Although spatial stones are not as rare as spatial dwelling caves, they are still precious and hard to come by. To be honest, Zhang Yiyi's request wasn't exactly modest.

Zheng He and the others didn't burst the young girl's naive bubble. They knew full well that there were no spatial stones up for auction this time, and in fact, over the years, very few spatial stones had ever been seen in auctions at Jiagu Guan City or even in the larger auction houses beyond.

That being said, one could sense from her words a level of ambition and vision far greater than their own.

To put it bluntly, not even the most talented prodigies from their families believed they could ever reach the level of refining a spatial dwelling cave on their own.

"Linlin wants a spatial stone? We'll all keep an eye out for you. If one ever does appear, it's easier to acquire than an already refined spatial dwelling," Zheng He said kindly, planning on getting his people to start searching for a spatial stone right away.

Money couldn't always buy what you wanted, but since Linlin had something in mind, as her big brother, how could he not be proactive?

The others agreed one after another. After all, spatial stones weren't that appealing to them, and simply keeping an eye out for one was no big deal—just an easy favor to offer.

Zhang Yiyi thanked them all but wasn't particularly anxious. She knew she was still far from reaching the level where she could refine a spatial dwelling herself, so there was no need to rush.

After a brief chat, the auction officially began.

They were seated in a VIP room, where they could clearly see and hear everything happening in the auction hall on the first floor, but no one outside could see them unless they chose to reveal themselves.

In a way, Zhang Yiyi found this little bit of magic in the venue's design quite clever. It ensured the privacy of the VIP bidders while also enhancing the overall mystery and prestige of the auction.

The first item up for auction was quite extraordinary—a high-grade protective spiritual treasure. When worn, it could withstand a full-force attack from a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage. Used properly, it was almost like having an extra life.

Moreover, it was immune to all poisons, resistant to fire and water, and offered significant protection for one's divine sense. Its uses were vast indeed.

As soon as this treasure was revealed, it didn't need much introduction from the auctioneer; bidding started immediately.

Zhang Yiyi couldn't help but be amazed. The starting bid was 30,000 mid-grade spirit stones, with each increase no less than 1,000 mid-grade spirit stones. Yet, she felt like everyone was treating this priceless treasure like they were just bidding on cabbages.

In no time, the price shot up to 60,000 mid-grade spirit stones, and the bidders showed no signs of stopping. It seemed the price could easily surpass 100,000.

Zhang Yiyi silently touched her storage ring, feeling a deep sense of shame.

Before the auction started, she thought that although she wasn't a wealthy tycoon, she should at least have escaped the level of poverty. But now, seeing so many rich people casually throwing out tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones, she couldn't even match their lowest bids. What reason did she have not to work harder to earn money?

Even Zheng He placed bids several times, only backing off after the price exceeded 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones, clearly feeling it was beyond his budget. Moreover, the first item on auction wasn't something he necessarily needed.

Zhang Yiyi couldn't help but glance at Zheng He, internally amazed. It seemed she had underestimated the extent of his wealth; she truly was a frog at the bottom of a well.

"What's wrong? Do you like this high-grade spiritual treasure?" Zheng He thought Zhang Yiyi wanted him to continue bidding. If she really liked it, he wouldn't mind buying it, but it would make things a bit tight if he encountered something he truly wanted later on.

"No, no, no. This item isn't very useful to me," Zhang Yiyi quickly waved her hands.

What a joke! She couldn't even gather the starting bid, just like struggling to make a down payment on a house. How could she possibly obsess over such a luxury item that wasn't an absolute necessity?

"The item is nice, but the price is too high. It's not worth it. We can take our time and look around; we'll eventually come across one or two suitable items," Zheng He said, smiling, seeing that Zhang Yiyi genuinely had no intention of bidding.

"Is that so?" Zhang Yiyi nodded in understanding.

Indeed, salespeople existed everywhere, in every era and location.

However, even if the price didn't escalate, she still couldn't afford it, even at half the price. Fortunately, it wasn't something she particularly needed.

The protective charms given to her by her master were no less than any high-grade spiritual treasure. Moreover, once she reached the pinnacle of the ninth stage of body refinement in the future, such defensive items would be entirely unnecessary for her.

