The Human Furnace Auction

Chapter 522: Storms Beyond the Seas – The Human Furnace

“This doesn’t seem much different from an ordinary auction. Fellow Daoist Xu, you specifically brought us here. Will we really see something out of the ordinary?” The woman surnamed Liu from the group of burly men asked Xu Yun with a hint of confusion.

“Rest assured! Although auctions are held quite frequently here, once every half month or so, there are several special auction items that appear every time. While they are not the most expensive things on offer, they are truly hard to come by in the Inner Star Seas.” Xu Yun said with a mysterious air, but then, noticing Han Li approaching, he gave him a friendly smile.

Han Li nodded casually, then suddenly asked a question that caught the other man off guard.

“Fellow Daoist Xu. How many cultivators are there in this Black Rock City? It doesn’t seem like very many.”

“Brother Qu truly has sharp eyes! Aside from a few inns that can temporarily house people, Black Rock City generally has no long-term resident cultivators. High-level cultivators all have their own caves on other islands. The lower-level ones gather in small villages and towns, living together with mortals. The cultivators in Black Rock City are all here to buy and sell, and the lower the cultivation level, the more frequently they come and go.” Xu Yun admitted frankly.

“Wasn’t it said that only Foundation Establishment cultivators and above could survive in the Outer Seas? How come there are so many mortals and Qi Condensation cultivators here?” The burly man in brocade was silent for a moment before asking a question that had also puzzled Han Li.

“Brother Yi has hit the nail on the head. This is another major difference between Abyssal Sea Island and other demon beast islands.”

“On other demon beast islands, high-level cultivators teleport there specifically to hunt demon beasts. Generally, once they’ve accumulated enough harvest, they return to the Inner Star Seas. But on Abyssal Sea Island, some years after the Abyssal Trench was discovered, these factions found several spirit stone mines on the nearby islands and opened up other raw material production sites needed for cultivation. They became basically self-sufficient. As a result, some cultivators teleported over with their families, and mortals without spiritual roots, as well as low-level cultivators, naturally appeared. I’ve also heard that the factions managing Black Rock City are slowly moving their main personnel from the Inner Star Seas here. I estimate that in another ten thousand years or so, this place might become a second Inner Star Seas. But aside from this Black Rock City, the villages and towns of mortals and cultivators on other islands are mostly not absolutely safe. Small villages and towns are often destroyed by high-level demon beasts that suddenly appear. This place is just following the old path our ancestors took when they first arrived in the Inner Star Seas.” Xu Yun said, his expression calm.

But his words left the others stunned.

“Don’t the Star Palace and other forces intervene in everything here?” The burly man in brocade let out a light breath and asked in a deep voice.

“It’s still early for this place to prosper like the Inner Star Seas. Besides, the Inner Star Seas alone is big enough to keep them busy. Who has time to manage this place? They’d be happy if these factions put their main personnel and effort into Abyssal Sea Island. Otherwise, the Inner Star Seas would probably be even more chaotic right now.” Xu Yun said with a cold snort, clearly still full of resentment towards the Star Palace’s sudden closure of the teleportation array.

The burly man and his group found this reasoning quite sound. After exchanging glances, they dropped the topic.

They, as minor cultivators, were better off not meddling in the affairs between these factions, lest they bring trouble upon themselves.

After selling a few more magical tools and materials, a middle-aged man in blue robes carried a red brocade box and appeared behind the old man presiding over the auction. The box contained a white fist-sized sphere with hints of purple.

Xu Yun’s spirits lifted at the sight.

“Attention, fellow Daoists. We are now arriving at one of the primary auction items of Abyssal Sea Island: the eggs of demon beasts. And there is no shortage of rare ones among them. In the Inner Star Seas, these things would cost a fortune in spirit stones, but on Abyssal Sea Island, they are much cheaper. This is because, aside from some special beast eggs, most eggs cannot pass through the teleportation array. If someone carries them through the teleportation array, they will only end up as dead eggs. Therefore, whenever a rare demon beast egg appears, even high-level cultivators who know the true situation of Abyssal Sea Island will specifically teleport to Black Rock City to bid on spirit beasts. Once the spirit beast is hatched, they will spend some time cultivating it to a stage where it can be teleported, and only then return to the Inner Star Seas.”

“Demon beast eggs!” The eyes of the burly man in brocade lit up. Cultivating a high-level demon beast had been a long-cherished dream of his.

The others also showed expressions of delight.

If this was the case, wouldn’t they also have the chance to own their own spirit beasts in the future? Finding a good spirit beast in the Inner Star Seas was an extremely difficult task!

