Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Following Huo Fen joining the competition for the Stardusk Essence, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators who had been unable to continue competing in the competition narrowed their eyes ever so slightly as they all realized that there might be another path for them to still get their hands on the Stardusk Essence... And that path would inevitably involve Huo Fen winning the competition for the Stardusk Essence.

In their eyes, if Huo Fen ended up winning the Stardusk Essence, it would be simple for them to forcibly seize it. The main problem in their eyes was just that they wouldn’t be the only ones to have this thought after Huo Fen joined the competition for the Stardusk Essence. In fact, the one from the Southern Central Region at the Peak of the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm was the one with the highest chance of being able to forcibly take the Stardusk Essence if Huo Fen ended up winning it.

Because of this, he ended up not continuing to increase the price any longer. Calming down completely as he now patiently looked down towards the private box with Huo Fen inside of it.

After a few more rounds, the only one still left to increase the bid was the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from the Heavenly Dragon Temple, though the only reason why he kept competing with Huo Fen was because he didn’t feel confident in forcibly seizing the Stardusk Essence with someone at the Peak of the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm around. After all, he was fully aware of the weaknesses of the small temple and the fact that it took time to activate, time that the other party would be able to easily take advantage of to seize the Stardusk Essence and escape.

”3. 500.000 top grade spirit stones!”

And so, the price soon reached three and a half million top grade spirit stones before the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from the Heavenly Dragon Temple finally seemed to have reached his limit...

”3.600.000 top grade spirit stones!”

”3.600.000 top grade spirit stone going once... Twice... And sold! Congratulations on winning the Stardusk Essence!”

A limit that Huo Fen had not yet reached, as he pushed the price even higher under the reluctant gaze of the competitor from the Heavenly Dragon Temple.

Clearly, the other party didn’t want Huo Fen to win the Stardusk Essence, as he understood that there was a low chance of him being able to seize it before the Peak Middle Stage Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator.

Of course, this did not mean he was entirely hopeless, as the small temple would be more than capable of assisting him if it had enough time to fully activate. The main problem was that the small temple could not be utilized ahead of time, as it wasn’t exactly free to utilize the small temple and it would enter a state of recovery after being used beyond the normal setting designed to block someone at the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm.

As for the rest of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators present... They had a far lower chance when it came to getting their hands on the Stardusk Essence, but at the end of the day, they did still have a chance if they managed to move fast enough and escape before anyone had the opportunity to block them.

In a sense, their chance of getting their hands on the Stardusk Essence was far higher than before now that Huo Fen had ended up winning it, as they would have had no chance of getting their hands on it if the Peak Middle Stage Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator or the one from the Heavenly Dragon Temple ended up winning the Stardusk Essence.

The first was because he was too strong for them to fight, while the latter could always rely on the small temple to keep himself safe.

But even as Huo Fen ended up winning the auction for the Stardusk Essence, Xuan Hao couldn’t help wondering how in the world someone who had barely reached the Middle Stage of the Dao Seed Realm managed to get their hands on over three and a half million top grade spirit stones. After all, this was a quantity of spirit stones that not even Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators backed by major powers could get their hands on.

Of course, it was not that the major powers behind them didn’t have three and a half million spirit stones, it was just that they couldn’t get their hands on that many top grade spirit stones for the auction.

At the end of the day, even though the Stardusk Essence could be considered an extremely important cultivation resource that would help increase the chances of someone in the Middle Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm breaking through to the Late Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, it was also extremely expensive and could only be used by one person.

No matter how united most major powers might seem on the outside, there were inevitably difference between factions on the inside, some who might not want to see one of the other factions to have someone reach the Late Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, as that would cause resources inside the major power to tilt away from them and towards the faction that just had someone reach the Late Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm.

Not that Stardusk Essence could just be given up on, just that there wouldn’t be an endless number of spirit stones available to buy it, as the major power itself would ultimately also need some spirit stones to continue normal operations...

As everyone on the third floor were silently starting to make preparations to steal the Stardusk Essence the second the auction came to an end and Huo Fen stepped outside the small auction house that remained under the protection of the Explorer Union, Xuan Hao instead followed the Middle Stage Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union as he slowly put the Stardusk Essence away and made his way up towards the second floor where they were. Clearly about to hand over the Stardusk Essence, while at the same time also getting the spirit stones required.

However, instead of looking towards Huo Fen who had been the one to win the bid, the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union kept his gaze focused on him.

This guy... he clearly thinks that Huo Fen is acting on my behalf after he realized what my cultivation base was...

Smiling a bit wryly as he quickly realized why the one from the Explorer Union was looking at him, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit sorry for Huo Fen who had already been ignored completely by the one from the Explorer Union.

Even more so because Huo Fen was looking so focused and ready for what was about to come as he slowly got up to meet with the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator from the Explorer Union...

Creeeak~

”Greetings senior, this is the Stardusk Essence~!”

And as the door to the private box slowly cracked open and the one from the Explorer Union stepped inside, Huo Fen was completely taken aback as the one from the Explorer Union went directly over to Xuan Hao sitting beside his disciple before presenting the Stardusk Essence to him instead.

This... I... I was the one who won the bid... Why is it being given to that guy!?

”This... It’s not for me...”

Seeing the thoughts written out on the face of the old man who was completely taken aback by this sudden development, Xuan Hao quickly corrected him towards Huo Fen before any of the Celestial Immortal Realm cultivators watching from the side noticed, as they had retracted their divine sense for now out of respect for the one from the Explorer Union.

”Ah? Ah! I understand!”

Showing a look of understanding that clearly meant he had once again ended up misunderstanding something about what he said, Xuan Hao nodded his head somewhat awkwardly as he watched the one from the Explorer Union walk over to Huo Fen before handing the Stardusk Essence over to him.

As for the payment required... Xuan Hao actually saw the one from the Explorer Union pull out a storage ring and hand it over to Huo Fen instead of things happening the other way around. Meaning that the one from the Explorer Union had ended up giving Huo Fen spirit stones instead of receiving any.

This... This should be impossible... Unless... The Saint Grade Elixirs that were put up earlier were actually from this old man!? No wonder he was so confident in being able to get his hands on the Stardusk Essence, he should still have a few hundred thousand spirit stones left after this...

Almost immediately realizing what was going on and why Huo Fen was being given spirit stones by the one from the Explore Union instead of receiving any, Xuan Hao felt even more curious about the identity of the old man and how he had managed to get his hands on so many Saint Grade Elixirs.