Chapter 407: Chapter 373: A Sudden Turn of Events
This truly is a moment of heaven and a moment of hell!
Dongguo Sun stared at the dazzling green, his eyes fixed, his excitement causing him to stutter: "Glass type, Royal Green..."
Those with experience leaned in to take a closer look—it was indeed a glass type, but whether it was Royal Green couldn’t be determined until a thorough appraisal.
However, this wave definitely marked a rise.
A rise indeed!
This unexpected turn of events truly whetted everyone’s appetite.
Once again, Lin Miao cut the jade by hand, faster than with tools. This was a blade formed by projecting internal energy—something not achievable by ordinary practitioners, yet it didn’t harm the jade within at all.
The control of force was terrifyingly strong.
In no time, a huge piece of emerald green jade the size of a faceplate was revealed to all.
It was indeed glass type and at the royal level—extremely rare and, being so complete, held even greater value.
"Mr. Dongguo, I’m offering two hundred thousand silver. Will you sell?" someone shouted a high price.
"I’ll offer three hundred thousand!"
"Three hundred and fifty thousand..."
"Four hundred thousand!" Even before the original stone auction started, bids were already being called. This piece, even if presented at tonight’s auction, would qualify as a centerpiece, possibly even as a finale.
Dongguo Sun’s face was flushed with excitement; just moments ago, he was desolate, yet in the blink of an eye, he’d ascended from hell to heaven.
This was his first time experiencing such a feeling.
"Hold on, there are still some stones unopened," Lin Miao mentioned as he touched another piece that had been cut and noticed a strong aura emanating from it.
Everyone was stunned—could there be more?
But Lin Miao had just opened a piece with royal green manually; could his luck be so favorable tonight?
Lin Miao once again manually released a piece.
This time, his skills were more refined, precisely brushing past a hint of green—there really was more!
All the onlookers gasped.
This green was purer and more captivating than the last.
Another piece of glass type!
Everyone exclaimed in astonishment.
Lin Miao quickly released the jade, slicing it out completely. Though smaller, its quality was superior, seamless, and without a trace of marbling, somewhat like a huge ostrich egg, weighing four to five kilograms in hand...
Holding it, he allowed everyone to view and admire it.
"Let me see..."
Mr. Jun, a senior jade appraiser of Heaven-Dominating Tower, came over and, after a careful examination, his beard shaking with excitement: "This is Imperial Green, and of premium quality. It’s tough to estimate a price, but if auctioned, the starting price would be at least two hundred thousand silver."
Two hundred thousand!
This was only the starting price; generally, at auction, it could double, or even three to four times in some cases.
Such a perfect piece of premium Imperial Green is hard to come by, essentially a unique item. If carved by a master, its value would increase even more.
However, you can’t eat it; it’s only valuable when sought after by the wealthy.
As the saying goes, gold has a price, jade is priceless.
But rarity makes it precious.
Only through auction can its value be maximized, yet commission it for auction, Heaven-Dominating Tower takes a cut of at least ten percent.
Dongguo Sun was so excited he couldn’t speak properly.
The excitement was overwhelming.
Ultimately, he calmed down and decided to commission it for auction. It was a mutual accomplishment; if he sold now, he would likely not achieve the best price.
Even with the auction house’s cut, he would earn more than selling it now.
As for the other piece, since he had no money left, he sold it to the jade merchant who offered four hundred thousand silver earlier.
The merchant certainly wouldn’t lose money, likely earning at least eighty to a hundred silver.
Lin Miao had lent Dongguo Sun twenty thousand silver, meaning for a twelve thousand worth stone, Lin Miao had a one-sixth share, which required Dongguo Sun to pay her six thousand seven hundred silver.
Additionally, she would also receive one-sixth of the auction proceeds from that piece.
Though Dongguo Sun made the major profit, he took on a huge risk, while Lin Miao bore no risk yet earned over forty thousand silver, with more to come.
So far tonight, all expenses had been recovered.
The speed of making money was truly enviable.
Regarding the other intermediate piece, the green-bean type with floating patterns was given as a fee for the stone-cutter. He also earned some unexpected wealth.
The original stone auction began.
Lin Miao and Sun Youwei lost interest; it was just about how much Dongguo Sun’s Imperial Green centerpiece would fetch.
They decided to explore other halls, hoping to find something else.
Wandering around, they bought some aged medicinal herbs without spending much and then headed to the weapons hall.
Looking for a suitable dagger for Sun Youwei’s self-defense.
There were daggers, but Sun Youwei disliked those with gemstone inlays, finding them too flashy; she figured it would be better to have Mr. Hong forge one back home.
Mr. Hong’s craftsmanship is quite good; as long as you provide him with good materials, he can forge exceptional weapons.
Lin Miao has also seen many swords, yet none felt comfortable in his hand, unlike the one he designed himself and had Mr. Hong forge.
But there weren’t suitable materials.
As for Lianxin and Liansuo, both have swords of exceptionally high quality, with no need for replacements.
Therefore, Lin Miao bought a piece of meteorite iron, quite large, and took it back to see if he could forge a few weapons. Meteorite iron is not a rare item on the continent, and the price isn’t very high.
