The Auction (2/3)  

The price had already reached two hundred low-grade mana crystals, and just as Thiago was about to place his bid, someone beat him to it.

"I bid two hundred and fifty low-grade mana crystals, I hope you will give me, Gong Tieshan, some face."

A male voice, rather young but somewhat arrogant, rang out from one of the VIP private rooms on the second floor of the hall, overseeing the auction below and showing off the status of whoever was in those private rooms. 

Yes, even though Thiago had a letter of invitation to the auction, he only had a regular one, as Arthrey Xi, from whom he had taken the invitation, was not of a high enough status to qualify for the VIP treatment. 

That treatment was only available to those who were either truly noble, resourceful or a certain powerhouse, or all of the aforementioned.

Immediately after hearing the name "Gong Tieshan", many people started chattering.

"Wow! Isn't he the young master of the Gong family?"

"It seems so, he said so himself."

"Looks like the young master is interested in this black box."

"Now, no one would dare to bid on this item, right?" A certain man asked his companion, but surprisingly received a negative answer from him:

"Well, normally that would be the case, but I have heard from some reliable sources that there might be a representative from the Bright Sword Sect attending this auction today. And if they're also interested in the box, there's nothing Gong Tieshan can do to stop them, except to compete fairly with money.

 

Thiago, who had heard the surrounding discussions, could already guess that this Gong Tieshan seemed to be from some kind of powerful force, but he did not really care, and just after Gong Tieshan had implicitly asked everyone not to compete with him for this black box, Thiago did the exact opposite, as he thought: "I can't just let him get my treasure, can I?"

"I bid 260 low-grade mana crystals," Thiago said loudly.

While everyone was still talking, they heard Thiago place his bid loudly, and immediately many were completely confused.

"What? He really dares to bid after Gong Tieshan is interested in this item? Is he a fool?"

Gong Tieshan was also somewhat stunned in his private room.

Since when had someone not given him face?

"Interesting..." He muttered and then ordered a servant next to him to have someone investigate the identity of this green-haired man.

When the wild talk and chatter became too loud, Bai Yue, the hostess, calmed the audience: "Please be quiet, we now have a bid of 260 low-grade mana crystals, does anyone have a higher bid?"

"270 low-grade mana crystals." A cold female voice came from a private room a few rooms away from Gong Tieshan's.

"280 low-grade mana crystals," Thiago immediately bid again, already feeling that the bidding was quite interesting and fun...

Unlike Gong Tieshan, who did not feel the slightest bit of fun in bidding at the moment, as two unknown people bid on the item he wanted right after he had spoken so high profile. It was like a slap in the face to him.

"Damn! Why do they want that black box? Have they also felt that it might be a treasure?" Gong Tieshan cursed silently.

In the private room from which the cold female voice had previously emanated, there sat a stunningly beautiful girl with the outward appearance of an eighteen-year-old girl, snow-white hair, ice-blue pupils, and a set of white clean robes with a sword emblem on them. Presumably this girl was the representative of the Bright Sword sect.

At this point she was a little confused and thought, "I'm obviously just bidding for fun, so what about the other two guys? It can't be that this thing is really valuable, can it?"

Immediately, her image of an aloof, cold female sword cultivator collapsed at that moment. Fortunately, no one was around to witness this moment.

However, it still showed that it was not easy to perceive the uniqueness of the black box, as the representative of the Bright Sword Sect had not been able to do so.

Nevertheless, the girl made another bid, as this amount of low-grade mana crystals was negligible to her. At least at the current price. Things would change if the price really reached a certain height.

"290 low-grade mana crystals"

Meanwhile, the other participants saw that Gong Tieshan and two unknown people were constantly bidding on the black box, and they deduced that the box might indeed be a valuable treasure, but they were afraid to bid as well, because unlike those two, they were really afraid of the consequences of offending Gong Tieshan.

 

This bidding continued until Thiago finally got bored and made a bid of 1000 low-grade mana crystals, which immediately shocked the audience. 

 

However, Gong Tieshan persisted and followed up with a bid of 1010 low-grade mana crystals, apparently still determined to get his hands on the black box.

 

Unlike him, the female competitor stopped bidding as the price had already reached a level, she felt was not worth it, not that she didn't have enough money, but because she had absolutely no idea what the box was.

"Still not enough to deter you, then let me show you what it means to be rich and willful, Hehe," Thiago thought and immediately called out a price three times higher than before: 

 

"3000 low-grade mana crystals"

 

"Bang!" Gong Tieshan punched the table next to him in anger.

He might be rich, but he was not stupid and would not waste his money like this.

"What's wrong with this guy? Does he have to raise the price so much all at once?" Gong Tieshan cursed as he immediately asked his servant, who had just received an answer from the person in charge of investigating Thiago: "What is the result of the investigation?"

 

"This lowly servant is very sorry, but there are no results, my lord." The servant replied cautiously.

 

"Well, it seems that he is wearing a disguise, nothing to blame you for." Gong Tieshan replied surprisingly, not even blaming his servant for not getting the information about Thiago.

