But thinking about it, it makes sense. True Devil Qi is inherently extremely pure. Even Nascent Soul cultivators like him wouldn't find it easy to refine. But for Golden Core cultivators, refining even a little bit would indeed have many benefits.
At this moment, a young woman flew to the platform where Zhang Ling was. It was the woman named Huan'er who had wanted to serve him earlier. She held a jade plate in her hands, on which was placed the Spirit Eye Jade.
"Senior, this is the treasure you won at the auction."
"Mm."
Zhang Ling nodded and gestured for the girl to place the Spirit Eye Jade on the table. At the same time, with a flick of his hand, a storage bag floated out.
The girl was overjoyed and quickly accepted the storage bag before taking her leave.
Zhang Ling also picked up the Spirit Eye Jade and examined it. After confirming it was correct, he stored it away.
He had made several bids in this auction before, acquiring some good items. Having obtained this Spirit Eye Jade, his goal had been achieved.
Zhang Ling could leave now, but after thinking about it, he decided to stay. He wanted to see if the demonic weapon left behind by the ancient demon was truly as powerful as rumored.
The bidding continued, and before long, all three bottles of Devil Essence Spirit Liquid were auctioned off. Each bottle went for over two hundred thousand magic stones.
The next third item to be auctioned off was actually a cultivation technique. It was a top-tier demonic cultivation technique, the Purple Zenith True Devil Art. It attracted a lot of attention.
Zhang Ling didn't know what this demonic art was. As he listened to the discussions of others, he learned that this technique was actually quite famous among the alien demon race.
It was said that ten thousand years ago, a rogue cultivator named Old Man Ziyu relied on this technique to cultivate to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm. His Purple Zenith Devil Art was extremely powerful.
When this technique is cultivated to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, it grants a Demonic Avatar Divine Power. Legend has it that it can summon a portion of the power of a powerful ancient demon from the upper realm, thereby greatly increasing one's strength for a short period.
The fourth treasure to be auctioned off was another pill, and there was only one called the 'Crimson Devil Pill,' with a starting price of three hundred thousand magic stones.
This was because it was a pill that could increase the chances of forming a Nascent Soul, increasing the probability of success by more than ten percent.
The Golden Core cultivators present were all moved, and they bid for it at all costs. In the end, the pill was auctioned off for seven hundred and sixty thousand magic stones.
The one who bought the pill was an unknown late-stage Golden Core cultivator. As soon as he bought the pill, he immediately left the auction venue.
Immediately afterward, another twenty or thirty Golden Core cultivators left. It was easy to guess what these people were aiming for.
A fight was inevitable.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Ling couldn't help but sigh, recalling his own experience of forming a Nascent Soul.
He had ventured into the Tianyuan Secret Realm and obtained the Earth Spirit Fruit needed to refine the Nascent Soul Pill. He had also made many preparations before achieving his current cultivation.
If he hadn't ventured into the Tianyuan Secret Realm, he would probably only have had the chance to bid for this kind of pill at large auctions like this, and a bloody storm would have been unavoidable.
The old man Xu, who was hosting the auction, naturally wouldn't pay attention to the leaving cultivators. He coughed a few times to clear his throat and then held up a cyan jade box, giving a mysterious smile.
"Fellow Daoists, take a good look at the last item for auction." With a snap, the box opened, and inside lay only a broken short sword.
The short sword was dark blue, with only a hilt and half a blade. The blade was curved, like half a crescent moon. It was also covered with cracks. But the spiritual power fluctuations it emitted were not very strong, making it look like an ordinary broken sword magic weapon.
"What is this? What use is a broken sword?"
"Fellow Daoist Xu, are you trying to fool us? Bringing out a broken treasure as the finale."
"That's right. Even if this sword originally had power, it's too damaged to be of much use. How can it be the last treasure to be auctioned off?"
Looking at the broken sword, the faces of the cultivators in the audience changed. Many people looked disappointed and shouted out their dissatisfaction.
"Hehe, everyone, please be patient. This sword is not an ordinary magic weapon, but a demonic weapon left behind by an ancient demon who invaded our realm in ancient times. Although it is broken and cannot exert its original power, it is definitely not comparable to ordinary magic weapons. Please take a look." Old Man Xu only chuckled, as if he had expected this. As he spoke, he picked up the broken sword in the box. Black Qi swirled around his body, and he began to circulate his own demonic art, injecting spiritual power.
"What, a demonic weapon left behind by an ancient demon from the upper realm?"
