Open up and break into another world

At the si hour (9-11 AM) in the morning, the Treasure Competition began on time.

A white-bearded old man from the Nine Cauldrons Merchant Association stood on the central stage, and treasures were brought out one by one.

“This person, Li Wenshi, although his cultivation is only at the Inner Refinement Completion stage, he has a pair of discerning eyes and is extremely good at appraising treasures! In the capital, his reputation is not weaker than some innate martial artists!” Wen Shuai introduced.

“The first treasure, according to the old rules of our Treasure Competition—three low-grade Mysterious Stones, to be auctioned separately!” Li Wenshi produced three warm and round cobblestones, “Everyone present is mostly aware of the uses of low-grade Mysterious Stones; however, there are always new faces at each Treasure Competition, so this talkative old man will introduce them again!”

“Low-grade Mysterious Stones contain innate mysterious energy. Inner Refinement martial artists can use them to quickly improve their cultivation; Inner Refinement Completion martial artists can even use them to break through to the Innate stage with a small probability!” In a few short sentences, Li Wenshi made the preciousness of the low-grade Mysterious Stones clear, “The starting price for each is one hundred thousand taels of gold!”

“Low-grade Mysterious Stones? One hundred thousand taels of gold each?” Xu Ming could only say, it’s really expensive, “Ten of these things would cost one million taels of gold, enough for me to buy entry into the Micro-level realm in the Artifact Shop!”

“One hundred and five thousand taels.”

“One hundred and ten thousand taels!”

In the public seating area of the Treasure Competition, many martial artists and dignitaries bid one after another.

At this moment, the Little Cheat, who had been silent, actually reacted: “Detected low-grade Mysterious Stone… Reminder to the host, 1 low-grade Mysterious Stone can be exchanged for 1 point of Level 2 Cheat Points.”

“Can be exchanged for Level 2 Cheat Points?” Xu Ming couldn’t help but take another look at the three low-grade Mysterious Stones.

“What’s wrong, Brother Xu, are you interested in low-grade Mysterious Stones?” Wen Shuai noticed.

“Oh!” Xu Ming understood.

As long as they are not too scarce, then it’s easy to handle. In the future, if he needs Level 2 Cheat Points, he should always be able to find a way to get some.

“Actually, these low-grade Mysterious Stones have another use!” Wen Shuai said, “That is, to be used as currency!”

“Currency?”

“That’s right! Innate experts almost never use gold for transactions, because gold is no different from scrap iron to them. Generally, they will choose to use low-grade Mysterious Stones as currency!”

“It’s actually currency…”

At the Treasure Competition, one rare and exotic treasure after another was put out.

There were rare medicinal herbs that could only be picked in the deep mountains infested with demon beasts, strange ores that could only be nurtured in extremely harsh environments; there were elixirs from the hands of alchemy masters, and tattered weapons, calligraphy, paintings, and antiques with quite a historical background…

The upper-class figures of the Flying Cloud Kingdom gathered here, and once they found the treasures they desperately needed, they bid to buy them. There were also some tycoons among the tycoons who bought, bought, bought as long as the price was acceptable!

“The next treasure is a rare occurrence at our Treasure Competition!” Li Wenshi paused to build suspense, and after a while, he slowly took it out.

“Phantom Sea Demon Worm—a type of worm that is hard to come by in the boundless desert; but some people say it’s not a worm, but a grass…” Li Wenshi introduced, but the more Xu Ming looked at it, the more he felt that this thing looked like Cordyceps sinensis, “This thing appears in the desert where yang energy rages, but it is precisely a kind of extremely yin thing. As for its function, I won’t say much, those who know will naturally know, and those who don’t know won’t buy it to play with—starting price of fifty thousand taels of gold!”

The main function of the Phantom Sea Demon Worm is to be used as an auxiliary medicine when refining elixirs. It is precious and not precious, and not precious and precious—because since it is only an auxiliary medicine when refining elixirs, it is destined not to be too outrageously precious; but this thing is really too hard to come by, you will encounter it if you are lucky, and you won’t be able to find half of it even if you are exhausted if you are unlucky, so once it appears, the price will not be too low.

I don’t know how many martial artists want to make money by relying on the Phantom Sea Demon Worm; it’s just that the vast majority of them didn’t make any money, but instead got lost in the desert.

“Phantom Sea Demon Worm!” Wen Shuai stood up all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Ming couldn’t help but ask.

The Treasure Competition has been going on for so long, and Wen Shuai has not made a move; but now, he was so excited that he stood up directly.

