After a harrowing hour, the last of those terrifyingly strong beasts were sold and the auction was called to a halt for the night. While cultivators didn’t need to sleep, it was still just as refreshing as it was for mortals. Since it was only a few hours to midnight, the Auction was paused until 8am. Sage wasn’t interested in running into any of the other VIP booth occupants so he didn’t accompany Jin Shih and Cui Shufen as they were heading to a small gathering with their acquaintances from other provinces. Some might have seen it as an opportunity to make friends with powerful people from afar, but Sage was more worried that he’d become a target.

Sage didn’t have the protection of a Peak Master like Jin Shih and Cui Shufen. If he were to upset the wrong person they might not even think twice before killing him if they knew he had no backing. Better to just stay as unknown as possible. That was also the main reason they weren’t pushing for more deals of their new inventions. It was better to have the backing of the Sect and give them a bigger share of the profits. The Palace of Prosperity wasn’t really that high profile or impactful on the world at large, so they weren’t nearly as cautious. On the other hand, if the Airships became as popular as he thought they would, it was imperative that they have the full backing and protection of the Holy Flame Sect. Especially because of their repair and maintenance plans.

Leaving the VIP booth, Sage didn’t dally around. After collecting his winnings he went directly to the Inn where they’d been staying. He locked himself into his room and set up a protective formation before going to sleep. In the morning he ate breakfast and put on a hooded cloak while ducking into an alleyway. He exited the alley onto a different street and made his way to the auction house. Inside he met up with Jin Shih and Cui Shufen again in the VIP booth, just after removing his hood. Entering the auction house on his own probably wasn’t a big deal, but being extra careful wouldn’t hurt.

“Welcome back ladies and gentlemen! I’m your oh so humble auctioneer, Xiao Mei Mei and I’m happy to see you back again so bright and early.”

The woman was just as beautiful as the night before just like after the break last night she’d switched outfits. Last night she had been dressed almost sensually in a long red dress with an elaborately feathered collar. Now she was walking quite demurely, with a light and airy set of layered white robes. It looked like she was wearing at least a dozen robes, each of them nearly transparent and dotted with colorful embroidered butterflies. With so many layers, the different butterflies covered up most of her body so only a few little flashes of skin could be seen when she moved around and butterflies shifted.

Sage rolled his eyes, but he could see dozens in the crowd had their mouths hanging open as they stared at the woman. He was about to comment when he looked over and saw that Jin Shih was also staring at Xiao Mei Mei. Keeping his mouth firmly shut, he looked to Cui Shufen and saw her admiring the auctioneer as well, though she seemed most interested in the woman’s outfit. After a bit more teasing and flattering, the first item was rolled out.

“Our first item for this morning’s auction is one that’s sure to get everyone excited! One of the most rare and highly sought after goods from the Cult of the Woodlord: Sky Lotus Vessel.”

Beside her, there was a cart with a small cloth atop it. Little more than a dinner napkin, she pulled it away and revealed a small white lotus sitting on a tray. She waved her hand over it and the palm sized lotus lifted into the air and floated to the other side of the stage. Looking out across the crowd to make sure everyone was watching, she waved her hand again. This time the lotus didn’t float away, it started to grow. In just a few seconds the palm sized lotus was suddenly 100 feet wide. It was still floating in mid-air as Xiao Mei Mei started the auction with a demonstration to get everyone excited.

“A Sky Lotus Vessel is a Flying Tool that is just as fast as a Flying Sword, but requires much less energy to operate. It can freely control its size, but again, it will greatly affect the energy required. Sky Lotus Vessel will be starting at 300,000 with minimum bid increments of 10,000 Spirit Stones. Do I have any takers?”

The bidding started off with in a frenzy. Sage turned towards Cui Shufen, “Why is everyone so interested? It’s just like a big flying sword, with low power use, right?”

The two Personal Disciples laughed and shook their heads, “Xiao Mei Mei didn’t explain fully because everyone who wants one would already know. While it drains more to make it larger, it doesn’t really have a size limit. Sky Lotus Vessels are the Cult of the Woodlord’s equivalent to a Flying Ship. It’s a tactical transportation weapon. While it doesn’t have its own internal power and weapons, it can be easily hidden or made large enough to carry around a small city when a Sect Leader is piloting it. The petals can also be retracted to sacrifice speed for defense, it’s not impenetrable, but it’s comparable to a Flying Ship’s arrays.”

Sage was not as well informed as these two when it came to the Cult of the Woodlord’s goods. He had only been using the Flying Ships, and flying beast mounts as a comparison when designing the Airship. He had no idea that there were other similar options out there.

Well, that’s something I’ll have to research later.

“Thank you for the lesson. This one is glad to have such a knowledgeable and capable Senior Martial Brother and Senior Martial Sister.”

After the Sky Lotus Vessel sold for 9.6 million, Sage was thoroughly impressed. He was pretty sure this was just a basic model, but it was selling for nearly twice as much as the cheapest Flying Ship. Most likely because this was an auction and Sky Lotus Vessel’s were not sold to the public very often whereas the Holy Flame Sect produced a few Flying Ships every year, most of them custom orders. The most basic model of Flying Ship was actually quite rare as most people would spend extra to customize it to their liking.

Next up was a series of weapons. They were of varying types and styles, and from what Sage could see most of them were not made in the Green Plateau Province. Most likely looted weapons from fallen Cultivators, or at least that was Sage’s guess. After the foreign weapons, Sage finally saw what he was waiting for. Weapons crafted by Arborists. Trees, plants, and crystals that had been grown into the perfect shape of weapons. The different types of materials were seamless, growing together into a deadly juxtaposition. The free and almost chaotic patterns of the natural world somehow guided into the sweeping lines of a deadly blade or the perfectly straight haft of a spear.

Take for example, the current item up for auction. A quartet of differently colored woods looked like they were weaved into a narrow cylinder to form a haft. The feat of braiding hardwood for a perfectly straight stave came to an end by entwining a crystal clear diamond. The diamond was very long and narrow, with two sharp edges and tapering to a single point. At the place where the diamond and the wooden braid met, there was a large bundle of brilliant red wildflowers hanging on thin flexible vines.

It was a spear. The most unusual and also most natural spear that he had ever seen. A diamond perfectly cut into a spear tip, and red wildflower to sway and flick around, an organic version of a red tassel. Formations were embedded within it while it was grown to harden the point and increase its penetrating power as well as constantly repair any damage to either of the three component parts. The materials themselves were also very good at conducting Life, Wood, and Light natured Qi, which would boost techniques of those types when used with the weapon.

Many others of similarly bizarre, but somehow natural weapons were brought up and sold. Sage wasn’t really buying, as his own weapon was quite unusual, but he was carefully studying them to learn more about Arborists.