Chapter 514 – Female Cultivation Furnace Cauldron
”There doesn’t seem to be much difference between this place and an ordinary auction, can Fellow Daoist Xu really see anything peculiar by bringing us here specifically?” The woman surnamed Liu, who was amongst the few people in the brocade-clothed big man, was asking Xu Yun with a bit of doubt.
”Don’t worry! Although the auctions here are very frequent, held once every few days and half a month, there are several special auction items that will appear every time. Although they aren’t the most expensive things in the auctions, they are indeed easily unseen in the Inner Star Sea.” Xu Yun revealed a few mysterious colors as he said, but then saw Han Li coming over and kindly smiled at him.
Han Li nodded casually and suddenly asked a question that made the other party a bit surprised, “Fellow Daoist Xu, how many cultivators are there in this Black Stone City? It doesn’t look like there are too many cultivators.”
”Brother Qu really has a keen eye! Apart from a few inns where people can stay temporarily, Black Stone City generally doesn’t have any foreign cultivators who live there permanently. Higher-ranked cultivators will all have their own cave dwellings on other islands. The low level ones would gather into small villages and towns to live with the mortals. The cultivators of Black Stone City all come to buy and sell things, and the lower-ranked cultivators run more frequently.” Xu Yun did admit frankly.
”Didn’t it say that only cultivators above the Foundation Establishment Stage can survive in the Outer Sea? How come there are so many mortals and Qi Refining Stage cultivators.” The brocade-clothed man remained silent for a moment and asked a question that Han Li was also a bit puzzled by.
”Brother Yi’s question gets to the crux of the matter, this is the other biggest difference between Qi Yuan Island and the other Demon Beast Islands. On the other Demon Beast Islands, they are all teleported over by some high-level cultivators specifically to hunt and kill demonic beasts, and generally return to the Inner Star Sea after accumulating enough harvests. On Qi Yuan Island, on the other hand, after some years of the discovery of the Sea Abyss, on the nearby islands these forces had found a few Spirit Stone mines and opened up some other sources of raw materials needed for cultivation, so they could basically be self-sufficient. In this way, some cultivators also dragged their families and teleported over. Mortals without spirit roots and low level cultivators just naturally appeared. I’ve also heard that these forces managing Black Stone City are slowly transferring their main manpower from the Inner Star Sea to here. It is estimated that in a few tens of thousands of years, this place will probably turn into the second Inner Star Sea. However, other than this Black Stone City, most of the villages and towns of mortals and cultivators on the other islands were not absolutely safe. There are often small villages and towns that have been destroyed by high-level demonic beasts that suddenly appear out of nowhere. This place is following the same old path that our ancestors took when they first arrived at the Inner Star Sea back then.” Xu Yun said with a calm expression.
However, these words caused the others to rise up in disbelief as they listened.
”Don’t the Star Palace and the other forces ask about everything here?” The brocade-clothed man exhaled lightly and asked in a deep voice.
”It’s still early for this place to prosper to the same extent as the Inner Star Sea. Besides, the sheer size of the Inner Star Sea alone is enough for them to toss and turn, so who has the time to care about this place. They’d rather these forces put their main manpower and energy here on Qi Yuan Island. Otherwise, I’m afraid the Inner Star Sea would be even more chaotic right now.” Xu Yun said with a cold snort, clearly still seething at the Star Palace’s sudden closure of the teleportation array.
After hearing these words, the brocade-clothed big man and the few others felt that it made sense, and after looking at each other for a few moments, they no longer brought up this topic. They are small cultivators, or less to inquire about these things between the forces is better, so as not to get into trouble.
After selling a few more artifacts and raw materials, a blue-clothed middle-aged man holding a red box, appeared behind the old man presiding over the auction, in the box was placed a fist-sized ball in white with purple.
Xu Yun saw this, but his spirit was invigorated: ”Attention all of you, the following is going to be one of the most important auction items on this Qi Yuan Island, the young eggs of demonic beasts. There is no lack of treasures among them. These things are sky-high spirit stones in the Inner Star Sea, but they are much cheaper on Qi Yuan Island. This was because apart from some special beast eggs, most of the young eggs were unable to pass through the teleportation array. The only thing that would happen to them if they were brought along for teleportation would be that they would turn into dead eggs. Therefore, whenever some rare demonic beast eggs appeared in the world, some high-level cultivators who knew the truth about Qi Yuan Island would teleport to Black Stone City to bid for spirit beasts. After hatching the spirit beasts, they would then spend some time cultivating them to the stage where they can teleport before returning to the Inner Star Sea.”
”Demon beast eggs!” The brocade-clothed big man’s eyes suddenly lit up. Wanting to cultivate a high-grade demonic beast was something that this person had dreamed of for a long time, and several other people also had a look of surprise on their faces.
According to this, wouldn’t they also have the chance to have their own spirit beasts in the future. Finding a good spirit beast in the Inner Star Sea was a thousand times more difficult!
