“I’m glad that you have stayed with us for so long, we will present tonight's last item!”

A well-dressed man with a soothing voice pointed to the stage. Onto it a jade beauty dressed in lavish clothing was walking. In her hands, she was holding a pillow and on it was an orb. The beauty placed this orb on center stage where everyone could see it and the small crowd of people erupted.

“Isn’t that the fabled beast core of a divine spirit beast?”

“It’s certainly the real deal, I can feel the divine power!”

Where the people were sitting was a large auction house. They were wearing various robes as they belonged to various sects from around the land.

“Yes, Seniors have a keen eye. This item belonged to a late Divine Beast! But not just any beast, it was one on the level of a Saint Emperor!”

“It couldn’t be…”

“Saint Emperor? If that’s true then it could be used to fashion a deadly weapon indeed…”

The murmurs continued until the auction started. It took a while for the cultivators here to quiet down and finally, it began.

“We will start at ten high grade spirit stones.”

Some of the people in the room swallowed hard after they heard the price point. One high grade spirit stone was worth ten thousand middle grade stones. Then one middle grade spirit stone was worth a thousand lower grade spirit stones.

This brought the starting price up to a staggering amount. If someone tried paying it in low grade spirit stones they would have to dump a whole truck of them here on the stage. Even with this steep price a paddle with a name of a sect on it was raised.

“It’s the Saint Dragon sect, they even have a Saint Emperor as a Patriarch…”

They weren’t the only ones bidding though as another sect raised the price even further.

“It’s the Blade Demon Sect… aren’t they in competition with the Saint Dragon sect?”

Even though this beast core was of the divine element it didn’t mean that only righteous sects could use it. There were ways to corrupt such cores as well as cleanse evil ones of their energies to produce a similar ranked product.

There were other large sects and powerful seniors that bid at first but soon everything devolved into a competition between these two powerhouses.

“What is your intention here Blade Demon’s, you can’t fully utilize this beast core are you just trying to hike the price up for us!”

A man with a long beard that reached all the way up to his waist spit out in anger at a decrepit-looking man in a black robe.

“Ha, if you don’t have the spirit stones then why even come here? Is the Saint Dragon Sect so poor that it can’t afford a little divine beast core?”

The people from the Blade Demon Sect started laughing while the cultivators from the righteous one fumed with anger. This was nothing new as the two parties were in a dispute with each other for generations and there was no end in sight.

“One hundred high grade spirit stones…”

Soon the price was raised to tenfold of the original price. The old man from the demonic sect grinned, his yellow teeth clearly visible. On the other hand, the old man from the righteous sect could just grit his teeth as he knew that he could not spend more.

“Hundred spirit stones, is anyone willing to match the price?”

“Going once… going twice… going, Ah I see a palm raised there!”

The two sects looked at each other and could not see anyone raising a hand from their camps. This prompted them to look down to the main stage and down from the VIP booths that they were in. There a hooded person was raising his hand as if he wanted to bid more than a hundred spirit stones.

“Who is that man? He doesn’t look like he even has a hundred low grade spirit stones… is this some kind of joke?”

As this was something unprecedented the people got loud. The seats that were down below the VIP booths were intended for the poorer demographic from the cultivator world. All the powerful elders would be inclined to pay a bonus to keep face and not look like a country bumpkin with the other poor sobs there.

“Sir, I must implore you to not raise your hand if you can’t afford the item…”

The person responsible for the action let out a sigh as he looked at the man that raised his hand.

“Afford it? I think I can but would you be up for a trade instead?”

“A trade?”

“Yes, I’m low on spirit stones right now but would you be willing to trade that beast core for something of equal or higher value?”

“Equal or higher value to a Saint Emperor beast core?”

“Someone remove that man, he has clearly lost his mind!”

One of the people from the Blade Demon Sect called out from up in the VIP booth. The others were of similar mind as the man looked like some scammer that was trying to steal the divine beast core from their sect.

“Hah, why don’t we hear the man out?”

On the other hand, the people from the righteous sect called out in favor of this turn of events. They didn’t have enough funds to get the item that they desired so if this man could snatch it away from the enemies instead it would be a win in their eyes.

“Okay, what would the gentleman like to trade for this divine beast core? I would advise sir to be careful about the choice of words.”

Even though the Auctioneer was fine with this continuing there were some guards ready to intervene. If it turned out that this person was wasting everyone's time here, he would be beaten and thrown out. They needed to show that there was no place for disturbances like this, otherwise, their establishment could be seen as a questionable investment.

