<b>Chapter 632: Alchemy Fowl</b>
Eventually, with an ugly expression, Huangfu Hao dropped back down onto his chair and gave up on bidding. He couldn't afford such a price anymore, so what else could he do except give up? He could only watch Li Qiye win the Heavenly Cauldron.
“15,000,000 refined jades of the Rising Era Paragon level! Any higher bids?!” On the stage, the excited auctioneer's hand was shaking while holding his wooden gavel.
Who else would dare to bid when the price was already this high? Eventually, the auctioneer slammed his gavel to conclude this round as he spoke with his trembling voice: “15,000,000 Rising Era Paragon Jades! The cauldron belongs to this Young Noble!”
In the end, the buyers could only come to one conclusion: “There are too many lunatics these days…”
One Demon King couldn't help but utter: “There should be a limit to being wasteful. This level of profligate behavior is just unreasonable.”
Only a madman would spend 15,000,000 Rising Era Paragon Jades; this was indeed a supremely prodigal son!
“The next treasure is a weapon from the foreign dao…” Infected by the last auction, the auctioneer's mood was at an all-time high.
In the private room, the workers from the auction house brought the Heavenly Cauldron over. Li Qiye casually handed over a spatial pouch to the workers to pay for the item.
Afterward, he threw the cauldron towards Shi Hao and said: “Keep doing your best. If you want to own this cauldron, you must spend a great deal of effort to harmonize with it. However, as long as you keep working hard, it will eventually accept you. At that point, your achievements in the alchemy dao will be able to reach a much higher level!”
The workers were astounded by Li Qiye's actions. They had seen many wealthy men and big characters, but spending millions of Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades for a cauldron to casually gift to a friend as if it was mere rubbish… Such extravagance was beyond cure! They had never seen this type of person before.
Shi Hao was shaking with fear. When the cauldron was thrown his way, he quickly jumped to grab it tightly as if he was afraid of dropping it. An item worth millions of refined jades made him afraid of it touching anything at all.
He struggled to calm down and prostrated on the ground while exuding his uncontrollable appreciation: “Big Brother… I… I will definitely not let you down!” He was a simple man. Countless words formed in his mind, but only this phrase left his lips.
Li Qiye nodded and said: “Be diligent. This cauldron is indeed great and has a natural affinity towards medicine. With it in the future, you will gain many benefits when cultivating plants. The more important part is that this cauldron has refined imperial pills before, so it will increase your pill refinement level by a notch.”
At this point, Shi Hao could only nod his head repeatedly. He didn't know what else to say to express his gratitude while Bai Weng watched on with admiration. Countless alchemists yearned for such a cauldron to no avail. Bai Weng understood that all of this was possible because Li Qiye valued Shi Hao and wanted to train him.
Several auctions went by, and the next item was a living creature.
A fowl was raised to the stage, resulting in quite a dazzling spectacle. It emitted waves of immortal lights along with a medicinal fragrance that caused others to salivate.
An experienced alchemist sniffed the aroma and became lost in his indulgence while murmuring: “Nine Dragon's Saliva Aroma, Dao Wood Profound Aroma, Immortal River Lotus Aroma… How beautiful are these fragrances… So supreme…”
Another famous alchemist stood up in astonishment and stared at the chicken in disbelief as he lost his voice: “Impossible! Could this be a legendary Alchemy Fowl?”
“Sir, you have great insight.” The auctioneer replied: “Correct! This is an Alchemy Fowl! They are extremely rare in this world, and this is our first time auctioning one in the Golem Square in the capital.”
Other great characters could handle it, but the alchemists here could no longer bear it.
“Is it really an Alchemy Fowl?!” They all stood up and gazed intensely at the fowl.
“An Alchemy Fowl!” Bai Weng couldn't help but shiver while standing next to Li Qiye. He opened his eyes wide and wished to examine every inch of the beast carefully, not wanting to miss even a single feather.
He gasped and said: “So Alchemy Fowls do exist in this world… They are… divine items in the eyes of alchemists… To have one is…”
Bai Weng was at a loss for words since he felt that this was a divine creature. Any alchemist in the world would love to have one.
This prompted Shi Hao's inquiry: “What kind of chicken is an Alchemy Fowl?” He was still young and didn't know the effects of an Alchemy Fowl, but after noticing the many astonished alchemists, he knew that this chicken must be very amazing.
Bai Weng's gaze was still fixated on the chicken as he replied: “It is a long story, but in short, that chicken is everything an alchemist could want.”
