Auction

The auctioneer clapped his hands. "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, esteemed guests to this official auction held by the six major guilds. Everyone plays fairly and we do not condone any violence or scramble for treasure later on, this is a world of law and order. Please keep that in mind.

Now we have a whole host of items prepared for your enjoyment. May the highest bid win!

The first group of items is presented by the Government's Strategic Defense Department. We will now bring forth the first item."

Soon, a tray arrived in front of the auctioneer with a chest on it, tilted in the direction of the audience. He opened the chest and spoke.

"The first object is a very unique object. It is quite hard to find and has surprising effects. This is a Phoenix clan's dying tear drop that has solidified."

Tristan looked up what the object was through the Vast Expanse network. The phoenix clan is an offshoot clan that has some ties to a powerful otherworldly creature known as the Phoenix. The clan's dying tear is the tear drop shed when a member dies. This tear drop is considered a clan treasure to be used on geniuses. It has the effect of clearing the mind and potentially improving mental power. Tristan decided to bid for it.

The bids had continuously risen from 500,000 dollars on to over 1.5 million. Tristan had items on auction and thus had a free credit line to bid as he pleased. He had seen the estimated price on the Vast Expanse network and didn't think this object deserved more than that price.

"2,000,000 dollars." He bid using the machine within his VIP room.

"The individual in VIP room 11 has bid for 2,000,000 dollars. Goes once, goes twice, deal."

Soon the tear drop disappeared and arrived in Tristan's room.

Liu Daobai and Tina were in VIP room 5. The olf man was sipping tea. Tina grumbled by the side. "Grandfather, why did you auction that? It looks so beautiful. I wanted it." Daobai shook his head. "We get a tribute from the phoenix clan every year, you've already had that item three times as a small child, it wouldn't have an affect on you. VIP Box 11, is that the new rising individual in the Vast Expanse?"

Tristan received the tear drop and when he held it in his hands his system spoke up.

[Phoenix Clan's Dying Tear]

[Absorb? Y/N]

Tristan asked the system to absorb it and soon he felt his mind cooled and his mental state become calmer and more relaxed.

[Race: Human]

[Evolution: None]

[Progress: 90%]

[Physique: Corrosion Resistance 10%, True Golden Body]

His progression actually increased by one percent only, which made him sigh. But he focused on the next item. The next three items weren't too useful for him. They were all cultivation agents of some kind which increased the strength of pursuing cultivation, which was useless to him.

"The last item in this set is not an item, but an invitation. This is an invitation to a ruin of an Ancient Civilization on earth that predates our own. The ruin is controlled by the government, but five invites to the ruin are being auctioned today. We bid separately for each invitation."

The crowd instantly began murmurings and people discussed with each other. The first invitation bid, which Tristan did not participate in was sold for 15 million. The second one which Tristan did bid once in was sold for 22 million. It seemed like the demand for this invitation was quite high.

In the third invitation Tristan grit his teeth and managed to win with a bid of 12 million. He was lucky, because the next two were sold for 15 and 24 million respectively Tristan wondered if a trip to an ancient civilization ruin would be worth it, but he hoped for the best.

"The next set of items are from the Vast Expanse. The Vast Expanse had put out a surprising number of items this time around. The first item is... a verdant shield!"

Tristan was not too excited about the first few items on display here. Most of them were cultivation scrolls, weapons or magic spell formulas. There was incredible demand for these items in the auction too. Plenty of VIP boxes had entered bidding wars, it was just unfortunate that none of those were suited for Tristan.

Eventually an item came out that piqued his interest. It was a small ice cube.

"This, esteemed guests, needs no introduction. It is known as Millenium Ice, the core of an iceberg that had formed a spirit after millions of years. This item is extremely rare and very helpful for ice magic spell study, ice based cultivation arts or even forging weapons using ice tempering."

Instantly the bidding exploded again. 10 million turned into 20 million into 40 million to 80 million. At 80 million the bids suddenly came to a stop. Just when everyone thought that bid would end at this point, VIP Box 11 made a new bid.

"100 million!" The other bidders sighed. In VIP Box 12, another Vast Expanse member sat in deep thought. He knew that the box beside him was occupied by an individual called White Star, but White Star's information was blocked even to other elders like him. He had been trying to understand White Star through his bidding patterns, but his bids were so erratic and unconventional. They were often rare but sort of useless items for this Vast Expanse member, a powerful mage.

Similar thoughts were passing through other people's minds as well. In VIP box number 4. Liu Daobai was grumbling. He was a top power in the government and hated it when he didn't know something.

"Just who is White Star?" He grumbled. Tina also looked towards the box. 100 million! She was shocked by the bid.