Chapter 408: Chapter 374: Fierce Bidding War
The items won at the auction do not need to be delivered immediately; payment is only required after the auction ends, with an exchange of money for goods.
Therefore, Lin Miao will have to wait a bit longer to see the "Mahayana Nirvana Scripture".
The third auction item turned out to be a replica of the ancient weapon, the Shadow-Bearing Sword, as the real Shadow-Bearing Sword has long disappeared.
If it were to appear, it would surely cause a sensation across the continent. This "Shadow-Bearing" Sword was crafted 150 years ago by the master swordsmith Fan Wujiu, with painstaking effort, for the wife of the Spirit Sword Sect’s Sect Leader, Liou Chengying. Once forged, it could cut through iron and jade, and even slice a strand of hair when blown, nearly matching its ancient counterpart.
However, this sword has been missing for nearly a century, so how has it suddenly appeared now?
"After being evaluated and verified by several master weapon smiths and appraisers at the Heaven-Dominating Tower, as well as the descendants of the Fan Family in Hedong, this sword is indeed the ’Shadow-Bearing’ Sword that Master Fan Wujiu, the ancestor of the Fan Family, forged for the Spirit Sword Sect’s Sect Leader’s wife Liou Chengying back then. It is a replica of the ancient divine weapon, the Shadow-Bearing Sword. Although a century has passed, it remains exceptionally sharp, able to cut a strand of hair when blown. However, the hilt is somewhat damaged over time, so buyers should take note. The starting bid is 200,000 silver coins!"
"The Spirit Sword Sect will purchase this sword for 500,000 silver coins, and we hope all fellow attendees will give some respect!" As the auctioneer’s words fell, a voice resounded throughout the venue.
It was someone from the Spirit Sword Sect!
"So it’s Mr. Liou from the Spirit Sword Sect. I didn’t expect you to be here!" The people from the Heaven-Dominating Tower recognized the speaker.
Liou, an elder of the Spirit Sword Sect, was present because the former Sect Leader’s wife, Liou Chengying, hailed from the Liou Family. His decision to buy the Shadow-Bearing Sword was well-founded.
After all, this was originally their family’s possession, and now that it had found its way outside, reclaiming it was reasonable.
"600,000 silver coins, I also greatly fancy the Shadow-Bearing Sword!" A cold voice chimed in, clearly intending to challenge.
It was that scorpion!
Scorpio, the head of Scorpio Ridge, was known to hold a grudge against the Spirit Sword Sect, and at such a moment, how could he not interfere?
Liou furrowed his brows; this Shadow-Bearing Sword was his great-grandmother’s personal sword, supposedly buried with her. He didn’t expect it to be stolen from the grave, so he must retrieve it.
650,000 silver coins!
700,000.
Scorpio called out nonchalantly, raising the bid by another 50,000 silver coins.
Liou’s mouth twitched, and murderous intent surged in his eyes; defying the Spirit Sword Sect so openly, only someone as lawless as Scorpio would dare.
720,000!
Liou gritted his teeth and added another 20,000 silver coins. The Liou Family’s financial resources were limited, and gathering that much silver was already quite strenuous.
Besides wishing to capture the grave robber and cut them into pieces, they knew that the Heaven-Dominating Tower had rules; they could not reveal the consignor’s identity, or else no one would consign or authorize the sale of such precious items there in the future.
Building such a reputation is extremely difficult, but it can be easily destroyed.
Scorpio’s emotionless voice sounded again: 750,000!
The entire auction hall fell silent at once; it was clear that Scorpio had no intention of actually purchasing the Shadow-Bearing Sword. He merely wanted to retaliate against Liou, or rather, the Spirit Sword Sect behind him.
750,000 once!
750,000 twice!
750...
"760,000!" Liou finally called out a price.
After this price was stated, a long time passed without an additional bid from Scorpio, and the auctioneer on stage couldn’t help but wipe their forehead. After three calls, they struck the gavel.
Due to Scorpio’s interference, Liou had to spend an additional 260,000 silver coins to secure his ancestor’s sword, deepening the feud.
This was a significant sum of 260,000 silver coins, an amount that ordinary people might not earn in several lifetimes.
The fourth item was brought up: the Purple Gold Spirit Elixir.
No wonder Dongguo Sun inquired about his senior sister’s illness. If she were still ill, this Purple Gold Spirit Elixir could indeed cure her.
Of course, this Spirit Pill is not cheap, with a starting price of 100,000 silver, equivalent to 10,000 gold.
The Purple Gold Spirit Elixir is not very useful to ordinary people, but for those with congenital diseases, it has miraculous healing effects, practically bringing the dead back to life.
Nevertheless, it no longer mattered to Lin Miao.
Not long after, the Purple Gold Spirit Elixir was purchased for 180,000 silver coins.
Soon, the fifth auction item appeared.
A martial arts manual, a body technique, Spirit Snake Nine Transformations.
This body technique is said to have been created by a Holy Lord-level expert, known as the Silver Snake Duke, from the previous dynasty, who, after reaching the Celestial Essence level, secluded himself in the Eastern Sea and founded Snake Island.
Sixty years ago, Snake Island was destroyed, rumored to be the work of the Dao-seeking Sect, though the details remain unknown.
This body technique once established a fearsome reputation, but after the fall of Snake Island, its descendants and disciples scattered, and the technique was lost.
No one expected it to appear at today’s auction.
