053: Crimson Cloud Auction House (3)
The Crimson Cloud Auction House did not know how much the budget of Yue Xuexia's group was, but the mere fact that she is a divine doctor is enough for her to lend this room, and even for Tan Bingyu, it is her first time staying in such an opulent room. The house manager, Lin Chiyu, escorted Yue Xuexia and her group into the first room, where only the VIP among the VIPs stayed.
The number of rooms is sufficient to demonstrate the power of an individual. Although mortals are not frequent visitors to this auction house, this does not mean that they are absent. After all, not all cultivators are wealthy. Occasionally, mortals own more than an average cultivator. For mortals, anything in this auction house has the potential to either improve their lot in life or bring them to their demise while returning home.
Even though Room #1 had the most basic interior design, every part of it is something that cannot be purchased with money; after all, even an ordinary piece of wood in this room was considered a spiritual object, which was even rare in the cultivation. However, for Yue Xuexia, who is protected by the Mystic Guardians, and Tai Yang, such a thing is not at all problematic.
All three of them sensed the dense power of Qi in this room. Cultivating in this room allows cultivators to gain strength more quickly. Yue Xuexia does not require it because she is not a cultivator. Taiyang found that this thickness of qi was even sufficient to replenish the qi he had just used, and it nearly had no effect on him. Tan Bingyu is the only one who benefits from this room.
Lin Chiyu said, "The auction is about to begin. I need to supervise it personally. Please excuse me for now." He took his leave to resume his duties.
The three reacted differently after the people who had entered Room #1 had closed the door: Tai Yang went to where the desserts and drinks were kept; Tan Bingyu seemed a little restless since entering the room; naturally, she remembered her responsibilities and brought something to her mistress and Tai Yang. Yue Xuexia had selected the softest seat and leaned back.
Yue Xuexia saw her fidgety and said, "Don't mind us. You can cultivate it for the whole day."
"Yes! Thank you, Mistress!" Tan Bingyu said.
Tai Yang asked, "So how do we bid here? There is no placard."
Yue Xuexia passed the tablet PC she saw on the black, ebony wooden table. She pointed at the screen in front of them.
"The whole auction would be played here, but you can only peek over the veranda to see it for yourself. When the one you like is being auctioned, you put your bid price using the tablet or shout-out. Your choice," explained Yue Xuexia.
Tai Yang nods knowingly. "I see. You can use the tablet to hide your identity or shout confidently if you aren't afraid of trouble. Is it because there are mortals among the clients?"
"The Auction House must at least protect their clients in their own territory," Yue Xuexia said. Then she took the tablet from Taiyang and said, "I don't want to shout, so give me the tablet. If you find something you like shouting, I will pay for it."
Taiyang grumbles, "I don't know if there is anything I would like, but I will keep your words in mind." He looks so disinterested in this auction made by people of the mortal world.
The rooms were arranged in rows, with Yue Xuexia's room being the highest, offering the best view of the entire arena and the largest screen. Lin Chiyu then made an appearance on stage, seemingly fulfilling his rare role as host for the day when, upon discovering Yue Xuexia's presence, his superiors instructed him to bring out all the treasures in their warehouse, including an artifact that the divine doctor might find useful and to add as a defense mechanism, since they had heard that she was there to purchase gifts.
Murmurs in the audience grew louder, and they were all excited, knowing that there might be rare things on auction today. Lin Chiyu stunned everyone with his red robes and elegant posture when he appeared on stage. Those who knew him can not believe he would appear in such an ordinary auction. Usually, this house manager only appears when rare and unknown cultivation resources are auctioned.
"Welcome to Crimson Cloud Auction House. I am Lin Chiyu, who will host today's treasures. Ah! Yes, everyone is free to bid as always, but please remember the rules of the auction house. We don't accept credit, so beware. Also, infighting for today's auction is allowed as long as the venue isn't destroyed. Except, don't involve mortals, or we will make our move as well."
The auction hall became quite noisy, as was to be expected, as the cultivators were enthused by this unexpected revelation that a large number of rare items will be put up for auction today. Lin Chiyu, with a crimson cloud fan artifact in his hand, served as the auctioneer for this day's sale.
"Let's begin. The first item is a 1000-year-old ginseng. It was dug out from our sect's medicinal garden. It was grown near the dragon vein under the sect, so it grew up accumulating qi. It had enough qi that is equal to that of the Peak Qi Refinement Stage.! The beginning price is 100 million. The increment price is 10 million. Bidding Started!" Lin Chiyu explained the first time.
A thousand-year-old ginseng is an uncommon find in the world of mortals. Many cultivators were interested in it, particularly since it was cultivated on the land of the Crimson Cloud Sect, whose territory was considered a holy region. Naturally, mortals were also drawn to this ginseng.
"110 Million!"
"120 Million!"
"150 Million!"
"200 Million!"
Though he was expecting it, the Divine Doctor is not interested in such a thing, and he could not help but pursue his lips as he thought, but Lin Chiyu was slyly watching Room #1's response as the bidding price for the ginseng increased with every second.
'Is a Millennium Ginseng not enough? Maybe it's so common that she doesn't need it. Maybe she will like the Millennium Snow Lotus instead.'
"300 Million!"
"350 Million!"
"500 million! Hmp!"
When the bidding price was half a billion, the people bidding for it turned silent. Lin Chiyu knows the final price for the Millennium Ginseng has been decided.