Seeing that he was about to activate the broken sword, the cultivators in the audience stopped their discussions and all looked over.
The three Nascent Soul monsters were also the same, especially Superior Uling, who seemed to know about the demonic weapon and revealed a look of greed in his eyes.
The Nascent Soul cultivator called Tie Niu also had a thoughtful look on his face. Only the cold, helmeted Nascent Soul monster showed no abnormality.
But the waiting time for everyone was extremely long.
A full seven or eight breaths of time passed, and Old Man Xu was still constantly injecting spiritual power, but the broken sword in his hand only emitted a faint blue light and was not activated.
The time didn't seem long, but for a late-stage Golden Core expert, taking so long to activate a broken sword was a bit strange.
Gradually, the faces of the crowd changed drastically, and they stared at Old Man Xu's movements without blinking.
Most of the people present were Golden Core cultivators, and their eyesight was not weak. What this situation meant was clear to everyone.
Old Man Xu was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. Taking so long to activate a broken sword meant that the sword was most likely not an ordinary magic weapon.
Activating it would consume a lot of spiritual power. This meant that the power that this sword could unleash must be extraordinary.
Zhang Ling also narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched this scene. In his mind, he heard the Blue Sparrow's affirmative voice. "It really is a demonic weapon."
"Hehe, with this old fellow's strength, to drive this broken demonic weapon, he will have to consume at least half of his own spiritual power."
"Oh, it's that difficult?" Hearing this, Zhang Ling was also taken aback.
Half of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator's spiritual power was not weak. The destructive power formed by using so much spiritual power to unleash an attack was imaginable.
In the expectant eyes of the crowd, a trace of haze appeared on Old Man Xu's face. As he injected spiritual power, he suddenly had a strange feeling, and a trace of unease rose in his heart.
He glanced at the broken sword in his hand. Was it his illusion?
Before Old Man Xu could understand what this feeling was, he saw a red light light up between the blade and the hilt of the dark blue broken sword.
This red light was like the light on jade, but there was no jade on the sword. The strange red light became brighter and brighter, flashing a few times like blood.
As the light flashed, Old Man Xu felt as if the broken sword in his hand was conscious, emitting a heartbeat-like sound.
This feeling made him fall into a strange emotion, and his mind was a little impetuous and uneasy. He wanted to stop activating the broken sword, but he heard Elder Mo's voice in his ear.
"Don't worry, your feeling is just being eroded by a trace of demonic Qi. It won't cause you any substantial harm. It's just a little side effect of activating the demonic weapon. Continue casting the spell, and I and several elders are watching from above, so naturally we won't let anything happen to you."
Elder Mo's voice made Old Man Xu feel a little more at ease. He gritted his teeth and increased the injection of spiritual power.
The blood-red light on the broken sword became more and more intense, and the broken sword also emitted a low, piercing sound. A terrifying wave of spiritual power was released.
The cultivators present felt this pressure, and their faces changed drastically.
"Eh, such a strong wave of spiritual power. Although this treasure is broken, it is indeed not an ordinary treasure."
"That's right. This old man actually felt a trace of danger."
"Fellow Daoist Xu, how will this item be auctioned? What is the starting price?"
The current feeling made them all realize that this broken sword was definitely a treasure. Their expressions became excited, and many people revealed a look of greed.
Zhang Ling also stared at the broken sword, his eyes becoming three points colder.
At the same time, the five Nascent Soul monsters hidden in the clouds were also paying attention to the situation in the auction hall at all times.
"Ice Fairy, it's time for you to cast the spell." Elder Qing of the Holy Temple ordered in a deep voice. As soon as he finished speaking, he threw out a white jade bottle.
With a clear sound, the jade bottle shattered, and a drop of purplish-black blood floated in the air.
"This is the power of bloodline provided by the Blood Heaven Tribe. Offer your Heavenly Yin Sect's Nether Soul Ruler to sense whether the Blood Light Old Demon has really arrived in this place."
The Ice Fairy did not speak. The long, rectangular wooden box she was holding in her hand flew up. A flash of spiritual light flew out, transforming into a black jade ruler two feet long in the air. It was engraved with faint yellow scales that were either shallow or deep.
The drop of blood landed on the jade ruler, and the black jade ruler immediately lit up with a ghostly green light. Dense and strange runes appeared. The entire jade ruler also trembled slightly.
After a moment, the treasure emitted a low鳴声, and twenty or thirty blood-colored light spots appeared on it. "How could this be?" The Ice Fairy frowned slightly.