 

It seems that despite his arrogant behaviour, Gong Tieshan is still a pretty decent person.

To be honest, he only had a slight feeling that the box might be a treasure, but he was not really sure. What if that green-haired guy was also just gambling and was not sure if that black box was a real treasure? Wouldn't the biggest winner be the Baiming Chamber of Commerce?

Could it be that the box was really nothing special and they were just hoping for such a bidding war?

With these thoughts in mind, Gong Tieshan decided to stop bidding on this black box, as he had come to this auction for another item, so he did not really need to get this black box, and besides, the feeling that this black box was a treasure was really weak, and it might be completely wrong.

 

Seeing that no one else was bidding after Thiago's offer of 3000 low-grade mana crystals, the hostess spoke up: "This gentleman is bidding 3000 low-grade mana crystals, does anyone have a higher bid? "

 

After a few seconds with no higher bid, she continued: "Then I officially declare that the mysterious black box has been purchased by this gentleman! The item will be delivered to your seat shortly, so please have your mana crystals ready."

 

"I finally got that mysterious black box," Thiago muttered, happy to have won his first auction item.

He quickly bought one million low-grade mana crystals and ten thousand medium-grade mana crystals from the system store for thirty thousand [System Points].

 

This left him with 1,555,203 [System Points].

Actually, there were numerous large mounds of mana crystals piled up in the Daoist Sacred Blade's legacy, but all of them were at least high grade, and some of them were even ultimate grade. He was reluctant to use those high-grade mana crystals, as they would be far too prominent in this small half-moon city. 

Earlier, Thiago had just used his divine sense to check out the Inheritance after he had learned about the mana crystals and then found them in an inconspicuous corner within the Inheritance space that he had previously overlooked or simply ignored when he first checked out the Inheritance some time ago. 

 

Now that he knew what these mana crystals were and that they contained mana, he could easily increase his strength while still in the city by simply devouring these mana crystals with his Black Hole ability. 

After the auction, when he returned home, he would try it.

Well, these were things for later…

 

"Now let me introduce the next item on today's auction -" the hostess broke the brief silence and began her introduction:

"Next up is the unique class sword of the famous Daoist One Step Seven Kills, who was famous for his excellent footwork and swordsmanship." 

 

Whether for the integrity of the Baiming Chamber of Commerce or for other reasons, she admitted: "The sword, however, bears the scars of time and countless battles. Though still impressive in its faded glory, the weapon is not without its flaws. A tiny crack runs the length of the blade. Despite the crack, its edge is as sharp as ever, capable of slicing through steel, flesh and bone with an almost supernatural ease. You can rest assured."

 

Thiago looked at the weapon, which had already been placed on the stage while the hostess had been speaking.

 

In the center of the stage, resting on a crimson silk cushion, lay the sword of the Daoist One Step Seven Kills.

The blade itself was a masterpiece of craftsmanship. The hilt was wrapped in intricately woven silk cords, with a dragon-shaped pommel as its centerpiece. The guard bore elaborate engravings telling the stories of its previous wielder and the battles in which he engaged. The metal of the blade was a rare, lustrous alloy known only to a few skilled blacksmiths. 

"Well, it looks good, but I have no need for it." Thiago thought as he decided not to bid this time since he really had no need for this kind of weapon.

"The starting price is 1000 low-grade mana crystals, and each subsequent increment may not be less than 50 low-grade mana crystals."

"Now, let the bidding begin!"

 

There seemed to be more bidders this time than when the mysterious box was auctioned off, but that is understandable, as the sword itself has a reputation, or at least that of its former wielder, and many of those present were interested in the sword.

 

In a certain private room, the representative of the Bright Sword sect was immediately attracted to the sword and determined to get her hands on it. "This sword looks really pretty; I can just have it repaired by a skilled blacksmith later if I get it."

 

It seems that this girl makes her decisions purely on instinct, without any reasoning, just like before when she bid for the box just for fun.

Since Gong Tieshan wasn't a swordsman and wasn't interested in swords either, he wasn't the least bit inclined to bid this time.

The bidding price soon reached 2500 low-grade mana crystals, and with each successive increase, fewer people participated. 

 

However, the hall was so big and there were so many people that there were still plenty of people taking part, and many people were in no hurry and just bided their time until they placed a bid, just like the girl in the private room. 

She waited until there were less people and then she would bid, because it would make no difference if she were to bid now or later.

 

Finally, when the price reached a staggering four thousand low-grade mana crystals, only three people were still bidding, and they all took a long time to up their bid.

 

It seems that they were not really willing to spend more mana crystals, as it would not be worth it, as they would still have to repair the sword, which would cost them a lot of money.

"4500 low-grade mana crystals." The bright sword sect representative bid and no one placed a bid higher than her even after the hostess asked the usual questions whether someone offered a higher price.

 

"Congratulations to this lady for winning the sword of the famous Daoist One Step Seven Kills!"

 

After that, many items were auctioned off one after the other, but Thiago wasn't really interested in any of them, until the hostess suddenly introduced the penultimate item of the day's auction...