"Huh? That looks familiar," the Immortal Fairy murmured with a gasp of surprise as the auctioneer displayed a length of red silk.
"Do you know what it is, Fairy?" Lu Yang asked.
The Immortal Fairy scratched her head, racking her brain to recall the red silk's origin. Having just woken up somewhat groggy, she couldn't place it right away.
"What was it again? The Sky-Veiling Immortal Silk forged by Immortal Ying Tian to blot out the sky and wrap around an entire planet?
"Or the Miluo Shroud crafted by Immortal Jiuchong, capable of turning all things to nothingness in a single thought?
"Or maybe the bridal veil Immortal Kirin used when he got married?
"I can't recall, but this cloth carries the aura of all five of us immortals. It definitely belonged to one of the five of us!" the Immortal Fairy said with absolute conviction.
Lu Yang's eyes lit up. A piece of fabric of unknown origins bearing the aura of five immortals had to have a staggering pedigree.
It might even be a legendary immortal artifact.
The pots, pans, bowls, and ladles preserved by the Immortal Cult were immortal treasures treated as prized possessions even by cultivators in the Body Integration stage. A cloth bearing the presence of five immortals had to rank far above any of those!
The Immortal Fairy really came through when it mattered most!
Below the stage, someone voiced skepticism. "You dare bring out a scrap of cloth without even knowing its era or material for auction? Are there so few good items this time that you're just using it to fill space?"
The auctioneer smiled faintly, unfazed by the skepticism. "This fabric was obtained by a cultivator after slaying a demon beast in the dense forest. Even after appraisal by our most senior appraisers, neither its material nor its era could be determined.
"It is suspected to date back to ancient times, perhaps belonging to an ancient prodigy who fell during the struggle of the Golden Age, leaving it ownerless.
"The fabric is exceptionally tough. Even if a Nascent Soul stage cultivator exerted their full strength, they could not tear it in the slightest."
"What about a Soul Formation cultivator?"
The auctioneer answered truthfully, "No one has attempted that. The greatest feature of this silk ribbon is that it remains perfectly intact. If a Soul Formation cultivator stepped in and damaged it, its value would plummet.
"Red silk, starting bid: one thousand spirit stones."
The chamber of commerce was also uncertain of the red silk's true value. While it was said to be an ancient relic, it was preserved so pristine, looking as though it had just come off the loom, that it was hard to believe it was something from three hundred thousand years ago. Thus, they set the starting bid very low.
"One thousand spirit stones," called An Ke of the Clear Moon Sect. She found the color exquisite and thought it could be tailored into garments or, with minor alterations, draped as a flowing shawl.
"One thousand two hundred spirit stones," Tao Yaoye called out.
An Ke frowned, not expecting anyone to contest her for a piece of cloth.
She looked back and discovered the bidder was a female cultivator far more beautiful than herself.
It seemed the other girl had the same idea.
In that case, she couldn't back down!
"One thousand five hundred spirit stones!"
"Two thousand," Tao Yaoye said lazily. She didn't seem to care who was bidding; whoever raised the price, she would simply outbid them.
"Two thousand two hundred spirit stones!" An Ke raised it again.
"Three thousand." Tao Yaoye bid without the slightest hesitation.
An Ke was pretty and had plenty of admirers in the crowd. Normally, these people would have helped her bid, but upon realizing the competing bidder was a breathtaking beauty, they all tacitly chose not to assist An Ke.
"Three thousand one hundred..."
"Four thousand."
An Ke fell silent. She could certainly bid higher, but the Twin Conjoined Lotus was still coming up later. She couldn't spend all her spirit stones on a piece of cloth.
"Four thousand spirit stones going once, four thousand spirit stones going twice, four thousand spirit stones going three times—sold!" The auctioneer's small gavel came down, signifying that the red silk now belonged to Tao Yaoye.
"Thank you for stepping in, Junior Sister! I'll pay you back once the auction is over!" Lu Yang transmitted his voice secretly. He had been the one to ask Tao Yaoye to bid.
