Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron

Inside the Earth Tier Auction House, after Jiu Jiu announced that the auction item was half a Black Token and began the bidding, an unprecedented silence fell—no one made an offer.

However, this outcome was within expectations.

For half a token with barely any practical use, if the starting price had been a few thousand Gold Coins, someone might have placed a bid. But its starting price was fifty thousand Gold Coins, the same as the starting price of the Third-Grade Pill, the Liquid Energy Pill, which could improve one's cultivation. No one wanted to waste that money gambling on the opportunity they had merely guessed at.

After a long while, no one had made a bid.

Seeing this, Jiu Jiu said, "Are all our honored guests certain that they will not bid? Jiu Jiu will begin the count now. If no one bids, then this half of a Black Token will become the first Auction Item to go unsold in this auction."

"No bids, first count!"

"No bids, second count!"

"No bids, thi—"

"Fifty thousand!"

Before Jiu Jiu could finish her final count, a voice rang out and called the starting price.

"Class Leader, why are you bidding on that?" Han Yue's puzzled voice reached Lin Ming's ears.

After learning that Lin Ming was a Third-Grade Alchemist, she knew he did not lack fifty thousand Gold Coins. But as the others had said earlier, its effect of improving Spiritual Strength was useless to anyone whose Spiritual Strength Intensity had surpassed that of a Second-Grade Alchemist.

Yet he knew perfectly well that it would not do anything for his Spiritual Strength, but he still bid on it. Wasn't that simply spending fifty thousand Gold Coins to gamble on someday finding the other half?

That was why Han Yue asked in such confusion.

Even if Lin Ming were asked to give a reason now, he would not be able to name one. If he had to say something, then he really did want to take a gamble and see whether he could encounter the other half of the token.

After all, in the novels he had read in his previous life, didn't the protagonists always have encounters like this? Even Xiao Yan's Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame in the original story had begun with collecting fragments of a map. So Lin Ming wanted to give it a try too. In any case, this amount of money was still acceptable to him. He could just think of it as buying a lottery ticket, even if this ticket was a little expensive.

"Fifty thousand Gold Coins, first count!"

"Fifty thousand Gold Coins, second count!"

"Fifty thousand Gold Coins, third count!"

Bang!

"Sold! Congratulations to this honored guest from Jia Nan Academy for winning this round's Auction Item."

After hearing Jiu Jiu announce the result, Lin Ming returned to simply watching others bid. As for the half of the Black Token he had purchased, he only needed to pay for it after the auction ended before taking it away.

The auction continued. It had only progressed a little past halfway, reaching the fifty-somethingth Auction Item. There were still more than forty Auction Items left, so Lin Ming leisurely watched with the mindset of a spectator.

Bang!

"Sold! Congratulations to this honored guest for winning the ninetieth Auction Item."

Jiu Jiu's voice announcing another sale rang out. So far, the sound of a successful sale had rung out ninety times. And if nothing unexpected happened, it would ring out another nine times.

"Honored guests, thanks to your generous Making a Move in the previous rounds, all ninety Auction Items have been successfully auctioned. Jiu Jiu hereby thanks you all for your tremendous support of Jiu Jiu's work." After saying this, Jiu Jiu bent her knees in thanks.

"Of course, Jiu Jiu knows that many honored guests here have not yet obtained an Auction Item to their liking. However, Jiu Jiu believes that the next nine Auction Items will satisfy everyone."

"These final nine Auction Items were selected by our Jia Nan Auction House from among numerous Auction Items to serve as the finale of this Earth Tier Auction."

"Therefore, the value of every finale Auction Item far surpasses those before them!"

When Lin Ming heard that the next nine Auction Items had been selected as the finale, he also perked up, wanting to know exactly what these finale Auction Items were.

"Looking at everyone's expressions, I believe you are all eagerly anticipating these nine finale Auction Items. Then Jiu Jiu will not keep you waiting any longer. Let us bring out the first of the finale Auction Items."

As Jiu Jiu's words fell, two Big Men carried an object onto the stage. Since it was covered by a curtain, no one could tell what the Auction Item was. They could only guess that it was something large.

After the two Big Men carried the Auction Item to the center and set it down, they left the stage on their own.

"Honored guests, you must all be curious about what this large item is, aren't you?"

"As for this Auction Item, Jiu Jiu only wishes to tell you that only those of that noble profession may use it. Someone like Jiu Jiu knows she is not qualified."

"I believe everyone has already guessed it, so Jiu Jiu will not keep you in suspense. This Auction Item is a medicinal cauldron that only esteemed alchemists may use." After saying that, Jiu Jiu yanked away the curtain covering the cauldron.

On the auction stage stood a medicinal cauldron made entirely of Red Gold, with three legs, two handles, and a rounded body. Most importantly, aside from its ingredient inlet, four ferocious snake mouths extended from around the cauldron.

"Honored guests, this Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron is Master Gongsun's recent work. From these four ferocious snake mouths alone, one can tell that the Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron has reached the grade of a Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldron."

"As for the benefits a Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldron can bring to esteemed alchemists, there is no need for an outsider like Jiu Jiu to elaborate."

