To think he could actually see a Realmshatter Talisman at the auction! Joe Di's excitement surged as he clenched his fists—he had to obtain this talisman, no matter what.
He already possessed a Realmshatter Talisman, one he had prepared for his return to Earth. The real issue was, after returning to Earth, how could he come back to the Central Realm? Now, seeing another Realmshatter Talisman appear here was nothing short of wonderful news for Joe Di.
Earth was severely lacking in spiritual energy—he could never stay there for long. His reason for returning was mainly due to two matters. First, he wanted to find Master Redmond of Lethe Temple. Even though he had never met this monk, Joe Di sensed something odd about him.
There was a question he had to ask: Why was he able to see the physical body of his previous life?
This matter was deeply strange. The laws of reincarnation were not something he could touch, but by any reasonable logic, such a thing should not have happened. After all, when he appeared on Earth, he was not in a soul state.
He also suspected that his previous life's entry into the Lethe Mountains was somehow related to Master Redmond. In his past life, he was nothing but an ordinary person—so why would Master Redmond tell him about a medicinal herb called the Scarletblood Flower? If anyone should be told, it ought to have been Shen Ziyu.
And then there was the fact that Earth was so devoid of spiritual energy—how did the Scarletblood Flower even exist there?
The second issue was the bridge he had seen in the Lethe Mountains.
Back then, seeing that bridge had been an eerie experience—almost like something supernatural. Now that Joe Di had cultivated to the Void Spirit stage, he realized that the bridge was very likely a supreme treasure, perhaps even more valuable than a Pocket World. He hadn’t understood it before, but now he suspected that the reason he saw the bridge might be due to some kind of law or rule.
Aside from these two matters, he had also made a few friends on Earth. This trip would also serve as a farewell to them. Joe Di had come into contact with the laws of heaven and earth earlier than most cultivators, and understood just how crucial a perfected Dao heart was. Earth was a place he had to visit to perfect his Dao heart.
"Realmshatter Talismans are extremely rare. They allow you to travel from one realm to another cultivation domain. Of course, they have an even more important use: at any moment, they can help you escape danger." Ethan Tai did his best to promote the talisman's value from the stage.
Joe Di sighed inwardly. Even without any promotion, the price of a Realmshatter Talisman was bound to be sky-high. Now that it was being hyped up, there was no doubt this talisman would fetch an astronomical sum.
"The starting price for this Realmshatter Talisman is five million high-grade spirit stones. Each bid must increase by no less than one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. The bidding begins now..."
As Ethan Tai waved his hand, the massive bidding screen's numbers began to jump rapidly.
Joe Di frowned—just as he expected, the price was outrageous. The starting bid was five million, and even if he pooled all his resources, he barely had less than ten million high-grade spirit stones. He wasn't sure if he could win the Realmshatter Talisman.
In the blink of an eye, the price of the Realmshatter Talisman had already soared to eleven million.
After a moment's hesitation, Joe Di entered a bid of thirty million high-grade spirit stones on the auction screen before him. In this kind of auction, you had to show confidence.
Back in Pearl City, Joe Di had attended countless auctions. Since the Di Family never lacked money, he would simply throw piles of gold and silver at every event.
But Joe Di also knew that his auction experience in Mingzhu City couldn’t be applied so simply here. Back then, there were hardly any who dared to compete with him, Di Laojiu, in bidding.
On the massive bidding screen, the price jumped from just over ten million straight to thirty million, startling Ethan Tai. He had seen such bids before, but those were always made by powerful sect members in private boxes. For an ordinary cultivator sitting in the main hall to raise the price by nearly twenty million in one go—this was exceedingly rare.
Sure enough, Joe Di's aggressive bid dampened the enthusiasm on the floor.
Noticing this, Ethan Tai quickly called out, "The price for this Realmshatter Talisman has reached thirty million! Is there anyone willing to bid higher? Sometimes, a single Realmshatter Talisman can mean the difference between life and death—it's worth every spirit stone."
No matter what Ethan Tai said, there was nothing Joe Di could do—this wasn't his home turf.
Row 116, Seat 39—bid: thirty million. Instantly, countless spiritual senses swept toward Joe Di's location.
Joe Di could only smile wryly. He knew that even if the auction house masked seat numbers, those with powerful abilities could easily discover who had placed the bid. Thankfully, the seats around him were protected by a spiritual sense shielding array. As long as he didn't deactivate it, no one would dare forcibly tear through the barrier.
