Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 248: Top Grade Spirit Weapon

Wang Hao examined the Yin Sha Thunder Talismans through his Divine Sense. Silver arcs of electricity danced across their dark, inscribed surfaces.

A second-rank, High Grade talisman packed the destructive force of a full-power strike from a peak, ninth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator. Thunder-attribute talismans were universally recognized for their raw offensive power, and the yin-cold energy woven into this specific variant made it even deadlier.

Wang Hao didn’t lack Pills or Magical Artifacts, but high-tier talismans were a blind spot in his arsenal. These two alone were worth a solid five thousand Spirit Stones. The block of four-hundred-year-old Golden Sun Wood was excellent material for crafting second-rank puppets—easily another five thousand.

That left the egg. Was she valuing a simple Demon Beast egg at ten thousand stones?

“Fairy Huang,” Wang Hao transmitted privately. “What exactly is this egg? Ordinary beast eggs are hardly worth such a premium.”

“It is the egg of my clan’s guardian beast, the Ice-Fire Python,” Huang Zhiwei replied, her mental voice tinged with pride. “It is a rare, mutated species capable of reaching the third rank. You are getting quite the bargain, Fellow Daoist.”

“A mutated beast?” Wang Hao swept his Divine Sense over the egg, confirming the swirling duality of frost and flame within.

Mutated beasts with opposing elemental affinities were terrifyingly versatile. Since the five elements naturally generated and restrained one another, a dual-attribute beast could easily counter a wider variety of opponents, giving it a massive tactical advantage.

“Why part with something so rare?” Wang Hao asked, his suspicion piqued.

Huang Zhiwei chuckled. “Rare for ordinary cultivators, perhaps, but my Huang clan is renowned for beast taming. We have over a dozen second-rank Ice-Fire Pythons. I will be honest with you—they are a nightmare to raise. They require a perfectly balanced diet of ice and fire-attribute spirit herbs. Here on the Thunder Peninsula, fire and water herbs are plentiful, but ice-attribute flora is incredibly scarce and terribly expensive! Rearing a single python costs more than training a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If you feed it too much of one element, its internal energies lose balance, and it simply explodes.”

Wang Hao suppressed a smirk. Dietary restrictions? With his system farm, he could harvest a mountain of ice-attribute herbs without breaking a sweat. Forget one python; he could raise ten.

Furthermore, this python perfectly rounded out his elemental roster. Yaya wielded Thunder, Xiao Bai commanded Ice, and the Illusory Moon Butterfly controlled Wood. The Ice-Fire Python would slot in perfectly as his fire-attribute vanguard. He could eventually assemble a complete elemental strike team.

Wang Hao triggered a mechanism, collapsing the mechanical ape back into an iron sphere. He casually tossed it up to Huang Zhiwei’s VIP box. “Deal. The puppet is yours, Fellow Daoist.”

Huang Zhiwei caught the sphere with a delighted smile. “Thank you for accommodating me. If you ever construct more, my Huang family is always willing to trade with rare beast eggs.”

Because their entire negotiation occurred via telepathy, the rest of the auction house remained oblivious. They merely assumed the Storage Bag Huang Zhiwei had thrown contained twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

The auction pressed on. For his second finale item, Wang Hao presented the Bu Yuan Pill—a second-rank, High Grade Pill formulated specifically to repair a damaged cultivation foundation. Such pills were vanishingly rare; had they been common, the “Monarch” Wang Guang’an wouldn’t have spent nearly a century stalled in his cultivation.

“The value of a Bu Yuan Pill speaks for itself,” Wang Hao announced. “I won’t waste your time with flowery words. Starting bid: five thousand Spirit Stones. Minimum increment: five hundred!”

“The Lei family claims this pill! Six thousand!” Lei Liheng roared instantly. A key Foundation Establishment elder in his clan had severely damaged his foundation during the last regional war. If Lei Liheng had known the Wang family possessed this pill, he would have shamelessly begged on his knees for it days ago.