"In short, whether an esteemed alchemist purchases this Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron for personal use, or whether other honored guests who are not alchemists purchase it as a gift for an esteemed alchemist in hopes of obtaining an opportunity for Pill Refining, it will absolutely be worth every penny."

Lin Ming truly understood now just how important a good auctioneer was. Originally, only alchemists like himself would be interested in purchasing this cauldron, but after Jiu Jiu's speech, even those who were not alchemists but needed other alchemists to refine pills for them would spare no effort in bidding.

After all, compared with a Three-Fire-Mouth Cauldron, a Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldron provided alchemists with more than a ten percent boost in both success rate and speed. That was already quite terrifying. Moreover, Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldrons were relatively rare, especially on this remote Northwest Continent. Didn't even Pill King Gu He, a Tier 6 Alchemist in the original story, only use a Five-Fire-Mouth Cauldron? Therefore, if Lin Ming could win this Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldron, he would not need to replace his medicinal cauldron again before becoming a Tier 5 Alchemist.

"Seeing how impatient everyone has become, Jiu Jiu will not delay your time any longer. The starting price for this Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron is four hundred thousand Gold Coins, with each increase no less than one thousand. Bidding begins now!" The instant Jiu Jiu finished speaking, bids erupted from below.

"Four hundred and fifty thousand."

"Four hundred and eighty thousand."

"Five hundred thousand."

Watching the fierce bidding, Lin Ming directly called out, "Six hundred thousand." Lin Ming currently had more than seven hundred thousand Gold Coins on him, most of which had been allocated to him by the clan according to the agreed proportion when he had refined pills for them.

At the time, Lin Ming himself had no idea how many medicinal pills he had refined. In any case, he had ended up earning nearly 700,000 gold coins. Then, during the half year he spent training outside, he tossed the magic cores and other supplies he obtained directly to his family for them to handle after returning home, and they gave him several tens of thousands more gold coins in the end.

Lin Ming now had more than 700,000 gold coins on him, along with many medicinal pills worth several hundred thousand more. So long as the Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron did not exceed one million gold coins, he would keep bidding.

As for anyone who might think it unnecessary to spend his entire fortune on it—how could such a large Alchemy Department possibly lack a Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldron? Lin Ming only had one thing to say: a cauldron was like one's bowl and chopsticks when eating. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to use someone else's, much less use one himself and then let someone else use it afterward.

However, Lin Ming did not know whether this cauldron would break the one-million-gold-coin mark. The value of a Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldron was comparable to that of a Tier 4 Medicinal Pill. Some Tier 4 Medicinal Pills were worth four or five hundred thousand, while top-tier ones could sell for one or two million.

Judging from the Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron's appearance and the fact that it had been forged by Master Gongsun, it was of fairly high quality. Its final price would depend on the bidding.

"730,000."

After Lin Ming made his bid, the price swiftly climbed to 730,000 and continued rising.

"900,000."

Lin Ming called out the price in one breath, raising it by more than 100,000 directly to 900,000. Everyone present was stunned by his bid, and for a moment, no one raised the price again. It was not until Jiu Jiu began counting that someone finally spoke up to bid.

"905,000."

"One million." Lin Ming did not waste time with them and directly bid his limit. If anyone followed with another bid, he would give up without a word.

Lin Ming's determined bearing, coupled with the fact that he had just raised the price by nearly 100,000 in one go, made everyone abandon the auction. The current price was already close to the limit; any higher, and it would no longer be worth it.

"One million, first call!"

"One million, second call!"

"One million, third call!"

Bang!

"Sold! Congratulations to this distinguished guest from Jia Nan Academy for winning the Crimson Flow Gold Cauldron. Jiu Jiu wishes you boundless fortune and success in all your desires." Jiu Jiu's soft, alluring voice rang out once more.

Lin Ming breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, he found Jiu Jiu's voice even more melodious and pleasant than before.

At this moment, Lin Ming noticed that the person beside him was staring fixedly at him, and he immediately sensed that something was wrong. I drew a little too much attention just now!

"Hey, Han Yue!" Lin Ming called out to Han Yue, who was staring at him in a daze. When she still did not respond, he waved a hand in front of her eyes.

"Class Leader." Han Yue called out to Lin Ming, then lowered her head. She must have felt embarrassed that she had been so absorbed in staring at him, only to be caught by him himself.

Lin Ming found it baffling. Han Yue had called out to him, yet she was the one lowering her head afterward. Forget it—if he could not figure it out, he would not think about it. Lin Ming prepared to watch the remaining finale auction items. The very first one had been a Four-Fire-Mouth Cauldron, so the later ones surely would not be bad.

"Class Leader, are all Alchemists this wealthy?" Just as Lin Ming was about to continue watching the following auction items, Han Yue raised her head again and asked him. It seemed her curiosity had overcome her embarrassment.

"I don't know about others, but that one million I used to buy the cauldron just now was basically all my savings," Lin Ming said directly to Han Yue.

That one million was indeed more or less his entire fortune at present. Of course, once the academy's Liquid Energy Pills began selling well, his wealth would increase every day.