A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality (Web Novel)

"Hehe, I didn't think that there would be so many fellow daoists competing for merely half a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Are all of you confident that you'll be able to find the Yang flag? Aren't you afraid that this flag will bring disaster instead of fortune upon your respective races?" a coarse female voice chuckled coldly.

"In that case, why are you bidding for this item as well, Fairy Gu? Just leave it to us," a sharp voice replied in an unyielding manner.

"Does your Stone Elf Race have what it takes to claim this Profound Heavenly Treasure? Aren't you afraid it'll spell the downfall of your entire race?" the coarse female voice scoffed in a disdainful manner.

"The Stone Elf Race may not be powerful enough, but what do you think of our Mayfly Race, Fairy Gu?" A cold elderly voice rang out from another flying cabin.

"The Mayfly Race?" Most of the Grand Ascension Stage beings' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

"The Mayfly Race may be one of the most powerful races on the Tian Yuan Continent, but our Sky Call Race isn't to be looked down on, either. Perhaps I'd be willing to let you take this auction item if it were something else, but there's no way I'm giving up on this Profound Heavenly Treasure," the coarse female voice replied in an emotionless manner after a brief pause.

"Seeing as no one is willing to give up, let's see who can make the highest bid. This is the auction of the He Lian Trade Guild, so wealth will be the deciding factor. I currently hold the highest bid; if no one else is going to exceed it, then I'll be taking this flag," the Mayfly being chuckled.

"1,500,000,000!" The woman from the Sky Call Race made another astonishing bid.

"Do you even have 1,500,000,000 spirit stones in your possession, Fellow Daoist Gu? Don't tell me you've already traded in some treasures," the Mayfly being said in a cold voice.

"So what if I have? I didn't bring that many spirit stones, but I brought along a lot of redundant treasures, and I'm putting them to good use now," the Sky Call being chuckled coldly.

"In that case, I'll get involved as well. 1,800,000,000!" The Grand Ascension Stage being from the Stone Elf Race also spoke up again.

"1,850,000,000!"

"1,900,000,000!"

At this point, all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings had backed out of the bidding.

Some of the wealthier ones among them could still afford to make more bids, but they wouldn't be able to keep this treasure anyway, so they could only reluctantly give up on it.

Thus, only three Grand Ascension Stage beings were still in the running.

Hu Yushuang was standing on the stone platform with a pleased smile, awaiting the final outcome.

"Senior Han, don't you want that Heaven Turning Flag anymore?" the blood soul couldn't help but ask.

Han Li had only made one bid before falling silent, and that was rather surprising to both the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er.

"This is quite an alluring treasure, but it may not be a good thing for me to secure it. After all, an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure wouldn't be able to immediately bolster the power of our human race, and it'll attract a lot of attention from those major races. Our human and demon races still don't possess sufficient power to hold onto such a treasure, so it would be unwise to try and obtain it," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Indeed, this treasure really was something that wasn't entirely necessary to him.

"You're right, this is a treasure that's vastly renowned, but its power belies its reputation, so it's more trouble than its worth. It's a pity that this isn't the complete Heaven Turing Flag. Otherwise, you could consider securing it," the blood soul said in a rather forlorn manner.

"Hehe, if this were a complete Profound Heavenly Treasure, I'd be able to summon an ancient true spirit being to protect our human race. As a result, our human race would become a mid-grade power, and we'd be able to expand both our population and the territory under our control without any qualms. In that case, I wouldn't mind taking the risk, but as things currently are, it's simply not worth it," Han Li elaborated.

The blood soul and Zhu Guo'er became a lot less interested in the bidding now that they knew that Han Li wouldn't be getting involved.

In the end, the Yin flag was taken by the Mayfly being for the astronomical price of 2,5000,000,000 spirit stones.

"The other Grand Ascension Stage beings were extremely envious, but they could only watch as a Grand Ascension Stage elder of the trade guild carried the flag to the flying cabin that the Mayfly being was situated in."

After a full 15 minutes had passed, the elder finally re-emerged from the cabin with a pleased expression.

It was clear that even though the Mayfly being had managed to secure this treasure, he had traded in most of his own treasures and could only give up on the final two items.

Furthermore, the journey back to the Mayfly Race most likely wasn't going to be a peaceful one for him, so he would have to be extra careful.

