Chapter 4833 — Shocking the Entire Hall

"The first lot from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild: a set of ten Gestation Qi Golden Pills, top-grade quality, starting price one million five hundred thousand spirit jade!" The white-bearded elder's voice rang with fervor. Frankly, when he had first laid eyes on the list, even he had been badly startled—top-grade quality was a rarity one might encounter only once in a blue moon!

The whole hall erupted in an instant. Upper-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills were still seen from time to time, but top-grade was something that could not be sought even if one tried—its scarcity rivaled that of seventh-rank pills. Ordinarily, people did not merely seldom see them; they scarcely even heard tell of them!

Steward Hao and Steward Jin actually did nearly drop their jaws in shock, their expressions a spectacular sight to behold. They had thought putting up a set of upper-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills was already quite something, only for the other side to casually toss out a set of top-grade ones—was this not a public slap in the face?!

Without question, the Grand Gates Guild was now thoroughly trampled beneath the Hong Clan Merchant Guild's feet. Had the two sets been vastly different in kind, then no matter how fine the Hong Clan Merchant Guild's offering, no one would have thought of the Grand Gates Guild. But here were ten Gestation Qi Golden Pills on each side—one merely upper-grade, the other top-grade. Superior and inferior stood plain for all to see!

"Three million!" Box Four seized the initiative once again. Before this, it had bid only three times, but each time on the signature lot of a merchant guild—grand gestures all, without question. And once again it impressed upon everyone the impression it had already created: that to this buyer, spirit jade was truly nothing but a number.

To these great personages, Gestation Qi Golden Pills no longer held much meaning, yet for the younger generation of their sects they could still serve a purpose—especially top-grade ones, so rarely seen. Even a cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage would reap great benefit from taking them. Such a thing was not to be missed.

"Five million!" Box Four gave not an inch, while the rest could only sigh in admiration. At such a price, even the great merchant guilds dared not bid lightly, let alone ordinary cultivators of modest means—this was destined to be a bidding game for the privileged alone.

"Five million five hundred thousand!" Box Two spoke up again, though this time the voice belonged to a middle-aged man. He made no deliberate show of power, yet it carried a pressure that awed without anger, making others instinctively shy from contending with him.

Listening to that voice, Wei Zhao found it vaguely familiar. A moment's thought and it came to him—could it be Wei Hebei, one of the Morning Star Academy's three giants? Most likely, given that this vice-archmaster had disciples beyond counting, and surely no small number of prodigies at the Golden Core stage. Top-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills would be just the thing for them.

This time, Box Four too fell silent. No one supposed it had run short of spirit jade—one who had paid three million five hundred thousand for a single seventh-rank Great Return Pill would hardly begrudge a mere five million spirit jade for ten top-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills. There could be but one explanation: just as Box Six had earlier dared not provoke it, so it now dared not compete with Box Two. With no other choice, it yielded.

In the end, this set of top-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills fell to Box Two for five million five hundred thousand spirit jade. The assembled guild stewards were struck speechless—a single first lot had already fetched five million five hundred thousand, surpassing the Grand Gates Guild's entire take of five million three hundred thousand. How was anyone supposed to compete with that?!

Inside Box Twelve, Steward Hao and Steward Jin now wore faces as black as the bottom of a cauldron. Recalling all their sneering and mockery of Old Chai, they wished the ground would swallow them whole. They had imagined the man was being unreasonable and shameless—when in truth he had simply been looking at the two of them as idiots all along!

"Next, the second lot from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild: a seventh-rank Great Return Pill, upper-grade quality, starting price one million eight hundred thousand spirit jade," the white-bearded elder announced.

The hall erupted once more. The Hong Clan Merchant Guild had to be doing this on purpose—no sooner had it used a set of top-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills to slap the Grand Gates Guild in the face than it turned right around and began slapping the Wantong Grand Gathering!

Everyone knew that the Wantong Grand Gathering's seventh-rank Great Return Pill had carried no mention of quality whatsoever. By the unwritten rules of the auction, that meant ordinary quality—not even equal to middling, to say nothing of this upper-grade seventh-rank Great Return Pill of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild's.

Wei Zhao shook his head slightly. He had meant to aim for top-grade quality, but alas, at the level of seventh-rank pills, even the Divine Farmer Cauldron could not guarantee top-grade as it once had. After several attempts at refining, precious few top-grade pills had emerged—proof of just how rare such things were. It took not only peerless pill-refining materials but also no small measure of good fortune.

The set of top-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills had already been astonishing enough; now an upper-grade seventh-rank Great Return Pill was put up, and not only the crowd on the floor but even the private boxes broke into various stirs and murmurs.

Both could restore the wounds and true essence of a cultivator in the Profound Ascension stage, yet between ordinary quality and upper-grade quality the difference in recovery speed was immense—a full day for ordinary quality, but only an hour for upper-grade!

Under ordinary circumstances the difference hardly showed, but once a life-or-death moment truly arrived, the gap between one hour and one day might well be the gap between life and death. This was a genuine second life!

In the end, after a fierce contest, this upper-grade seventh-rank Great Return Pill sold for the astronomical sum of six million eight hundred thousand spirit jade, once again falling into Box Two's hands.

With only two lots, the Hong Clan Merchant Guild's total had already reached a heaven-defying twelve million three hundred thousand spirit jade, leaving every other guild far behind. Even the Wantong Grand Gathering could not come close. The question of who would be the Morning Star Academy's sole supplier from this day forth was no longer in doubt.

After those first two lots, there was no need for the host to say a word—the appetite of everyone in the hall had already been whetted. After all, the first two had been top-grade Gestation Qi Golden Pills and an upper-grade seventh-rank Great Return Pill. Even if the third lot could hardly be better, it surely would not be much worse?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third lot from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild: seventh-rank Beauty Pill!" Before the white-bearded elder had even finished speaking, the hall erupted in a heaven-piercing chorus of shrieks from the women. At the words "Beauty Pill," whether the ordinary female cultivators below or the lofty female figures in the VIP boxes—every woman there went utterly wild!