Li Qiye was also staring at this chicken along with the others. Among them, the alchemists were the most affected since the chicken could only be found in their dreams.
The chicken had been sealed, so it sat motionlessly with its head looking down, acting indifferent before everyone. Although it had been captured, it still showcased its arrogance.
The auctioneer quickly spoke: “Alchemy Fowl — I believe that the fellow alchemists here understand this creature more than I do.
“It can eat insect kings, capture poisonous creatures, protect spirit medicines and grasses, and its excrement is the most fertile soil in this world.
“More importantly, its nature is to protect medicines and plants, so it can find materials that others won't be able to. With one watching your alchemy farm, there would be no need to worry about poisonous insects or anything else. There would also be no need for fertilizing water…”
The auctioneer's continuous explanation made the alchemists salivate. Even without his explanation, these alchemists would know the amazing effects of the Alchemist Fowl. However, the others present began to want it as well.
An alchemist with great achievements in the past watched the fowl for a bit then asked: “Why does this Alchemy Fowl seem so dejected?”
The auctioneer answered: “Honored guest, you should know how hard it is to capture one of them. After all, these creatures would avoid imprisonment at all cost. In order to capture this one, we had to invite three Virtuous Paragons. This was quite difficult and costly. In order to catch it alive and watch it for year after year, the three paragons chased after it for millions of miles before perfectly sealing it.
“Think about it, to eventually be caught after so much struggling, do you think it would still be excited?”
Everyone felt that this answer made sense. It was harder to capture a divine beast like the Alchemy Fowl alive than it was to reach the heavens. Without three paragons, it would have been virtually impossible to catch the fowl.
The auctioneer patted his chest confidently and said: “Of course, our Golem Square guarantees with our reputation that this fowl is unharmed, so fellow guests can buy it without any worries.”
It wasn't just alchemists, which lineage didn't grow medicinal grasses? Therefore, all of these sects would have even more grasses if they had an Alchemy Fowl.
“May I take a look at this Alchemy Fowl?” In fact, it wasn't only Bai Weng's group who were interested in the fowl, Li Qiye was staring at the chicken as well.
“Sure.” The auctioneer quickly ordered the handler to place the chicken in Li Qiye's hands.
A god of riches like Li Qiye, of course, had special privileges. Not too many people were able to throw around money like trash in such a domineering manner like him.
Li Qiye gazed at the chicken for a long time before voicing his praise: “It is indeed a good chicken.” Then, he handed it back to the handler.
The arrogant Jian Wushuang, who was sitting on the balcony of another private room, asked: “Are we about ready to start? What is the starting bid of this Alchemy Fowl?” She seemed to be very interested in the chicken.
The chicken was brought back to the stage whereupon the auctioneer answered: “The starting bid for the Alchemy Fowl is 500,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades!”
“What, 500,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades?!” An honored guest bemoaned: “Are you trying to rob us?”
“Honored guest, this item has great value.” The auctioneer calmly spoke: “Fellow honored guests should all know that there are no Virtuous Paragons among the younger generation, and there are only a few paragons among the middle-aged generation — this is common knowledge. Current day Virtuous Paragons all established themselves 30,000 years ago or even earlier; all of them are ancestors of the great powers.
“This little one doesn't need to explain the situation of these ancestors. They are sealed underground and secluded from the world. Think about it, in order to invite three Virtuous Paragons to come out and give chase for millions of miles just to catch this Alchemy Fowl, fellow guests should be able to imagine the monstrous price we had to pay. Refined jades are precious, but Blood Era Stones are even more valuable, right?”
The guests looked at each other and felt that the auctioneer was being quite reasonable. Inviting three Virtuous Paragons to come out was indeed costly.
However, the starting bid of 500,000 Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades was simply too high. Even the most esteemed guests were immediately swept out of the door by this frightening starting bid.
[spoiler title='632 Teaser']Eventually, with an ugly expression, Huangfu Hao dropped back down onto his chair and gave up on bidding. He couldn't afford such a price anymore, so what else could he do except give up? He could only watch Li Qiye win the Heavenly Cauldron.
“15,000,000 refined jades of the Rising Era Paragon level! Any higher bids?!” On the stage, the excited auctioneer's hand was shaking while holding his wooden gavel.
Who else would dare to bid when the price was already this high? Eventually, the auctioneer slammed his gavel to conclude this round as he spoke with his trembling voice: “15,000,000 Rising Era Paragon Jades! The cauldron belongs to this Young Noble!”
In the end, the buyers could only come to one conclusion: “There are too many crazy people these days…”[/spoiler]