Chapter 146 - Jin Sheng’en
The auction was being hosted by all the Dawn Trading Alliance divisions in the Eastern Ling District.
The division led by Supervisor Zhao Tianfang was one of them.
Long Chen was cautious because of the Blazing Thunder Crystal incident, but with Liu Lan next to him, there was nothing much to be afraid of.
Even if the sky fell on top of him, the Lingwu family would be there to hold it up.
The auction was held on a massive scale. There were more than ten thousand people gathered in the gigantic plaza. The focal point of many stage lights was a stage carved from divine jade. It was obvious how large the Dawn Trading Alliance’s budget was for this event.
There were almost two hundred booths within the plaza. Long Chen and Liu Lan were currently inside one. Although it wasn’t huge, it was quite sophisticated.
With Liu Lan’s status, it was very normal to get a booth.
Being in a tight, confined space with this woman, who according to the rumors was already his woman, made him uncomfortable as her seductive fragrance kept creeping into his nostrils.
If that incident hadn’t happened, he would’ve really enjoyed this time. However, hatred and anger took up most of his feelings towards her, so he was no longer interested in the beautiful lady next to him.
His unnatural expression made Liu Lan think he was impatient. What’s there to be impatient about ...
Liu Lan looked at him in amusement, then she stretched a little. Her curves were faintly showing under the thin, black chiffon, tempting him. “If you can complete my task for you, everything of mine will be yours... Hehe ...”
She shook as she giggled, while Long Chen turned to look at the stage at the center of the plaza. It was the brightest spot in the whole place, as well as the focal point of the auction.
Right now, there was a pretty girl at the center of the stage. She looked around, then she said with a melodious voice, “Everyone, welcome to the Dawn Trading Alliance’s auction! We have taken almost two months to prepare for this event, collecting all sorts of rare artifacts that you all will surely approve of. I hereby declare that the auction begins now!
“As for the rules, the party who makes the highest bid naturally gets the item. We also welcome trades if anyone would like to exchange their items for items of the same value. However, the Dawn Trading Alliance will have the final say in your item’s value.”
Although she didn’t have a high cultivation level, she was sophisticated and her voice was melodious and animated, which made the audience very comfortable. She was perfect as the host of this auction.
Liu Lan wanted to tease Long Chen to lighten the mood, but when she saw that he wasn’t up to it, she looked down and said, “I asked you to come mainly to search for something to assist you during the inner family qualifiers. Just tell me if you see anything you’re interested in.”
“I have my own money.”
Long Chen was still planning to give Liu Lan a memorable lesson. If he spent her money now, it would be shameless if he decided to take revenge in the future.
He was willing to sit with Liu Lan and even flirt a little, but that was just a fa?ade because he was still no match for her. Once he was powerful enough, she would be the first one he punched.
Liu Lan was slightly stunned by Long Chen’s stubbornness, but she was very familiar with his background, so she found it a little amusing that he would say such a thing. “I’m not in the mood to argue right now. I came to the auction specifically for you, but don’t overthink it. At least to other people, you’re my man right now. If you lose too badly, I won’t even be able to show my face to anyone. I’m only paying to save me some face,” said Liu Lan.
“As I said, I will get the thing I want on my own,” said Long Chen flatly.
Liu Lan was a little annoyed that Long Chen wasn’t making the smart choice. However, she was indeed the one who had overstepped the boundary this time, so she mocked him. “You’re good at bragging! I’d like to see how you can get anything at an auction on this level.”
She knew very well how much money Long Chen had. This was the grandest auction in the whole Eastern Ling District, and the starting price of the items would be at least a thousand divine jades.
The sun would rise from the west if Long Chen had that much money.
Time slipped away as they chatted. Very quickly, two items had already been auctioned off. The opening item was an intermediate Black-tier divine weapon, auctioned off at fifty thousand divine jades. The second item was also sold at a high price of thirty thousand divine jades.
Long Chen knew that auctions started with more expensive items.
A mid Earthly Core Realm cultivator’s net worth was usually about a hundred thousand divine jades. Any item here would be enough to bankrupt them.
This was why Liu Lan was sure that Long Chen was lying.
“Don’t place a bid if you don’t have the money. You won’t be able to leave the Dawn Trading Alliance’s marketplace if you can’t pay up. The hosts of this event may only be their branches, but there are many Heavenly Core Realm masters here. I won’t be able to rescue you,” said Liu Lan, seeing Long Chen remain stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat.
Long Chen watched the auction and did not answer her.
