212 Auction – Part 3
In front of the auction theatre, Liu Bian and Eunuch Rang were standing, waiting for the royal rumble to come to an end.
After the killing intent had subsided, both of them clicked their tongues in disappointment.
"Lame. They should have started killing each other."
"Your Highness is correct. They should have killed each other and ended their miserable lives right there. Our continent would have been cleaner without their existences."
"Hmm."
Liu Bian and his men entered the building.
As the prince proceeded to the 5th floor, everyone stared at him as if he was a criminal. Yet, the prince ignored it since he thought that the local people merely saw him as an enemy.
Little did he know that a certain rumor about him was wildly being circulated in this city.
…
After the brief standoff, no 7th-stage cultivator caused any trouble anymore.
Meanwhile, inside the Isolation Training Space, Cao Mao completed another batch of sky-grade pills with perfect quality.
This batch of items was Plum Blossom Pills, which could temporarily boost a cultivator's speed, agility, and perception for 10 minutes after the consumption, but it didn't take much effort to digest. They would be useful in combat in the future.
Ding
\u003cThe Wet Banana Buff has expired.\u003e
\u003cYou're running low on fire element Qi. You can convert 10 drops of life essence into one strand of fire element Qi.\u003e
\u003cWould you like to replenish your fire element Qi?\u003e
"It's that time again? I guess I spent a lot of energy on this batch."
After Cao Mao had solved the previous dilemma between Yuan Hua and the Sun Crow ordering him to either rescue or ignore Ju Shoufen, the Goddess had given him the promise of 100 wet bananas, unlike the Sun Crow who hadn't given him anything.
Ever since Cao Mao had entered a closed-door training in the space, he had eaten 50 of the bananas already.
Whenever the banana's buff was in effect, his brain became a supercomputer, and he learned the herb processing techniques, herb characteristics, temperature adjustment, molecule management, and mutation chemistry faster.
Staying over 3 years in the space and spending 50 wet bananas had not been in vain. Cao Mao had memorized every attribute and characteristic of 5,000 families of herbs and 5,000,000 variations of mutated plants.
Also, he had benefited from the corpse of Xie Tian's clone.
The first benefit was the fire element Qi. Ju Shoufen had given him the fire element crystal three weeks ago, and Cao Mao had absorbed its energy.
The second one was Ju Shoufen's new creation, the dragon bloodline pill. She had concocted a batch of pills from Xie Tian's dead body with his help, and they got 3 pills out of the only batch of ingredients.
Ju Shoufen took two, and Cao Mao got one for himself. Of course, he had consumed it right away.
Unfortunately, the effect wasn't as Cao Mao had expected. The fire dragon bloodline had conflicted with his incomplete orc bloodline, and they had attempted to devour each other.
The evolution process could only be described as torture. Cao Mao had been unable to?do anything for a week inside the space. At best, he could only sit and pace his breath, healing his vital organs from the rampaging bloodlines.
In the end, the system's orc bloodline had dominated over the dragon bloodline. The fire dragon bloodline was pushed to his dantian and had ended up merging with his fire element core strengthening it in the process.
Thus, the fire element core was on the verge of evolving. If Cao Mao could form another sea of life essence and make the fire element core his second primary element, the core might grow into something good.
For now, Cao Mao only used the fire element as an alchemist. The elemental fire was many times more powerful and easier to control than the yang fire, so his alchemy proficiency had improved by leaps and bounds.
"Can you check the outside world if the auction has started yet? What time is it now?"
\u003cThe real world is currently 9.05 AM. The auction hasn't started yet.\u003e
"Okay. I guess I have time for another batch. I'll create a heaven-grade pill next… Now, what kind of pills can I make with my remaining ingredients? Oh right, I still haven't finished that goddamn incubus bloodline quest. System, is there a recipe for a succubus bloodline pill?"
\u003cThere is.\u003e
Cao Mao grinned.
…
At 9.30, the curtains opened and Tang Deming entered the stage. He bowed to everybody in the theatre with a bright smile.
"Welcome, fellow Daoists! Welcome to the last day of my Tang Merchant Guild Annual Auction! Today, we've gathered exceptional items for you!"
The crowd booed the fat man as he had arrived 30 minutes late. They also wanted to see today's treasures already.
"Ah, I know, I know. Of course, I'm late because we had to adjust the item list a bit. You see, the lowest quality items in today's auction are heaven-grade. We have to be extra careful when we're dealing with such precious treasures!"
"OOOOHHHHH!!"
The crowd got excited. They cheered and clapped, looking forward to seeing the items even though most of them could never bid for the cheapest item.
"Now, let's not waste our time anymore. Here is the first item!"
A beautiful assistant of Tang Deming pushed a cart to the center of the stage. On the cart, a thick black cloth covered a three-meter tall object, keeping the item mysterious.
Tang Deming pulled away from the clothes, revealing a spear inside a transparent glass container. Then, he announced.
"The first items are a heaven-grade spear, Twin Serpent Spear, made by the famous rank 7 blacksmith from the Silver Phoenix Sect, Luo Cheng! The insignia of Blacksmith Luo Cheng is engraved on the blade, and we also have his signature to prove its authenticity!"
Tang Deming puffed his chest, "The blade is made from the fangs of a Twin Serpent Beast from the Forbidden Forest. Well, everybody here should know what kind of beasts lurking within the Forbidden Forest northwest of our city, right?"
…
Cao Mao's eyes opened a bit when he heard the name of Luo Cheng, the former mentor of Xie Tian. He was wondering where this elder had been hiding. But it seemed that he had joined Xu Xiuying and her demonic sect.
Rustle
A white cat peeked her head outside of Cao Mao's cloth.
Mao Xueyan had tagged along with Cao Mao as she was the one who had begged him to join this event. There were a few things that she desperately needed to get back from the hands of humans and demons.
