— Meanwhile - Cultivation Chamber —
Within the black hole-like vortex of spiritual qi, three days had passed since Wei Chen broke through to the Core Formation Realm. His cultivation had been improving continuously over the past three days, but all 15 million of his spirit stones had already been consumed by the second day.
The remaining traces of spiritual qi in the air were the last vestiges drawn from his surroundings and from the spiritual qi array embedded in the ground.
Inside Wei Chen's spiritual sea, his cultivation was on the verge of reaching the mid stage of Core Formation, it was close, just a little more. However, he could feel the surrounding spiritual qi rapidly thinning at an alarming rate. At this pace, it would be impossible for him to reach the Core Formation Realm's mid stage.
"Damn it… the energy required is f*cking insane…" Wei Chen muttered in frustration.
His cultivation method and the black hole core made him invincible, capable of overpowering even the cultivators two realms higher than himself. However, the energy needed for his breakthroughs was equally monstrous.
For an ordinary cultivator, 15 million spirit stones worth of spiritual qi would have been more than enough to push them easily to the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.
"Come on… it's just a little more," Wei Chen gritted his teeth as his qi channeling intensified, drawing more and more spiritual qi toward his core.
If Wei Chen had withdrawn his consciousness from his spiritual sea and opened his eyes, he would have seen that the vortex he created had already absorbed all the spiritual qi within the chamber. Even the spirit gathering array on the floor beneath him was flickering weakly, its energy source continuously drained.
If someone were to enter the cultivation chamber at that moment, they would see a blue sphere surrounding Wei Chen as it pulled in all the surrounding spiritual qi.
Inside Wei Chen's spiritual sea, he tried his best to locate the area with the densest concentration of spiritual qi. His consciousness extended like blind tendrils searching for prey, stretching toward the ground and tracing the flow of power that fueled the spirit gathering array.
The tendrils of his consciousness reached a vast open space filled with spiritual qi, even more abundant than the chamber that once held fifteen million spirit stones.
Upon detecting this immense source of energy, Wei Chen immediately intensified his spiritual qi channeling.
In that vast space, a powerful suction force formed into a vortex, devouring the spiritual qi within.
Within Wei Chen's spiritual sea, another tremendous wave of spiritual qi surged into his black hole core. It was like breathing in a rush of fresh air after suffocating, and his energy level rose significantly.
However, for his black hole core, every advancement demanded exponentially greater amounts of energy. The rate of increase required for the next breakthrough grew far beyond what ordinary cultivators experienced.
If not for his heaven-defying cultivation method, the time and energy needed for his breakthroughs would have been so overwhelmingly absurd, to the point that his cultivation path might have been cut short entirely, because it was impossible to achieve within the average lifespan of the cultivators.
— Meanwhile - Thousand Treasure Pavilion - Main Auction Hall —
Mo Xingyao sat in the executive lounge, a space accessible only to high-ranking internal staff of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. From there, she watched the auction in the main hall while periodically listening to reports from the two sub-halls located in the adjacent buildings.
Looking down at the main auction, she saw the auction girl doing her best to hype up the U-Phone.
The 10,000 units of U-Phones were divided into three batches and distributed equally among the three auction halls.
"This U-Phone can be used within any secret realm, with no message delay! It also has a feature that allows you to see the face of the person you're speaking to! Perfect for calling for reinforcements, emergency communication, or even casual conversation! Moreover, with our Thousand Treasure Pavilion spirit stone transfer service, this will also help you—"
The auction girl was in the middle of building excitement when she suddenly stopped as Ximen Hao, seated in VIP Lounge No. 1, waved his hand.
"Say no more! I want to buy two thousand of them. Name your price!" Ximen Hao declared confidently, exuding the flair of a young master.
Seeing this, Mo Xingyao smiled. This guy was certainly generous.
She took out her U-Phone and contacted the auction girl.
Ding... Ding Ding...