“Nice. How about you give me that beast core for this cultivation manual, I think it would be a fair trade.”

The man pulled out a book that was quite large compared to other cultivation manuals. The Auctioneer was a bit surprised by the item in question but he nodded to one of his workers to go fetch the book and bring it over.

“A cultivation manual? What is this farce?”

The people began to whisper again as this was a strange trade. Cultivation manuals were a rare commodity in auction houses as they were something a cultivator would mostly not give up.

Most manuals that found their way here were taken from the defeated and were of low worth. The ones that were deemed usable were mostly kept by the person that found them. No one would actually sell a rare cultivation method unless they were either crazy or really desperate for spirit stones.

“Please my dear cultivators, I will quickly look over this item and we shall finish this auction then.”

Everyone expected the auctioneer to read the first page and then quickly toss it back to the person it belonged to. Instead, a minute passed, then two and three but the man was still reading this large tome-like book.

“Hey...hey!”

“Huh, what?”

The man that was reading the book snapped out of it after the old man from the Blade Demon Sect shouted out to him. The Auctioneer looked like he had seen a ghost as his eyes were wide open and his hands were trembling.

“What of the cultivation method? What is wrong with you?”

“Ah yes… t-the cultivation method…”

The man looked at the hooded figure that this book belonged to and asked a question.

“D-does Senior really wish to trade this in for that little divine core?”

“Hm… you are right, it is worth more than that core, do you perhaps have more of those cores lying around?”

The people were taken aback by the conversation that the two men were having. It looked like what was written in the book was not just empty scribbles, it was actually worth something.

“Ah! Quickly call over the owner, this is of great importance, not a decision someone like me can make! There will be a fifteen-minute recess.”

The Auctioneer was then seen calling out to one of the servants with bulging bloodshot eyes. This caused the sects that were gathered to look at the hooded man, it seemed that the item that he brought over was quite costly.

Some people that were near him started inching away as the constant glares from powerful cultivators started building up pressure that they couldn’t handle. It did not seem that the man in question was perturbed by it as he just sat there waiting while leaning back in his chair.

Within fifteen minutes, another old man appeared on the stage along with the previous person that was doing the auction. It was the owner of this establishment and in his hand was the large book that supposedly had a cultivation method in it.

“My friend, you put this old man in a bind, what would you like to trade for this item I could throw in two hundred high grade spirit stones along with the divine beast core, how would that be?”

“Wait! That beast core belongs to the Blade Demon Sect, explain yourself! How could that book be worth three hundred high grade spirit stones!”

The old man protested as it seemed that his bid was not even being taken into consideration anymore.

“I must apologize to our friends from the Blade Demon Sect but this is a matter between the Auction house and this senior here.”

He was quickly shut down by the owner of the auction house which brought more questions to what was being sold there.

“Only two hundred high grade spirit stones? You do realize that that manual contains a high grade cultivation method all the way up to the Supreme Saint realm right? It’s an all-in-one deal with the path laid out for anyone cultivating it! Wouldn’t a thousand high grade spirit stones be more like it?”

Everyone was taken aback by what the man in the robe just said. The beast core was in theory the higher graded item as it could be used by a Saint Emperor. This also limited its uses though as the amount of Saint Emperors that were in this empire was quite small.

On the other hand a full set of cultivation methods that could bring a person from the Inner Aura Realm all the way up to the Supreme Saint realm? That was something that sects would go to war with, this was something that could tip the balance. A cultivation road like that could very well be the backbone of any sect.

“G-good sir, please you didn’t have to…”

The moment the explanation was given the cultivators that were gathered here looked at the large book with hunger in their eyes. It looked like a pack of vultures that were looking at a tasty piece of meat. The strange way that the auction house owner was acting was proof enough that this book was worth a lot

It was clear that a lot of people were now contemplating on snatching that book away from the owner. Wars between sects started for lesser items and it was hard not to go for it when the prize was so close. Even this auction house with so many guards would not be able to contend with all the masters that we're here and they knew it.

“Oh, would you all shut up!”

Before they could dive in for the kill though, everyone found themselves on the ground clutching their chests in pain. The one responsible for this was the robed person that finally stood up, his aura powerful and unfathomable to everyone here.

“S-saint Emperor!”

Everyone shrunk back in fright the moment the cloaked figure revealed their cultivation level. Before they could even act they all were at his mercy.

“Now, could we strike a deal? Don’t waste my time more than you already did you bunch of murder hobos.”