Eternal Life: My Talents Can Refresh-Chapter 93 - 90: Flying Magical Artifacts and Illusion Techniques
"Fellow Daoist, you can see the entire auction hall from the room. If you fancy any item, you can bid directly.
Our rooms are all restricted."
The attendant led Chu Ning into the room and stood outside the door, speaking.
"If you win an auction, the item will be sent over via that round platform in front, and you just need to place the corresponding Spirit Stones on it."
Chu Ning nodded, indicating he understood, and then thought of another matter, asking the attendant:
"If there’s nothing suitable for me in this auction, what should I do?"
The attendant smiled and said:
"Fellow Daoist, you can find me directly after the auction, or if there’s something you want.
You can tell me now, and I can help you check if there are any such items among the auction items.
If not, I can also help you find one to bring over."
Hearing how convenient it was, Chu Ning immediately said:
"In that case, please keep an eye out for any Flying Magical Artifacts and books on Spirit Beasts."
After a pause, Chu Ning added:
"If there are any Spirit Pills and Spirit Medicine related to strengthening the Divine Sense, please also keep an eye on those."
The attendant’s expression remained normal at first, but when he heard about Spirit Pills and Spirit Medicine for strengthening the Divine Sense, he showed a hint of surprise.
It was obvious that he was quite curious about why Chu Ning, a cultivator of the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, was asking about Spirit Pills and Spirit Medicine to strengthen the Divine Sense.
However, the surprised look flashed by quickly and he resumed his usual demeanor.
"Alright, fellow Daoist, please wait a moment."
The attendant responded, turned around, and left.
It was only at this moment that Chu Ning, curious, started to examine the small room.
Previously, when he was in Qinghe Square, he had sensed on the first floor that these small rooms in the Cloud Sea Pavilion had a protective restriction.
It could isolate probing, and even change sounds.
Now, he wanted to have a closer look.
Chu Ning observed around and found the small room to be square, no more than one zhang in size.
Three of its sides were made of an unknown metal, while only the side facing the front was made of a transparent material.
From the looks of it, it seemed to be made of glass.
A thin layer of light hovered vaguely over the glass, clearly some form of restriction.
Presumably, it was this restriction that was effective in isolating observation and altering sound.
"Though this restriction isolates observation from outside, the rooms on the second floor are not far apart.
When entering and exiting, if one is a little mindful, they can actually see people clearly."
Chu Ning couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
"Fellow Daoist, may I come in?"
Just then, a voice rang outside the room, it was the same attendant from earlier.
Upon Chu Ning’s response, the attendant walked in.
He then handed a Jade Scroll to Chu Ning.
"Our shopkeeper says that since you have come with a senior of the Foundation Establishment Stage, you are a distinguished guest of our pavilion.
This Jade Scroll contains some basic information about the auction items, as well as information on the books about Spirit Beasts you mentioned earlier.
Feel free to take a look, and if you have any instructions, do call me."
Chu Ning immediately took the Jade Scroll, and after the attendant left, he began to examine it.
Going through the information in the Jade Scroll, Chu Ning felt a mix of joy and worry.
What made Chu Ning happy was that the auction did indeed have a Flying Magical Artifact.
Named the Wind Chasing Shuttle, it is an advanced shuttle-shaped Magical Artifact.
According to the record in the Jade Scroll, this artifact, made from high-quality materials, has several layered Wind Arrays inscribed on it.
Its flight speed is extremely fast.
However, because it is an Advanced Magical Artifact, especially a relatively rare Flying Magical Artifact, its starting bid has reached 700.
"I originally just wanted to see if there was an Intermediate Flying Magical Artifact to buy and use, but now an Advanced Flying Magical Artifact has appeared at the auction.
As a result, the competition will certainly be intense, and I’m afraid it will ultimately cost a lot of Spirit Stones."
Chu Ning quietly pondered for a while, but was still determined to obtain the Wind Chasing Shuttle.
Because at this auction, it was the only Flying Magical Artifact available.
As for the book on the introduction of Spirit Beasts, the information in the Jade Scroll indicated there were none available at this auction.
However, the Cloud Sea Pavilion did provide two books for Chu Ning to reference, one titled the Thousand Beasts Map, mainly introducing the habits and characteristics of various Spirit Beasts and Demon Beasts.
The price stated in the Jade Scroll is 200 Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
The other book, named the Hundred Beasts Scripture, specifies methods for cultivating 100 types of Spirit Beasts, at a price as high as 2000 Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
Chu Ning thought for a moment and decided that if he were to buy one, he would choose the Thousand Beasts Map.
After all, he was only looking for information related to Ling Xiaobai and had no interest in cultivation methods.
However, when Chu Ning saw the information regarding Spirit Medicine for strengthening the Divine Sense in the Jade Scroll, he shook his head directly.
According to the information in the Jade Scroll, Spirit Medicines for strengthening the Divine Sense are hard to find even among Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
And the prices are generally counted in Ten Thousand Spirit Stones.
This made Chu Ning, who had initially considered buying some Spirit Medicine to speed up his cultivation of the Refining Spirit Technique, abandon this idea straight away.