The others also looked at all of this, their faces becoming unsightly. Especially Elder Qing with the mustache, looking at the changes in the jade ruler, he obviously knew what was going on.
"Hmph, this old demon used the Blood Puppet Technique. It may be possible to find his true body."
"Give me some time." The Ice Fairy responded, waving her hands together and condensing seals to hit the jade ruler. The black jade ruler trembled, and the yellow scale lines on it flowed as if they had come alive.
After a few breaths, the blood light spots on the jade ruler gradually disappeared, and finally only two identical blood lights remained.
"I can only do this. The two auras have the same intensity, and it is impossible to distinguish between the real and the fake. But I can be sure that this person is indeed in the city. One aura is in the auction hall below us, and the other aura is in the southwest corner of the city."
"Two identical auras, this is not right. Mo also knows about the Blood Puppet Technique of the Blood Heaven Tribe. With Blood Light's strength, he can only refine blood puppets at the Golden Core level at most. It is absolutely impossible to refine a blood puppet with the same strength as the main body." Mo Dahan also frowned and shouted.
"Hmph, what is impossible? Blood Light previously killed and devoured many members of the clan. If he uses forbidden techniques, it is not absolutely impossible." Elder Qing's face was gloomy, and he glanced at everyone and said.
"But we have already made preparations. This old demon will definitely not escape this city. Since the two auras are difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake, then take them down together. It's time for us to act. Fellow Daoist Ying, please activate the city's grand formation and provide support at any time."
"Ice Fairy, Fellow Daoist Yan, please trouble the two of you to entangle the other aura. As for Elder Mo, please deal with the aura in the auction hall with me."
"Elder Qing, I heard that your Blood Light Old Demon has considerable strength, not weaker than you. If that one is the real body, I am not sure that I can stop him." The youth wearing a ghost mask smiled and said. The others had no objection to Elder Qing's order.
"Don't worry, the two of you only need to hold him back for a moment. As long as we confirm which one is the real body, we will naturally rush to support you immediately." Elder Qing frowned slightly, but still explained.
The ghost-faced youth did not say anything more, smiled at the Ice Fairy. "Then please ask this fairy to lead the way."
The Ice Fairy urged the magic formula in her hand and retrieved the black jade ruler. Her body swayed and flew in one direction. The ghost-faced youth did not see any movement, his body gradually disappeared and followed closely behind.
Back at the auction hall, everyone's eyes were attracted by the broken sword in Old Man Xu's hand. As the broken sword released amazing spiritual power fluctuations, the cultivators became excited and no longer looked down on the broken sword.
At this time, the broken sword had been activated, and the area around the sword body was distorted, and blue and red spiritual lights appeared.
"How is the attack power of this sword? I think everyone has already made a judgment. Although this magic weapon is broken, it is definitely a top attack treasure. The starting price is one million magic stones, and each increase must not be less than 50,000 magic stones."
Old Man Xu did not swing the sword and breathed a sigh of relief before calling out the starting price of the broken sword.
"This old man offers one million magic stones."
"We, the Stone Demon Tribe, offer one million and one hundred thousand magic stones."
…
Immediately, cultivators began to increase the price, and the scene became lively.
Zhang Ling, who was sitting in the distance, was silent. Although the old man did not swing the broken sword and release a real attack,
But the power of this broken sword is indeed extraordinary. It gave him a power that was no weaker than the section of the desolate ancient giant's hand claw in his hand.
Zhang Ling could not help but reveal a trace of greed, but then he felt that something was wrong and suppressed the greed in his heart. How could such a treasure appear in this Golden Core cultivator's auction?
Even if this treasure appeared in the grand Nascent Soul-level trade fair like Liuyunhai, Cangyunge, it would definitely be qualified to be the finale treasure.
He didn't believe that this group of Golden Core cultivators would be qualified to bid for this treasure.
There must be something wrong with this.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ling stopped watching the auction, stood up, and planned to leave the auction. He had smelled a conspiracy.
Zhang Ling transformed into a wisp of black light. Just as he flew off the platform under his feet and was about to pass through the outer layer of the cloud and mist pagoda phantom to leave the auction hall,
Ah!
A scream entered his ears. He couldn't help but turn his head to look, and saw that several Golden Core cultivators had suddenly暴起 and launched attacks on the surroundings.
In an instant, more than a dozen Golden Core cultivators were killed directly without being prepared.
Then these Golden Core cultivators swarmed up and attacked Old Man Xu on the display stand, seemingly planning to seize the broken sword.
