Upon hearing the final bid for the auction item, Yuan Ming, seated among the audience, revealed a faint smile on his face as he slightly lifted his palm from the bidding token he had just used.

These bidding tokens were specially crafted treasures that, with a small infusion of magical power, could silently place a bid, thus protecting the bidder's privacy.

Three thousand spirit stones were neither exorbitant nor a small sum for a millennium-old piece of spiritual wood, nearly the entire fortune of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, enough to exchange for at least two superior-grade treasures.

However, to most people, the Water Crown Tree's spiritual wood seemed somewhat superfluous, and after some consideration, most cultivators would refrain from bidding.