“Who gets it isn’t decided by loud words, but by the weight of their purse,” a white-haired elder from the Wuliang Palace faction sneered. “This old man cannot let a foundation-repairing pill slip by. Six thousand, five hundred!”

“Exactly! ‘The Lei family claims it’—aren’t you afraid of biting your tongue with such big talk?” a young Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Blazing Heaven Sect mocked. “Anyone listening would think your Lei family runs Qingniu Market! Seven thousand!”

Lei Liheng stood up, his face flushed, but his eyes were calculating. He turned and bowed deeply toward Wang Hao on the stage. “Hmph! Say what you will! Everyone knows my Lei family is absolutely loyal to our hosts! If you want a bidding war, this old man will fight you to the last coin! Seven thousand, five hundred!”

Seeing Lei Liheng’s blatant, sycophantic display of submission to the Wang family instantly sapped the excitement from the room. The two competing bidders found it distasteful to fight a man who was so openly acting as the Wang family’s lapdog, and they dropped their paddles in disgust.

Lei Liheng ultimately secured the Bu Yuan Pill for ten thousand Spirit Stones.

While the price fell slightly short of Wang Hao’s aggressive estimates, he didn’t mind. Lei Liheng had worked tirelessly to patrol the market this week. Wang Hao considered the slight discount a reward for a loyal hound.

“Moving on to our third finale item!” Wang Hao produced a heavy, metallic short rod.

“The Thunder Shock Rod! A second-rank, Top Grade Spirit Weapon. Sealed within is the vicious essence of a second-rank, High Grade Thunder Kite. A single swing unleashes devastating bolts of lightning. Starting bid: three thousand Low Grade Spirit Stones! Minimum increment: five hundred!”

The hall erupted.

“A Top Grade Spirit Weapon?”

“Look at the length,” a seasoned blacksmith in the crowd pointed out. “I guarantee it was forged from the scrap materials of a failed Dharma Treasure refinement. The smith was limited by the size of the salvaged chunk.”

“Who cares if it’s scrap?” another cultivator shot back. “Dharma Treasure scrap still makes a Top Grade weapon! Even impoverished Golden Core masters rely on weapons like this. You could search through hundreds of Foundation Establishment experts and not find a single one wielding something this powerful!”

“Exactly! If you think it’s trash, keep your paddle down!”

“Quiet!” Wang Hao’s voice boomed, suppressing the clamor with a wave of his Divine Sense. “The bidding begins now!”

“Three thousand, five hundred!” a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator immediately shouted.

“Four thousand!”

“Five thousand!”

The bidding war was short, brutal, and utterly devoid of hesitation. The weapon ultimately fell to an aging, late-stage Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivator for a staggering thirteen thousand Spirit Stones.

Wang Hao watched the old man pay. Judging by his aura, the man was nearly one hundred and seventy years old. To spend so lavishly at that age meant only one thing: he was gearing up for a do-or-die attempt at forming a Golden Core, and he needed the weapon to survive the heavenly tribulations.

Truthfully, thirteen thousand was an exorbitant overpay. A standard High Grade weapon capped at four thousand, and even a Top Grade weapon should logically stay under ten. But Wang Hao understood the market. Top Grade weapons were a myth to most; he had personally looted this one off a Blazing Heaven Sect corpse during the war. To these cultivators, passing on this rod meant they might not see another one in their lifetimes. Scarcity drove madness.

Wang Hao raised his hands, letting the frenzy settle into a breathless silence.

“Fellow Daoists, we have reached the end. Only two finale items remain.” Wang Hao’s eyes gleamed with a showman’s flair. “To ensure you can properly weigh your final bids, I will unveil them both simultaneously!”

The auction hall held its collective breath. Everyone knew one of the items was the coveted Foundation Establishment Pill. But what could possibly be placed alongside it? They had just witnessed a Top Grade Spirit Weapon sold. What second-rank treasure could possibly be more important than that?”