Auction, Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo

"Hahaha!"

"What kind of company helps pay to film things?"

Scarhead and the others burst into laughter upon hearing Lu Xuan's words.

Lu Xuan scratched his head.

Actually, he just wanted to lighten the mood; otherwise, he wouldn't have asked such a silly question.

Yes, that's it.

He, Lu Xuan, was definitely not stupid.

Zhang Wei, the effeminate one in the team, sat over with his fingers curled like a flower, smiled flirtatiously, and asked in a low voice:

"Little Xuan, do you have a boyfriend... oh no, do you have a girlfriend?"

"...No."

Lu Xuan shifted his butt slightly.

The Martial Artist team consisted of six people: Ma Tao, Wang Dongyun, the Zhao brothers Zhao Wen and Zhao Wu, plus Scarhead and Zhang Wei.

At this moment, each of the men had a lady by his side serving him;

although the two women weren't lecherous, they also had handsome young men attending to them.

Only Zhang Wei, that neither-man-nor-woman fellow, had chased away all the servers and came over to Lu Xuan's side.

Who wouldn't be scared seeing this?

"Don't be afraid," Zhang Wei said with a smile, raising a glass of red wine and leaning closer. "Uncle isn't interested in you."

"Uncle is thinking, you look young, but you already have the strength of a fourth-tier Martial Artist. You have the potential to become a Martial Master, or even a Martial Dao Grandmaster. If you can win over our boss's daughter, you won't have to worry about the rest of your life."

Upon hearing this, the others also cast scrutinizing glances.

Scarhead wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth and took a closer look at Lu Xuan.

He couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration: "Little Xuan, I have to say, your face is really handsome. Coupled with your talent, if you were to interview at those big companies or aristocratic families, you'd probably be trained as a high-level executive."

"That's right!" Ma Tao's slightly mature face leaned closer, and she let out a slurping sound. "If it weren't for the fact that I'm married, I'd definitely try to conquer you at least once."

"I agree too," the Zhao brothers said, exchanging a glance. "Our boss's daughter, when she sees you, even if she doesn't fall in love, she'll definitely put you at the top of her list of potential partners."

Lu Xuan was not wearing makeup.

This was his true appearance.

He wasn't exceptionally handsome, but he definitely had more presence than the vast majority of people. Especially after becoming a Martial Artist, the Qi and Blood Golden Elixirs he had consumed had refined his body to its most perfect state.

Standing at 2.3 meters tall and weighing 90 kilograms, he had perfect muscle, fat, and skin.

In the realm of Martial Artists, this was absolutely the most perfect state.

This was also the height resulting from human mutation.

The general height ranged between 180 to 250 cm.

Even the lowest dwarf patients were around 150 cm tall.

"Uncle, my talent is actually quite average."

Lu Xuan shrunk his neck. No matter what world it was, there were always people who were so concerned about others' marital affairs. Especially elders.

"Don't rush," Zhang Wei put down his red wine, opened the Martial Artist system, and sent a photo to Lu Xuan, giving him a wink.

"Little Xuan, take a look first; it's not too late."

"...Do you think she would even look at me?"

Seeing their expectant gazes, Lu Xuan reluctantly opened the photo.

Zhang Wei shrugged. "Who knows? I heard that when she was young, her martial arts foundation was damaged due to an accident, and her strength has been stuck at the sixth-tier Martial Artist level, unable to break through to the seventh tier."

Crippled from the start?

Interesting... Lu Xuan opened the photo and looked at it.

The woman in the photo had a cold, high-class makeup style, short hair. The first impression she gave was a large mole on the white of her left eye. If one didn't look closely, they might mistake it for a double pupil.

She wasn't stunningly beautiful, but she was at least from a wealthy family.

"Huh?"

Suddenly.

Lu Xuan saw a blue crystal on the woman's wrist in the photo.

"Is this... a Holy Cult token?"

Lu Xuan's pupils contracted. Then, as if realizing something, he looked up and asked Scarhead and the others, "Uncle, what's the background of your company?"

Holy Cult token.

Only Holy Cult followers possessed such items, yet none of the six people present were wearing one.

In an instant, Lu Xuan pieced together the whole story.

His martial arts foundation was destroyed as a child. Wasn't this exactly the Holy Cult's style?

They wait until people are crippled, then they appear to offer hope, making them think they are saviors, and thus securing their unwavering loyalty to the Holy Cult.

It seemed everyone had been deceived by the boss's daughter.

This woman was probably not as simple as she appeared. She was already a sixth-tier Martial Artist as a child. At her age, under the Holy Cult's tutelage, she had likely already broken through to become a Qi and Blood Martial Master?

"What's wrong? Did you really take a liking to the boss's daughter?" Scarhead rubbed his bald head and recalled, "Strictly speaking, our company is a subsidiary of Zero Martial Arts Company. Martial Artists with our level of talent can't get into Zero Martial Arts Company, so they usually choose these subsidiaries."