”The young eggs of the demonic beast Purple Cloud Eagle, a fourth level earth attribute demonic beast when it reaches adulthood, with steel feathers that are as hard as iron. Although it only knows a simple shield spell, its flying speed is extremely fast, comparable to an upper-ranked flying magic weapon, and its pair of sharp claws can easily tear through a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator’s shield, making it a rare breed of demonic beast. Definitely is the best choice for foundation stage friends. The base price is two thousand spirit stones, and each time the price increases by one hundred. Bidding begins!” The old man seemed to be confident in this beast egg, and just hurriedly introduced it before starting the auction without hesitation.
And the cultivators below really had multiple eyes on this item, as soon as the old man’s words fell, someone immediately placed a bid.
Although a level 4 demonic beast was not worth mentioning to a JieDan stage cultivator, it was just right for these Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.
Because too high-level spirit beasts were not only expensive, but the adult cycle was also much longer than low-level spirit beasts, even if they used some secret techniques to catalyze their birth, they couldn’t afford to wait.
”Two thousand five hundred spirit stones!”
”Two thousand seven!”
”Three thousand!”
……
The beast egg of the Purple Cloud Eagle quickly broke through the price of three thousand, and was finally bought by a female cultivator with great excitement at three thousand three hundred spirit stones.
”It is indeed much cheaper than the Inner Star Sea. If it was in Heavenly Star City, such a flying spirit beast egg would have cost at least five thousand or more spirit stones!” The black-faced middle-aged man stared at the beast egg in the female cultivator’s hand and muttered.
Aside from Han Li, the others, including the brocade-clothed man, had their eyes glowing.
Xu Yun saw this scene in his eyes and smiled unsurprisingly.
Below, the old man ended the Spirit Beast Eggs auction by auctioning off another Level 3 and another Level 4 Demonic Beast’s young egg at a not-so-expensive price.
”What is this?” Seeing the auction item that was brought up once more, Madam Liu couldn’t help but change her face abruptly, and the rest of the people were also stunned.
This was because beside that auctioning old man, there were now two young and beautiful women standing. Although both were only at the second or third level of the Qi Refining Stage, they were indeed genuine Immortal Cultivators. But looking at the way they were brought up with a lowered brow, the auction item this time was actually these two female cultivators.
Xu Yun didn’t show any surprise when he saw this, but instead signaled with his eyes for a few people to listen to what the old man had to say.
”The following offers four low-ranking stovepipes at the Qi Refining Stage, they have only practiced the basic five elemental techniques, and each of them is absolutely intact. However, according to their requirements, the cultivator who auctions for them must have a cultivation level above the middle stage of Foundation Establishment in order to do so. The reserve price is two thousand spirit stones per person, the following auction will begin ……”
Ever since the old man had called for the two female cultivators to be brought up, the many male cultivators below had begun sizing up the two women with fiery gazes without stopping, but a good half a day after the old man’s words had fallen, half a day later, there were no bids. Even the two male cultivators sitting not far in front of Han Li and the others were whispering about something.
”What’s the use of two thousand spirit stones to buy a two or three tier stove, if you really want a maidservant concubine, you might as well buy a mortal woman elsewhere. When the time comes, when you are old and gray, you can just spend some more money to get rid of her. But if it’s a Foundation Establishment Stage Hearth, even if it costs more spirit stones, I’m willing.”
”You’re dreaming, you think you’re a JieDan stage cultivator. Don’t forget the rules here, the Foundation Establishment Stage Furnace Cauldron is simply not something we can get our hands on. It’s just allowed, and that kind of sky-high price would be a bit more cost-effective than buying a better spirit beast egg.”
Hearing these conversations, although Han Li was still surprised in his heart, the shock on his face gradually faded. He had heard before that some forces were secretly specializing in cultivating young female cultivators to be used as hearths, and even some high-ranking cultivators were sending these female cultivators around as if they were gifts. But no matter what, there were no public auctions of female cultivators in the Inner Star Sea. This kind of behavior here really startled him.
The complexion of the brocade-clothed big man and the others also calmed down. After all, the existence of stove tripods was also something that everyone in the Immortal Cultivation World knew about. But Lady Liu and the other young woman, who was also a female, still looked a bit uncomfortable.
”There’s no need to be surprised for a few fellow Daoists. These women are all volunteering to be someone else’s hearth, without anyone forcing them. They basically belong to the kind of female cultivators who have poor spiritual root qualifications, who can hardly cultivate to the upper levels by ordinary cultivation methods, whose families don’t have any ancestors or senior people to rely on, and the various forces don’t look at them, and are unwilling to spend spirit stones to cultivate them. In this way, in places like the Outer Star Sea, they don’t care to do the work of ordinary mortals, and going outside to hunt and kill demonic beasts is a matter of finding death. Only after a little cultivation success, they will take the initiative to be the furnace of the deeper male cultivator. This not only can provide a large amount of spirit stone for the family, but also have a certain dependence on themselves. If you can please the male cultivator’s heart, become a concubine and so on, there may be some other opportunities. Of course, there are also high-ranking female cultivators with good spiritual root qualifications who, for other reasons, take the initiative to become someone else’s cauldron. However, this kind of stove tripod does not allow low-rank male cultivators to participate in the bidding. Auctions of this level won’t appear either.” Xu Yun slowly preached, seeming to be accustomed to this kind of thing.