The technique of including meteorite iron in weapon forging is also highly advanced. Lianxin and Liansuo’s swords both contain meteorite iron.
After a round of browsing, he finally returned to the site of the original auction.
This year’s rough stone auction was indeed lackluster, without any particularly dazzling stones. Instead, the piece of imperial green he helped Dongguo Sun sell became the finale.
The starting price was set at three hundred thousand silver taels!
Then the bids continued until it was sold for eight hundred thousand silver taels.
This became the most outstanding item in tonight’s rough stone auction.
The Heaven-Dominating Tower takes a ten percent commission, meaning Dongguo Sun would receive seven hundred and twenty thousand silver taels and then share twelve thousand taels with Lin Miao.
Dongguo Sun also bought a stone at the original auction and took it to be cut even before the auction ended, making a small profit of several thousand taels.
Altogether, Dongguo Sun had about a million taels on him.
A bona fide millionaire.
After a short incense break, the final auction was finally about to begin.
By this time, most of the people who came tonight for the auction had gathered, crowding the large hall to the brim.
Lin Miao, having spent over fifty thousand silver taels, gained the status of a green card VIP, allowing him a closer position in the upcoming major auction.
Dongguo Sun likewise achieved green card VIP status.
It now seemed clear that Dongguo Sun was definitely after something specific in the final auction; exactly what, he still did not know.
He was just very curious as to what could make Dongguo Sun confident enough to gather a million silver taels to acquire.
Purple Gold Spirit Elixir wasn’t needed, so it probably wasn’t that. Was it the Celestial Essence Fruit? Did he also want to break through to the Celestial Essence Realm?
It’s not impossible.
Tonight, many people are here for this single Celestial Essence Fruit, which even if not the highlight, will surely be among the top three auction items of the night.
Apart from his master Sun Simiao’s medical talisman, Lin Miao was not very interested in the auction items.
Since he hadn’t found his master’s medical talisman, he stayed purely to spectate.
After setting the atmosphere, the annual year-end auction finally began, with the young master of the Heaven-Dominating Tower, Nie Yang, making an appearance.
At thirty years of age, after taking the stage, he delivered an opening speech with great poise, already showing seventy to eighty percent of his father’s demeanor.
Then came the chief auctioneer’s entry.
The final climax auction included ten meticulously selected items, each with a minimum starting price of one hundred thousand silver taels, with no upper limit.
Anyhow, the final auction each year results in a total turnover of over three million silver taels. If all were consigned, the Heaven-Dominating Tower would earn at least three hundred thousand silver taels from this auction.
This year, due to the Celestial Essence Fruit, it might set a record high for past auctions.
Purple card VIPs are arranged in the second-floor VIP rooms; they do not need to reveal themselves, ensuring their privacy.
For having spent so much silver at the Heaven-Dominating Tower, they deserve this treatment.
However, there were a bit too many purple card VIPs this year, and the second-floor VIP boxes were not enough, so a first-come, first-served method was adopted.
Whoever reserved first got the spot, while the remaining guests were arranged in the foremost row on the first floor.
Soon, the first auction item of the night was brought out, a painting, an early work of the painting sage Wang Liben from six hundred years ago.
After the auctioneer introduced the item, he stated that the painting was authenticated as genuine by multiple experts and professionals, with the Heaven-Dominating Tower guaranteeing it.
The starting price was one hundred thousand silver taels!
Wang Liben’s works are few, as his later years were marred by injustice, resulting in most of his calligraphy and paintings being confiscated and destroyed. His reputation was restored later, but most of his works were already lost.
This genuine painting is exceptionally precious, thus very valuable for collection.
Before long, the price soared to one hundred fifty thousand taels.
Then the price increases slowed, and it was finally bought by an art lover for one hundred sixty-three thousand silver taels.
The second auction item turned out to be a Buddhist scripture named "Mahayana Nirvana Scripture," a handwritten copy by a Buddha from eight hundred years ago, with a starting price also at one hundred thousand taels.
Due to endorsement by eminent monks, this Buddhist scripture is made from the hide of a rare beast called "Yin," with the cover woven from celestial silkworm silk, impervious to water and fire.
Though it has collection value, everyone knows the content of the scripture, which isn’t particularly rare.
But among the attendees today, very few are interested in such items, with no genuine Buddhists present; if there were, they weren’t bona fide Buddhists.
Who would be willing to spend such a sum to buy this scripture?
After some thought, Lin Miao decided he could buy this scripture for Fahai. After all, he could afford it, so he called out a price of one hundred twenty thousand taels.
To his surprise, no one raised the bid!
This took Lin Miao by surprise, and so the scripture became his possession.
"Mother, why did he buy a Buddhist scripture?" Baili Yuyao, accompanying her mother in a VIP room on the second floor, asked with some astonishment upon hearing Lin Miao’s bid to buy the "Mahayana Nirvana Scripture."
"You know about his relationship with Mr. Lin’s Fahai Buddha, and this Buddhist scripture was meant for him in the first place," replied Baili Bingyun.
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