Chapter 369: Lags Behind

The bid sparked off a tumultuous situation in the auction hall the moment it was made from that private room.

The bid price of sixty or seventy thousand spirit stones for ten high-ranked magic charms already seemed as an absolute high price. Not to mention the bid of 100,000 spirit stones that wasn't a high price, but was a sky-high price.

It didn't matter how rare a high-ranked magic charm was or how hard it was to buy it... the only thing that mattered to everyone was that it was a disposable thing that could be used only once. It was said that the Western continent was blessed with the plentiful amount of resources. However, 100,000 spirit stones weren't considered a small sum of money even on this continent. In fact, it was more than enough amount to buy a spirit tool of good quality.

As expected, the surrounding people didn't make any sound after this bid price was announced. Even the other private rooms remained silent in response.

Gu Li inwardly brimmed with excitement as he witnessed this situation. The first item for auction ended up pulling such a high bid price - this was definitely regarded as a grand opening for this pavilion.

"The next treasure is a low-ranked spirit tool, Silver Arc Cold Spear!" Gu Li beckoned with his hand, and a few people carried a long thing over to the stage. It was covered with a red cloth.

Gu Li then uncovered the red cloth, and a ten-feet-long silver spear came before everyone's eyes. A silver ray of light was moving on the surface of the spear. This signified that it was apparently a very nimble and resourceful spirit tool.

The spearhead was bent like a serpent's body, and its pointed tip was suffused with a little red light. It was giving off a dense malignant aura like a serpent's.

In fact, the whole silver spear looked like a silver python lying on its back. And, it seemed as if it might swoop over and injure people at any time.

In the room on the first floor of the pavilion... Shi Mu's eyes gleamed as he saw this spear.

This silver spear was the same spear he had grabbed from the hands of the Earth-ranked Elder of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult in those days. But, it now looked different to some extent. In fact, it appeared as if its spiritual energy had made a big progress. It rather seemed that the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion would have sent people to do something about this thing after it was handed over to Zhong Xiu.

"The quality of this treasure is exceptionally good. And, its attacking power is extraordinary..." Gu Li was pretty good at delivering a powerful speech. He just needed a few words to bring into the light how rare and unusual this spear was.

There were some people in the crowd who didn't own any spirit tool. Those people immediately started to make bids for that spear, and the spear got sold at a high price in no time.

A string of valuable things was offered for the auction in the following time - like a stream of water. Those things included all kinds of magic tools, pills, materials, and other precious items. In addition, a few batches of high-ranked magic charms were also sold every now and then.

However, these batches of magic charms couldn't get auctioned at the sky-high price of 100,000 spirit stones like before. But, they were still able to draw high bids due to the influence of the previous bid.

The atmosphere of the venue gradually heated up. The honored guests in the private rooms continued to win bids from time to time. The first half of the auction soon came to an end like this.

In a certain room on the first floor... Zhong Xiu held a white jade board in her hands, and a line of small characters appeared on it. It was the final bid price of all items that were sold in the first half of the auction.

"How is the result of the first half?" Shi Mu asked.

"It's almost 1.08 million. This is 20% higher than our anticipation." Zhong Xiu said.

Shi Mu nodded. All valuables things had been put on hold for the following time. Still, the first half could fetch this score; it was itself a pretty good result.

Suddenly, a little green light emerged on Zhong Xiu's waist. She saw that and her complexion changed. She then put down the jade board, and took out a green bead from her waist. And, her face got smeared with a tensed expression in response.

"What's this?" Shi Mu asked.

"I sent a spy to the Jade Spirit Pavilion's auction. The first half of their auction has also ended. That spy has sent the transaction amount of their auction," Zhong Xiu said. Then, she took a deep breath, and pointed the bead that was in her hand.

The bead flashed in response and projected a green light screen. The light screen contained the list of items along with its transaction amount.

The total of all transaction amounts was mentioned at the bottom of the light screen.

It was 1.395 million spirit stones!

Zhong Xiu's complexion turned deathly white. The business transaction of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion was nearly 30% behind the Jade Spirit Pavilion's in the first half.

