Raising the Price

The auctioneer seemed accustomed to this sort of situation. Items with no starting bid were always like this, drawing all sorts of hesitation.

"All right, 1 Gold Soul Coin!" Someone raised a paddle.

"2 Gold Soul Coins!" Someone immediately followed. The guests all smiled magnanimously. To these nobles worth millions, this unusual bidding method was like a game.

"3 Gold Soul Coins."

"4 Gold Soul Coins."

The price rose repeatedly, and the auctioneer looked slightly embarrassed. The guests were teasing him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, even a set of jewelry costs dozens of Gold Soul Coins." The auctioneer spread his hands with a helpless smile. "Could we offer some more competitive prices?"

"8 Gold Soul Coins."

"10 Gold Soul Coins."

"15 Gold Soul Coins."

The price gradually began to climb. It reached a small peak at 20 Gold Soul Coins, then suddenly stalled at 25. No one bid any higher.

"Thank you all for your enthusiastic bids. We have reached the high price of 25 Gold Soul Coins. Is there anyone willing to go higher? This may be the finest encounter of the day, but it will require a considerable price." The auctioneer smiled as he spoke.

Silence fell over the auction hall. Everyone had their own thoughts, and in the end, the price did not rise further.

The auctioneer had not held out much hope for this item to begin with. Even the seller had only thought it looked nice. The elemental cultivation it contained was negligible, but this was the first time the auctioneer had seen such a thing, so he had decided to give it a try.

Twenty-five Gold Soul Coins was already quite a high figure.

Even Ning Fengzhi could not sense anything special about it.

Wait a moment?

A crystal sphere?

Elements?

A frame?

Wriothesley and Sigewinne!

If his memory served him right, there seemed to be identical objects hanging from Wriothesley's back and from the bow behind Sigewinne, differing only in color.

The little bead on the stage seemed no different either, aside from its frame and its slightly dimmer color.

And when Wriothesley had sparred with Chen Xin last time, the one on Wriothesley's back had seemed to light up.

Could it be—

"Qinghe."

Inside the private room, Wriothesley looked at the dull, lightless God's Eye on the stage and slowly said, "Bid on it."

That inconspicuous little bead?

Xue Qinghe was puzzled. She did not understand why Wriothesley cared so much about such an ordinary bead.

Wait?

This size...

Why did it look so much like the one hanging from Wriothesley's back?

Xue Qinghe realized it at once and immediately looked toward the auction stage. Sure enough, apart from the frame being different from the one behind Wriothesley, that dull, lightless bead was exactly the same in every other respect!

And she had just seen that the bead on Wriothesley's body was glowing!

This bead definitely had to be the same kind as his!

Without wasting another word, she raised her paddle just as the auctioneer was about to finalize the sale at "25 Gold Soul Coins."

"50 Gold Soul Coins!"

A brief silence fell over the auction hall. Everyone stared at the bead on the stage in shock while wondering whether Xue Qinghe had gone mad.

That thing was so ugly and so small, yet Xue Qinghe had raised the price by so much with a single bid?

Even the Crown Prince could not waste money like this!

Sure enough—

The moment Ning Fengzhi heard Xue Qinghe speak, he guessed that she had noticed it too. He did not waste any words and directly raised his paddle.

"100 Gold Soul Coins!"

Ning Fengzhi's calm voice rang out, while his eyes fixed on the bead atop the stage gradually widened.

"200!"

After several seconds of silence, someone raised the bid.

Even the Crown Prince and the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect were bidding. This item definitely could not be as simple as it looked.

But...

Wasn't this price far too high?

A mere little bead could actually sell for so much money?

"400!" Ning Fengzhi raised the bid again.

"600."

Someone else bid again. It seemed everyone now believed the item was not simple.

Ning Fengzhi frowned. This price had completely exceeded his budget.

Was he really going to miss out?

Ning Fengzhi hesitated over whether to give up. This item might be useful, but it might also be nothing more than an ornament.

But if he missed it, someone else would likely buy it, and once it was bought, it would be difficult to obtain.

"Six hundred eighty!" Just as Ning Fengzhi wavered, a voice sounded.

It was Wriothesley's voice.

It seemed he could not hold back any longer.

Indeed, Xue Qinghe alone could not meet his expected goal. He felt somewhat embarrassed to accept so much money from her alone.

Xue Qinghe froze for a moment but said nothing.

By now, she also knew that this bead was definitely connected to Wriothesley. Even if Wriothesley paid for it himself, she would not say anything.

The two tacitly took turns bidding until someone called out 5,000 Gold Soul Coins!

Only then did they finally stop.

Five thousand Gold Soul Coins to buy something whose purpose could not even be discerned was unprecedented.

"Five thousand... and one Gold Soul Coin." After thinking for a long time, Xue Qinghe still made this embarrassing decision.

Although raising the bid by one Gold Soul Coin did not conform to auction house rules, this item had started without a base price, so there had been no stipulated increment either.

But at a figure of 5,000, no one would raise it by just one Gold Soul Coin. Wasn't that purely disgusting?

Yet Xue Qinghe did exactly that. For the Crown Prince of a nation to act this way was indeed somewhat undignified.

But she had no choice. She did not care about the wealthy merchants and nobles below, but she could not ignore Ning Fengzhi.

As her teacher, she knew Ning Fengzhi's financial resources all too well.

Saying he was as wealthy as a nation would still be an understatement.

She was doing this purely to stop Ning Fengzhi.

But this would undoubtedly offend Ning Fengzhi, especially since he was her teacher.

Sure enough, after hearing Xue Qinghe's bid, Ning Fengzhi hesitated for a while. If he followed, Xue Qinghe's move would leave a bad taste in his mouth. Though he was wealthy, he would not do something so thankless.

But if he did not follow, Xue Qinghe would buy the item.

"Five thousand two hundred." In the end, he could not hold back and added another bid.

"Five thousand two hundred... and one." Xue Qinghe smiled and bid again.

The crowd below erupted in laughter.

Even Wriothesley felt a little embarrassed, though he did not say anything.

As for Ning Fengzhi, his face had turned livid.

Sure enough, he should never have come here.

In the end, Ning Fengzhi gritted his teeth and gave up.

This disciple of his was truly wonderful!

Though it was a transaction of interests, Ning Fengzhi had genuinely regarded Xue Qinghe as his disciple.

And yet this disciple had stabbed him in the back!

Ning Fengzhi knew that Wriothesley wanted to bid on this bead, which was why Xue Qinghe had spared no effort in raising the price, even at the cost of damaging her image in Ning Fengzhi's eyes.

The nobles below also gave up competing with Xue Qinghe. Otherwise, who knew whether Xue Qinghe would disgust them the same way?

On second thought, it was better to forget it.