“Old Du wants to refine an elixir to try to break through to the Innate Completion stage. All the other medicinal materials are ready, except for this Phantom Sea Demon Worm!”

“Old Du wants to break through to the Innate Completion stage?” Xu Ming asked in surprise.

If Old Du can successfully break through, then Wen Shuai’s many disadvantages in the struggle for the throne will be swept away! The deterrent force of an Innate Completion expert is not a joke!

“Just trying to break through first, to feel how difficult it is to break through the bottleneck between the late Innate stage and the Innate Completion stage. It’s probably still early before a real breakthrough to the Innate Completion stage!” Wen Shuai didn’t say one thing, and that is—Old Du’s chance to step into the Innate Completion stage is quite slim!

“Fifty thousand taels!” Wen Shuai immediately bid.

“Third Prince Wen Shuai bids fifty thousand taels!” Li Wenshi said unhurriedly, he knew that the price of this kind of rare item would generally be far higher than the starting price.

“Heh, finally bidding!” Wen Man has been waiting for Wen Shuai to bid, “Phantom Sea Demon Worm, although I don’t have any use for it, even if I buy it for collection, I won’t let you get it easily!”

“Sixty thousand taels!” Wen Man shouted.

“Sure enough!” Wen Shuai clenched his fist, “Wen Man has bid!”

However, Wen Shuai is determined to get this Phantom Sea Demon Worm—although Old Du’s chance to break through to the Innate Completion stage is slim, he must try even if it is slim!

Only hesitated for a moment.

“Seventy thousand taels!” Wen Shuai immediately caught up.

“Quite anxious, a bit interesting, huh!” Wen Man smiled, “Eighty thousand taels—you add, if you add, I’ll add!”

Wen Man had a face that he just wouldn’t let you get it easily.

“One hundred thousand taels!” Although Wen Shuai was angry, he had to increase the price.

“A single Phantom Sea Demon Worm costs a hundred thousand taels? Third Imperial Brother, are you trying to provoke me, or do you have too much money burning a hole in your pocket? Or perhaps, you really need this thing urgently?” The value of the Phantom Sea Demon Worm itself isn't actually that high; it's only expensive because it's a rare commodity. But even so, at a treasure competition, a single Phantom Sea Demon Worm would fetch at most seventy or eighty thousand taels. Any more than that, and it's not worth it. “As your elder brother, I can't be outdone by you. One hundred and ten thousand taels!”

The First Imperial Prince said unhurriedly.

The others present also wanted the Phantom Sea Demon Worm, but upon seeing that it was a contest between the imperial family, they immediately dared not get involved. Moreover, the price of this Phantom Sea Demon Worm had already become outrageously high.

“One hundred and ten thousand taels…” Wen Shuai frowned deeply.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford the hundred thousand taels of gold, but spending so much money just to buy a single Phantom Sea Demon Worm really felt a bit worthless!

However, Elder Du urgently needed it for refining pills, so Wen Shuai had no choice but to buy it.

“One hundred and twenty thousand taels!” Wen Shuai said, gritting his teeth.

“It seems like I really have to bleed a little this time!” Wen Shuai knew that without spending a fortune, it seemed impossible to get the Phantom Sea Demon Worm.

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“One hundred and twenty thousand taels?” At this moment, even the First Imperial Prince, Wen Man, was a bit surprised. “He actually raised the price to one hundred and twenty thousand taels for a mere Phantom Sea Demon Worm? Is this kid trying to trick me and then back out?”

Although the First Imperial Prince had a large family and abundant wealth, his money didn't fall from the sky. Moreover, a large family meant that he had to support many mouths to feed every day. The First Imperial Prince appeared wealthy, but he had to carefully calculate every penny he spent, or he would easily fall into financial straits.

Therefore, when the price of a Phantom Sea Demon Worm reached one hundred and twenty thousand, the First Imperial Prince really began to hesitate and retreat.

The treasure competition site fell into a brief silence.

Li Wenshi didn't urge the two. As clever as he was, he wouldn't easily get involved in the imperial family's struggle. Moreover, the price of this Phantom Sea Demon Worm had already far exceeded his expectations, so he could be content.

“Next, let's see which of these two imperial princes loses their nerve first!” Li Wenshi thought to himself.

“First Imperial Prince!” Inside Wen Man's private room, a close guard suddenly said in a low voice, “Our eyes have discovered that the Third Imperial Prince seems to be collecting medicinal ingredients for the Hundun Pill recently!”

