Unexpected Encounter

Sure enough, almost no one thought highly of this piece of ore.

The auctioneer was already considering declaring it unsold.

No one even knew who had sent it in. At first, the agreement had been to sell it for money, but now...

Just then.

"One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!" Ning Fengzhi directly named a high price.

"Wow!"

No one had wanted to bid on this piece of Geng Metal Essence. Some people had even stood up to leave. When someone suddenly made such an offer, quite a few people were stunned.

Ning Fengzhi was not actually losing out by doing this.

"Thank you!" Tang San smiled sincerely.

"It was nothing." Ning Fengzhi spoke casually.

"One hundred and twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins!" Xue Qinghe remained expressionless, her face still calm and composed.

Of everyone present, Ning Fengzhi was the one she feared least. After all, Ning Fengzhi was merely her teacher, while Wriothesley, a true big shot, sat beside her.

"One hundred and forty thousand Gold Soul Coins!" Ning Fengzhi frowned. He had not expected Xue Qinghe to interfere at this moment.

No, no. It was not Xue Qinghe who wanted to interfere. Wriothesley must be the one who wanted this item.

What a miscalculation!

Ning Fengzhi had nearly forgotten that Wriothesley and Sigewinne were almost never apart. Since Sigewinne was here, Wriothesley would certainly have accompanied her to the auction. Perhaps he had taken a liking to this ore.

But he had just promised Tang San. Backing down now was not Ning Fengzhi's style.

"Two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!" Ning Fengzhi directly doubled the price.

"How ruthless!" Many people sucked in cold breaths.

"Teacher truly is teacher." Xue Qinghe smiled.

Although she had known Ning Fengzhi would make a move, the man was simply too ruthless. He had directly doubled the original price. Most people definitely would not continue bidding.

But—

"Two hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins." Wriothesley spoke calmly, utterly unconcerned by Ning Fengzhi's gaze.

Since Xue Qinghe had said he could spend her money today, what was there to hesitate over?

Wriothesley spoke as though he were naming the price of a cabbage.

"Just as I thought!" Hearing that voice, Ning Fengzhi confirmed his guess.

Tang San and Xiao Wu also found the voice somewhat familiar, but for the moment, they could not remember who it belonged to.

Ning Fengzhi, however, knew very well.

Ning Fengzhi felt even more pressure.

He could not afford to offend either of those two!

The surrounding crowd had already erupted in cries of shock. A Martial Soul for two hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins was an incredibly tempting price, but a piece of ore for two hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins was simply terrifying.

Just how large was that piece of ore, anyway?

It seemed to be only the size of a fist?

"Forget it!" Wriothesley spoke again. "Three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

Ning Fengzhi immediately gave up.

At that price, he did not dare continue bidding.

The Geng Metal Essence itself was worth, at most, one hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins. Any higher, and it would no longer be worth the price of the Geng Metal Essence itself.

Ning Fengzhi did not know what Wriothesley wanted the Geng Metal Essence for, but he could only give up.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was wealthy, yes, but money could not be spent like that.

Their money had not been blown in on the wind.

Even if it had been, picking it up would still take time!

Seeing that Ning Fengzhi was no longer raising the bid, Tang San gritted his teeth but said nothing.

After all, they were strangers who had met by chance. Ning Fengzhi had already done plenty by helping this much.

Besides, to Ning Fengzhi, Tang Hao's son was not important enough for him to invest so much in.

But Xiao Wu was different. She was not human and naturally did not understand human social customs. To her, if Ning Fengzhi was going to help, he should help to the end. What was the meaning of withdrawing halfway through?

So Xiao Wu immediately became unhappy.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You just said you were going to help Third Brother!"

"Xiao Wu!"

Tang San's expression changed. He knew perfectly well that Xiao Wu's behavior would definitely leave Ning Fengzhi with a bad impression. Neither of them would benefit from it.

Especially since the other party was clearly not short of money. Whether they got this piece of Geng Metal Essence or not did not matter. As long as they built a good relationship, what kind of metal would they be unable to buy later?

"Third Brother, I didn't say anything wrong." Xiao Wu was unconcerned.

Many people found Xiao Wu's unreasonable behavior rather amusing.

Ning Fengzhi merely smiled.

As for Chen Xin beside Ning Fengzhi, he cared even less. That soul beast would be dead soon anyway.

"Sorry, sir. My little sister has a bad temper." Tang San said helplessly.

"It is no matter." Ning Fengzhi smiled, showing no sign of anger.

This brief interlude did not affect the auction. Polite applause rang out across the hall. The hammer falling on this lot made for a fine ending. This item had been listed last in the catalog and was today's grand finale.

"Next is the special segment of this auction. As always, 'Unexpected Encounter.'" The auctioneer smiled.

"What kind of encounter?" Sigewinne asked.

"They're special lots, the most entertaining part of the auction," Xue Qinghe explained. "After the main auction concludes, as a chance to relax, the auction house selects some goods that it believes most people present will be interested in. Their prices are usually not high, though occasionally an exceptional item with an astronomical price appears."

That "not high" price was only relative to those attending the auction. Outside, it would still be an astronomical sum.

Every large auction had such Unexpected Encounters. Some of these items appeared on the auction list, while others did not. It mainly depended on luck.

The auctioneer did not waste words and directly brought out the first "encounter," one that had also appeared on the list.

Everyone saw that it was a colorless crystal ball wrapped with a red string. Its outer edge was enclosed in an unknown square-shaped metal frame. Yet calling it a crystal ball seemed a stretch—it was too small. Even with the metal frame, it was only about as large as an adult's palm.

"This is an extraordinary lot. All of our auctioneers were astonished when they saw it. It is exceptionally beautiful, the pinnacle of craftsmanship. Our appraisal determined that it contains a trace of wind-element power, but unfortunately, we have been unable to trace its provenance or determine its age. Therefore, we cannot set an appropriate starting price. With the seller's permission, this will be one of our rare zero-starting-price auctions." The auctioneer raised one finger. "One Gold Soul Coin!"

The atmosphere in the hall stirred slightly. This was something new. A zero starting price and bid increments of one Gold Soul Coin each made the value of the item entirely impossible to guess, arousing even greater curiosity.

The auctioneer was very satisfied with the mood in the hall. It was clever marketing. Their first step had already drawn attention.

"The mysterious crystal ball, bidding begins now!"

When the item was revealed, everyone below began whispering among themselves. There was no other reason—it was simply impossible to see what value it had.

"Isn't this... too small?" Someone spoke from the purple private room. "It's too big for a bracelet, but too small to display at home. It's useless!"

"I'm sorry. As we said, we ourselves cannot confirm its age or provenance, so its value depends entirely on your interest. If you are interested in it, then it may be worth a great deal of money."

① The Winter Solstice has arrived, and the cold wind gently brushes by. May my blessings shine into your heart like warm sunlight. The years may be long, but friendship endures. Wishing everyone a joyful Winter Solstice, happiness and good health, and days filled with warmth and hope.

② And best wishes to all students taking the postgraduate entrance exam today—may everything go smoothly, may you achieve top results, make a name for yourselves in one battle, and have a bright future ahead.