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At 8:30 p.m., the banquet officially began.

Several elders with white hair walked to the center of the restaurant. Without the need for a microphone, their voices sounded as clear as if they were speaking right next to one's ear.

"Fellow daoists, my name is Zhang Sanqian, and I am one of the organizers of this Ghost Market. To my left is the Third Elder of the Lin Family of Ling City, Lin Changfu. To my right is Yue Zhong, the Family Head of the Yue Family from Sangzhou City." After a brief introduction by Zhang Sanqian, he continued, "Just like the previous Ghost Markets, our first event will be the auction."

Zhang Sanqian took a few minutes to explain the rules of the auction.

The rules were simple: the highest bidder wins.

All auction items were provided by those attending the Ghost Market. The items varied in quality and value, and with good luck, one might stumble upon a treasure.

The restaurant was large, and as Zhang Sanqian finished speaking, Lin Changfu and Yue Zhong left the stage to take their seats.

No sooner had Zhang Sanqian remained on stage, than a table and a chair were brought up for him.

Zhang Sanqian sat on the chair while hundreds of people sat below, filling up the space. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

All these hundreds of individuals were either cultivators or martial artists.

This was Li Xiaoyao's first encounter with so many cultivators, and he found the experience rather wondrous.

When Li Xiaoyao first obtained the Mysterious System, he thought he was the only psychic in the world, yes, at that time, he believed he was a psychic.

Upon his return to the country, he met Cheng Dongliang, and from that moment onwards, he came to realize that besides himself, there was another mysterious group of people in the world.

These people were known as cultivators or martial artists.

By absorbing spiritual energy or training their own physical bodies, they could become much stronger.

Li Xiaoyao took a deep breath, knowing that once he stepped into the ranks of cultivators, there was no turning back.

His life was destined to be extraordinary from now on.

"The first auction item is a martial skill: Close-Range Fist Technique, Third Rank martial art, with a starting bid of 3,000 Spirit Stones and incremental bids not less than 100 Spirit Stones." As the sound of Zhang Sanqian's voice fell, a wave of exclamations erupted from the audience below.

"It's actually a Third Rank martial skill; I didn't expect the quality of the auction items to be so high this time. The first item is a martial skill; this visit to the Ghost Market is indeed worthwhile."

"This item is only useful for martial artists; it's of little use to us cultivators."

Li Xiaoyao looked at the thread-bound book inside the glass case on the table, feeling somewhat disappointed.

Both martial skills and spells have their own ranks.

Martial skills are classified from First to Ninth Rank, with ranks above the Ninth being Mortal Rank First Grade to Mortal Rank Ninth Grade.

The Thunder Commanding Art and Sword Control Nine Forms that Li Xiaoyao purchased from the System were of Mortal Rank First Grade.

However, this Close-Range Fist Technique had not even reached Mortal Rank, so naturally Li Xiaoyao held no interest in it.

"3,900 Spirit Stones!"

"4,000 Spirit Stones!"

"4,500 Spirit Stones!"

A Third Rank martial art was of no use to Li Xiaoyao, but for ordinary martial artists who did not possess the Mysterious System, such a skill was incredibly powerful, so they were determined to obtain it.

Eventually, the Third Rank martial skill was sold to a robust-looking martial artist for 6,000 Spirit Stones.

The martial artist who won the skill was very excited, but amidst his excitement, he couldn't help but sigh.

6,000 Spirit Stones was a frighteningly high sum for ordinary cultivators and martial artists.

"The second auction item, the corpse of a Twin-Tailed Tiger Cat." With a wave of Zhang Sanqian's hand, a giant glass case was immediately brought in, inside of which was a beast as big as a tiger.

This demon beast had exotic patterns on its body and two long, thick tails sprouting from its tailbone, giving it a rather eerie appearance.

As soon as this demon beast appeared, the eyes of everyone below lit up, and even Li Xiaoyao was drawn in.

"A Dual-tailed Tiger Cat, a Condensation Realm Demon Beast, the body of this beast is intact, and it died no more than seven days ago," Zhang Sanqian, like an old fox, chuckled one time, saying, "Everyone should know, once the cultivation level of a demon beast reaches the Condensation Realm, there's a certain chance that a Demon Core will form within its body. Therefore, the starting bid for this Dual-tailed Tiger Cat is 30,000 Spirit Stones!"

"Wow!"

The crowd burst into an uproar, and the sound of gasps of shock immediately filled the room.

A starting bid of 30,000 Spirit Stones was practically an astronomical price.

Among those present, very few could afford to bid such an amount.

But everyone understood that the body of a Condensation Realm Demon Beast was definitely worth the price.

"31,000 Spirit Stones."

A few seconds of silence filled the hall, then someone immediately called out a bid.

The crowd looked over, and the bidder was a young and handsome man.

"Which family is this young man from? I haven't seen him before."

"I don't remember him either; he must be attending the Ghost Market for the first time."

"To be able to put forth 30,000 Spirit Stones, surely he must have the support of a great clan behind him."

This young man was Wu Hao.

After Wu Hao called out his bid, he stood up, his gaze sweeping over the faces of everyone in the hall, and then he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I come from the Wu Family of Zhongzhou, named Wu Hao. This Dual-tailed Tiger Cat's corpse is of great use to my Wu Family. I would ask you all to show me some courtesy and not to compete with me for it."

"It's someone from the Wu Family of Zhongzhou!"

"I knew it, an ordinary family wouldn't be able to afford such a price."

"According to rumors, the Wu Family in Zhongzhou owns a Spirit Stone Vein, so for them, indeed, 30,000 stones is not much."

Following Wu Hao's words, the face of Zhang Sanqian on the stage immediately darkened.

Zhang Sanqian said in a grave voice, "Young friend, this is an auction where everyone competes fairly. What you just said has influenced the auction of the Dual-tailed Tiger Cat, and I have the right to strip you of your right to bid."

Wu Hao was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "My apologies for the impertinence. Since that is the case, I will bid an additional 10,000 Spirit Stones, making it 41,000 Spirit Stones. If anyone else is interested in this Dual-tailed Tiger Cat, please feel free to bid."

Wu Hao's gesture undeniably gave substantial face to Zhang Sanqian, and his addition of 10,000 Spirit Stones also significantly improved Zhang Sanqian's mood.

However, although Wu Hao said everyone was free to bid, nobody truly dared to compete with him.

The body of a Condensation Realm Demon Beast was certainly precious, but to offend the Wu Family over the corpse of a beast was far too unwise.

Zhang Sanqian sighed softly as he looked at the quiet hall.

If the auction had proceeded normally, the price of this second-grade Demon Beast would certainly have been much higher, but since Wu Hao had added 10,000, and his manner towards Zhang Sanqian was extremely respectful, Zhang Sanqian was also happy to do him this favor.

"41,000 Spirit Stones for the first time, 41,000 Spirit Stones for the second time, 41,000 Spirit Stones for the third..."

"50,000 Spirit Stones."

Just then, a calm voice rose in the hall, stirring up a thousand waves with a single word.

People looked for the source of the voice and found that the bidder was also a young man.

"Who is this person?"

"There are quite a few new faces in the Ghost Market this time."

"This young man really has guts, daring to offend the Wu Family."

Wu Hao's face darkened as he turned to look at the person who bid. Upon seeing him, his already somber face grew even more angry.

The bidder was none other than Li Xiaoyao!

[I've written all night and finally finished in the early hours. Three chapters in succession, and if nothing unexpected happens, there will be another chapter during the day. Requesting recommendation votes and tips!]