"The Mou family... I don’t believe your money grows on trees! You’ve already bought two million Demon Soul Crystals’ worth of items. That amount of Demon Soul Crystals is definitely no small expense. I simply refuse to believe you have bottomless pockets today!
"Two hundred fifty-one thousand!"
The Patriarch of the Zhou family had clearly let the heat of the moment get to his head. He wasn’t bidding to win the Demon Spirit Pills anymore, but merely to prove a point. Even if the Mou family ended up taking the pills, he would at least force them to pay a steeper price.
"Interesting," Ye Xuan smiled. With those two at each other’s throats, he was the one reaping the benefits.
"Grandpa, Zhou Mengda is dead set on getting these one hundred Demon Spirit Pills. Are we still going to follow at this point?"
"Follow!"
"By how much?"
"Add another fifty thousand."
"Understood. Three hundred thousand!"
Mou Liubing raised the price by another fifty thousand.
The Patriarch of the Zhou family did not back down. "Three hundred and one thousand!"
"He’s still following?" Mou Dahai’s eyes went wide as he glared toward VIP Room 3. This time, without waiting for Mou Liubing to ask, he roared, "Four hundred fifty thousand!"
Beside him, Mou Liubing stared in shock before breaking into a helpless smile. He knew his grandfather had a fiery temper and zero patience. Sure enough, he was acting recklessly again.
Ultimately, Mou Dahai successfully won the hundred Demon Spirit Pills.
Between the first and second batches, Ye Xuan’s Demon Spirit Pills had fetched a staggering total of 1.35 million Demon Soul Crystals at auction. He had absolutely made a killing.
"Next, we will auction off Item Number 134. Let’s see what treasure awaits us," Hongyue’s voice rang out once more.
Another box was brought up to the stage. When she opened it, the crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Mou family was especially thankful that it wasn’t another batch of elixirs.
Inside the box lay a set of Body Armor.
"This is a low-tier Ghost-rank defensive Soft Armor. It boasts incredible elasticity. Though it appears small, even a three-hundred-pound burly man wouldn’t find it too tight. As long as you wear it, even if you are completely defenseless, a 3rd Layer Demon Spirit Realm Cultivator will find it difficult to inflict much harm upon you," Hongyue explained, clapping her hands.
The old man and the little girl from the beginning of the auction returned to the stage. The little girl slipped on the Soft Armor. Without hesitation, the old man unleashed a radiant burst of light and struck her with his palm.
The little girl’s body was instantly sent flying, nearly hurtling right off the edge of the stage. Moving like a phantom, the old man plucked her out of mid-air and set her safely on the ground. She immediately began skipping and bouncing around without a care in the world. Despite taking the full-force strike of a Demon Spirit Realm expert, she was completely unharmed.
In the main hall, Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up. He was quite interested in this Soft Armor. It would be absolutely perfect to buy for his sister’s protection.
"Alright, without further ado, this Soft Armor’s starting bid is ten thousand Demon Soul Crystals. Each subsequent bid must increase by no less than one thousand."
"Eleven thousand!"
"Twelve thousand!"
The crowd began to bid.
Although the Soft Armor’s grade wasn’t particularly high—merely a low-tier Ghost-rank—it was still considered a precious treasure. It was best suited for the younger generation.
"One hundred thousand!"
Soon enough, the price of the Soft Armor was driven up to one hundred thousand. This was an amount that could buy a mid-tier Ghost-rank Spirit Medicine, perfectly illustrating just how valuable life-saving protective gear was.
However, this was just about its limit. No matter how good the Soft Armor was, its grade was ultimately quite low.
"Our guest in VIP Room 2 bids one hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals. Is there any higher bid?" Hongyue began her countdown. "One hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals going once...
"One hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals going twice..."
Currently, the highest bid for this piece of Soft Armor belonged to VIP Room 2.
"One hundred and one thousand."
At that very moment, Ye Xuan raised the bid. His intervention instantly drew everyone’s gaze. They all knew that whenever this kid joined the fray, there would be a good show to watch. He would definitely bid recklessly.