In the end, the first item in the auction was sold for 120,000 mid-grade spirit stones to a guest in the No. 10 VIP room on the second floor, a price that was four times the starting bid, which naturally made the auctioneer grin from ear to ear.

Zhang Yiyi quietly glanced at the No. 10 VIP room, wondering where such a big spender had come from, treating spirit stones like dirt. Even the wealthy young lord sitting beside her couldn't compare to such a display of wealth. Unfortunately, apart from the tightly shut window, she couldn't see anything else.

The subsequent auction items each had their unique features, but the prices were obviously more reasonable, no longer scaring her as much as the first item. However, for Zhang Yiyi, she still felt like a mere spectator.

Fortunately, true poverty had long accustomed her to just watching without buying. After experiencing many setbacks, Zhang Yiyi found herself surprisingly calm, gaining knowledge while enjoying the spectacle.

Next, both Zheng He and Zhu Qing successfully bid on a couple of valuable items, clearly pleased with their acquisitions. Yet, Zhang Yiyi hadn't placed a single bid throughout the auction. It wasn't that she didn't see anything worth buying; rather, the items were good, but her pockets were quite empty.

Of course, if she were to bring out those precious herbs and treasures, it would be another story. However, the problem was that most of those items were meant for Maoqiu to refine high-level beast pills, a promise she had made.

As for what remained, she still needed to consider her master, uncle, and elder brothers, especially since it was her first time out to experience the world and complete tasks. She had to bring back some decent gifts.

After setting aside many items she could use for body refinement in the future, what was left was truly scarce, and she couldn't afford to be extravagant or wasteful.

All in all, she was just a seemingly wealthy person but actually a broke fool.

"Eh, what's that?"

Three-quarters of the way through the auction, Zhang Yiyi suddenly found herself drawn to an unremarkable stone. It wasn't that her eyesight was particularly sharp; rather, the moment the auctioneer displayed the stone, she felt a peculiar shift in the copper mirror in her storage ring.

After two rounds of significant reinforcement, the shabby copper mirror clearly had gained some spirit. Although it was still far from being able to communicate with her, it would give her a signal at critical moments.

However, based on her understanding of the copper mirror's nature, Zhang Yiyi wouldn't naïvely think it was reminding her that the stone was beneficial for her.

Chances were high—oh no, it should be said that it was absolutely certain—that the stone would be very advantageous for the copper mirror. That was why the broken copper mirror didn't hesitate to expend the little bit of spiritual energy it had managed to recover to send her a signal.

Zhang Yiyi was conflicted about whether to comply with the copper mirror's intention. After all, items displayed at such a high-level auction would surely have a significant price tag. Even if no one competed with her, the base price would definitely not be cheap.

If she wanted to acquire that stone, it seemed she would have to spend extravagantly, and her already tight purse would surely suffer even more.

Moreover, the broken copper mirror was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much she fed it, it was never satisfied. If it got used to taking advantage of her, she worried that she would end up as a slave working tirelessly for the broken copper mirror without ever seeing a return on her investment.

Seeing that Zhang Yiyi had finally encountered something that piqued her interest, Zheng He and the others focused intently, paying close attention to the activities on the auction stage below.

"Dear friends, this stone has a very special origin," the enchanting auctioneer introduced the unusual item at a leisurely pace.

The beautiful female cultivator clearly wasn't new to hosting such auctions. With her Golden Core cultivation, she confidently presented an item whose name, use, and grade were entirely unknown, managing to explain it thoroughly without raising any suspicion of deception. At the same time, she subtly piqued everyone's interest in this stone.

"Is it something brought out from the pit of the Third Battlefield?"

Zhang Yiyi instinctively turned to Zheng He beside her and asked, "Do you believe it?"

The Third Battlefield was a special forbidden area. It was said that over a million years ago, the four clans of humans, demons, monsters, and spirits engaged in a chaotic battle that caused immense suffering and nearly destroyed this world. Eventually, they had no choice but to open up a brand-new battlefield, referred to as the Third Battlefield.

The pit in the Third Battlefield buried some of the most astonishing and shocking spirits from those clans. Naturally, the items that emerged from such a pit were not simple.