Shi Mu's brows slightly wrinkled, and then quickly unfolded again.

"There is no need to worry about this." He held Zhong Xiu's hand and said in a gentle manner.

"But..." Zhong Xiu said.

"Miss Xiu, it's all right. Look at the list of items on it. It clearly shows that the Jade Spirit Pavilion has auctioned myriads of good things in the first half. So, it's not like we'll surely fail to catch up with them in the second half." Shi Mu said.

Zhong Xiu took a deep breath and nodded in a reluctant manner.

...

The Jade Spirit Pavilion.

The beautiful woman held a jade token in her hand, and a layer of light emerged on it. A list could also be seen on the surface of the light screen. It illustrated the situation of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion.

"Their transaction amount is less than 1.1 million in the first half." A contemptuous smile spread on the beautiful woman's face and she received the jade token.

"We have received information from the informer we have sent there. According to him... there are still many high-ranked magic charms that will be offered in the second half of the auction there. And, the situation of their first half's transaction is ample enough to determine that these magic charms can alone earn a lot of spirit stones for them." The green-dressed young married woman stood beside her. She said in a careful manner.

"Humph! I naturally know that the other things in their list of items aren't worth worrying about... except for their final product — the star stone. Moreover, it's also not like we won't offer any valuable items in the second half of our auction. Keep a close eye on the situation of the Welcoming the Immortal Pavilion. And report me right away if there is any important news." The beautiful woman said.

...

The Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion... the second half of the auction started soon after a short break.

The first item for auction was a section of green wood that was almost as big as the height of a person. The annual rings were clearly visible on top of it. The wood was exuding circles of green rays of light. The surrounding people could feel the strong wood-attribute spiritual energy that the wood contained even though there was a big distance between them and the wood.

"Everyone, this treasure is rumored to be a rare King Spirit Wood. It is hard to come by even in hundreds of years. This pavilion has spent a great deal of energy to get hold of this wood. It is regarded as an exceptionally good material for making wood-attribute spirit tools. The initial price starts from 30,000 spirit stones." Gu Li said.

A fervent look gushed into the eyes of surrounding people in response.

The fact was these people were very insightful. So, they noticed at a glance that this piece of wood was indeed the rarest spirit material. If someone would found an expert refiner, he could make a perfect wood-attribute spirit tool for him. Also, the quality of that finished spirit tool wouldn't be low. In fact, it might turn out to be a top-ranked spirit tool.

The starting bid price for this wood was 30,000 spirit stones. And, this wasn't high. But, this kind of precious and uncommon treasure would often start with low starting bid price. And then, the actual sale price would gradually exceed the normal standard.

"35,000!" a voice spread from a private room immediately afterwards.

"40,000!" another voice made the bid.

"50,000!"

This King Spirit Wood was indeed one of the priceless and unique treasures. Therefore, the voice of people who were bidding against each other started to get tensed up with each subsequent bid. And then, the bid price quickly clambered up to the mark of 100,000 spirit stones.

Clamors of discussion soon started to ring in the hall. All those people who were bidding for this wood were in the private rooms.

"It's selling for 1,00,000 spirit stones right now. Tsk Tsk... the people in those private rooms are very rich."

"Of course they are. Those who have occupied the private rooms are the tyrannical people of various regions. How can they be compared to some unimportant people like us?"

"1,10,000!" An old voice transmitted from a certain private room. The person in that room was the same grey-robed old man who was with Leng Yue Tong before.

The bid price of 110,000 was already a very high price. Therefore, the surrounding people didn't utter a word for a while.

"1,50,000!" Gu Li waited a moment. Then, he was about to open his mouth to speak something when a languid voice rang out in the hall.

The people on the scene had a very strong memory. It took them just a fraction of second to recognize this voice. They figured that this voice belonged to the same person who had made the unreasonably highest bid of 100,000 spirit stones to grab the first batch of high-ranked magic charms.

The grey-robed old man's brows shook a little. Then, he shook his head and didn't announce his bid again.

...

"Who is this person? He seems to have a very strong financial background!" Zhong Xiu was in the room on the first floor of the pavilion. She looked at a particular private room from where the languid voice had just spread with a pleasantly surprised look on her face.