"Guest 1888 bids one hundred and one thousand. Will anyone continue the bidding?"
"One hundred and ten thousand."
VIP Room 2 matched the raise.
Ye Xuan refused to give an inch. "One hundred and eleven thousand."
"One hundred and twenty thousand."
"One hundred and twenty-one thousand."
"One hundred and thirty thousand."
"One hundred and thirty-one thousand."
Just like before, he only ever added a single thousand.
"This brat!" Inside VIP Room 2, the higher-ups of the Four Great Halls were gnashing their teeth. Just as they prepared to increase their bid again, Mou Liubing walked over from next door.
Upon seeing him, the men from the Four Great Halls hastily bowed in greeting. They certainly held high status in Mou Family Town, but in the end, they were nothing more than dogs for the Mou family.
"Grandpa told me to inform you not to bid against this brat. It doesn’t matter anyway. He won’t have a future..."
"Understood, sir!"
With that, VIP Room 2 fell silent.
Ultimately, Ye Xuan bought the low-tier Ghost-rank Soft Armor for 131,000 Demon Soul Crystals.
The auction pressed onward. The items that followed were not nearly as impressive. Halfway through, there was another auction for three hundred low-grade Demon Spirit Pills. This time, the Zhou family finally managed to win them. Although they were low-grade, the Cultivators certainly wouldn’t look down on them. As long as their cultivation base could keep improving, what did it matter if they were a bit sluggish when practicing Martial Techniques? At least they would wield formidable cultivation power.
"Next up is the final item of our auction—our grand finale! As you all know, the World Auction House holds a massive auction once every four years. Roughly every century, we present a major surprise. And today, that surprise has arrived!"
"What? There’s a surprise today?"
"Damn it, if I’d known there was a surprise, I wouldn’t have blown so much money earlier!"
Some people began to silently curse themselves. Mou Dahai was especially regretful.
"So, what surprise awaits everyone this time? Let’s find out," Hongyue announced as two hostesses walked onto the stage. They carried a box in their hands. No one knew what was inside it just yet.
"The moment of revelation is upon us." As she spoke, Hongyue lifted the lid.
Inside the box rested a glass vial filled with bright crimson blood. Such blood would normally be dull and lackluster, but this particular crimson fluid seemed to have a radiant light swirling within it.
"Could it be... Wild Beast Essence Blood?" someone exclaimed in shock.
"That’s right, it is indeed Wild Beast Essence Blood," Hongyue said with a smile. With that, she leaned down and unscrewed the vial’s cap.
In that instant, a blinding light erupted toward the ceiling. A phantom projection of a massive crocodile materialized in the air above the auction floor. The crocodile’s entire body gleamed with gold, and its eyes radiated an eerie green glow. It stared down at the crowd as if locking onto its prey.
"That’s a Golden Giant Crocodile! It’s a Fierce Beast!"
"Heavens, the finale item is actually Fierce Beast Essence Blood!"
The venue exploded into a frenzy.
How incredibly precious was Fierce Beast Essence Blood? Even though a Golden Giant Crocodile was merely a low-tier Fierce Beast Soul, it was still enough to drive men mad. Even within a Three-Star Main Town, individuals who managed to awaken a Fierce Beast Soul were exceedingly rare.
The entire reason Zhang Wuzong of the Zhang family was granted an exception to be accepted as an Outer Disciple of the Mou family was because he had awakened a mid-tier Fierce Beast Soul.
Unfortunately, Zhang Wuzong was ultimately not a member of the Mou family. No matter how exceptionally high the grade of his awakened Beast Soul was, the Mou family still didn’t keep him around for further training.
"What’s the starting bid? Just tell us!" The crowd could no longer contain themselves.
Although Wild Beast Essence Blood merely granted Cultivators a certain probability of awakening the corresponding Beast Soul, it was more than enough to incite madness among them. After all, trying to awaken a Fierce Beast Soul without any Wild Beast Essence Blood would require absolute blind luck.
Hongyue smiled slightly before announcing, "The starting bid for the Golden Giant Crocodile Essence Blood is three hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals. Each subsequent bid must increase by no less than ten thousand."