And thus, the transactions began. After seeing the items put on display, some of the cultivators there began contacting the owners of the items to start negotiations. Naturally, all of that was secretly conducted using divine sense. It was faster, more secretive and more concise that way.
As for Chen Feng, he waved his hand to bring out a jade cup filled to the brim with fine wine mixed with the essence of the ocean. Next, he began sipping the fine wine, ignoring the Xu Family Human Immortals beside him.
Essence of the ocean! That's the essence of the ocean! The Human Immortals' eyes bulged out as they watched Chen Feng in disbelief. The essence of the ocean was of an even higher grade compared to Dawnsource Crystal Water.
“Ha ha ha! I forgot about you two.” Chen Feng patted his forehead. Next, he poured two cups of wine for them. Every cup was mixed with a drop of the essence of the ocean.
After the Human Immortals drank down the wine, their faces flickered and they began cultivating themselves.
Chen Feng smiled and stopped paying attention to the two Human Immortals. The divine senses from other cultivators had begun contacting Chen Feng.
Naturally, it was because they were interested in the spiritual objects that Chen Feng put on display. However, most of them wanted the Dawnsource Crystal Water.
At any rate, getting what they wanted through trade would be for the best. From what they could see, this person was a VIP guest of the Xu Family. Although they did not like Chen Feng, not having to get into a fight with him was preferable.
“Fellow friend, I would like to trade something for your Dawnsource Crystal Water.”
“Friend, I am interested in the spiritual herb.”
“Friend, how much Dawnsource Crystal Water do you have?”
“I would like to trade for ten drops of the Dawnsource Crystal Water.”
“Friend, what would you like for the blood essence of the Yao Immortal?”
Facing all the questions, Chen Feng smirked and responded. “You fellows want to trade? Not a problem. I don't just have Dawnsource Crystal Water. I even have essence of the ocean. As for the blood essence of Yao Immortals, I have loads of them, enough to meet all your demands. However, if you want to trade for them, you will have to bring out something of equal value. What? Do you all think that you can use these c.r.a.ppy items to trade for my items?”
“What? Essence of the ocean?! Heavens! That is a spiritual object of a higher level compared to Dawnsource Crystal Water.”
“He has enough blood essence of Yao Immortals to meet all our demands? Is he joking?”
“I am really tempted to just go s.n.a.t.c.h them from him. Unfortunately, I am not strong enough. What should I do? Heh! Looks like I will have to contact some friends to come over. For the sake of all those treasures, even offending the Xu Family will be worth it!”
By borrowing the power of his Dao artefact, Chen Feng was able to probe the divine senses of the cultivators there. When he sensed what they were thinking, a devious grin appeared on Chen Feng's face.
“Friend, I have a treasure here that is comparable to the value of Dawnsource Crystal Water. However, we will have to conduct the trade in private.” A divine sense contacted Chen Feng.
“That depends. What item is it?” Chen Feng said smilingly.
“A demon core from a Demon Deity.”
“Oh, a demon core? That's more like it. Very well, let's make a private trade later.” Chen Feng nodded.
“Fellow friend, I have an item with me that I believe will interest you.”
“Oh, what is it?”
“A fragment of a Sacred-tier technique.”
“Not interested.” Chen Feng shook his head. What a joke. Only an immortal technique could catch Chen Feng's attention.
“Don't be hasty. This Sacred-tier cultivation technique is no ordinary technique. It comes from the Demon Plane. Supposedly, it is a cultivation technique for the imperial clan of the Demon Plane.”
“The imperial clan of the Demon Plane?!” Chen Feng's heart gave a thump. In the end, however, he replied, “What use is there in obtaining a cultivation technique of the Demon Plane? Forget it.”
“Don't be hasty! Just take a glance before making your decision.”
“When you put it that way, fine.”
“Friend, I have a spiritual tree here. I would like to use it to trade for your essence of the ocean.”
“What kind of spiritual tree?”
“Err, I am not sure about that either.”
“Eh? Fine. I'll check it out in a bit.”
“Friend, I have a strange stone obtained from outer s.p.a.ce. It contains mysterious energy. I would like to use it to trade for some Dawnsource Crystal Water.”
“What kind of energy is that?”
“I am uncertain about that. In short, it is a very unique energy.”
“Very well. I'll give it a look later.”
Chen Feng felt amused. More than half of the cultivators there were secretly trying to trade with him.
Not long after that, the second part of the auction ended and some of the Human Immortals began leaving. As for Chen Feng, he continued to stay inside the VIP room, sipping on fine wine without moving away. There were still some Human Immortals in the auction house who wanted to conduct private transactions with Chen Feng.
“Come in one at a time,” Chen Feng said smilingly.
A Human Immortal whose features were shrouded entirely with magic power entered Chen Feng's VIP room. Generally speaking, cultivators who choose to partic.i.p.ate in such a sensational event would often hide their ident.i.ties. Doing so would help them avoid unnecessary troubles.
Of course, there was no need for Chen Feng to do so. On the contrary, Chen Feng deliberately allowed them to see his face. By doing so, things would be able to develop according to plan.
“Bring out the item, then,” Chen Feng said coolly.
“My friend, please check it out.” Upon entering the room and seeing Chen Feng's appearance, the cultivator was somewhat taken aback. However, the cultivator quickly calmed down. With a wave of his hand, a demon core, shrouded by swirling demonic energy, appeared.
After accepting the demon core, Chen Feng carefully inspected it for a moment before abruptly nodding. “Hmm, not bad. How much Dawnsource Crystal Water do you want for this?”
“100 droplets.”
“No.”
“80 droplets.”
“10 droplets.”
“What? That's too little.”
