expression was smiling. Clearly, he knew that this auction would definitely be abnormally exciting.
“Starting at two million spirit stones… the transaction price is at least three million spirit stones. For top cultivators, ten thousand low-grade spirit stones to extend their lives for a year is really a profitable deal.”
When he heard the starting price of two million, Jiang Li immediately felt an intense pain in his heart.
It was as if he had lost two million spirit stones.
After all, Jiang Li could casually take out a large number of Nine Nether Earth Fruits with the same effect.
Not only could his Nine Nether Earth Fruit extend one’s lifespan, it could also allow the user to grow a brand new spiritual root and obtain pure cultivation advancement.
Apart from the side effects of being parasitized by the spiritual root, it was even stronger than the sixty-year Longevity Peach.
However, Jiang Li could not sell this thing.
This was because he did not have a powerful background to resist the greed of top cultivators.
Even the Mu family of the Peach Forest was almost exterminated because of this matter back then. Their Great Mountain Alliance did not have this ability.
Therefore, when Jiang Li treated the daughter of the City Lord in Nightless City back then, he only displayed the ability to bestow spiritual roots, and he never spoke about lifespan.
It was to guard against such danger.
Seeing the starting bid of two million low-grade spirit stones, the cultivators in the ordinary seats and the third-rate VIP seats below were immediately depressed.
Those burning gazes instantly dimmed greatly.
This price was far from what they could afford.
However, this was the first time Jiang Li had seen a spiritual fruit that could directly increase lifespan other than the Nine Nether Earth Fruit.
The cultivation method of the Peach Forest’s Mu family directly opposed the Nine Nether Dao Scripture. He did not know what the peach tree that produced this sixty-year Longevity Peach was or what other abilities it had.
Jiang Li decided that when he became stronger in the future, he would definitely go to the Peach Forest to investigate.
Of course, Jiang Li did not participate in this auction. He did not lack Nine Nether Earth Fruits, and he was not stupid enough to spend millions of spirit stones to buy a few useless things.
However, while he was not too tempted, the others were different. After the auctioneer finished speaking, the large factions that had been silent for a long time began to bid
The price soared all the way and easily broke through the 3 million mark, causing Jiang Li to gnash his teeth in envy.
In the end, the Myriad Slaughter Sect could not buy these five Longevity Peaches.
Even if they wanted to threaten the bidders, there were still many powerful forces in the Eastern Region who were not afraid.
In the end, the five Longevity Peaches that represented 300 years of lifespan were bought by a faction called the Dragon Transformation Island for 3.8 million low-grade spirit stones.
After the top auction item, the sixty-year Longevity Peach, which had the highest transaction value, no ordinary items appeared in the subsequent auction.
The cultivators below who were previously active gradually became spectators. The VIP rooms above began to bid enthusiastically.
The evil Nine Yin Flying Zombie, the powerful Five Poison Monster Insect, the precious Dragon Essence Blood, and the mysterious Moon Meteor Ice Rock…
Every single precious thing caused Jiang Li to be dazzled and tempted.
In any case, he knew his own limits. The final item definitely had nothing to do with him.
It was only because of this that the Nine Nether clone sitting in the seats below took action twice and spent 2.15 million spirit stones to purchase a top-grade spirit mine and the statue of an ancient Buddhist mighty figure with a thousand hands.
With this, Jiang Li’s Green Mountain Residence’s savings and the gains from the auction of the Hundred Tempering Mountain’s inheritance were basically emptied.
The speed at which he spent spirit stones was really terrifying.
The next three items were completely unrelated to him and the Great Mountain Alliance.
That was because the price was too expensive!
Towards the end of the auction, finally, an item that everyone looked forward to had appeared, an Earth-rank artifact that was priceless!
“Blood King Crown, an accessory artifact. Low-grade Earth-rank!”
The powerful voice of the old auctioneer instantly caused the entire noisy auction to fall into silence.
Countless crimson gazes stared at the crown that was placed on the auction stage. Hurried breaths sounded like bellows in the quiet venue.
“Earth-rank artifact.”
Jiang Li also licked his lips, and a trace of desire for the crown emerged.
Even if he already had an Earth-rank artifact, the Yin Burial Coffin, he would not mind having more at this moment.
However, did someone really take out an artifact of this level to sell?
After Jiang Li suppressed the greed in his heart, he started to think. This Earth-rank artifact wouldn’t happen to have any major flaws, right?