Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Knowing that there was a chance that the Middle Stage Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union saw through his disguise at some point during the auction, Xuan Hao felt a bit troubled before he realized that there was nothing to worry about. If she really did end up sensing his strength, she would also realize that he was someone in the Sea Formation Realm.

At which point, she will probably be too scared to do anything that might offend me…

Narrowing both his eyes as a small smile appeared on his lips at this thought, Xuan Hao realized that it no longer mattered if the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union found out that he was hiding his true cultivation realm no longer mattered.

"Welcome everyone, to the bi-annual auction of Stone Fire City! As some of you might already have discovered, this auction is a bit special compared to the past auctions held in this city by my Explorer Union and has attracted a rather large number of new people in the process, but this not the only…"

Half listening as the woman on the stage began introducing how different the auction this time was compared to past auctions that had been held in the city that he now found out was called Stone Fire City, Xuan Hao glanced towards Meng Jie and Huo Fen-

Chomp~

Only to find the young disciple fully focused on a small bowl of snacks, while her master remained fully focused on listening to the explanation taking place on stage.

"…"

Having originally wanted to use the time while the one on stage was busy talking about meaningless things to try and gather more information from Huo Fen, Xuan Hao could only let out a quiet sigh to himself before he decided to join Meng Jie in munching down a few snacks while waiting for the auction to officially start. Feeling a lot like the one from the Explorer Union was excessively dragging things for some reason.

From what should have been a quick explanation before the first item was revealed and placed on the stage, over five minutes flew by with the one on stage going into great detail about what kind of spirit stones could be used for the upcoming auction and alternatives that could be sold to the Explorer Union in case one didn't have enough spirit stones on hand…

Whoosh~

But just as he sensed one of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators starting to get a bit impatient with how long things were being dragged on for, a sound that could only be heard by those in the Celestial Immortal Realm could be heard throughout the auction house,

"Haha, I hope I'm not too late!"

And the next second, someone stepped inside the auction house without a single care for the death stare being directed towards him from the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators sitting up on the third floor in their own private rooms.

The reason why none of these Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators decided to respond to this person's remark even though they clearly harbored killing intent towards the other party was clear from a single glance.

This person who had just popped up had not just reached the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm but had already reached the Peak of the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm and was only one step away from reaching the Late Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, his presence already exceeding the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm to some extent.

Rustle~

Outside of this person who boldly stepped forward and took up one of the remaining three private rooms on the third floor of the auction house, two other Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators appeared shortly after him before taking up the remaining two private rooms on the third floor of the auction house. The main difference from the one that had come before them being that they had only reached the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm like the group of four who had shown up before them.

"… And with this, I will officially declare this auction will begin!"

Having almost certainly delayed the start of the auction for these three late comers, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator stepped aside and left the stage before allowing a handsome young man at the Early Stage of the Dao Seed Realm to step onto the stage with the first item for the auction, a short sword that looked like it was about to break with a single swing.

"Greetings everyone, starting the auction today is this Soul Ascension Realm spiritual sword crafted by a Saint Realm Blacksmith who reached the Large Success Realm in the Dao of the Sword. The sword might not be in good shape, but it is a special artifact specifically crafted to aid a friend's disciple comprehend the Dao of the Sword.

Although not useful in combat any longer, it is a perfect training tool for any sword cultivator below the Small Success Realm in the Dao of the Sword, while still bringing some benefits after reaching the Small Success Realm. At the same time, it can also be used as research material for any aspiring blacksmith.

The starting bid is 100 Top-Grade Spirit Stone. Increasing by at least 10 with each bid!"

Listening to the explanation of the short sword, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit surprised that the sword had the ability to aid someone in comprehending the Dao of the Sword.

It might not be useful to him considering he had already reached the Perfection Realm in the Dao of the Sword, but it might prove useful to his disciples or the sect.

At least that was what he thought before he used his divine sense to inspect it and realized that although using the sword the comprehend the Dao of the Sword, it was far inferior to the Dao Enlightenment Monument in the sect library…

"110 Top-Grade Spirit Stones!"

"200 Top-Grade Spirit Stones and five Mystic Grade Spiritual Herbs!"

"240 and…"

However, even though the sword might not be useful to him, it didn't mean that it had no value to the rest of the cultivators at the auction, as a bidding war soon began. Involving not just Soul Ascension Realm cultivators, but also a Dao Seed Realm cultivator who could almost be considered as rare as the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators on the third floor.

"470 Top Grade Spirit Stones, going once, twice and… Sold!"

Unsurprisingly, the one who ended up walking away with the sword in the end was the Dao Seed Realm cultivator on the second floor.

Although… The sheer amount of spirit stones that had been thrown out for this one artifact was surprising. After all, this was only the first item and the ones that had caught the interest of so many Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators were bound to be far more expensive than this.

Why do I suddenly feel like I'm poor?

Looking through his own interspatial rings, Xuan Hao could not help thinking this to himself with a somewhat helpless expression on his face.

It was not that he had no spirit stones so to speak, as the total number of Top-Grade Spirit Stones in his possession was 22.879.

The problem was that this was almost certainly far below what would be needed to compete with the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators.

He could trade the other artifacts and spiritual stones he had on him, but the problem there was that he had already handed over most of the useless things that he couldn't use for himself or his disciples to Elder Song. Meaning that most of the artifacts, spiritual herbs, ores and other things he had on him were things that he didn't want to sell.

Sample from My Virtual Library Empire—read more on M&VLEMPY&R.

Hmmm… My Dao of Space has reached the Perfection Realm. Even if the one guarding the items is close to the Late Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, they should have no way to stop me if I really make a move to steal something…

Narrowing both his eyes as his thoughts began going down a dangerous route upon realizing that he would stand no chance in a competition of wealth with these established Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators who most likely had the backing of a major power behind them, Xuan Hao brought himself back before he decided on doing something that would almost certainly get him hunted down by the Explorer Union.

Well… He didn't entirely back down on this thought, as he instead decided to first judge the situation and see what it was that these Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators wanted to get their hands on so badly.

If it really was something that would prove to be useful to his disciples, the sect's development or his own cultivation, he could sacrifice some of the artifacts and cultivation resources he had in his interspatial to get his hands on it. In the process, he would of course end up drawing the attention of all the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, in which case his true cultivation base would be revealed.

But... He could use that to exert a little pressure on these Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators.

Just to… Ensure the price didn't end up going too high…

The main worry with this approach was the missing Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator who should still be at the small temple located at the center of the city. In the case of him trying to steal from the Explorer Union, he would also have to potentially deal with this unknown that might have some kind of way to prevent him from escaping with something like the Dao of Space.