The cat patted Cao Mao's cheek with her soft paw, trying to wake him up.
Meow! (Wake up, stupid orc!)
Cao Mao frowned and looked at the cat, "I'm awake. I'm awake! Don't scratch me."
Meow! (That spear is made from my subordinate's corpse, and I think his soul is trapped in the weapon. Can you bid on the item for me?)
Cao Mao yawned and stretched before he rubbed his eyes. Then, he looked at the spear.
It was a three-meter long spear with a white blade. The shaft was made by a similar white metal, but it contained a sinister green miasma, similar to poisonous gas. Green smoke with the shape of a snake's head also emitted from the blade, but it couldn't get out of the container.
It reminded Cao Mao of the divine ingredients in his spatial rings. The spear was alive, and it struggled to get out of the glass box.
"That's going to be expensive."
Meow! (I have a budget of 20 essence cores and 900,000 refined stones. Try to bid for it, but don't overuse it. I still have a couple other things I want to bid on.)
"Okay, my lady. I'll try."
Cao Mao moved his neck from side to side, continuing stretching. He also warmed up his wrists, arms, and shoulders as the bidding competition might take a while.
…
Meanwhile, Tang Deming continued.
"The starting bid for this spear is 10,000 refined stones, and the minimum bid increment is 1,000 refined stones! Who will start the bid?"
As soon as Tang Deming declared the starting bidding price, the first floor's cultivators sucked their clod breath. As they had expected, this thing would be expensive.
Still, many people on the first floor raised sticks with their numbers on them, telling the auction host that they were bidding.
"11,000!"
"13,000!"
"15,000!"
"20,000!"
"35,000!"
For someone under the 4th-stage cultivation base, these people here were rich. However, in the eyes of top sects and organizations, it was an insult to the true value of a heaven-grade weapon.
It didn't take long for a big shot to raise the standard.
"200,000!"
A voice from the second floor echoed in the theatre hall.
The first floor cultivators stopped bidding right away. They clicked their tongues as they didn't have enough money to compete.
But the bidding pace didn't slow down.
"500,000 refined stones!" Another voice from the fourth floor resounded.
"750,000!" Someone from the third floor bellowed.
"950,000!"
Soon, it went beyond a million refined stones. After all, a heaven-grade weapon was considered the second top tier treasure that the local cultivator on this continent could have.
As everyone continued to raise the price, one voice from the fifth floor attracted everybody's attention.
Liu Bian stood up and declared.
"10 Million!"
10 million refined stones were 10 essence cores. The crown prince tried to shut out the crowd.
As soon as the prince spoke, nobody dared to open their mouths.
On the stage, Tang Deming looked around, waiting for someone else to bid. When nobody was making noise, he clicked his tongue and continued the bidding process.
"10 Million, going once!"
Nobody bid. Everybody looked around, hoping that someone could bid on this item for a higher price.
Xu Lanying also clicked her tongue. She was the owner of this item, and she had expected it to be sold for at least 100 to 200 essence cores. However, the price was too low.
"10 Million, going twice!"
Tang Deming intentionally delayed the closure. He paused for 5 seconds and looked around.
Seeing that nobody bid, Tang Deming sighed. As he was about to land the hammer, someone from the first floor finally raised his stick.
"10 million and 1,000 RSS."
Everyone turned to the hooded man, who had been sleeping and snoring earlier.
…
Mao Xueyan almost cried when Cao Mao bid 10 essence cores just now. It was half of her assets.
Meow! (Are you out of your mind!? That is half of my money! I still have two more things I need to buy!)
As she was meowing, her soft paw kept slapping Cao Mao's face.
"Excuse me? Haven't you heard the previous bid? I've just raised the minimum price, you know? I also did what you had asked me to do. What did I do wrong?"
"…"
While Cao Mao was bickering with the cat, the auction participants almost burst into laughter as they thought that Cao Mao was trolling.
"10 million and 1,000. Anyone?"
Even Tang Deming's face twitched. Normally, famous experts increased the price by millions to flaunt their status and wealth of their organization, so they could establish their reputation as a prosperous clan, sect, or organization. It also gave other bidders some face.
Yet, this guy had refused to follow that tradition and had shamelessly raised the price by the minimum bid increment.
While everyone found Cao Mao amusing, the people behind the prince were annoyed. They stood up and glared at Cao Mao, trying to remember his life signature.
Eunuch Rang laughed and whispered to the prince, "Should I kill that idiot after the auction?"
Liu Bian rolled his eyes, "Nah. If possible, try to invite the guy to my warship. I want to talk to him first."
"Oh? Why? Are you interested?"
"Commoners shouldn't have that much money. If he has that many essence cores, he should be someone special, right? Maybe he is working for another clan or sect in secret. Even if he's a pushover, his wealth might come in handy."
While Liu Bian was talking to Eunuch Rang, he raised his token and his fist, gesturing that he was raising the price by ten, aka ten million.
Tang Deming widely smiled. He declared, "20 million refined stones from the VIP box on the fifth floor!"
Hearing the number, Mao Xueyan was on the verge of crying. Even the spirit within the serpent spear seemed to notice her gaze as its expression looked sad.
Cao Mao, who was lazily yawning, raised his number sign again.
"20M and 1,000 refined stones."
Tang Deming's face reddened in anger and disgust. Yet, he allowed Cao Mao to continue bidding.
"20 million and 1,000 RSS!"
Liu Bian raised his bid again, "50 million refined stones."
At this point, tears rolled down on Mao Xueyan's face. She gave the serpent spirit an apologetic look as she was helpless. Even the snake spirit nodded as it understood her feelings.
Yet, Cao Mao raised his token once more.
"50M and 1,000 refined stones."
Everyone: "…"
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