“Forget it, then. Although the demonic power inside this demon core is very powerful, I am incapable of actually absorbing it.” Chen Feng shook his head.
“50 droplets. How about it? I cannot go below that.” The cultivator grew anxious.
“No, it's not worth the price.”
“40 droplets. If you still won't agree, then I will not be trading.”
“Deal.”
The second cultivator walked in and smiled. “Fellow friend, how should I address you?”
“Cut the chit chat. Just bring out whatever items you have. I do not have that much time to waste,” said Chen Feng, who then lifted a cup of wine to take a sip.
The cultivator gritted his teeth. However, his eyes instantly lit up. The wine cup that Chen Feng was holding was clearly emanating the aura of the essence of the ocean.
“My friend, please have a look at this Sacred-tier cultivation technique.” The cultivator then brought out a piece of black jade, which he handed over to Chen Feng.
After accepting it, Chen Feng used his divine sense to glance through its contents. Promptly, light glinted across his eyes.
“How is it, my friend? It should be satisfactory, no?” Noticing the look on Chen Feng's face, the cultivator felt somewhat smug. It would appear that he would be able to get a harvest from it.
“Not bad. What do you want?” Chen Feng fiddled with the black jade a few times. He was feeling somewhat excited. The contents of the black jade were indeed the Demonic Heavengorging Art. Although it was also just a fragment, it was of a higher level compared to the one he was cultivating. Not to mention, it was exactly the one he needed.
“Err.”
The Human Immortal rubbed his hands and pondered for a moment before saying, “I want 10 droplets of blood essence from an Earthen Immortal. I wonder, do you have it?”
“The blood essence of an Earthen Immortal? And 10 droplets to boot? Tsk, tsk. My friend, you have quite the appet.i.te.” Chen Feng burst into laughter.
“In other words, you really do have the blood essence of an Earthen Immortal?” the cultivator felt overjoyed.
Chen Feng nodded and pondered for a moment before saying, “10 droplets is too much.”
Truth be told, the Demonic Heavengorging Art was very important to Chen Feng. Not to mention, it was also a highly valuable item. Rather, it was something that could not be obtained with just 10 droplets of blood essence from an Earthen Immortal, far from it. At that very moment, however, there was a need for Chen Feng to put on an act.
The cultivator then gritted his teeth and said, “Eight droplets will do!”
“Deal.”
Demonic Heavengorging Art obtained. Yet another great harvest.
“What kind of spiritual tree is this? It's withered up to the point where it cannot even bear fruits. And you want to use this to trade for my essence of the ocean? Did you lose your marbles? Scram, just scram!” Chen Feng grew enraged and he simply tossed the withered sapling out.
“Please wait, please wait! I still have some more.” The cultivator waved his hand and clumps of light flew out. Within each clump of light was a sapling.
“Are you a tree seller? Did you bring out all these items to tease me?” Chen Feng became furious for real and he wanted to beat the cultivator out.
“Hold it, kid. There is something good here,” Tower suddenly said.
“Eh, there is something good?” Chen Feng was shocked. For Tower to be saying that, it must really be good.
“That one there is the Yin Yang Tree. Hey, that is a really good item. Although it cannot be compared to the Longevity Tree, it can give the Domain Tree a run for its money. Only, the energy in this sapling is not quite pure. This sapling must have grown from the branch of a Yin Yang Tree,” Tower said coolly.
Yin Yang Tree? No matter, it must surely be a good thing. Chen Feng was shocked as well. For it to be put on the same level as the Domain Tree, it must truly be extraordinary.
“Friend, please look again. Just look. Maybe you'll find one that interests you.” The cultivator put on a thick skin and refused to leave.
“Fine, fine! I'll take all your d.a.m.ned trees!” Chen Feng waved his hand to collect all the spiritual trees that the cultivator brought out. Next, three droplets of essence of the ocean flew towards the cultivator.
“Now shoo! Don't bother me again!” Chen Feng waved his hand in an impatient manner.
“Thank you! Thank you! Truly, thank you!” Obtaining the three droplets of essence of the ocean, the cultivator grew thoroughly excited and he kept on thanking Chen Feng. After that, he smiled widely as he kept the three droplets of essence of the ocean before leaving.
Huh! I got another harvest. Unexpectedly, these cultivators would possess quite some good items on them. Chen Feng smiled inwardly.
“My friend, come see this strange stone I obtained from outer s.p.a.ce. It contains a mysterious energy.”
A fist-sized stone fell into Chen Feng's grasp. The surface of the stone was filled with holes and it truly seemed like an object from s.p.a.ce.
However, after inspecting the item, Chen Feng snorted and tossed it back. “It's just a normal meteorite.”
The cultivator wanted to continue negotiating, but Chen Feng waved his hand and two ocean yao guards entered to pull the cultivator out.
“What a joke! The item is truly from outer s.p.a.ce, but the so-called mysterious energy it contains is something that came about through extrinsic means. You think I'm easy to fool?!”
“My friend, come see this tortoise sh.e.l.l of mine. It is something from the Black Tortoise.”
“Scram!”
Next up, Chen Feng received a few more cultivators. However, he was unable to find anything good.
Heh! I managed to obtain a lot from this auction. Looks like I will have to come a few more times in the future. Chen Feng felt quite satisfied.
He then turned his attention towards the two Human Immortals from the Xu Family who were still cultivating themselves. A smile appeared on Chen Feng's face. It is only right for you two to get some benefits from this, otherwise I would feel slightly guilty.
Another hour went by before the two Human Immortals finished up their cultivation sessions. Looking at each other, they saw a somewhat embarra.s.sed look on their faces.
Note: Black Tortoise is a legendary creature, part of three others (Azure Dragon, White Tiger and Vermilion Bird) collectively known as the Four Symbols.