The sound of a pleasant wind chime echoed, and the auction girl quickly took out her U-Phone.
"Yes, Young Miss?" she asked as the screen lit up, showing Mo Xingyao's face.
"Young Master Ximen, the buyout price for two thousand units is five million and two hundred thousand spirit stones. But since you're purchasing in bulk, I'll reduce it to an even five million. How does that sound?" Mo Xingyao asked with a bright smile.
"Hmm! That's a good price! We have a deal, Lady Mo," Ximen Hao agreed without hesitation.
To him, this was a great bargain. He had previously paid over two million spirit stones for the first Spirit Net Jade, so five million for two thousand U-Phones was practically a steal.
Mo Xingyao smiled again. Just like that, she had earned five million spirit stones. As for the so-called discount, it was just he BS. She had just made up a random higher price and pretended to lower it, to make Ximen Hao feel like he's special.
After the deal was concluded, Ximen Hao returned to his seat in the number one VIP lounge. The clamoring voices filled the hall as people excitedly discussed the demonstration they had just witnessed on stage.
"What kind of artifact is this? It can even show the face of the person you're talking to!"
"Is this artifact really able to contact others within a secret realm? That sounds far-fetched."
"I don't think the Thousand Treasure Hall would lie. They have their reputation to uphold."
"I think you're right."
The crowd was abuzz with discussion about the U-Phone. Most were skeptical about its main feature, the communication within secret realms, while others placed their trust in the Thousand Treasure Hall's reputation.
However, the general mindset of cultivators leaned toward practicality. Most preferred to invest in items that could directly strengthen their cultivation or combat ability. An artifact like the U-Phone, which focused on communication and entertainment, such as watching Wei Chen's broadcasts, was considered a luxury item suitable only for the wealthy.
On the other hand, the leaders of major factions and sects saw things differently. They knew the Thousand Treasure Hall would never risk its reputation on false claims. If the U-Phone truly enabled long-distance communication within secret realms, it would revolutionize how their forces operated.
It would allow them to coordinate more efficiently in the vast, still largely unexplored secret realms. Many of these realms had only been explored halfway, some not even that.
And what did that remaining 50% represent? It meant double the opportunities to discover untapped resources in the unexplored area!
"The next batch of 500 U-Phones starts at one million!" the auction girl announced loudly.
"One point one million!"
"Pathetic! One point three million!"
"One point three five million!"
The bidding war began as voices echoed throughout the hall.
This same scene played out in the two sub-auction halls as well, though the bidding there was less intense. Since their stock hadn't been reduced by a massive buyout like the one Ximen Hao made, the urgency to compete was lower.
Mo Xingyao read through the reports. The U-Phones were selling well and steady, but not too crazy, which was exactly within her expectations.
The reputation of this new artifact still couldn't compare to the communication jades produced by the Azure Sky Conglomerate. So it was natural that sales hadn't yet reached their peak potential.
Still, this was part of the plan. These U-Phones were intentionally released in limited numbers. Once the current batch sold out, Mo Xingyao intended to wait a month or two, allowing users to experience the product and spread its reputation before releasing the next batch.
At that time, she was worried that the Sword Manor's production capabilities might not keep up with the growing demand. From what she had heard from Wei Chen, this artifact called the U-Phone had the potential to become a must-have item, just like a storage ring.
At that moment, the door suddenly opened as a guard rushed into the room.
"Young Miss! It's bad! Someone is plundering our Number Three Treasury!" the guard reported, his face pale with panic.
"What did you say!?" Mo Xingyao roared in anger. "How the hell did they get in!?"
"This… this servant does not know!" the guard replied, trembling.
Mo Xingyao suppressed her anger and turned to Yin Lan, who was standing guard at her side. "Sister Lan, follow me. Let's skin that thief alive!"
"Yes, Young Miss!" Yin Lan replied, and she immediately followed Mo Xingyao toward Treasury Number Three.