She flipped her hand and took out a jade token. Everyone's names were mentioned on it.

"Yu Tian..." Zhong Xiu found the name of the person who was in that private room. But then, her face revealed a puzzled look.

She had never heard this name.

"It doesn't matter who this person is. All that matters to us is that he is able to make high bids for us." Shi Mu said in a soft voice.

"Hmm, no matter who this person is, I would like to personally go to express my gratitude and respect to him later." Zhong Xiu nodded as she said.

The auction continued, and the second item was offered for auction. It was a long silver whip. It was also a spirit tool that couldn't be considered inferior to the former silver spear in terms of quality.

People started to make their bids for this silver whip. After some time, someone made the highest bid of 40,000 spirit stones.

"60,000!" But then, the languid voice resounded once again.

The people on the scene heard this, and their complexion changes one after another. They all directed their gazes at that particular private room.

That private room was shrouded in a prohibition spell. So, it was natural that they couldn't see inside that room.

The third item for auction was again a batch of ten high-ranked magic charms...

The second half of the auction was carried out in sequence. Every time an item mounted the stage... it turned out to be some genuine treasures.

However, all influential people on the scene had their hearts filled with annoyance by now.

The reason behind their annoyance was that languid voice. It continued to ring every now and then without any warning. This person never failed to call out his bids for all kinds of treasures regardless of whether it was materials, pills or spirit tools. And on top of that, the bid price he would quote was always beyond reasonable limits.

Consequently, the second half of the auction was taken over by this person. He captured almost one-third of all displayed items by quoting an excessively high price.

On the other side, the presence of this person also more or less affected the price of other products... so much so that the bid prices of several other things closed at a relatively higher price than the normal bid price.

The second half of the auction soon approached its end. However, the atmosphere of the venue seemed even more intense and enthusiastic since the people knew that the genuinely rare treasure would show up at the end of the auction.

A yellow-robed attendant walked up to the stage with a green wooden box in his hand and placed it on the stage.

"Can it possibly be... that thing..."

"It should be since the auction is about to end at any moment..."

The people under the stage started to talk about it with excitement.

"Everyone seems to have guessed it. That's right; the next treasure is the Mysterious Dark Flower that everyone has been waiting for!"

Gu Li opened the wooden box, and revealed three green flowers that were arranged in it in a proper order.

"It's indeed the Mysterious Dark Flower!" a wave of loud droning sounds burst forth in the hall.

This flower had hit the limelight and enjoyed great popularity at the small auction which was organized by the Jade Spirit Pavilion sometime before. Afterwards, the entire Rising Sun City had become familiar with this kind of alien treasure that could enhance the user's magic power cultivation to an astonishing degree. So, it could be said that this flower had already been popular among the people.

All influential people above the auction hall were itching to begin a fight. So, they joined the bidding one by one.

Eventually, the three Mysterious dark flowers were snatched away by the grey-robed old man at the bid price of 190,000 spirit stones. And, the surprising point was that languid voice didn't participate in the bidding this time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next precious thing is counted as the number-one treasure of this auction." Gu Li said. Simultaneously, he turned his hand and took out a fist-sized wooden box.

He then opened the wooden box. A thumb-sized stone was kept in it. The stone was sparkling and radiating bursts of star-like light; it was the star stone.

"I don't think there is a need to explain the origin and function of this thing. The base price of this star stone is 200,000 spirit stones. And, each subsequent bid must be higher than 10,000 spirit stones." Gu Li said.

The final product of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion's auction was a star stone. This thing was a part of the list of items which was attached to the invitation cards. But, people with a discerning eye could believe it only when they finally saw it clearly.

The worth of a star stone was also known to everybody. They knew that it had the ability to open and maintain the space channel between two interfaces. It was just that it had only one usage. Otherwise, it couldn't be measured in spirit stones.

"2,00,000!" A woman's voice resounded at this moment. It was the voice of the woman surnamed Zhen. She sat upright in one of the private rooms.

"2,20,000!" Someone immediately began to compete.