"Patriarch, should we keep bidding? This is already our limit! We only brought this many Demon Soul Crystals. Even counting mine, we have five hundred thousand at most. But if you really want them, I can have someone go back and fetch more right now."
"Forget it, let me think about it..."
The Patriarch of the Zhou family hesitated. While the Demon Spirit Pills were excellent, they were ultimately far too expensive compared to the market price. With this kind of money, one could just go to the black market.
As he pondered, Hongyue began the countdown.
"Four hundred and fifty thousand Demon Soul Crystals going once! Are there any higher bids? Keep in mind, these are medium-grade elixirs.
"Four hundred and fifty thousand Demon Soul Crystals going twice...
"Four hundred and fifty thousand Demon Soul Crystals going for the third time... Sold!"
The gavel fell. Ultimately, the Patriarch of the Zhou family didn’t raise his bid.
Down in the main hall, Ye Xuan had initially considered tossing in a bid of an extra thousand just to drive up the price of his own elixirs. But after some careful thought, he decided against it.
The Mou family hadn’t even bothered bidding a second time on the Qishan Evergreen Ivy. If he raised the price now, there was a good chance the Mou family wouldn’t follow up. Wouldn’t he just end up buying his own elixirs and pointlessly giving the auction house a fifteen percent cut? If word got out, he would become a complete laughingstock.
"Congratulations to our guest in VIP Room One for successfully winning one hundred medium-grade Demon Spirit Pills! Our World Auction House promises that if even a single low-grade elixir is mixed in, we will provide a full refund!
"For our friends who missed out, don’t be disappointed. Next, let us bring out item number one hundred and thirty-two."
Another usher walked onto the stage carrying a box. Hongyue walked over and opened it.
"Oh? It’s another elixir bottle. Let me see what kind of elixir is inside," Hongyue said with curiosity.
However, Ye Xuan could guess what was inside with his eyes closed. It was definitely more Demon Spirit Pills. After all, he had supplied them with three hundred of them.
Soon, Hongyue picked up one of the pills. She feigned surprise and said, "Ah, it’s also a batch of Demon Spirit Pills, and they are medium-grade as well! Judging by the amount, there are a hundred of them here too. Well, without further ado, to our friends who missed out earlier, don’t let this chance slip by. The usual rules apply: the starting price is fifty thousand Demon Soul Crystals, and each bid increment must be no less than one thousand."
As Hongyue finished speaking, Mou Dahai and Mou Liubing in VIP Room One both frowned. It seemed it was their turn to be taken for a ride. The waters of the auction house were truly treacherous.
"Grandpa, should we bid?"
"Of course! Even if we bid a bit too high just now, our Mou family can afford it."
"Then how much should we call this time? Four hundred and fifty thousand again?"
"Start with three hundred thousand and let’s see how they react."
"Alright. I’ll make the bid then. Three hundred thousand."
As soon as Mou Liubing called out, the previously noisy venue fell noticeably quiet.
Here we go again.
The Mou family was snatching things up once more! They had just won a batch of Demon Spirit Pills, and now they were here to drive up the price again. But there was nothing anyone could do; if they wanted to buy it, they had to keep up.
"Three hundred and ten thousand..."
"Three hundred and eleven thousand..."
"Three hundred and twelve thousand..."
The price was still rising, but at a much slower pace.
"Grandpa, it seems they haven’t given up."
"Hmph. Trying to fight our Mou family for it? Then just call the same price as before."
"But won’t that exceed our budget? What if there are other good items coming up?"
"It doesn’t matter. The Demon Spirit Pills are the most important."
"Alright. Four hundred and fifty thousand!"
Mou Liubing once again shouted a price that left the patriarchs of the other families suffocating. As soon as this number was announced, no one dared to counter. Although everyone was furious, their hands were tied. Who asked the Mou family to be the local overlords? They had the money to do whatever they pleased, so what could anyone say?
"Four hundred and fifty thousand Demon Soul Crystals going once..."
Hongyue had already started the countdown. She was extremely satisfied with this price.
