Hearing Elder Zhou’s voice, a portion of the crowd sobered up. Han Jun was instantly infuriated. He turned to a man about his age next to him and asked, "How much money did we bring this time?"

The man whispered, "Young Master, we brought four hundred thousand Purple Elemental Crystals, but you can only use one hundred and fifty thousand of them. The rest is for bidding on the items designated by the Master."

Han Jun shot Mu Chen a vicious glare and snapped, "No way. I must have these Martial Power Pills. Don’t use my father to pressure me. I’ll explain myself when I get back."

"Two hundred thousand! Is there no one higher? Then two hundred thousand going once, two hundred thousand going twice, two hundred thousand going thr—"

Just as Elder Zhou was about to shout the final word, Han Jun abruptly stood up. "Two hundred and ten thousand!"

"WOW! Two hundred and ten thousand for two Martial Power Pills!"

"He’s insane, insane!"

"The young people these days are just too reckless..."

Countless people watched Han Jun with either gasps of shock or sneers of derision. Even the young man standing beside him shook his head and sighed. Only Han Jun remained, staring arrogantly at Mu Chen, his eyes filled with provocation. Mu Chen just smiled, spread his hands, and sat back down, indicating he was forfeiting the bid.

"Haha! Two hundred and ten thousand! The honored guest from seat 3333 has bid two hundred and ten thousand! I imagine no one else will continue bidding. In that case, this bottle of Martial Power Pills, worth two hundred and ten thousand, now belongs to this esteemed guest! Next up is our second item..."

Watching the Weakness Pills being bought for two hundred and ten thousand, the Profound Old Ghost shot Mu Chen an annoyed look. "You brat, you’ve got some serious nerve. What would you have done if that idiot hadn’t kept bidding?"

Mu Chen just laughed at the remark, full of confidence. "He was bound to."

The Profound Old Ghost was filled with scorn. ’Where did this kid learn to make such a punchable face?’

By now, Elder Zhou had brought out the second item. It was a black scroll that looked incredibly ancient. "This next item is the very foundation of a Martial Artist’s existence. That’s right, it’s a Cultivation Technique—a Lower Grade Profound Rank Technique! The starting price is two hundred thousand Purple Elemental Crystals, with each bid increment no less than ten thousand. Let the bidding begin!"

Elder Zhou’s tone was calm, but the appearance of this Cultivation Technique undoubtedly pushed the auction to its climax. One by one, the bidders, craning their necks and red in the face, began to shout their bids.

"Two hundred and twenty thousand!"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand!"

"Three hundred thousand!"

Watching the price soar as if it had grown wings, Mu Chen clicked his tongue in amazement. ’A single Lower Grade Profound Rank Technique is making so many people fight over it. I wonder how much my Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique would sell for.’

Fortunately, the Profound Old Ghost was feigning sleep at that moment, and Mu Chen was only thinking this to himself. Otherwise, if the Profound Old Ghost had heard that thought, he would have beaten Mu Chen so badly he wouldn’t know which way was up.

After a round of fierce bidding, the Lower Grade Profound Rank Technique was finally sold for the shocking price of eight hundred and ninety thousand. Almost instantly, a crowd of people turned to look at the buyer, only to see a figure dressed in white with a white conical hat. Clearly, this was another person like Mu Chen, hiding their identity.

"Next is the third item. This item is not a weapon, nor is it a material, and it is certainly not a Cultivation and Battle Skill. However, its rarity is in no way inferior to them."

After speaking, Elder Zhou waved to the side, and several young maids wheeled out a massive object covered by a red cloth. The moment it appeared, countless people’s eyes went wide, and a few began to guess what might be inside.

Seeing everyone’s anticipation, Elder Zhou chuckled and pulled off the red cloth. A giant iron cage appeared before them. Mu Chen had initially thought it would be a Magical Beast or something similar, but when he got a clear look at what was inside the cage, he was stunned... It wasn’t a Magical Beast at all. It was a woman.

But a closer look revealed she was very different from an ordinary woman. Her skin was as smooth as snow, and her upper body was bare. Patches of jade-green scales covered her joints and other private areas, glistening with iridescent light. She had a full head of cyan hair, and her large, green eyes flickered with terror. All that might have been considered somewhat normal, but her most captivating feature was her legs—no, it was a snake’s tail. Her entire lower body was a long, scale-covered snake tail. Seeing this, two words surfaced in Mu Chen’s mind: Beast Race.

"Hehe, I believe everyone can see it now. This is the third item we’ll be auctioning: a Snake Woman from the Beast Race! Tsk, tsk, look at that figure, that face, that slender waist you could wrap your hands around. Just imagine it—a Snake Woman swaying that little waist of hers as she walks around your home every day... Hehe, I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. Things like this are not easy to come by, so the price is also very high! The starting price is four hundred thousand, with a minimum bid increment of ten thousand. Let the bidding begin!"

"Five hundred thousand!"

"Eight hundred thousand!"

"Eight hundred and twenty thousand!"

The speed at which the price climbed left Mu Chen completely stunned. But as he stood there dumbfounded, he noticed the Profound Old Ghost beside him had an exceptionally grim expression. Finally, he let out a helpless sigh. "Human desire is truly a terrifying thing!"

Mu Chen didn’t speak, but he subconsciously stroked the Star Mark on his left wrist. He remembered that he, too, had once said something similar.