Even though Joe Di knew thirty million was unlikely to win the Realmshatter Talisman, he still hoped no one would bid any higher.
But his hopes were quickly dashed. Someone soon raised the bid to thirty-one million.
"The price for the Realmshatter Talisman is now thirty-one million. Clearly, more than one person here understands its value," Ethan Tai chimed in, fueling the bidding war.
The thirty-one million bid came from a private box. Before Joe Di could respond, the price was raised again to thirty-three million, and then immediately to thirty-five million.
Those competing to buy the Realmshatter Talisman weren't just one or two people—all the latest bids came from the private boxes.
Joe Di took a deep breath and raised his bid to fifty million.
When the massive array screen displayed the fifty-million price, a wave of murmurs swept through the auction hall. The Realmshatter Talisman was precious, but fifty million high-grade spirit stones seemed excessive.
Even those in the private boxes stopped bidding. In their eyes, the Realmshatter Talisman was worth at most forty million. Bidding fifty million was a stretch—especially since this was the very first item of the auction. If they spent all their spirit stones now, they'd struggle to compete for the treasures that came later.
Bringing out the Realmshatter Talisman for the first auction was clearly meant to set a high bar and make subsequent bidding even fiercer.
In fact, the auction house would have preferred everyone to bid against each other, gradually raising the price to fifty million. But with Joe Di's sudden jump, the competitive atmosphere was lost, which wasn't ideal for the auction.
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With no further bids after Joe Di's fifty million, Ethan Tai had no choice but to announce, "Row 116, Seat 39—bid: fifty million! Is there anyone willing to go higher? If not, the Realmshatter Talisman will go to this friend..."
After calling out for some time with no response, Ethan Tai raised his auction hammer. "Fifty million, once... Fifty million, twice... Fifty million..."
"Wait! I bid fifty million, one hundred and ten thousand!" A crisp voice interrupted Ethan Tai.
According to the rules, bids at this auction couldn't be spoken aloud—they had to be entered through the bidding screen. This voice breaking the rule was already unusual. After a moment, the bidding screen finally updated to fifty million, one hundred and ten thousand, making it even more irregular.
To everyone's surprise, Ethan Tai didn't intervene in this obvious breach of the rules. Instead, he announced, "A friend from the private box has bid fifty million, one hundred and ten thousand! Is there anyone willing to go higher? If not, I'll begin the countdown: fifty million, one hundred and ten thousand, once... fifty million, one hundred and ten thousand, twice..."
Unlike with Joe Di's previous bids, this time Ethan Tai sped up the countdown, as if hoping no one else would raise the price.
Joe Di was furious and quickly entered a bid of sixty million. He knew exactly who had placed the last bid—Cynthia Winters, a prodigy cultivator from the True Domain.
Ethan Tai was clearly intimidated by this woman, wanting to end the auction quickly and sell the Realmshatter Talisman to her.
But the Realmshatter Talisman was something Joe Di absolutely needed—there was no way he'd let it go.
When the bidding screen showed sixty million, Ethan Tai sighed and could only offer silent condolences for Joe Di. Now that the price had changed, he could only announce, "Row 116, Seat 39 has raised the bid to sixty million. Is there anyone willing to go higher?"
"You've got guts. I bid sixty million, one hundred and ten thousand." Cynthia Winters' icy voice rang out again as the bidding screen updated.
"Seventy million." Joe Di wasn't intimidated by this woman. The more irritated he felt, the more he realized how much he had failed in his past life.
Back in Pearl City, this was how he conducted himself. Every time he placed a bid, he made sure to announce his name—Di Laojiu. Now that the Di Family had been wiped out, he suspected many were secretly rejoicing.
He took a deep breath. If the Di Family hadn't been destroyed, maybe he'd still be living the same way.
A powerful killing intent settled just outside the barrier around Joe Di's seat. Fortunately, Cynthia Winters knew not to go too far and didn't tear through his protective array.
Cynthia Winters didn't raise her bid again—clearly, she couldn't produce seventy million high-grade spirit stones. The Realmshatter Talisman was, without surprise, won by Joe Di. Some cultivators who vaguely guessed Cynthia Winters' identity secretly admired Joe Di's courage. Winning the talisman was one thing, but it was also a death warrant—one careless move, and it could cost him his life.
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends!)