Time passed quickly. After more than half an hour, the auction ended, and the cultivators in the hall dispersed, either alone or in small groups.
Zhang Ling did not leave the auction house but went straight into a hidden small room.
The room was quite empty, a square space about twenty feet in size. The surrounding walls and the floor were covered with grayish-white rocks. There were no decorations inside, only a few moonstones emitting a faint light, making the place appear somewhat dim.
Only a few mahogany chairs and a rectangular wooden incense table were placed in the center of the room, and two cultivators were already seated beside them.
One of them was a fat old man wearing a felt hat, dressed in a gorgeous purple robe, looking wealthy. He was smiling and talking to a man in a black robe, whose face was not visible.
As soon as Zhang Ling arrived, the two of them turned their gazes towards him.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Wang is here, please come in," the fat old man in purple said, immediately introducing him to the two.
"Let me introduce you, this is Fellow Daoist Chen. The seventh-order turtle demon spirit that Brother Wang needs happens to be with this fellow daoist."
"Oh, that's great. I am Wang Feng, greetings Fellow Daoist Chen. I wonder what kind of turtle demon spirit you have?" Zhang Ling also glanced at the black-robed man and cupped his fist politely.
This person was wearing a black robe, and seemed to be using some secret method to obscure his face, but he could vaguely sense the powerful spiritual pressure on this person, who was actually a Golden Core late-stage expert.
Zhang Ling himself suppressed his cultivation, maintaining it only at the Golden Core mid-stage realm. As for the fat old man, he also had Golden Core mid-stage strength and was a manager of Wanbao Tower, as well as a senior appraiser.
"Hehe, I have a seventh-order Azure Water Turtle demon soul in my hand, but if you want to exchange it, I need to see the seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon you have."
Although the black-robed man's face was not visible, Zhang Ling truly felt this person's gaze sweep over him. At the same time, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and a fist-sized round bead appeared. Green light flickered on it, revealing a miniature turtle phantom the size of a palm.
Zhang Ling scanned it with his divine sense and sensed the soul power emanating from the miniature turtle. It was indeed the spirit of a seventh-order demon beast, and he couldn't help but feel delighted.
After confirming that it was correct, he also said with a smile, "Indeed, it is the spirit of a seventh-order Azure Water Turtle. As for the Fire Flood Dragon in my hand, please take a look, Fellow Daoist."
As he spoke, Zhang Ling waved his hand, and a ball of yellow light flew out of his storage bag, flashing a few times in front of him. The light dissipated, revealing the body of the seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon that he had killed in the second level of the Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm, the Lava Canyon.
This flood dragon was huge, and its release filled most of the room. At the same time, a savage aura belonging to a desolate beast emanated from its body.
The Fire Flood Dragon's entire body was covered with palm-sized fiery red scales, flashing with flames, as if it were not dead yet. Upon approaching it, one could feel an intense heat.
Seeing such a complete seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon, the black-robed man immediately stood up and released his divine sense, instantly enveloping the entire Fire Flood Dragon for a careful inspection.
"Haha, it seems that Fellow Daoist Chen is also quite fond of this Fire Flood Dragon. I said before that the Fire Flood Dragon in Fellow Daoist Wang's hand is extremely complete. Not only is the demon core still present, but the scales, dragon horns, and dragon tendons are also extremely complete. Although the demon souls of desolate beasts are eroded by turbid qi and are not very useful to us cultivators, this beast belongs to the dragon family, and its materials are enough to refine several high-quality magical treasures," the fat old man said, shaking his head, his eyes constantly looking at the seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon.
Even in a super immortal city like Myriad Manifestation City, it is rare to see such complete flood dragon materials. I have been in charge of Wanbao Tower for hundreds of years and have only seen flood dragon materials twice. If Fellow Daoist Wang had not insisted on exchanging for a turtle demon spirit, this entire seventh-order flood dragon would have been enough to be the final treasure of this auction.
Most desolate beasts are demon beasts eroded by turbid qi. Apart from their low intelligence, they are not much different from demon beasts. The materials on their bodies can naturally be used by cultivators to refine weapons, elixirs, etc.
