Chapter 490

Chapter 490: A Smooth Acquisition

"The Heart of the Celestial Wood, one of the primary materials for forming the Golden Core. Besides aiding in forming the Golden Core, it can also be used in concocting antidotes, setting up formations, forging spiritual artifacts, and so on. The opening bid is one hundred superior-quality spiritual stones…"

The female cultivator on stage spoke in a seductive tone, detailing the item housed within the wooden box. Her voice added some color to the otherwise dull auction house, preventing it from becoming overly monotonous.

As one of the major treasures promoted for this auction, the Heart of the Celestial Wood held significant attraction for Foundation Establishment cultivators without sect backing.

Even Immortal Sect disciples found it quite appealing.

Typically, an Immortal City, to ensure the sect’s continuous development, would strive to cultivate this celestial wood.

But the cultivation conditions for celestial wood were extremely harsh; the slightest misstep could cause the entire plant to die prematurely. Moreover, the chance of a Heart of the Celestial Wood forming was exceptionally low.

Therefore, within sects themselves, a disciple could only qualify to redeem one if their contributions were exceptionally outstanding.

Zhou Luo too fixed his gaze on the object inside the wooden box. It emitted a hazy glow, resembling crystal, and he wore an expression of absolute determination.

"Bid whatever it takes," he said in a low voice.

This rare find was crucial for his future breakthrough. Missing it now meant an uncertain wait for the next opportunity.

Though he possessed a long lifespan, cultivation breakthroughs wouldn’t wait.

On the cultivation path, the longer one remained stuck at a critical breakthrough stage, like Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, the harder it became to succeed.

If one continuously failed to form the Golden Core, finally succeeding later often led to numerous drawbacks. It could even directly result in forming a defective, false core.

This was the origin of the fake golden core master.

A fake golden core master hovered between Foundation Establishment and the Golden Core stage. Often, due to prolonged failure, flaws appeared in the core formation. Though they forcibly formed something resembling a core, their entire cultivation foundation suffered damage, permanently halting their progress.

With his long lifespan, Zhou Luo naturally refused to resign himself to being merely a fake golden core master for life.

So today, even if the Heavenly King himself came, he absolutely had to obtain this Heart of the Celestial Wood.

He wasn’t afraid of offending some people.

On the cultivation path, success meant fighting for every opportunity.

Since this Heart of the Celestial Wood was being auctioned off, the capable would naturally win it.

As for whether it might invite covetous gazes?

Zhou Luo believed that the background and identity of the Wan Gu Sect meant few would dare be so brazen.

If anyone did, it would surely be a cultivator like Zhu Zhi Feng – nearing the end of their lifespan and utterly desperate.

Against such cultivators, Zhou Luo, invincible within the Foundation Establishment realm, had no fear whatsoever.

"One hundred and ten superior-quality spiritual stones."

As he contemplated, other Foundation Establishment cultivators had already begun placing their bids.

"One hundred and fifteen!"

"One hundred and twenty!"

…

"Two hundred and thirty!"

Bids rose one after another. In the blink of an eye, the price had exceeded two hundred, and it continued to climb.

This price was already higher than that low-grade spiritual artifact.

There was no choice—spiritual artifacts could always be found later, as long as one entered the Golden Core stage, there was no worry about not finding them.

But this Heart of the Celestial Wood, if missed, meant giving up the chance to break through to the Golden Core stage.

The two could not be compared.

As the price kept rising and reached two hundred and fifty superior-quality spiritual stones, the bidding voices became much fewer.

There was no choice—not everyone was as wealthy as Zhou Luo.

Once the price exceeded what they could bear, even if they were incredibly unwilling, they had to yield it over.

At that moment, Zhou Changtian, who had remained silent until then, joined in and placed a bid.

"Two hundred and seventy-two spiritual stones."

As soon as he spoke, it instantly drew the gazes of some cultivators in the scene.

Now, everyone knew he was from the Wan Gu Sect and were just curious why he was also joining this bidding war.

Compared to those loose cultivators without the support of an Immortal Sect, people like him were not as eager for the Heart of the Celestial Wood as one might imagine.

"Two hundred and seventy-five superior-quality spiritual stones."

In the hall, the young lady in blue who had bid earlier subtly trembled her eyelashes.

She pursed her lips, her voice strained as with gritted teeth.

That price was almost at her acceptable limit.

"Hmm?"

In the private box, Zhou Luo seeing this frowned slightly.

In his perception, that young lady in blue was at the Foundation Establishment stage.

But her aura was not as strong as he had expected—far from peak Foundation Establishment, not even late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Why did she seem so urgent for that Heart of the Celestial Wood?

"Two hundred and seventy-eight spiritual stones."

On the other side, Zhou Changtian, determined to win, bid again.

This auction had no minimum bid raise limit, so each time he increased the offer only slightly.

And the other party also seemed unwilling to give up, continuing to place higher bids.

Occasionally during this, others wanted to join in, but they were deterred by the auras of the two.

Especially those who knew the identity of the young lady in blue decisively chose to back off.

Because even if they spent all their wealth, they probably couldn’t outbid her.

While they couldn’t compete, Zhou Luo felt no pressure.

Even among those in the Golden Core stage, finding cultivators richer than him was truly rare.

As the two kept raising the bid, the price soared rapidly.

In an instant, it hit three hundred and fifty superior-quality spiritual stones.

Once that price was quoted, the young lady in blue immediately lost heart.

Her delicate face showed an expression of unwillingness, and she ultimately had to concede.

For a moment, no one else placed any bid.

The Heart of the Celestial Wood fell into Zhou Luo’s hands.

Soon after, a Maid appeared bearing the item and handed it to Zhou Changtian.

After receiving the spiritual stones, she left.

"Father, I wish you a speedy success in forming your Golden Core."

He said with a gentle smile.

Though he was only at the Qi Refinement stage at this time, he had naturally heard of this Heart of the Celestial Wood.

In fact, at the Wan Gu Sect, they had dedicated a mountain to cultivating this celestial wood.

Zhou Luo took the wooden box and carefully inspected it once over.

Having confirmed it was genuine, he put it away.

With that, he had all the main materials for forming his Golden Core.

Finding the remaining auxiliary herbs would not be hard.

After the auction ended for the Heart of the Celestial Wood, Zhou Luo had little interest in the items that came next.

Hence, he did not participate.

He had asked Zhou Changtian what he wanted to buy, so he could get it for him.

But because this son was still not at the Foundation Establishment stage, many items at the auction held little use for him at present.

The spiritual stones spent on this auction were still within his means.

Especially the Heart of the Celestial Wood had not cost as much as expected.

The main reason was that after the young lady had started bidding, she deterred many people.

That made Zhou Luo wonder about her background and if it was like that of Zhu Zhi Feng long ago.

If it really was, he needed to be more cautious when returning to the Qinyuan Domain.

Not long after, once the last auction item was won, the young woman in red spoke slowly:

"Fellow friends, this auction has concluded, but we have prepared a trading meet next, offering you an opportunity for free exchange."

"Friends who are interested may proceed to the side hall."