If a grown man like him bid on silk, people would suspect it concealed some secret, driving the price sky-high.
With Tao Yaoye bidding, the situation was completely different; people would merely assume a beautiful girl fancied pretty fabric and was willing to spend money to indulge herself.
"We're fellow disciples, so there's no need to be so polite. Did you recognize where this red silk came from, Senior Brother Lu?" Tao Yaoye asked with a smile, revealing two faint dimples.
Lu Yang paused for a moment before answering honestly, "It should be from ancient times and of extraordinary origin. As for what it actually is, I can't say for sure yet."
To think the Immortal Fairy, at the tender age of sixteen, was already suffering from early-onset dementia. How tragic, how lamentable.
The next few auction items failed to draw much interest from the four of them. Only when the auctioneer brought out the Twin Conjoined Lotus did they sit up straight, curious to see how many spirit stones it would fetch.
The moment the Twin Conjoined Lotus appeared, the room fell dead silent, eyes burning with fervor.
To any late Foundation Establishment cultivator, a Twin Conjoined Lotus was a treasure that could pave the way to their future.
The auctioneer introduced it with a gentle smile. "The Twin Conjoined Lotus. Perhaps many of you present caught a glimpse of it just a few days ago. This is indeed the very stalk that appeared in the forest. Its effects need no introduction from me.
"Starting bid: thirty thousand spirit stones."
The gazes from below looked ready to rip the Twin Conjoined Lotus right off the stage; an introduction was indeed completely unnecessary.
"Thirty-one thousand spirit stones!"
"That conjoined lotus is mine! Thirty-two thousand spirit stones!"
"Daring to fight for the conjoined lotus with so little? Thirty-five thousand spirit stones!" The White Tiger Holy Son of the Four Symbols Sect scoffed at the crowd's incremental raises.
"Thirty-eight thousand spirit stones!" An Ke refused to be outdone.
"Forty thousand spirit stones!" called Duan Hongchen, bearer of Heaven-Questioning. He was only one conjoined lotus away from Core Formation.
"Forty-one thousand spirit stones!"
"Forty-four thousand!"
"Forty-five thousand!"
The price of the conjoined lotus climbed steadily, making Man Gu grin so wide his mouth wouldn't close.
Eventually, the price stalled at forty-nine thousand spirit stones.
"Forty-nine thousand spirit stones going once, forty-nine thousand spirit stones going twice..."
Meng Jingzhou pondered for a second. Taking advantage of the auctioneer's count, he muttered in a voice just loud enough for those nearby to hear, "Those two Buddhist disciples who know Arhat Fist are truly despicable. Does this conjoined lotus carry any clues about them?"
"Fifty thousand spirit stones!" the White Tiger Holy Son immediately shouted.
He wasn't in a rush to use the Twin Conjoined Lotus, but he had sworn to find those two Buddhist disciples!
Fifty thousand spirit stones was an amount no ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator could ever scrounge up even by liquidating their entire fortune; only core disciples of major sects like the White Tiger Holy Son could afford it.
"Fifty-three thousand spirit stones!" An Ke raised the bid once more.
The White Tiger Holy Son cooled down. He could certainly bid higher, but doing so would not only offend An Ke, but the Twin Conjoined Lotus also simply wasn't worth that much.
In the end, An Ke bought the Twin Conjoined Lotus for fifty-three thousand spirit stones.
After the auction concluded, Tao Yaoye handed the red silk to Lu Yang.
"Fairy, can you tell what it is now?" Lu Yang asked in secret, eager for the fairy to reveal the red silk's origin.
The Immortal Fairy pondered for a while, rummaging through her memories. Suddenly, she punched her palm with an expression of sudden realization, having finally dug up the red silk's background from an obscure corner of her memory.
"Isn't this just the tablecloth from my house?!"
"...Fairy, you really don't hold back with your own people, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You only scam your own!"
Chapter 258