Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Feeling curious what would come out now that all of the Saint Grade Elixirs had been sold, Xuan Hao's full attention was once again on the auction stage down below, as he eagerly watched a small group of people from the Explorer Union bring out a small chest before placing it on top a small pedestal at the center of the stage without opening it.

Hm? Divine sense can't penetrate through the small box…?

Having extended his divine sense to investigate the small box almost the second it had been brought out; Xuan Hao was left somewhat shocked as he felt the small box blocking his divine sense without any difficulties.

Considering that his divine sense was already stronger than a normal Sea Formation Realm cultivator and with how easily his divine sense was blocked, it wasn't difficult for him to guess that even someone in the Land Creation Realm would have a difficult time trying to pierce through the small box and figure out what was hidden inside it.

In turn, this only made him more curious about it, as his attention drifted away from the small box and focused onto the man standing next to the box now clearly smiling to himself. Clearly having already guessed that the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators had tried and failed at breaking through the box with their divine sense.

Now… That person was even deliberately waiting to make things more dramatic and stir the interest of the group of Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators.

"Everyone, I take it that you now known that this little box can't be pierced through by divine sense?"

"Yeah! Just hurry up and open the box!"

"No need to act so mysterious!"

"Open the box!"

"Eh… O-okay…" Clearly not having expected everyone to not even care about the mysterious presentation he had prepared, the man on the stage froze for a second before awkwardly moving to open the small box under the curious and expectant looks of everyone present. Even Xuan Hao couldn't help following the crowd, as he soon saw what was hidden inside the small box.

Another elixir? No… The bottle doesn't contain any liquid, but instead a plant of some kind… A spiritual herb? But for a spiritual herb to come after so many Saint Grade Elixirs-

"Indeed, like many of you may already have guessed, this is a rare Saint Grade Spiritual Herb. Not just any Saint Grade Spiritual Herb, but one that carries a total of ten seeds which can all be used to nurture new Saint Grade Spiritual Herbs in the future!"

Although he had already guessed that it was a Saint Grade Spiritual Herb after seeing the small plant inside the bottle, Xuan Hao was still taken aback upon hearing the description of the small plant given by the auctioneer standing on the stage.

A Saint Grade Spiritual Herb might not be that valuable on its own, but one that carried seeds that could be used to grow more spiritual herbs of a similar quality was different, as it could potentially help a major power gain a steady supply of Saint Grade Spiritual Herbs in the future if they managed to successfully grow them.

This single spiritual herb that came along with seeds was more than enough reason for the different Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators to have gathered at the small city for the auction, but… From the reaction of not just the auctioneer on stage, but also the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, it was clear that this spiritual herb along with seeds was something completely unexpected and shouldn't have been the reason why they had travelled to the small city for the auction in the first place.

"The starting price will be one hundred thousand top grade spirit stones. Increasing by at least a thousand with each bid."

After the auctioneer calmed down a bit and allowed the audience- or mostly the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, to take in the spiritual herb that came along with ten seeds, he wasted no time in announcing the starting bid of one hundred thousand spirit stones.

"The Heavenly Dragon Temple offers 150.000 top grade spirit stones!"

"Hehe, think an introduction will make any difference? 180.000 top grade spirit stones!"

"Hmph! 200.000 top grade spirit stones!"

But even though the starting bid was the same as the Saint Grade Elixirs that had come before, it was clear from the start that the importance of the two couldn't be compared, as two of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators had already started a battle with each other for the spiritual herb and more importantly the seeds that came alongside it.

The simple reason why there was no talk about splitting up the seeds was because of the sheer difficulty of cultivating a Saint Grade Spiritual Herb would require. By the time a successful cultivation method was figured out, most of the seeds would likely end up destroyed… And that was a best-case scenario.

After all, different from spiritual herbs below Saint Grade, Saint Grade Spiritual Herbs were incredibly difficult to find, let alone cultivate.

Not to mention, those who did manage to successfully cultivate a spiritual herb would rarely share this kind of information with others, as the ability to produce Saint Grade Spiritual Herbs was a core foundation of many major powers.

"320.000 top grade spirit stones!"

For this reason, he wasn't that surprised when the price of the spiritual herb and seeds crossed over three hundred thousand after only a few minutes of bidding. If anything, he was more surprised that the Explorer Union was willing to auction off something like this and not keep it for themselves.

But… Maybe it was because the Explorer Union wasn't the ones deciding to sell this, but instead someone different who had decided to go through the Explorer Union to sell the spiritual herb and the seeds.

Even then, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit of respect for the Explorer Union after reaching this conclusion. After all, he was almost certain that the Explorer Union was the only power on the continent that would willingly follow along with its pre-established rules and auction off something like that.

At the same time, it also made it clear why the Explorer Union was so trusted throughout the continent when it came to trading and why so many felt confident in selling things through them without fear of being robbed in the process. This is part of a series from My Virtual Library Empire (M|V|L1EMPYR).

Of course, this also made the Explorer Union itself more terrifying, as the only reason they would be able to ignore so many precious treasures going through their hands daily was because their foundation was even more powerful.

If they truly lacked something, it would have been relatively simple for the Explorer Union to discreetly get rid of someone like the one who should have come to auction off the spiritual herb along with the seeds today. After all, the other party should be at the auction right now observing how things played out… And in that case, he or she should be below the Celestial Immortal Realm. Meaning that it would have been incredibly simple for a continent spanning power like the Explorer Union to get rid of him or her if they really wanted to.

As for the Saint Grade Elixirs that had come up earlier… He didn't think that they had been put up last second by someone through the Explorer Union upon learning about the auction and the fact that it had attracted several Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, like the spiritual herb and seeds had most likely been. Instead, he felt certain that they should have been put up by the Explorer Union itself.

The main reason for this was not the reactions from the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators, but instead the fact that one of the Dao Seed Realm cultivators who was also in a private box at the second floor like himself, had been able to prepare ahead of time and get his hands on one of the Saint Grade Elixirs.

Clearly, the Saint Grade Elixirs had already been planned and announced beforehand unlike the spiritual herb and seeds.

Speaking of the spiritual herb and the seeds…

"578.000 top grade spirit stones! Give up little monk of the Heavenly Dragon Temple, you have no way to win against me when it comes to wealth! Even if this is the territory of you bald monks, don't forget my church borders the Western Central Region. So, just give up willingly and don't drag on things for too long!"

"Hmph! You don't know anything! Don't think I have no clue about your little church's financial situation after the little saintess of yours ran away with most of your spirit stones! 580.000 top grade spirit stones!"

The bidding war had already devolved into two of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators slinging insults at each other as they each continued to increase the bid for the spiritual herb and seeds.

Both clearly unwilling to give up and admit defeat to the other, as the price soon surged past 600.000 top grade spirit stones. Exceeding the Explorer Unions initial evaluation of the final price for the spiritual herb and seeds by a hundred thousand.

At this point, it was clear that the spiritual herb and seeds were no longer the reason why they continued to bid. Instead, it was a grudge match to see who gave in to the other and admitted defeat, a grudge match that neither the Explorer Union nor Xuan Hao himself expected to see play out between two Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators. Making everyone curious about the history between these two, as there had to be something for them to be acting up like this…