The Martial Saint Started from Scavenging

"when--"

A clear chime echoed through the main hall of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, silencing the clamor that filled the hall.

Immediately, everyone's spirits lifted, and their eyes all turned to the auction stage.

A middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes and with a shrewd face slowly walked up to the high platform. He held a small white jade hammer in his hand and smiled. He was clearly a shrewd and experienced man.

This man was Jin Buhuan, the chief auctioneer of Baibaolou.

"Distinguished guests, welcome to the monthly auction of rare treasures at Baibaolou!"

Jin Buhuan's voice is loud, strong, and highly infectious.

"Tonight, we are honored to have such a distinguished guest. I, Jin, would like to express my sincere gratitude for your presence!"

He clasped his hands in a fist salute, then waved his hand without any further formalities.

"The auction is now officially open. Our first item tonight is the 'Flowing Light Sword,' a low-grade magic weapon personally forged by Elder Zhang, the master craftsman of the Qingyun Sword Sect!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a servant came up onto the stage carrying a sheathed longsword. Jin Buhuan took it and drew the sword.

With a clear "clang," a sword light as clear as autumn water shone in the hall, its blade faintly glowing with spiritual light and exuding a chilling aura.

"This sword is made primarily of century-old cold iron, infused with three drops of dragon blood. It is incomparably sharp and possesses a chilling aura, capable of freezing an enemy's bloodline. Starting bid: 100 spirit stone fragments! Each bid must increase by at least 10 spirit stone fragments!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of bidding erupted from the audience.

"One hundred and one hundred!"

"One hundred and thirty!"

"One hundred and fifty!"

……

At this moment, Ye Sheng sat in the corner, his gaze sweeping over the Flowing Light Sword before returning to his seat.

His expression remained calm, showing no interest in the magical artifacts of these cultivators. Moreover, the skill panel remained completely still, indicating that the item was worthless.

Seeing his expression, Lin Qingxue didn't say anything, but just sat quietly, occasionally picking up her teacup and taking a sip.

The bidding lasted for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, and finally, the Flowing Light Sword was sold to a middle-aged cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage for 320 spirit stone fragments. The man was overjoyed, holding the sword with obvious delight.

The next few items were presented in turn. There was the healing elixir "Rejuvenation Pill", the defensive magic weapon "Azure Silk Armor", a fragmented cultivation manual "Blazing Fire Technique", and even a live second-tier demon beast cub "Crimson Flame Fox".

Each item brought to the auction caused a stir. Bidding erupted one after another, creating a heated atmosphere. Yet, Mr. Ye remained unmoved, not making a bid.

Lin Qingxue gradually became restless. She leaned closer to Ye Sheng and whispered, "Ye Sheng, aren't you interested in any of these things? My father gave me three hundred spirit stone fragments so you could pick up some useful ones. If you keep picking and choosing like this, you might go home empty-handed tonight."

Ye Sheng turned to look at her and said calmly, "No rush, the really good stuff won't be brought out so early."

Lin Qingxue was taken aback, then suddenly understood. She knew the rules of the auction, of course; the later the auction, the more valuable the final items. However, she was preoccupied with Ye Sheng's matter and couldn't help but feel a little impatient.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her agitation, and sat up straight again.

Time passed slowly, and items were sold one by one, but the atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly heated. Those who hadn't won anything were even more eager, knowing that the real treasures were about to appear.

Finally, the seventh item was presented.

It was a tray covered with a red cloth, carefully carried onto the auction stage by two waiters. Under the red cloth, a fist-sized bulge with a somewhat strange shape could be vaguely seen.

Jin Buhuan walked to the tray, but instead of lifting the red cloth as before, he smiled mysteriously and looked around the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next item up for auction is rather special." His voice was lowered slightly, but this only drew more attention to it. "It is neither a magic artifact nor a pill or cultivation technique. In fact, it is not even a living creature."

Upon hearing this, some people in the audience began to clamor: "Mr. Jin, stop keeping us in suspense! Lift it up and let us see!"

Jin Buhuan laughed heartily and ripped off the red cloth.

On the tray lay a fist-sized object. It was entirely black, its surface covered with strange patterns that twisted and meandered, resembling ancient runes or the natural veins of heaven and earth.

But the object looked ordinary, without even a trace of life, like a piece of ordinary stone that had been carefully carved.

The audience was taken aback at first, then a murmur of discussion arose.

"What is this? Could it be a spirit ore?"

"It looks rather strange, but it doesn't have any spiritual energy at all. It's probably not an ordinary spirit ore, is it?"

"When did Baibaolou start auctioning off spirit ore?"

Jin Buhuan ignored the discussions and pointed at the dark object, raising his voice several decibels.

"Please look, everyone! This item was obtained by chance by our Baibaolou caravan in an ancient ruin deep in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Southern Xinjiang."

"After joint appraisal by several master appraisers in our building, this item has been identified as a seed of an ancient spiritual plant! The specific type of plant is unknown, but it contains an extremely ancient and powerful life force!"

"But—" He changed the subject, spreading his hands, "For some reason, the vitality of this spiritual plant seed seems to be sealed by some mysterious force. My Hundred Treasures Pavilion has tried every possible method, used all kinds of growth-promoting spiritual liquids, and even asked a Golden Core stage senior to nurture it with spiritual power, but we still cannot make it sprout."

"Therefore, today, we have decided to put it up for auction." Jin Buhuan's gaze swept across the entire room, and he said meaningfully, "Perhaps one of the distinguished guests here is destined to have it and can bring it back to life."

"This ancient spirit seed has a starting bid of fifty spirit stone fragments! Each bid must be at least five spirit stone fragments!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience erupted in a commotion.

"Fifty spirit stone fragments? To buy a dead seed?"

"Mr. Jin, is your Baibaolou (a business chain) so greedy for money that it's gone mad?"

"But... what if it really is the seed of an ancient spiritual plant?"

Some questioned, some mocked, while others had a glint in their eyes and fell into deep thought.

Just as everyone was discussing and no one was bidding, Ye Sheng, sitting in the corner, suddenly felt his heart pounding wildly.

Because, the moment the red cloth was lifted from the seed, the skill panel in his mind started flashing wildly!

[Warning! High concentration of 'Daoist Essence' aura detected!]

[Resonance Activation: Unknown Technique ??? Anomaly has occurred!]

[Analyzing... Analysis failed... Information source energy level too high...]

[Preliminary assessment: This item shares the same origin as the host's skill panel, and is suspected to be a fragment of the 'Dao'!]

Fragments of the Dao!

These four words exploded in Ye Sheng's mind like a thunderclap. His breath almost stopped at that moment. He stared intently at the pitch-black seed, his eyes filled with barely concealed excitement.

At this moment, in Ye Sheng's eyes, the seemingly chaotic patterns on the surface of the seeds seemed to come alive, twisting and moving to form some kind of profound and indescribable pattern. Those patterns bore a striking resemblance to the runes on the skill panel in his mind!

Ye Sheng's hands trembled slightly. He never imagined that the "Taoist treasure" he had been searching for would appear before him in this way!

"I must have this!"

Ye Sheng roared with excitement in his heart.

However, just as he was thinking and preparing to bid, a lazy voice rang out first.

"Sixty spirit stone fragments"