“Young Hero Li bids 6 pieces… Junior Sect Master Qiao bids 7…”
“…..”
At the Eastern Pearl Building auction, the atmosphere was as quiet as a library, with all eyes glazed over, staring blankly at the two competitors in the distance, their heads buzzing.
Qiao Ziyu occasionally shot a furious glare at Li Mo, before once again raising his bidding paddle, clearly losing his mind over this.
Li Mo, on the other hand, said nothing and merely raised his paddle, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the price had already exceeded their wildest imaginations.
Oh, they’re already shouting three hundred Xuan Crystals.
No matter how high the sea silk was, it was still just for making clothes—at best, it’d have a color-changing gimmick slapped in.
Three hundred Xuan Crystals?
Have they lost their minds or has the entire realm gone nuts?
Even Qian Bufan’s face was twitching: “Li Mo, chill out. Forget it, man. If you raise again, I might just go dig for sea silk myself!”
“I’m too proud for that! How could I not raise my bid?”
Li Mo lifted his jade paddle once more.
“What on earth do you need this for anyway?”
“To make clothes.”
“Other fabrics can work too…”
“Other fabrics can’t change colors, and they aren’t this easy to rip apart!”
“？？？”
Qian Bufan’s brain was puffing steam, still struggling to wrap his head around this nonsense reason.
But then it hit him—spending money was whatever.
After all, the Eastern Pearl Building was essentially his now; whatever he shouted, in the end, it all would just go back into his own pocket…
If Li Mo was just a guy burning cash, then what on earth was Qiao Ziyu risking?
“Once again, Young Hero Li bids three hundred and ten Xuan Crystals!”
As soon as that was said,
“Uh… waah…”
Qiao Ziyu instinctively tried to raise his paddle again.
But before he could finish his sentence, a pig’s trotters were stuffed into his mouth.
The elder with the staff quickly intervened: “Junior Sect Master, that’s enough! We’ve already made him pay a hefty price; if you keep raising it and he backs out, what will we do?”
“Don’t forget, we still have other items we want to secure!”
Qiao Ziyu glanced at the price on the stage, his expression mellowing a bit.
Indeed, he had just forced Li Mo to pay out three hundred and forty-seven Xuan Crystals.
That’s a bigger hit than spending two hundred Xuan Crystals on pig trotters!
A hint of dread rose within him.
What if Li Mo didn’t bid anymore? What would he do then?
“Fine, I won’t raise it!”
Qiao Ziyu finally admitted it aloud.
At this moment, Lan Tian dropped her gavel, announcing that the three thousand yards of sea silk would go to Li Mo for three hundred and ten Xuan Crystals.
The auction continued.
Next up, it seemed Qiao Ziyu considered this sea silk just the beginning, and pressed on, raising bids every time Li Mo raised his.
Nine-petal lotus carriage, Cloud Water bed… Whatever was up for bid, he just kept jacking up the price until he was satisfied.
Li Mo ended up spending at least a thousand Xuan Crystals.
But he appeared casual about it, like punching a cotton ball—such an absurd sight!
“That must equate to the entire fortune of the Zhenzhou Sect, right?”
“Uh, I doubt even Hengyun Sword City could come up with that much.”
“I heard Young Hero Li splurged lavishly in the Imperial Capital, but even then it was only a few hundred Xuan Crystals. Does he really have that kind of cash now?”
Whispers rustled through the crowd.
“If he can’t fork up that much money later, I can’t wait to see how he’ll end up!”
Qiao Ziyu snorted in disdain.
—
The elder with the staff chimed in: “It’s definitely becoming tense in here!”
The auction was nearing its end, but the crowd’s anticipation was mounting.
Everyone knew that the last auction item was usually the big-ticket item.
“We are approaching the conclusion of our auction. The final piece is a tattered map of the Return to Ruins.”
“It is said to be the place where the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths met the footprints of immortals, its value is self-evident, and it may even contain the secrets of immortality…”
“Certified by the Dantai Sect from Penglai, this is definitely the real deal!”
Whoosh—
The red cloth fell, revealing a bronze plate etched with divine patterns, shimmering softly like starlight, imbued with an air of antiquity and mystery.
In that instant, it felt like witnessing the passage of time and eternity.
The crowd’s breaths grew lighter.
For most, the place known as Return to Ruins had long existed only in legends.
Immortals…
Such an ethereal word, yet it invokes deep yearning in one’s heart.
Of course, this item had likely been studied by the Penglai Star Sect for ages, possibly for centuries, and clearly, they hadn’t found any substantial results; hence it was making its way to the Eastern Pearl Building.
But… becoming immortal requires fate.
What if that fateful child was oneself?
Many entertained such thoughts, but most would only gaze at it for a second…
“The starting bid is five hundred Xuan Crystals!”
This price made the vast majority of sects gulp.
“Six hundred Xuan Crystals!”
Right off the bat, someone shouted a bid, the urgency evident in their voice.
Yet the moment the words left their lips, they were immediately drowned out by another voice.
“Six hundred and five! Plus a piece of dragon whale bone! I am from the Xing Sha Sect, and I hope everyone gives me some face!”
“The Xing Sha Sect? Isn’t that just a stinky fish-selling place? Seven hundred! And two ports from Dongluo Bay.”
“Come on, buddy, where’s your class? Is there no one to rein you in?!”
The scene became chaotic in an instant.
It’s no wonder that many sects were eager; most of their bids represented their entire fortunes.
“Junior Sect Master, we’ve only brought eight hundred Xuan Crystals. We really can’t afford any more; we can only offset with other treasures.”
The elder’s brow furrowed deeply.
In an auction, trading valuable items for money would always be at a loss, very unwise indeed.
“…..”
Qiao Ziyu fell silent; originally, he had a thousand.
Too bad he spent eight hundred Xuan Crystals on a pig’s trotters and couldn’t trade them back for crystals…
He hadn’t anticipated the competition to become this fierce.
If he missed the Return to Ruins map because of just this small shortfall, one could only imagine the kind of punishment awaiting him when he returned to the sect.
“Eight hundred Xuan Crystals.”
At this point, he bitterly glared at Li Mo,
The crowd fell silent for a brief moment.
Clearly, that had already exceeded the average competition’s net worth; the remaining sects had little Xuan Crystals left and were eyeing each other warily, waiting for someone to blink first and gauging one another’s true wealth.
Just then, a familiar voice that hadn’t spoken up in a while shattered the silence:
“One thousand Xuan Crystals, five mountain ranges!”
“?”
Qiao Ziyu glanced at the insect, now turning a deep purple.
So, Li Mo really wanted this thing too?
…..