Liu Lan shook her head when she saw that he was still behaving this way. This brat is too childish. He’s grown, yet he is still throwing a tantrum. I came here to get him something. If this continues, this trip will be a waste of time. I need to find a way.
After a while, Liu Lan’s eyes lit up. She asked, “Long Chen, how many contribution points do you have?”
“Three hundred and sixty-one. Why?”
Long Chen didn’t understand why she would ask this question.
“I’m not going to sulk with you. Since you want to get items with your own ability, I won’t force you, but you know how many divine jades you have in your pocket right now. Let’s do it this way: you can trade one contribution point for ten divine jades from me. So I’ll give you four thousand divine jades. What do you think?”
At least this wasn’t him taking advantage of her money. Long Chen could accept this, so he nodded.
Admittedly, after seeing the first few items, Long Chen also felt like something would appear that would be critical to his performance at the qualifiers. It would be great if he could get something like that.
“Dear participants, our next item is the Seven Colored Glass Steel. It is ten times better in terms of quality compared to regular Glass Steel. In the hands of a competent blacksmith, it is enough to forge two or more intermediate Black-tier divine weapons. If the blacksmith is expert enough, it is not impossible to produce an advanced Black-tier divine weapon! The starting price is ten thousand divine jades! The minimum raise per bid is five hundred divine jades!”
The bidders exploded into a crescendo once more as the pretty girl fanned the flames. “Twelve thousand divine jades!”
“Thirteen thousand!”
“Fifteen thousand!”
“Twenty thousand!”
The Seven Colored Glass Steel was an extremely precious material that could be forged into an advanced Black-tier weapon. That was why the atmosphere was bustling and the price kept climbing until it was close to sixty thousand.
Long Chen wasn’t very interested in it, but Liu Lan was paying attention to a familiar person in the booth next to hers throughout the bidding process for this item. In the end, that person bought the Seven Colored Glass Steel at seventy thousand divine jades.
“It’s him? I didn’t think he’d be here too.” Liu Lan was shocked when she recognized his voice.
“Who is it?” asked Long Chen.
“The strongest participant of the qualifiers, also known as the number one prodigy of the outer families—Jin Sheng’en of the Gold family. I’ve seen him fight before, and he is indeed extraordinary. I think his true combat power can match someone at the late Earthly Core Realm.”
“Jin Sheng’en, late Earthly Core Realm?”
Long Chen was speechless; that guy was indeed inhuman. Long Chen was consistently improving, but he kept being humbled by even stronger prodigies.
From his perspective, Chu Yunxi was already a prodigy that would be difficult for him to surpass, and now he had learned that Jin Sheng’en was even more terrifying.
“Do you know what strengths he has?” Long Chen was curious.
Long Chen was able to kill opponents above his own cultivation level because he had the Dragon Soul Transformation, the Blazing Thunder Combat Body, and other powerful techniques.
“The most genius thing about Jin Sheng’en is the fact that he successfully cultivated an advanced Black-tier Body Tempering Combat Technique called the Molten Gold Combat Body! It’s the Gold family’s best Body Tempering Combat Technique, and not many Gold family members have succeeded in learning it. Jin Sheng’en successfully cultivated it despite being only at the mid Earthly Core Realm. Don’t you think that’s impressive?”
Long Chen’s current trump card was that his physical body was stronger than that of the average person, but Jin Sheng’en had succeeded in cultivating an advanced Black-tier Body Tempering Combat Technique. In terms of Qi, he was way ahead of Long Chen too.
After Liu Lan’s explanation, Long Chen felt completely defeated when he thought about the psycho next to him.
“What’s the matter? Finally realizing how brutal the inner family qualifiers are?” Liu Lan glanced at him with smugness in her eyes.
“It’s still early. The outcome is not set yet.”
Long Chen knew in his heart that he could not afford to be afraid. This was for Yang Lingqing and for himself. No matter how powerful the enemy was, he would grit his teeth and fight!
“Hehe ...” Liu Lan covered her mouth and giggled. “You’re just bragging. One more thing—Jin Sheng’en and Chu Yunxi are good friends. If you meet him, even if you don’t die, I’m afraid you’re still going to suffer badly ...”
Long Chen was exasperated. What’s wrong with this world? Why are all the prodigies such good friends? I offended one and ended up offending so many more? And each one is stronger than the last!
He was speechless.
Liu Lan’s intention was to warn Long Chen of the dangers of the qualifiers, so he would listen to her and let her pay. Now that she had reached her objective, she was happy and relaxed.
“The next item to be auctioned is the Blazing Thunder Crystal!”
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