However, within the Jade Scroll was another item that piqued Chu Ning’s interest.
Before Chu Ning could finish reading the details on this item, a gentle tinkling sound arose.
Looking up, he saw a middle-aged man in splendid robes slowly appear on the round platform between the first and second floors.
"Fellow Daoists, I am Bai Shuangquan, the host of this Cloud Sea Pavilion auction."
This was the moment the auction was officially starting.
After a simple opening remark, the auction officially began.
The first auction item presented by Bai Shuangquan was an Advanced Defensive Magical Artifact, which Chu Ning had already looked into before.
He knew that although this artifact was advanced, it was more suited for a Water Attribute Cultivation Technique.
So Chu Ning was immediately disinterested.
In the end, the advanced defensive magical artifact with water attribute was won by a cultivator for 1150 spirit stones.
"Defensive magical artifacts are indeed worth more than offensive ones, and this flying artifact’s starting price is 100 spirit stones higher than the defensive one..."
Chu Ning inwardly complained.
He remembered that at the Qinghe Square auction, the final price for a Gold Attribute Advanced Offensive Magical Artifact he saw was only 700 spirit stones.
Chu Ning had similarly looked through the next several auction items ahead of time.
Since they were not what he needed, Chu Ning didn’t make a bid.
"The seventh auction item, the Wind Chasing Shuttle, is a flying type magical artifact for individual use, starting at 700 spirit stones, with increments no less than 50 spirit stones each time..."
Hearing Bai Shuangquan’s voice, Chu Ning perked up; it had arrived.
"750 spirit stones!"
No sooner had Bai Shuangquan finished speaking, a voice immediately echoed.
"800 spirit stones!" "850 spirit stones!"
Soon, a chorus of bidding voices rang out.
Chu Ning gritted his teeth in frustration.
His initial intention was to hold off on bidding to prevent the price from getting hyped up.
However, his silence didn’t stop others from speaking up.
After five or six people consecutively chimed in, prices quickly surpassed 1000 spirit stones.
Sensing this, Chu Ning entered the bidding fray as well, knowing it’s less conspicuous when fewer people are bidding.
"1050 spirit stones!"
Chu Ning declared, but outside it came as a somewhat deep voice.
"1100 spirit stones!"
Soon another voice followed, "1150 spirit stones!"
Chu Ning waited a breath or two, then calmly stated, "1200 spirit stones."
What surprised Chu Ning was that the voice changed again, becoming an older one.
This undoubtedly made Chu Ning reflect.
"This voice-changing restriction is quite intriguing, with a different sound each time from different directions.
It seems that Cloud Sea Pavilion had already thought of the small loophole I considered.
Even after finalizing, it’s impossible to know which room placed the bid."
There was a moment of silence at the scene.
And then Bai Shuangquan’s voice rang out, "1200 spirit stones, is anyone else bidding?"
As soon as he said that, another voice emerged again.
"1250 spirit stones."
Hearing this, Chu Ning sighed inwardly, and calmly spoke up.
"1300 spirit stones!"
The scene fell silent once again, while Bai Shuangquan continued to ask, "1300 spirit stones, is anyone else bidding?"
After two consecutive queries, there was no further response.
"1300 spirit stones, sold."
With Bai Shuangquan’s final word, Chu Ning felt a discreet sigh of relief.
The main goal of this trip was finally achieved, though the Wind Chasing Shuttle pushed the price up to 1300 spirit stones.
Even though he had some wealth at the moment, he couldn’t help feeling a slight pang of financial pain.
In just a short moment, a round platform appeared in front of Chu Ning with a black shuttle-shaped artifact on it.
After examining it briefly, Chu Ning took 1300 spirit stones out from his storage bag and placed them onto the platform.
The platform then transported it away again.
Having won the Wind Chasing Shuttle, Chu Ning naturally didn’t pay much attention to the subsequent items.
At this moment, his focus was on the fifteenth auction item.
One item after another was auctioned off, concluding the previous fourteen items quickly.
Bai Shuangquan’s voice soon sounded again.
"The fifteenth auction item, an Illusion Technique manual, which after cultivation can freely change one’s appearance and voice.
It should be noted that this technique cannot conceal or alter magical power fluctuations, starting at 300 spirit stones..."
Upon hearing this, Chu Ning’s eyes lit up slightly.
This was precisely one of the items he was very interested in when he checked the jade scroll earlier.
His Yin Wood Spirit Body naturally concealed magical power, and if desired, he could even completely gather his power to appear as a mortal.
However, he always believed that it would be even better if he could pair it with something that changes one’s appearance.
And this Illusion Technique was precisely what attracted Chu Ning.
"300 spirit stones." Chu Ning straightforwardly bid the starting price.
Someone else then bid, "330 spirit stones."
Chu Ning waited for two breaths, and seeing no other responses, he followed up with, "360 spirit stones."
Perhaps because the Illusion Technique did not conceal or alter magical power, others weren’t interested.
After Chu Ning’s bid, no further bids were made.
Chu Ning successfully secured the Illusion Technique manual for 360 spirit stones.