“The egg of the Purple Cloud Eagle, a fourth-grade earth-attribute demon beast upon reaching adulthood. Its steel-like feathers are as hard as iron. Although it only knows a simple shield spell, its flight speed is extremely fast, comparable to a high-grade flight tool. Its sharp claws can easily tear through the protective shields of Foundation Establishment cultivators. It can be considered a rare breed of demon beast. Absolutely the best choice for Foundation Establishment friends. The starting bid is two thousand spirit stones, with a minimum increment of one hundred. The bidding begins!” The old man seemed very confident about this egg. After a brief introduction, he unhesitatingly started the auction.

And indeed, many of the cultivators below had taken a liking to this item. As soon as the old man’s voice fell, someone immediately made a bid.

Although a fourth-grade demon beast was nothing to a Core Formation cultivator, it was perfectly suitable for these Foundation Establishment cultivators.

This was because higher-grade spirit beasts were not only expensive, but their maturation periods were also much longer than lower-grade ones. Even if some secret techniques were used to hasten their growth, they couldn’t afford to wait that long.

“Two thousand five hundred spirit stones!”

“Two thousand seven!”

“Three thousand!”

… The price for the Purple Cloud Eagle egg quickly broke through three thousand and was finally bought by a female cultivator for three thousand three hundred spirit stones, who looked extremely excited.

“It truly is cheaper than the Inner Star Seas. If it were in Heaven Star City, such a flying spirit beast egg would cost at least five thousand spirit stones!” The dark-faced middle-aged man murmured, staring at the egg in the female cultivator’s hands.

Everyone except Han Li, including the burly man in brocade, had their eyes shining.

Xu Yun noticed this and smiled knowingly without comment.

Afterwards, the old man auctioned off a third-grade and another fourth-grade demon beast egg at considerable prices, thus concluding the spirit beast egg auction.

“What is this?” Seeing the auction item brought up next, Madam Liu’s expression suddenly changed, and the others were also shocked.

Because standing beside the auctioneer were two young and beautiful women. They were only at the second or third layer of Qi Condensation, but they were genuine cultivators. However, seeing them being brought up with a docile and obedient demeanor, the auction item this time was actually these two female cultivators.

Xu Yun didn’t look surprised; instead, he signaled the others to listen to what the old man was about to say.

“Next, we are offering four low-grade Qi Condensation Human Furnaces. They have only cultivated basic Five Element techniques, and each of them is absolutely chaste. However, according to their request, the cultivators who purchase them must have at least mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation. The starting bid for each is two thousand spirit stones. The auction begins now…”

Ever since the old man had the two female cultivators brought up, many of the male cultivators below had been staring at them with burning gazes. But after the old man’s words fell, there was a long silence without any bids. Even two male cultivators sitting not far in front of Han Li were whispering to each other.

“What use is spending two thousand spirit stones on a second or third layer furnace? If you really want a maidservant or concubine, you’d be better off buying a mortal woman somewhere else. When she gets old and loses her looks, you can just give her some money and send her away. But if it were a Foundation Establishment furnace, I’d pay even more spirit stones.”

“You’re dreaming. Do you think you’re a Core Formation cultivator? Don’t forget the rules here. Foundation Establishment furnaces are not something we can even aspire to. Even if it were allowed, that kind of sky-high price wouldn’t be worth it. It would be more cost-effective to buy a good spirit beast egg.”

…

Hearing these conversations, although Han Li was still quite astonished, the shock on his face had gradually faded.

He had heard before that some factions specialized in secretly cultivating young female cultivators as furnaces, and some high-level cultivators even gave them away as gifts. But regardless, in the Inner Star Seas, female cultivators were not openly auctioned off as furnaces. This kind of behavior here had truly startled him.

The expressions of the burly man and his group had also calmed down.

After all, the existence of furnaces was something everyone in the cultivation world knew about. However, Madam Liu and another young woman, being females themselves, still looked somewhat uncomfortable.

“Fellow Daoists, no need to be surprised. These women are all voluntarily becoming furnaces for others; no one has forced them. They are essentially female cultivators with poor spiritual root aptitude, making it difficult to reach high levels through ordinary cultivation methods. They have no senior ancestors to rely on, and the various factions look down on them, unwilling to spend spirit stones to nurture them. As a result, in a place like the Outer Star Seas, they are too proud to do the work of ordinary mortals. Going out to hunt demon beasts is suicide for them. So, after some minor cultivation success, they voluntarily become furnaces for male cultivators with higher cultivation. This not only provides their families with a large sum of spirit stones but also gives them some support. If they can win the favor of their male cultivator and become a concubine or the like, they might even find a different kind of opportunity. Of course, there are also high-level female cultivators with good spiritual root aptitude who voluntarily become furnaces for other reasons. However, such furnaces are not allowed for low-level male cultivators to bid on. Such an auction would not appear at this level either.” Xu Yun explained slowly, clearly long accustomed to this kind of thing.