"Four hundred and fifty thousand Demon Soul Crystals going twice...
"Four hundred and fifty thousand Demon Soul Crystals going for the third time... Sold! Congratulations to our guest in VIP Room One for winning one hundred medium-grade Demon Spirit Pills. For the guests who missed out on this item, please don’t be disheartened. I assure you, there are still wonderful things to come. Now, let us bring out item number one hundred and thirty-three."
Another box was brought up. When Hongyue opened it, inside sat yet another elixir bottle. Upon seeing it, everyone in the audience wore rather peculiar expressions.
Could it possibly be more Demon Spirit Pills?
Sure enough, Hongyue’s voice rang out, "I have confirmed it! Item number one hundred and thirty-three is also a batch of medium-grade Demon Spirit Pills. Exactly one hundred in total."
"..."
As those words left her mouth, the entire crowd was left speechless. This was especially true for the Mou family.
Damn it, they could play it like this?!
Three hundred medium-grade Demon Spirit Pills, and they just had to split them into three separate auctions?
Even Mou Dahai and Mou Liubing couldn’t help but curse out loud.
"What a scam!"
"This is a fucking rip-off. Shameless."
The Mou family was wealthy, sure, but they weren’t suckers. Their Demon Soul Crystals didn’t just fall from the sky. And even if they did, they couldn’t withstand being ruthlessly harvested by the auction house like this.
"Liubing, how much of our budget is left for this?"
"About a million or so. If we spend another four hundred and fifty thousand, I’m afraid we won’t be able to win any other good items later. Should we buy it?"
Mou Dahai’s face was dark, and he remained silent for a long time. He had bid four hundred and fifty thousand the first two times. If he bought it this time for anything lower, he would lose face.
"Forget it. Let’s observe the situation first."
At this moment, the bidding had already commenced. For this third batch of Demon Spirit Pills, the major factions were much more conservative with their bids. It was noticeably less intense than the previous two rounds because they were all afraid of being scammed by the auction house.
What if there were even more Demon Spirit Pills after this?
After a long period of incremental bidding, the Patriarch of the Zhou family in VIP Room Three finally raised the price to one hundred and fifty thousand. This price was exactly the market rate. Although it was still increasing, it was only going up by a thousand at a time.
"Grandpa, they seem to only be adding a thousand per bid. Should we jump back in? It’s only at one hundred and eighty thousand right now. We won’t take a loss at this price," Mou Liubing asked Mou Dahai.
Mou Dahai thought for a moment before replying, "Then let’s jump in. Make it two hundred thousand directly; we can’t appear stingy."
"Understood. Two hundred thousand!"
The moment Mou Liubing made the call, a brief silence fell over the venue. The other bidders actually stopped altogether. They were all hesitating, unsure if they should keep following.
"VIP Room One bids two hundred thousand! Are there any higher bids?
"Two hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals going once! Two hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals going twice..."
Seeing that Hongyue was about to finish the countdown, the Patriarch of the Zhou family finally spoke up. "Two hundred and one thousand!"
The Zhou family Patriarch’s bid, however, put Mou Dahai in a tough spot.
"Two hundred and ten thousand!"
Ultimately, Mou Dahai still chose to follow up.
"They only added ten thousand. It seems the Mou family doesn’t dare to recklessly raise the price either, afraid there might be more later on."
"This might be a chance. Will the Patriarch of the Zhou family bid again? He can definitely afford this price."
"Two hundred and eleven thousand!"
Soon enough, the Patriarch of the Zhou family placed another bid. He still only added a thousand.
"Still following? Hmph. Two hundred and fifty thousand!"
Mou Dahai was finally getting angry. He immediately bumped the price up to two hundred and fifty thousand. The Mou family’s reputation couldn’t be tarnished, after all.
The Patriarch of the Zhou family hesitated. He originally hadn’t wanted to bid anymore, but the thought of the Mou family throwing their weight around left a bitter taste in his mouth. He couldn’t just let the Mou family snatch away all the good things.