Soon, the Snake Woman was sold for a price of one million eight hundred thousand to someone whose face couldn’t be seen. Elder Zhou’s face was flushed red; it seemed the Shanjin Auction House’s commission this time would not be small.

"Congratulations to the buyer from seat 366! The merchandise will be delivered to your residence after the auction. Now, for our fourth item. This one also has an extremely wide range of uses." With a flick of his wrist, a transparent blue pearl appeared in his hand. "The Water-Repelling Pearl. With it, you can break through human limitations and swim freely underwater for an hour. This is a rare, life-saving tool! The starting price is two hundred thousand, with increments no less than ten thousand."

People below quickly started bidding, but at this moment, the Profound Old Ghost’s eyes lit up. "Kid, this is another item you must have for your journey. I was worried this would be hard to get, and now it’s fallen right into our laps. Bid on this Water-Repelling Pearl with everything you’ve got."

Having seen the value of the previous Lower Grade Profound Rank Technique, Mu Chen now had a baseline. The price for the Water-Repelling Pearl had already been driven up to three hundred thousand, and he was getting antsy. He glanced around and noticed that after the bid hit three hundred thousand, no one else was bidding. This puzzled Mu Chen, so he called out a tentative bid, "Three hundred and ten thousand."

Once again, all eyes turned to him. This time, however, there was no murmuring, and strangely, no one else raised the bid. Only the bidder who had called three hundred thousand shot a disappointed look at the Water-Repelling Pearl on the stage before closing his eyes as if to feign sleep.

"Three hundred and ten thousand going once, three hundred and ten thousand going twice, three hundred and ten thousand three times! Congratulations to the buyer from seat 14111! Someone will naturally deliver the item to you after the auction. And now, for the final item of this auction! This one is quite special. I believe that any Martial Artist who has reached the Martial King Level knows its effects, and there isn’t one who doesn’t want it."

This immediately piqued Mu Chen’s interest. ’Could it be a Combat Skill, a Cultivation Technique, or a High-Level Weapon?’

But Mu Chen was wrong. With a flash of light from Elder Zhou’s finger, a small, three-legged cauldron, completely crimson, appeared on the stage before him. The cauldron was only the size of a palm, its body carved with numerous intricate patterns. A closer look revealed three circular holes of equal size at the base of its body. In any case, it was clearly no ordinary item.

"I imagine most of you are not familiar with this item. I will only state its name; the rest you can figure out for yourselves. This item is a Medicine Cauldron. The owner who is selling it told me not to provide too much of an explanation. Those who know its worth will naturally buy it. As per the seller’s request, the starting price is set at one million five hundred thousand, and each bid increment must be no less than one hundred thousand. These are the seller’s terms. Very well, let the bidding for the Medicine Cauldron begin."

"A starting price of one million five hundred thousand!" Mu Chen’s jaw dropped.

"Tsk, tsk, so it’s a Medicine Cauldron. Truly worthy of an establishment under the Shanjin Commerce Association." The Profound Old Ghost smacked his lips, staring intently at the small, crimson-glowing cauldron with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

Hearing this, Mu Chen quickly asked, "Master, what is this Medicine Cauldron? Is it a container for refining pills?" He had only ever heard of medicinal pills, never a Medicine Cauldron.

This finally seemed to rouse the Profound Old Ghost’s spirit. He turned to Mu Chen. "A Medicine Cauldron is a wondrous item. You could say that if a Martial Artist possesses a Medicine Cauldron, their Life Force will become much more resilient. Of course, that resilience also depends on the cauldron’s quality, but I’ll get to that later. For now, let me tell you about the effects of a Medicine Cauldron."

Mu Chen’s expression turned serious. He sat up straight, entering a state of intense focus. Seeing this, the Profound Old Ghost nodded to himself and slowly began to explain, "A so-called Medicine Cauldron is a vessel capable of refining Medicinal Herbs and extracting their essence. However, you would be gravely mistaken to think of it as merely a container for alchemy. A Medicine Cauldron shares a characteristic with Storage Rings and Spiritual Treasure Soldiers: it can be soul-bound to a master."

"Once it is bound, the master need only continuously feed it Medicinal Herbs to be refined. The resulting Medicinal Power can be stored inside the cauldron indefinitely. Then, when you are injured, you can draw upon the Medicinal Power within the cauldron to heal your wounds. Tell me, isn’t that something every Martial Artist dreams of? Of course, if you have excess Medicinal Power, you can naturally condense it into pills and store them in the Outer Realm, selling them for a bit of money when needed."

Mu Chen was utterly astonished. He had never imagined that such an item existed. He had never heard anyone mention it in his family, nor had he found any records of such things in the family’s library. He had always assumed pills were simply things that Alchemists made from Medicinal Herbs using skillful techniques. "Doesn’t this mean that as long as you have a Medicine Cauldron, the higher the Grade of the Medicinal Herbs it consumes, the greater the healing effect will be?"

The Profound Old Ghost smiled and shook his head. "The second part of your sentence is correct. The higher the Grade of the consumed Medicinal Herb, the greater the healing effect. However, there’s a prerequisite: the Grade of your soul-bound Medicine Cauldron must be greater than or equal to the Grade of the Medicinal Herb you are consuming. Otherwise, the herb cannot be properly refined by the cauldron."