"Let's begin the final call. 500 million going at once!"
"...."
"Going twice."
"..."
"Going thrice!"
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Lin Chiyu finalized the price and said, "Congratulations to our guest from Room #5. Your item shall be delivered. Please be ready to pay. For our next item..."
Lin Chiyu looked a little curious when he displayed a hand-sized Three Millennium Lotus, and everyone in the auction house was intrigued by the beautiful woman dressed in antiquated attire wheeling a cart that emitted enough white smoke to cause icing on the cart.
From the Room #1:
Tai Yang said, "A snow lotus. It's a three-millennium one. Are you finally interested in it, Xue'er?"
"Hm~, it can barely be used for beauty products. But I guess I can give it to my pharmaceutical company to play with," Yue Xuexia said.
Tai Yang said, "This herb can barely be used by me. Do as you wish. I will protect you no matter what."
"Okay~"
---
Back on stage, Lin Chiyu explained the second item to the guests of the auction hall.
"The second item is a three-millennium-old Snow Lotus. It blooms at will, and its lotus seed allows one to gain ice elemental qi. For those with Yin Physique, this is something they couldn't miss. It will greatly increase their strength twofold."
"Its base price is $500 million. The bid can be increased by $100 million each time. Start bidding!"
This time, only the big shots of the mortal world and cultivators bid for such a precious thing.
"600 Million!"
"700 Million!"
"800 Million!"
"900 Million!"
"1 Billion!"
It is such a fascinating scenario to watch people toss money like this, so when the bidding of a billion was heard, the audience gasped in shock. However, since the maximum worth of this Snow Lotus is at least 2 billion, the bidding goes on.
"1.1 Billion!"
"1.2 Billion!"
"1.3 Billion!"
"1.5 Billion!"
"2 Billion!!!"
This time, the highest bidder is the Xue Clan, a member of the A cultivation family. They are a sizable clan in the cultivation world with ties to the mortal world, so they have sufficient wealth to contend for the Snow Lotus, which is entirely consistent with the methods used by their family.
The other guests whispered,
"It's the Xue Clan. We can no longer bid."
"Moreover, such a lotus is more useful for them."
"It reached the peak price. No need to bid just to offend someone from the Xue Clan."
"That's right. Give it up."
---
Yue Xuexia heard that the snow lotus is capable of increasing a cultivator born with Yin Physique and glanced at Yan Bingyu cultivating not far from them.
"Yangyang, is this lotus flower effective on Sister Bingyu's Nine Yin Meridians Physique?" Yue Xuexia asked.
Taiyang said, "Eating this is no use for a high-class physique like Nine Yin Meridians, but the Snow Frost Pill is made from this and is something compatible with her physique. Do you want to increase her strength?"
Yue Xuexia said, "A bit. After all, you won't always be by my side."
She smiled, as though she had long since come to terms with the fact that Taiyang and the system would eventually leave her side; after all, she is very sensitive to attachments, but he senses nothing from Taiyang and the system; they never intended to stay in the mortal realm, so naturally, she will not stop him. After all, they are not from the same world.
In addition to not knowing what to say next, Taiyang and the system were dumbfounded and could not alter their original intentions since Yue Xuexia was too hazardous in the immortal realm.
[I will make sure no one who will hurt you or those you care for exists before I leave. This is a vow I made with my name.]
Yue Xuexia smiled at him and said, "Okay, I believe you."
However, Yue Xuexia is happy with what she heard and was in a good mood after hearing those words. Taiyang, on the other hand, was almost taken aback by this lovely smile and quickly averted his sight.
---
The Xue Clan was gloating at the Crimson Cloud Sect upon losing such a treasure to them; they could not even understand why they were bringing out such big treasures as if they were trying to please someone. The bidding terminated when the $2 billion bid price was announced. This is the peak price of the three-thousand-year-old Snow Lotus.
Lin Chiyu felt helpless, wondering why their revered Divine Doctor seemed uninterested in such a treasure, and regretting that he had brought forth a treasure that could benefit the rival Xue Clan.
While all of this was going on, Taiyang found it amusing that Yue Xuexia was using the tablet to vent her frustration at having repeatedly failed to count the zeros that would equal a billion.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7? How many zeros is a billion again?"
Taiyang asked, "Stop counting! I will shout for you. How much should we bid?"
"Let's go thrice the last bid price," Yue Xuexia said, knowing that the other bidder must be a cultivator, so they must have a lot of money.
With the grace of a big shot, Taiyang stood on the terrace and looked down on everyone, but first, the others saw that someone had emerged from Room #1, which had been silent the entire time.
A magnetic, cold male voice resounds in the hall. His tone and voice are as calm as a peaceful sea.
"6 billion," Taiyang said. "We bid $6 billion for that Snow Lotus."
Everyone gasped at the sound of his voice, and those who met his piercing gaze trembled. The cultivators, seeing the man with the crimson eyes, trembled, too, as if something were burning in their faces. They could not look past his cultivation, obviously not because he is weak but because he is taller than they are.
The audience clamored at Taiyang's sudden appearance.
"6 billion!? He immediately gave three times the last bid price of the Xue Clan."
"Who the hell is he? He is so young, yet how can he have such much money and such a presence?"
"It is the people from Room #1. They didn't bid for the ginseng; is it because the age of it isn't worthy in their eyes?"
"Fuck! He openly offended the Xue Clan. How fearless!"