Chapter 176: 134 Cooperation_2

Chapter 176: Chapter 134 Cooperation_2

Ten days later, the Hidden Dragon Trading House announced they would hold an auction.

The auction items included several top-grade magic tools, medicinal concoctions to assist cultivation, and even a super-grade magical artifact and a Foundation Establishment Pill for sale. The rest of the auction items were a diverse array, truly indicative of a large-scale auction.

However, what was strange was that the location of the auction had not been disclosed; instead, they had simply asked interested cultivators to contact the Hidden Dragon Trading House to register.

Not to mention ordinary cultivators, even Li Shiming was interested, for there was a Foundation Establishment Pill at stake.

Every five years, the sect would refine a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills, ranging from ten to fifteen pills per batch, depending on luck.

In such a large sect, ten to fifteen Foundation Establishment Pills every five years was far from sufficient; nevertheless, two pills would still be auctioned off publicly each year to quell the ordinary cultivators’ expectations for the pills.

The spirit stones needed to bid on the Foundation Establishment Pills were not something ordinary cultivators could obtain, but it gave them a sliver of hope, thus reducing dissatisfaction among the cultivators.

Such auction opportunities were conducted by trading houses supported by the sect. With only two Foundation Establishment Pills every five years, it was unknown what cost the Hidden Dragon Trading House had paid to acquire one.

But clearly, the cost was worth it, as all the Qi Refining cultivators in the entire sect went mad, even the various powers set their sights on the pill.

Two days before the auction, the Hidden Dragon Trading House still had not informed the participants of the exact location; had it not been for the Trading House’s credibility, perhaps the participants would have suspected they were being deceived.

On the day before the auction, each person who had signed up for the auction, upon depositing five hundred spirit stones, received a ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’ device.

The Hidden Dragon Trading House also promised that all ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’ devices could be returned after the auction through a deposit refund, as it was not a compulsory sale.

The new auction method of the Hidden Dragon Trading House filled all the participants with novelty.

A completely new auction model, while untested in practice, heightened the enthusiasm of the participants.

When the auction started, in the group of two hundred and two people, the video of the Hidden Dragon Trading House’s auctioneer appeared.

The reason there were two hundred and two people was because, apart from the auctioneer, there was one other person, and that was Li Shiming. Naturally, he did not need to purchase ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’; he had merely notified the Hidden Dragon Trading House of his attendance.

“Fellow daoists, this is the most unique auction I’ve ever hosted,” the auctioneer started, performing a conventional cultivator’s salute as he delivered his opening remarks.

“I believe our fellow daoists have noticed that this is the Thousand-Mile Mutual View. However, this is the latest version our trading house has launched, the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’, with a much clearer display!” the auctioneer said, and as he spoke, he moved his hand close to the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’.

Participants in various locations within the sect, holding the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’, saw the clear lines on the palm of the auctioneer, which the previous generation’s ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View’ did not possess.

Li Shiming knew in his heart that the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’ utilized the ‘Dragon Heart Second Generation’ chip, which included an image decoding feature in the chip that processed and enhanced the display of captured images.

Additionally, the LCD technology of the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’ was equally upgraded, supporting better display effects on a physical level.

The camera also featured a higher resolution, all for the purpose of enhancing the display effect.

As the participants observed their ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’, they understood something crucial: the Yun’s Trading House no longer held the secret of the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View’. The Hidden Dragon Trading House must have found the inventor; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to launch this seemingly stronger second generation.

“That’s not all, daoist friends. You may have noticed that the names displayed in the group are not your real names. This is the anonymous mode of the group function. In this mode, aside from the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’ in my hand which has special access, no one in this group will know your true identity!” the auctioneer explained further.

Upon entry, many cultivators had noticed the issue with the displayed names and had been waiting for an explanation.

This function satisfied the majority of participants, except for a minority of cultivators who wanted to use their influence to press others. The rest of the cultivators would not wish for others to know of their involvement in the auction.

Being in one’s own safe haven was extremely secure, and coupled with the anonymity function, all dangers associated with participating in the auction were resolved.

As for random bidding, the “Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation” is bound with the Identity Jade Disc, so Hidden Dragon Trading House is aware of the participants’ identities.

With the strength of Hidden Dragon Trading House, although they would not bully sect cultivators, sect cultivators who wanted to bully Hidden Dragon Trading House needed to consider the pros and cons.

“Another important function of the ‘Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation’ that you all have seen is the group feature. It allows one to invite several close friends to engage in daily exchanges within the same group chat, without the constraints of speech and every friend in the group can join the discussion.”

Currently, the group feature of “Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation” had just been launched and required an application to Hidden Dragon Trading House to activate! the auctioneer advertised the “Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation” once again.

After the participants had some understanding of the “Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation,” the auction proceeded to its normal process.

One after another, the auction items, with the clear images and the auctioneer’s explanations, even without being on-site, allowed all participating cultivators to have a more direct understanding of the items.

The auction also proceeded in an orderly fashion, and the benefits of anonymity were clear.

The cultivators participating in the auction, being in the safety of their own havens, felt different psychologically compared to ordinary auctions. They could confidently raise their bids and secure the items they desired.

One after another, the auction items were sold at high prices, causing excitement among the members of Hidden Dragon Trading House. Compared to the first-generation “Thousand-Mile Mutual View,” which was one-on-one promotion and display, this was one-to-many, which, in terms of efficiency and effect, was incomparable to before.

Li Shiming did not participate in the auction of ordinary goods; his sole target was the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Having no shortage of magic artifacts and cultivation resources, there were truly few things at the auction that could attract him.

The Foundation Establishment Pill was placed in the latter half of the auction, just before the super-grade magical artifact, clearly indicating Hidden Dragon Trading House regarded its importance as less compared to the super-grade magical artifact.

“The next item up for auction is consigned by our Trading House. Every five years the sect refines Foundation Establishment Pills. This year, the refinement process was very smooth, and a total of fourteen Foundation Establishment Pills were produced. Our Hidden Dragon Trading House, commissioned by the sect, will auction off one of them,” the auctioneer said with a smile, placing a jade bottle in front of the camera for introduction.

Behind each “Thousand-Mile Mutual View Second Generation,” the cultivators watched the jade bottle with greedy eyes.

Those who managed to get along well in the sect and were eligible to attend the auction were mostly cultivators with the ambition to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The auctioning of the Foundation Establishment Pill was also the only chance outside of exchanging good deeds with the sect, and as most know, good deeds are hard to come by, typically requiring a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator to complete decades of tasks for the sect before possibly earning enough to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

For cultivators without a Heavenly Spirit Root, just one Foundation Establishment Pill was risky enough, as statistics showed that those with three spirit root seeds needed at least three Foundation Establishment Pills to have a decent chance of success in advancing.

Although the chance of advancing with three Foundation Establishment Pills was still low, it was much higher than the slim hope of advancing with only one.

Li Shiming, as an Intermediate Array Master, knew he could rack up good deeds quickly in the future, but he wanted to be prepared and secure a Foundation Establishment Pill in advance.

If he had one Foundation Establishment Pill in hand and managed to win another at the auction, he would only need to accumulate enough good deeds to meet the theoretical minimum requirement for someone with three spirit root seeds.

“One Foundation Establishment Pill, no reserve price!” the auctioneer announced, and bids started appearing continuously in the group chat.

Li Shiming did not rush to bid; he quietly watched the prices offered by the participants.

He had plenty of Spirit Stones in hand, and in his view, securing a Foundation Establishment Pill was not a difficult task—it was merely a matter of how many Spirit Stones would be required.