Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1441: Charm of the hidden radiance pearl (3)

Yang Qing felt it depended on who you asked. But if one were to look at results alone, one would say it was, because the sect was now one of the most powerful rank-one sects on the continent. Where it had relied on just one Domain expert, it now had close to twenty.

Though Yang Qing was not sure if the crippled second-stage Domain expert and the other crippled experts from back then felt that way.

But still, the charm of the Hidden Radiance Pearl was undeniable, even with all the potential risks involved. There were as many success stories as there were tragedies.

Yang Qing could not believe that one was being auctioned; one because of its value, and the other actually being related to the same, given that it was a difficult item to appraise in terms of value, given its nature.

Because of the inability to tell what was in it until you unlocked it, the pearl stood at the crossroads of being undersold or oversold.

If it contained saint-grade treasure and you auctioned it for an ascendant-grade treasure, wouldn’t that be a huge loss? Conversely, if it sold for an ascendant-grade treasure only to find mundane water inside, would it not be a win for the seller and a huge loss for the buyer?

Cultivators have killed for less.

As such, as precious as it was, various auction houses, especially the high-tiered ones, did not allow auctions of it as often. For instance, the White Rose Pavilion allowed only three Hidden Radiance Pearls to be auctioned per year. It imposed strict enforcement, including penalties if retaliatory actions followed the auction, where one or both parties felt dissatisfied with the deal enough to act against one another.

They crippled a late-stage Domain expert for violating the agreement after said Domain expert attacked the person who had the pavilion auction the pearl. The owner of said pearl had asked for fifty thousand dragon jade crystals from a mature dragon vein in exchange for the pearl. That Domain expert paid, thinking he had gotten a sweet deal, only to find the pearl contained a sky-grade blue wind obsidian stone.

That obsidian stone was not worth even a single shaving of a mature dragon jade crystal, let alone fifty thousand of them, which were more than enough to buy a middle-tier ascendant-grade treasure or artifact.

Feeling hard done by that Domain expert, despite knowing the White Rose Pavilion rules warning that deals conducted under their banner were final and done with, and that any retaliatory actions after that would be considered an affront to the Pavilion’s face, went ahead and demanded a refund from the owner of that pearl, who was an early-stage Domain expert himself. It is unknown how that late-stage Domain expert managed to uncover the identity of that early-stage Domain seller, but they did. Once they did, they demanded that their dragon jade crystals be returned to them, which that early Domain expert did not, and they got severely injured for it.

The White Rose Pavilion got wind of it and retaliated by crippling that late-stage Domain expert, along with taking on the cost of helping the early-stage Domain expert heal his injuries.

Given the potential mess involved, auction houses tended to be wary of handling it, despite its value.

With the potential implications, Yang Qing found himself worrying for the Vast Blue Merchant Company. They already had enough trouble on their hands as it was, without having to add the hot potato that was the Hidden Radiance Pearl to it.

Then again, maybe it is because of those troubles that they dare to auction it, Yang Qing thought. After all, for every deal done in its house, the merchant company got something from it, and maybe what they stood to potentially gain from agreeing to auction that Hidden Radiance Pearl made it worth the risk.

Even just appearance and impact alone already made it worthwhile. The White Rose Pavilion and merchant companies and auction houses of similar rank could afford to be choosy, given the amount and value of treasures that flowed through them, but the Vast Blue and others like them could not afford to be like them.

If word got out that a Hidden Radiance Pearl had been auctioned in their house, countless cultivators were bound to flock in, all driven by the thought: if they had a Hidden Radiance Pearl, what other treasure could they have in the next auction?

There was no better marketing tool to draw in more cultivators than having a Hidden Radiance Pearl in one of your auctions.

If the auction ended without incident, it would be well worth the gamble. However, Yang Qing had this suspicion that some within their ranks couldn’t care less about the potential risks at the moment.

His running thoughts were immediately cut short as Li Gang introduced the pearl (even though there was no need to, as everyone already knew what it was), before finally moving to the next part.

"For this item, the owner has asked for only one thing," Li Gang said with an air of solemnness around him. "For the Hidden Radiance Pearl, the owner wants a single pollen of the Enlightenment Pollen Aster Flower."

Sighs and bitter smiles immediately erupted around the room as soon as he said that. Even Yang Qing fell victim, sighing wryly as he shook his head.

Of course they dare ask for that, he muttered, moving to take a swig of his wine.

The Enlightenment Pollen Aster Flower, also known as the Breakthrough Flower due to the flower’s ability to grant a user enlightenment so deeply profound that it allows them to break through major realms.

It is especially sought after by those looking to break through to the Domain Realm, or those already within the Domain Realm looking to break through across the minor realms within that realm.

If a Core Formation expert at the peak of the Palace Realm took a whiff of the Enlightenment Pollen Aster Flower, provided they had even just average talent, they were guaranteed to sense the pathway to the Palace Realm. And for someone like Wei Li, who had already started sensing it, that whiff would be more potent and beneficial for him than the seventy-three spirit pearl peonies Yang Qing had placed on the table.

The time he would need to knock on those doors would not only be shortened (and significantly at that), but there would also be a near-perfect guarantee that he would succeed in the breakthrough, with a solid foundation at that.

Hence why, despite the flower being classified as an ascendant-grade treasure, its worth was no less than that of a saint-grade treasure.

I still have a long way to go when it comes to being shameless, Yang Qing thought, laughing as he chewed on some sesame seeds.

By asking for the pollen of the Enlightenment Pollen Aster Flower, the owner of that Hidden Radiance Pearl was acting as though a saint-grade treasure was guaranteed to be found within that pearl.

Maybe there was a saint-grade treasure in there, or chances were, there was a worthless twig in there, or a vine looking to parasitize you and use your body as a nutrient source.

No one knew for certain what was in that pearl, and to ask for something as precious as the Enlightenment Pollen Aster Flower for that gamble...

Yang Qing admired the daring, and, as he expected, a long silence ensued, with no one making a bid.

Just as it looked like no one would make the bid and Li Gang was moving to close the session, declare the auction unsuccessful, and move on to the next item, he paused when he saw one of the appraisers smile at him as he raised his hand.

"Since there is no one making a bid, would it be inappropriate for me to try my hand at it?" Chen Yu politely said, smiling at Li Gang. "And I would like to make a counteroffer, if the Daoist who owns the pearl is willing to hear it."