At this moment, Hu Yushuang removed the restriction over another silver platter to reveal a palm-sized jade box, which she carried gently with one hand.

Everyone immediately directed their attention toward the jade box, awaiting her introduction.

Hu Yushuang took a glance at everyone's expectant expressions, then introduced with a smile, "I'm sure many of you have heard of the immortal tome, the Golden Jade Tome; the next auction item is a complete page from the Golden Jade Tome. Our trade guild guarantees that this is one of the 36 original inner pages, not a replica copy, and the immortal cultivation art recorded on the page is definitely viable for cultivation. As for its name and effect, we'll be withholding that information; it'll be up to you to decide whether you'd like to purchase it or not."Following her introduction, Hu Yushuang laid a hand onto the jade box, and a thick pillar of light immediately erupted forth amid a rumbling boom, within which contained a shimmering golden page.

There were countless golden runes inscribed onto the surface of the page, and just a quick glance at a single one of those runes struck one with a sense of awe and veneration.

This was the golden seal text of the True Immortal Realm!

"It really is one of the inner pages of the Golden Jade Tome! I didn't think the He Lian Trade Guild would be able to obtain something like this."

"I've heard that the Golden Jade Tome contains true immortal cultivation arts and secret techniques; never did I think that I would get to witness an actual page from the tome!"

This auction item created less of a stir than that Heaven Turning Flag, but there were clearly more people interested in it.

"Why aren't you disclosing the name of the secret technique recorded on that page? There must be some type of fallacy or restriction in its cultivation, right? Otherwise, why would you intentionally withhold this information?" the Sky Call being from before asked.

The excitement on everyone's faces immediately faded slightly upon hearing this.

"Please forgive me, Senior; we are withholding the name of this cultivation art as a gesture of consideration toward its eventual new owner. After all, I'm sure its new owner wouldn't want everyone to know what's recorded on this page. As for fallacies and restrictions, the only one is that it takes longer to cultivate than normal cultivation arts," Hu Yushuang replied without any hesitation.

"Given your trade guild's reputation, I'll trust your words to be true," the Sky Call being chuckled before falling silent.

A few more questions were asked before Hu Yushuang declared a base price of 100,000,000 spirit stones.

"150,000,000!"

"170,000,000!"

"200,000,000!"

Even before the Grand Ascension Stage beings had made any bids, a flurry of bids had already been made by the attendees on the plaza.

"Hmph, you're all dreaming if you think you can secure an inner page of the Golden Jade Tome for such a paltry price. I'll take it for 300,000,000!"A Grand Ascension Stage being finally made a bid.

"What a coincidence? I'm also very interested in this inner page. I'll make a bid of 600,000,000; if anyone can make a higher bid, then you can have the item. However, Junior Hu just said that this secret technique will be extremely time-consuming to cultivate, so I'm assuming we'll most likely only be able to study and reference it. In that case, is it really worth such a huge sum of spirit stones?" the Stone Elf being from before said.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings who were interested in this inner page became rather hesitant upon hearing this.

This price was indeed quite high for a cultivation art that may not even be practically feasible for cultivation.

"In that case, I'll make a bid of 610,000,000." The one who had made this bid was Han Li, and both the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er turned to him with surprised expressions.

"Hmph, I'll stick by my word and hand the item over to you then, Fellow Daoist." The Stone Elf being was clearly rather displeased, but he still backed out of the bidding as he promised.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

"Alright, the current top bid stands at 610,000,000; I'll begin a count of three, and if no further bids are made, then this inner page will go to that senior," Hu Yushuang announced with an elated smile.

An inner page of the Golden Jade Tome was indeed extremely precious, but the projected price was only 300,000,000 to 400,000,000, so this was very much a pleasant surprise.

On this occasion, no one competed with Han Li, and the inner page was delivered to him by an elder of the trade guild.

Han Li issued the required spirit stones before immediately stowing the inner page into his storage bracelet without even taking a look at it first.

He then sat back down to await the final auction items.

According to past convention, the final auction item was supposed to be the most valuable one, and this was one of the reasons why the other Grand Ascension Stage beings had decided to give up on the inner page in the end.

After all, no one wanted to let the final auction item slip through their fingers due to insufficient spirit stones.

Hu Yushuang took a deep breath before making her way over to the final platter-holding woman, then swept a finger toward the light barrier above the platter, upon which a small gash slowly opened up on the barrier.