Auction Ends, Tracking

As Zheng Qian raised the auction price from thirty thousand taels to forty thousand taels in one breath, the entire auction hall immediately erupted.

"Forty thousand taels? Who is this! Actually increasing the price by so much at once?"

"I tried my best to scrape together thirty-eight thousand taels. In order to bid on this final item, I painfully missed several other auction items before, but I didn't expect..."

"Forty thousand taels right off the bat! So rich..."

The reason these people were so surprised was because forty thousand taels of silver was truly a lot of money.

Even those so-called wealthy merchants and gentry with millions in assets would find it difficult to come up with so much cash at once.

After all, most of their assets were fixed, such as real estate, shops, land, and mines. Although valuable, they were long-term gains, not cash.

This was also why Zheng Qian only managed to scavenge a little over forty thousand taels of silver from Fang Yujie. It wasn't that his family's wealth was only that much, but rather that he couldn't take away the most valuable things like houses, shops, and farmland.

However, for those true aristocratic families, forty thousand taels of silver was clearly not enough to scare them off.

"Forty-one thousand taels!"

After only a slight pause, Box A7 on the third floor raised its placard and bid.

Hearing someone bid, Zheng Qian didn't hesitate to raise the price again, saying:

"Forty-three thousand taels!"

This was all the silver he had on him. Success or failure depended on this one move.

To him, silver was just a number.

With his strength, how could he not have as much as he wanted?

It was just that time was too tight this time, otherwise, he could have gathered a hundred or eight hundred thousand taels of silver.

Unfortunately, there were no "ifs" in this world. No money was no money, and the auction house wouldn't let him owe them.

And this incomplete Morning Sun One Qi Art was clearly worth more than just this amount of silver. Just as he called out the price, Box A7 on the third floor bid again:

"Forty-five thousand taels!"

After that, Box A3 immediately followed suit, bidding:

"Forty-seven thousand taels!"

"Fifty thousand taels!"

"Fifty-one thousand taels!"

Listening to the rising and falling bids from the boxes above, Zheng Qian shook his head with some emotion and muttered to himself:

"These aristocratic families are really damn rich..."

This was also normal, after all, the news of the auction of the Grandmaster-level cultivation technique had been released long ago.

For these aristocratic families, cultivation techniques were good things to increase their own foundation.

Especially Grandmaster-level cultivation technique, even if it was incomplete, if someone in their family was lucky enough to break through to become a true Grandmaster Realm expert with it, the benefits to the family would be infinite.

Not to mention anything else, in this Xingyang Dynasty, if a family had a Grandmaster Realm expert sitting in town, then this family could control the military and political power of a commandery.

The benefits that brought would be more than just millions of taels of silver.

Therefore, as long as there was a glimmer of opportunity, these aristocratic families would not give up, even the four major families who were related by marriage would not give way to each other.

Just like now, the numerous boxes on the second and third floors were bidding against each other.

In just a few short minutes, the price soared all the way to over 100,000 taels of silver, causing Zheng Qian's brow to twitch.

However, he was not in a hurry to leave. With such a high price, someone would inevitably want to get something for nothing.

And in this Xishan Commandery, the only ones stronger than him were those few Half-step Grandmaster who could use Gang Qi.

But he had also learned a lot these days.

Although those few could use Gang Qi, the amount of Gang Qi was limited, and the recovery speed was very slow.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, they would not use it easily.

The reasoning was simple--

If you exhausted the Gang Qi in your body first while others were still intact, the consequences...

And although Zheng Qian himself could not use the Gang Qi in his body, his Dugu Nine Swords' [Qi Breaking Form], although unable to restrain Grandmaster Gang Qi as it did Innate True Qi, still had a certain restraining effect.

In addition, his Sun Swallowing True Qi was extremely strong and masculine, and its power was stronger than other people's Innate True Qi.

With the two combined, even if those few Half-step Grandmaster used Gang Qi, he was not without the power to fight.

And strength was his confidence. He planned to wait and see who the Morning Sun One Qi Art would ultimately fall into the hands of, and whether he would have the opportunity to snatch it.

"One hundred fifty-five thousand eight hundred taels! Guest in Box B28 has bid one hundred fifty-five thousand eight hundred taels! Is there anyone else who wants to bid?"

"One hundred fifty-five thousand eight hundred taels once!"

"One hundred fifty-five thousand eight hundred taels twice!"

"One hundred fifty-five thousand eight hundred, going three times!"

"Smack!"

"Sold! Congratulations to the esteemed guest in Box B20 for winning this Morning Sun One Qi Art!"

"Alright! This auction has come to a successful conclusion. Thank you all once again for attending.

Next, esteemed guests who have successfully bid on their desired items, please proceed to the backstage to complete the transactions."

As Song Tao's words faded, the crowd began to slowly disperse.

Those who had successfully bid on treasures rose and headed towards the backstage, while those who had gained nothing walked towards the auction house exit in twos and threes.

Zheng Qian hadn't bid on anything, so he could only follow the crowd out.

However, after leaving the auction house, he didn't go far.

When bidding on the Morning Sun One Qi Art fragment earlier, he had already memorized the aura of the person in Box B28.

Aura is a very complex thing, including heartbeat, breathing, voice, and so on. Almost no two people have exactly the same aura.

Therefore, as long as the other party appears, he can confirm their identity.

Outside the auction house, Zheng Qian's eyes were sharp, constantly watching the surrounding movements.

It wasn't just him; he also sensed that there were no fewer than ten people around him who were similar, but he didn't know if their goals were the same.

The person who had bid on the Morning Sun One Qi Art didn't make Zheng Qian wait long.

About a quarter of an hour later, he waited for the other party.

It was a middle-aged man with a stiff face, dressed in ordinary gray clothes, completely unremarkable, and it was impossible to tell that he was someone who could spend a fortune.

"Is this a disguise? Or is he wearing a human skin mask?"

Looking at the stiff face of the middle-aged man who had just walked out of the auction house, Zheng Qian whispered his guess.

However, regardless of whether that was the other party's real face, as long as the incomplete Morning Sun One Qi Art was on him, that was all that mattered.

Thinking of this, he immediately hung back, following the other party from a distance.

Ahead of him, there were several other people following the man in various ways, apparently having also learned the other party's identity.

The middle-aged man's strength was obviously not bad, and he quickly noticed that someone was following him.

He immediately quickened his pace and headed straight for the nearest South City District.

As one of the commoner districts, the South City District was a mixed bag, with all sorts of people and organizations.

If someone entered it and sincerely wanted to hide, it would be like a clay ox entering the sea, making it very difficult to find any trace of them.