Zero Martial Arts Company?

Lu Xuan frowned slightly. "Then is this boss's daughter a direct descendant of the CEO of Zero Martial Arts Company? A company princess?"

"I'm not sure about that."

Scarhead shook his head, and the others looked equally clueless. "We only know that the higher-ups call her 'boss's daughter.' No one has ever said if she's a Zero Martial Arts Company princess."

Is that so?

Lu Xuan stared at the woman in the photo, memorizing her appearance.

He was about to say a few words.

Just then—

"Beep!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Satellite City No. 2... This venue is sponsored by the Federation Martial Arts Association..."

The auction had begun.

Lu Xuan put his thoughts aside and focused entirely on the auction.

He had only one objective this time.

To bid on auction item number 13.

"Next up is the first auction item... A Yellow-level Spiritual Item, the Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo."

"Starting bid is five million, with a minimum increment of no less than ten thousand!"

"A Yellow-level Spiritual Item?" Lu Xuan exclaimed in surprise, opening the auction item's information and glancing at the Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo's attributes.

The Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo was an excellent material for forging and refining, compatible with many things.

Moreover, it was a type of growing Spiritual Item.

It had to endure nine thunder tribulations before it could reach its optimal form and become a Heaven-level Spiritual Item.

The first tribulation occurred after ten years, the second after twenty years, the third after forty years, the fifth after eighty years... Its value was exceedingly high.

Unfortunately, Because the cultivation period was too long, no one was willing to spend a large sum of money.

The Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo before them had already undergone its fourth tribulation.

Yellow-level.

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Items, similar to Martial Artist cultivation techniques, were divided into low, mid, and high tiers. Above these were Yellow-level, Mysterious-level, Earth-level, and Heaven-level Spiritual Items.

Generally, even a high-tier Spiritual Item would command a sky-high price.

Yellow-level Spiritual Items started at five million.

"This item is a bit of a shame. If someone could live for a thousand years, perhaps they'd have a chance to cultivate it. It would be an absolute powerhouse as a ultimate weapon."

Scarhead and the others shook their heads.

Even as a Yellow-level Spiritual Item now, the Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo, to be honest, wasn't very useful.

Major powers wouldn't deign to use it for forging weapons, and minor Martial Artists lacked the strength to acquire it.

After all, the resources required to forge a Yellow-level weapon were also immense, far beyond the means of ordinary people.

They couldn't possibly just throw a bamboo stalk at someone to fight, right?

"Six million!"

As everyone sighed, Lu Xuan directly pressed the bidding button on the sofa.

The people in the private room turned to look.

"Xiao Xuan, what are you doing?"

Scarhead looked confused, then advised, "This Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo is a good item, but it's quite useless if it's not Mysterious-level or even Earth-level. Buying it is no use to you!"

"Uncle, I know what I'm doing."

Lu Xuan smiled and didn't explain.

Indeed, the Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo was the Spiritual Item least worth spending resources on to forge before it reached Mysterious-level or higher.

But Lu Xuan had the Bronze Gourd.

This thing could swallow anything and could repair incomplete Martial Skills. Who knew if it could also help the Nine Tribulations Thunder Bamboo advance further?

Regardless, Lu Xuan had to take a chance.

His bid fell, and then many others also shouted a few times.

Finally, the price settled at just over ten million, and Lu Xuan obtained it.

"It's still within an acceptable range."

Lu Xuan let out a breath.

He understood clearly after becoming an advanced Martial Artist: it was easy for Martial Artists to earn money, but even easier to spend it.

Just this one stalk of bamboo sold for ten million.

Who the hell could afford that?

Not to mention the resources besides weapons. If one item cost ten million, the total would start at one hundred million, and as strength grew, these things would need constant upgrading.

No wonder so few people broke through to become Qi and Blood Martial Masters.

Without a solid foundation, talent alone was truly difficult.

"Poor scholars, rich warriors," it was truly famous.

"Oh dear, what a spendthrift!"

Scarhead rubbed his head, feeling both angry and regretful. "If I had known you had this much money, why would we even bother with the auction? We could have just gone for a big, nourishing meal. Now you've got a broken piece of bamboo..."

"Hahaha."

Lu Xuan laughed heartily and pouted, "A thousand pieces of gold can't buy what I like!"

Private room on the third floor.

The cold, short-haired woman glanced at the private room where Lu Xuan and his group were.

"Is that one of our company's Martial Artists?"

The woman's voice was clear and cold. "Tell them not to cause any trouble. We are escorting this under secrecy."

"Miss, it seems like someone else was bidding."

"Someone else?"

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly. "Keep a close eye on this person. One can never be too careful. If he finds out what we're escorting..."

She made a gesture with her slender hand.