However, the materials on their bodies cannot be used directly. They must be soaked in a special medicinal liquid to expel the turbid qi before they can be used like ordinary demon beast materials.
Although this step is quite troublesome, the power of a magical treasure refined from such high-level desolate beast materials is definitely not small. What's more, this is a Fire Flood Dragon, which is even more precious.
The fat old man and the black-robed man kept looking at the corpse of the seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon, while Zhang Ling smiled secretly.
If this flood dragon desolate beast did not belong to the fire element and was not compatible with the earth element techniques he cultivated, he would never have taken it out to exchange for other materials.
Of course, he could also refine several high-quality fire-attribute magical treasures from the Fire Flood Dragon's materials and then trade them, which might be of greater value.
But in order to have more time to cultivate next, Zhang Ling did not plan to waste time on refining weapons. He had just obtained many secret techniques and needed to spend a lot of time studying them. At the same time, his own cultivation was the most important thing, and he planned to retreat after dealing with these trivial matters.
"Haha, yes, the seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon that Fellow Daoist Wang took out is indeed complete. The demon soul of this Azure Water Turtle in my hand belongs to you, Fellow Daoist."
After a moment, the black-robed man finished examining the Fire Flood Dragon's corpse and laughed with great satisfaction. With a flick of his hand, the round bead flew towards Zhang Ling.
Zhang Ling flicked his finger, and a flash of yellow light fixed the round bead in front of him, only calmly glanced at it, and did not take it.
"Although my seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon is a desolate beast, I think both of you know its value. I'm afraid it's not enough to exchange it for just a seventh-order Azure Water Turtle demon soul."
Hearing this, the black-robed man hesitated, glanced at the fat old man next to him, and said after a moment of contemplation, "Fellow Daoist's seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon is of great value, and a seventh-order demon soul is indeed not comparable. I will add 500,000 spirit stones to compensate Fellow Daoist, what do you think?"
Zhang Ling pretended to think silently for a moment and shook his head. "I don't lack spirit stones. How about this, I will strip half of the materials from this flood dragon..."
But before he could finish his words, the black-robed man's aura suddenly condensed, and he said with great excitement, "That's not possible. If it's only half of the materials, the value will be greatly damaged."
This person's words were inexplicable, causing Zhang Ling to be stunned. At the same time, the fat old man next to him stroked his chin and frowned slightly as he glanced at the black-robed man.
A complete seventh-order Fire Flood Dragon could not be exchanged for a single demon soul. Although seventh-order demon souls are not easy to collect, in terms of value, half of the Fire Flood Dragon's materials are enough to exchange for an Azure Water Turtle demon soul.
With just half of the materials, one or two top-notch fire-attribute magical treasures can be refined, which is not a loss. After all, the Azure Water Turtle is not a special demon beast, so naturally it cannot be compared to the materials on the Flood Dragon.
Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was a little tense, the old man quickly smoothed things over.
"The two fellow daoists don't need to be anxious. Since both of you need the materials in the other's hands, I have a suggestion. Fellow Daoist Chen might as well take out some other treasures to see if Fellow Daoist Wang is interested. Maybe you can smoothly reach this deal."
The black-robed man seemed to really need the complete Fire Flood Dragon and immediately followed the fat old man's suggestion. "Haha, Fellow Daoist Wang might as well talk about whether you still lack other materials. Maybe I happen to have them in my hand."
Zhang Ling did not feel surprised by this kind of transaction method. For high-level cultivators, many treasures cannot be bought with spirit stones, and this kind of barter method is quite popular among high-level cultivators.
Zhang Ling also nodded slightly and with a flick of his hand, a jade slip appeared in his hand.
"If that's the case, Fellow Daoist Chen, take a look at this jade slip. It happens to contain some things that I haven't collected yet. If you really have one or two of them, I will naturally consider letting you have the Fire Flood Dragon."
In this way, the three of them sat down again and discussed the things for the transaction. A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Ling walked out of the quiet room and left the auction house.
