"Impressive. Yunlan Sect really does live up to its reputation," said one of the other VIP participants.

"But... here, it’s Yanran Sect that’s walking away with that pill."

The man turned to the side, his eyes fixed on Ya Mei. "Yanran Sect bids 20 mid-grade spirit stones."

"Whoa!"

"20 mid-grade spirit stones? The value of that Tier-4 Pill just shot up."

"Two sects are already going at it. I wonder if there’s any fool brave enough to jump in and compete with them?"

As time went on, the competition in the main auction grew more and more entertaining to watch. The regular participants could only sit back and observe, some of them even rooting out loud for their favorite sect.

Everything happening inside the auction pagoda was also being broadcast outside.

The sect elders’ escort groups were watching along, and more than a few of them got into heated arguments with disciples from rival sects over the bidding.

The Zhu Clan had seen it coming. They had already taken precautions, stationing clan elders at the Core Formation level to keep the situation under control and prevent anything from getting out of hand.

Inside the pagoda, Han Xin couldn’t hide his irritation when he saw Yanran Sect decide to go up against him.

The pill was only useful for Perfect Core Formation cultivators looking to form a Nascent Soul, or Nascent Soul cultivators pushing to break through to the next stage, but that didn’t make it any less valuable to them.

After all, Yunlan Sect had plenty of Perfect Core Formation cultivators. A Tier-4 Pill would go a long way for them.

"You! Are you trying to make an enemy of Yunlan Sect?" shouted Elder Han Xin’s core disciple.

"There’s no rule saying the pill has to be yours alone. This is an auction, not your personal shop."

"Yanran Sect raises the bid to 30 mid-grade spirit stones," the man from that sect said firmly.

Ya Mei smiled wide and accepted the bid with obvious enthusiasm. "Very well. The current highest bid is 30 mid-grade spirit stones."

She turned and looked toward the Yunlan Sect balcony. "Does the Master Immortal from Yunlan Sect wish to place a higher offer?"

Han Xin was quiet for a moment, then nodded and ordered his core disciple to hand over more funds. That pushed the competition between the two sects into a fiercer and unavoidable clash.

In the end, Yunlan Sect secured the Tier-4 Pill by spending 120 mid-grade spirit stones, which came out to roughly 120,000 low-grade spirit stones.

People were stunned. Ya Mei offered her congratulations, while Yanran Sect seethed with frustration, already looking for a way to settle the score.

Lin Tian watched the tension between them. He was pretty sure the conflict between those two sects wasn’t going to end when they walked out of the Zhu Clan auction pagoda.

And if that happened, the Zhu Clan wouldn’t step in. They would leave the two parties to sort it out themselves.

"Tier-4 Pill sold for 120 mid-grade spirit stones to Yunlan Sect."

"Congratulations to Yunlan Sect," Ya Mei said with a smile.

The attendant left carrying the pill box to be delivered to the Yunlan Sect’s private room. Ya Mei turned her gaze back to the front and smiled out at both the regular and VIP participants.

"And now, we’ve arrived at the final item of our main auction session."

She extended her hand and pointed to a glass jar inside of which a blue flame burned without end. The crowd gasped in awe, and many of them immediately started thinking about how badly they wanted that fire.

"We acquired it from a cultivator who wishes to remain anonymous. This is a High-grade Earth Flame, one of the top three Earth Flames in existence."

"Its name is the Severing Azure Flame."

"Earth Flames can be used to refine pills or artifacts. For some cultivators, they can also be used to enhance the power of techniques or attacks."

"The Zhu Clan Auction is setting the opening price at 1,000 low-grade spirit stones," Ya Mei explained.

"1,500!"

"2,500!"

"5,000!"

Han Xin jumped in too. He pulled from his personal funds to place the highest bid. "10 mid-grade spirit stones!"

"WHOA! Yunlan Sect is throwing out another big number."

"This time they’re definitely getting it too."

Ya Mei turned and nodded after hearing Yunlan Sect’s offer. "Very well. Yunlan Sect bids..."

"100 mid-grade spirit stones," another VIP participant cut in.

Lin Tian and Han Xin both snapped their heads forward at the same time, eyes sharp, watching as a man in a black sect robe raised his hand.

"M-Moiyi Sect?"

"This is bad. They always pull something dirty."

Han Xin looked ahead. He could see that the Moiyi Sect Master’s cultivation base was at the Perfect Nascent Soul stage. The man’s ability was clearly above his own.

One of his core disciples turned and asked, "What are we going to do?"

"Let it go. Moiyi Sect has a nasty reputation when it comes to dealing with other cultivators. Besides, the pill was our real target from the start."

"We have no real interest in that Earth Flame anyway," Han Xin said.

Ya Mei accepted the offer from Moiyi Sect. "Very well. Moiyi Sect bids 100 mid-grade spirit stones. Anyone else?"

The room went quiet. No one dared to bid against them. Everyone there knew exactly what kind of reputation Moiyi Sect carried.

As far as they were concerned, the Earth Flame was valuable, but not worth their lives.

"I’ll count down from three."

"Three..."

"Two..."

Yi Ling walked to the front of the balcony and raised her hand. The countdown stopped. Ya Mei turned and looked in her direction.

"VIP Participant No. 20 bids 300 mid-grade spirit stones."

"300?!"

"IS HE OUT OF HIS MIND?"

"Who is this cultivator actually?" another participant asked.

Every VIP participant’s attention swung toward room number 20. They had already sent soul essence orbs to check and confirmed that the cultivator in there was only at the Foundation Establishment stage.

What puzzled them was his wealth. For a cultivator at his level, putting 300 mid-grade spirit stones toward advancing his cultivation would have made far more sense than blowing it on an item and openly picking a fight with Moiyi Sect.

Moiyi Sect Master Mo Lihai turned his gaze toward the room, releasing his qi aura. Lin Tian was still sitting back comfortably at the wooden table, sipping green tea from the pot.

"Junior! An item like this is of no use to a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you," said a Moiyi Sect disciple.

Lin Tian didn’t respond. But the comment set off a wave of laughter from the crowd. People were calling him crazy, out of his mind, and just plain stupid.

"I’d suggest you save those spirit stones to advance your cultivation base. You’re nothing but an ant standing in front of us!" the disciple added.

"HAHA!"

"Since when does a Foundation Establishment cultivator get a VIP spot?"

"He’s really lost it. He just openly challenged Moiyi Sect."

Even so, Ya Mei didn’t let herself get distracted. Lin Tian was still a VIP participant, and he had every right to place a bid.

"Very well. VIP Participant No. 20 bids 300 mid-grade spirit stones. Are there any other offers?" Ya Mei asked.

"Moiyi Sect bids 500 mid-grade spirit stones."

Lin Tian smiled faintly, turned, and called Yi Ling over. Yi Ling looked a little caught off guard by what he told her.

"V-VIP Participant No. 20 bids 10 high-grade spirit stones," Yi Ling announced.

Ya Mei’s eyes went wide. "10 high-grade spirit stones?"

The room erupted. Cultivators all over the floor fixed their attention on the balcony of room 20. It lit a fire under Mo Lihai, and stirred the curiosity of every other cultivator in the place.

"HIGH-GRADE SPIRIT STONES?"

"Wait. Just how rich is this person?"

"Who is he, really?"