Chapter 354: The Crimson Earth

"Master, just bid on the things you like. I don’t really need anything right now." Fu Young shook his head. He was being completely sincere.

Although he had advanced to the Spirit Transformation stage and gained an additional spiritual root, allowing him to upgrade his natal immortal artifact, the materials available in the Heaven Origin Realm were simply too low grade.

If he used materials from the Heaven Origin Realm to upgrade it, he would only lower its existing quality.

Other than that, Fu Young truly lacked nothing. Everything he needed for cultivation, regardless of the type of resource, had already been prepared for him in abundance by his master.

Fu Young felt that there probably wasn’t a disciple in the world wealthier than him. Nor could there be a master better than his own. Besides, even if his master gave him nothing at all, he would still think his master was the best.

When Xiao Shou heard that, he did not insist. If there was something he liked that his beloved disciple could also make use of, he could simply buy it and give it to him.

With that thought, Xiao Shou examined the auction list even more carefully. He quickly skimmed past one useless item after another, silently memorizing the things that interested him and that he wanted.

As he continued reading, he suddenly froze.

Fu Young kept a close eye on his master. Seeing the strange expression on Xiao Shou’s face, he immediately asked, "Master, what’s wrong?"

"Take a look at this thing called Crimson Earth." Xiao Shou handed the jade slip to Fu Young. He had not expected the auction to be moved forward, yet the important items from the original story were still appearing.

In the original story, Xiao Ran had also participated in the Heaven Origin Grand Competition and attended both the Ten Thousand Wisdom Hall and Nine Treasures Pavilion auctions before the competition.

She had obtained quite a few valuable items at those auctions, but she had not been happy about it.

The reason was that she had been particularly interested in an auction item called Crimson Earth.

Unfortunately, even with her own wealth and the financial support of the men accompanying her, she had still failed to outbid another guest. So, she could only watch helplessly as the Crimson Earth she desperately wanted was bought by someone else.

It was easy to imagine how frustrated Xiao Ran had been.

However, this time the person who wanted the Crimson Earth was Xiao Shou himself, not the spirit residing within the Heavenly Orb.

Later, after the various sects went to war with the Nine Abyssal Gate, the cultivators fought over the spoils near the place where the Gate Master had fallen.

Among all those cultivators, only Xiao Ran managed to sense something unusual and find the Crimson Earth buried beneath a pile of flesh and blood.

The piece she found was somewhat larger than the one originally sold at the auction.

The author never explained this in detail, but many readers had speculated that the person who originally purchased the Crimson Earth had been the Nine Abyssal Gate Master.

Later, the Crimson Earth became Xiao Ran’s ticket to ascending to the Divine Realm.

It was precisely through the power of the Crimson Earth that she and her harem were able to create a stable passage leading to the Divine Realm.

Such a precious treasure absolutely had to be acquired and perhaps it would be useful when he eventually returned to his original world.

Since it could be used to create a passage to the Divine Realm, who said it could not also create a passage to the modern world?

While Xiao Shou was thinking about this, Fu Young had already examined the Crimson Earth Xiao Shou had pointed out.

The moment he understood what it was, his gaze immediately sharpened.

This thing... He had seen it in that dream.

It was one of the fragments of his true body. But how had it become a pile of powder?

Could it be that the attack back then had shattered one of his true body fragments?

Given the strength of his true body, it should not have been shattered into such a state. For perhaps the first time, Fu Young became visibly unsettled. He could not help muttering to himself, "This is... mine."

Inside the silent private room, Xiao Shou naturally heard those few short words clearly.

Although he was puzzled by why Fu Young had said that, he remembered that Fu Young was also a protagonist of a novel, and specifically one of those protagonists who started out as a useless nobody before making a spectacular comeback.

Having something special about him was perfectly normal. So Xiao Shou immediately nodded and said, "Since it’s yours, we’ll bid for it later."

As he said this, Xiao Shou completely forgot that he had just been thinking about using the Crimson Earth to create a passage back to his own world.

Now, he was treating it entirely as his disciple’s property.

Clearly, without realizing it, his beloved disciple’s position in his heart had become increasingly important and without noticing, his heart had already been touched by this young man.

Fu Young looked at Xiao Shou after hearing this. He lowered his head slightly, hiding the turbulent emotions surging inside him. His voice was vague as he said, "Master... why are you so good to me? If this continues, my feelings for you..."

"What did you say, Young’er?" His voice had been too indistinct, and Xiao Shou had not heard him clearly. So, he immediately asked again.

However, before Fu Young could answer, the sound of a jade board being struck came from outside.

The first auction item had appeared.

Seeing this, Xiao Shou hurriedly said, "The auction has started. Let’s not talk about it for now. Buying things is more important."

...

"Top Grade Starlight Sword. Extremely durable, capable of warding off evil spirits, and containing the secret technique Radiant Flash. Starting bid: three thousand top grade spirit stones..."

"Guest in Seat Two bids four thousand top grade spirit stones."

"Guest in Seat One Hundred Seventy Two bids five thousand top grade spirit stones."

"Guest in Seat Ninety One bids ninety seven thousand top grade spirit stones. Sold."

"Timberwood Stone. A rare top grade dual element forging material of the metal and wood attributes. Starting bid: ten thousand top grade spirit stones."

"Private Room Three bids twenty thousand top grade spirit stones."

"Private Room Eleven bids one hundred thousand top grade spirit stones."

"Private Room Twenty Three bids five hundred thousand top grade spirit stones. Does anyone wish to raise the bid?"

"Once."

"Twice."

"Three times. Sold."