What does it mean to have ten plants of a medicinal herb that is five thousand years old?

If converted into spirit stones, even the most common varieties of medicinal herbs can sell for at least fifty or sixty thousand mid-grade spirit stones. This not only dwarfs the price reported by the private room No. 10 but also completely cuts off the other party's path of only increasing the spirit stones.

After all, ten plants of a five-thousand-year-old medicinal herb are worth far more than the equivalent spirit stones. The auction house would never be foolish enough to demand spirit stones.

"Bastard!"

In private room No. 10, the young male cultivator in the Golden Core stage smashed the teacup in his hand into pieces after Zhang Yiyi reported the ten plants of five-thousand-year-old medicinal herbs.

It was no wonder he was so furious; he had already fully claimed that worthless stone as his own. No matter how many spirit stones anyone else offered, they could never surpass him.

Yet, unexpectedly, someone played against the norm. Just when the bid reached thirty thousand spirit stones, they directly threw out ten plants of five-thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, which was nothing less than a slap in his face!

Was it from private room No. 2 again?

Hmph, it's just a minor city lord from Jiagu Guan City. Did he really think he was the local tyrant here?

Even if he was a local tyrant, he was still just a snake. If he is a snake, he should stay coiled up obediently. Trying to snatch food from his mouth is simply unforgivable.

"Master, don't be angry. It's just a stone that can't even be identified, and we don't even know what its use is. If they want it so badly, let them bid for it," said the Nascent Soul cultivator sitting behind him, reminding him. "Don't forget our purpose for coming here; we're after that cave's dwelling space. We mustn't let this affect our final goal."

The Nascent Soul cultivator spoke earnestly, though he clearly urged caution, his tone was still very respectful. He displayed none of the pride or arrogance typically associated with a Nascent Soul cultivator in front of the young Golden Core cultivator.

"You want me to give up what I have to someone else?"

The young Golden Core cultivator glared at the Nascent Soul cultivator in indignation. Since his birth, he had never been in a position where he didn't get what he wanted. He always took from others; how could he possibly let someone else have it?

"Master, today's situation is special. Let them enjoy their moment for now. Once we secure the cave's dwelling space, any other items you desire, we will certainly retrieve for you," the Nascent Soul cultivator assured him, speaking with great certainty. It was as if that stone could fall into anyone's pocket, but when the time was right, they would have countless ways to retrieve it.

Upon hearing this, the young Golden Core cultivator finally relaxed a bit.

Fine, let the No. 2 room bask in their moment of glory for now. In the end, he would claim the items for himself without spending a single spirit stone, and thinking about such a blowback was even more satisfying!

Meanwhile, after Zhang Yiyi announced the price for ten plants of five thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, the auction house hurriedly confirmed the herbs' age and variety with her.

If it weren't for the rules they had set, they would have loved to pause the auction to personally verify each herb before continuing the bidding.

Zhang Yiyi had no false claims. She publicly stated the types of the ten herbs and guaranteed that their age was definitely over five thousand years, not a single moment less.

The auction house knew exactly who was seated in private room No. 2, so they were not worried about any tricks. Additionally, since the herbs Zhang Yiyi reported were all common varieties, none particularly rare or special, this further reassured the auction house.

After all, if the herbs were rare and unique, people would be fighting to get even one. If ten were put up for auction, they would have a chance at claiming the coveted cave space, rather than throwing everything into a lot that started at just five thousand mid-grade spirit stones and was uncertain.

The auction house was very pleased. Even common herbs were an enormous surprise and gain for them.

Because of this, they publicly confirmed that Zhang Yiyi's bid was valid. Furthermore, if any other bidders wanted to raise the price, they would need to start with at least ten plants of five-thousand-year-old medicinal herbs and raise from there, rather than directly switching to spirit stones.

Alternatively, if someone could present something rarer than the ten plants, that would be acceptable too.

For the auction house, profits were always limitless; maximizing them was their only goal.

Such demands were reasonable, and no one opposed them; in fact, it was impossible to oppose.

However, almost everyone's gaze simultaneously turned to private room No. 10, eagerly watching to see if the wealthy guest there would follow up with another bid.

To them, that person casually throwing out hundreds of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones was like tossing out beans, which clearly indicated their wealth. They likely had plenty of other good items or treasures.

"Sister Han, what if they really do follow up with another bid?"

Zhu Qing thought they had gone a bit too far this time.

Zhang Yiyi didn't even have enough herbs to make up ten five-thousand-year-old plants. The little bit that was missing could be temporarily covered by Zheng He, but if the other side continued to bid and offered even rarer items for trade, wouldn't they have to empty their entire stash for a worthless stone?

This isn't really about whether she's willing to part with the spirit stones; it's mainly because she genuinely feels that the worthless stone isn't worth it.

"If he really dares to bid again, then I'll just let him have it."

Zhang Yiyi didn't have an obsession with fighting to the end; ten plants of five-thousand-year-old medicinal herbs were already her maximum offer. Anything beyond that would only mean that she was truly fated to be without that stone and couldn't push it too hard.

After all, Zhang Yiyi felt that offering ten plants was already a substantial investment, showing great goodwill towards Tongjing.

She didn't even have ten plants; she had to borrow a few from Zheng He. When the time came, she would need to repay him with other items, and she couldn't keep letting Zheng He take losses. So, she had already lost a treasure from her storage ring.

Even if she would definitely choose the worst item to trade back, the worst item was still a valuable treasure!

"Haha, that's good! It would be perfect to let Room No. 10 take a huge loss. In that case, I'm actually looking forward to him offering a sky-high price for that worthless stone!"

Zhu Qing, caught up in the moment, became somewhat disoriented while talking.

Zhang Yiyi couldn't help but twitch her mouth; it seemed in Zhu Qing's mind, she was just a fool willing to spend an outrageous price to buy a worthless stone.

"That wish might be hard to realize. I doubt he'll fight me for the auction again."

Zhang Yiyi still endured Zhu Qing's "lack of eloquence": "Room No. 10 is definitely here specifically for the cave-dwelling space, and treasures like that cannot be auctioned off or traded for spirit stones. It must be exchanged with various rare treasures. So unless Room No. 10 no longer wants the cave space, they won't use up any capital that could be used to bid for it in advance."