It remains uncertain whether this is the true Spirit Snake Body Skill; even if it is genuine, can one truly master it upon acquiring it?
It is said that this technique was created by the Silver Serpent Lord, who entered the snake den and observed the movements and attacks of various venomous snakes, developing it from that foundation.
He passed this body technique on to his descendants and disciples, yet none of them could reach his level.
Thus, the Spirit Snake Nine Transformations became a rare legacy.
No matter how powerful a martial art is, if you can’t master it, it won’t show its might. It’s not as simple as getting an unrivaled cultivation technique and becoming invincible just by practicing it. Without talent and aptitude, even if you are given the world’s top cultivation technique, you can’t become the world’s best.
But after all, this is a famous skill of a grandmaster at the Celestial Origin level, and it has been verified that the secret manual of Spirit Snake Nine Transformations is genuine, as it is penned by the Silver Serpent Lord himself.
The bidding starts at 150,000 taels of silver.
Spending over 100,000 taels of silver to buy a manual, and not necessarily being able to master it afterward, and this is merely a body technique manual.
If it were a heart method manual, it would have been contested long ago. If it were an offensive martial skill, there would also be interest in it.
But when it comes to a body technique, it’s hard to say. Although the Spirit Snake Nine Transformations is impressive, it is notoriously difficult to practice; otherwise, none of the Silver Serpent Lord’s descendants and disciples would have relied on it to establish their fame.
One hundred sixty thousand taels!
Finally, someone placed a bid, but it wasn’t clear if it was a shill bidding, raising the price by ten thousand taels.
Lin Miao thought for a moment; he was indeed lacking in body technique, and this Spirit Snake Nine Transformations might be of some help to him.
So he raised his card and offered a price of 180,000 taels.
With someone competing, the price of the Spirit Snake Nine Transformations soon soared to 220,000 taels, during which Lin Miao also raised his bid twice, naturally increasing only by 5,000 taels each time.
As the price exceeded 250,000 taels, Lin Miao decided to give up, as spending so much on a body technique manual wasn’t worth it for him.
In the end, the body technique manual was sold for a high price of 265,000 taels of silver.
The first five auction items had already ended, and the remaining five items were definitely more precious and valuable than the preceding ones.
The sixth item up for auction was a pair of gloves, which were both gloves and weapons, as thin as cicada wings. Wearing them felt as if nothing was on your hands, not affecting their sensitivity. Besides being poison-proof, they were impervious to water and fire, woven from silk spat by a rare sea beast. Just collecting the silk took a hundred years, making these gloves highly valuable.
The starting bid was directly set at 300,000 taels.
These indeed were good items, life-saving in critical moments, but wearing gloves every day wasn’t practical. Before Lin Miao could consider it, the price had already surged to 600,000 taels of silver.
No need to consider any further; Lin Miao wasn’t going to spend so much money on a pair of gloves.
Since the grand finale might be a Celestial Essence Fruit tonight, unless something particularly exceptional appeared, major factions or individuals were cautious with their bids, to avoid running short of silver coins later and missing out on the Celestial Essence Fruit.
Of course, some were not very hopeful about the Celestial Essence Fruit. Since they were here, if they could take back one or two good things, they wouldn’t hesitate to bid.
The seventh auction item was a jade sculpture, a masterpiece by a renowned artist, crystal clear, naturally formed, truly an artistic gem.
Usually, martial arts folks weren’t interested in such things. Only some ordinary people loved collecting these artworks and were willing to pay high prices for them.
This jade sculpture eventually fetched a high price of 420,000 taels and was bought by a collector.
Finally, it was time for the main event.
The last three auction items were definitely more precious one after another. Everyone focused on the eighth item, carried in by three strong men, covered with a layer of red silk.
Once the auctioneer lifted the red silk,
everyone recognized it as a pill furnace.
This was indeed a rare object; ever since the Elixir Alliance was annihilated, alchemy has been considered heretical, making pill furnaces seldom crafted.
The pill furnace before them showed at least a century of weathered marks.
"This pill furnace is called the Celestial Fire Furnace, belonging to Ding Yi, the former Valley Master of Huichun Valley, a hundred years ago. It was crafted by the master furnace-maker Lu Yang back then, using various rare materials and took three years to complete. Don’t be deceived by its small size; it weighs a thousand pounds. Using it for alchemy increases the success rate by thirty percent compared to ordinary furnaces, and the quality is higher. This pill furnace is being auctioned on behalf of someone by our tower; the starting bid is set at one tael of silver!"
One tael of silver!
Did they hear it wrong?
The renowned Celestial Fire Furnace with a starting bid of only one tael of silver!
Bear in mind, one of the materials used in its creation, meteor copper, took an unknown amount of time and money to collect, not including the labor costs of crafting, with a cost no less than 500,000 taels.
This was the last auction event, how could there be such an absurd starting price? But it’s likely not set by Heaven-Dominating Tower, but by the consignor.
This was almost certain.
A starting bid of one tael of silver, what are they trying to do?
Lin Miao’s eyes secretly glanced at Dongguo Sun, noticing a slight narrowing of his eyes. Clearly, he also guessed it and likely understood more, deeper implications.
This Celestial Fire Furnace once belonged to the founder of Huichun Valley. If Dongguo Sun is a descendant of Huichun Valley, he surely intends to buy it back.
And if someone is looking for Huichun Valley’s descendants, using such a low starting bid of one tael of silver, is too obvious.
This is to bait Huichun Valley’s people into taking the hook.
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