“Hundun Pill?” Wen Man narrowed his eyes. “Could it be that old ghost Du Yude wants to break through to the Perfected Innate realm? Although the probability of Du Yude entering the Perfected Innate realm is very small, if he succeeds, all my efforts over the years might be in vain!”

Wen Man deeply understood the power of a Perfected Innate expert in the Flying Cloud Kingdom.

“And according to our speculation, he should have collected almost all of his other medicinal ingredients; he's probably only lacking this Phantom Sea Demon Worm!” the guard added.

“What!?” Wen Man exclaimed. “Why didn't you say so earlier! No wonder… no wonder the Third Brother is fighting me to the death! No, he must not obtain this Phantom Sea Demon Worm easily. Even if I have to let it go in the end, I must make him bleed!”

This Phantom Sea Demon Worm might not even appear once a year, so Wen Man naturally had to seize the opportunity to suppress Wen Shuai!

If Wen Man could prevent Wen Shuai from obtaining the Phantom Sea Demon Worm, then the time it would take for Elder Du to refine the Hundun Pill would likely be delayed by a year, which would be very advantageous to Wen Man! Of course, if the cost was too great, so great that Wen Man thought it wasn't worth fighting for, then he would let it go.

“One hundred and fifty thousand taels!” Wen Man suddenly raised the price by thirty thousand taels, clearly intending to坑 Wen Shuai.

“One hundred and sixty thousand taels!” Wen Shuai had no choice but to follow.

“This Phantom Sea Demon Worm is being fought over too fiercely!” Xu Ming watched in astonishment.

Then, he silently opened the “Medicinal Ingredients” category, then clicked into several subcategories in succession, and finally, in a “sub-sub-sub-sub-subcategory” called “Desert Curiosities,” he found the Phantom Sea Demon Worm by sorting by name from among tens of thousands of desert curiosities.

“One thousand Hang Points per worm?”

One thousand Hang Points was equivalent to ten thousand taels of gold. Although it wasn't cheap, it was simply too much of a bargain compared to the Phantom Sea Demon Worm at the treasure competition!

“Two hundred thousand taels!”

“Two hundred and twenty thousand taels!”

In the short time it took Xu Ming to find the item, Wen Shuai had already shouted out the high price of two hundred and twenty thousand taels. And Wen Shuai's face was also slightly covered in sweat, looking as if his body had been hollowed out—he was being led by the nose by the First Imperial Prince, all the way from fifty thousand taels to two hundred and twenty thousand taels.

“Two hundred and fifty thousand taels!” The First Imperial Prince was also playing with a pounding heart. At such a high price, Wen Shuai could drop out at any time. In that case, he would have to pay the price of more than two hundred thousand taels of gold to prevent Wen Shuai from buying the Phantom Sea Demon Worm!

But he felt it was worth it!

“Two hundred and fifty thousand taels… Should I continue to follow?” Wen Shuai was indeed hesitating. “This price is really too high, but if I don't follow, I don't know when I'll be able to encounter a Phantom Sea Demon Worm again!”

Wen Shuai gritted his teeth—and followed!

“Hey, hey, Wen Shuai!” Xu Ming suddenly called out.

“Xu Ming, don't try to dissuade me. This Phantom Sea Demon Worm is too important, and I'm determined to get it!” Wen Shuai looked as if he was going to fight to the end.

“You want this thing, right? I have it here!” Xu Ming held a cordyceps in his hand—oh, no, a Phantom Sea Demon Worm.

“Hmm!?” Wen Shuai was stunned, his eyes widening. “How do you have it?”

Xu Ming thought for a moment, then took out another one: “Is this thing very rare? I had it pressed at the bottom of a box and forgot about it. I only remembered it now when I saw it.”

Wen Shuai gave him a profound look, as if saying, you kid, you still say you don't have a master? This thing must have been given to you by your master!

Wen Shuai became even more certain that Xu Ming definitely had a mysterious master behind him; otherwise, how could Xu Ming casually take out such a rare treasure as the Phantom Sea Demon Worm?

“If I had known you had it, why would I have argued with him!” Wen Shuai said with a laugh and a curse, “But it's good this way… Two hundred and fifty thousand taels is enough for him to bleed a little!”

“Only two hundred and fifty thousand taels is enough?” Xu Ming's lips curled up in an evil smile, and a third Phantom Sea Demon Worm appeared in his hand. “Why don't we play with him a little more…”

Wen Shuai understood and immediately summoned his guards hidden in the shadows.

Only the simple and ignorant Sun Ji looked bewildered: “Play? Play what? What's fun about playing with a man?”