The Third Battlefield had been forcibly closed off long ago after the chaotic battle ended. However, the passage to the Third Battlefield had not been completely destroyed. Over millions of years, some fortunate individuals occasionally managed to enter it. As long as they could return alive, they would all reach great heights in their cultivation and ascend to a higher realm.

"I don't know," Zheng He honestly expressed his feelings. He couldn't really say whether to believe it or not; it all depended on whether one was willing to take a gamble.

"Do you want to take a chance?" he countered.

"It's not about gambling. I just think the starting price for this item is probably the lowest in this auction," Zhang Yiyi replied with a half-serious, half-joking smile.

With a starting price of 5,000 mid-grade spirit stones, it was clearly much cheaper compared to all the previous auction items. It seemed that even the auctioneer couldn't truly confirm whether this item had come from the pit of the Third Battlefield, especially since its basic uses, grade, and functions were still undetermined.

To put it bluntly, this might just be a somewhat special piece of broken stone. Thus, the starting price of 5,000 mid-grade spirit stones was already the limit; anything higher might lead to a direct failure to sell.

Zheng He nodded at this, neither persuading Zhang Yiyi to bid nor discouraging her from doing so. He felt that this girl wasn't the type to be swayed by others; she likely had her own thoughts in mind.

As expected, once the bidding officially began, no one spoke up to place a bid since it was an item with no known origins.

Zhang Yiyi didn't rush. Although she was 80% certain that the stone had indeed come from the pit of the Third Battlefield, otherwise the copper mirror wouldn't have reacted so specifically to it.

In fact, she even felt that the copper mirror might have been damaged in the Third Battlefield, and the stone could either be a valuable item that could help repair it or it might be a missing part of the copper mirror itself.

Hmm, Zhang Yiyi thought her theory was pretty good. Once the spirit within the broken copper mirror fully recovered to the point of being able to communicate with her, she could ask it directly to verify her thoughts today.

Under the auctioneer's enthusiastic persuasion, eventually, someone foolish enough not to care about the 5,000 mid-grade spirit stones spoke up to bid at the starting price.

Zhang Yiyi wasn't foolish and didn't have much money, but after some consideration, she still felt it was worth it to give the copper mirror another chance as it would be a greater loss to give up halfway.

"Five thousand five hundred!"

This was the first time Zhang Yiyi called out a bid. Each time one called, the price would increase by at least 500 mid-grade spirit stones, and she estimated that after a few rounds, the price could easily exceed 10,000.

Sure enough, after a while, another person joined in the bidding, and including Zhang Yiyi, there were three people vying for this unremarkable stone.

"Six thousand!"

"Six thousand five hundred!"

"Seven thousand!"

"Seven thousand five hundred!"

...

Before long, the two bidders were in fierce competition and pushed the price over 10,000.

Zhang Yiyi's expression was not very good. Although there were not many bidders, if this continued, the several ordinary spiritual herbs worth thousands of years in her storage bag would almost all have to be sacrificed, especially since those two seemed completely unwilling to back down.

Damn it, there really are a lot of wealthy people!

Zhang Yiyi glared angrily at them. It seemed that both had won other auction items earlier; didn't they know how to save some spirit stones for daily use?

"Twenty thousand!"

Holding her breath, she directly raised the bid by 10,000 mid-grade spirit stones at once to prevent the two from continuing to incrementally raise the bid by 500 each, leading to an even higher total.

As soon as "twenty thousand" was called out, the two habitual bidders fell silent at the same time, seemingly not expecting someone to jump the bid to such a high level. They had to start considering whether it was worth it to continue bidding.

Seeing this, the auctioneer seized the moment and smiled, asking, "Twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones once, does anyone wish to continue bidding?"

It was unclear whether Zhang Yiyi's sudden large increase had shocked them or if twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones had clearly exceeded their psychological threshold for a three-no product, but no one else made a bid.

"Twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones for the second time. Friends who want it should not hesitate; items from the pit are surely extraordinary!"

The main auctioneer smiled radiantly, glancing up in the direction of the VIP room where Zhang Yiyi sat, her eyes sparkling.